So what's been fixed in NL

[radiophonic]

re the stairs - - you lose the queue of actions as well.  If you tell simA to teach SimB something with a career object on a different floor, it will always fail, because the second sim can't get up or down the stairs.  aarrgh...

This whole stairs issue is irritating, always has been. When will they learn to share the stairs so that we don't need to put two sets of stairs in their homes and hope that they can use them? 

I think a want should be added for toddlerss: "Learn how to walk on stairs"
That way, they'll be trained before they become adults in the fine art of stair walking and we won't have to listen to them complain all the time.
Or maybe, if simB can't get up the stairs because simA is on them, he should sit in the corner with a dunce cap on for 1 sim hour?

[Inge]

Just use the modular stairs, and the no-route-fail patch

[RainbowTigress]

Speaking of stairs, I have a problem that keeps occuring in my frat house at Sim State.  The Oresha something house that starts with Ashley, Castor, Kevin, and Joshua.  They are all graduated now and I have my own sims in it.  I had a heck of a time figuring this one out.  Every sim day the stairs, both of them, seem to get stuck in use and I have to delete them and replace wtih new ones.  Otherwise the sims will only use the downstairs bathroom and have thought bubbles about their path being blocked when they want to go upstairs to sleep, use the computers, play the instruments, or anything that is upstairs.  Interestingly, Sims already upstairs can still go down when this happens, but they can't get back up until I sell the stairs and replace them.  This is happening without Nightlife installed.  I can't for the life of me figure out why the stairs are getting stuck like this.  I don't have to use move objects to delete them.  And there are two sets of stairs, but they both get stuck.  I even tried using buyable fire to try to burn out whatever was blocking them, but all I did was kill two sims.  I didn't save that time.    I would hate to have to destroy this house and replace it because I have spent so much time modifying it and getting it just right for my guys.  All of my sims boys come through here, and some of them are real brothers, not just frat brothers.  Anyway, I sure wish I knew what was causing this to continue happening.

[Inge]

Stairs have two places they can be marked in use, at the top and at the bottom.  You know how sims are happy to pass each other in opposite directions but not go in the same direction at the same time?   I suppose an error occurred when one sim was going in one direction, and it skipped the line that takes off the in-use flag from one end while the other is still working normally.

[Motoki]

A rather minor, but still somewhat annoying bug that still hasn't been fixed in NL is that the base for the university groover dresser is missing its recolor options although they do exist in the game files. Someone at N99 made a fix for this long ago.

http://p218.ezboard.com/fstarlightsimsfrm77.showMessage?topicID=42.topic

And for those who aren't members and can't view the message you can download the fix here:

http://www.pixelsims.com/exclusive/MaxisGroovyDressers.zip

I thought I came across some object in NL that really looked like it should have had recolors but didn't, but can't for the life of me remember what it was now. 

[attachment deleted by admin]

[MaxoidTom]

I've noticed this too, and it's annoying, especially when you have more than 2 stories.  Double clicking the sim's icon does not help.  I've also noticed it happening when a sim "bumps" up to the next trimester or gives birth.  The camera is supposed to automatically focus on her, but it doesn't always go to the right floor.  So I'll be playing, and all of a sudden my camera focus switches to a spot in the room directly underneath where she is, and I'm confused for a moment, until I realize that she is giving birth and switch floors real quick.

Yup, I've always had this issue too.

Now the terrain paints and ground cover instability, resulting in corrupt & crashing lots has been mentioned again, I'd like to bump that up to MaxoidTom's notice and ask for a comment please.

I was annoyed by the camera issue as well, but it was deemed minor compared to the other bugs which we had to fix.

As for the terrain paints and ground cover instability, this is the first I've heard of it.  Perhaps you could post some information using the web form I submitted earlier.

[Zoltan]

If you dont like stairs always cluttering up the place,  http://shaklin.sh.funpic.org/modules/news/
has a working elevator that works like a dream in ALL eps includinf NL
 

[Kitiara]

Speaking of stairs, I have a problem that keeps occuring in my frat house at Sim State. The Oresha something house that starts with Ashley, Castor, Kevin, and Joshua. They are all graduated now and I have my own sims in it. I had a heck of a time figuring this one out. Every sim day the stairs, both of them, seem to get stuck in use and I have to delete them and replace wtih new ones. Otherwise the sims will only use the downstairs bathroom and have thought bubbles about their path being blocked when they want to go upstairs to sleep, use the computers, play the instruments, or anything that is upstairs. Interestingly, Sims already upstairs can still go down when this happens, but they can't get back up until I sell the stairs and replace them. This is happening without Nightlife installed. I can't for the life of me figure out why the stairs are getting stuck like this. I don't have to use move objects to delete them. And there are two sets of stairs, but they both get stuck. I even tried using buyable fire to try to burn out whatever was blocking them, but all I did was kill two sims. I didn't save that time. I would hate to have to destroy this house and replace it because I have spent so much time modifying it and getting it just right for my guys. All of my sims boys come through here, and some of them are real brothers, not just frat brothers. Anyway, I sure wish I knew what was causing this to continue happening.

I have recently developed this same problem. Mine is occurring in a house in a custom neighborhood and in the Pleasant house in Pleasantview. In both houses the stairs become unusable have to be replaced at least once a day. In the Pleasant house they can't go upstairs (down is fine). In 'my' neighborhood they can't go downstairs. Very frustrating. One Sim had to be saved from the grim reaper because he was starving and could not get to the kitchen (I was unaware there was a problem at that time). The Pleasant house will be bulldozed when I get around to it. I don't want to lose 'my' house though, they are on generation 14.

I have tried all of the different staircases; all break in the exact same way. I will try modular stairs next but have tried to avoid this as it will necessitate some structural renovations. Anyone know anything about this problem?

[miclsimmer]

MaxoidTom replication of Terrain Paint problem is quite simple....make some or download any lot with them  and use them on a lot.  Delete them or one of them  and see what happens to all  lots that have them.  Also try apppling just one without all being attached to lot or try to package a lot without them.

[RainbowTigress]

I have tried all of the different staircases; all break in the exact same way. I will try modular stairs next but have tried to avoid this as it will necessitate some structural renovations. Anyone know anything about this problem?

I think I will try the modular stairs since this is very irritating.  If that doesn't work I don't know what I'll do next.

[MaxoidTom]

MaxoidTom replication of Terrain Paint problem is quite simple....make some or download any lot with them  and use them on a lot.  Delete them or one of them  and see what happens to all  lots that have them.  Also try apppling just one without all being attached to lot or try to package a lot without them.

Can you be sure to post more information on the official web form?

[Hook]

I think I will try the modular stairs since this is very irritating.  If that doesn't work I don't know what I'll do next.

The very first thing I do whenever I play a new lot is to remove the standard stairs and replace them with modular stairs.  Sometimes this requires surgery on the lot to allow the modular stairs to fit. 

Standard stairs only allow one Sim at a time in each direction.  I've tested it with three Sims going up and three going down at the same time with modular stairs.  I even saw four Sims going in one direction once, but I can't verify that one.

I'm not sure what might be blocking your stairs after 24 hours. It sound suspiciously like the "piano isn't fun after 24 hours" bug where some data gets corrupted after that time.  "Working as designed"... but Maxis changed their minds after being shown exactly why it's a bug, not a feature.  Maybe MaxoidTom understands our frustration now.  And with NO feedback loop on the feedback form, there will be no way to tell Maxis why it's a bug, not a feature, using the official form.  Not that the modders, who are the best ones to tell Maxis why it's a bug, will be using the form;  they'll be too busy fixing the bugs. *sighs*

Hook

[Inge]

I'm not sure what might be blocking your stairs after 24 hours.

I don't think the in-use flags usually have a time out feature.  They're meant to clear up in the Standard Exit functions. Usually an object also resets when it has errored.   But if the in-use flag isn't reset by the init function, they could stay marked in-use.

[gali]

I always put two sets of stairs in each house, and never have a problem such "in use", or sim complaints. May be the simulator shows it's "frustration" of putting only one set of stairs?...

[Ancient Sim]

One thing I haven't seen mentioned anywhere is the fact that when YA's have a graduation party, the memory is just "Had a Great Party" or "Had a Lousy Party", not "Had a Great Graduation Party" or "Had a Horrible Graduation Party".  I have to go into SimPE and alter these, including all the invisible ones they pass on.  Similarly, they NEVER ask to have a graduation party, only a normal one or a sports one.  They spring these up as soon as they graduate, so it's obviously meant to be a request for a graduation party, but it never is.  I haven't had a party since installing NL so I don't know if it's been fixed, but somehow I doubt it.

As for the stairs, this happened to me shortly before installing NL in one of the Maxis-made original houses, the one with the gazebo at the bottom of the garden.  All the Sims can come down the stairs no problem, but they couldn't go up, they insisted their path was blocked (and no, it wasn't a kicky-bag or a cellphone).  The only solution was to replace the stairs.

[MaxoidTom]

I'm not sure what might be blocking your stairs after 24 hours. It sound suspiciously like the "piano isn't fun after 24 hours" bug where some data gets corrupted after that time.  "Working as designed"... but Maxis changed their minds after being shown exactly why it's a bug, not a feature.  Maybe MaxoidTom understands our frustration now.  And with NO feedback loop on the feedback form, there will be no way to tell Maxis why it's a bug, not a feature, using the official form.  Not that the modders, who are the best ones to tell Maxis why it's a bug, will be using the form;  they'll be too busy fixing the bugs. *sighs*

Hook

It is not a matter of "changing our minds."  I was told the wrong information about the piano being "as designed" and have since corrected myself.

As for the web form, we can only reliably fix things with good information--if those knowledgeable about such things fail to give us the information, it will make it very difficult to fix things we cannot reproduce.  I'm sorry you feel frustrated--I am as well.  A feedback loop would be nice in theory, but I can only imagine how it would turn into a forum for arguments and ranting.

[U_Dog_U]

I have tried all of the different staircases; all break in the exact same way. I will try modular stairs next but have tried to avoid this as it will necessitate some structural renovations. Anyone know anything about this problem?

I think I will try the modular stairs since this is very irritating.  If that doesn't work I don't know what I'll do next.

I just placed the Holy Smoke stairs indoors next to a wall. Before, I had to remove the wall, place the stairs, then replace the wall.  They still need four free tiles above them though.

[Hook]

"Working as designed"... but Maxis changed their minds after being shown exactly why it's a bug, not a feature.

It is not a matter of "changing our minds."  I was told the wrong information about the piano being "as designed" and have since corrected myself.

Tom, don't get me wrong.  I love the game, I love the work y'all are doing, and I have the highest respect for you and for your continued presence here.  I frequently get accused of being a fanboy, with several games.  In any given argument, I will almost always take the game company's side.

But I also have 30 years programming experience, retired as a professional programmer about 5 years ago.  My last job was with a game company.  So I understand the problems, and how they occur.

When someone at Maxis reads a bug report that says, "The piano stops being fun after 24 hours", and immediately decides "working as designed", the bug report goes to the bit bucket.  It takes someone like the modders to figure out exactly WHY it's not "working as designed" and point it out.  When I wrote "Maxis changed their minds" above, I wasn't referring to you at all, but to the QA management people who originally declared "working as designed" when it wasn't.  *Someone* in charge at Maxis originally decided "working as designed" and it wasn't you.  And further information caused them to change their mind.

I also understand your frustration.  My last major project (after I retired) was a scenario creator for a Napoleonic wargame, as the one built into the game was crud.  I had a much smaller audience than you do, but at one point I declared that if I got ONE MORE DEMAND for changes and new features I was going to delete the source code.  I think this put things in perspective with the user community.  Unfortunately, Maxis doesn't have that option.

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but you are doing a great job.  And this comes from someone who is not only a gamer, but has been in your shoes before.  Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

Hook

[witch]

MaxoidTom replication of Terrain Paint problem is quite simple....make some or download any lot with them  and use them on a lot.  Delete them or one of them  and see what happens to all  lots that have them.  Also try apppling just one without all being attached to lot or try to package a lot without them.

Can you be sure to post more information on the official web form?

Yes, I'll do that tonight. However the bug explanation has been simply and clearly defined here.

[MaxoidTom]

Tom, don't get me wrong.  I love the game, I love the work y'all are doing, and I have the highest respect for you and for your continued presence here.  I frequently get accused of being a fanboy, with several games.  In any given argument, I will almost always take the game company's side.

But I also have 30 years programming experience, retired as a professional programmer about 5 years ago.  My last job was with a game company.  So I understand the problems, and how they occur.

When someone at Maxis reads a bug report that says, "The piano stops being fun after 24 hours", and immediately decides "working as designed", the bug report goes to the bit bucket.  It takes someone like the modders to figure out exactly WHY it's not "working as designed" and point it out.  When I wrote "Maxis changed their minds" above, I wasn't referring to you at all, but to the QA management people who originally declared "working as designed" when it wasn't.  *Someone* in charge at Maxis originally decided "working as designed" and it wasn't you.  And further information caused them to change their mind.

I also understand your frustration.  My last major project (after I retired) was a scenario creator for a Napoleonic wargame, as the one built into the game was crud.  I had a much smaller audience than you do, but at one point I declared that if I got ONE MORE DEMAND for changes and new features I was going to delete the source code.  I think this put things in perspective with the user community.  Unfortunately, Maxis doesn't have that option.

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this, but you are doing a great job.  And this comes from someone who is not only a gamer, but has been in your shoes before.  Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

Hook

Thank you for your post.  If it weren't for community members speaking up, then we wouldn't have known about several issues that have been raised here and on other websites.  We test the heck out of the game, but even if we had a QA team numbering in the hundreds, it doesn't even compare to the hundreds of thousands of people playing the game when it gets released.  But hopefully all this discussion will mean that the game becomes better and more stable.

[sara_dippity]

I tried deleting my thumbnails folder for missing icons, it worked on the first house I played, but it was back the second time I played that house and in other houses as well. Also when I did have my icons back, my graduates were still missing their uni want slots.
I have no idea how to submit for this bug properly, I have no suggestions for how to replicate it. The only thing I did to cause it was install nightlife, the bug was instantaneous.

[MaxoidTom]

I tried deleting my thumbnails folder for missing icons, it worked on the first house I played, but it was back the second time I played that house and in other houses as well. Also when I did have my icons back, my graduates were still missing their uni want slots.
I have no idea how to submit for this bug properly, I have no suggestions for how to replicate it. The only thing I did to cause it was install nightlife, the bug was instantaneous.

Can you try restoring your objects.package file from the NL installation disk?

[sara_dippity]

I wanted to, but couldn't find one. It wasn't in the place it was on the University disk, and I couldn't find it anywhere else.

[jrd]

The file is compressed inside compressed.zip, on the second disc.

[radiophonic]

Just use the modular stairs, and the no-route-fail patch

Heya Inge. Let me sound dumb for a moment if you don't mind. Which are modular?  They do it even with the noroutefail hack.