Submit Issues about Nightlife

[Marvin Kosh]

As Pescado has complained about, my time spent here is time spent away from coding and fixing issues.

IMHO, any time spent learning from the community which issues which concern them the most, is time well-spent.  Perceptions of an application are very different for the end users and those responsible for coding it, and feedback is a necessary thing to correct any misconceptions.

[simposiast]

I wonder why Maxis decided they had to fix everything in a single combined patch? 

Making a combined patch means everyone has to wait until each separate problem is fixed and retested everywhere, even if it's an insignificant problem they've never had, never will have and couldn't care less about.

My customers in Canada don't want to go through a whole update cycle to fix a Japanese font issue they don't have. They need a fix for a printer problem that doesn't happen in Japan. In Brazil they don't have either of those problems but want their installation issue fixed asap.

I don't have the resources to fix everything all at once, so I release fixes as I make them and let the customers decide if and when to deploy. That way I get fewer unhappy customers.  Plus, when I eventually release a combined update I already know each fix is working with all the previous ones. 

Gynarchy said:

Whenever I go into an uninhabited lot and edit it, when I save the thumbnail updates with this red streak along the right side.

I had that red streak issue on my brand new computer, it turned out I needed even newer drivers from ATI.

[Hook]

I wonder why Maxis decided they had to fix everything in a single combined patch? 

Something about having a million customers, most of whom are imperfectly computer literate.

When your audience is a few dozen, or a few hundred, you can handle problems report as they come in.  And still have time for development.  When you get 10,000 problem reports (for *each* upgrade) you start seeing... well, problems.

Keep in mind that with all the middlemen in computer retailing, Maxis probably sees less than a dollar on each copy of the game sold.  I have no idea how much EA gets, but they did a majority of the funding for development. 

I'd much prefer to have incremental patches myself, but I understand some of the realities of game development.  In the mean time, we have the modders fixing most of the bugs and many of the annoyances.  It's a situation I can live with.

Hook

[Oddysey]

Plus, with multiple patches, and the average user who visits the Sims2 website, you'll get people trying to install all of them, or screaming about which one they should pick, or something equally daft.

[MaxoidTom]

As Pescado has complained about, my time spent here is time spent away from coding and fixing issues.

IMHO, any time spent learning from the community which issues which concern them the most, is time well-spent.  Perceptions of an application are very different for the end users and those responsible for coding it, and feedback is a necessary thing to correct any misconceptions.

And that's why I'm here.  But I can't spend all my time here.  That's not my job.

[MaxoidTom]

I wonder why Maxis decided they had to fix everything in a single combined patch? 

Because making a patch takes an enormous amount of QA resources, even for a small change.  It has to be tested in the 20-something different languages with multiple EP combinations (currently only 2, but will get worse later), etc.  Good or bad, that's the current process.

[miclsimmer]

MaxoidTom, Please, Since you say the patches are in testing or in Q&A hands could you give us a list of what they are testing?

[Hook]

Unfortunately, if MaxoidTom gave a list of what they were testing, many many Simmers would take it as an iron-clad contract that the fix will be in the patch, and work.  If they are still testing the fix, then there's no guarantee that it will work.

While I'd love to have a list of what fixes to expect, I can understand Maxis' position.  But you can get a lot of information by reading all MaxoidTom's posts because he mentions many things that are being worked on.  He just can't give a complete list.

Hook

[dizzy]

A list would also no doubt reveal many problems that we don't even know exist. No need to stir the pot, so to speak.

[Hook]

Oh yes, then there's the Maxis BBS.  If Tom posted a list and it didn't contain someone's pet complaint, there would be threats of boycotts, class action lawsuits, etc ad nauseum.  Hopefully the posters here are more mature than that, but you can bet your last nickel the Maxis BBS posters aren't.

Hook

[kewian]

Well not all of us are a bunch of babies..Im from both sims boards and yes there are a lot of folks(mainly younguns) who think holding their breath till they turn blue will fix the problems.  Some of us are mature though-I come and go now because I got sick of the tirades and the new trolling that was occurring.  They still have that despite lack of off topic.

[gynarchy]

I had that red streak issue on my brand new computer, it turned out I needed even newer drivers from ATI.

Thanks for the advice, unfortunately it didn't work for me.  The new ATI Catalyst drivers won't work with my card (I have a laptop) so I tried the newest Omega drivers and the lines still appear. Doing a complete uninstall/reinstall got rid of it for a couple of days but it was only temporary. It only happens when using my main user account, if I create another XP account the lots save with regular thumbnails. I suck at trying to isolate problems but I've tried everything I can think of and still can't get rid of it. The lots don't seem to be corrupted in any way so I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Thanks anyway, though!

[linolino]

I had that red streak issue on my brand new computer, it turned out I needed even newer drivers from ATI.

Thanks for the advice, unfortunately it didn't work for me. The new ATI Catalyst drivers won't work with my card (I have a laptop) so I tried the newest Omega drivers and the lines still appear. Doing a complete uninstall/reinstall got rid of it for a couple of days but it was only temporary. It only happens when using my main user account, if I create another XP account the lots save with regular thumbnails. I suck at trying to isolate problems but I've tried everything I can think of and still can't get rid of it. The lots don't seem to be corrupted in any way so I guess I'll just have to deal with it. Thanks anyway, though!

HEY!!! I need a help from you guys about ATi drivers and this Catalyst thing. I just bought a new PC and the video is a PowerColor ATi Radeon x600 XT 256. i'm having some grapihcal issues and wanted to update the drivers, but i'm not sure where to download them, because my board is a PowerColor ATi Radeon and not only a ATi Radeon. I looked in the ATi site and found this Catalyst 5.9. Is this it? Do you know if this will work with my board?
I did a serch for PowerColor ATi Radeon and found this site: http://www.tul.com.tw/global/driver.aspx?folderid=1&cat1=50&cat2=120&cat3=283
In this site i can choose the board model, and it will let me download the Catalyst 5.6
Now i'm not sure wich to install. can you guys help me?

Oh and by the way, whats HydraVision?

[gillies]

You can use the drivers from the ATI site. Hydravision is some application for using multiple displays, you get a tray icon with some options in a menu.

[linolino]

Oh i have a bug, i have a bug. can anyone confirm it for me?

It's about wohooing in hot tubs with the cinematics turned on.

in order to woohoo in the hot tub, you have to make the 2 sims cuddle first, right?
So, when i click woohoo, the cinematic starts normally, however when it goes back to live mode, the 2 sims are each in a corner of the hot tub, but just for like 1 second, and then they will quickly "slide" toward each other to go into cuddling position again.

It is like the game forgot they were supposed to be in that position, but then suddenly remembered. And it happens everytime 2 sims woohoo in a hot tub, however it only happens if the cinematic plays. if it is the regular animation and no cinematics, they will be just fine.

Can anyone test this and see if this is really a bug that deservs to be submited?

[simmiecal]

Oh i have a bug, i have a bug. can anyone confirm it for me?

It's about wohooing in hot tubs with the cinematics turned on.

in order to woohoo in the hot tub, you have to make the 2 sims cuddle first, right?
So, when i click woohoo, the cinematic starts normally, however when it goes back to live mode, the 2 sims are each in a corner of the hot tub, but just for like 1 second, and then they will quickly "slide" toward each other to go into cuddling position again.

It is like the game forgot they were supposed to be in that position, but then suddenly remembered. And it happens everytime 2 sims woohoo in a hot tub, however it only happens if the cinematic plays. if it is the regular animation and no cinematics, they will be just fine.

Can anyone test this and see if this is really a bug that deservs to be submited?

Well, I can confirm it. I noticed it but didn't think much about it - wasn't sure if it was happening before NL.

[MaxisManiac]

Oh i have a bug, i have a bug. can anyone confirm it for me?

It's about wohooing in hot tubs with the cinematics turned on.

in order to woohoo in the hot tub, you have to make the 2 sims cuddle first, right?
So, when i click woohoo, the cinematic starts normally, however when it goes back to live mode, the 2 sims are each in a corner of the hot tub, but just for like 1 second, and then they will quickly "slide" toward each other to go into cuddling position again.

It is like the game forgot they were supposed to be in that position, but then suddenly remembered. And it happens everytime 2 sims woohoo in a hot tub, however it only happens if the cinematic plays. if it is the regular animation and no cinematics, they will be just fine.

Can anyone test this and see if this is really a bug that deservs to be submited?

I can confirm this as well. This has happened since the base game, but I haven't really thought anything of it, either.

[U_Dog_U]

Oh i have a bug, i have a bug. can anyone confirm it for me?

It's about wohooing in hot tubs with the cinematics turned on.

in order to woohoo in the hot tub, you have to make the 2 sims cuddle first, right?
So, when i click woohoo, the cinematic starts normally, however when it goes back to live mode, the 2 sims are each in a corner of the hot tub, but just for like 1 second, and then they will quickly "slide" toward each other to go into cuddling position again.

It is like the game forgot they were supposed to be in that position, but then suddenly remembered. And it happens everytime 2 sims woohoo in a hot tub, however it only happens if the cinematic plays. if it is the regular animation and no cinematics, they will be just fine.

Can anyone test this and see if this is really a bug that deservs to be submited?

I can confirm this as well. This has happened since the base game, but I haven't really thought anything of it, either.

Ditto. There are a lot worse bugs to worry about than something minor like that.

[linolino]

Ditto. There are a lot worse bugs to worry about than something minor like that.

nonetheless it is still a bug and probably much simpler to fix than other bug. i woudn't just ignore it. i hate gaphical gliches

[KellyQ]

I haven't seen this mentioned but I may have overlooked it. Has anyone else had a sim's date end before it starts? I've had this happen twice. The first time it happened my sim was at home (in my custom neighborhood) and she paid the matchmaker for a blind date. Her date had no more then just landed out of the sky when a box popped up saying "uh, ok, thanks that wasn't too great" or something along those lines and the guy left. The second time was in Pleasantview, I had my teen sim call a boy she's going steady with and ask him to go downtown on a date. The taxi came and she went downtown. I saw both her and her boyfriend get out of the taxi and then that same box popped up about the date not being great and he left. I have some of JM's, Inge's and TwoJeff's hacks installed but nothing that hasn't been approved for NL. So I'm wondering if this is a bug anyone else has experienced?

[Melodic]

I've skimmed over most of the posts and I haven't seen this mentioned yet.  I just had an army of gardeners show up in front of my house.  I counted more than 30.  I don't have any hacks affecting NPC behaviors (i.e. daily gardener or anything like that) and I've hired gardeners since adding my custom content back in with no problems at all.  Has this happened to anyone else?  Is there a specific culprit I should be looking at or is it a bug? 

[Motoki]

I've skimmed over most of the posts and I haven't seen this mentioned yet.  I just had an army of gardeners show up in front of my house.  I counted more than 30.  I don't have any hacks affecting NPC behaviors (i.e. daily gardener or anything like that) and I've hired gardeners since adding my custom content back in with no problems at all.  Has this happened to anyone else?  Is there a specific culprit I should be looking at or is it a bug? 

It's an old, old bug. I've had it happen to me long ago before university came out and before I was using any hacks. I haven't had it happen anytime recently so I thought they fixed it, but maybe they didn't.

[simmiecal]

I've skimmed over most of the posts and I haven't seen this mentioned yet.  I just had an army of gardeners show up in front of my house.  I counted more than 30.  I don't have any hacks affecting NPC behaviors (i.e. daily gardener or anything like that) and I've hired gardeners since adding my custom content back in with no problems at all.  Has this happened to anyone else?  Is there a specific culprit I should be looking at or is it a bug? 

It's an old, old bug. I've had it happen to me long ago before university came out and before I was using any hacks. I haven't had it happen anytime recently so I thought they fixed it, but maybe they didn't.

I just had it happen to me for the first time a few nights ago. System generated over 300 social workers before I realized what was happening. I just started messing around with hacks and custom content, so I don't know if I created this problem myself or if this bug is still unresolved in NL.

[Melodic]

Thanks for the help guys.  I manually deleted them and the next time the gardener came he behaved normally.  I had heard of the bug before but it had never affected me and I wasn't sure of the fix. 

Also I wanted to let everyone know that it was still out there. 

[Scratch]

  Well..... here's my bug... My new, fresh, made with NL nieghbourhood REBOOTS my pooter... This usually happens when i scroll the hood, sometimes it's happened when i'm placing a lot.
I knew i would have probs installing NL over my Sims2 + Uni because i changed some data files so i did a new clean install of the game plus the 2 EP's on newly partitoned drive...and since i wanted to create the hood before i started playing the game again, i left my downloads folder out and didn't alter any game files (cameras.txt, graphics.sgr).. but the larger i make the hood the more likely it reboots... but the first time it rebooted it only had 3 lots in the hood.... and sometimes when i start the hood there are wierd graphic glitches... most things white, big red pyramids, missing roads, yellow roofs, etc...
The maxis made hoods don't do this just my custom one.... But i made a large custom hood after UNI came out and never had this kind of prob... Does NL use memory or graphics differently than UNI.... I've seen other post on MTS2 describing almost the exact same prob so i can'r see it being a hardware problem i have.... Any ideas??? need help so i can play the game..