Maybe Bella isn't as dead as some of us would like to think.

[Ancient Sim]

I've just restarted Pleasantview.  I don't know what Bella's file was like before, but now she has an "I am Dead" token, but the "is Ghost" box isn't ticked.  Also, she had no relationship with Mortimer whatsoever and neither he, Cassandra or Alexander had the "Known Sim" box ticked.  If it's ticked, Bella immediately appears on their friends list.  If she's teleported into the Goth lot, she immediately walks into the house and behaves like any other guest.  The "I am Dead" token appears to do nothing on its own - I forgot to tick the "I am Dead" box for Mary-Sue when I added a death token (don't want that horrendous woman in my game again) and she was still alive when I went into the Pleasant house. 

Bella certainly had no memories in my game either now or before, I had to add them all when I brought her back the first time.  She has no personality either.  And I swear the first time there were two Bella files but this time there's only one.

STOP PRESS:  OK, I made a Sim in CAS with the exact profile of Bella, including adding the right turn-ons (this is in my brand-new Pleasantview).  He paid full price for a date and guess who he got?  His walk-by earlier on had been Mortimer, but they showed no signs of recognition, although Mortimer was rather preoccupied fighting with Komei Tellerman, who he'd made enemies with the night before.  Not sure it was a coincidence that Komei was the only member of the welcome wagon and his only enemy just happened to be on the same lot, but that's another story.

Anyway, when I made Mortimer selectable and got him to sit beside Bella on the settee to watch TV, she immediately got up and went to hold hands with my Sim.  She had no one in her relationship panel and her only memories were of Cassandra & Alexander getting A's (Cassandra is a teen now in my new Pleasantview).  They were in her family tree, but Mortimer wasn't.

So, it's not BBS bullshit, it really is happening (presumably those who don't believe BBS posters will believe me!).  Bella's file has definitely changed.  Although I can accept that they may have forgotten to tick the "Is Ghost" box on a character, the fact that it's Bella is way too suspicious.  Not only that, the fact that the "Known Sim" boxes are unticked for the live people and ticked for the dead ones is even more suspicious.  I think this is deliberate, purely so Bella will plop from the sky like this and make everyone go "Ooh!" and "Wow!" and "OMG".  They may even have chosen to have dates 'fall from the sky' purely for this reason, seeing as how that's the most likely way Bella would come back.  And the more I think about it, the more sure I am that Bella had two files in the original game, one greyed-out and one not.  As I've said before, it's time Maxis came clean about Bella.  Enquiring minds are fed-up to the back teeth of the whole thing and INSIST ON KNOWING.

[Bangelnuts]

I've just restarted Pleasantview.  I don't know what Bella's file was like before, but now she has an "I am Dead" token, but the "is Ghost" box isn't ticked.  Also, she had no relationship with Mortimer whatsoever and neither he, Cassandra or Alexander had the "Known Sim" box ticked.  If it's ticked, Bella immediately appears on their friends list.  If she's teleported into the Goth lot, she immediately walks into the house and behaves like any other guest.  The "I am Dead" token appears to do nothing on its own - I forgot to tick the "I am Dead" box for Mary-Sue when I added a death token (don't want that horrendous woman in my game again) and she was still alive when I went into the Pleasant house. 

.

I just took a peek at Bella in Sim PE my game has her unlinked and shows her only relations as being Cassie,Alexander and her parents and a sibling. old Mortimer does not even show up as a relative or even as Known by Bella. and the Ghost etc boxes were not ticked at all. I looked at Darleen Dreamer and it is ticked that she is a ghost. I never play pleasant view. I was just curious what Sim Pe had her listed as

[Ancient Sim]

I just took a peek at Bella in Sim PE my game has her unlinked and shows her only relations as being Cassie,Alexander and her parents and a sibling. old Mortimer does not even show up as a relative or even as Known by Bella. [/quote]

Ah, but he DOES!  They've done something to the files since Nightlife.  If you have the new SimPE, you'll see that all Sims known to the selected Sim are at the top, then all Sims unknown are below in the "Sim Pool".  Check out Bella & Mortimer's Sim Pools and you will see that each appears in the other - not greyed out and unalterable as all the others are, but totally editable.  They have 85/95 relationship towards each other and are ticked as "Family" and "Known".  No other boxes are ticked and they are not marked as "Spouses" or "Married".  This is the only time I have encountered a situation like this.

Something else peculiar, too.  As soon as my new guy greeted the Matchmaker and before he asked her for a blind date, I saved the game.  Everything that happened after that (including asking for the date before actually getting Bella) was not saved.  I then exited the game completely and went into SimPE to alter his turn-ons so he didn't get Bella again, then went back in and this time he got a downtownie.  I saved and exited again.  When I next checked Bella's file in SimPE, my new Sim was in her "Known Sims" panel with a 0/0 relationship.  Now, how is that possible when my Sim hadn't even asked for a date, let alone got Bella?  He certainly never met her any other way, unless she was on the downtown lot he took his second date to, because they can get 0/0 for people that way sometimes.  Or is the game saving stuff even if we don't? 

I also noticed that Don Lothario suddenly appeared on her "Known Sims" panel with a 0/0 relationship too, and he certainly hadn't met her, nor does he have any memories of meeting her previously because I removed them (well, I think there was only the one, about being rejected for make-out, no memory of actually meeting her).  Bella didn't appear on Don's Known Sims panel though, neither did she appear on my specially-created male Sim's.  I am beginning to think Bella was on a downtown lot and I didn't notice her - apparently others have seen her on them (in Pleasantview, not Strangetown) because there's no other explanation for them appearing in her "Known Sims" (perhaps I will add them back, maybe she'll call ...).  Maxis really are milking this.

[Bangelnuts]

I just took a peek at Bella in Sim PE my game has her unlinked and shows her only relations as being Cassie,Alexander and her parents and a sibling. old Mortimer does not even show up as a relative or even as Known by Bella.

Ah, but he DOES!  They've done something to the files since Nightlife.  If you have the new SimPE, you'll see that all Sims known to the selected Sim are at the top, then all Sims unknown are below in the "Sim Pool".  Check out Bella & Mortimer's Sim Pools and you will see that each appears in the other - not greyed out and unalterable as all the others are, but totally editable.  They have 85/95 relationship towards each other and are ticked as "Family" and "Known".  No other boxes are ticked and they are not marked as "Spouses" or "Married".  This is the only time I have encountered a situation like this.

Something else peculiar, too.  As soon as my new guy greeted the Matchmaker and before he asked her for a blind date, I saved the game.  Everything that happened after that (including asking for the date before actually getting Bella) was not saved.  I then exited the game completely and went into SimPE to alter his turn-ons so he didn't get Bella again, then went back in and this time he got a downtownie.  I saved and exited again.  When I next checked Bella's file in SimPE, my new Sim was in her "Known Sims" panel with a 0/0 relationship.  Now, how is that possible when my Sim hadn't even asked for a date, let alone got Bella?  He certainly never met her any other way, unless she was on the downtown lot he took his second date to, because they can get 0/0 for people that way sometimes.  Or is the game saving stuff even if we don't? 

I also noticed that Don Lothario suddenly appeared on her "Known Sims" panel with a 0/0 relationship too, and he certainly hadn't met her, nor does he have any memories of meeting her previously because I removed them (well, I think there was only the one, about being rejected for make-out, no memory of actually meeting her).  Bella didn't appear on Don's Known Sims panel though, neither did she appear on my specially-created male Sim's.  I am beginning to think Bella was on a downtown lot and I didn't notice her - apparently others have seen her on them (in Pleasantview, not Strangetown) because there's no other explanation for them appearing in her "Known Sims" (perhaps I will add them back, maybe she'll call ...).  Maxis really are milking this.



[/quote] I checked and instead of her being in the Known Sim Pool  she was in the regular sim pool so I moved her to known sims for Mortimer that corrected that any way. also check out Darleen Dreamer: Darrens Deceased wife I found two Darleen Dreamer's in My sim Browser 1 has the correct relations as in Dirk being her son and her knowing Darren. the other has no family and Knows absolutely  no one that I could determine and according to Sim Pe  has 38 days left as an Adult before transitioning to elder . watch for Darleen Dreamer to be the next character they exploit at Maxis however the secon Darleen looks nothing like Dirks Mother

[Ancient Sim]

There have always been two Darleens, also two Michaels and two Skips.  The others are used for the photos from what I can gather.  I've brought Skip back in my game and used the file with character data, but I've left the other alone, still with its "I am Dead" token intact.  The thing is, I am certain Bella also had two files at the start, one showing her still alive and the other showing her dead (with no character data).  The most relevant thing in all this though is Bella's file, which is way bigger than anyone else's.  It also seems to have got bigger since Nightlife. 

[Bangelnuts]

There have always been two Darleens, also two Michaels and two Skips.  The others are used for the photos from what I can gather.  I've brought Skip back in my game and used the file with character data, but I've left the other alone, still with its "I am Dead" token intact.  The thing is, I am certain Bella also had two files at the start, one showing her still alive and the other showing her dead (with no character data).  The most relevant thing in all this though is Bella's file, which is way bigger than anyone else's.  It also seems to have got bigger since Nightlife. 

that could be as there are two Skip Broke Files .I didnt bother checking either.Bella for a dead sim she sure seems to have alot of Info in her file. but what was noteworthy in the second Darleen Dreamer file was that she had no ghost flags checked but the one with  the correct Info had  the appropriate ghost flags checked.in My Game I have one less Nanny now yesterday I was playing one of my families that Mom is a patrol officer and Dad is a professional party guest. my family was eating as Dad prepared a meal before he left for work for the two kids the Nanny Kendal Lawson arrived at the house on time just before Mom went to work.the couple has a baby as well and two daughters at Uni. all of a sudden I see Calista Despret with the baby when seconds before Kendal had the baby and was feeding her.I couldnt figure out what was going on so I dropped the walls of the house looking for Kendal ,I find Kendal at the front door where she peed her self just before coming back in the house and the buttons all grey out and sure enough here comes the grim reaper.Im like ok which of  my sims is he after now? turned out he was after Kendal. after I moved her grave to the cemetary. I saved and exited the game.look in Sim PE and discover all the appropriate ghost flags were checked for Kendal .However SimPE indicated that at the time of death Kendal actually still had 11 day left weird when I had a nanny eaten by the cowplant there was no new nanny immediately there but this time just minutes before Kemdal died a replacement was there

[Hairfish]

Preface: I don't play Pleasantview; I use SimPE only for recoloring, so I haven't messed with character files; I don't visit the BBS so don't know about their 'Bella spam.'

But I'll second (fifth? fourteenth?) the opinion that something about Bella ~ and/or "Bella Clone" ~ has been changed. I do play Strange Town, and have been trying for quite some time to get one of my Sims in particular to meet her and form some kind of relationship. Prior to Nightlife, that was impossible, as any time I spotted her, she was just walking by (usually on a Community lot), and clicking on her got "no actions available."

However, since installing Nightlife, not only is Bella (Bella-Clone?) accessible, but she's showed up several times to welcome new Sims to Strange Town. Some of them are even attracted to her, and vice versa. Overall, she behaves much more like a regular Townie, and not some mysterious recluse who can't be approached. Maybe because they added Mrs. Crumplebottom for that role. 

[Motoki]

I thought the very first Maxis patch was supposed to fix the issue of not being able to meet Bella in Strangetown? Or so I've heard, I never played that neighborhood for any extensive period of time.

[KellyQ]

Preface: I don't play Pleasantview; I use SimPE only for recoloring, so I haven't messed with character files; I don't visit the BBS so don't know about their 'Bella spam.'

But I'll second (fifth? fourteenth?) the opinion that something about Bella ~ and/or "Bella Clone" ~ has been changed. I do play Strange Town, and have been trying for quite some time to get one of my Sims in particular to meet her and form some kind of relationship. Prior to Nightlife, that was impossible, as any time I spotted her, she was just walking by (usually on a Community lot), and clicking on her got "no actions available."

However, since installing Nightlife, not only is Bella (Bella-Clone?) accessible, but she's showed up several times to welcome new Sims to Strange Town. Some of them are even attracted to her, and vice versa. Overall, she behaves much more like a regular Townie, and not some mysterious recluse who can't be approached. Maybe because they added Mrs. Crumplebottom for that role. 

Hmmm..that's odd. I bought TS2 in late February, had it only a few weeks before the first patch came out and I don't think I played Strangetown prior to patching it but I could be wrong. Anyway, my point is, my sims were always able to interact with the Bella in Strangetown (I even had Nervous Subject engaged to her), long before NL.

[Hairfish]

I thought the very first Maxis patch was supposed to fix the issue of not being able to meet Bella in Strangetown?

I dunno. My game is/was patched, but I was never able to click on her.

I play Strange Town quite a lot, too ~ it's the only Maxis default neighborhood still in my game.

[cabelle]

I thought the very first Maxis patch was supposed to fix the issue of not being able to meet Bella in Strangetown?

I dunno. My game is/was patched, but I was never able to click on her.

I play Strange Town quite a lot, too ~ it's the only Maxis default neighborhood still in my game.

I experienced similar oddness with her too, and it wasn't consistent. In my first incarnation of Strangetown Bella showed up in the "welcome wagon" for a sim I'd made. She eventually moved in with him, then moved to her own place and had his daughter Marina. Shortly afterward I decided to reset all the Maxis neighborhoods. It was after the reset that I was having the same problem as Hairfish, Bella would walk by but I'd get "no actions available" when I'd click on her. I finally lucked out when Ajay Loner was chatting online, Bella was online too and he was finally able to talk to her. Shortly after that NL came out and I went ahead and reinstalled everything. Bella's back to being part of welcome wagons and she's usually one of the townies I'll see on a downtown lot.

As for the Pleasantview Bella, all of the stuff the new SimPe is turning out is sure odd. I wonder if the changes were intentional or accidental. We've got some previously unresurrectable sims (Willow's parents, Lyla Grunt, Skip Broke) who are now resurrectable. I'd resurrected some of them and later regretted it (the desicion for the reinstall) because they all looked like something was wrong: no hair, Willow's parents were adults in elder bodies, Lyla's face graphics were screwed up. And when I'd asked I think I remember MaxoidTom saying some sims previously unlinked were accidentally marked as linked (I think it's in the bug thread). As interesting as it would be to add these characters back in I don't know enough about fixing my game if they really were supposed to stay dead or missing.

[Bangelnuts]

[

As for the Pleasantview Bella, all of the stuff the new SimPe is turning out is sure odd. I wonder if the changes were intentional or accidental. We've got some previously unresurrectable sims (Willow's parents, Lyla Grunt, Skip Broke) who are now resurrectable. I'd resurrected some of them and later regretted it (the desicion for the reinstall) because they all looked like something was wrong: no hair, Willow's parents were adults in elder bodies, Lyla's face graphics were screwed up. And when I'd asked I think I remember MaxoidTom saying some sims previously unlinked were accidentally marked as linked (I think it's in the bug thread). As interesting as it would be to add these characters back in I don't know enough about fixing my game if they really were supposed to stay dead or missing.
[/quote]I heard that night life shipped  with  that oddity and that it wasnt intentional