Request, nay Demand! for a new FAQ

[syberspunk]

So... I was checkin out other forums that I frequent, at least one Sim related, and a thought occurred to me:  There are plenty of simmers out there who don't know about potential BFBVFS causing VBTs.

I don't know if anyone has already written up a FAQ about this, as I don't frequent a ton of Sim sites out there... but I think it would be a great idea for someone (i.e. Not ME but I wouldn't mind helping out with suggestions It's just that... I'm long winded and my grammar is awful... yeah... that's the ticket...) or someones to write a FAQ that basically documents all the VBT you should not do, as well as precautions you can take, to avoid turning your 'hood/game into a BFBVFS.

To start off, we know at least the following:

1) NEVER Lotbin a household and try to install it in a new neighborhood

2) NEVER Download an occupied household from the Exchange and install it into your game

3) If you ARE foolish enough to Download such a household, NEVER install it unless you use the pheverstool

4) You should use Empty Templates or in the very least Clean Templates when starting a fresh 'hood/game.

5) You should use Awesomeware (TM), in the very least all Critical and Very Critical hacks/fixes.

Anything else to add?  Anyone care to like officially write it up and make it all neat and pretty (Flowerchile, Venusy, SaraMK? Anyone?)


Ste

[Lorelei]

Darlin' Ste, that's a good idea.

I'd include some "How to help yourself before whinging to us" info, too, with links to Useful Tools.

You know. Hack conflict Detect, how to RTFM dammit, Clean Installer, Sim Cat, etc.

Answers to most common n00b questions. "What's all this, then?" would not be one.

Link to Quaxi's censor remover? Maybe.

What not to poke unless you are sufficiently awesome? Mandatory.

Quick Guide To More Awesomeness would be nice, too. Hate to state the obvious, but AVOID THE NON-AWESOME HAXXEN, BACK UP YOUR GAME and DON'T FUXXOR WITH SIMPE (unless you are AWESOME) and such.

[Flamingo]

SimPE can generate the censor remover by just unticking a box, but yes. Perhaps there should be a new gameplay FAQ to accompany the forum rules FAQ.

[PandaGirl]

Ste long winded? Never!
This would help a lot of newbies that don't want to bork things, but you try telling people who have been playing since the game came out that the things they've been doing are bad. I got into a domestic on the BBS when trying to tell someone that deleting from the simbin is bad. 

[Pamhamlet]

Yikes!  I have already done some of the stuff you mentioned.        Long time ago, nothing recently mind you, but done and did nevertheless.  Shall I now frantically bite my nails waiting for a BFBVFS?  Rats, in my favorite neighborhood, too.  Why can't we delete from the sim/lot bin?

[Zazazu]

Orphaned sim wants & fears, corrupted memories of sims who have met the binned sims. Etc.

This would be lovely, plus ... we need somewhere that either links to the hack descriptions for the Director's Cut is published, or they should be shoved in with the Director's Cut. Some aren't so easy to search out.

[Hook]

If you're going to make such a FAQ, avoid all THOU SHALT NOT phrases.  Someone who has done most of the forbidden actions without seeing any problems is going to start ignoring all your warnings.

Write everything in very simple nontechnical language.  A one sentence summary like "Avoid downloading and installing lots with Sims living on them" followed by a paragraph on why not, also in simple language, followed by a third paragraph containing whatever technical jargon you feel is necessary so people can skip the third paragraph.  And give the reader an alternative:  "If you do download occupied lots, install them in neighborhoods where you aren't too attached to the Sims living there."

If you're going to mention a specific tool, make sure it's linked to a complete description of the tool.  I've installed downloaded occupied lots while not sitting on a stool and I didn't get a phever.  Any mention of things like empty or clean neighborhood templates is going to have to include a SIMPLE way to get and install them.  If it contains more than three simple steps my grandmother could follow, it's going to be ignored.

Then again, this *is* MATY. 

Hook

[Lorelei]

SimPE can generate the censor remover by just unticking a box, but yes. Perhaps there should be a new gameplay FAQ to accompany the forum rules FAQ.

No rule against offering multiple solutions to Frequently Asked Questions.

You know. "If you wish to do X, try one of these solutions:

A: (Duh, Barbie N00B solution)

B. More elegant solution

C. Totally AWESOME solution

We recommend C, but all will get the job done."

[Kyna]

Add "debug mode (sometimes incorrectly referred to as boolprop) does NOT cause errors, it merely reports the errors that were already happening.  Unless you mess around with it".

[J. M. Pescado]

If you're going to make such a FAQ, avoid all THOU SHALT NOT phrases.  Someone who has done most of the forbidden actions without seeing any problems is going to start ignoring all your warnings.

[Duckie]

I made a compilation of all the RTFM for the most recent Director's Cut for a friend. It may prove useful in this endeavor. Use it, don't use it, stuff it up your little sister's nose - I don't care. 

[MrsH]

evilredduckie - thanks.  Taken and usen.  Stuffen up sister's nose not really an option as she's bigger than me.  But very tempting.

[SaraMK]

Good idea. Here are some things to possibly add. Though they aren't necessarily neighborhood killers, they can shorten the life of a neighborhood by introducing annoyances that make it not fun to play.

* Why DAC is a bad

* How to change sims' first and last name, and why you don't want to change first names in SimPE

* Saving while a sim is on the phone (do only if you really hate the house)

* What to do when portals commit suicide

* Why the Tricou family should be left dead unless you know how to fix their corrupted memories/tokens

* How to respawn missing tombstones

* Which NPC's should not be made playable


These are all things people ask about (or come crying about after doing something wrong), so a FAQ that includes them would be good.

[Soylent Sim]

Good work, ERD, but but most of my issue with DC FAQ's is that it can be a hassle to find the one you want when the hack itself doesn't have a thread to itself.  If JM or some other kind soul feels obliging, it would probably be trivial to gather all the RTFM's individually, zip them all, and include them in the main directory near the hacks.  Otherwise the sort of person who's prone to looking through a list will just look up the standard RTFM, while the sort of person who won't will just come here to bug us again.

As for the FAQ 2.0, I'd actually like to see it broken into two lists.  The first shall be a list of simming commandments, full-out Thou Shalt Not style, where each is followed by a description in soothing, minimally technical n00bspeak explaining why doing so is a bad idea.  The second should be a Not Our Problem section explaining various common problems and their solutions.  Mostly as a shortcut for people to link to when they're tired of explaining the logic behind binary searches, or why MATYites cannot give proper support for non-awesome hacks.  Especially the commandments would be nice, however, as it's all too easy to break one's game with apparently trivial things if one is not careful.

Edit:  to preserve some peoples' sense of reality.  Also, Venusy, baaa.

[Venusy]

Good work, ERD, but but most of my issue with DC FAQ's is that it can be a hassle to find the one you want when the hack itself doesn't have a thread to itself.  If JM or some other kind soul feels obliging, it would probably be trivial to gather all the RTFM's individually, zip them all, and include them in the main directory near the hacks.  Otherwise the sort of person who's prone to looking through a list will just look up the standard RTFM, while the sort of person who won't will just come here to bug us again.

Ths has been here since October. Granted, it doesn't include DC-exclusives, and is nowhere near the main directory.

I doubt anyone will find this useful for the new FAQ, but it's from the unfinished Oops, You Broke It "Fix It Yourself Before Bothering Us" thread:

Welcome to the Oops, You Broke It "Fix It Yourself Before Bothering Us" thread, version 1.

First things first: is your problem caused by hacks? Remove your downloads folder, and start the game. Does the problem persist even with no downloads?
>If yes, search Oops, You Broke It for a thread regarding your problem. If you find one, and it isn't necromancy, post in that. Otherwise, post a new thread in Oops, You Broke It, describing your problem in detail, preferably with an error log if appropriate.
>If no, put your downloads folder back in, and go to post 2.

Post 2: If you have the InTeenimater in your downloads folder, remove it. Did this fix the problem?
>If yes, recheck the InTeen documentation. If the problem is not listed as a feature/known bug, then post about it at the InTeen site, NOT HERE.
>If no (or you never had it in anyway), go to post 3.

Post 3: Remove all non-Awesome hacks (hacks which are not from MATY). Has this fixed the problem?
>If yes, do a binary search of your non-awesome hacks. When you find the culprint, yell at the original creator about it.
>If no, do a binary search of your Awesome hacks. When you find the culprint, go to post 4.

Post 4: Does the awesome hack have its own thread?
>If yes, post in that, including an error log if appropriate. Disregard all complaints of necromancy.
>If no, post a new thread in OYBI, describing your problem in detail, including an error log if appropriate.

[witch]

A downloadable pdf flowchart would be cool.

[Orikes]

I would LOVE to see something like this.

There are quite a few technically ignorant 'kids' on another board I follow, and I can't tell you how many times I've repeated some of these things. I also can't repeat how many times someone has come back and said, "I did <insert really stupid, game killing thing here> and I haven't had any problems. You must be wrong."

Then a week or two later, they're whining because their neighborhood is acting stupid. *sigh*

[J. M. Pescado]

If they say "they did it and see no problems", post Camouflage Kitten above.

[witch]

I could make a cool Visio flow-chart if someone sends me the text, once it gets decided upon.

[Hook]

Then a week or two later, they're whining because their neighborhood is acting stupid. *sigh*

I did these things 2 1/2 years ago.  I'm still waiting for the sky to start falling.  Of course, I did them in moderation, and avoided other potentially stupid stuff, but the test neighborhood where I did them ended up being the neighborhood I played the most.

If Maxis is too fucking stupid not awesome enough to write their damn code so it doesn't have potential to break a neighborhood, there certainly are some Awesome programmers out there who could automate the process of following the Maxis code around with a pooper scooper to clean up the shit.  It would have to be someone who knows the hows and whys a neighborhood might break when certain actions are performed.  Someone intimately familiar with the internal workings of the game data.

Hook

[Gwill]

...If JM or some other kind soul feels obliging...

I move to have the word "other" stricken from the record.

[Ness]

Motion seconded!

All in favour?

[witch]

Aye.

[J. M. Pescado]

I seem to recall Venusy already did that. Also, death to all hairy-bellied Nesses.

[ScoobyDoo]

Please also don't use abbreviations like DAC, or at least spell it out once.   Also if your referring to someplace on the net or in another form like the Opps you broke it, point to it (url).  You might understand everything, but not someone new coming looking for answers.