Bon Voyage dissatisfaction

[Zazazu]

He just takes his sweet-ass time. I've gone there twice. Offer help, go repair stuff and clean while he sleeps in the nude on his hammock. By the time I'm done with that, he's back to the house. I fix meal. Sit sims down, eat until full. Stand around for a good three hours before he suddenly realizes that everything's good and gives the doll.

Had a bad hotel charging issue I forgot to mention earlier. My sim was in one hotel and checked out at around 10 am. Then went to a new cheaper hotel in the beach vacation area. She checked in to one room (approx $400) at around 10:30. I immediately (before 11) got two messages that as she had stayed past check-in, her room bill would be charged ~$400. Then, at 11am, same message again. (Note: I was on the hotel lot the whole time). Meanwhile, her hubby cheated on her, they pummeled each other, she dumped him, and he left. She cancelled out the one room and reserved a smaller room (approx $300). I double-checked the old room before leaving the lot to go walking and it was available for rent. Went to another lot, came back. Both rooms were now showing as reserved by her, and I had no option to cancel the reservation on either room. So, basically, one day of stay at this $$-level hotel ended up costing her over $2000. And yes, it really was on the bill. Not false messages.

[jsalemi]

This is normal. In order to be seated as a group, you need to form up into an outing group. It is really less hassle to simply cook up a few platters of MREs via "Make Many", and use Macro-Eat to dispense them, anywhere, anytime, as needed.

Yea, I'm definitely going to do that from now on -- no sims got on vacation without food in their inventories!  I had another hassle with the same sims in the restaurant -- last day, they go to breakfast.  I didn't make them a group, so they're seated separately (she was showering when he went to the restaurant).  She gets seated at a table where an empty plate is.  Server never clears the plate, and when the server comes with the order, she keeps doing the 'I can't do anything' dance because she won't put the new plate on top of the existing one, and can't remove the existing one because her hands are full.  Did it until she ended up dropping the plate on my sim.  Server goes away to get a new plate, so I canceled the dine interaction and sent the sim out of the dining room.

Unfortunately, every time I sent her back to the podium to be seated, she just walked past it and sat in the exact same chair.  Since they were going home that day, and her hunger wasn't in the danger point, I just had them leave when the husband finished eatiing.

[Corylea]

When I got to Bigfoot's lot, a popup told me that Bigfoot would have a challenge for me.  Well, I talked with Bigfoot and fished with him, helped him rake leaves, lit his fire and sat around it and roasted marshmallows on it, turned on his boom box and danced with him, and stood around and waited for him to initiate something.

Whenever my sim stands around, all she wants to do is tai chi.  I guess there are worse things she could be doing, but she's obsessed, poor thing.  And it makes her unavailable for other interactions.

The only unusual option I got around Bigfoot was the option to invite him to move in.  Is this the thing that Bigfoot wanted help with, or is there something else?  I feel like I've done everything it's possible to do on that lot.

I agree with everyone who's pleading for a no-autonomous-tai-chi hack.  They like it better than sex.  Or food.  Or anything, really.

[MissDoh]

Bigfoot wants your sim to slap dance with him.  Once done, you have the ability to move him in with your family.

[purplehaze]

I've got the opposite problem with Tai Chi- I played the game  (with all updated BV awesome hacks) and on no lot did anyone do Tai Chi. Removed the hacks. No difference. If you turn on a stereo, they smustle. GAH! Now, I'm a patient person, but this is testing my limits. I started to notice this after about 3 hours of play in the Far East. I thought, hmmm, maybe it's just a fluke. I have now played the hood, with and without hacks, for over 18 hours and have not once spotted anyone doing Tai Chi. I also went to another neighborhood and created the destinations. Tried it with a clean vacation hood...no Tai Chi. I am ashamed to admit it, but I actually searched the BBS to find out what is going on with the dance. Others seem to have the same problem, while some have nothing but Tai Chi. Someone suggested going to the secret lot..that's where they learned the movement (from the old man). Went there numerous times. No Tai Chi. Oh well.

Here's a few bugs/glitches I've encountered (tried with awesome hacks and without):
Triple speed to most lots. The old NL bug is back (I think it was NL). I have to catch the speed bar right away or the sims are doing something silly.
Teens have very few vacation wants. Cuts across aspirations. They want to go to college, ask>date, sneak out (WTF?) and learn a new massage..huh? They can't learn massage.
The constant weather queue stompage is back.
Tour guides have gone missing at all hotels (hacks, and no hacks)
Massage therapist gone missing at a hotel.
Sims are back to talking and eating. Damn near starving to death..since the food on vacation is not filling. (No eat crap installed, and uninstalled) I mean really, 5 hours to eat a hot dog?
Sims who have gone on all the tours do not get the token fulfilled.
The first map dug has never been for the hood the sim is in. Typically it's the last map they find.
Fortune sims have wants to paint a masterpiece and sell novel. No easel or computer available in hood. In seven days, my fortune sim only wanted 1 massage and 3 tours. That's it. Very few vacation wants.
And, everyone wants to be the DJ. There is no DJ booth in the hoods.
Nobuskers does not work in vacationland. Sims and hotel guests perform constantly.
Expensive hotel in Twikki has shrubs that ,left untended, spawn weeds.
Quite a few times I have ordered a group meal, I have to..the food won't satisfy, and the bellman only brings a single.
I had a permaplat adult male lose status at the hidden burrow. It never came back.

These are only the ones that I haven't seen listed above.

[neriana]

Someone suggested going to the secret lot..that's where they learned the movement (from the old man). Went there numerous times. No Tai Chi. Oh well.

They were right. You have to do the old man's task. Then your Sim will learn Tai Chi and never want to do anything else. It's not like the greetings.

I haven't encountered any other of the bugs you listed.

[jsalemi]

The Lot Debugger can fix the loss of permaplat status.

They were right. You have to do the old man's task. Then your Sim will learn Tai Chi and never want to do anything else. It's not like the greetings.

What is the old man's task?  I sent a couple there, and the were there for hours with no hints. I had the wife serve tea -- nothing.  I had the husband rake the zen garden -- nothing (though I did have to break him out of it to leave because his hunger was getting dangerously low).  All the old man did was walk around the lot moping up rain puddles, since it rained most of the time my sims were there.

[MissDoh]

Humm my sim learned Tai-Chi and did not need to go to a secret lot, it did not even had the map to it then.

I think after I correctly answer the ninja question is when I started to saw sim doing Tai-Chi though.  Either that or it started after I learned the "bow" gesture.

[Tina G]

The Lot Debugger can fix the loss of permaplat status.

They were right. You have to do the old man's task. Then your Sim will learn Tai Chi and never want to do anything else. It's not like the greetings.

What is the old man's task?  I sent a couple there, and the were there for hours with no hints. I had the wife serve tea -- nothing.  I had the husband rake the zen garden -- nothing (though I did have to break him out of it to leave because his hunger was getting dangerously low).  All the old man did was walk around the lot moping up rain puddles, since it rained most of the time my sims were there.

You're supposed to learn the legend of the dragon. Took forever for me. Had to actually go fishing with the old man for a while before he decided to share it. 

[twooflower]

I have a couple of more issues with BV.  There are no other guests in the hotels, and the only visitors were from the main hood who came and rang the doorbell.     But no one could be invited over, even though my sims had the consistent want for it. 

The only exception to having no other guests was the camping lot.  There were many guests there, but I only saw one other tent get used once for several days.  Camping is free, but no check-in desk means no maid.  My sims were exhausted if they grilled, because they had to clean up the huge mess of dirty plates all over the lot from other guests who helped themselves to the food.

From what I could tell, there was no way to fulfill the want my sim had to firedance on vacation once she learned it.  Any lot that had a mat, also had a firedancer who you could only watch or wait to watch.

Walking lot to lot causes me to lose my sim (the lot plays on, but my sim doesn't show up) until I type in boolprop dormSpecificToolsDisabled false to buy the lot debugger.  When I retrieve the missing sim, the sim is sent back to the home base, which means I have to go load the hotel again.

[jsalemi]

You're supposed to learn the legend of the dragon. Took forever for me. Had to actually go fishing with the old man for a while before he decided to share it. 

Ah, I noticed the fish pond way in the back of the lot, but it was getting late and my sims had to leave.  Next time I'll have them head straight for it.

I have a couple of more issues with BV.  There are no other guests in the hotels, and the only visitors were from the main hood who came and rang the doorbell.     But no one could be invited over, even though my sims had the consistent want for it. 

Sounds like you maybe have an older version of TwoJeffs' Visitor Controller laying around?

[ZiggyDoodle]

The Wise Old Man is the keeper of the Dragon Legend.  To properly greet him, your Sim should have perfected the bow.  A half-assed bow won't do.  If the greeting Sim does an expert bow, then the old guy will become very social.  Serving tea at his tea table also builds the relationship and supposedly doing Tai Chi with him will get you the Legend even faster.  Don't know about the latter as the Tai Chi teachers must be out drinking sake with the Ninja when my Sims show up.

[snabul]

When i first met the Wise Old Man, my Sim was not able to bow. I used the Voodoo doll and he told the legend.

The 2nd Sim of mine who met him was bowing but not perfect. They had tea and did Tai Chi, then he told the legend.

[neriana]

To learn Tai Chi, I don't think I ever bowed. I had my Sim serve tea, then rake the Zen garden, then meditate in the Zen garden, then fish with the old guy, then give him a fish (remembering the saying "give a man a fish"). Somewhere in there I also had her play with the pile of leaves he'd raked (it seemed Zen). Then he started to do Tai Chi and I joined him, which is how my Sim learned Tai Chi. I hadn't seen anyone else do Tai Chi until I went to his lot.

I remember getting special sounds for serving tea, meditating in the Zen garden, and doing Tai Chi with the old man.

[fabricnut]

My sims took forever to learn Tai Chi.  I finally put Merola's mirror on a lot and grabbed a local and had them start.  Then everyone joined in.  My daughter's sims learned in less than 2 hours into their vacation with no problem.  She went to all the grocery lots and put stereos on  them and then when she goes to them everyone is dancing or doing tai chi

[Invisigoth]

I had my sim bow, serve tea, and talk to the old man for a bit. Then he told her the legend. I am one of the people who hasn't seen anyone doing tai chi yet. I also haven't seen anyone doing the hula when my sims visited Twiiki Island. I haven't been to the mountain location yet.

[zoebme]

From what I could tell, there was no way to fulfill the want my sim had to firedance on vacation once she learned it.  Any lot that had a mat, also had a firedancer who you could only watch or wait to watch.

I don't think you need a mat. Have you tried clicking on your Sim and choose entertain (hmm, not playing in English, so not sure that's the right word for it. But, you know, the one where you also do rapping for money?). There should be a fire dance option there, and he'll just do it anywhere.

[purplehaze]

After posting (above), I went back and played for hours and hours. No Tai Chi. I went to the old mans lot 4 times (all my sims have gotten the scroll..that's not the problem) I had them rake, meditate, fish for days on end and he never did Tai Chi. He just fished for days. Grrrr. I tried the debugger on the sim who lost his plat...no joy. I don't know what the hell happened. He was socializing with Big Foot and *bam* into the low gold. I'll have to try the debugger again.

Oh, and another thing ...at one of the hotels I had a bunch of Seniors break out into spontaneous pillow fights in the lobby ( no beds in sight), and I have noroadpillows installed.  This is driving me batty. lol   I keep going back to the game hoping it will fix itself, but it never does. My sims have got all the momentos except Tai Chi , moved Big Foot in (I don't want to deal with that right now), and seen all the sites ... which I don't think is possible (as I reported above).

Next up: buying a vacation home. I just refurbed a few homes to make them ready. I'll report back if there's any wonkiness on home based lots. *crosses fingers*

I'm not really 'unhappy' with the EP. I just wish I didn't have these problems. Who knows, it might be user error! But, like I said before, I tried running the game hack free and in a clean new hood and the problems persisted.

[twooflower]

Sounds like you maybe have an older version of TwoJeffs' Visitor Controller laying around?

Thank you for the suggestion.  I did still have VC and took it now.  Nothing has changed so far, but maybe if I move to a different hotel it will work.  I'll give it a try.

I don't think you need a mat. Have you tried clicking on your Sim and choose entertain (hmm, not playing in English, so not sure that's the right word for it. But, you know, the one where you also do rapping for money?). There should be a fire dance option there, and he'll just do it anywhere.

Oh, that makes sense.  Thank you.   

[Ryslin]

I cheated for the dragon legend. I spawned him off the mailbox at home. He hung around the house for 4 days, generally playing chess. The sim that learned the legend was his most frequent chess partner. Good thing is he has no regular "sim" needs, and after he taught the lesson he poofed like a ninja.

It seems to me, one must be of a reasonable relationship with him to get him to tell you the story. This is just a guess.

[J. M. Pescado]

The Wise Old man's only purpose is to teach the Dragon Legend. He does not specifically teach Tai Chi, you can learn this from any Asian vacation local or any sim that knows it. The Old Man *MIGHT* do it, but there's no specific reason why he will or should, so he is not your main source. Besides, the Old Man is an Emailer and has no bathroom!

[Zazazu]

Besides, the Old Man is an Emailer and has no bathroom!

Yeah, I had tunnel vision and didn't realize this, so I had Lilly recount the Dragon Legend back to him. Not realizing that the twins were in bladder failure over by the lake.

[pioupiou]

For people with lag : I have found a cause of horrible lag in my game :
I was on one of the ruins lot in Twikki Island, everything was running smoothly and suddenly my game started to crawl more slowly than I've ever had. I started looking around, trying to find an explanation, as it was perfectly working 5 seconds ago. Then I noticed some (3) sims (tourists and locals) standing around the hot water thing (big hot tub with rocks). They were standing still, not moving, so I found it odd. I made them selectable and they were all attempting to interact with someone in the hot water thing. As soon as I cancelled their action, the game started to play at normal speed again. I already had this once in a home lot (pets or seasons I don't remember clearly), with a maid attempting to do something (don't remember now) and failing for whatever reason. She kept trying, and the game crawled slowly, until I made her selectable and cancel the action.
I thought it was worth mentionning for people who have a big lag.

[J. M. Pescado]

It seems to me, one must be of a reasonable relationship with him to get him to tell you the story. This is just a guess.

The requirement to unlock the dragon legend appears to be that you must get to decent friends with him. Autosoc handles this job nicely.

Fortunately, after he tells you, he poofs and disappears from your friends panel.

[skandelouslala]

My sims did not know how to properly do tai chi...bow...or anything...but I had them following the old man around..serving him tea, raking the garden, & gave him a bow and he told the legend.  While he was telling it only one of my sims were really listening.  The rest were running around pissing themselves but they all learned it anyways.