Hacks safe for Free Time?

[Sita]

I've heard many hacks are broken with Free Time - wondered if anyone knew any more on this? I would like to put my old Hoods back into my game but some of the Simmies there can simply NOT manage without... for example the picture that makes your toddlers learn potty, walking etc very quickly. Or the money orders...
Edit - Ploughing through the nasty site for info.... looks like Boolprop has issues too? I've used it (the only thing I have used) and had no problems so far.

[Miros1]

Depends on which Boolprop you're using. I wouldn't doubt that the programmers failed to think through the repercussions of boolprop interactions with their changes.

[Greg]

"Boolprop" is kind of nebulous. (It just means "boolean property," referring to any setting that can be either true or false.) Are you referring to the testingcheatsenabled property?

The testingcheatsenabed property only sets true-or-false parameters in the game. Mostly these properties enable additional code that was written by the same people who wrote the main game code so I would be more inclined to trust the guys who really know the software more than any fan who is trying to reverse-engineer it.

Within my experience, everything you read on that site is either absurdly over-dramatized or outright falsehood. To be blunt, I don't know of anything I have read there that wasn't a lie, so I wouldn't trust anything that anyone wrote there.

I would prefer that everyone stop referring to it entirely, even in oblique references. I don't want anyone to suffer unnecessary anguish from being lured into the constant spew of misinformation; and frankly, I don't want a criminal organization to be any part of my site, in any way.

[Sita]

boolprop testingcheatsenabled seems to be working fine for me with FT, though I use it pretty sparingly. (to get the right jobs, the occasional pregnancy etc).

[Zirconia Wolf]

Never having been a huge "boolproptestingthingybobber" cheat user (which I firmly believe was created solely to frustrate us dyslexics) I have never really been all that clear as to what all it's capable of.

I did stumble across a wonderful walk through on using that too-long cheat to mass create Townies/Downtownies a while back though & am wondering if there is any more info as to what the other uses for that cheat might be?? (I'm wondering if it could replace the InSim features I use, as I see no signs of a FT compatible InSim mod, while the other 2 mods I use have been updated. )

Anyone know if there's a "testing cheat" info site/tread somewhere? (And by "somewhere" I don't mean that nasty criminal site. I mean a site with real information on it. )

Thanks!

P.S. to Sita: what do you think of FT so far????

[Miros1]

The one hack I definitely know is broken is Numenor's noZZZ. It causes your Sim to reset almost every time they attempt to do something hobby related.

[Sita]

I like FT. Combined with BV and Seasons and all the rest, my Simmies have fairly realistic little lives now. BUT lol I have to run my game on normal speed now - used to play speeded up most of the time good, really. I get more play value out of the little critters.

[Zirconia Wolf]

I was afraid that FT was going to tempt me into a mass re-install! Just out of curiosity, anyone know what FT does to the "pre scripted" Maxis strangeness in the Pleasantview, Strangetown & Veronaville hoods?

I am currently cruising around the net for FT compatible mods & am wondering if anyone out there knows of a "motive tweaking" object other than the InSiminator? All I want is a way to quickly fill up a Sims motives (not freeze them or keep them maxed out forever) just before they leave for work that isn't so horrendously silly looking that it needs to be deleted/re-purchased whenever I need to use it. Right now I am using the InSim Motive Adjuster sectional disguised to look like a trash can (the real one has been moved from the curb to behind the house where it belongs) which blends in quite nicely with any residential lot.

As I am a fan of the less-intrusive OBJ version of InSim there is a decent possibility that it (at least the Motive Adjuster part) might just be okay for FT, at least for the little amount I use it. Couldn't find any talk about it- or FT at all- on the InSim site though...

[Hokieman]

Zirconia Wolf, I know what you mean. I'm hoping Eric does get around to getting an updated Insim out. That's the only reason I haven't loaded FT yet.

[Zirconia Wolf]

Yeah. InSim is kinda stopping me right now to.

With InTeen & SimPE already updated (darn, THAT was fast!) I was just about to throw caution to the wind & install FT...until I remembered my precious Motive Adjuster, which is something of a necessity for me as I have become a fan of that cool Time Control Clock & need a way to counter the semi-strangeness it causes in the motive decay area.

I like the cool "trash can" look.

It's a lot neater than- for instance- a huge black box with the friggen Batman logo slapped on it. (Not that that box isn't something I use. It just doesn't stay on the lot for long!)

Also, I see that the Offical Maxis FT Patch has been temporarily pulled for technical problems.

So I guess I need to wait a little longer....

[Miros1]

I put a trashcan surround around my trashcan at the back of the lot and put the box based items in there too. Makes them a little hard to click, but better that than the huge ugly boxes in the yard!

[Greg]

I just put the boxes in the attic.

[Zirconia Wolf]

Most the pre-made Maxian houses don't have attics, or even basements for that matter.

Anyway, it's still a friggen Batman box! Plus, it comes from the bad place & I always feel kinda guilty using it...

On the "things are looking up" side, I see that TwoJeffs SimBlender A) pretty much does exactly what I used to use InSim to do, B) is available in a Free Time compatible version & C) looks like a benign potted ficus plant.

So if Maxis would simply re-post the Free Time patch, maybe I could get back to spending way to much time on the PC again. (With a SecuRom free no-cd exe, of course!)

[Greg]

Yeah. What I really meant was that if the house has a sloping roof, I use 'move_objects on' to put boxes in the area under the roof. Usually I don't even put in a floor.

I have quite an armada of boxes that often end up in houses. Most of them are for controlling sims' expressions and stuff, which I use a lot for making screen shots for stories.

Another habit I have gotten into is to put a one-square linoleum tile up there, always using the black-and-white checkerboard, and put the ceiling tile controller on it. That makes it a lot easier to find the controller when I want to make ceiling tiles visible.

[Miros1]

I put in a floor, but I do that too. I wonder if I could use the OFB shelves to stack them 2 high; I have Numenor's hack that lets almost anything fit on an OFB display.

[Kaylyn]

I finally installed Free Time, and have the most recent version of InSim OBJ edition, and report zero problems so far. Granted, no new FT goodies in it of course. But the main thing I use it for is synching family ages in my SimCity neighborhood, and a few age transitions here and there, as well as summoning Sims when I don't feel like waiting for them to get out of school/off work. So unless you do anything really complex with InSim, and maybe even if you do, I doubt you'll have any problems. Of course, make a backup first so if you bork it completely you won't lose anything as of where you're at right now.

[Zirconia Wolf]

I figured that the OBJ version of InSim might just be okay the way it is right now.

Actually, that's one of the main reasons I "down-graded" to it from the SIM version...well, that & the fact that I don't really like to play with "all cheats enabled at all times", so to speak. Like you, I tend to use InSim rather sparingly.

(I do my "major" tweaking with SimPE now.)