Yet ANOTHER Sims 2 EP????? - Page 2

Kaylyn · 04-11-2008, 07:52 PM

It's been my experience that whenever anything goes wrong, the first thing to do is shut off Norton. Usually it fixes the problem. :P I won't ever touch the program myself, but I do a lot of troubleshooting for others, and 99% of the time it's more of a nuisance than a help.

Edit: Oh, and about the patch stuff. To rehash what everyone's been saying, the first time you create custom clothing with the sewing machine, it doesn't create some new file like it *should*. It actually overwrites the objects.package file (I think). When you try to install patch, file size has changed, patch goes wonky. Sure, you can change the files to readonly, but when you create that custom outfit, it will disappear next time you load the game because the game was unable to save it properly. I'm hanging back, waiting on a fixed patch or critical rewrite or whatever Maxis comes up with before even making any custom clothes.

Sita · 04-11-2008, 09:28 PM

I don't get it. I am sposed to change ALL the package files to read-only? ALL? I mean there are rather a lot... one at a time? eeeek

Kaylyn · 04-11-2008, 09:51 PM

You can search in the Program Files/EA Games folder for .package, then highlight all the package files at once, right click, and click the Read Only box until it shows a check mark (that means all are checked; a square means some are checked but not all). That'll take care of them all at once.

Greg · 04-11-2008, 11:29 PM

Rose put a tutorial somewhere around here that shows how to do it all in one swell foop.

Zirconia Wolf · 05-17-2008, 02:46 PM

Just came across this little picture of an apartment from Apartment Life that one of the Maxoids posted on the BBS & thought I would pass it along for anyone interested.

http://thesims2.ea.com/images/news/ApartmentLife_1.jpg

Yes, that's an actual ceiling you see!! You will now not only have ceilings, but also be able to change there textures & such. (I'll be the first to confess that the whole ceiling option is almost enough to make me get AL the day it's released...but I think I'll still let the modders give it the once-over first! I may be a lemming, but I'm a semi-smart lemming! )

The other thing that leaps out at me is the jagged edges in the photo, indicating that the Maxoids are playing this thing with smooth edges set off. I find this curious, as my edges are set to the highest smoothing level. In fact I have my graphic options pretty much maxed out with no ill effects which makes me wonder what kind of PC are those Maxoids playing this thing on??

-ZW

Miros1 · 05-17-2008, 04:41 PM

This is Maxis. You think they give their employees decent machines?

Zirconia Wolf · 05-17-2008, 09:19 PM

Actually, given the way they instantly fall back on the "make sure you PC specs are up to par" line whenever anyone posts about game issues, I thought they had solid gold super computers. After that screen shot I will no longer worry about whether or not AL will run on my PC!

On the plus side, this picture does seem to mean they are actually playing this EP, which seems to be a first for them...

-ZW

Greg · 05-18-2008, 12:11 AM

Oh my! Ceilings! There some really nice stuff there, too. Yup, it just might be worth it to install Apartment Life, especially if they have a better way to do ceilings that placing one furshlugginer tile at a time!

Miros1 · 05-18-2008, 06:09 AM

Just think how much stuff they swiped from various creators and mauled around so it only half works...

homerette · 05-18-2008, 06:11 AM

I wonder if EA is going to wait on introducing the new, even worse version of SecuROM until Sims 3? If not, count me out. After the let-down of K&B, I'm a tad gun shy, again.

Greg · 05-18-2008, 01:35 PM

Yeah, obviously I am, too. I still haven't installed anything that has SecuROM in it.

Hokieman · 05-18-2008, 05:57 PM

Homerette, is it the same SecurROM as on BV, Teen stuff and FT? For some reason, I've never had any of the reported problems with SecureROM so it doesn't bother me. Of course, I had just done a full reinstall on my 'puter from the OS up then reinstalled all the Sims 2 stuff so my machine was pretty vanilla at the time. Still haven't installed Teen, FT and K&B. Been waiting on Eric to release the new version of Insim.

Greg · 05-18-2008, 06:11 PM

That's a good point! A compatible version of the Insimenator is an absolute requirement for any expansion pack that I would install.

Naive question: What are Teen, FT, and K&B?

Hokieman · 05-18-2008, 06:21 PM

Greg, they are: Teen Style Stuff pack, Free Time expansion pack, Kitchen and Bath Interior Design Stuff pack. The BV version of Insim also covers Teen stuff but I haven't installed it yet because of a weird problem. For some reason, my game does not update right for the stuff packs. Been going on since Seasons. When I add a stuff pack after an EP, it keeps asking for the EP disk rather than the stuff pack disk so I just wait until the next EP comes out, load the stuff packs then the EP. I thought it might be a side effect of SecureROM, but it happened when I did a full install on a vanilla machine.

Miros1 · 05-18-2008, 06:39 PM

Greg, didn't you actually have Teen Style at one point, and returned it because of SecuROM?

Hokieman, I think that's actually a feature. If there's nothing in the Stuff Pack that requires a code change, the pack doesn't include an updated executable and just runs off the old EP disk.

According to fan legend, the SPs are made by interns, so I wouldn't want them changing the code. On the other hand, can it be any worse than the code that actually gets released?

Greg · 05-18-2008, 06:44 PM

Yes, I believe it was Teen Style that went back to the store becaues of SecuROM.

For quite some time now I have been wondering just how dangerous SecuROM is. If I'm reading things correctly, it only affects software that's designed to override whatever it is that's supposed to prevent you from making a copy of copyrighted CD. Since I don't steal copyrighted material, that might not even be an issue, though any software that modifies Microsoft's operating system still scares the willies out of me.

Hokieman · 05-18-2008, 06:55 PM

Rose, It started when I tried to install Celebration Stuff. Prior to that, when I installed an SP, it would ask for the SP disk (like Glamour stuff). Ok, maybe they changed something, but when I did a full reinstall on a vanilla computer, it did it on the earlier SPs except Family Fun. So, I'm not so sure that it was something planned. Holiday stuff was the one SP that may have been designed that way.

Miros1 · 05-18-2008, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg

Yes, I believe it was Teen Style that went back to the store becaues of SecuROM.

For quite some time now I have been wondering just how dangerous SecuROM is. If I'm reading things correctly, it only affects software that's designed to override whatever it is that's supposed to prevent you from making a copy of copyrighted CD. Since I don't steal copyrighted material, that might not even be an issue, though any software that modifies Microsoft's operating system still scares the willies out of me.

People that I know aren't hysterics have reported that the software overachieves and prevents you from burning anything to a CD. That scares the willies out of me too! There are also intermittent reports that the drive won't read CDs and/or DVDs after the operating system has been contaminated with SecuROM.

SecuROM also "burps" and starts refusing to recognize your legal disk. Some people have this problem from the minute they install software contaminated with SecuROM. The only fix for this that I've ever heard of is to change your Launcher icon to run the Sims 2 executable instead of the Launcher executable. Hubby's nephew had to do this with Oblivion as well.

If I get anything with SecuROM, I'll be using Shorty's method with the cracked executable. Hubby whines, but we're both using my computer, so he can just deal!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hokieman

Rose, It started when I tried to install Celebration Stuff. Prior to that, when I installed an SP, it would ask for the SP disk (like Glamour stuff). Ok, maybe they changed something, but when I did a full reinstall on a vanilla computer, it did it on the earlier SPs except Family Fun. So, I'm not so sure that it was something planned. Holiday stuff was the one SP that may have been designed that way.

Hm, I installed Celebration Stuff and Glamour Stuff after the next EP was already out, so I can't vouch for their behavior. I have heard that the latest couple SPs were designed to run off the "newest" EP executable. Known non-hysterical people told me this too. Holiday Stuff was definitely designed that way.

Zirconia Wolf · 05-19-2008, 03:07 AM

Yes, the therory behind SecuROM is that it would only stop "bad guys" from making illegal copies of stuff.

Thing is, for MANY MANY people it prevents burning anything to a CD at all. It does this by completely disabling any CD writing drives and/or software you may have. This is not random ranting or panicky speculation; it happened to my very own sister about 3 months ago.

Never mind that you use you burner to make copies of your personal digital photos (taken with your own digital camera) or even to make backups of things you don't want to lose if your PC decides to bite the dust; sorry, no can do. Those backups & pictures (or whatever) important to your business? Well, to bad for you.

Oh, & just for good measure, should you try to remove SecuROM by uninstalling the game that gave it to you you will be happy to know that SecuROM will stay firmly behind, bravely continuing to keep you from making copies of those Christmas party pictures you took last year. The pirated game makers however can continue as normal.

Does this happen to everybody? Obviously not...but the fact is it has happened to lots of people.

And that is enough for many gamers (myself included) to tell SecuROM to suck eggs.

-ZW

Greg · 05-19-2008, 03:14 AM

Yup, that's what I've heard. If SecuROM is really that bad, I would expect there to be a class action suit against the people who publish it as well as anyone who distributes it, such as EA. They can put what they want to in license agreements; those words won't protect them from charges of gross negligence or malicious behavior.

The point being that if EA is knowlingly distributing software that is as bad as described here, they are criminally negligent and subject to prosecution.

04-11-2008, 07:52 PM	#21
Kaylyn Rescuer of Kittens Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Shreveport/Bossier City, LA Posts: 125	It's been my experience that whenever anything goes wrong, the first thing to do is shut off Norton. Usually it fixes the problem. :P I won't ever touch the program myself, but I do a lot of troubleshooting for others, and 99% of the time it's more of a nuisance than a help. Edit: Oh, and about the patch stuff. To rehash what everyone's been saying, the first time you create custom clothing with the sewing machine, it doesn't create some new file like it should. It actually overwrites the objects.package file (I think). When you try to install patch, file size has changed, patch goes wonky. Sure, you can change the files to readonly, but when you create that custom outfit, it will disappear next time you load the game because the game was unable to save it properly. I'm hanging back, waiting on a fixed patch or critical rewrite or whatever Maxis comes up with before even making any custom clothes. Last edited by Kaylyn : 04-11-2008 at 08:03 PM.

04-11-2008, 11:29 PM	#24
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Rose put a tutorial somewhere around here that shows how to do it all in one swell foop. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

05-17-2008, 02:46 PM	#25
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Just came across this little picture of an apartment from Apartment Life that one of the Maxoids posted on the BBS & thought I would pass it along for anyone interested. http://thesims2.ea.com/images/news/ApartmentLife_1.jpg Yes, that's an actual ceiling you see!! You will now not only have ceilings, but also be able to change there textures & such. (I'll be the first to confess that the whole ceiling option is almost enough to make me get AL the day it's released...but I think I'll still let the modders give it the once-over first! I may be a lemming, but I'm a semi-smart lemming! ) The other thing that leaps out at me is the jagged edges in the photo, indicating that the Maxoids are playing this thing with smooth edges set off. I find this curious, as my edges are set to the highest smoothing level. In fact I have my graphic options pretty much maxed out with no ill effects which makes me wonder what kind of PC are those Maxoids playing this thing on?? -ZW __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution!

05-17-2008, 09:19 PM	#27
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Actually, given the way they instantly fall back on the "make sure you PC specs are up to par" line whenever anyone posts about game issues, I thought they had solid gold super computers. After that screen shot I will no longer worry about whether or not AL will run on my PC! On the plus side, this picture does seem to mean they are actually playing this EP, which seems to be a first for them... -ZW __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution! Last edited by Zirconia Wolf : 05-17-2008 at 09:20 PM. Reason: removed non-working quote

05-18-2008, 12:11 AM	#28
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Oh my! Ceilings! There some really nice stuff there, too. Yup, it just might be worth it to install Apartment Life, especially if they have a better way to do ceilings that placing one furshlugginer tile at a time! __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

04-11-2008, 09:28 PM	#22
Sita Solar Max Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: England Posts: 371	I don't get it. I am sposed to change ALL the package files to read-only? ALL? I mean there are rather a lot... one at a time? eeeek

04-11-2008, 09:51 PM	#23
Kaylyn Rescuer of Kittens Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Shreveport/Bossier City, LA Posts: 125	You can search in the Program Files/EA Games folder for .package, then highlight all the package files at once, right click, and click the Read Only box until it shows a check mark (that means all are checked; a square means some are checked but not all). That'll take care of them all at once.

05-17-2008, 04:41 PM	#26
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	This is Maxis. You think they give their employees decent machines?

05-18-2008, 06:09 AM	#29
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Just think how much stuff they swiped from various creators and mauled around so it only half works... __________________ A game that horrible Odessa-person introduced me to: http://www.puzzlepirates.com/?affili...163251&lang=en I'm spreading the addiction by corrupting all my friends (and attempting to make in-game money when they try the game).

05-18-2008, 06:11 AM	#30
homerette Day late & a dollar short Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: central VA Posts: 206	I wonder if EA is going to wait on introducing the new, even worse version of SecuROM until Sims 3? If not, count me out. After the let-down of K&B, I'm a tad gun shy, again. __________________ May the roof above us never fall in, and may we friends gathered below never fall out.

05-18-2008, 01:35 PM	#31
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Yeah, obviously I am, too. I still haven't installed anything that has SecuROM in it. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

05-18-2008, 05:57 PM	#32
Hokieman Solar Max Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 520	Homerette, is it the same SecurROM as on BV, Teen stuff and FT? For some reason, I've never had any of the reported problems with SecureROM so it doesn't bother me. Of course, I had just done a full reinstall on my 'puter from the OS up then reinstalled all the Sims 2 stuff so my machine was pretty vanilla at the time. Still haven't installed Teen, FT and K&B. Been waiting on Eric to release the new version of Insim.

05-18-2008, 06:11 PM	#33
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	That's a good point! A compatible version of the Insimenator is an absolute requirement for any expansion pack that I would install. Naive question: What are Teen, FT, and K&B? __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

05-18-2008, 06:21 PM	#34
Hokieman Solar Max Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 520	Greg, they are: Teen Style Stuff pack, Free Time expansion pack, Kitchen and Bath Interior Design Stuff pack. The BV version of Insim also covers Teen stuff but I haven't installed it yet because of a weird problem. For some reason, my game does not update right for the stuff packs. Been going on since Seasons. When I add a stuff pack after an EP, it keeps asking for the EP disk rather than the stuff pack disk so I just wait until the next EP comes out, load the stuff packs then the EP. I thought it might be a side effect of SecureROM, but it happened when I did a full install on a vanilla machine.

05-18-2008, 06:39 PM	#35
Miros1 Goddess for Life Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: NY State Posts: 3,303	Greg, didn't you actually have Teen Style at one point, and returned it because of SecuROM? Hokieman, I think that's actually a feature. If there's nothing in the Stuff Pack that requires a code change, the pack doesn't include an updated executable and just runs off the old EP disk. According to fan legend, the SPs are made by interns, so I wouldn't want them changing the code. On the other hand, can it be any worse than the code that actually gets released? __________________ A game that horrible Odessa-person introduced me to: http://www.puzzlepirates.com/?affili...163251&lang=en I'm spreading the addiction by corrupting all my friends (and attempting to make in-game money when they try the game).

05-18-2008, 06:44 PM	#36
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Yes, I believe it was Teen Style that went back to the store becaues of SecuROM. For quite some time now I have been wondering just how dangerous SecuROM is. If I'm reading things correctly, it only affects software that's designed to override whatever it is that's supposed to prevent you from making a copy of copyrighted CD. Since I don't steal copyrighted material, that might not even be an issue, though any software that modifies Microsoft's operating system still scares the willies out of me. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?

05-18-2008, 06:55 PM	#37
Hokieman Solar Max Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 520	Rose, It started when I tried to install Celebration Stuff. Prior to that, when I installed an SP, it would ask for the SP disk (like Glamour stuff). Ok, maybe they changed something, but when I did a full reinstall on a vanilla computer, it did it on the earlier SPs except Family Fun. So, I'm not so sure that it was something planned. Holiday stuff was the one SP that may have been designed that way.

05-19-2008, 03:07 AM	#39
Zirconia Wolf Reticulated MoonBat Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: My trusty computer in Issaquah WA, USA. Posts: 848	Yes, the therory behind SecuROM is that it would only stop "bad guys" from making illegal copies of stuff. Thing is, for MANY MANY people it prevents burning anything to a CD at all. It does this by completely disabling any CD writing drives and/or software you may have. This is not random ranting or panicky speculation; it happened to my very own sister about 3 months ago. Never mind that you use you burner to make copies of your personal digital photos (taken with your own digital camera) or even to make backups of things you don't want to lose if your PC decides to bite the dust; sorry, no can do. Those backups & pictures (or whatever) important to your business? Well, to bad for you. Oh, & just for good measure, should you try to remove SecuROM by uninstalling the game that gave it to you you will be happy to know that SecuROM will stay firmly behind, bravely continuing to keep you from making copies of those Christmas party pictures you took last year. The pirated game makers however can continue as normal. Does this happen to everybody? Obviously not...but the fact is it has happened to lots of people. And that is enough for many gamers (myself included) to tell SecuROM to suck eggs. -ZW __________________ Long Live All Wild Canines! Leader Of The Moon-Bat Revolution!

05-19-2008, 03:14 AM	#40
Greg Da Guy Wut Owns Dis Joint Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Texas Posts: 3,566	Yup, that's what I've heard. If SecuROM is really that bad, I would expect there to be a class action suit against the people who publish it as well as anyone who distributes it, such as EA. They can put what they want to in license agreements; those words won't protect them from charges of gross negligence or malicious behavior. The point being that if EA is knowlingly distributing software that is as bad as described here, they are criminally negligent and subject to prosecution. __________________ Who are all these people and what do they know?