Sounds like a winner to me.

Kewl. I thought the added simoleons was a nice touch, too.

Yup, earendil uses an empty lot, very handy because the lots they use are very cheap, 900 to 1600 simoleons, nice for a new start with a money cheat. The really cool part is their C-3P0 (so I guess the others, as well) comes out of the family bin (after being moved off of the empty lot) with about 50,000 simoleons. Not a bad addition.

Over on MTS2, a creator, earendil, packages sims on empty lots, when you download them they show up in the houses/lots bin. To get the sim into your game you place the lot in your neighborhood, move the sim from there to the family bin, then you move it to whatever lot you want. So far, different servos are the only thing I've seen that creator do, but it might be worth visiting the site and trying to contact that creator. Perhaps they can help.

Thanks, Odessa. I gotta go back to work now, anyway.

Make sure they are not "painting" type paintings as opposed to wall paintings you buy. Try using the easle for custom paintings and see if they show up there. Or just look in the paintings sub-folder. Beyond that, I haven't a clue, I've not experienced this particular problem.

Sometimes the cache files get hosed. Try deleting groups.cache and accessories.cache files. The game will rebuild them when you start it up.

Oh my, I've had to do that before, and it is tedious. The only suggestion I can offer it to add them back a few (say 10) at a time and check to see when the game crashes. As each group runs OK, transfer them into a high-order download sub-folder. I use @downloads, which makes it load first most of the time. Also try to put different categories into different sub-folders when you can. Such as clothing, hair, makeup, etc. It really helps. I also put all the hacks into a sub-folder called zhacks, makes it easy to remove them all for subsequent installations.

I posted this on another part of this site (freetime problems) in response to a similar problem.
 

It should. When I went up to 512 MB on a video card and 2 GB ram with a 2.4 GB dual processor, it runs almost normal. That's the laptop. The PC also has 2 GB ram with a 1.6 GB processor and 256 MB on the video card, and with large houses and families of 12 or so, actually once the occupancy goes over 6, it gets pretty jerky, really bad with the large families. So, computer power is a must because you are exactly correct, The Sims 2 is a definite pig on resources. Shall we dub it Mega-Pig?

I've noted with my own that it sometimes (particularly when first booted) takes a long time to load. During the black screen I can see the disk files working happily away loading the necessary programs. Autorun went away for sims some time ago, now you can only start through the desktop icon. I admit it takes me a bit of patience sometimes.

I'll probably get it this week-end, as well. But I, too, will wait to install it until the mods/hacks are updated, and (of course) bug fixes are out.

 
One possibility that I've seen used is to get the creator of the sim to move their sim into a vacant lot and then upload the lot along with the sim. You can then move the sim into the family bin and then into whatever lot you wish. I've seen this technique used with several servo characters, such as C-3P0, E-3P0, and a Cylon Centurion. I've used the C-3P0 one with no problems. I've not had the CAS problem you describe and am at a loss if what EKozski, Joy, and Tenshii suggested hasn't worked. Those folks know what they are doing.

And amen to that, Tenshii. I have been hoping that, given the ever-growing computer power, the games and the graphics would steadily improve. Oh well. Some of the older games are being re-done with good results. For example, an old Sid Meier game "Colonization" is being re-written with upgraded graphics and made available free. It is being written in JAVA, of all things. It can be found at freecol.org. I've added that to my laptop, as well. It was one of my favorite games. Long on play, strategy, etc., kinda lacking in the graphics department, though.

I would have thought that the step up from Sims2 to Sims3 would be as dramatic as from Sims1 to Sims2 (I still play 1 every now and again), but it appears that is not the case. I've so much loaded for 2 that I will likely let the Sims3 dog lie and sleep for a while until it has gotten a good shake-down from experienced simmers and then decide whether or not to invest in it. Pretty graphics is a real plus for a game, but ever improving content and play experience is just as important.

 
I've started putting my disk 1 in a cheap CD case from Target/Wal-Mart/CVS, where ever. Makes it so much easier to take out and store for protection when playing and after. It also takes up less room in my laptop case.