Insimenator.org

I have been experiencing all manner of problems with my game in the past few weeks, and I finally discovered what the problem is.

Body Shop is including a whole copy of the Sims06.package from the base game with Sims packaged with some version of Body Shop.

I checked random Sims on the Exchange, TSR, MTS2, and InSIM. It appears to be a wide-spread post Bon Voyage bug. *oh joy! more evidence they did not one god damned test of this software before they shipped it to market*

You will need to use Sims2Pack Clean Installer to locate the "no category" files with junk-code name (e.g., b18484e15a91c5a039d61f635d15d7c3.package), the file size will be about 6.8 MB, double check the file in SimPE, and you will easily see that this is indeed the Sims06.package.

Delphy's Download Organiser -- an otherwise relable and useful tool -- was of no benefit in identifying these files, however it did give false positives on a wide number of "duplicates" that weren't duplicates, no doubt because of the freak occurance of 41 copies of the Sims06.package file being in the mix.

I just deleted 41 copies of this file! The presence of 41 un-needed copies of the Sims06.package did NOT help my game play better! *way to go you dullards at EA/Maxis*

I also ended up deleting over 300 redundant copies of meshes *a joy of the post-Pets Body Shop - EA/Maxis retards at work again* (which was made more problematic by the junk-code renaming and JFade's compression thing changing the checksum number) - this is insane and wasteful! The presence of 328 un-needed copies of custom meshes I already had installed did NOT help my game play better! *way to go you dullards at EA/Maxis*

SO after 28 cumulative hours of crawling through 1000s of files, my game is sane again.

Someone needs to slap the development team at EA toothless. Death to EA/Maxis! Hanging's too good for 'em!  Burning's to good for 'em!  We need to just kill them to death a lot even! :rant:

Edit - Marvine points out that 1) i need more sleep and 2) the file I keep calling Sims05.package is actually Sims06.package -- I cannot fault here data on either.... talk about error propagation.

You have suddenly made me VERY HAPPY that I do not yet have 'Bon Voyage.'

Thanks for the warning.

:jaw:

I second what Cocytus said.  My game has bad enough issues with all the content I have.  :oogle:

Wow, what a blow to the head this is, on top of the SecuROM fiasco at that! Now, while I do have BV installed and am yet to experience any issues, this is certainly making me consider uninstalling...And here I was, thinking that EA games had cleaned up their act after the Pets EP BodyShop backwards-compatability disaster...

Wow what a pain in the ass. I too noticed the Sims05.package file/files while sorting and organizing my files but thought nothing of it, thought it was something added when installing the pre-order items?. EAxis really screwed up big time, with this and the respawning and lousy anti-piracy software securom. Thanks for pointing them out, now i know its safe to delete them.

well thanks for this, my game has started BSOD again so this may help. I BV but I'm really tired of the bugs that come with each new EP

Oh my goodness. I had noticed some odd extra files in my s2ps, but I'd deleted them with clean installer, not knowing what they were. I'll remember this when I'm itching to get the new EP next time. *rolls eyes*

Thanks for this notice. I did a search in my sims 2 folder and found one. It was 6.6 MB.  I don't download too many sims in my game, but it is good to know about the file, cause I considered uploading sims from my game and will be watching out for that file when I package my sims. Wow!

Does this only happen to people who have come in contact with BV? I don't have BV and I only have a few pre-BV downloads and that's it...

I found the file thank you sooo much for the info, I have to agree kill them all anything else is just too good for the little roaches!!!

AjaAja - at the moment, the bug seems to be limted to Sims packaged with the version of Body Shop that is installed by Bon Voyage EP; the file it includes (id est, Sims05.package) is one of the base game's root file for Maxis meshes that everyone already has installed (otherwise the game won't work).  But as you will read below, it may spread like a virus to non-BV versions of the game fairly quickly.

The problem is one that Sim-makers need to be aware of, and a problem downloaders of Sims need to guard against.  For instance, when I went to the Exchange, all of the sims I downloaded were labelled as requiring only the basic game or those EPs which I have installed (I do not have Bon Voyage or Pets EPs installed and did not re-install any of the stuff packs on this latest re-install) - but upon close inspection of the files the Sims2Packs that contained the duplicate Sims05.package were all made with Bon Voyage EP's Body Shop and carry the Bon Voyage EP version stamp.

The chief hazard is that this file is almost always renamed in the Sims2Pack to some bizarre name of letters and numbers, and is not easily differentiated from a mesh that has already passed through Body Shop's renaming process.  The bizarre number-and-letters name is not a way to identify the file.  I had three files named b18484e15a91c5a039d61f635d15d7c3:

b18484e15a91c5a039d61f635d15d7c3.package <-- Sims06.package renamed
b18484e15a91c5a039d61f635d15d7c3_0001.package <-- a recolour of Kavar's Edge hair
b18484e15a91c5a039d61f635d15d7c3_0002.package <-- a custom object recolour

The file was renamed 41 unique names in my Downloads folder and was of different sizes and MD5 checksum numbers -- I can only assume that the various game patches and JFade's The Compressorizer! account for the different sizes and checksums.

I located 1000s of Sims in Sims2Pack files on the Exchange, MTS2, TSR, InSIM, and other sites that all have this file inside the Sims2Pack.  In one instance, I found a Sims2Pack with a file size over 18 MB with 3 copies of the file in it.  The bug operates like a virus, a trojan in fact, spreading the infection to subsequent installations of the game and raising the risk that any Sims2Pack'ed sim you create subsequently may include the redundant file.

I think this risk may be limited to persons with Pets EP, Seasons, EP, and Bon Voyage EP, because these versions of the game install a Body Shop that includes meshes, and the Sims05.package file constitutes a portion of Maxis meshes.  I checked Sims2Packs I created with my Seasons EP Body Shop and the file had propagated into the Sims2Pack from my downloads folder.

So if this bug isn't fixed with great urgency, then very soon this issue will proliferate like a virus accross the entire on-line sims community resulting in potential problems for all Simmers.

WTF is wrong with the freaks at EA?!

O.K. so what should i look for and delete.UM...in laymans terms .Thank you if you could help me.

:pale:  Aw, man... not Seasons, too!  I'd better check my stuff just to be on the safe side... :?

I´ve found it also in my DL Folder,a pretty while ago already, but at a moment when I had nearly nothing inside yet, since I´ve restarted with BV. I´ve deleted it at once, wondering wth it was. Thanks to you, now I know! I´m glad I only have identifiable files in my DL, so I can throw out all the filthy dirt at once! ;)

dreamcatcher - there isn't a layman's terms version on this one, I had to visually inspect every file that Sims2Pack Clean Installer didn't give a category/type in SimPE to properly identify all the redundant files.  This was not a fast process with more than 6 gigabytes of downloads.

I don't know how to make the process any less complex or less technical when the tools we would normally use to diagnose duplicates appear to be unable to differentiate between the multiple copies of the files.

In the case of the Sims06.package it is a file roughly 6.8 MB in size, and if you open the file with SimPE it will contain several 100 CRES (Resource Node) files.

I contacted EA and was told to "install the patch" for Bon Voyage, even though I do not have Bon Voyage installed and made that fact abundantly clear in my communication.  I have to say, this is typical of every interacton I have ever had wih EA.  If my complaint is ever passed along to an engineer, it will be too late.

Sheesh... I'm glad I used S2CI to re-package my latest sims. I'll have to keep my eyes peeled, thanks for the info.

I am really hating EA games right now and the sims 2 creators.Now probably thousands of people are having the same problem :( but we could just complain by calling the EA game sims 2 help number.They probably will do the same with the following EP's to come and probably Sims 3.I always make sure I wait at least a month before I buy a new EP.I bought Celebrations and H&M Fashions and I couldn't install H&M it just didn't work.I hope they start checking for problems and have them tell us the truth about it all.

Thanks for the warning. I have yet to create or install any sims since BV came out, lol I have been too busy troubleshooting other problems, but I appreciate your info. I hope they address this issue timely but I am not holding my breath! This company needs to start taking responsibility for their ignorance.

I'm slow today, too much cramming.

Whats wrong with bodyshop? When you package a sim you package some random file? Am I right or is this wrong. lol

Thanks for the heads-up.  This makes the second (and by far the more serious) BodyShop issue I've seen crop up with BV, which I would say is now pretty much uncontested for the title of Buggiest Piece-Of-Crap EP to date... :p

People still actually *USE* the default package installer? Isn't that a piece of known epic fail that produces mangled, unintelligible filenames and anyone who uses it deserves whatever crap is bestowed upon them for it?

Hmm, Beos, are you sure the extraneous file you're getting is actually Sims05.package?  Because in my game that file is only 367 KB and contains only an NMAP and a bunch of SHPE's, no CRES's.  Could something else have gotten squished in with it or misnamed?

Hrm... Well, the compression tool should compress the file exactly the same every time, it's not like an algorithm that varies or anything. As long as the duplicate meshes are all compressed, they should still have the same checksum IF the meshes are each in standalone files. I can understand that the checksums would be different if one mesh was bundled in the same package as a recolor and then the original, standalone mesh package would have a different checksum, but otherwise I don't know why they'd have a different checksum. Unless, of course, the Bodyshop changes the meshes when it bundles them in some way or otherwise screws things up.

Sounds like the problem though is especially bad for Mac users as they don't HAVE another way to install Sims2Packs, they can ONLY use the installer that comes with the game. And, assuming that Aspyr uses the same Bodyshop code, their Bodyshop probably has this same stupid bug and they have no way to clean anything they create...

Stupid EAxis.

Can I post some of this information over at the official BBS?  I would like to see them answer this.  I will state that I found this at insim and direct people how to find the full thread and just copy and paste relevant parts that I will make clear I did not write.

Pescado - I discovered the file using Sims2Pack Clean Installer to install Sims2Packs, all one sees in S2PCI is an alpha-numeric garbage name and no more clear an indication of the nature of the file than any other thing S2PCI doesn't readily identify (i.e., hair meshes, fence files, etc). I cannot attest for the soundness of bowel or brain of those persons who created the Sims that also contained these bad files), I can only report my findings faithfully to the data.  And as jfade mentions, you can hardly fault Mac-users for not being able to use software they cannot run.

AmberDiceless - my search was pretty limited even if I checked an mind-numbing number of Sims2Packs.  I can not guess what file your search yielded.  I have seen several damaged meshes and fragmentary files, but I simply deleted those as corrupted files I associated with the known bugs in lot packages and didn't think they were associated with this bug -- I could be wrong.

Edit - Marvine points out that 1) i need more sleep and 2) the file I keep calling Sims05.package is actually Sims06.package -- I cannot fault her data on either.

jfade - allow me to clarify, the role I suggest your Compressoriser plays in this is: person A installs a Sims2Pack containing this problematic file, then subsequently runs Compressoriser, person B installs a 2nd Sims2Pack with the same file but a different resultant name for the same file, the both upload a new Sim each with the same file, one compressed with a different MD5 Checksum number than the uncompressed one.  The result is a non-match in a S2PCI scan for duplicates.

Paleoanth - feel free, post away.  If any good comes of this, then so much the better.

Let me repeat: I tested files for a the presence of a single file I knew was a problem.  As others have already expressed in this thread, my findings are not without corroboration.  I didn't expand my scope beyond this search.  If the BV Body Shop is adding random junk to the Sims2Pack, it wouldn't surprise me.  My chief concern is that these bad files once in the downloads folder may propogate into any subsequent Sims2Pack made with Body Shop and, as we all know, Simmers download passionately and excessively as a rule, so the potential rate of growth of this problem is exponential.

My brain is ready to catch fire and collapse from staring at file after file in Sims2Pack Clean Installer and SimPE, so please forgive me if I seen incoherent. my English is not working as I would hope. Пошел в жопу распиздяй EA! жертвы аборта!

Dr Pixel mentioned that the Pets EP Body Shop demonstrated a similar bug, he couldn't remember where he had seen the reports, but it makes sense to me.  He also asked if a copy of the sims mesh component files (i.e., Sims##.package) had been added to the Downloads folder at some point, would they subsequently be copied into Sims2Packs.

I manually copied the all of the Sims##.package files to the Downloads folder, then went about making sims.

It was unpredicatable, but the Season EP version of Body Shop (Pets and Bon Voyage NOT installed) did add any or all of the copied Sims##.packages.  In fact, I soon discovered that there was even a chance that any default replacement package might be included from the Downloads or SavedSims folders.  It was not every time, but often enough to see that a risk was high for this even without Pets or Bon Voyage.

Because I used Sims2Pack Clean Installer, I was able to see the files with their original names.  I think that this was the case because these are "first generation" files.

I went on to install the Sims2Packs with the game's native Package Installer, this resulted in the files getting a junk-code name.  I then made a second set of sims and packaged them in Sims2Packs.

this 2nd generation set of files variously included none, one, or all associated files -- id est, the files with sims##.package or the junk-code named version of the same file.

installing them with the game's native Package Installer, now third generation names appeared.  I repeated the cycle of making sims and installing them to the fifth generation; I now had a variety of files with junk-code names, all of them duplicates of the Sims##.packages - but easily identified as duplicates with Sims2Pack Clean Installer.

I compressed half of these files with JFade's The Compressoriser!

Now the files broke into two sets of identified duplicates.   The first set identified as duplicates of the un-compressed versions; the second set identified as duplicates of the compressed versions.

I inspected all of the files with Sims2Pack Clean Installer, only in first generation files was I able to locate the Sims##.package based on the data displayed in S2PCI.  2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th generation files had the junk-code names and no pattern in naming had evolved.

So it is apparent that the game's native Package Installer has played a role in renaming the files junk-code names at some point, but now that these files have entered the system, there was no way to easily identify them.

I did a random sampling of 200 files, 50 each from the Exchange, MTS2, InSIM, TSR; in about 60% of these downloaded Sims and Lots, files with junk-code names (i.e., 2nd generation or higher) were present regardless from which of these sites I had downloaded them.

Even if I used Sims2Pack Clean Installer, the junk-code named files would enter the downloads folder unless you were to do a user over-ride and for instance install ONLY the sim or lot segement. I don't expect many people would enjoy downloading whole sims and lots if this were the only solution.

What I have determined is this, any Sims2Pack you download (regardless from where or who) may contain junk-code named files.  Not all of these junk-code named files are duplicates of Sims##.packages, but it is clear that using Sims2Pack Clean Installer is NOT a grant-safe to identifying and avoiding duplicates of duplicates of Sims##.packages.

My advice is that you scrub your Downloads folder like a high neatness sim with 10 pips of cleaning skill, and either not install any downloaded Sims2Pack at all, or extract the files to a secure location and visually inspect EVERY file with SimPE to determine if it is a duplicate of one of the Sims##.pakages (or some other un-needed file).

Ok if I pull up Clean Installer, where should I search and what am I looking for?

Tabatha - you are looking for files named anything with no category

you should:

(http://www.insimenator.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=98173&stc=1&d=1193010954)

as you find files with this sort of name (all random numbers and letters), right-click and "move to..." some folder where you can take your time inspecting them with SimPE.

There is no easier way - please keep in mind, some of these files may be legitmate and needed objects or clothing/hair meshes or fences, half-walls, etc - what you are looking for are files that are part of the game's installation files.

I don't recommend you just delete them all - if you aren't sure what they are - move them out of the downloads folder and see if the game explodes or something goes missing

I can't tell you a "rule" to follow - there is no one-size-fits-all solution to this

WELL! I wondered why my game was all of a sudden slow and choppy after I installed BV.
    Now is there a simple way to find these problems, like maybe a program that will root them out?
    Because I am not a progammer and wouldn't know a bogus file from good one.
          HHHHEEEEELLLLLPPPP!

Thank you so much for the explanation above. It is very helpful.

*throws flaming bag of poo at EAxis porch and knocks over their garbage can*
*sends BBB a hawt Todd-y* - no not the drink ;)
excuse my -->:spam1:

Thanks for the info Yakov, What folder would I check for this in.. I just unveiled a large project and it has alot of sims ... Oh joy!

Thanks again !

FeistyRedhead - the Downloads folder of course is the first place to start (subfolders too I guess)

the Sims2Pack installation process with the game's native installer and wth Sims2Pack Clean Installer default to the Downloads folder.

found 2 similar files but both were makup.

That's what I call bad news... (and I just had to find that out on Monday morning...).
But if I understand correct the file (sims06.package):
1) gets renamed into a random combination of letters and numbers
2) it's size will be about 6.8 MB
3) it contains several 100 CRES
4) it shows no type when opened with 'clean installer'

I now officially hate eaxis. (I now have over 10.000 files to check, thankfully I have 'clean installer' to help speed up the process...).

I have been trying to determine some means for Mac-users to go about solving this issue on their systems.  In the absence of a programme that parallels Sims2Pack Clean Installer, it appears that only using Woohoo to open all files with junk-code names for visual inspection is going to work.  This is really a miserable solution and I don't know that it will improve for Mac-users.

Mac-users that have Intel-based Macs and have the ability to dual boot into Windows may be able to use Sims2Pack Clean Installer if they can get copies of the downloads folder on to the Windows part of the system; but I wouldn't count on that being easy. Sims2Pack Clean Installer may not work in the absence of registry data for The Sims 2 in Windows - I don't know, I haven't tried.

*bitches about American working methods, deadlines and wealth-thirst*

Thanks, Yakov, for this... Makes me loath my game and wanna throw rocks over the Atlantic.

I have a question, though. Remembering that I have a small dozen of these strange named files, I opened them up in SimPE, and realized that non of them was anything like the Sims06.package. They were mostly recolours, few of them meshes, and like two were BodyShop items.
What is this?? How did these get into my folder? ...

I've noticed that most in downloading lots. I don't know what's what in build mode anymore... I so wish everything got named properly - I know it's possible, as somewhere in there are clearly labelled files >_<

So in order to keep that file out when packaging sims etc. for the community, what should /could be done?

Most people package using Body Shop with whatever XP you have. And then you can't go back because the older BS versions don't work once you install a new XP.

So is there another way to package? Or is there a work around to delete the file before packaging?

storygirl, perhaps you posted before reading the thread?

I have been putting off a major overhaul of my game. Now it looks like its time to do combat spring cleaning. Machineguns and Handgrenades anyone? I might be better off starting fresh though. I just got finished patching BV before reading this post. Thanks for the heads up Beosboxboy. I will be taking the default maxea installer off the openwith menu for sims2pack files. I have hit it by accident in sleepless stupor. I been putting in a few houses lately.

Yeah I noticed that since installing BV, bodyshop still has no options for adding jewelry to Sims.

jacki - then you are most likely "bug" free ... at least this bug.

It is a specific set of files that are the problem, the names can be anything

The only means we have of identifying them with Sims2Pack Clean Installer is by the fact they don't sort into a "known" category.  Lots of perfectly safe files also sort as a blank type: fences, custom modular stairs, hair meshes, clothing meshes, accessory meshes, some cosmetics that have been modified so they are "stack-able", even some mods and hacks.  The only accurate means of identifying the bad problem files is visual inspection with SimPE; locating the "suspect" files is what most of this thread discusses

I believe I've finally found one in my game.  (as so lovingly named:  4ed0c63a08afd1b43828327f8a8d9830.package.  Looking out for any more garbled names like it, too.)  It came up as a replacement in the Download Organizer, but I opened it with SimPE, and it has everything you mentioned in it, down to the same file size.  I'm pissed...  This could also be the very problem that's causing my female sims to have weird hair on their scalps all of a sudden.  And it's a possibility that this could also be the reason why my game crashes in certain spots in the sim and hair bins!  :slap:  

Way to go, EA.  You manage to make this game even more fun each time ya touch it!!! :angry4:  

(Luckily it's just one file and not multiple files... otherwise, I'd really be in a bad mood.  :angry7:)

thanks so much. reinstalled all my games yesterday because of a computer crash and was surprised bodyshop wouldnt work today...
thanks for letting us know how to fix it :)

Heh-I have OCD when it comes to my downloads folder, and everything has its own folder by site 1st then by set, so the only files that aren't folders in the actual downloads folder is CEP, so when I saw that 6MB file I just thought I'd downloaded some crap in error, so i just deleted it :coffee: So glad I did now!

I apologize for asking a stupid question:  How do you open a file in SimsPE?  I know how to use the Clean Installer and Delphy's organizer, but the only thing I know how to do with SimsPe is open Sims in the Sims Browswer.

KristalRose, select the line item in Download Organiser and right-click it - you should get an option saying something like "open with SimPE" -- once you see the inside of the file, you'll see something like the attached image.

Once open - the  visual cue that informs you that you are seeing a game core file and not custom content is that it contains 1500+ of one file type and very little else.  A custom default replacement you download will have a handful of similar things, but will not have several 100s.

Thank you very much for telling me how to do that.  Happilly, I do not have any of these files.  I do, however, have a lot of huge hair, skintone, and object recolor files. I'm off to clean those out.  Thanks again.  :)

Thanks Beosboxboy, for this post. I have been pulling out my hair trying to figure out what happend with my game... I cant get past my make a family screen as of Monday. I have been downloading alot lately too. I found 149 files like this... Do you think EA will reimburse me for a wig to cover my new bald spots? :lol:

the bastards probably won't - but I will share my candy with you :D

Oh thanks, you sure you wont be embarrassed to be seen with me? Here what I look like now
(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b130/Chrystalnun/cynthia_rugrats.gif) :lol:

Can I still use SimPe this way to check files with BV installed?  So far (knock on wood) I haven't had any problems, but I'm a download addict so I'd like to check and make sure.

MixedCrysy, you look no worse than I did through most of my 20s, the goth punk, deconstructionist look was so fashionable >_<

cari4003, to check files - yes - only do not use it to edit game files!

Great, thanks for the quick response.  I'll start checking this weekend.

Ok, so I have a question.  I have a really important video to make with the sims, but when I go into bodyshop to make the cast, the bodyshop window goes black.  Could that be a result of this bug?  And yes I have all expansion packs except Celebration.  I'm no wiz at this programming thing so I would really appreciate all the help I can get.

Probably not.  That might be a video card issue, Darkchyld.  :scratch:

Tenshii~Akari is right (as usual) - that does sound very much like a video card incompatability - probably the driver.  Lots of things might affect this, it may even occur randomly because of some grit or dust on the interior of the case; but almost always it is a video card issue dealing with the DirectX interfaces.

Check your system with DXDIAG (just run that from the START menu's run option)

Do all the tests and save the report to a text file - then post it in the general help section with Attenton Beosboxboy in the title.

^^ Gauw~!  I'm not always right... :oops:  Y'know, I only learn from what I've seen by looking through the help forum and reading responses from the experts.  ;)  You kinda recognize certain things after a while.  :smile bi:

Just want to say thanks so much for all the research & info! Much appreciated!

How do I post the text file?  I'm sorry, I'm not really that great at computers.  I guess you could call me moderate.  I did all the test and I saved it.  All the tests were successful if that's any insight to the problem.

Oh and I forgot to say that my game is crashing as well.  Is that still an issue with the video card?

This is so beyond ridiculous.  I have no words re EA/Maxis.  Well...maybe a few. >:(

BBB:  I always use CI to re-package my sims to make sure nothing is included that I don't want included.  Will this help to ensure that anyone downloading one of my sims will not get a random Sims06.package in their game?  I checked all my sim packages & none of them seem to have any suspect files in them.  I just want people to be able to feel safe about downloading my stuff & make sure I am not doing anything to harm their games.

Thx for all the help & advice u have given us.

-B

I'm just confused about the whole thing.  I have something really imporatant to do with these sim videos and right now is not the time I need the game to be crashing!

HoneyB - if you make sure to remove anything you don't recognise, then you are doing the right thing and your Sims are safe to share.

Darkchyld - please help keep this thread on topic by saving your outbursts for the help section :lol: I know that this is hard to understand, the game is really a tragic piece of bait-and-switch from start to finish.  EA has lied to us and used us and gleefully robbed us without a concern in the world, they could have made this game far less buggy by being more forthcoming about how it worked and helping us in the effort to make custom content; they would have benefited too by us being a great development asset.  Instead, they have chosen to see us as the competition and done little petty things to make all of this as miserable and hard as possible.

I want you think about this: I have more than 14 years working in 3D, I have worked in the gaming industry on-and-off for a total of 6 years, and I once upon a time was on the A-list as a paid beta-tester for EA, and after almost 3 years working with this game, I only vaguely understand it.  The whole process has been one of learn a little, find out 1/2 of what I just learnt is wrong, read a tutorial I have no hope of understanding or is missing crucial information because it's riddled with "assumed knowledge", beat my head against SimPE until I can figure out the missing steps, chase down one all-important sentence by reading 100 posts on 7 forums, then try to do something with this half understanding.  Then have EA dump it all in the toilet with some new weirdness they add to the game with the latest EP, then the inevitable lag as we wait for SimPE to be made compatible with the new EP and we hope like hell it can all be figured out again before EA screws us again in the next bug-plagued EP.

It is no better for the best custom content creators in the Sims community.  No one knows it all, and we grit our teeth and try our very damnedest to make it work.  It's a losing game for us all.

Whew!  That is a huge relief for me.  One of my mods pointed this thread out to me (thank goodness!).  I will make sure that this info. is passed along at my forum & other places I go.  Thx again! :)

-B

Well I gave up and just uninstalled Bon Voyage.  That seemed to fix the problem.

oh damn i wish i had seen this thread a while ago. this explains quite a bit and is not particularly pleasant. blah.

Am I ever glad that I've never stopped using Legacy BodyShop.

Thanks for the excellent info!! This further adds fuel to the FIX BODYSHOP flame thats been fanned since I've started playing with meshes...

Can somebody just redo Bodyshop please!! :pray:

BBB- Sorry its long winded. I am curious about those no catagory packages. I have not packaged my sims for sometime now. So this file in question would just be with a packaged sim not a saved sim? Clean installer shows no catagory for a saved sim in the saved sims folder. If I remember correctly its just a bunch of numbers. I have removed those packages before and then all of my personal saved sims wont show up in the sims bin. I am trying not to confuse you and hope I am on the topic. Only thing I guess to do is use SimPE to check them out. That program is way above my skill level.

Oh and get this one its more of an alert of a problem I have been having recently in Bodyshop. I most likely have done this to myself somehow. My project folders in Bodyshop are not deleting after I trash them. The skin file is deleted in the projects folder but the folder Bodyshop generated is still in there. It wont show up in the projects list in bodyshop but without the skin file in why would it. The project does go into the game fine. Totally wierd. I have to manually delete them in XP.

One more reason for me not to buy BV.*grumbles*

oh BV isnt too bad really well bodyshop I messed it up. I had something in the saved sims file that didnt belong in there once I moved that it was fine. I also refreshed all the files to regnerate in bodyshop and the game. So everythings is back to normal. Just no downloading when your sleepy.

I downloaded and installed SimPe and checked some packaged sims for a test run and to learn about it and how to correctly package them. I was being lazy. Its fun to learn new stuff sometimes.

Chopperchic, the bad file is not a generic no-id type file, that quality is just a step in identifying it.  I try not to belabour the point, but lots of things do not get properly identified in Sims2Pack Clean Installer, so it is just useful as a means to start the checking process.

Lots of healthy happy things in a Sims2Pack will be unidentified - hair meshes, clothing meshes, stackable cosmetics, etc.

I had this for the first time a few days ago. I'd only packaged the sim to give it a name other than 035kd5ehg3438 or whatever (why can't we have an option to name the sims that we create in BS? :x); surprise surprise there were two such named files. Extracted the one I thought to be the right one, checked the file size and renamed it. Extracted the other out of curiosity and sure enough, that magic 6 MB number (or whatever it is, bigger than 154kb anyway). Good job I check the packs in S2CI before I upload any sims...

Sorry if this question has been asked,but where is the unknown packages hide,only in Downloads folder?Or everywhere we install BV?(Thank goodness I'm such a sorting freak,I never installed those unknown files with no preview image that came from Jirka & ChazDesigns' sims)

Yakov, I followed the steps in which locating the packages. I located them in Clean installer and moved them into a folder to check them out in SimPe. I right clicked and opened them except when I open them, the packages show up empty or I get an error message. The attachment below shows the files which I do think are several of them. Am I doing somthing wrong, because I want to look inside them before I delete them.

Also I have BV installed on one comp, the ones I found posted below is the computer without BV.

can you ZIP/RAR one of them and post it here?  I will try opening the file on my system to see if it is the usual culprit or a skintone.

Odd as it seems, I just uploaded a file and continuous trouble with Rar'd sims, but thats a whole nother story....eh

Hi again, DecoraChroi.  I just looked at the file in SimPE and sadly yes - all the files with a size:

   6.64 MB (6,970,232 bytes)

are the known bad file. I recommend you delete them.

Funny how the file size of the sim can be deceptive, huh? I had that another couple of times while installing prizes - just how is that being done? :oogle: Is our own copy of the file sneaking into our packs when we open them or something?

yes - Body Shop seems to randomly slap this monkey into any sims2pack.  I believe it is a bug in BV's version of Body Shop, but I can't be completely certain.

Aaaaaand....on a completely unrelated note, Yakov, your special Christmas avatar is definitely droolworthy.

Can the junk files have other charactorists? I found many files that were just numbers and letters with the sufix of _00##.  BTW thanks for this thread.

Just the file size of 6.* MB, I think, that's what you need to check for.

Hmmm?, I wonder what those *Wacky Programmers at EA will do next for our entertainment in these cold winter nights!. ;)

Thanks for the heads-up!... :)

*Note I've used the word 'Wacky' here - please feel free to substitute it with one of your favourite words!. :D

Lawd... and i just got Bon Voyage >.<, and ive had seasons for a while now.... does this affect the 1024x768 resolution in Body Shop? cause im having major issues with that.

And does anyone know how to run the bodyshop in 1024x768 without using the bodyshop mechanic?

____
L.O.A

Well, I thought "before I spend hours running Clean Installer on my d/l's folder, I'll just download the patch for BV."  What a joke!  It didn't fix it!  Interesting since that's what EA told you do BBB, huh?  I've got the continous paperboy loop, the never leaving visitors, and the major lag going on in my game and I just installed it.  I haven't even had a chance to play the game.  Unfortunately, I didn't see these posts until after the fact.  Thanks for sharing your knowledge on how to fix this BBB.  Hopefully I'll be able to enjoy my game again.

BeachSiren, for the endless paperboy loop, update your Inteenimater. Others have had it and downloading the BV version for InTeen fixed it :)

I only have one file with name "b18484e15a91c5a039d61f635d15d7c3.package". o_O

Are there supposed to be any junk files with other name?


annnnddd, I checked all of my files that has no specific type and none of them are in 6,** MB size. But I'm using The Compressorizer so....maybe it has altered the size?

After reading this,I just want to apologise to this community for my positivness towards EA games and Maxis.I was just happy for being able to play a pc game I love so much!Never played a pc game before.
But yes,it's right,EA  sucks!
Thank you BBB for all your trouble and for sharing this info.
Unfortunately my knowledge about computers is extremely limited,so I hope it's inough to check the D/Ls with the clean installer and delete series of numbers heavier than 6 MBs,Im afraid for the simPE thing,I have no mechanical points,lol.
Regarding the patches,I had them installed up to BV but they never do anything for me so I just deleted them.
I don't think EA cares about our efforts to play this game. I had to buy a new computer to play all those EPs,and the coming ones and - hopefully - sims3,and I'm not that rich at all,lol.
Thanks again,Beos.

Oh, um... wow!
Well, I'm sure glad EAxis was smart enough to do this!
*grumbles*
EA: :chainsaw:
Maxis: :study: We didn't do it! There is no Maxis anymore! Only EAxis will rule now!!!!
Us: :lurk: :smt106

Yep, it got me just recently. Turns out to be a good thing in a way that I'm now having to hunt down the rogue download making my game crash; while sifting through what's now the resident sub-folder, I came across such a file, 6.84MB in size, and when opened with SimPE all these references came up (to things like hair, accessories, etc). No idea how it got there or how long it's been there, haven't installed a sim for ages :oogle:

... Hold on, does this happen with installing lots too? 'Cause I recently downloaded quite a few lots too...

Oh, Joy of Joys!

I spent a good amount of time reading this whole thread last night, and ended up with a Giant Headache.
Now let me see if my tortured brains processed all the information correctly...

If you don't have BV installed, this monkey only comes sneaking into your game, hiding in a sims2pack.
I haven't got BV installed on my computer.
I seldom use downloaded sims, and never downloaded lots.

If I've got this junk file in my game it has to have been in one of my downloaded sims, of which I still have all the sims2packs.

So... checking those sims2packs for the junk file, should be enough to tell me whether or not I've got it.
If it's not in any of them, I haven't got it and I can do a little happy dance.

If I have it, I'll have to locate that file/those files in my game (and since I always install my sims2packs with CI they shoudl have the exact same name, right?) and delete it/them.

Is there any chance of them having multiplied randomly in my game if I have them?


And here's the bad news... one of my daughters does have BV installed. How big are her chances of having this monkey in her game?
And will it only be hiding in the downloads folder and its subfolders and the saved sims folders, or are there any other places I'd need to check?

Yay for Suxis! :(

omg, I'm feeling a little slow.. and English isn't my first language. I can understand what's wrong... but i don't get it how can i fix it. :(

and I'm so frustrated because I've been having a lot of problems in my game. especially with bodyshop that wont work properly. it opens and all but the background of the program and the sims keep blinking from how it should be to a wired purple pixeled version of how the sims should look like.. can you help me with that? and I'm sorry if I'm posting in the wrong thread didn't really know where to go.

thanks a lot.

great, more reasons to hate ea games.
i already loathed them after i bought "the sims pets" expansion kit and none of the computers in my house (including my latest one, when it was not even a day in the house...) recognized the second disc. i looked up the problem online, and apparently it was an error in the game, not my computer. another person who bought it at a walmart (like i did) was having the same exact problem as me. and they said all the copies they exchanged for there were exactly the same. grrr! curse you ea games. stop making such wonderfully addicting games with bugs in them! it's just not right. :smt120

I have the tools, I just don't have the heart to start dealing with this.  I just installed Bon Voyage a couple of weeks ago and haven't recovered from SecuROM yet.  This morning I visited my sister.  We're both middle aged.  She was installing the Original Sims.  And she has purchased the last EA game she will ever buy.  You know something?  That sounds like a good idea.  Don't give up, just return to something that has all the bugs worked out and is playable.  Their mouths don"t work and they have club hands, but they are so sweet.