Insimenator.org

I knew that the Sims now have the tinker option on many things. Never thought about it interfering with their hobbies. It does. Tonight I was reading Rebecah's post found here:
http://www.insimenator.org/showpost.php?p=1155730&postcount=1
and realized a lot of things come with new options so went into my game to check it out and test everything. I wanted to see how much it would hinder their progress. It makes a difference...

1)All your previous bathtubs, sinks, toliets, hot tubs, etc have to be removed unless you don't care about the new hobby features of Freetime. Your Sims can't tinker with them. I removed all but one bathtub I just couldn't let go.

2)All your bookcases also need to be updated or you won't be able to study any of the new skills from them. I only kept one for children because I use it mostly as decor. All my beautiful bookcases. :(

3) Electronics. Appliances. None of the new options, so they need to be updated.

4) Some of the custom beds work, some don't. Other furniture is all fine, as far as I can tell right now.

I never tested the cars or any of the decor things. I'm too depressed now. Almost half my CC is gone or why bother with Freetime if all the options aren't available. Anyone notice anything else?

For the most part, my custom content seems to be working just fine, but I haven't tried to tinker with anything (I don't see why my Sims need to tinker with the shower to begin with, honestly, lol)

I'm noticing how my Sims pie menu options aren't new like they should, though. (For instance there's no option to Teach... with toddlers, like there should be or I'm told there should be. Also, I know for a fact before the custom content was turned on again I had these pie menu options and now I just don't.)

I guess that's what I get for having a game so heavily hacked, though.

Would like to hear what else FreeTime is doing to other users with custom content and hacks.

Wow... that must really blow for people with loads of CC they care about.  :(  I know I'd hurt myself if I had to remove all of my favorite content because it no longer works in a new expansion.  And seeing how quickly my download count climbed back up to where it was before... yeesh!  :smt120

Well, to tell you the truth, I'm keeping all my CC, bugs or no bugs. I can live without the 'tinker' option. I'll replace the bookcases, but noone is taking my custom beds off me! :P

to be honest, I wouldn't dump your downloads just coz they can't tinker with them all - just give your sims a couple of maxian things that they can play around with. The Teen Style TV and stuff has already been made Free Time proof over at mts2 so you might want to go and grab those.
 
Besides, you didn't reeeeaaaaallly think they were going to release a game that wasn't going to bork loads of stuff did you??!!

Where's my smiley face with the tongue sticking out for you! lol And no I really didn't think that. The problem isn't so much they don't have the tinker option. The problem is, so I saw instantly what Rebecah was talking about is that those objects without the option cause cashing to the desktop. Not just sitting in your home or even when Sims use them. But when they try to do certain things to them on their own because the sim tinkers all on his own and if he tries to tinker and can't. Goodbye, you are the weakest link welcome to your destop. And it gets worse as they gain interest in certain things. If he tries to put one of the new skills to use and can't on something goodbye. I wanted to test them out after I read Rebecah's post warning us. I had a sim stuck in a custom bed, moveobjects on wouldn't work to delete him or the bed. Force error didn't work. Thankfully I hadn't saved so just exited went back in and deleted the bed. This happens to almost all the toddlers in custom beds. Tried to build a park last night I see now I have to go back and test some of the build items. If it doesn't cause a crash it just locks up the game and there you sit having to do a soft boot out of it. When you use certain CC in build mode. 0 reason at all for my game to lock up I have 512 video(yes all drivers are up to date, and no it's not a Nividia?(sp?)card),and 8 gigs of ram. 2.6 processor. So has nothing to do with any of that. I played a test house with nothing but Maxi's stuff in it and 0 crashes, left it run all night while I was sleeping 0 crashes. Came in this morning. Filled everyone's needs. Rebooted and added a couple CC things. First thing the mom did was go and try to tinker with the tub it was a Maxi's so all went well then she tried the sink, crash to desktop. Came back toddler was stuck in crib.

buggerit.

*shakes angry hand at EA*

i guessed that stuff was going to be bad, but this is well....my local game had 3 copies taken back this mornign allready, so im gona have to advise them on monday with more info.

are they trying to make us all give up our lovely, lovingly made free content, that they COPY SHAMELESSLY? you think...
*looks over the list of stuff that they added this pack, that i could have had for free from guys like paladin and carrigon and numenor*
oooh, highscore, EA.....*rolls eyes*

but maybe a highnote....i have some havked foods, and they were sims2 vanilla based..that is, needed NO expansions to use...yummy japanese dumplings on a stick ^^
i made them i ate them and the game didnt crash :D so maybe that means that we can still use vanilla items without crashes?

Oh my... All my beautiful furniture? *sobs* Thank you so much for posting this. I am going to keep my fingers crossed that the creators will put updates on them... but that is a job within itself!

The furniture all seems to be fine as far as I can tell. Living/dining/kitchen. All the decor items. I haven't had any crashes at all with the furniture and not all beds either. It's just some beds  the ones that added special animations like some of the bunk beds. The toddler beds especially. The electronics especially the stereos, plumbing and the bookcases. Oh and apparently some build items. I still haven't got to check the cars because I'm putting one build item at a time in my game to see what crashes or locks it up and what doesn't. Everytime something locks it up it takes awhile to get out of it, find the item in clean installer then start the game again. But I will tell you it seems to be in the special built fences. Pool items. Garages. But again it's only some of them, not all. Plus they work fine even with Sims using them other than the beds until they go to do something autonomously. Then comes the problems. Rebecah said it's because they changed the coding. Almost none of her toddler beds work. And I have no idea if there are even more problems further along as they earn their gold badges and increase in their skills because I don't have anyone that's maxed in anything yet. So I don't know what new things they'll spring on the game yet.

Nope, uh-uh! Will not buy/install Freetime in my game.  I can't play my lots without the bunkbeds, toddler beds, custom plumbing and custom televisions. No matter how much I want to experience new game play, I can't do it.  I would have to rebuild all my lots. Dang you, EAxis!

bugger, I had to remove my CC and i'm slowly starting to rebuild it. I'm not going to play a game that generates millions of errors

honestly - i think the trade off is worth it -- IMHO the additions in actual play more than offset the loss of some custom content -- I don't expect that everyone will agree with me, but I have always felt that my downloading addiction was fuelled by a desire to add something vital that was always missing from the game, which I feel FreeTime actually fills in a way no amount of gilded lilies (CC) can achieve.  To me, the CC is just so many layers of fresh paint on an old car with a bad transmission, FreeTime gives you a new car with less chrome but more power - well at least more options than driving in reverse everywhere.

Yes, you can faint - I defended an EP made by EA.  It is a sign of the end times.

:shock:  Is this truly the end?!  (http://emcsmileys.com/s/faint.gif)

(:laugh:  That's definitely a good point for those who are truly serious about cleaning out their downloads folders.  Though there are still some things that's hard to let go, especially if one is a picture and contest fanatic.  :lol:)

Thanks so much for the heads up. So far I haven't had that happen much with the custom content I have but it gives me an excuse to get some new stuff update for free time. Some of the changes though in personality and stuff are worth it to me to have the expansion. I love that now there is a change in things like what turns  a sim on/off--to have more choices other than hair color and cologne is wonderful. To me it just makes them more complex and its fun learning now what combinations of things work together.  I love custom content and Im a total download junkie but lol I've also got a folder started of sites that are already have free time updates of clothes, items and so on. I really like some of the content too like the entertainment center and new nursery stuff. I tend to go in cycles of things I put in all my houses and with the new bathroom and kitchen one coming out soon too, I can't wait to try them. I have a couple things that haven't worked on old stuff but then it gives me the excuse to start on a new download spree :)  I think its going to be one of those where everyday for awhile all kinds of new stuff will come out from the great creators on all the sims sites. Then I will find all kinds of new things I can't live without

What do ya do with beds and bookcases? XD

I deleted all my bookcases, almost all my toddler/infant stuff. All they have left is a couple stuffed animals and the baby blankets and bouncer. Freetime comes with some great stuff for them! Even comes with clutter. lol It was well worth removing everything I did remove. Cleaning up/really cleaning up my downloads. I hated loosing it, but Freetime is the best EP by far. Freetime should have been released as the Sims 2, the rest add just little things to the game for me. Like Nightlife with Cars, Season's with seasons. I didn't mind loosing all my plumbing either because Bath and Kitchen is coming out soon. I kept my two favorite bookcases for decor (wondering if Beos is going to update one of them for my university students) and since the other one was for children(A pirate set) the children can still study other things from them.

Ready for the final damage? Played six hours and no crashes with all CC no EAxis stuff at all(other than plumbing and electronics like radio/tv). From 3.2 gigs down to 865 megs. Not all of it made the game crash or didn't work right. I just figured while I was in there really testing things I'd go through each set of thumbnails page by page and no matter how much I liked it, if I hadn't used it in my game at all or only once or twice I deleted it. I had 200 megs of paintings! Now it's down to 50. 400 megs of nothing but clutter for the kitchen, dishes, floor clutter, etc...down to 50 megs. If it wasn't crisp and clear or didn't look realistic.  Was blurry. I got rid of it. The new clutter Maxis gave us is fantastic. Only three cars left I couldn't bare to part with. All plumbing, electronics, toddler, infant stuff except a few things are gone. No regrets at all. Only TV I kept was Sandy's from ATS2. EA even gave us an older floor TV set. Haven't looked at any of the clothes and gagged that's a first. I actually really like ALL the stuff they gave us in this EP. :)

I completely understand! I've lost so much CC! :(

HAHAHA
 
I was just so happy to get the damn game working after trying to figure out till late on Friday what the problem was and then most of the morning Saturday - the Securom bug finally struck my game! I ended up having to download a no-dvd file, so having no tinkering at that stage didn't bother me!!
 
It's annoying, as is the fast motive decay, the jogging that leaves sims looking like lobsters and nearly passing out from heatstroke in the middle on the night in the middle of winter ACK
 
I have to agree with with you about the stuff that comes with this EP, I really like pretty much all of it, even the clothing. At the moment I'm playing with just bodyshop items - sorry, there's no WAY I'm getting rid of all my clothes and hairs!! - and I have all my walls and floors in and the only objects I have are a couple of stereos from ats, I'm really missing some of it, but a lot, as you say, is just mindless clutter that you think at the time that you can't bear to be without but then never use the damn stuff anyway!!
 
I love this EP already, I just wish they'd ironed out the bugs BEFORE release, but then ... hey ... this IS EAxis we're talking about!

Thanks so much for this info!

Well not to defend EA either but in all fairness they honestly can't be responsible for the way CC is effected by a new EPs new animations. If it works well with a clean game we can't really blame them when new animations come in to play. Let's just hope that our wonderful CC will be updated by the fabulous creators to be compatible with this EP. And fast! We love our shiny stuff,

*ducks flying objects from every direction*

I waited til today to even attempt to put the free time EP on. I'm not keen on some of the stuff EA have included though, eg the sport rugs, I'm not a big fan of any sport so won't be using them.  I lost my neighborhood when I put BV on, due to a bug/glitch and have struggled to get the interest I had in playing the game since, which is a shame because I had great great grandchildren on the neighborhood prior to BV.  I have only looked at the buy stuff on free time and haven't looked at the clothes yet.  Its such a shame that the bulk of the cc won't work. I really love the beds I have downloaded.

The only custom content that is making my game crash is the food.  Does anyone know about FT and food incompatibility?

Not me. The food is working fine in my game. I have ice cream, the kids stoves that make pizza's and desserts. The pies for ofb and several other custom foods. They all seem to be working ok. I had a sim make some fresh baked bread and the kids brought their ice creams just fine. So I'll have to watch that.

lol @Trl.

Lauralli, almost all your beds should work. The Captain's bed? from Sims connections the free part of the cruise thing are working. I left those. The new one's from Chrissy I believe the Ohio ones? Or maybe it's called Surf? Those seem to be working fine. I think it's mostly the older ones. And it's not all the beds. It's mostly the bunkbeds, and toddler beds. Marvine's stairs are working which I thought because of the animations might be borked. The custom built fences. I think this is because they weren't meant to be recolored. But not all of them are borked. So I have no idea how the game reads them. Stereo's mostly because we have an option on them now to customize them. The plumbing and other electronics because of the tinker option. Plus they all work great even then till your Sims tries to tinker with them. I just don't want to have to play and have the random crashing not knowing what caused it. So I took care of everything that didn't have the new options just to be on the safe side. Instead of waiting for some sim to bork something else.

yea this is realy boguess ,that they did this to us ,but what ca we say ....butt cry-cry..well i apreachet the guys who will be updating all the other c.c `s that we love to us ,, i love to d-loaed and up lode when i can,i `m getting a new computer for that ,the one i have is to slow....but thanks guy`s........:)

When Pets came out, sims could not bathe their dogs in many custom content bathtubs, and when they were instructed to, it darn sure didn't make the game crash.

Free Time obviously has more complex behavior mechanisms than this, so maybe Eaxis had to change their coding. But why on earth didn't they include a code for a sim to ignore a non-Maxis item when they get the urge to 'tinker'?

I'm just throwing the question out there... and hoping some programming wiz will develop a 'Don't Tinker With CC Items' hack. :-P

as for the foods....well i took out most if not all my foods, i kept the ones i got from Sims2 Libbido (delisious japanese foods yum^^)

they are sims2 vanilla based, but my dumplings come up as santa cookies ^^ and the other foods come up as (      ) as in empty bubbles, but that happened befor i installed FT ^^
they play fine..make, (need to try make many) eat and clean up, along with serve are fine, no crashing.

alot of the OfB foods were getting the !yellow box on startup, so i took them out.
so far, the only hacked content i have in are the Targas super fridge (larger capacity) vincents Sim modder baby (still works, phew) targas transparent water, numenors coal stove, simstones stove/grill and the imperfect sensoriser (that i know of, also the aromatherapy vases from parsim)
i took out all the custom careers, the sinfull shower (my romance sims would be sobbing right about now, if i were playing them) and all thecrafting and packaging stuff i got from paladin's place.

on the upside, the mountain and paper windows i recently DL that match up with the BV ones seem to be ok. i may have to dump the whole damn  lot and just restart my folders..but i will not empty my oriental and goth ones out, along with the medi evil ones, but i can do without a lot of stuff.

*seconded for the 'Dont Tinker' hack..but i bet it will need updating as son as you install the nect pack or stuffpack....*

I'm playing with all my CC, most of my hacks too. Why is it that the only thing that seems buggy is a new obsession with hugging everyone? That and errors with a telescope that worked fine in another lot.

Am I just incredibly lucky or something? :D I've had no trouble with crashes or anything, even on comm lots.

I fainted,nearly.
Wow, who would have thought of that?

But I agree, my CC that does not have any FT options still works and I´ll keep it because it is beautiful and I´m so used to it and I love it!!
And if a sims really needs to tinker, I´ll give him a game object, WHO CARES? The sim will not be offended by the ugliness or missing aesthetic of it...

I downloaded free time and had no problems.  Nothing has locked up and even my custom content is usable.  I actually love free time.  It is my favorite expansion pack yet.  I usually don't like it if I am without insim or inteen, but I actually am enjoying it alot right now.

I kept all my CC (10,6 GB) and didn't get any crash.
The nursery beds don't work,the babies don't get any confort or energy from them.
Tried to look in dictionary for the word "tinkle" but I still don't get the concept.What does it mean?
And yes,I LOVE this EP!

*barnesfam

me too, works ok for me ^_^

I think the food that is making my game crash is the stuff that is buyable in buy mode...stuff from exnemsims.  And the vending machines crash too.  Haven't notice anything else.  My game takes forever to load, so testing everything takes a long time.

hmmm I had once small issue, my custom content was gone altho i enabeled it AND it was still in the downloads folder. just copied the downloads folder, deletedthe old one and replaced it with the copy, if that makes sense. now it's working fine. my sims can still study, if they have children, they can even study about raising kids etc. I love the new EP. my fitness loving sim just got into learning tai chi!

just a quick question - what exactly is supposed to be wrong with custom beds?? I just had my sim sleep in one and her motives renewed same as normal - what am I looking for with the ones that don't work?

My custom furniture does not work in Freetime, it was blinking blue. Had to destroy all my lots, now all I have is tacky furniture in tacky shacks. Can anyone help!?

It's not all the beds. The problem the way I understand it. You'd have to ask Rebecah or one of the other modders to be sure. But the way I understand is they changed the coding on how the beds work. Not sure why? So let's say just as an example. You put your toddler to bed in one of the ones with problems they'll never go up in comfort or energy. Or they could be stuck there. (which is what happened to me)Move objects on and force error aren't even working in those cases. Rebecah is aware of the problem as are many of the other people that make nursery/toddler/child beds and are working on it.

The problem with the bunkbeds and it's not all of them, the newer ones seem to be working just fine. It's the older one's, those beds are sticking for some reason? If the creators notice a problem and say don't use them, I'll remove the two I have left.  

All the other furniture is working. Kitchen cabinets, refrigerators/stoves. Lights, statues, etc. Sims still don't fix the refrigerators or stoves. Living/Dining. Most of the beds still work fine, it seems to be an infant/toddler/child single bed type thing and it's not all of them. Just like most the electronic stuff is working till your crazy sim starts trying to tinker with them all the time. If a sim is caught in an endless loop of trying to do something and the game doesn't know what to do I imagine that's what causes the crashes. Freezing. The major problems are in plumbing, bookcases, stereos. Plus, a few custom build items that make the game freeze. Oh forgot there also seems to be a problem with anything CC wise to do with aging and time. I never experienced anything, but to be on the safe side removed those things also. Something about the new option to age up townies with your Sims clashes.

There did I explain it better? :-P



Did you let Exnem know there seems to be a problem with his vending machines and food? I have his Ice Cream maker in my game and I think his hot dog or hamburger cart. When I fire up my game I'll see if they mess it up. I used Katy's bakery thing, and her ice cream koisk those both seemed to work ok. I have a vending maching but not sure it's by Exnem I'll test it out too.

I don't see any problem at all with any of my furniture (including my toddler beds), food, clothes etc. My game runs fine with about 40 CC food dishes, 800 furniture files and 800 clothes files (hehe and over 150 hacks :) ).

Okay I tested Exnem's food it all seems to be ok?
lol Insim mixed up the pics. You can see what their doing.

This is all I have from Exnem I looked for more. This family is my guinea pigs for things I want to test. ;)

I am testing everything out first before I report any problems.  Just want to be sure....then I will notify exnem.

hehe, yes thank you :-P
 
my brain freezes any time that someone mentions I may have to get rid of any of my precious CC LOL
 
hmm, my test sim isn't a tinkerer, I'll have to try out the Aspir family with a few custom bathtubs and see what result I get - the old guy there is a tinkerer if I remember rightly!

I might be buying it... I have BV and It has so many problems!  I have heard it fixed them up!  I have had to pull from 3 contests.

I am having a reverse problem. All my CC is working correctly, but the new nursery items from Maxis is borken.  The nannies and parents will not use them autonomously and I am going to be hurt if I have to go without Inge's GetOutAllCribs, and SleepAllNight hacks.  They have been okayed to use at the site, but I will be testing it after I get offline.  I love those 2 hacks, now I might have to go without. I have fallen in love with the new nursery items, they are soooo cute. :D

About the jogging/hiking problem, I found if you have the jogging mod by Smonaff (http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=199203) you will need to remove it.  I causes problems with walking to lots for teens, I am sure it will be a problem with the new jogging features in FT.

The term is "tinker" not "tinkle". It means fooling around with components that makes items run, hopefully for the better, something like modding this game, but just like real life, the item gets messed up. :D

That doesn't come til you reach level 5 of the fitness,sport/nature hobbies. Then it shows up when you click on the sim.

I took out my hacks and the new nursery furniture definitely doesn't work. The parents can be directed to use the crib, change table, and the highchair, but the nanny ignores it. Darn it.  I hope EAxis listen to my bug report. ;)

I just about spit out my milk. hehehe I think that better describes what they're doing. They tinkle on things, more than tinker with things...cause I have yet to see what their doing when they're supposed to be tinkering. Or maybe I'm just thinking that's what EA seems to do to us a lot. ;)

Everything is working great for me but I don't have an option to hunt for bugs no matter where I click.  The condition of my plants does deteriorate much quicker and I have to reset the seasons for one sub-neighborhood every time I load the game.  As far as I know that's it for Freetime issues for me.

I kind of feel bad about saying this but everything seems to b working for me..the only thing i got rid of before i even installed my game was insim...i figured there would b problems with it..however the first time i played the game  some stuff wasn't there..i did get a crash but like someone else said i took out the downloads folder restarted my computer put it back in and then went to play the game and everything was there and all is working...i have the hack i believe by monique for kids do homework at 7pm and that works fine...the 2 bookshelves i tried didn't have the option to learn parenting or read the new kinds of books option so i have just been using the ones that come with the game...my toddler crib where they get in themselves is working fine...i recently put in ACR that was updated for FT and it works good so far.. i never had it before and it is interesting and fun to have...things r more lifelike now...i really feel bad for those of u who have problems each time there is a new EP...cuz the problems i read about i never seem to have with any of them...but then again i don't have alot of hacks in my game mostly clothes,hair,custom sims, few houses couple cars and some furniture...so mayb that is why???
I hope those with problems can find solution and beable to enjoy their game....