Just out of curiosity, what expansions do you guys have? This doesn't sound familiar to me, unless it's still too early and I haven't had enough coffee just yet.

Have you tried flipping through the FAQ or forums on the Clean Installer website for some hints on why this might be happening? You may find that others have had the same problem.

You either need to place the Sims in the "Saved Sims" Folder which is inside your EA Games folder OR you can save them in the "Downloads Folder which should also be inside the EA Games Folder. If neither folder is in there, you should create them.

EA Games>Downloads  OR
EA Games>Saved Sims (preferred for Sims)

Also: do you have the Sims2 Pack Clean Installer? This is ideal when downloading Lots and Sims and organizing custom content (CC).

If not, here's the link: http://sims2pack.modthesims2.com/index.php?page=1

Remember to read up on how to install and how to use it using the menu in the upper left hand corner of the website.

Hope this is helpful.

Delete away! This makes my game run a little bit better.

I actually routinely delete mine and it really helps. I usually do my Sims File Maintenance at least once a month. Some do it more than that.

atiyatia: Rwills has some great suggestions.
http://nene.modthesims2.com/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Finding_Problem_Custom_Content

In fact, using this guide from the link below will really help. It may take awhile (it took me a few days because I have thousands of downloads) but it is worth it in the long run to go ahead and do the subfolder organization:

http://nene.modthesims2.com/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Organizing_Custom_Content

The link above is a life saver. A few days organizing once and sacrificing game play is better than having to go through every single download to find one culprit all the time because after this, you know where everything is. Because of this, I can go through them by groups. I usually start with removing my Hacks / Mods (because they are usually the culprit). But this way, I can go through them by groups, too (Ex: Hacks / Mods: Careers, then Hacks / Mods: Items, etc.). At least they are all in one place as opposed to going through thousands of downloads to try to weed out all my Hacks and Mods individually. This is just way too time consuming and you are more susceptible to headaches / destroying your computer this way. Plus, not all Hacks / Mods are easy to find.

Helpful hint for faiithx: Use the organizing custom content link above (the second one). Downloading hint: When I download, I download more than one or two CC items at a time. Usually, I'll do like 9 or 10 items. So, what I do, is NOT download them into their sub-folders right away, but I make a new folder with either the date, or labeled "new downloads" so I immediately know where the culprit is if my game won't start.

Hope that's helpful for you guys.

I believe orphans are downloads which do not have mesh files with them, so they either don't show up in game or they show off a this bright blue color when you enter a lot. And I also believe that there is an option "Show Orphans" on the organizer itself so when you click it, it will show you if you have any.

Also (this may be a little time consuming, but I have had to do it myself a few times before), it may be time for you to do a little Sims files housekeeping.

You may have to do a manual sweep of your hacks. MTS2 has a great step-by-step guide of this (I believe its under "Game Help").

Basically, you take your hacks and mods and put them all together in their own folder, if they aren't already. Then you take a handful out (place in their own folder and place on your desktop - label A) and start your game. Unfortunately, since your game does work with the conflicting hacks, you would have to go into a lot and test it (preferably with a couple) to see if they can have a child.

If not, take out a second group (label B) and return the first group. Once you have the group that seems to include the culprit hack / mod, you can decipher which one it is by sending a couple hacks back into the "Hacks / Mods" folder in the "Downloads" at a time to weed out the suspected problem. Unfortunately its not a hack that won't allow you to begin the game, but won't allow you to play it correctly so its a little different of a weeding process.

If the group, however, has two of the conflicting hacks in it, you may have to then add them back two at a time. I know, kind of annoying, but it does work.

(Another option is after you have Hacks / Mods in their own folder - you can just "disable" them in the Clean Installer so you don't have to move them: http://sims2pack.modthesims2.com/ )

Just a helpful hint: I, myself, have Inteenimator, Insimenator together. No problems.

I had to do this with two of my conflicting hacks I had when I had problems with no school bus showing up. I actually went straight to the source (Simlogical) to find out what hacks seemed to conflict with hers. She gave me some hacks to start out with.

This also might work. If you can possibly go through some of your hacks / mods and are able to look up their original page where you downloaded them from, sometimes they will tell you in the beginning what they will conflict with. Some really popular creators have that information included with the download.

Hope that wasn't too confusing and good luck.

You can also use the mouse and your Control button.

Just press down control while pulling your mouse back so the camera comes down to their level. Then let go of the control button and push mouse forward to get a closer shot at their heads. That's what I do. Then just adjust using both if needed.

All the cheats that erica just gave you above - I use those, too (except the slowmotion), and they work great. In fact, every time I open up a lot, snap objects, move objects and allow45 cheats are the first thing I enter before I play.

Tip: Also - you might want to check into other things to help your sims pose for pics like the "Hula" hack (I use this all the time; and also what I'm pretty sure beosboxboy used to get the "crazy" look for one of his pics):

http://www.insimenator.org/showthread.php?t=9544&highlight=hula+hack

Also - some great movie making poses:

http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Content_List/Hacks_and_Hacked_Objects/Pictures%2C_Movies%2C_Stories%2C_and_Poses

Hope this helps you.

Yes, actually - the control panel and yes. F10 works great, thanks.

I have tried looking for help with this in the F.A.Q. but failed to find it if it's there.

My menu keeps disappearing. I know I'm hitting something accidentally on my keyboard to make it disappear, but I'm not sure what key I hit to get it back!

I tried looking in the Sims 2 booklet, even, thinking it might show up in simple cheats.

Someone know what to do?

Okay, thanks.

Mods and Hacks? Same thing?

A big reason I'm asking is because I'm past due on the routine maintenance and housekeeping of the Sims files and I just wanted to know what to put where for my own reference.

These are gonna look great in my Sims' salon, thanks.

I've always been curious as to what the difference is between a Mod, a Hack, and a Global Mod, and a Global Hack.

At first, I thought a Mod was something that altered the entire game, like Closer Family, or the Inteenimator, and that a Hack was something that altered the way an object was used, like the Sinful Shower.

But now I'm finding what people call Hacks can also be very game altering like mods and vice versa: mods can be very similar to what I believed was a Hack (Alarm Clocks on Tables [Mod]).

Then, now there are what are called Global Mods, and Global Hacks?

I'm just curious - are the Globals what alter the way the game is played and the regular mods / hacks really the same thing that just affect individual things, such as moods and objects?

hm, okay, "boolprop map_edit on" worked. But it only is working at the front of the property. Am I doing something wrong?

Thanks, I will give this a shot.