If you aren't really using the stuff I'd get rid of it. But it sounds like you've got some room for some good quality stuff at least. Have you gone through all the featured creators' sections here? Some really great and good quality stuff. For absolutely essential hacks (I know the term sounds terrible) you need to stop by MATY. MTS2 has some good stuff, but the site is so ginormous, and sadly littered with a bunch of not-so-great content, that it's hard to find. Plus it's damn tricky; I DLed stuff that looked fantastic in screenshots, but was butt-fugly in the game, or just broken. The best advice I was given is to try and stick to the people you know make quality, stable CC.

I personally just wiped the DL folder clean. I had over 20,000 package files, and it took me longer to load the game than it takes to prepare and eat a meal. Not counting Ramen soup.

And definitely, DEFINITELY use subfolders. I didn't do that last time, but I've already got them set up this time around. Ancienthistory also recommended a TEMP folder where you can place and keep new downloads until you are sure they aren't borked.

In the end, I'm finding it easier just to start over from scratch, especially now that I've got experience with the game and with what to expect from certain creators. And now that I know what things I really don't need much variety for because I hardly use them to begin with (or not worthwhile since you hardly ever see them, like ceiling lights). I'm still downloading some of the same things I had before just because I felt they were indispensible additions to the game. But I'm definitely being more selective.

If you find yourself asking, "I'll grab that now because I might find a use for it later," don't grab it. LOL. I don't know about you, but that's what got me into trouble the first time.

EDIT: Hmm, it just occurred to me that it might sound (read) like I was talking (writing) to you like a Sims newb. I hope I didn't come across that way. If so, I apologize.

Unfortunately, those 20,000+ files were installed simultaneously. I started with a clean install, got download happy, and then ran the game. Well, I did some weeding out of stuff that crashed my game right away. For the most part, no problems, but some of the those strange crashes were occurring as noted in post 1. Crashes that make no sense and aren't really linked to anything. But I kinda used this as my excuse to do what I really needed to do anyway - lose some weight (from the game, not me; well, that's needed too I guess).

And honestly I probably could've done like you said with something as simple as S2CI and weeded out the unlikelies. Would've made things a little faster, unless it happened to be an unlikely. LOL. But I really was tired of half hour load times anyway. I could prepare and eat a meal and still not be loaded. I almost decided to just play CC free, but two seconds of Maxis ugliness convinced me that at least a little CC is necessary.

LOL. They don't bite that hard. But the general feeling at MATY (and among some members here) is to avoid the patch for the time being.

LOL.



Wonder if they're working on an update for S2CI. Well assuming this is the problem.

Was this before or after you installed the patch from the 10th?

I'm sorry. So you're experiencing this 4-seasons-in-a-week weather too? LOL.

Now, I didn't try to clean my lot, but then I wasn't going to share it. I could try packaging the lot that way and see what happens. Again, it would only prove that yours doesn't work and mine does, the only coincidence being you have BV and I don't. Would help if multiple people tried or reported. Hmm, have there been any newly packaged lots put up for BV you could check? I haven't checked. If there are, try talking to those creators to see if they had any problems with S2CI. Just another thought.

As far as I can tell, you're stuff is completely gone, short of using a recovery service. I don't fully understand the difference between a program deleting a file and me deleting a file. I know in the latter case, it only removes file identifiers, but the file is technically still there until you save something else to your hard drive - which is why some programs (and the FBI :devill:) can recover deleted files. It will probably cost you more time and effort than it is worth, but then only you can be the judge of the worth. I'd get the mourning out of the way now.

R.I.P. Simulation's Sims.

I don't have BV and I packaged my lots earlier today preparing for a 'hood refresh. I just tried installing the sims2pack and didn't encounter any errors. But then that really doesn't prove anything. Could be just a coincidence about not having BV.

Oh, I'm also using the generic Sims2Pack installer that came with the game (never changed file associations). Would that matter?

I encountered this problem when I had buggy clothing or accessories, particularly if they were made using a setup that had Pets installed even though it didn't require Pets (and I don't have Pets). Most other objects tend to crash the game before you get to the neighborhood screen, but clothes seem to wait until you've gotten to the CAS. Oh, and I had a problem with custom CAS objects once, too.

All I can think. Sorry if that was no help.

I grabbed a few of those. The HCDU, S2CI, and SimPE (which I still haven't touched; need to learn that). I use S2CI a lot for checking for duplicate files and potential trouble makers. HCDU helps me with hacks, but until recently, I didn't really have very many. I was having an awful time with custom foods causing problems (and it's pretty well documented now I guess), so even though they were cool, they're getting the boot.

As for the rest - well, to be honest, I ended up with a bunch of crap CC. Some of it looked awesome in screenshots, probably because they were Photo Shop'd. But once they got in the game - buh-lah. I mean some were rrrrrreally bad. Which is a little disappointing since some of it came from fairly well-respected creators. So I'm going to spend a little time browsing and just grab stuff that either I really need, or that I know was really cool and didn't cause a problem before. AND... as ancient suggested, I'm going to install just a little at a time and test it out to be sure it works before installing more. So I don't want to get rid of all of it, but what's the point of keeping it all if it's going to take me that long to load up a game just to crash and do it again? I hope your CC is more stable than mine. LOL.

I'd love to find the damn bastard culprit, but when you're lookin' at 20,000+ files and spending half an hour at a time just to load the game and purposely do something I know causes a crash just to test if it still crashes... well, I think it would be easier (and save my keyboard/mouse a lot of suffering) to start from scratch and use better judgment before DLing.

And thanks for the response, btw. I'll check out some of those programs I haven't heard of before.

Hmm. I found that I couldn't even get into the game if I had objects that were for the wrong EP, especially with the buggy Pets issue. My game would either freeze up or crash while doing something to my "homeward bacon." That's how I weeded out the files that claimed to be okay pre-Pets, but really weren't. Once I got into the game with the cleaned up files, everything was fine. I suppose it could still be CC, but I thought that causes an error sooner than Snape is experiencing?

Don't Sims have to at least be in love before they can try for a baby? Just a shot in the dark. I've had a few babies with my two male Sims without any problems, and I know I didn't have to be engaged or married beforehand. I know you don't need to be in love for woohoo, but not sure about makin' babies.

EDIT: Only related mods I use are TJ's same sex marriage instead of union and preg for all genders.

No problem. Hope you have fun with it!

You're basically considering the same setup I currently have. I bought Sims 2 Deluxe (Base+NL) and then installed University. I haven't had any problems. And in my opinion, the instruments and cell phones are pretty cool to have. But think twice about the handheld and the mp3 player - they got on my nerves really quick. Leave a Sim for a few seconds and s/he will almost always start playing with one or the other, forcing you to waste 15-20 minutes of Sim time for them to put it away if you were going to have them do something else. It seemed cool to have a way for them to increase fun on the spot, but it was more hassle than it was worth and there are plenty of other ways to increase fun that are faster and can be cancelled more quickly.

The pool table is all right, but it seems to me that the stupid AI of non-playable Sims loves to make them autonomously interact with people playing pool, causing an interruption in the game which forces you to start over again if you want to play. You can't resume the previous one. This isn't too much of a problem however if you're playing pool at home (plus there's a hidden skill for pool playing; if your teens get a skill of 8+ they qualify for a §1000 scholarship towards college).

Although I didn't think I was going to care much about the going-to-college bit, I actually love it now and send all my young Sims through college. Having 6 want slots and the ability to lock 2 of them is pretty handy, at least in my opinion. Especially when originally my old Sims had constant Write Great Novel/Sell Masterpiece wants constantly tying up two slots, which was half of my choices and made it hard to get them into gold aspiration and/or keep 'em there. Plus going to college is the only way to unlock the 4 new careers for those Sims. That sucks for Sims that are already adults, but there are hacks to get around that if you aren't a purist.

And like I said, the instruments are very cool. I had my four teenagers go to college, get their degrees in Drama (closest thing available to performing arts), then move in together with each "specializing" in a different instrument (piano, drums, bass, guitar). They bought a little bar & grill, built a stage, and now perform there every night, earning around §1000 apiece (not counting funds from the restaurant, bar or the gift shop). Granted the last part is only available if you also get Open For Business (which I LOVE), but you can still earn that much money with a high Creativity skill by peforming on your instrument for tips. Great way to earn extra cash in college too (best way, in fact). And I love how you can have Sims play together on different instruments; you just start one Sim performing on his instrument, then have the others join in. The only thing I don't like is that performances are limited to the styles of Rock (which is actually more of a classic rock), Jazz, and Country. Still, it's a lot of fun. I think you'll really enjoy it.


EDIT: Oh yeah, and I don't know where you read that about Young Adults being in the Deluxe version, but it was wrong. Young Adults is only in University; to be more specific, Young Adult is the age period between teen and adult that only exists while the Sim is in enrolled in and attending a university. Therefore, it can't be available in Sims 2 or Night Life because there's no way to go to a university without University. However, you are correct in that the directory structure changed, but it's more cosmetic than anything else. Doesn't have any effect on the game.

Awesome suggestions, ancienthighway. Thanks very much for taking the time out to help me. Granted, this didn't go in the direction I originally intended, but I think it's for the best. To be honest, I wanted to get rid of some of the CC but was afraid to just start deleting it left and right. Besides, I've learned quite a bit since my last downloading binge, and I know to be a bit more careful with CC.

I was thinking about it, and another thing that bothers me is how too much of the CC is also essentially a cheat. Like a nice looking bed that also happens to have 10 Comfort/10 Energy/10 Environment, and costs only §800, whereas the Maxis bed with 8C/8E costs §3400. That bugs me. So in the future, I'm definitely going to be a lot more cautious and picky about what I download.