Well I just spent a good 3 hrs building a nice place, 7 apartments etc, fully furnished - all 7...
Then zoned it, everything seems cool,
but as soon as anyone moves in all my hard work furnishing disappears, the basic stuff stays, like the fridge and stove, but the rest, like beds & TVs etc *poof*.

They reappear once i evict person A from the lot.
But it sucks. According to the PDF "tutorial" on the sims2.com you should be able to furnish the place COMPLETELY and have sims move into a FULLY FURNISHED place. Just seems a total rip-off.

Also, I play with testing cheats enabled, always have. The ONE door provided for apartment entrances causes a jump error with TT enabled, so for the first time I can't even play the way im used to or enjoy.

AL is going down as a stinker in my books so far.

If you have NL, try turning her into a vampire with a cheat, and make her fly= (bat).  When she pops back into sim form she should revert to her normal self

Got it yesterday -installed it, no real issues. I did come across 2x pieces of nasty that bothers me...

1) The "apartment" door is buggy, wont work for me.
2) My beloved giant window from OFB, the Ergo-whatever, 3 tile full wall window, and its 1 tile cousin - the colour options are gone, only left with a ugly ass red frame. With both. Im really disappointed. I mean...thats the ONE thing i ALWAYS used, and now its ruined.

Apart from that everything else seems fine for now.

Hi Everyone,
So with the release of TS3 pending, Im sure plenty of you guys are foaming at the mouth with anticipation. This post will be about making an informed decision on whether you're really interested in this game, or just going along with it because its a new "evolution" of Sims. Or like me, not interested.

While my personal opinion is of great weight here, and the reason for posting here (I wont deny it), see this as your soap box too, by all means. Have your say.

First off, Ill start by showing a few screenshots of TS3, some you have probably seen.





Looks pretty doesn't it? Look at the guy painting...now look at the other two painting...isn't it awesome? They paint scenery. All new actions. The mind boggles. Oh wait...thats also available in TS2...? my bad...
And Dad's shave? amazing... must have been done with some serious waxing.
And whats that? new furniture? WOW!! look at that end table...the fence on the balcony...the little flowerpot, mom's hair...and little Timmy's stool! All new? This is amazing! Great job! Good show! Loving the palm trees too. Doesn't look anything at all like something we've seen before...



OMG. Look at the pretty painterly eyes on this chap. Its like...looking at a real person. I almost died. Right there. Its uncanny! Dead ringer for that guy in Shrek 1. Now if only they started mass producing this as a doll. Im sure barbie wont mind Boho-guy. He has painted on eyes...just like her. At least Mr Boho-Bellhop has some sizzling threads...and some narly eyebrows that redeem him.

OKAY> Moving on now.
Since this is a comparison I guess you wanna see what else I have on my mind. Some more screenie-goodness. Right ahead.

These are from Oblivion. As 1 or 2 people may or may not know that game has some similarities to The Sims, with some more action. Create a custom character ala The Sims, level up, survive. Want a new outfit? buy one. or kill someone and take the clothes off their backs. Build a relationship with someone high enough and they might just help you out. Buy a horse and wander endlessly through the countryside. Get into magics, and cast some pretty spells.
Okay, I hear you, enough Oblivion talk. Thats not the point. Look at these screenshots:







Cozy fireplace... nice looking chapel... and lush greenery.. Pretty. BUT...is it better than TS3 graphic wise? Keep in mind that this game was released in March 2006. Thats 2-3 years before TS3 is due. Now scroll up... look at the TS3 screenshots again. Compare.

Another one for good measure. Just...because. Its no secret that Im a HUGE Tomb Raider fan. Im even biased towards it. This is from the upcoming Tomb Raider: Underworld.



Look at the shadows...Teeth. Hair texture. Sweat. Skin Bump mapping. Compare the eyes to Boho-Bellhop's. This game is to be released mid->late November THIS year.

I used to be a firm believer in The Sims, and I justified and defended all the bugs, all the mediocrity. But The Sims 3? Not getting my vote. Not this time.
Im sorry. But do you need more proof?

Im not saying that you SHOULDN'T buy TS3, just think carefully about it. Are you really worth the sub-effort and mediocrity? Doesnt TS2 already afford you that? Keeping in mind that TS3 doesnt feature custom content by talented community members. Only stuff you'll get from the official website. And we ALL know how helpful and self-reflecting they are:

"I have a problem with my game crashing..."
RE: "Thread closed. The game is perfect. Its your PC."

Wonderful.
Use your discretion with TS3.

Getting off the soap box now. Please, if you disagree/agree with any of this, post here. Get your words and wisdom out in the world. Prove me wrong. Post more screenshots. Do whatever you feel like doing. Discuss!

Something thats always annoyed me with Sims is space... giant empty rooms with nothing inside. Building an amazing house is one thing, but furnishing it can get quite boring. After the 5 rooms, 3 bathrooms, 5 en-suite bathrooms, kitchen, diningroom, livingroom, TV room etc etc are done, there's usually still a piece of misc space left, usually a empty piece of useless space, with doors and windows... but ... there's no real solid thing you can put there!

What do u use to fill those odd, awkward, nothing-really-goes-there spaces?

TV mostly, but actually when I hear a cool name I remember it.
I usually watch TV and play at the same time (when I play, otherwise it gets boring), so whenever the show or movie ends and the credits roll Id read that and see if any names stand out.

Hehe
No... its the famous Underpus, soon to be seen in Tomb Raider: Underworld

Magic...sounds good enough
apartments...still no good for me

i dont like 'working' with the game either, studying for skills and badges and earning rewards etc... its lame! so i just cheat and max them anyway...so having yet another 'earn this much to unlock this' reputation thing... not on.
ah well.. i hardly ever play the game anymore, so i actually dont care

SecuRom never had any effect on my PC.
I wont say its harmless, because of all the bitching and moaning people do about it...there HAS to be something very evil about it...

All I do...install the game from original discs, and then get a no-cd/dvd. thats it, dont even start the game with the original installer or off the disc, and there will be no securom.

Id rather be safe than sorry... and even while no-dvd etc stuff is considered 'wrong' by some people, i dont see a point in that. see, i legally own all my games, and i believe that you have to do what you must to make your gaming experience the way you want it. If you have illegal games, thats your problem if everything stuffs up.

I extracted the Pirate Captain that came with Bon Voyage, using SimPe, so i wont take any credit for this.

I just wanted him as a playable character in my game, and thought that maybe i can save someone else with similar ideas some time... so here he is

i did some facial sculpting on him, and added jewelry (come on...a pirate should have that), and since jewelry came with BV, you just need that EP for this download

I checked the file in Clean Installer, cleaned out everything, this is a EA-created-things only download.

As for the pics: I use default replacements, so he might not come out looking exactly like this, but you can customize him as you see fit.
Also not adding a string of pics, since people who'd like to get this download should already be familiar with the character imo.

File should work file installed into downloads folder, although i didnt test that, i usually put downloaded sims in the "saved sims" folder

Thanks, Hope you enjoy

I also have that issue.. but only since i got myself a widescreen monitor. Mine isnt as severe as your though... its way better after i changed the screen resolution to fit the monitor

Apartment life... are you KIDDING ME?? WHY?
This will inevitably end up in the "lame" bin with OFB.
I just dont think it will be viable... seeing as the amount of sims on a lot slow it down that much... on an average pc more than 8 people already slow the game down, imagine 4 families of 3-4 sims..? thats crazy. and weird.

This seems to be just another previously introduced idea that they kinda recycled... think 'dorms'... Ive never had any interest with playing those horrorshows. Also, this brings to mind the 'home business' part of OFB. anyone who ever tried that and liked it, raise your hand. The flock of people that descend on your poor house and invade your house and privacy... its just way too much. Dont go there, and sure as HELL dont go near Apartment Life!

What is WRONG with EA?! Do they not listen? Do they just not care what will bring them in the most money..? Why rely on your sheep ('dont worry, we've got them so hooked, they'll buy anything!'), when you can actually try and do something worthwhile for once?

Im NOT saying they should remake Makin Magic for TS2. But take that as an example. People have been crying out for that since TS2 was released. Why dont they explore their options there like they did with Pets when people cried for that?
Kudos for trying a "new idea" ep, EA - but seriously... apartment life..?

Yesterday for the FIRST TIME EVER a sim started murmuring in her sleep... i thought it was the radio or tv first, but they were all off, except for the weather outside that was the only sound next to her boyfriend's snoring.
It was very faint and soft... but there.

Okay...i fell for this patch too
I NEVER EVER download patches, since they have only EVER damaged my game, but with this one i reckoned... since FT is (at that time anyway) the last EP, then there wont be any more patches on (the next) EPs...so ill probably have to get this...

mistake... and unlike people that dont know what the patch does... ive had some serious issues come up that havent EVER happened to me before... including:

*households dont save correctly. when you leave a house to go to the neighbourhood, and click save at the prompt, it "saves" but when you go into that house again you lost everything since your last manual save.

*very slow loads on houses made after the patch. Since ive bought my new gaming PC loads are a breeze... even on huge houses, but post-patch houses, even smaller than the pre-patch ones, take 3 mins + to load, not 10 secs like normal houses. (i know thats still fast, but thats not the point)

*game crashes more

*game "freezes", and the image "scrambles".  you have to restart the pc manually. and of course you didnt save

*no one ages properly.  There are a ton of days added to lives, and you have to use simpe to reduce them to normal.

thats just what happened to me so far. im sure there are more horrors i havent experienced yet!

Child Sims will no longer pop when asked to "Clean Up" the juice tray :smt104

Dont you just hate it when children pop?