Thank you for the work-I'm surprised nobody has ever done this, that I know of. They're all about that woman, Bella Goth. Not ole' Skip!

Now, if one can find Darleen Dreamer and the rest of the "lost souls" of the game, such as Michael Bachelor, that will fill it out nicely. (I'm not asking you to do that, believe it or not.)

There was only one place in the Sims community that had the entire original families extracted and it has gone out of business, sadly.

On MTS 2: Neanderthal-
http://www.modthesims.info/browse.php?f=527&showType=1&gs=1

If there if there is a Sims 4, it's at least 5 more EP's away from Sims 3 and it's going to take a lot more money to convince EA that they want to do it.
More like wishful thinking on the part of those who don't like their Sims 3 right now. I think EA will probably end up ending the series at 3 because they've just about worn out the entire premise.
They've done everything possible except fix the game.

The Compressorizer was made by Jfade at DJS Sims-but the site is down..here is a link to the actual download from a page on the board for it: (the page works, too!)

http://forum.jfade.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=170

Requires: Microsoft Windows and the .NET Framework Version 1.1

It will compress the size of all the unzipped downloads in your game if the creators have not also done so. A lot of creators do use it now before they submit their files, thank goodness.

It will take a huge file and shrink it down: for example-I had a file that was 1300kb and shrank it down to 450kb.
It also helps in the loading of the game to have smaller file sizes.

Oh, there are still a lot of people who play the game-but this isn't the only forum they go to, either. The creators that are still producing things for Sims 2 are plentiful.
I'd say that Sims 3, after all this time, has really not made that much of a dent into the Sims 2 crowd, and in fact, has increased it because a lot of players are giving up on it and going back to the old game due to numerous issues. There are a lot of Sims 2 players who refused to buy Sims 3 outright.
Oh, I do still play, too, regularly-and my downloads folder is groaning.

Don't know about the marriage markers, but it is absolutely normal for the family to hate each other. I guess that one of them killed another one, and everyone is mad at one another for some reason or another.

There is a mod available that enables a funeral to be held. It's only really useful if you have OFB.

The podium to hold it is here:
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=237727
The creator has not updated or even checked into MTS for quite some time, so it's "download at your own risk".
The rest of the project has gone into the abyss, unfortunately.

There also seems to be an issue with CC that has a high polycount value in it. It causes the lot to lag to have a lot of CC in it that runs with high polycounts-that includes sims with hairs that have high poly counts, as well. Cars are definitely on that list.
As the saying goes-"too much of a good thing is sometimes bad". CC included.

Thanks for the warning-now I'll head for my bunker and hope to see Insim intact when I emerge again. I don't want to witness Squinge singing, dancing or playing any instrument even while he isn't eating!

Yeah, it's a PITA to deal with any EP's above Seasons-but I've done it successfully without that monster doing a number on the computer.
I second the suggestion that Paden gave-we have very detailed but easy-to-follow instructions on how to remove the program and how to avoid having it crash your computer the next time you install the EP's.

I had to search for this site-evidently there's been some shuffling around but you can still get stuff from it:

http://n99forumpaks.jfade.com/index.php

This is the Neighborhood 99 forum paks-in it, you will find there are several island terrains that are rather small.

(I have to bookmark this link because there's a login for it if you use just search terms.) All of it is still free for download.

I respectfully disagree with you, Squinge. There have been many reports of computers just croaking with SecuROM, and having to be totally replaced-harddrives, optical scanners, the lot. Not just one, but many-it's the main reason it's so hated in some forums-hint, look at my sig, and you'll find out why I say this.

Sims 3 does not have SecuROM in the game, it is true. But the EADM does.
EA did not lie when they said they removed it from the game-they just didn't remove all of it.

Paden knows of whence she speaks.

Sadly this does not have any beach lot room. It was made for a Uni hood, and has four symmetrical areas on a raised piece of land.
I have got other links to other beach-style islands, if you would like me to find them-I'm rather fond of the island concept, and understand what you're looking for. I've been digging for islands forever, and have grabbed as many as I can. I'll see what others I've found that you could possibly use-but I can't guarantee that they'll be small-only that they will be islands and have beach lots.
What a project! Sounds like fun and compelling.

When you talk about "protecting the product" you're actually talking about the "profit"-in EA's glossary, the two are the same.
They think they're protecting the profits by doing the product. What they do not understand is that most players are not going to rip a copy of the game and put it up for grabs on BitTorrents-it's too old to move.
They're just pissing people off by using SecuROM and destroying machines while they're at it. It doesn't matter to them. They already have their money.

I have a very, very small island that I had to go find-this is where you get it:

http://www.thesimsresource.com/downloads/details/category/sims2-hoods/title/university-isle/id/334828/

It is a free download, and I think it's one of the smallest islands I've ever played.