I've dl this but I cant seem to locate it in my game.  Where do I find it? thx...in advance .

Well I can't compare it to other games since I am relatively new to "the Sims" world, but yes the shadow box move is a regular part of (some) of the sims in lifestories..usually the ones who are into body or athletic track do it more.  
 
There is a  punching bag given as a reward (when the career rewards are open), and I've noticed that the kids and adults in the two households I have, that use that piece of equipment for thier body workouts, do those kind of moves more than in my other households.
 
I'm wondering though if the whole SLS game hasn't evolved (i.e., improved) alot in the past few years.  From reading the boards I hadn't expected much from my SLS game... but looks like those of us who have just purchased the game in '08 may be getting a version more closely aligned with the base game  (rather that when it was first released)...meaning more perks/animations.
 
But I'm sure you can better assess whether those changes.
 
Of course it could just be that we are reaping the benefits of the years of wonderful creations /mods of experienced simmers too.

Same thing with me. Even though all other options on the InSIM work for me, "Family Tree" and "Health Adjuster"  do not.  They have no icon in the "buy" section and nothing appears when you try to spawn them.  I'm sure there's a simple fix for it.  Any modders out there that can help?
 
I'm still satisfied with all the other InSIM perks but having these work as well would be nice.

 
 
Engram's right.  The EA website actually tells you that this game has an unfixable glitch.  If you skip any of the steps (or use any cheats to get past a goal) the game will then never progress.
 
I didnt know about "cheats" when I first got the game, but I did restart it due to a problem and then tried to move quickly through Riley's steps (since I knew the first few)...as a result Riley got stuck trying to invite Mickey over and never could. After searching for answers on the EA site, I found the thread explaining about the glitch.
 
The only remedy is to restart the game (both stories) and then wait until you are offered each goal--without cheats.  
 
 
To do this quit the game. Then go to:  "start menu" then "MyDocuments/ElectronicArts"  you'll see a folder called "The Sims™ Life Stories". Delete that folder and then open/restart the game. The game will create a new The Sims™ Life Stories" folder automatically.
 
This is the way the EA site offers for renewing the game. It helped me back then, hope it helps you.

 
Yes the "InSIMenator" (sim edition) is the mod I used to expand the family.  It does much more than just help you increase family size though.  Make sure to read all the specification requirements and install. instructions and have fun!

Ok so I finally figured out how to use this upload thing. So as promised here's a recent page from the Riley's diary of her and Mikey's life together.
 
When we last left off Mickey and Riley were both expecting. We now peek in just after Riley, who--having gone through this twice before with the two oldest--came through the birth like a pro & has just delivered an adorable set of twins:
 

 
Now four hours later the celebrations have lulled into quiet cuddles and cooing as Riley relaxes; thankful that the hard part (for her at least) is over. Welcome to:
 

 
 
As the family peacefully enjoys the latest arrivals, Mikey paces and tries to remain calm about his impending delivery....
 

 
then suddenly...
 

 
Whoa! Mickey grabs his stomach and begins to groan as waves of pain set in. Riley hands the lil one to a nanny as she's heads downstairs calling to Mickey & telling him to try and remain calm. Another Nanny rushes to his side Just as Mickey's pain intensifies:
 
"HaOooooooooowllllll!!!!" Mickey cries out at the height of his pain...

 
Then....Finally the lil tyke arrives... a bouncing baby boy!
 

 
 
and a few moments later... a girl as well!
 

 
The household comes to see the tiny new addittions...
 

 
Lil sis joins in the rejoicing while nanny Jill can't help but quietly think of the money she'll make thanks to the new quads--Not that she doesn't love the lil darlings, but it's nice to have job security...hehehe
 

 
Long time nanny & friend Jill can barely contain her joy..
 

 
 
My the Harlows have grown! Riley and Mickey reflect on their legacy.
 
 

 
Looks like this Mom & Dad have their hands full :happy8: ... Well they're off to recooperate. Thanks for stopping by!
 

Well although aliens are the only other game recognized sims, it really just depends on your imagination. I have downloaded many sims and in my own storylines have faerie families, different alien breeds, vampires etc. It's the skins and meshes that determine what your families will look like, so really its up to you.
 
 
For example here are Naomi and Vince in my game:
 

 
For a closer look:
 

 
a neighbor passed by as I was taking these shots...
 

 
Thanks to Enayla's beautiful skins. To get you started you can find her skins and more wonderful creators Here

 
here's a closeup of him:
 

 
Notice his eyes have a more realistic look to them. That's because I used "create-a-sim" with him, so I was able to use the eyes that Enayla offers on him.
 
 
So I have plant-like sims, aliens of many types, and sims of all shapes and sizes, and it really doesnt matter to me whether the game recognizes my sims as "faeries" ..they still look great. One of my alien sims even has a career as an "alien observer"- so his job is to walk and live among the sims as one of them, lol.
 
 
Look around here at Insim & MTS2 and you'll find tons of stuff to enjoy.
Just be aware that if it works in the base game (TS2) it will probably work in SLS (lifestories)... and make sure to take your computer specs into consideration and you should be fine.
 
 
As to your other question: Yes the downloaded careers are showing up and working in my game:

 
I get the Career menus that you see because I have the inSimenator installed. So I really don't have to worry about whether or not the job shows up in the paper if I don't want to and I never have to use the "boolProp cheats enabled" thing.
 
I particularly like this "stay-at-home-parent position since Naomi is pregnant :
 

 
Oh and I almost forgot with the insimenator you can make your character into a ghost so they float around the house etc... that's pretty supernatural ...
 
Here is a link to a magical (witches) career I came across. The "Hogwarts" career:
 
http://forums.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=163706&c=1
 
It is offered on the same page with an Astronomy career but you don't need to dl the astronomy one to use the Hogwarts one.
 
My advice when DL careers is to just make sure the description says that it wont overwrite any of your base careers and back up your game folder before downloading to be on the safe side .
 
 
 
I can't tell you how things compare to TS2 since this is the only game I have. I'm sure from what I've read in the threads TS2 is the better purchase choice.
 
However if you're somone who bought lifestories not being familiar with the sims (like myself) you dont have to feel that there's nothing that you can do with this game.
 
The awesome creators on this site and a few others (freesites) have really worked hard to make the game very interesting and enjoyable. So look around, collect some great stuff and have fun!
 
 
 
::smilieiforgetwhi::When you do get great at it share what you know. I certainly understand why newcomers sometimes get what seems like curt, flippant answers... In my own search for answers I've seen the same questions asked ad nauseum (often still unanswered) probably due to the fact that no one minds answering them the first 1,000 times... lol. After that it kinda wears on a person.
 
At any rate I really had to dig for the answers... and to understand the jargon too, but they were there. I say save a talented creator's time & sanity, lol... let's provide support to each other once we get 'in the know' :happy8:.

Ok I think I may know what the problem is. Yesterday I dl'd a few celebrity sims and careers & when I looked in my downloads folders they were there, but yet I didn't see them in my game. It's a simple solution that has to do more with us still being in the learning phases of how the all this dl structure works.
 
 
This what I saw when I checked my downloads folder:
 

 
Looking just above at the Custom sim "Mary Poppins" by Vera Marina (MTS2).
 
My dl may look different because I am using the (recommended) Sims2clean Installer. Yours probably has this symbol
 
 
As you can see (above) the downloaded content is there. The reason why it wasn't showing in my game is that even though I had extracted them to the download folder properly they weren't being recognized as installed files. Easy fix.
 
 
Just right click on the package file, then click "open with" and choose the sim2clean installer to correctly add it to your files. Repeat for all missing content of course, lol.
 
 
Then open your game making sure your CC is enabled & go to "Create a family" (as Engram suggested above) and open your sims bin. You should see this:
 
 

 
 
Now my content appears in the bin.
 
 

 
 
As you can see she looks fantastic!
 
Also you can see clearly that this is the lifestories game.
 
 
One more thing, be sure you select the folder path "C:\Documents and Settings\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims™ Life Stories" to install your files to and that the clean installer uses the same path. *
 
Here's an excellent tutorial for downloading skins:
 
http://www.insimenator.org/showthread.php?t=77681
 
Mary Poppins custom sim by Vera Marina:
 
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=259938#
 
I hope this helps. I just used these steps and 'found' all my custom sims, furniture, etc that was missing even my welcomepacks. Thanks to Marvine, Squinge, Bloom, and all the other experts on here who offer their advice and awesome creations for us newcomers to enjoy.
 
 
edit: btw, I've now completed testing a few careers so now I can answer you :angel:. Yes the downloaded careers are showing up and working in my game:
 


I get the Career menus that you see because I have the inSimenator installed. So I really don't have to worry about whether or not the job shows up in the paper if I don't want to and I never have to use the "boolProp cheats enabled" thing.
 
I particularly like this "stay-at-home-parent position since Naomi is pregnant :



 
My advice when DL careers is to just make sure the description says that it wont overwrite any of your base careers and back up your game folder before downloading to be on the safe side .
 
_ _ _ _ _ _
 
*Btw...I say this because I also discovered that for some reason my EA purchased game creates 2 folders:
 

 
I have no idea why since the folder on the right is the only folder that contains the actual game stuff but it seems by default installers try to use the other one.
 
I don't know if anyone else has this issue, but EA has been no help and deleting the folder on the left doesn't work-- the game always recreates both folders (at the start) If I delete them. I'm not really worrying about it since it doesn't stop my game from working, but It does mean I have the extra step to check when installing to make sure the dl went into the right folder.
 
Sometimes you really have to search to find the root of what seems like a big issue, but may be a simple problem gumming up the works.

Thanks Engram I wanted to know how to access the sims I've downloaded, I didnt know how.   I've just dl several careers from MTS2 and am about to try them out.  

From the (career) creators' instructions though it seems once you put a career into your dl folder you have to check the computer (in game) or newspaper to pick the job as usual.

If it doesn't show up on its own then you may have to use the "cheats" to force the job. I believe it goes this way:

Click ctrl +shift+ c to open the cheat window--then type "boolProp enableTestingCheats true", then shift-click on the newspaper, and select the job...

If any instructions are wrong I ask the experts here to please correct me. I've only opened the boolProp thingy once way back when I really didnt know much and it seriously whacked out my game--But that was because I'm sure I kept it open too long or hit the wrong key or something. Now I know better.

Always back up your neghborhoods first in case you make a mistake and you'll be ok.  As many here have advised download this Sims2pack clean installer:

http://sims2pack.modthesims2.com/index.php?page=3

This helps you find the mods or hacks that may be causing your in game conflicts.  I hope this helps.

If the Careers I've dl'd  work in lifestories I'll let you know and give you the links.

Almost all of the mods/custom TS2 skins that I tried from both InSim sites & MTS2 work.  I've found when they didn't it was usually because I had not loaded the mesh or the mesh updates and skins in the right order, or something like that.

Ironically none of the dl on the sims lifestories website work for me. Including the welcome packs.

Thanks so much for explaining how to start with SimPE. I'm going to try that Wizard.

Update:

I had big success with InSim but clicked wrong and Mickey got pg with Rileys baby instead, lol.  I didnt even realize what I did wrong because I had checked Rileys stats and it said she wasnt pregs... while I was pondering why the machine didnt work, Mickey started puking and shortly thereafter a message appeared that he was pregnant.

Well they were both so excited about the baby that I left them alone...after clicking correctly Riley joined Mickey in pregnant bliss.  I enjoyed the pregnancies for a few weeks and they are happily a family of eight now.**

 I took plenty pics of the births (Mickey in Labor is priceless, rofl) and celebrations that ensued and will upload them if I can.

Vince & Naomi are in bliss as well ... I kept the money (having read the threads here first) so I could unlock the statue.  Then I used the Insim to bring Naomi back & gave him his money too.  What can I say I'm a sucker for a happy ending. They are expecting their first child (or twins I can't remember now, lol) soon.

I created other families and moved them into Riley's neighborhood.  I have several lil lives going on & have found many great mods that work.  So I haven't visited the quads (Mickey/Riley's) in a while.

Trust me, thanks to the talented modders here (and on the links suggested by the experts on this website} there are quite a bit of things to keep those of us that invested in lifestories busy for quite a while.


**Please note:

::smilieiforgetwhi::Be aware that if you have a laptop or dont have the specs for the base game + a couple expansion packs you prob shouldn't take your family size beyond 4-6, or the game may slowdown or freeze.

I don't have freezing or crashes in the game.  But I have noticed that the game will run slower if I run too many other programs (more than 3-4--which I've done a couple times), which will cause my characters to respond a little slower.

::smilieiforgetwhi::Seriously I just dont want you guys to brush aside the recommended specs for the game & options that the expert simmers on here suggest. To put it better:

::smilieiforgetwhi::If you bought SLS to run other prog while playing but you dont have the spec for more you may have issues so be careful.

On the other hand, if you are a total newbie to The Sims & just bought this to explore what "the sims" is, but you prob could run the larger games... you are where I'm at.  I'm really enjoying this one and all the mods/skins/etc., too.

::smilieiforgetwhi::As with any game your own PC specs must be considered so far as the limits to what you can do/mods you can make.

I'm trying some now. Check threads for skins that work in the base game/TS2; I find they also work in SLS.*
 
If I come across a few that I find (& use) I'll update here and let u know (have to locate where I got them...). I only pass on what I find that works in the actual SLS game since it's what I'm playing.
 
I'm trying to make a mini tutorial with the helpful info I found here. Not going to re-invent the wheel, just grouping a few steps together for those who want to use (not create) custom skins, hair and dont know how.
 
 
In the meantime here are a few threads that helped me:
 
 
http://sims2pack.modthesims2.com/ <---helps you locate files; in essence finding errors & in downloading or finding conflicting mods that are causing problems in your game so that you can fix them
 
http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=92541 <---helps you find the skins you've dl
 
http://www.insimenator.net/forumdisplay.php?s=&f=348&page=1&pp=15&sort=dateline&order=desc&daysprune=-1 <---Enayla skins
 
Using (Enaya) skins as defaults in your game:
 
http://linna.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=297410
 
 
 
You'll find many wonderful creators,designs & skins out there that work with lifestories if you search the threads--This is just a start, hope it helps.
 
*See the thread "Supernaturals" for pics of some of the custom hair and skins I've used.

~ {I'm using XP Professional btw dont know if that makes a difference}~

If by story mode you mean you can only use it after the stories are unlocked that is what I meant as well :happy8:.

I'm continuing both stories so I meant the cheats are open once Riley's story is unlocked.

I 've never played in freeplay because expanding Rileys Neighborhood has been a blast.  I'm no expert--I can only tell you that I never tried it the cheat until I had completed Riley and unlocked her rewards.  After that point her neighborhood is open to play freely & I was able to use the cheats in both (meaning as I continue to play out their lives).  

Don't know if that is considered "freeplay" because the game has you select Freeplay, Riley's story, or Vince's story each time you play.  I've never used the actual freeplay choice.

.................

Eddy, In the beginning (4 months ago) I had all kinds of issues that I never could resolve. I went through a LOT of steps and online searching so I really didn't mean to oversimplify it; the problem we shared just happened to be the last in my series.  


Here's the actual chain of events:

First the game continually crashed (and that was when I first purchased it. Simple uninstall didn't work, EA cust service never sent me anything more than commercials but did direct me to search for the answer myself on their site. It was a bit like connect the dots but I finally found several posts there that suggested I might need to delete my EA dl manager as well (which btw takes your copy of the game with it).

During my purchase I had paid the extra fee for the "in-case-you-ever-damage-your-EA-PC-dl-or-computer-and-need-a-new-copy" thingy, lol (that's how they get ya)... so I didn't stress over losing the original copy; otherwise I'd probably still be waiting for a refund or an answer.

I finally tried first uninstalling the game totally, then also uninstalled the EA dl manager, then did a system restore to before I first had the game, then re-installed the EA manager and got my new copy of SLS.

Then (Whew!:sad4:) after I finished Riley's story I had the problem another SLS user had with the lots...and solved it.
--->http://www.insimenator.org/showthread.php?t=95071
So I actually had two months where my game was virtually unusable~ then I found this site.  

So just bear in mind I'm only a formerly-frustrated SLS user trying to help a few out with the info that helped me.

.................................


As a side note:

:blob6:

*I've added some great things to the game using the threads/suggestions & mods here that work great. So far in my own little experiments seems like if the mod works in the base game you can use them in Lifestories.

Mind you guys I say so far it seems like... remember this is totally new for me.

Also I am NOT using a laptop.  Not frowning on laptops~ just saying I happen to have a comp with a considerable amount of ram and a good sized memory.  So it could be that the mods that work or run smoothly in SLS for me may slowdown laptops or PC's with less space.  Anyone ever want to see the pics of the machines /mods in use let me know.

I'm just testing and enjoying all the great bells and whistles the talents here have created. :worship:

I don't believe it's a game glitch.  You might have missed a message where GrimReaper tells you he's going to hang out for a bit after your sim died (sometimes they dont stay on the screen long).  I saw the message so I knew he was going to stay a while.

In my case Riley had won Mickeys life back and Grim said he just had to stay and see what made these mere mortals special--- that they could defeat him; so he announced he'd be staying to learn their secret.

If you click on him it says you can "ask him to leave" but I figured if I did he'd only stay out of spite, lol.   I just went with it.  I had Riley, Mickey and the kids play chess with him, pumped up thier logic skills.  After about 3 weeks he left without a word. I never tried any other fun interactions with him but it'd be interesting to.

So it could just be natural game progression...hope that helps.

P.S. Also cheats dont pull up until you complete Rileys story. Once you do then the cheats work in both Riley's and Vince's stories

I bought the game online as well (in July)  and gave up on waiting for EA's help.   When I had that problem I used a thread here to find the answer.

Try going to:  "start menu/my documents/Electronic Arts"

 Delete the "Life Stories" folder and restart the game.  Sounds too simple but it did work for me.  You will lose all your saved game info but at least it will work.

good luck!