just what i never knew i always wanted ;>
 
and links to cool tutorials and other stuff too!

she's wonderful isn't she?  this is a question for bren.  she does all the models seen in our posts.  if you send her a brief pm, she's very good about answering fairly quickly.

is Zephyrash single, at least mostly straight, and free on saturday night?  ok, joking, joking.  a lovely job on this hair.  good male hair can be tough to find.

if we still need them indeed!  wonderful job, and just in the nick of time.  i was beginning to think i would have to do my own......thank goodness you've saved me from myself!  and it's even the mesh i was thinking about converting.................*sigh*   heaven

well worth waiting for.  thanks for fixing it so quickly.  and the bartboard is hilarious!

these are fabulous...... i can't wait to put them in game and try them out. they are just beautiful.

beautiful job!  my husband went to college on a swimming scholarship, and you have nailed the bodyshape perfectly!  
 
and btw *i* knew normals could be that much trouble...  marvine has saved my butt there more than once, lol, so don't feel like the lone ranger.
 
best holiday wishes from one alabama simmer to another.  

try the simpe 'sim surgery' option.  it can't be done in game, but it's always worked beautifully for me.  be sure to check the 'skintone only' box if that's all you want.  and click on the skintone from the archetype in the panel below.
 
a couple of notes:  simpe always gives me an error message when i do this, and an option to continue or not.  i always continue, and it has always worked perfectly.  second, if you are not familiar with simpe it's probably best to test this on a townie or npc first!

good lord!  *furioiusly downloads*

lovely job bren.  i've been waiting for these, lol.  thank god only you got to see how bad those skins i sent you were!

thanks for getting back so quickly. and thanks also for the thanks regarding the first post. i was a bit concerned i might be going overboard.
 
point taken. obviously the software sucks. i did however find a problem with my system that may be relevant.
 
i checked every driver i've got (after seasons, i ended up having to re-install my entire operating system, so it seemed like a good idea.) i did use the 'update hardware wizard' for this as it has a rollback option. i downloaded new drivers for the sound card and the modem.
 
the SM Bus Controller has no driver at all. the wizard says it can't install a new driver because it can't find the software. it seems highly likely this is something dell tech support and i missed during the re-installation. obviously it isn't your job to fix things i've probably screwed up myself. i can always get on line with dell and find out which driver i need.
 
i do apologize for not noticing this sooner. i've been concentrating on the nvidia card as it's been the source of so many problems before. and again, point taken. if getting this last driver installed doesn't do it my only decision will be whether to wait for a patch that works or to use the discs to play fetch with my dogs.
 
meantime, thanks for your help and patience, and for answers that were clear, detailed and tailored to my limited level of computer knowledge without being dumbed down to the lowest common denominator. i appreciated that most of all.
 
final note: got the driver installed. no change. i'm going to play freecell and wait for a decent patch! thanks again.

ok, both the latest driver and the latest beta driver have proven to be a bust. i tried them both with and without the patch.  if you know where i can find a list of "known bad" drivers, it would be a godsend.
 
when mts2 comes back on line and i can get the instructions, i plan to try disabling the shaders.
 
meanwhile, i found this in the BV read me file:
 
PROBLEM: Game crashes soon after starting.
Some recent NVIDIA drivers have problems when running when Hyper threading is enabled on your processor. Try updating your driver first. If this doesn't help, turning off Hyperthreading in your BIOS will work around this issue. If you have no idea what Hyperthreading or BIOS is, it's probably not worth messing around with this stuff. Contact your video card manufacturer for assistance.

you guessed it, i only have a vague idea about bios and no idea about hyperthreading.  i can however follow instructions, if this sounds to you like it might actually help.  i'm not trusting maxis.  their list of known issues seemed extremely long for a product being released as finished........
 
i've also opened up my nvidia control panel and made sure the 3D settings were where the read me file specified.  there seemed to be several other settings that might be relevant, but again, i'm into territory i'm not very familiar with.
 
i'm hoping to hear back from you about the "known bad" drivers before i start that awful process.
 
if i'm really taxing your patience here or you've done all that you can, please say so.  if there is a solution for this obviously i'd like to find it.  on the other hand there *is* that whole beating a dead horse thing.
 
after that, when i show up on the doorsteps of EA and Nvidia wielding a bad attitude and a blunt instrument, will you and bren please arrange bail?

ok, the much touted beta patch that really improved things pre bon voyage failed miserabley. i tried the latest driver with no improvement. i plan to try the latest beta driver, on the off chance.....*sigh* after that i'm working backwards looking for one that works? that lovely trial and error thing? *gak* also, if you know which drivers are "known bad" (or know where i can find that info) that would help a lot. i have no clue there.
 
i hate to keep beating you into the dirt with this, but i can't imagine i'm the only one with this problem..........hopefully, if we can get my game running, it will help some others as well.
 
i take it you've looked over my system specs and that, in and of itself, shouldn't be the problem?
 
i really don't mind trashing my neighborhoods and starting completely over. but when that doesn't help, it becomes frustrating very quickly. if working back through the drivers doesn't help, any input on the esoteric would be welcome. my computer is like my car. i drive well, can jump start it, do an oil change and know that when i turn the key and all it does is click it's likely my starter solenoid. but don't ask me to work on the engine.
 
thanks for hanging in with this. it's driving me absolutely bat-shit.
 
um, as an aside, if a different graphics card would make the difference, i'm not opposed.  i can always pass mine on to my favorite spouse.  my current one is way better than his, and he doesn't do games.  

oh great.  i just *love* esoteric.
 
so the next step would be to try the new nvidia drivers?  after carefully taking note of which one i've got now, in case the new one makes things worse?  although i'm not sure how it could.....*sigh*  in any case, i'm really appreciating the help.

the first time i tried to install i removed all hacks.  the second time i unistalled the base game and all EPs.  Surely that would have taken care of any conflicting mod issues?