5 Questions from a Noob

[girlboheme]

Hi  I'm totally new to this world.  I just purchased Sims2 a week and a half ago.  I got Double Deluxe.  I ADORE IT.  I've been playing and having a ball, however, I have some things I'd like to ask some questions about.

1.  Is there a way to invite friends over but then you can make them actually LEAVE at a decent hour?  
I want my Sims to hang with their best friends for the evening but then My Sims go to bed, the best friend spends the evening cooking themselves dinner, taking showers, watching tv, and I can't find a command that tells them to go home!  Am I missing it?

2.  Camera tilt.  
I hate the game camera/view or whatever it's called.  I can't get it to work so that even if I wanted to make a story with pics, it would look decent.  Is there a mod some where that will allow me better control over it?  I am not wanting to make a video at this time.  Maybe just get pics of them doing stuff.  I really wanted a wedding pic but I let that opportunity pass since I'm slow as molasses in winter.  Um, basically I can't angle my view with any precision and it's driving me insane.  

3.  Fights.
Oh my freaking Goodness.  This is driving me nuts.  I have two Sims who DETEST each other.  They cannot be in the same lot without punching and beating the hell out of each other.  I don't mind them hating each other, I can work with that, but they friggin' started a fight at the wedding.  My first sims wedding.  And it caused such a ruckus that I missed the photo op (um, maybe, I am still working with the camera thingy)  yes, I have these guys on free range because I like to see what they do to change my story.

4. Building Walls but I can't add doors or windows.
I have been trying to add on to the little starter home because my little sims family is going to have a baby (probably tonight) and I wanted the house ready.  Well, I added to the second story and now I can't put doors or windows in.  Says I have to have them centered on a tile.  But there is no way to do what they want me to do that I can see.  Did I build them wrong?  Is there some sort of a trick to this?  I can't seem to add doors or windows to anything.  It's driving me nuts as well.

5. Which new EP's should I purchase next?
I have Nightlight, Celebrations! and IKEA.  Now?  I want to get ALL EP's and packs, but not all at once (it's expensive!).  So I want to buy 2-3 tonight and I wanted to know which packs I should get and in which order you suggest.  My first thought is that I really want Pets, Open for Business and either Seasons or Bon Voyage but should I get them in a different order?  
Also, where do you suggest I buy them so I can download them online?  I can also be PM'd with info if people don't want to promote stores in the forum.

I believe those are all my questions for now.

Thank you!

[ancienthighway]

1.  It sounds like you are making the visitors selectable.  Make them unselectable and you can tell them goodbye or they will leave once they finish their current action.

2.When taking pictures, press TAB to get rid of the control UI, then use Q, W, E, A, S, D, and X along with the mouse to position the camera.  Gunmod's Camera mod from MTS2 gives even finer control.

3.  There are mods out there to no fights.   I believe MATY has one, and probably MTS2.

4.  This is probably the cause of SeeThem2.  In addition to the blur remover, it sets up a couple cheats that are problematic when building.  Disable SeeThem2's ability to set objects at a 45 degree angle, removing the snap objects to grid, and move objects.  Or whatever it has, I haven't looked at it for so long.

5.  Since you plan on eventually getting all of the, I'd get the most recently released one first.  FreeTime is the most recently released EP, with Bon Voyage just before it.  If you do it this way, then you won't have search for updated versions of the same mods you were using each time.

[Annoree]

Hello and welcome to the world of Simming! ^^  Tis fun, I agree whole-heartedly


1. Is there a way to invite friends over but then you can make them actually LEAVE at a decent hour?
I expect you already know how to invite people over (the phone, or they autonomously come home from work with your Sim).  To make them go home, select one of your sims, then click on the guest and select "Say goodbye" or "Ask to leave" (Ask to Leave will come up if you don't know the guest well enough).

2. Camera tilt.
There IS a mod to give greater control to the free camera within the game (here we go --> http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=97642).  But first of all, do you know how to use the Free Camera?  When you're playing, press TAB on your keyboard and you'll be able to control the camera with much more precision (spelling? ), using the keyboard and mouse.  The arrow keys pan the camera in all horizontal directions, and I believe the Q and E keys move the camera up and down.  The mouse rotates the camera (think FPS games on the PC).  It helps to press P to pause the game before trying to take pictures.

3. Fights!
Firstly, that sounds hilarious!  I'm not sure what you're asking here, but again, if you want to take any pictures, press P in order to pause the game.

4. Building Walls but I can't add doors or windows.
Hmm.  This one's difficult to answer without a screenshot of what's happening, but I can advise to make sure you've put floors down on the second storey before adding doors.  Maybe someone else will know this one?

5. Which new EP's should I purchase next?
All the EPS are fun, but out of the ones you've mentioned, my personal favourites are Bon Voyage and Seasons.  I got Freetime recently, that one is really fun and works well in conjuntion with Seasons  OfB is good too, you can sell anything you want.
I can't recommend a place to buy them, since I'm from a different country

I hope I've been of a little help!

*Ang*

[girlboheme]

ancienthighway: Thanks! I'll try those.  Now I thought I tried making my sims unselectable, but maybe I, in my noob state of dumbfoundedness, didn't do it and thought I did.  So, I'll look into that.  I'll also take a look at MTS2 for that camera mod.  I'll also look for those mods that MATY regarding the no fights.  I do have that SeeThem2 mod.  I will mess around with that and see how I can get fix those things, thank you!

Annoree: thanks!  Yes, I'm having a ball.  I did NOT know how to use free camera, I will mess around with that one tonight, that is very helpful.  I'm also going to go grab that mod from MTS2, thank you!!

And I ended up purchasing these EPs tonight: Pets, Bon Voyage and Free Time.  I plan on getting Apartments, Seasons, OFB at the end of the month (just in time for my bday ) I figure in order to really enjoy the game and make it good, I need them all.  I am only having a little trouble finding OFB and University as downloads at websites.  I hope I can find them :S

Thanks again, this was a great help!

[Annoree]

I'm glad to be of help!  Ooh I really want to get Apartments too.  Ahh damn Play says it's not out til 29th Aug . . . ooh buggerrrrr lol