Has anyone else become frustrated by not being able to delete the kids’ oven once the kids have grown up? This is the Rip Co. Little Baker Oven that gives children fun and increases their cooking skill. If they were in the process of baking something, you can see a small pan of food on top of the stove. You will not be able to delete the object when this pan is visible. “Can’t delete object with something on it or in it”. But if the kids are all grown up, there’s no one who can finish baking so you can delete the object! The only way I know of is to use the “move_objects on” cheat to delete it. I immediately use the “move_objects off” to restore the normal gameplay, so nothing gets messed up in the game. To enter a cheat, press Ctrl-Shift-C at the same time, type in the cheat, and press enter. Or press Esc to get rid of the cheat window.
Bon Voyage Expansion – Issues (choppy gameplay)
I got pretty frustrated with the new Bon Voyage expansion pack the other day. The first couple I sent to Twikkii island did all right, but there were some major performance issues with the next couple. Suddenly the gameplay became very choppy and jerky -all actions would go step-by-step instead of a nice fluid motion. Now, this couple had a lot of memories and friends, I have all 6 expansion packs, and I believe there was the maximum of 8 sims on the lot, so maybe that put a toll on the rendering. I have a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4, 1.5 GB RAM, NVidia GForce 6800 GS/XT with 256 MB memory. I updated the video card driver, and it seems much better now. Unfortunately I’m afraid to try to increase the graphic settings in the game to a higher level; they are currently at the lowest setting.
Sims 2 Bon Voyage Expansion – initial review
I got the Sims 2 Bon Voyage Expansion pack Friday (EP6). I never really liked Vacation for The Sims 1, so I wasn’t sure if this expansion would be worth the money. But it is! Your Sims can learn new “gestures”, dig for treasure and find bonus items, explore hidden lots, collect souvenirs, and collect 45 different ‘mementos’ from their travels. There’s plenty of things to explore in the 3 different cultures or themes (the game starts out with one neighborhood per culture, but I assume you can create your own mix when you create your own vacation spots). I’ve found a few issues so far, but overall, it is a great new expansion pack!
Sales – Manipulate Business Perk
Recently one of my Sims achieved the top of the Perception Business Perks: Manipulation. This can be activated by the Sales … Manipulate action. The sim has a gold sales badge too; I’m not sure if that affects the outcome of the action. I tried it a few times, and it was successful in making the customer buy the product, but they would immediately lose a star. It seems like they get very angry for being manipulated. So I don’t think I’ll be using the manipulation much, even though the same customers have gained the star back later. Do you think the Sales – manipulate is worth losing a star?
Do Adopted Children Count Towards “Marry Off 6 Children” Want?
Unfortunately, I do not think adopted children count towards the “Marry Off 6 Children” lifetime want. I get this Lifetime Want frequently, since I frequently choose the Family Aspiration. The first time I tried to complete it, my couple had 5 children and adopted one. All are married now, but the want was not fulfilled. I’m currently trying again and making sure none of the children are adopted. Has anyone else confirmed that adopted children do not count? It doesn’t seem very fair.
How to get the Wishing Well for Your Garden – Requirements
What are the requirements for receiving the wishing well? How big does your garden have to be, and what needs to be in it? I had my vegetable garden reviewed by the Garden Club today, and did well enough to receive the Wishing Well! The first few times I was reviewed, they liked the conditions of my plants but said to make the garden bigger. I didn’t know how big the garden had to be before I would get the Wishing Well. See the picture below to get an idea of how big my garden was. I also had 2 fruit trees, and the front of the house was lined with flowers and bushes, with an edging in front. I had several decorations, but only 2 were in the greenhouse with the garden. I tried the Wish for Friends option, and 3 Sims appeared. As soon as my Sim talked to them, they became best friends! My Sim had platinum status at the time of wishing. Does less than gold aspiration status make a difference?
Information about the Wishing Well:
Options: Drink; Wish for… Friends, Romance, or Money
Can NOT be set for sale in a business
CAN be given as a gift to someone else
Robots or Servos Can Become Vampires!
When I visited one of my households of servos, I noticed one was smoking when she went outside. I thought she was malfunctioning or getting too hot in the sun, but it was winter. Then I saw her do a vampire move where they cower in the sun, and realized she had become a vampire. I never thought about it before, but servos can become vampires! She would stop smoking when she went in the house, even though they have windows. It only looked like her Fun need was going down, but robots only have a few needs anyway. Is the Fun need the only one affected in Robot Vampirism? I will check it out for a few more days, but then I’ll have her drink the Vamprocillin-D to get rid of the affliction. I think any advantages of Vampires over normal Sims are lost on a servo.
Do Home Businesses count towards “Own 5 Top-Level Businesses”
I did a quick search on whether home businesses count towards this lifetime want, and couldn’t find many answers. I found a pretty good discussion at http://forums.thesimsresource.com/archive/index.php/t-327985.html about making successful businesses, and they believe home businesses count. Has anyone confirmed this? My only top-level (level 10) business so far has been a home business, but it doesn’t belong to a Sim who has the “Own 5 top-level businesses” lifetime want. But his fiancee who lives with him does have that want. I’m pretty sure home businesses can’t be transfered or sold to other Sims. I will try moving the him out and moving back in, and see if the home business transfers to his fiancee.
Bonus Items from Visiting Campus (Black Trash Bags)
I just found out that when sims visit campus, they can return with some bonus items! I knew that they went out to get pizza, but today I noticed them bringing back black garbage bags or trash bags, and didn’t see anything come out of them. I looked around the wall and found several bonus items that I hadn’t put there! Here’s the first link I found which lists some items they can bring back: http://www.neoseeker.com/resourcelink.html?rlid=99823
Who knows where they find this stuff? My Sims brought back a radio and were dancing to it for a while and I still didn’t realize that it was new!
The Mystery of Greek Houses
I never got interested in advancing the level of my Greek Houses in University, mostly because I didn’t really know what it involved or what the reward would be. Also I concentrate on doing well academically and not the Greek life. Below is a good link that explains how to join an existing Greek House, how to start a new House, the different levels, and information about getting Pledges (new members). It sounds like inviting a sim to be a pledge would be neat. If they accept (have a high enough relationship), you get to influence them for 14 hours without spending your influence points until they become a ful member. I guess the more friends the house has, the higher the level, which then means they can have more members. I haven’t had more than 5 members or so for one house. I guess the members don’t have to live in the Greek House, but then do their friends count towards the House friend total?
http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Greek_Houses