Turning to the Dark Side
#1 10-06-2014 
Mods, I think this is the appropriate forum, but if I've gotten that wrong, please feel free to move the thread.


So I have decided to go to the Dark Side, aka play TS2 on Boot Camp. I ordered most of the SPs and EPs late Friday night, and FT and Seasons have already arrived! (Of course, they aren't particularly useful without the base game, or Windows 7 either, neither of which has arrived yet.) FT is factory sealed (and marked "Part of bundle -- not labelled for resale," but never mind) while Seasons is used but complete with manual and unscratched discs. There is a fingerprint on the Seasons disc, which I anticipate can be cleaned off with a chamois cloth.

This may be jumping the gun, since I have not yet successfully installed Windows 7, but I've been looking at fixes and programs that I will need, and I have some questions.

I'm looking at the NoLTAPermalat and SellableNovels from here, but I know that one of this person's other hacks causes the Super Duper Hug. Are those two hacks safe to use?

I will of course download and install all the patches, plus everything FT, AL, and M&G related from BO, TwoJeffs, and Pescado. What other fixes do I need to avoid breaking the game accidentally?

I am planning to install the following programs to make things work better/safer/more conveniently. What am I missing?
SimPE
HoodChecker
Delphy's Download Organizer
SimRetriever
CleanInstaller
Catofevilgenius's Hair Binner
LotAdjuster
HoodReplace
CEP (PC version)
Scriptorium
esmeiolanthe, proud to be a member of LeeFish since Jul 2013.

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#2 10-06-2014 
How exciting Esme! Big Grin Wow you sound pretty organized. I don't even have the SimRetriver, what's that, a teleporter?

For Free Time I recommend you get mods to stop hobby people walking in on your sims in bed/the shower/where ever and also a mod to take out the 'in the zone sound' very annoying if you garden as the stop and start the sound at each plant and it carries across the entire lot. I'll see if I can hunt them down.

No sound, or no sound/no glow http://forum.jfade.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=439 You choose one. Although you might want to wait until you see and hear it to know if you want it modded out.

No hobby spam http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/ffs/al/hacks/ I think that one stops them walking into your house and the telemarketing calls your sims will get. if it doesn't stop the calls this one will. http://cyjon.net/node/110

If you play apartments you might want simlogicals apartment tokens that call sims out to take care of various needs.

What other EP's apart from Free Time and Apartment Life are new to you? I hope you are getting M&G as that is really an unofficial EP. I know some people with just AL download M%G lots, but it's risky as it can cause crashing. I know M&G had an unoffical patch at MATY, but I think that mod clashed with the simlogical school so I took it out and I didn't notice anything bad happen at all. It also broke date love letters-the mod not M&G.
(This post was last modified: 10-06-2014 11:01 PM by joandsarah.)

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#3 10-06-2014 
SimRetriever is a program by Mootilda that provides a last-ditch, emergency-only way of retrieving Sims from hopelessly corrupted 'hoods. I just figure that as long as I'm getting tools, I should get all of 'em, right?

M&G would be the other new EP, I guess. I mean, I know it's not Officially an EP, but by all accounts it acts like an EP. The rest of the new stuff is SPs, and as I have matches, conversions, and shoe swaps for a lot of the items, it won't be quite as new as all that. I am quite excited about AL, though, since I really want the pant with the rips and the handcuffs on the belt for a sim I have in mind for later, and I haven't found them separated. Although installing AL means another complete rebuild, since I'm about 98% certain that the magic system from MTS won't play nice with the AL magic system.

On the bright side, this means I can get rid of several hacks I don't want but couldn't discard (because they involved food or created NPCs, and removing either of those without SimPE is a Bad Idea.)

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#4 10-06-2014 
Yes, take it as an opportunity to clean out your game. Sounds like a detox lol.

I have no idea if you can use the old magic system with the new. You will probably want some witch mods. I use one to give them normal skin as the green is a horrible shade and the skin of the very good witch looks like a rash.

M&G I think it was introduced the shade eyes action-unless that was AL, but anyway that is annoying and stupid as they do it with things in their hands like a tray of food or a garbage bag. There is a mod for that. There is also a mod to stop them sniffing flowers, but that never bothered me. I guess with some of these things it's best to wait and see. The first time Al stuck a tray of sausages to his forehead was pretty funny.

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#5 11-06-2014 
I picked up a shade eyes fix from Cyjon yesterday (I think it was from Cyjon, anyhow). That one lost its charm after the first three or four pictures from someone else's game. Undecided

Can anyone recommend good, free, Windows 7 compatible programs for the following?
Screenshots (It just occurred to me that my built-in Mac program probably won't work in Boot Camp)
Picture editing (It looks like GIMP doesn't play nice with Windows 7)
Word and Power Point-type and compatible processing

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#6 11-06-2014 
As a matter of fact, I can answer all three of those, having bought Win7 a month ago Big Grin

Screenshots --> Gadwin. Takes some fiddling with the settings and you might need to fiddle with TS2 settings in case of blackscreen or desktop-pic, but let me know if you need help.
Picture editing --> Photoshop. Free and legal CS2 download. Takes some time to get used to, but so much more intuitive/easier than GIMP.
Word and PowerPoint --> LibreOffice. Free open-source office software that is compatible with all Microsoft formats. Interface doesn't look very complicated/different but I have only tried out the basic stuff so far Tongue

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#7 11-06-2014 
Wow, that was a fast answer! Thanks, Klaartje! Big Grin

The Photoshop link takes me to a page where it's asking for my login. What should I be looking for on the main page?

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#8 11-06-2014 
Yeah, you need to create an account if you don't have one yet and that will take you to the download page. Don't worry about having to fill in your correct details though, as @leefish found out, filling it out with MainPond 2, Deep Ocean, works as address too Big Grin (as long as you use a real e-mail address that you have access to Tongue)

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#9 11-06-2014 
I'm using Gimp on Windows 7... I'm using an old version because I prefer it, but newer versions work just fine. Gimp isn't easy though.
For Screenshots I use FRAPS, but I've thought of changing. I just don't as I'm so not technically inclined the thought of trying to figure out something different puts me off. Maybe I should try the free photoshop.
I use Word as well, it's my preferred program.

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#10 11-06-2014 
Yea, come to the Dark Side - we have AGS, SimPE, shiftable shelves and lots more....

* leefish puts out plate of cookies

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Sorry, that is a members only option