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Field Researcher
#7301 Old 21st Jun 2019 at 6:46 PM
I discovered that Aspyr have now removed from sale all of the 32-bit games that they don't plan to upgrade to 64-bit prior to the release of macOS Catalina:

https://support.aspyr.com/hc/en-us/...lated-Questions

Sadly this includes the three Sims Life Stories games... but the list of removed games doesn't include either The Sims 2 Super Collection or SimCity 4 Deluxe. Checking the Mac App Store, both still show up on the list of games available for purchase (and the others don't). So it's actually cause for celebration! It looks like we Mac users may have ongoing support for the game for a few more OS versions at least, and an update coming within the next few months. And with SimCity 4 due for the same, we'll still be able to create new hood terrains for our neighbourhoods as well.

Hopefully they'll fix the annoying adult female skintone bug that afflicts players running macOS High Sierra/Mojave while they're doing the 64-bit recoding, but if they don't it will at least be possible to push bug fix updates for the game again.
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Top Secret Researcher
#7302 Old 23rd Jun 2019 at 4:53 PM
Just now, teen Percy came home late in the evening after a date, and as he walked through the hallway to his room, he covered his ears and complained. Possibly because his parents were woohooing in the next room? Never seen that before.

I've got one or two things on MTS, but most of my stuff is on my main site here:
http://simcessories.blogspot.com/
(Now recruiting budding creators.)
Mad Poster
#7303 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 12:23 AM
I've been using Inge's Shiny Tyme PC Everywhere Patch patch for years to enable the University cafeteria cook on non-University lots. I never realized this mod wasn't necessary until I played some houses in the new New Arlestown neighborhood.

So now I'm a little bit confused. If the Shiny Tyme Cooktop spawns a dorm cook on residential and community lots in an un-modded game, what exactly does Inge's patch fix? Do I still need it for something?
Alchemist
#7304 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 7:49 AM
Quote: Originally posted by RoxEllen1965
I've been using Inge's Shiny Tyme PC Everywhere Patch patch for years to enable the University cafeteria cook on non-University lots. I never realized this mod wasn't necessary until I played some houses in the new New Arlestown neighborhood.

So now I'm a little bit confused. If the Shiny Tyme Cooktop spawns a dorm cook on residential and community lots in an un-modded game, what exactly does Inge's patch fix? Do I still need it for something?


This does sound confusing. Perhaps it is like the mods that make unbuyable things appear in the catalogue? Which would mean the mod was needed initially, but not forever?

My understanding of Inge’s mod was definitely that it needed to stay in the game if you wanted the cooks to appear. I have even experienced a lack of cook when I was testing a non-uni community lot recently, without CC. The shinytyme stove could be placed, but no cook appeared, and my sims could not use the stove themselves either.
Inventor
#7305 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 9:05 AM
That's interesting. NPC spawning objects do occasionally spawn their associated NPCs when a lot is being saved. If the creator has the patch, perhaps that's what happened? Or perhaps they played the lot it is on. I've never tried to see what happens if the cook spawns and then the patch is removed. It's not something I can test right now, though. If you're really curious, you could perhaps try to see if it works.
Alchemist
#7306 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 10:17 AM
I suppose if the NPC spawned when the lot was built/saved, it might keep working after. Interesting idea.
Mad Poster
#7307 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 11:37 AM
Quote: Originally posted by aelflaed
This does sound confusing. Perhaps it is like the mods that make unbuyable things appear in the catalogue? Which would mean the mod was needed initially, but not forever?

My understanding of Inge’s mod was definitely that it needed to stay in the game if you wanted the cooks to appear. I have even experienced a lack of cook when I was testing a non-uni community lot recently, without CC. The shinytyme stove could be placed, but no cook appeared, and my sims could not use the stove themselves either.

I thought that too and I've been using Inge's mod for years because of that. I noticed that two households in New Arlestown had Shiny Tyme stoves. I commented to cutupuss who created that neighborhood that I thought a mod was required for the dorm cook to function outside of a University campus, but cutupuss said the stove works just fine on non-University lots in their game without the mod.

I tested this in a vanilla game on my own computer with only a few critical mods running and without Inge's patch. I built a "cafeteria" with a Shiny Tyme stove in a store on a community lot in a base neighborhood and then sent a test sim to visit it. The dorm cook spawned within a sim hour and promptly started cooking. There are two residential lots in New Arlestown that have ShinyTyme stoves and those also appear to work just fine without the patch.

Maybe this was fixed by one of the Maxis patches sometime after Inge's mod was released and nobody noticed? (Unsubstantiated wild guess on my part.) Anyway, I'm going to pull the mod out and play without it for awhile.
Mad Poster
#7308 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 4:38 PM
Also about the "university" stove; I use them in common area of apartments ("flop" houses, where there is no cooking in the rooms) and they do generate cooks. I think it's fitting that they only cook a few simple dishes, like spaghetti.

Stand up, speak out. Just not to me..
Field Researcher
#7309 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 4:44 PM
I once downloaded an apartment from TSR which had the Shiny Tyme Cooktop installed in every apartment. My Sims were beseiged in their apartments by a horde of complaining oldster npcs demanding admittance.
Mad Poster
#7310 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 5:01 PM
I believe it. I just now a month or so ago, after all these years, had a cook who would actually serve the food. Most of the time he just stands over it stirring like he has a witch's brew in the pot. I had tried everything, tables without chairs, with chairs, enough counters and islands to stack to the moon. I don't know why he suddenly decided in that one instance to actually let the people eat. I guess he liked them or was afraid the kids would starve.

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Alchemist
#7311 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 5:04 PM Last edited by Sunrader : 24th Jun 2019 at 5:25 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by RoxEllen1965
I thought that too and I've been using Inge's mod for years because of that. I noticed that two households in New Arlestown had Shiny Tyme stoves. I commented to cutupuss who created that neighborhood that I thought a mod was required for the dorm cook to function outside of a University campus, but cutupuss said the stove works just fine on non-University lots in their game without the mod.

I tested this in a vanilla game on my own computer with only a few critical mods running and without Inge's patch. I built a "cafeteria" with a Shiny Tyme stove in a store on a community lot in a base neighborhood and then sent a test sim to visit it. The dorm cook spawned within a sim hour and promptly started cooking. There are two residential lots in New Arlestown that have ShinyTyme stoves and those also appear to work just fine without the patch.

Maybe this was fixed by one of the Maxis patches sometime after Inge's mod was released and nobody noticed? (Unsubstantiated wild guess on my part.) Anyway, I'm going to pull the mod out and play without it for awhile.


In the interest of Sim-science, I tried placing a Shiny Tyme stove on a community lot in a clean, vanilla UC game I use to test things and no NPC has spawned so far, after a couple of trips of 12 hours or so each. I've never used this stove or had the mod.
Mad Poster
#7312 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 7:39 PM
It sounds like the stove works properly to summon a cook in some people's games and requires a mod in others. How strange.

Quote: Originally posted by smorbie1
I believe it. I just now a month or so ago, after all these years, had a cook who would actually serve the food. Most of the time he just stands over it stirring like he has a witch's brew in the pot. I had tried everything, tables without chairs, with chairs, enough counters and islands to stack to the moon. I don't know why he suddenly decided in that one instance to actually let the people eat. I guess he liked them or was afraid the kids would starve.

This kind of thing is why I severely limit the amount of food-related mods in my game. I seem to remember that I've had some weird behavior from some of them (I don't remember the details now, though).

It's also important to arrange the island counters properly or the dorm cook gets confused. One of the dorms in Katatty's version of Academie La Tour had the island counters in an unusual arrangement. The dorm cook was very confused by this. If I remember correctly, he alternated between serving the food properly and sitting down to eat it himself. Once I put the island counters in a line like the ones in the Maxis dorms, the cook functioned normally.
Screenshots
Mad Poster
#7313 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 7:44 PM
I've never seen him sit down to eat. LOL

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Mad Poster
#7314 Old 24th Jun 2019 at 8:50 PM
Normally, he shouldn't. He got confused about what he was supposed to do because the island counters were arranged oddly.
Mad Poster
#7315 Old 25th Jun 2019 at 9:20 AM
Those island counters have to be there and have to be placed correctly - or the cook (without the shiny time patch) does not even turn up.
Mad Poster
#7316 Old 25th Jun 2019 at 9:28 AM
The island counters were there, but arranged in such a way that the cook couldn't go behind them to place the food dishes. You can see the counters in the background of my screenshot. They look nice like that, but the placement completely fubars the dorm cook.
Mad Poster
#7317 Old 25th Jun 2019 at 5:01 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Justpetro
Those island counters have to be there and have to be placed correctly - or the cook (without the shiny time patch) does not even turn up.


Then his serving the family was just a glitch. There were no island counters. He took the food to the table.

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Mad Poster
#7318 Old 25th Jun 2019 at 7:07 PM
There are island counters in that picture. That thing in the background that looks like a big table is actually four island counters back to back. I don't see people doing this very often - maybe not many people realize that island counters can be placed that way. The problem is that the cook needs to be able to stand behind the island counters to serve food properly and he can't get there with the counters arranged like that. I don't know if that would work in the kitchen of an ordinary residential lot either.

Arranging the counters that way might work nicely for displays in a retail shop, but don't put them like that in a kitchen - it will just confuse the sims.
Mad Poster
#7319 Old 25th Jun 2019 at 8:00 PM
I know there were in yours. I was just referencing my instance.

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Mad Poster
#7320 Old 25th Jun 2019 at 8:28 PM
Sorry - I misunderstood.
Mad Poster
#7321 Old 26th Jun 2019 at 12:27 AM
totes okay. Heaven knows I'm confused most of the time.

"Fear not little flock, for it hath pleased your Father to give you a kingdom". Luke 12:32 Chris Hatch's family friendly files archived on SFS: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=603534 . Bulbizarre's website: https://archiveofourown.org/users/C...CoveredPortals/
Forum Resident
#7322 Old 26th Jun 2019 at 2:25 AM Last edited by natboopsie : 26th Jun 2019 at 2:37 AM.
I have also never had Inge's patch, but at least since I've had the UC, my game also generates a cook to go with the Shiny Tyme whenever it's present on the lot. Like Aysarth, I clearly remember having to redo an apartment kitchen to get rid of the befuddled cook who kept arriving whenever I'd open that lot. And I did just open New Arlestown (albeit with all my mods in), and I got the cook with no problem.

So I'm wondering too whether it's a Maxis patch, but perhaps instead it's an undocumented or often-unremembered effect of one of our community-made mods. In fact, although we often point to one modder in particular as being known for doing stuff like that, that doesn't mean he was the only one.

Quote: Originally posted by FranH
There is one big advantage to Monique's computer banking option-it gives interest with the deposit. Which is a blessing sometimes because one never knows what accidents will happen if a pixel gets thrown out of their house or gets divorced. One rule I've enforced is that all pixels have their own account, in case dire necessity takes over.


Yeee, I don't want them earning all that interest. But I don't mind if they earn some, so I really like that you can customize the interest level (0 to 10%) with kestrellyn's College Tuition object. (Probably should be renamed by now, because it can do so much more---like, I create and track all my sim-sim loans with it.) To me, that thing is the best way to save for sims through YA---the sim can withdraw the money at any time, you can change the interest rate any time you want, and even once they're past college age (whether they went or not), they can still get the money *and* the interest back out.

If I do want them earning random money, though, the lottery tickets you can buy on Monique's computer work well. I've had some sims meet their "Earn..." LTWs by getting lucky with those.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#7323 Old 26th Jun 2019 at 2:32 AM
Quote: Originally posted by smorbie1
I've never seen him sit down to eat. LOL


I have, more so on apartment lots with a cafeteria.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Forum Resident
#7324 Old 26th Jun 2019 at 2:39 AM Last edited by natboopsie : 26th Jun 2019 at 3:12 AM.
Edited to add: wow, I've never seen the dorm cook sit down to eat either. Is it possible that such behavior is related to whatever makes that cook appear automatically for some players without Inge's Shiny Tyme patch? I don't know how we'd start to figure that out, though.

Anyway, today, I discovered:

1. You can easily check what level a sim is at in their career by using the Career>Set Job Level menu on the Blender, where their current level will be grayed out. For Maxis careers, there's Phaenoh's mod, but since getting hers I've always wanted a way for my custom careers, so yay.

2. Despite experiencing "weather" threats, PBK's Corn Fed set has no check for whatever the actual weather is. Half of my farmer sim's corn crop disappeared, with a message that it had succumbed to drought...right at the end of a rainstorm. Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to...irrigate?

3. midgethetree's Confess Cheating mod seems to class that confession as a hidden Appreciate interaction (I guess because it uses some Appreciate anims?), making for the best unintended mod effect I've seen. Because when Influenced at a party to appreciate her loathed daughter-in-law, Kristina Yang (from HBG's Meadow Creek) walked over to the gal and promptly confessed she'd been cheating on her own husband. Even better: both she and the daughter-in-law got memories of catching her cheating. Definitely didn't improve their relationship, but I think the daughter-in-law's feeling pretty smug now!

*Ongoing TS2 informational projects (come on by to contribute, get info, or spectate!): (1) the SimPE Preservation Project and (2) Conflict Tracking for the 3t2 Traits Project Mods
*Need a Pescado mod? Use his hack directory: in the first post, find the link for your latest EP, then go in hacks/
Mad Poster
#7325 Old 26th Jun 2019 at 8:32 AM
@smorbie1 and @RoxEllen1965:

I don't have the patch that makes the cook show up in my game with the stove. I assume that may make a difference?

(I don't want a cook elsewhere. Most of my sims can cook a lot better anyway).

I found that the cook shows up where I need him to show up, whether it is in a dorm or on a Uni community lot, but only if there are island counters placed correctly. It took me a while to figure it out and also lead to me building a dorm for students who has the cuisine hobby without a stove or chef, they cook for themselves .
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