They always retrieve the green study book. To further Illustrate, Donna ALWAYS deletes the novel "The Bomb" when she throws the error. Here is a pic of Allen reading "The Bomb" so that it won't be available on the bookcase.



Donna is told to Study so that the error will occur. Notice that she pulls the green study book from the bookcase, and at the same time the novel disappears from Allen's hands. After the reset, Allen will be standing next to the sofa, so the reset affects both Donna and Allen in this setup.



The first pic was taken with the in-game camera and the second one was a screenshot to show the error pop-up. This is the same hood, with the Downloads folder removed for testing. I forgot to remove the CEP extras folder, but I doubt that's a problem.

Would you like to move this discussion to another thread?

I just thought of something so I'm going to run those tests now.

In my previous testing, the game was started with custom content in place but was removed after the errors started. So I removed all CC and started a fresh hood so there was no chance of cross-contamination. I also deleted groups.cache. These are my findings:

• Errors never occur until at least one novel has been written.

• After a novel is written, all Sims can study for an unknown amount of times before the error will occur.

• It is difficult to tell which Sim will error next or how long it will take, but if I'm lucky enough to have saved my game just before a Sim throws an error, that same Sim will ALWAYS throw the error on reload and will delete the same novel each time. (That's how I managed to get the above pics)

To aid in this last experiment, I had the autonomous version of the magazine rack as the only custom content in the game. I made 4 new Sims and chose one to write. After the novel was written, I ran the game at fast speed. Whenever a Sim studied successfully, I would cancel it so that they could try again. I gave them nothing else to do so that I could get as many study interactions as possible. It took several Sim hours, but one of them finally did throw the error.

So, unless the rack has an inherent problem that is persistent enough to cause errors even after it has been removed from the game, I would say that this is a Maxis bug.

If you think it is necessary, I will run another test without custom content, not even the magazine rack, to see if I can still get an error. This will take a lot longer to test as I will have to give all study commands manually, but I'm willing to do it just to solve this mystery once and for all.

After this, I'm out of testing ideas. I am still bothered that you are not getting these errors, and am aggravated that I cannot find the pattern that produces the error.

I've been quite busy in the last days, and I could spend the needed time on this problem.
It's not the first time that I have to face errors that no one can explain or that can't be always reproduced. In cases such as this one, even if I don't understand fully the cause of an error, I do know the effects, and I can modify the code, so to add a sort of "extra protection" against the unwanted effect. Anyway, under these conditions, I don't dare creating a global mod that would affect all the bookcases; I can only modify the internal code of my magazine racks. If you think it would be enough, I will do it.
BTW, re-reading your posts, I'm still unsure about one thing: does the error occur even when there are no racks in the lot, and the sims use Maxis bookcases? If you managed to save the game before the error occurs, have you ever tried removing completely the racks from the Downloads?


EDIT:
MagicMoon, please download this modified version of the horizontal rack and test it in your game (as said, I don't have any error, so I can't test it myself).
Keep in mind that the fix only affects the horizontal rack, not the vertical one nor the Maxis bookcases; you should set up (if possible) a scenario where the sim generates an error when studying [i]from the horizontal rack[/url]; then replace the normal rack with my modified version and see if the error still is generated (hopefully not).

Thank you so much! I know you have been busy. I just keep reporting my tests as I do them so I don't forget the details. I didn't expect you to provide a fix, so I am very grateful for this.


Yes to both questions. All tests were done with only one bookcase OR rack on the lot, never both at the same time. Several times I managed to save the game just before Sims started throwing errors. In the above pics the entire Downloads folder has been removed because I knew the error would occur. That is the Maxis bookcase in the pics. The same error will be thrown on the Maxis bookcase by the same Sim, deleting the same novel every time. This made me wonder if the novel was arriving "defective", because that would explain why the errors continued after removing custom content. It does not explain why all Sims (including the Sim that will eventually error) can study numerous times before the error happens or why once a Sim decides it is his turn to error, that same Sim will continue to error until the novel is removed.

To test the "defective novel" theory, I started a hood without CC so that mods would not have chance to corrupt the novel (just in case). My last post (the one without pictures) is the results of that test.

I ran one test earlier where the hood was started with CC, but the rack was never placed on the lot. The Maxis bookcase threw the error that time.

I also tested to find out what would happen if the novel was not available on the lot. I tried putting the novel inside a Sim's inventory. I could not get the error. I tried putting the novel in a Sim's hands (results in above pics). Then I tried my old Inge's bookcase. This bookcase allows the Sims to study cooking, mechanical, or cleaning autonomously, but it has not been updated to include the new FT or AL functions so the novel would not be available to the Sims. I could not get an error from this bookcase even though I ran the test for a Sim week. This also made me think there is something wrong with the novel because if the novel is unavailable (due to old bookcase, novel deleted from lot, novel not written, or novel is in inventory) then the error will not occur. I suspect the problem to be in the novels or the new bookcase functions.

Thank you again for the fix. I will try it today.

This issue is tracked down and killed now in ftminifixes. Magicmoons also suck.

Thanks JM, you great efficency and kindness never fail to astonish us

For those who are wondering what "ftminifixes" are, and don't like their lips ripped off, you can find them at MATY's Directory Listing of /ffs/: select the category matching your latest EP and search for the file "ftminifixes.zip".

MagicMoon - The temporary fix I've created for the horizontal rack is not needed any more. Remove it.

Numenor, thank you for helping me with this and for allowing me to take up your thread space with ridiculous amounts of test results. You are too kind.
I feel honored. Thank you for your kind words and fix.

Thanks this is great, but I'd really like to be able to put the racks on sofa tables, but I don't know if that is even possible without redoing the object altogether. Just saying.

I'm sorry, but it's not possible, without changing all the animations.

Creative, interesting, awesome.

I know I hate it when lazy sims just leave books anywhere they please.

Now, they have somewhere SPIFFY to put them! 8D

Would moveObjects on allow us to place the magazine rack under an end-table, and still have it useable?

Not sure... There may be some problem with the routing, but it worth a try.
If you don't succeed, and the sims can't reach the rack, try this:
- rotate the rack by 90°: there is only one usable side, in the rack (just like bookcases);
- use the snapToGrid off to move the rack in a more reachanble position (and rotate if needed).

Ah, that's a shame, since especially the magazines without rack would look so good on a small table, but I figured as much. Otherwise a great job, as always.

I really love the magazine rack Great for someone like me who likes to keep their sim's homes obsessive compulsively neat :P
The only thing that bothers me is that it can't be placed on tables, desks, etc. Idk why, but it bothers me to have it just sitting there on the floor x)
Do you think you could make it to where it's placeable on other surfaces?

He could, but he won`t, because the game doesn`t have the right animations. See the message immediately before yours.

Beautiful.
Somebody else may have noticed, there's a little cheat: the rack cost something like 40$, if you sell it when there is the green book inside (often) , you earn 150$ or something.

Maybe you could use the place/retrieve object on table animation?

I just found out about these wonderful racks, so never tried any previous versions.

Sadly, I have to report that they don't seem to work for me :\

First, I have that "jump" bug I've read about (I am using the latest versions of the rack, where this bug was supposedly fixed): whenever I click on a rack, my Sim jumps off chairs if he was sitting when I clicked, books/magazines disappear out of his hands if he was holding one. Basically, clicking on the rack seems to reset my Sim whatever he was doing when I clicked. A couple times, after my Sim jumped off a chair when clicking the rack, I also noticed the chair itself was placed slightly askew and my Sim could no longer use it...

Also, I tried to put away a magazines in the rack, but then I cannot find them in the rack. I see 4 menus on the rack: 1) Read book, 2) Browse Magazine > (L&F) Money Talks only, 3) Study Monthly Review > 3 choices, and 4) Write in Diary. The magazines I tried to put away in the rack are in none of those sub-menus.
One detail: I bought the magazines using DJS Home Shopping PC -- would that possibly make a difference?

Note that I tried the racks in a house I use exclusively to test new custom contents -- the house is small and empty, with a Maxis Sim and 2 dogs living on the lot. There were just a few items in the house when I tested the racks, no other bookcases.

I only have the following EPs: Nightlife, Open For Business, Pets, and Seasons. Could the problem be due to the fact I don't have FreeTime? (I have had trouble trying to use FreeTime-enabled bookcases in the past).

I would really love to use these racks... if I could make them work as intented :\ Any help/advice would be grreatly appreciated.

Thank you.

Numenor, I have an error. I posted this log at MATY and Pes said I needed to show it to you. Here is the thread:

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/s...php/topic,14274

Thanks again for your time.

I'm not sure why it happens, because I didn't check line by line the Macrotastics code; in any case, it's too easy to dismiss the problem with a simple phrase such as "This is a coding error caused by the Numenorian, and you will have to bug Numenor about this, this is his problem."

Also, it's not necessarily a problem of mine because you are using your modified "autonomous" rack, not mine; and the log reveals that your sim was spontaneously reading a book moments befor the error occurred. Of course, if you can reproduce the problem with my non-autonomous rack, in this case I'd like to have an error log.

I have a suggestion to solve the problem, though I don't like it very much: it's basically a patch that will cover the hole without actually mend it, so to speak -
You could "insert via true" a line in the BHAV "Interaction - Put Away All Books & Magazines (ALL) - TEST", between lines 0x13 and 0x14, with this code:
[global 0x014B] Verify - Person ID (1 arg: Person ID=Stack Object ID 0x0000)
(opcodes: 0A00000000050A010000000001000000)
True target: 0x15; False target: 0x0F

This way, whenever (for unknown reasons) the offending code is executed when the stack object is not a sim, you won't get any more the error "stack object must be a sim".

Thank you again for taking the time to look at my error and give advice. I'm aware that the error is mine because I made changes to your original, and so doubly appreciate you helping me. I'm so happy with the way this rack works I want to keep it operational with the other stuff that I use.

Did you see my post, Numenor? The racks don't seem to be working at all for me... Jump bug's still present, and the magazines are nowhere to be found in the racks. Wondering if that's perhaps an EP-related incompatibility.

Thanks.

I just put the Seasons ep on my computer and was testing out some hacks. Every time I clicked on the magazine rack, so that my 3 day old CAS sim (she was a plantsim) could study, I got the attached error. It didn't happen when she autonomously read books or got her diary.

No custom bookcases.

I am fairly new at this and have no idea how to read the file.

Metalrat - Sorry, I completely missed your post; thanks for bumping it.
I need an error log in order to understand what's wrong: will you please provide it?
As for the missing magazines, I don't know how the DJS Home Shopping PC works; probably it's not the cause of the problem, but anyway I'd like you to buy some magazines from the community racks, just to see if there is a difference (before going to the community lot, please sell and re-buy the rack).

Amberkat - Let me take a look at your log...
EDIT: yes, there is a bug. If you have SSN but not FT, you get an error. Plus, if the game has both SSN and FT, there is no error, but yet the sim can't study the extra subjects (charisma etc) even if the sim has gained the Golden Bookcase as a career prize.
I'm going to fix it, thank you for reporting!

29 JAN 2009 - BUGFIX

Fixed a bug that affected games with Seasons:

• the rack doesn't cause any more a "jump bug" whenever hovering the mouse over it;
  
  
• it's now possible to correctly study the extra subjects (charisma etc.) if there is a "Golden Bookcase" (SSN career reward) in the lot.

Thanks Amberkat for reporting.