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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#51 Old 20th Sep 2018 at 2:15 AM
No because Moo died. She had planned to look into an add-on to Clean Installer to check and clean out the SDD, but that never got underway. If you look at that thread you will see contradictory advice. First, the NSL does not prevent it, to it does-by BO himself.

I think with the SDHB is that it's Maxis code, it's easily activated but doesn't cause corruption. The consensus is if you as a player want to download lots or use social mods make sure to keep NSL + smarter EP check in your download folder then don't worry about it. That's as much as I think about it these days. Sim references seem far more of a concern to me than the SDHB.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
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Undead Molten Llama
#52 Old 20th Sep 2018 at 2:11 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Zarathustra
@iCad and @joandsarah77 , since the two of you were part of this thread, has there been any other discovery made since then? Frankly, abandoning all my in-progress projects is a non-starter for me, and it seems like this is an easy enough problem to cover up (if impossible to fix) that just including a reminder to players that they should download NSL if they're ever downloading lots from anyone is worthwhile. (might even be worth including in the installation instructions for lots)


As with everything else, there are camps of opinion on the subject. Some folks are adamant about not having any "bugs" in their game. Some folks are adamant about not GIVING anyone any "bugs," so if they share lots, they want to keep their game "clean." There are some people who refuse to use any mods at all for whatever reason, for whom getting the hug would be a concern. Then there are people who don't care about whether or not they have the hug; they just put in a suppression mod, download whatever lot they want without worries, and get on with their Simming life. There's a subset of the latter who think that everyone else should do the same, the logic being that, since there are perhaps millions of "infected" lots already out there and there is NO WAY to prevent getting the hug if you don't already have it, it's very likely that anyone who download lots on a regular basis will get it sooner or later, anyway. (I am part of this latter group.)

Ultimately, since the hug code is easily suppressed and does no harm, IMO it's really not an issue at all. But there are those people who will worry and freak out and/or refuse to use mods, regardless. The question is: As a lot uploader, do you worry about those people or not? That's an entirely personal decision. Me, I'm a bit of an ass, so...I don't, plain and simple. I download lots, myself, and also upload them, and I've told folks that I may or may not have the hug -- I really don't know AND I don't care -- and that if they download lots, mine or anyone else's, they should get/have a suppression mod and stop worrying about the stupid thing. I'm not saying everyone else should be an ass about this, of course, but...I am. "Ass" is my default setting.

As for "fixing" the whole thing...I know Moo was talking about trying to do so before she passed away, but given what Boiling Oil said, that the whole thing ultimately ends up hard-coded into one's game, I'm not sure she could have. Perhaps she could have come up with a prophylactic rather than a cure, to protect people who don't already have the hug, but...I don't know. I do trust that both people knew/know what they're doing and talking about, but no one is infallible, and some things just can't be surmounted. I tend to think that hard-coded things are one of them. Perhaps someone will come along who finds a solution to the whole thing, but....Frankly, I don't really care. So, what you do about this issue is ultimately up to you. I know what I'd advocate regarding your in-progress projects -- and I'm sure you could tell what that would be, from what I've said -- but ultimately you have to do what YOU think best, according to your own conscience, I suppose.

(Of course, I also don't know what this site's policy is about people uploading lots when they know they have the hug. I don't upload here anymore -- that's what my Tumblr is for -- so I haven't been keeping up with any announcements about that. You DO upload here, though, so I'm assuming that you do know the rules about that here.)

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#53 Old 23rd Sep 2018 at 1:53 AM
OK, so my one final attempt at finding a possible solution to this potential problem before I just say "the hell with it" and move forward as-is...

In the hopes that the NSL mod actually DOES work (which seems to still be a little bit up in the air), how can I ensure that that loads in neighborhood before any other saved files do? (I basically want to just move my Pleasantview neighborhood and associated sub-hoods into my new game wholesale- I don't care about any of the other neighborhoods, so if I can avoid just having to copy the entire game file, that seems like it might(?) deal with this issue?

Is there a way to ensure that sequence?

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Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#54 Old 23rd Sep 2018 at 1:58 AM
I prefer to upload clean lots, so after I found my old game was infected I used AGS then we found a new sims folder did just as well so I moved to that. Putting AGS on this new computer nearly ruined my main game so now I am just using my main game, but as of now since it is a new computer and new install it should be clean. But apart from taking practical precautions, I am not going to sit here and worry over the hug bug.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#55 Old 23rd Sep 2018 at 2:11 AM
At this point I'm sure it's clean, since I haven't installed the mod that I know introduced the SDHB into my old game... My concern is, when I move a neighborhood that WAS infected into my new game, will that end up carrying the infection along with it? And operating under the assumption that NSL does work as we originally thought, how can I ensure that it's not accidentally overwritten when the new files move in?

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The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#56 Old 23rd Sep 2018 at 2:24 AM
You have a new install Zar and, as long as you have the relevant hacks, you should be fine. I build in otherwise empty neighbourhoods. I build in AGS too but I have a relatively new install too and no SDH though I like to download lots (and DL a lot off here to test them). Like the Sim references discussion, this is one of those things people get slightly hysterical about - though with more cause in this case since the SDH is a thing. But, as iCad indicated, it's not a game-breaking thing.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#57 Old 23rd Sep 2018 at 2:43 AM
I doubt it since the code comes from the installation files, and in this new computer, the code should be where it belongs, in the installation files.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Undead Molten Llama
#58 Old 23rd Sep 2018 at 1:51 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Zarathustra
At this point I'm sure it's clean, since I haven't installed the mod that I know introduced the SDHB into my old game... My concern is, when I move a neighborhood that WAS infected into my new game, will that end up carrying the infection along with it? And operating under the assumption that NSL does work as we originally thought, how can I ensure that it's not accidentally overwritten when the new files move in?


NSL DOES work as it was intended; it just doesn't work as some folks THOUGHT it did. For a while, it was said -- including by me -- that having it would prevent you from getting the hug if you didn't already have it. In this regard, it was said to be "better" than a suppression mod (of which there are several). This was a misunderstanding, as Boiling Oil, who can be trusted to know about this stuff, exhaustively explained. NSL is merely a suppression mod, like the others, though it does other beneficial things in the background, like clearing out unused/broken tokens and controllers and such that can gum up lots, that other suppression mods DON'T do, which is why it's the one I use and why I'd have/keep it even if the hug thing didn't exist.

So the question is not whether or not NSL works because it DOES work. We know this. The question is whether or not a 'hood from an "infected" computer will affect a clean install. I wouldn't think so. I only said infected lots in the Lot Catalog MIGHT do so...or might not. It really depends on when the infection happens. Does it happen as the lot is installed into the game and then once installed it can do no further "harm?" If that's the case, then the Lot Catalog is perfectly fine. Or does it lurk in the Lot Catalog and the "infection" happens when you place a copy of that lot into the neighborhood? If that's the case, then carrying over the Lot Catalog would be bad. Mind you, I strongly suspect it's the former, because that's what makes logical sense, but I don't personally know for sure and the game doesn't always act in logical ways. So, like I said, I don't think you really need to worry about transferring over things, and not JUST because I'm totally cavalier about the hug.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#59 Old 24th Sep 2018 at 2:14 AM
Yeah that was my understanding of what BO said - you can't really avoid it if you download lots or neighbourhoods and NSL supresses it not stops it.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#60 Old 24th Sep 2018 at 5:48 AM
Well lots spread it by visiting sims. Whereas pulled mods, those infect the hood in one go.

BO said two contradictory things about it not working as a preventative and also working as a preventive. It may depend on which way the code became active-by lot or by mod perhaps.

The way I see it is this code is complicated and we might not know everything about it or how it spreads.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Undead Molten Llama
#61 Old 24th Sep 2018 at 11:35 AM
Even without knowing how it all works, it would be easy enough to test whether or not NSL works as a preventative when it comes to lots. You need someone with a known-good game (who's willing to "infect" it FOR SCIENCE!) and you need a known-bad lot. Install the lot with NSL in the downloads (but nothing else), then take it out, test-play for a bit, and see if you get the hug button on the Sim interaction menu. If you do get it, then it would be logical to conclude that NSL isn't a preventative, at least not from infection via lots. If you don't, then it would be logical to conclude that it IS preventative.

Zar himself might be a good candidate to do such testing right now, since (I presume) he's not really done anything with the game yet and since at least he knows that his game is "good." Finding a known-bad lot would be the hard part, I would think. Or maybe not; like I said, I really couldn't care less about the hug, so I don't follow "news" about it. But if a known-bad lot is known-of and Zar (or someone else) tests this way...If he does end up "hugged" he can reinstall without too much trouble at this point, and then we'd know for sure and not have to bounce speculation and opinions back and forth about this.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#62 Old 24th Sep 2018 at 11:44 AM
That was already done, way back when we were all talking on the main thread here and at Leefish. Esme tested ways of infection and another simmer cleaned my lots. One was moving from a mac to a pc and the other I forget- getting a new computer or didn't mind reinstalling. So yep been there and done that. This is why you might find posts, where I state clean game + NSL add in infected lot, will clean it of the hug. Without someone actually testing that out I would have never have said that it did. But will it always do that and maybe it depends how the person got the hug. I don't know. My game got infected by the pulled mod method then got hidden by Dolphin Control this sim for 2 years because way back then they thought CTS fixed it.
This may be why you can find posts where Bo says it isn't a preventative and other posts where he says it is.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Alchemist
#63 Old 24th Sep 2018 at 12:00 PM
Since you guys are having this rather scary conversation in public here, can I just ask... what's the big deal, really? I mean, if I got the "Hug," worst case scenario, wouldn't I just be able to reinstall the game and restore a backup from before I got it?
Undead Molten Llama
#64 Old 24th Sep 2018 at 12:09 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Sunrader
Since you guys are having this rather scary conversation in public here, can I just ask... what's the big deal, really? I mean, if I got the "Hug," worst case scenario, wouldn't I just be able to reinstall the game and restore a backup from before I got it?


Whether or not it's a "big deal" is a personal thing. For me? I couldn't care less, as I said. It's Maxis debug code that's normally dormant -- like TONS of other debug code in the game -- but that becomes active by various means. When active, it causes Sims to autonomously give lots of friendly hugs, even to complete strangers, which is annoying, but cannot hurt your game or any of your neighborhoods in any way, shape, or form, and the hugging behavior is easily suppressed with one of several tiny little mods. The only people who have to be concerned about it are those people who are fanatically anti-mod (and they shouldn't be because some mods are neighborhood-savers that DO protect the player from having their carefully-crafted and much-beloved neighborhoods from becoming BFBVFSes)...or, I suppose, casual players who don't even know about modding. For everyone else: My view is, get a suppression mod (whether or not it's preventative) and forget about it.

But yes, if you DO care whether or not you have it, reinstalling the game will get rid of it. Unfortunately, knowing precisely when you got it, if you get it, might be hard to pinpoint. And if you use downloaded lots, odds are you're just going to end up infected again. And also, reinstalling the game a lot is not recommended; it gunks up the registry and can cause game funkiness.

Jo, good to know it was tested methodically. As I've said, I don't follow news about it because I don't care enough. Still, if Zar's concerned, he could just dump in everything from his old game, see if he gets hugged. If he does, reinstall, clean out the registry, and then DON'T dump in everything next time. Since there are unknowns about the issue, that's the only way he's gonna know for sure.

I'm mostly found on (and mostly upload to) Tumblr these days because, alas, there are only 24 hours in a day.
Muh Simblr! | An index of my downloads on Tumblr.
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#65 Old 24th Sep 2018 at 12:25 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Sunrader
I mean, if I got the "Hug," worst case scenario, wouldn't I just be able to reinstall the game and restore a backup from before I got it?

It just affects userdata, so no game reinstall required.
Alchemist
#66 Old 25th Sep 2018 at 11:47 AM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
It just affects userdata, so no game reinstall required.


That's even easier, then. Not sure why people are so worried in that case, but I get it, some people are. Thanks for the clarification, simsample and iCad.
Mad Poster
#67 Old 7th Feb 2019 at 9:13 PM
Sorry to hijack/bump this thread, but I'm unexpectedly receiving a new computer. (I was joking to an online friend about mine being held together with duct-tape, and they decided to contact a store in my area to buy me a new one. WTH?) The one downside: It has Windows 10, though I guess I can downgrade if really necessary.

Aside from the usual 4GB/graphic rules changes/etc, is there anything else I should be aware of? I'm hoping I can avoid most of the Win10 permissions issues by installing it under C:/Games/ instead of program files.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#68 Old 7th Feb 2019 at 10:35 PM
The more cores it has the faster the CPU you need for sims 2. Really sims 2 prefers 2 cores and multi-cores is at the heart of some of the issues. People sometimes jump on 8 cores or more thinking its better, but not for old games it isn't.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#69 Old 7th Feb 2019 at 11:05 PM
Would setting processor affinity help with that?

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Alchemist
#70 Old 7th Feb 2019 at 11:59 PM
celebkiriedhel explained how to handle cores here.

http://www.leefish.nl/mybb/showthread.php?tid=7127
Mad Poster
#71 Old 9th Feb 2019 at 6:46 AM
That's good to know. I won't have to switch affinity every time load the game.

I'm secretly a Bulbasaur. | Formerly known as ihatemandatoryregister

Looking for SimWardrobe's mods? | Or Dizzy's? | Faiuwle/rufio's too! | smorbie1's Chris Hatch archives
Scholar
#72 Old 9th Feb 2019 at 2:17 PM
just remember to use rather 2nd (or 3rd etc.) real core, not the virtual one and not the first - that is reserved for the system;

make shortcut on the desktop (or else):
Code:
cmd.exe /c start "Sims 2 executable true name" /affinity # "put the full real path to the valid executable"


where # is:
4 for the 2nd core
10 for the 3rd

etc.


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Scholar
#73 Old 10th Feb 2019 at 2:05 AM
And one note, btw:


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#74 Old 10th Feb 2019 at 6:19 AM
I am simply passing on what I was told by someone else who is far more technical than I am. Since I doubt I would even have my game running without their input over many days, you can see why I will tend to side with them. Maybe you two should make a debate on the merits or not of sims 2 and cores because I don't really understand any the arguments.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Scholar
#75 Old 10th Feb 2019 at 4:23 PM
nah, it's not a special 'argument' nor attempt to arguing with anybody - just a bit of clarification; most if not all "tips" has been created in the 32-bit era in XP/Vista in mind, when the dual core processors were barely (if at all) present in common consumer devices and 2GB RAM was "significant amount". Thus, after years they became confusing and irrelevant like these popular once meditations about "how big should be my swapfile in Windows". Unlike The Sims2, The Sims3 was created in the era when 2 cores were already present and doing well on market, so the game was compiled (like the many of that era) in that in mind.

So, it's just a history, if not actually an "computer archeology"


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
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