Is it really possible to burn lobster thermidor, I wonder? I guess it is, but here's a recipe for it just because I'm from Maine and I love lobster!

https://lobsteranywhere.com/recipes...ermidor-recipe/

My sims tend to burn lobster thermidor 6 times out of 10, a few times to the point where the kitchen bursts into flames. After a little fire minutes before the headmaster was to arrive I now make lobster thermidor days in advance to avoid that happening again

It clashes with playable cops by Midge -I had to remove it. :/ Was a case of which one I wanted more.

I know that since UC came out, NONE of the packs are packs I can live without - I was working with Double Deluxe before UC so it really opened my eyes to how expansive the game is. But now that I have access to it...I don't play with pets very often (mainly because I spend most of my time starting new hoods and inevitably trashing them I'm indecisive) but I don't think I COULD play without the Pets expansion. Pets in real life are such a vital part of my life, with me having grown up with them all my life, that just the feature of HAVING animals is not something I could go without.
What do you guys think? What expansion could you not live without?

I could not imagine my game without any of the packs, but if I had to choose one to not have it'd probably be Bon Voyage or Freetime.
I have certain rules when I play my game. I do not really have any rules when it comes to my Sims going on vacation- like I don't deduct days from their lifespan for going on vacation. And currently in my new neighborhood (only four families, 2nd generation ranging from babies to children) none of my families are wealthy enough to be able to afford a vacation. I do love taking my Sims on vacations, though. It's just not a feature I use a ton in my game. I've never even had a Sim buy a vacation home either. Freetime came with a lot of cool objects & new talent badges, but I could do without the hobby system. Hobbies like science, sports, and film & literature are lacking in my opinion.
My favorite packs I could never live without are Seasons, Apartment Life, Open For Business, and Pets. Seasons makes the game more alive and I love gardening. Apartment Life and Open For Business added so many possibilities for housing and community lots. And pets... My Sims have too many pets haha. I love them

The forum is deadly quiet today -- everybody seemed to stop posting at midnight (UK time). I hope they didn't all turn into pumpkins.
Well, I've only got the first three EPs, so I can and do live without the last five (Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time and Apartment Life).

Of the three I've got, the one I could most easily do without would be University. I only got it in 2017, and still haven't attached a university to Veronaville which is my main game. I suppose I just enjoy playing teens (who can do almost everything that adults can do). I don't like my teens Wants panels being clogged up with "Go to College" wants. What's the rush? They (at least the bright ones) will go eventually, but they should enjoy themselves as teens first. You're only young once. I like some of the extras that came with University, especially pillow fights , more than the university itself.

That leaves Nightlife and Open for Business. Now I like running Sims businesses, and some of my teens run them quite successfully (without a university degree!). I don't so much like having to do the bookkeeping manually because the game doesn't give my business-owning Sims all the takings that they're due!

But the EP I really can't do without is Nightlife. Because I've always had it. (Like you I started with Double Deluxe. Because my Sims love outings and dates. And the Veronaville Sims in particular love Downtown's shops and clubs.

So I'm off now to join some Veronaville teens on an exciting trip downtown. Because (as Petula Clark once sang)

"The lights are much brighter there, you can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares, when you're Downtown . . ."

I don't have Bon Voyage, and given the mega-rant I wrote about Pets yesterday (but didn't post, because it was really too ranty even for the Grrr thread), I think I could easily do without that, too. I also hate OFB, except for the shopping districts, so that could go. Hobbies don't really add much to my game, so Freetime could go. I could do without University as long as I had Inteen to give a 'young adult' stage.

I wouldn't want to be without Seasons or Apartment Life, which make the game feel more real, and I'd like to keep Nightlife for the downtown option, since my first Strangetown ran out of room. But if you're going to make me choose just one to keep . . . I think it would have to be Apartment Life, since it would allow for more Sims in the single hood space, but I'd really miss Seasons.

Also, I don't remember which EP or SP gave the cell phone kiosk, but I'd want that as a standalone item if Basegame + AL didn't include it. I consider the hand-held gaming device essential for player sanity - Sims screaming about not having any fun annoy me so much that the gaming device is classified as an essential item, along with food and beds/cribs, so even the poorest Sims can borrow money to get one.

When you're alone and life is making you lonely, you can always go Dowtown
When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry, seems to help,I know, Downtown
Just listen to the music of the traffic in the city
Linger on the sidewalk where the neon signs are pretty
How can you lose?
The lights are much brighter there
You can forget all your troubles, forget all your cares
Just go Downtown....

For everyone who has no idea what @AndrewGloria is talking about

Now you've gone and done it. That song will be rattling in my head all day now.

Because I remember when it first came out. That's how old it and I am..circa 1964.

This song thing is catching. They should have made an uptown district, like manhattan, with no stupid lot imposters and everything look pretty. Playable skyscrapers and glass dome buildings, posh as posh can be, with proper museums and subways.

Uptown girl
She's been living in her uptown world
I bet she's never had a backstreet guy
I bet her mama never told her why
I'm gonna try for an uptown girl
She's been living in her white bread world
As long as anyone with hot blood can
And now she's looking for a downtown man
That's what I am

And when she knows
What she wants from her time
And when she wakes up
And makes up her mind
She'll see I'm not so tough
Just because
I'm in love with an uptown girl
You know I've seen her in her uptown world
She's getting tired of her high class toys
And all the presents from her uptown boys
She's got a choice

Uptown girl
You know I can't afford to buy her pearls
But maybe someday when my ship comes in
She'll understand what kind of guy I've been
And then I'll win (Billy Joel)

I had a good think and wondered. I don't have BV but thinking about the others, the first that comes to mind (that I could do without) is OFB. I find it such a chore. I could also do without universities which I also find a chore, but would want to keep the young adult stage. My Sims don't often have pets but I wouldn't want to do without that option. Which could I not do without? That's a harder question to answer. All the rest, I guess.

I thought it's probably the Xmas pack since I only use it once a year and the items can't be repurposed for other things. But it's got that crazy Santa musical dancing box, and it's got the mistletoe to romantic kiss underneath and I'd miss them things if they were gone but I wouldn't miss Santa or spooky new year baby. So nope, I need it all.

It goes through my head every time I watch the Downtown loading screen. I was a young teen myself when it came out, and the words seem to encapsulate how both I and my Sims feel about Downtown -- cosmopolitan, exotic and exciting. MTSrs of more tender years than FranH and me might like to listen to this 1964 recording of the song on YouTube. Further on the song includes the words "Maybe you know some little places to go, where they never close, Downtown." That so true of The Sims' Downtown, where the shops stay open all night, and the nightclubs stay open all day. Truly 24/7 living!

There's never been a time in my life when a few hours escape to a the bright lights of a Covid-free Sims Downtown has felt so desirable! :lovestruc

Speaking of Billy Joel, he recently had his 71st birthday. Made it that many times around the sun.

Children never need help in stores. I find that strange since irl they are probably the ones in the family that go to the store the least so they should be the least familiar with it. But I guess sim children have a sixth sense and always know where to find something in a store. When they become teens they outgrow that and gain the ability to be stupid.

I cannot believe an entire generation of my family died of the friggin flu...i even moved in the reverend and his wife into the home to hopefully ward off some of that bad luck but both he and his wife died...followed by the last remaining members of the family...all wiped out....thanks to this virus. Really sad and pretty much ruined my entire day =[

You needed to keep them in quarantine for 3 days until sickness tokens disappear. You see now why quarantine is so important.

If you have FT, Grandma's Comfort Soup works wonders. Or orange juice if you have seasons. I think there's mods to buy produce (at home via Monique's computer, but also there's stands to buy it on community lots, too) and juice.

Oh I honestly thought you were talking about your real family, thank goodness I missed the whole "I moved in" part. I was thinking "jeez that's really sad but not sims 2 related"

One of these days, I will figure out how to take decent pictures inside small rooms.

Today is not that day.

Random tips: If you get a hobby chance card asking if you should wear a costume at work, always choose not to wear it. If they wear it when they shouldn't, they get demoted. If they don't wear it when they should, they only lose some silly interest.

Random thought: There should be a notification when the carpool has arrived and whose car it is, not one hour before. Would save me checking through 10 servos in my robot family because I'm not going to pay attention to that. Not to mention, there's so many times I've missed the carpool because the signal on some cars is so quiet and the car is parked further up the street so you don't see it. I've talked about it before but again, it's like the game wants you to miss those cars. O_O

I mean, this is really kind of good advice IRL too...

Use "cameraman mode" (the Tab key) and zoom your camera out as far as it will go. Maximum wide angle helps a lot in small spaces. Be aware that Maxis made their cameras' "optics" quite realistic, so you may get a bit of "fish-eye" distortion when zoomed all the way out.

I use Pacmani's Live Mode camera, which defaults to maximum wide angle so you don't have to remember to zoom out. This takes a bit of getting used to, but it works very well in small spaces.

http://www.modthesims.info/d/504385...erspective.html

I remember I used to have a really good trick for that, but it's been so long since I've played that I've forgotten it.

Depending on what exactly you're going for, sometimes deleting a wall so you can back the camera up will work well.