I only got it to be able to download some lots that require it; it seemed like it just added STUFF - most of which I don't care about or got better via MTS! HOWEVER - I head here and in other threads that is acted like an expansion pack, not just a stuff pack. So can someone explain this?

roxmaniac and Peni, thank you so much :lovestruc

grammapat, M&G changed the game engine which SP's don't normally do. If you package a lot and look at it with CI by clicking on the lot file, you will see it says 'Version Mansions and Garden Stuff' because that is the game engine the lot was made on. If you download a lot made on M&G and you don't have it installed then the lot will likely crash your game. Any other SP the stuff simply doesn't show up.

Its probably because M&G added some new animations as well as just items. Like sniffing the flowers or sliding down the banisters.

Jo,I have been testing this theory - using Clean Installer and a game with AL and no M&G I have managed to install M&G lots to game and play those lots. No M&G content has carried over though of course and the CC does not seem to come with the lot. I need to dl the CC separately.

Also the roof slider. All hail the roof angle slider!!

By reading this thread it's seems to me like an option Not to bay the SP. I thought M&S was just an other stuffpack but it seems to be more that that and as my game runs good I don't want to take the risk of mess something up. I wanted to bay the AL a few month ago but changed my mind for the same reason. OK, I guess that patches can solve some problems but as I want to keep my windows computer offline it's not an option. That's my decision. I just stick to what I have and keep on playing as my game as it is. The other day, I find out that my game is a little corrupted too but I will keep on playing as long as I can (game works fine now but I don't know what the future brings).

Why should being offline make patches not an option? You need patches! Just download them and transfer them the same way you do ordinary CC.

I'm a late adopter myself, but many, many of us run our games just fine with these EPs. There's no reason you shouldn't, too, if you like the features.

Patches are a necessity, Mrmo. They fix many game-and-neighborhood corrupting bugs that were introduced in many new expansions, as well as fix code that only EAxis could possibly fix. When I reinstalled The Sims 2 a few months ago, I made sure to patch each and every single expansion, plus the FFS pack before even booting up the game. If you're not going to download any of the bug-fixing mods that modders have made over the years, at least get the patches.

"A little corrupted"? Oh my, that's not something you can pass off! Corruption can (and will!) spread like wildfire, turning your neighborhood into a fiery ball visible from space. And also, if the corruption you mentioned is corruption in the core game files (the C:\Program Files location), then you MUST get it fixed before it renders the whole game unplayable! See this page to fix it. If it doesn't work, then you'll have to reinstall the game.

That's very interesting Lee. I'm just going by what Mootilda said, about not installing anything with a higher game engine. I'd be interested in her thoughts on what you found. If everyone's game/computer worked the same, then that would be great for downloaders without M&G and for those of us who upload lots with 'everything included'. I had someone ask me once who had everything but M&G if they could install my water park and I told them no, it would crash their game. But maybe it wouldn't?!

I just tick everything when I upload as I have no clue if I've used things from SP's, but I know I like a lot of the content that came with SP's, including the plants from M&G so I figure ticking everything is safer.

Many of the game engines are similar. For example, Celebration Stuff basically uses the OFB game engine. M&G basically uses the AL game engine. The Store Edition is basically equivalent to the FT, or AL, or M&G game engine (depending upon the version of the Store Edition).

In general, each EP has a different game engine. If you install a lot which requires FreeTIme and you only have Bon Voyage, the lot is going to crash because it has an internal data format which isn't recognized by your latest EP. If you install a lot which requires FreeTime and you have Apartment Life, then there is less likelihood of crashing, because your game engine is later than the game engine used to create the lot.

In addition to crashing caused by an incorrect game engine, lots can crash if they are missing objects, although most objects either disappear completely or downgrade to another object. Still, there are objects which behave badly when they are unavailable, so you shouldn't assume that missing objects will always behave correctly.

I imagine that some M&G lots might crash the game without M&G, because of required objects. I would be wary about installing M&G lots without M&G. Try installing them into a throwaway neighborhood first, just in case you run into something (like the roof pieces?) which may crash the game.

The thing is: crashing can corrupt your neighborhoods. It's better to be safe than sorry. If you do not have the requirements for a lot, test it first.

Backing up Mootilda's statement, stuff packs do indeed borrow parts of the game engines for certain EPs. TwoJeffs made a thread here describing which game engines each SP uses. It's mainly for deciding which version of a mod you should download, so if you only have NL, but have the IKEA stuff pack as well, then you should use the Pets version of the mods because the IKEA Home Stuff pack uses the Pets game engine.

It probably isn't directly related to the topic, but it's something I wanted to bring up.

Of course I have the patches for the EPs that I have. No problem.

I admit that I made some stupid things in the past and if I had known the things I know now I had'nt done them.

Nr 1: Deleteing a sim from the sim bin. She was not in play for a long time and only met one other sim during that time. He went barking crazy after that and use to laugh out loud at nearly everything. Moving the family to a new lot/bulldoze the old one solved the problem.
Nr 2: Moving a family to a other hood the wrong way. I have not seen any specific issues releted to that but the Wiki says it's a no-no. I do not care if the hood I moved the family to gets borked up, I never play it.

The only problems that I have whit my game so far (we talking a time span of 1-2 years by now) is that my sims sometimes gets a few days older when its time (IRL) to change from summer to winter time or the other way round. But it I do not need to happen. It can happen. This time one or two sims in different familys had their carreer set back a little instead. I have'nt visit all of my familys so I do not know exact how many is effected. A thing that DO spread is the unwill to take away the empty dinnerplates after a meal. Can be fixed but only shortly (annoying as .... but the game works). The last thing is that my sims can not have birds or womrats. Their fingers becomes some graphical issues after that. Can also be fixed by moving the sim to a new lot.

Are those issues in the hood where you deleted Sims in the family bin? Try to duplicate those problems in another, uncorrupted neighborhood. If the clean neighborhood doesn't have those problems, chances are the problematic neighborhood is corrupted.

I have it installed and I think it is one of the best SP.

My AL needs to be patched, again, because M&G re-broke it? Per post #9. But now I can't FIND patches.

I believe patches should be hotlinked if you just write patch. So.... patch

I do not know if anyone has come across this issue yet but I will say it, when you uninstall the stuff pack it wipes all your stuff. I had this happen to me in 2010 and since that time I have never reinstalled the stuff pack on my sims 2, since it wrecked a film series I was going to start a youtude channel to show it off and caused me to cry over it. I have not encountered this trouble with any other stuff pack or not to memory I have not had it happen.

M&G never did anything to my game, it went on and everything was as I left it. But I would back up before installing it as you are changing the game engine so there is always the possibility of a muck up.

Uninstalling your most recent game engine always wipes your saves, as far as I know. You get a warning about this when you install a new EP/SP, stating it will affect your savefiles and that you should make a backup if you want to revert to pre-EP/SP times. I believe it also tells you when you uninstall that saves will be removed, and make sure to backup first if you want to keep them.

Oh I misread and thought she said she installed it and it wiped her game. Well of course if you uninstall M&G it will, because it isn't just a stuff pack it works like an EP.

No, you don't need to patch again. What I was trying to say is that, even if you patched AL, M&G broke some parts of that patch for no good reason. Similar to the "Missing Primp Interaction" bug which was first spotted in Seasons, fixed in the patch, and then re-broken in Bon Voyage (thankfully they fixed it again in the BV patch). I'm not sure if there are any more, but I do know that the "Physiology bug", where a Sim gains all of their body skill points immediately when working out after learning the Physiology life skill, was fixed in the AL patch, but M&G broke it again. Pescado's alfixes fixes this. If you have AL, get both the patch and alfixes.

Yes, makes me want to take allfixes off just to get that 'bug' back again. Don't people like it? I thought it was nifty.

Nifty, but unprofessional. I like having a mini-storyline, and I like it when my Sims fall off the treadmill . Besides, if I wanted six-pack abs Sims in a jiffy, that's what the InSIM is for.

But for more practical reasons, alfixes does fixes issues that were not covered in any of the patches, and also fixes bugs that you never knew existed. I know this because of 1. Pescado's nasty habit of not telling everyone exactly what his hacks do, and 2. Hack Conflicts that appear on the HCDU out of nowhere. For example, Tunaisafish's 'Get Parents Fix' collides with alfixes, even though the bug fix wasn't listed in the alfixes description. Since I assume Pescado fixed it already, I chose alfixes over Tuna's fix. If you're good with SimPE, feel free to open up his hacks and see just how many resources he modified that you never knew he did.

Seems like you are saying contradictory things: I don't need to patch. But "M&G groke some parts of that patch". AL had been installed and patched, THEN I installed M&G. Seems like your saying M&G broke the AL patch - so don't I need to RE-install the AL patch? Or are you saying that won't help because M&G will just bork it again?