Hi there, I don't really play the sims 2 anymore (or really use my computer) but I have been playing it for the past few days and I downloaded a couple lots, after I installed them I was playing my game when I noticed that there was the "DEBUG - Super Duper Hug" interaction. I'm okay with it I guess. I do have a question though, I only played in Belladonna Cove so does this mean only BD is infected or are all the other neighbourhoods infected?
My problem however is that someone else might download the lot with the bug in it and they too will get infected.

Now, I would like to know if there is a way I can check each lot with SimPE to see which one is the problem if possible? If not, I'm totally okay with having to load a new game and download each lot individually and see which one has the bug. Thank you.

Lots: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

You need to have one of the essential mods to help stop this. The Super Duper Hug is maxis code which becomes active when it shouldn't be. It can come from lots or from pulling social mods made without a fall back GUID.

I know for a fact that Zar took the steps that we know of to clean his lots. Sometimes things clean up sometimes they don't, its best that you and every downloader have the mod to prevent it. It s also polite to pm the creator of the lots.

This is why we say No Sim Loaded is essential. The bug however wont do anything to your game and placing NSL in now will hide it, but yes it will always be there and if you upload a lot you will also pass it on. Blame EA.

Thanks for the information, Jo. I do actually have NSL. Blaming it on my broken computer (it has deleted my files before in the past & recently, too.) I would like to know which lot caused the bug so I can inform the creator, thanks.

I don't really care about the bug right now but I also just realized I have another question, If I start fresh and delete the sims 2 folder, will the bug still come up?

As the problems with SDHB were explained to me, the only way people know that will get rid of it 100% is to reinstall the game. Generating a new game with a new Sims 2 folder MAY solve the problem, but no one can say for absolute sure whether it does. (I have asked as well ... more than once ... before I got Hug-Bugged, I had been hoping to upload lots here one day. I still can if I use Any Game Starter, so it made some sort of sense to me at the time that I could upload a clean lot if I simply generate a new game, and while people agreed it was not out of the question, no one could say for certain.)

There is good news and bad news to SDHB. The bad news is that you have it, it's a stubborn pain in the butt, there is no easy way to get rid of it for sure, and if you ever upload a lot, it too will have SDHB.

The good news is that if you download NSL now, you can play your current game with no problem. It will never bother you again. You might even be able to upload lots ... just not here. I've read on a few Tumblrs of people who upload lots with SDHB there. They just let others know they've been Hug-Bugged. Downloading a fresh lot with it won't bring extra Hug Bug goodness if you have the NSL mod. There is no SDHB Extra or Plus.

As for letting a creator know ... if you see it immediately after downloading a lot, you might be able to inform the creator. But here is more fun with SDHB: some people who download a lot with it may not see problems, while others do. I know there is a way you can open the lot package once it's-in game via Sim PE and see if the uploader had a social mod in the uploader's game that has been known to cause SDHB. That is about the best you can do ... simply pose the question of whether that lot was infected, rather than solid proof. In my case, the uploader apparently had the surfer mod from here. (There is a warning about it in the mod description), and it was in the last lot I downloaded before I got it. I had never had any problems with SDHB before.

How do I do that? Sorry, I'm not that experieced with SimPE.

Making a new folder appears to fix the issue. Appears because nothing is certain with this thing. This is what Zar did and we thought his lots were clean. My own lots I cleaned in AGS and they appeared clean. *shrugs* It's very easy to get and if you have a mod in that hides it, you may have it from earlier and not realize it. I originally got it from a kiss check mod on here that has since been removed. At the time we thought Dolphin's Control this sim fixed it so I put that in in good faith and it no longer showed up-fixed! Nope it was simply hiding for the next two years until I did a 50/50 search after being told my lot had it. and up it popped again. If you have a brand new install, no cc and you install a lot and bingo there it is, only then can you be sure it was from that lot. That's how my own SDH problem was discovered. I certainly did my best to fix them, but can I guarantee my lots don't have it? No. Since its maxis code and wont hurt anyone's game having NSL was seen as the best solution.

I'm going to check which lot was the source of the bug tomorrow and then tell you guys.
It's bedtime for me lol. My knees are starting to hurt from sitting on the computer
Also how long have you been a mod, Jo? I just noticed! Congrats!

Thanks Only two weeks so I am still a newbie. I'm a queue mod.

Actually, to be honest, it might be the best course of action to presume that EVERYONE uploads Hug-Bugged lots, put NSL in there, and go your merry way. In a way, getting Hug-Bugged was almost a relief ... I never have to worry about getting it since I already have it, and if I get Windows 12 or 11 or whatever and have to reinstall the game, I know what to do next time. In the meantime, I just enjoy the game and carry on. This thought lowers my blood pressure.

I think it's telling that within the last couple of years or so, I've read that a few long-time lot creators (none of the ones you mentioned, MileytheSimmer, but other well-known ones) admitted that yes, their lots are Hug-Bugged. I respectfully disagree with some who simply mention it once in their Tumblrs or on their website, then never mention it again. I feel they should mention it frequently. But the point is that they do mention it. Without NSL or a suitable alternative in place, it's so easy to get this bug.

I sometimes feel that MTS2 should have its own section of lots that are great but Hug-Bugged, and that downloaders need to take the proper precaution, which is so easy to take. But I can certainly understand why MTS doesn't do this. SOMEONE is going to miss the instructions, download the lot, get Hug-Bugged, and wail and gnash their teeth. I just wanted to point out how common this bug is, and that it's easy enough to deal with, unless you want to upload your lots on MTS or certain other sites.

Links to lots 2 and 3 are the same. The problem lot is Dead End Tenements, link 5. Which is a pity as that is a great lot, a lot of work and thought must have gone into it but as it is an Apartment Base the bug will become replicated on every sub lot.
I do have an item available that'll fix these sort of problems that Charity has kindly linked to http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...t=529253&page=5
Alternatively you can get it from https://app.box.com/s/zqpm2wwdcmryzdv096rkl4asx0naby7s (44kb)

Lot Cleaner
"Intended as a tool for preparing lots for upload or cleaning up downloaded lots, I originally made this tool for preparing the 'Back Alley' neighbourhood and 'Perky Peaks' for upload.
This item will delete all controllers, off world items and any NPC schedules. It deletes everything on initialization so just select then delete it, the lot does not need to go into live mode for it to work. This ensures the lot runs a fresh set of controllers that are suited to the end user's EPs next time the lot loads.
Used as a last resort, this is also capable of fixing most faults that can occur at a liveable lot, but save, exit and re-enter the lot before allowing the lot to run after use though as faults will occur while no controllers, TV stations, careers etc. exist.
Find in general / miscellaneous category of the catalogue, it should be OK with any EP configuration from Nightlife or higher."

Very interesting. Did you finally found what we've hoped for ... a way to de-bug a bugged lot? Or am i reading this incorrectly? I know Mootilda had been looking into it. Unfortunately, she had passed on before being able to get too far on this.

Also, the news about that lot is distressing. For a while, we were told that if you generated a fresh game using AGS, that should give you a clean lot. I thought Zarathustra had done that ... many lot creators here have. If it appears that running this through AGS doesn't 100% get rid of it (more like 98%?), it also appears that simply starting a new game folder won't do it, either.

I have to disagree with moving them to some special section, its only maxis code and many people have it without knowing it. Everyone needs to put in no sim loaded and forget about it.

I am pretty sure Zar does not use AGS - I think he said he can't get it to work somewhere (I may be wrong, I don't have time to go through all the posts now). But besides that, AGS does not work with the Ultimate Collection, which many of us use these days, so it is not an inclusive solution.

@BoilingOil explained to me that the hug bug is present in your program files as Maxi's code and should be there, but if it shows up in your game, it is also present in your game folder, where it is not supposed to be. So you need to create a new game folder without any custom content and downloaded lots, and it should be gone. The problem, of course, is that any time you download a lot, you can get it again. So I fully agree with Jo, just get the mod and forget about it.

NoSimLoaded - Note that NSL will not work without the Smarter EP check by Cyjon - you have to have both of them in your downloads folder.

Wow, thank you! My sucky computer's monitor wasn't working yesterday so I couldn't see this earlier.
After all these great comments, I don't really care at all about the bug considering that I suck at creating lots and I'm surely not going to upload any, lol
Also, sorry about the lot 3 link, I meant this one
Thanks again!


Haha, this is the second time I've forgotten to download Smarter EP check, this time I think my computer deleted it though..
Oh well, thanks for telling me!

Also, if I make a new game folder but put my Downloads folder (from the older game with the SDHB) in it, will I get the bug again?

I mentioned it because I forgot that myself and it took me hours to figure out what was wrong with my game!

I think this is really important, and needs wider circulation through the community, especially those of us who build lots for upload. It sounds as if Chris's new Lot Cleaner is now an essential mod for lot builders. I think we really must let @Zarathustra know. If lot builders of the calibre of Zarathustra and Jo can pass on the bug without realising it, what chance for the rest of us? Chris's new Lot Cleaner should really make a difference though.

I however might still have a problem, or maybe I haven't. The only lot I've uploaded so far is base-game-compatible, and I hope to do the same in future, as it maximises the number of players who can use it. Chris's mod needs a minimum of Nightlife. For myself that's not a problem for me as I started with Double Deluxe so I've always had Nightlife. But I use an AGS "permagame" to build base-game compatible lots. My AGA permagame contains 2 'hoods -- a completely Sim-free building 'hood (with an empty Characters folder) and a test 'hood (actually Numenor's "Mini Game") with a handful of families to try out new buildings and things. I build in the Sim-free building 'hood, and then test a copy of the building in the AGS base game test 'hood. Unlike my normal game, my AGS base game is played CC-light, with hardly any mods. (I think what CC I have there is entirely Body Shop - mainly male clothing.) I don't have any of the mods that prevent or hide the Super Debug Hug. So I reckon, if I had the Hug, I'd see it in my Sims' menus when playing AGS base game. I don't see it, so I reckon that proves I haven't got it (at least not in my AGS base game). So anything built in my AGS base game must be clean of the dreaded Hug. Right?

I'm fairly confident I haven't got the Hug in my game at all, but, when it comes to sharing lots with others, I want to be 110% sure!

The super hug thing is an item like furniture etc. that has to be purchased or created in some other way before it'll exist, that does however mean that once it does exist on a lot it won't self delete. It's invisible and usually off-world so you can't see or delete it. It is a Maxis thing not cc so it is not in your download folder, you can't just clean out your downloads to be rid of it, nor can it be transferred with your cc. If someone has a mod that uses the super hug's GUID (0x6DB7E00F) as a fallback GUID then any lot they share will cause it to exist even though they never, ever had the bug themselves. They have no way of knowing they may cause it, it's not really their fault.

The lot cleaner wasn't really intended for this but it does work very well for it. I noticed a lot of the game's controllers go into a never ending idle loop if the relevant EP wasn't installed, the climate controller for example if seasons isn't installed so it was intended to remove all of them so the end user gets a fresh set of controllers to suit their EPs. It will delete everything that's off-world which will include any social plug-in controller(s) that use the Super hug's GUID as a Fallback as well as the super hug itself. If you (clean out your logs folder first) select the lot cleaner with testing cheats on the OETreeDelete.xls will show just what it cleaned out. The super hug's name is 'Social Download Test', what we see in game; 'DEBUG - Super Duper Hug' is just the menu option.

Basegame and to a lesser degree EP1 can't read the same format op-codes as higher EPs but I'm quite sure I could 'downgrade' them to be basegame compatible if there is a need for a basegame compatible lot cleaner.

Wow, your Lot Cleaner is a extremely good tool! I used it on a couple of my hotels in vacation hoods, and it cleared up many unwanted things, such as the tour guide not showing up after the first ever visit to the hotel, frozen chairs in the dining room, and at one time going to a hotel lot to edit it just to find out that it's in Live Mode (even though there were no families visiting the hotel!).

Have you considered uploading it to ModTheSims? I think it would be a very useful tool up in the same status as Mootilda's Hood Checker.

EDIT: As an addendum, I used this tool in hotel lots that weren't in use by families on vacation (e.g. empty and "supposedly" empty lots).

So Chris, can this be used in an unoccupied lot?

Yes, it's primary purpose is for vacant lots. It cleans everything on initialization so live mode is not required. It shouldn't be used at an occupied lot as it'd wipe out all careers, TV stations etc. which will cause errors if the lot continued to run, if used (as a last resort to fix a problem) at an occupied lot you should save, exit and re-enter the lot immediately so a fresh set of careers etc. will be created.

While looking at making a Basegame version I realized that Seasons EP would be the minimum requirement as it initializes as a Garden Sculpture which never existed before Seasons.
I've added a basegame compatible version which will be good up to and including Freetime (it won't handle apartment lots)
CJH_LotCleaner-PreSsn.zip (1.58kb) https://app.box.com/s/lupd9szb39za2chntutb5axezp10i5kx

Just remember the Super Hug is not dangerous, it can't hurt anyone's game, it is simply annoying Maxis code. Sim references from having sims on the lot are far more dangerous to your hoods.

If this lot cleaner can remove the SH it needs to be widely known. Is this the claim, that it can remove the SH? Or is it only cleaning out other unwanted bits and pieces? That's good too, but I havn't seen where Chris says clearly that it is cleaning out the SH, or I missed it.

Just wondering. Does the lot cleaner clean up sim references?

No. It will wipe out any Lot Familiar NPC tokens, Preferred NPC tokens etc. (6 NPC token types total) and any scheduled NPC references, but I'm not aware of any other potentially troublesome sim references.

Thanks for the clarifications Chris.

Hotels can be among the buggiest lots in Sims 2. Any help with them would be appreciated.