HL on Tumblr should be the same HL from here. If she says it is, I'd accept that. But I have no idea why you think that is going to solve your problem unless you want to download and install the cracked game on your SSD and I'm not going to go there. Still considered covered by EA to be their trademarked brand game-and illegal to download otherwise.

Besides I'd be very wary of that kind of download as advertised. Tends to be very nasty.

I just wanted people's opinions before I went and bought an external disc drive. An "Is it safe?" kind of thing. It's going to be very hard to position that disc drive on top of my PC, but I'll make it work.

Edit: But first I need to find a good disc buffing place. My Teen Style Stuff disc is scuffed to the point where I need to copy the contents of the disc to my desktop and then run the installer. It won't install otherwise. Don't ask why this works, it just does.

You can still find copies of most of all of the series on EBay and perhaps other auction sites-gently used or new for that matter.

There is no one out there who is authorized by EA to sell the game, though, buying the game from ebay is actually just as illegal as downloading it. It is abandonware.

I think it depends on if EA has actually failed to renew the rights to The Sims 2 label/copyrght/whatever. If they haven't renewed it in 10+ years than it might just be okay to consider it abandonware. However with the recent origin Complete Collection offering, it is very possible that EA has renewed the rights.

Honestly, I would've said no, because it's EA we're dealing with here. They'll never let anything go and, like FranH said, it's still illegal to download. I thought this is the reason why companies like Good Old Games can't update TS2 and TS1 for modern computers, too--because EA refuses to abandon them and won't let anyone else do anything with the games.

But @HugeLunatic is one of the most knowledgeable simmers around; if she says it's abandonware it must be for a reason/it probably is.

If you can't get a hold of the UC, then I would recommend seeing if you can still download TS2 Store Edition from Origin. (It should still be available if you downloaded it before.) That way, you only need your external disk drive to install and you can run the Store Edition without a disc (or phoning in to Origin). Plus TS2 Store Edition does have some of the last updates for the game.

Another tip; if your disks aren't getting read, try a manual install and copy the files onto your hard drive and install that way. For a manual install you shouldn't need any disks--though you might need to put in disk 4 of the base game (or the corresponding disc in one of the collections) to update an later EP.

I do it for ALL my lots: houses, premade sim's houses, businesses, community, vacation, and Uni... It works for me - when I refresh/create a new save game.
Remember: This is messing around with your install files (which is a big NO! NO!) So make sure you have everything backed up first!

"Abandonware" just means it's a piece of software that has been abandoned by the developer. It's not really a statement about what copyright laws still do or do not apply to it. It's pretty safe to say that any piece of software that can no longer be legally purchased from anywhere is abandonware.

Buying used copies of the game as either singles or in bundles is perfectly legal. There are dealers in electronic games who do sell legitimate copies of it and others on Ebay.

For example: under the heading of Sims 2 on Ebay: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...2+game&_sacat=0

And I really don't think abandonware is the tag I would use with Sims 2. EA is the only company to own the copyrights to it and they have never relinquished them to my knowledge. Hate to disagree with HL, but that's one point I must stress. Sims 2 is still their IP solely and if anyone tries to copy it they will probably get very huffy about it, which is why Paralives is trying very hard to not cross their line.

Have the lot paused when you save. The pause/speed is saved with the save state.

Abandon ware does not equal no copyright.  It just means they no longer support or develop for it, still hold the copyright, but may not be enforcing or tracking violations. Sims 2 could be considered abandon ware.

Also, kestrellyn is correct that buying second hand may also be illegal, depending on the original TOU of the game installed. 

According to the US copyright office, copyright lasts the lifetime of the author plus 70 years, but there may be something else for business copyrights.  The last copyright for The Sims 2 listed was 2008 for M&G, I've not found a newer one for each TS2 game title, nor one for UC.  Doesn't mean it doesn't exist for UC, I just didn't find it in my search.

Good morning!
I want to generate safe NPCs such as the maid, the newspaper guy etc. to edit them and give them a personality, a specific appearance, but I want to check if I have understood the process correctly, because I am worried that they may lose their role and I want them to keep doing what they're doing.
The process that I would do is:
1) testingcheats on
2) Spawn the NPC and Townie Maker
3) Generate the NPC that I want, for example the maid
4) Clear them off from the lot through Sim Blender
5) Close the game
6) Use Alternative Sim Surgery to edit the sim's appearance using a packaged sim from Bodyshop
7) Open the game
8) Open a lot, teleport the sim through Sim Blender
9) Use MATY'S Clothing Tool to change their clothes, because when you use sim surgery the everyday outfit is set for all categories
10) Clear them off from the lot through Sim Blender
11) Close the game
12) Do any other necessary edits through SimPE.

Is this process correct? Would you do this in another way? I don't want the sim to lose their role in the process.
Also, what happens if I give them a different outfit for everyday instead of their traditional outfit? Can a newspaper guy wear casual clothes or does he need to wear the newspaper guy outfit?

FWIW, Jake Simpson said in one of his developer threads that "It’s absolutely NOT abandonware. EA owns all the rights and will vigorously defend them. Just because the game is not currently published does not mean it’s abandonware." But whatever you call it, the fact remains that right now, the only real, legit, official release of TS2 is the Super Collection on the Mac Store.

After you spawn the NPC from the gun, you need to click on the gun again and choose keep, that'll make sure the sim is added to the hood and also clears them away. As for the outfit, I think if it's a different one then they will wear it when you invite them over, but have their uniform when they do their job (clean up, deliver mail, etc), I think that's what happened in a custom hood I downloaded once.

If I download a house or a neighbourhood with CC, what will happen if I don't get the CC for it? I know that if I don't have certain build CC (like stairs or doors) it crashes, but I remember not having certain wallpapers and not having those just had the wallpaper disappear. Does the same apply to buy mode CC, like, it makes them disappear but not crash the lot? What about recolours?

Recolours will revert to the default. Most buy mode objects will revert to a Maxis object, in my experience mostly the Sing Dynasty Vase, if free-standing, or Lady in Red, if a wall hanger.

Sims 2 fits the very definition of abandon ware, it's no longer distributed or supported but the copyright is still held. And obviously they are not "vigorously defending the copyrights" since it's on three different abandon ware sites. 

The poop from the Sun&Moon griffins reverts to the $5000 lady statue... A bit nicer actually.

I believe if the CC in question is Buy Mode items, then it may simply revert to the default object it was cloned / recoloured from (as others have stated). If you want to be safe, you can download the lot you want and place it in a throwaway test hood to see if it's stable without the missing CC.

Yes, build/buy objects revert to what the cc object was cloned from.  I've not tested, but I have a theory that if creators were to zero the fallback GUID, it would remove it from the lot if the cc were not in game.

Thank you for the responses, I was asking because I did use some build CC for a hood renovation thing I've been doing, and according to my research on tumblr there are some people who would just try to use it without the CC and see if it crashes. I'm gonna give the CC list, definitely, but I was wondering if their choice would be detrimental or not.

Also a question on the "replace the lot files in the install location" thing someone on here recommended, what happens to sims and tombstones/urns that are on the original lot? For example, I've made over the Monty Ranch, and when doing so I moved the spot the urns are supposed to be to an entirely different place, and thus deleted the end tables they're supposed to be on. Will the urns just disappear when I do this whole file-replace thing, or will the game throw errors for the urns? Should I put the end tables back in their original place because the urns will try to snap there?

And what about sims? I've avoided molding the Capp Manor's terrain to avoid Romeo and Juliet sinking into the ground, but I think with the way I did things Romeo and Mercutio might be standing in garbage after the make-over. Will they cause problems? Will they just go to the mailbox and reset? Would that mess up things like visitors and events?

Sorry for asking so many questions, I'm just a bit excited over finally doing this and have way too much caffeine in my body, lol

I haven't done anything with Veronaville - so don't have experience there. But, I did do Strangetown and Olive Specter's house is fine - graves included.
Now... I didn't change the graves locations at all. I just redid the house - I gave it a no-slope basement/dungeon.
When I start a brand new 'save file' - in other words - when I delete/move out my neighborhood folder and have the game generate a new one - my new Specter house is there, with all it's people and ghosts, all reset to the beginning of their sim/lifetimes.

Best advice I can offer - back everything up, try it and see

Is there any logic to when the helipad will actually show up correctly in neighborhood view? Sometimes it's there in all its pixelated glory, while on other lots it just shows up as a flat black/dark gray surface.

Has anyone ever figured out why a bed is so corruptible/prone to jumpbugitis and cannot be moved once a pixel has used it?

Just the odd question-no hurry to answer, either, as we all know to not put them into inventory when moving a pixel, however, they do lose their bugginess when moving a new one, if you use TwoJeff's bed assignment mod. It always works to clear the memory of one.

I'm playing a BACC and these two old ladies both keep getting furious at whichever household I'm playing.They just run up and slap the shit out of them or steal their paper or knock over their garbage bin. Is there anything triggering this or is it just random?

They're in separate playable households (ACR actually got them dating each other, but I don't think that's related?) On my most recent rotation, I was playing one of them (Jolene) and the only person she was mad at was the burglar. Then I switched to her son's household and she came up out of nowhere and started yelling at him. They were bffs before. I don't understand when she even had the time to get mad at him since I went directly from her household to his. Same thing happened when I moved on to the next household, except it was both old ladies who were mad this time.

Do any of the sims in question have a telescope on their lot? If so, sims can get furious with another sim if they were looking through the telescope during the day. This is because when a sim looks through the telescope during the day, the game makes them spy on the sim with the lowest instance number. Then, after a while, the sim getting peeped on will confront the peeper in a not so pleasant manner, triggering fury on both ends.

If there is no telescope and there was no provocation, then are any of the sims in question very grouchy? This can trigger random bin kicking and newspaper pinching for no reason other than the sim is mean.