A couple of questions:

1) I have a lot I made where the paperboy leaves the paper at the corner of the lot, near the sidewalk.
What is causing this and how can it be fixed?

2) The Sim that leaves the surprise package (the computer) leaves it in a place that is inaccessible for my Sims. How to avoid or fix?

3) Is there a way to turn off the introductory movie when the game first starts up?

OK, I know this is old stuff because I remember it from the Maxis Exchange days, years ago, so I apologize for that. (I don't remember the fixes, if any.)
So my final question is, is there a place on MTS where these common problems are listed, along with their solution?

For the first two problems, they are not correctly finding the front door. If this happens on all lots, you might need to go through the Game Problem FAQ here:http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php...lp:Game_Problem

Replacing the front doors might help, too. (Or building a garden shed or a garage with a side door. Sims sometimes have trouble realizing that a door on "the second floor" is really the front door on a foundation, so they need a ground level door to run to.)

For the third question, I would look at the wiki, or check the Stupid Questions thread in Discussions. (If you feel like reading a novel)

I don't know if there is or not, but if you simply click the screen as soon as the intro begins, it'll skip directly to the loading screen.

No, it's only happening on one lot (so far).


All the doors are on foundations, so that might be the problem. I'll try building a fence and gate, maybe that will help.


Ok, thanks. I vaguely remember I complained to Maxis about this, years ago. Most other computer games I've played allow the intro movie to be disabled, but I guess Maxis thinks so highly of their games that they figure everyone wants to watch their intro movies gazillions of times.



I know, thanks.
I'm trying to avoid the 15-20 seconds it takes for the movie to load prior to the actual game loading screen.
When you're using various third party game programs that require the game to be shut down and restarted, these things become a major pain in the buttock.

You can check the door problem really quick by removing all of the outside doors except for the real front door and see if they'll deliver the paper to the door. I had the same problem with this house because the game considered the back door on the garage the front door and there was no access to it without going through the house. If I added a gate in the fence they would deliver the paper around back and not leave it on the edge of the sidewalk. If I removed the back door completely they'd walk up and leave the paper on the porch by the real front door.

There is a way to stop the opening scene from playing because AGS loads without it. I might have read something about people deleting something in a movies folder or something like that in an attempt to reduce the size of the Sims install? No clue really but since it can be done if you search about a bit more you might find something -- maybe try MATY.

1:They will put it wherever the mailbox/trash can is, I think. Also, they treat any back door as a front door, which is another place they will put it.
2:There's a mod that stops Mr. Humble (surprise package guy) and also a mod that allows you to buy the gift, both at MTS.
3:I don't think so, you can just click the screen and it stops.

Depending on the complexity of the mod, it seems to me it's easier to momentarily enter buy mode and put the package on the ground, where my Sims can access it.
In my case, he puts the package on a foundation level ledge, where my Sims can't get it, but it's easily accessible to me in buy or build mode.



It's a little hard to tell because everything is colored red, but that package is on a foundation level ledge, outside the house. The ground in front of the ledge is accessible to my Sims, they walk right up to it, but can't pick up the package. They try from inside the house, but there's the rather small issue of an intervening wall, lol.

This is also the house where the paperboy leaves the paper at the corner edge of the lot (not even near the mailbox or trash can, which would be an improvement). All entrances in the house are like this one, on foundations. I can't change that because it would change the entire concept of the house. If I have to, I'll put a couple of tall foundations with a door inbetween near the driveway entrance. But I'll try a fence and gate first.

You most certainly can get rid of the startup movie. Getting rid of the startup logo / movies.

That lot looks like has many slopes. The game is probably placing items there because it's the first (perhaps only) flat surface it finds (excluding special areas like the road).

Thank you!


It does have a lot of uneven terrain, more than I originally intended, AAMOF. I did that to persuade the Sims to follow the walking paths, instead of trudging all over the desert. It worked, for the most part.
There are plenty of perfectly flat areas around the driveway and in front of the main house. I think I know how to solve the Humble Guy problem.
The paperboy is another matter.

In regards to the startup movies, I should add that you'll need to apply that technique for every EP (folder) you have. There is a startup movie included with each one.

Yes, I noticed that. I have TS2 Double Deluxe, which itself includes NL. Plus all my other EPs.

I've noticed that it still takes a long while for the game to load.
I timed it: With the movies disabled, it took 50 seconds for the game logo to appear.
With the movies enabled, about 70 seconds for the intro movie to start playing, which itself lasts about a minute. At 2 minutes 5 seconds, the intro movie is done and the game logo appears.

So, about 50 seconds versus 2 minutes 5 seconds.

OK, in regard to the original problem of this thread, I did some more testing.

Here is the picture of the building in question againi:

This not the main house, but it is the building and door closest to the sidewalk, which is why I suspect the Humble Guy (and now the Paperboy) go to it.

The Humble guy goes up the stairs and tries to leave the present, but since there is only one square at the top of the stairs, which he is standing on, there is no room. So he teleports the present to the ledge around the corner of the house and leaves.
I was able to add one additional open square at the top of the stairs, but that didn't make a difference, because apparently the Humble Guy needs to step away from the stairs (and/or the front door) AND be able to place the present in a third open square. Either that, or the program just wants to make sure the present is not left anywhere near a door or stairs so as not to block passage.
Long story short, adding one additional open square at the top of the stairs did not solve the Humble Guy problem. I don't have the room to add an additional open square without totally ruining the architecture of the building. The present left by the Humble Guy will have to be manually placed somewhere where a Sim can reach it, by players. Either that, or answer the doorbell when the Humble Guy rings and make the entire issue moot.

Here's a better pic of the area:

The Humble Guy leaves the present on a foundation-level ledge where the black X is. (The ledge is almost invisible from this angle because the entire outside of the house is the same reddish color. Also, it's actually a desert lot, but I was testing in Pleasantville where my rich Test Sims are.)

As far as the paperboy is concerned, adding that additional open square at the top of the stairs went half-way toward solving the problem.
He no longer leaves the paper at the far corner of the lot. Instead, he walks onto the lot and up the stairs of this building and looks for a place to leave the paper, just like the Humble Guy looked for a place to leave the present.
But again, just like the Humble Guy, that one additional square does not appear to be enough for the paperboy to leave the paper.
He then walks back to the front of the lot and leaves the paper just inside the driveway, near the mailbox.

I can live with it.
In most cases, players will have their Sims answer the doorbell when the Humble Guy rings, thereby making the issue of where he leaves the present moot. On those occasions where players for some reason do not answer the doorbell, they will have to go into buy or build mode and reposition the present manually.
The paperboy leaving the paper at the end of the driveway near the mailbox is also OK, I think, since that is what happens in many lots as well.

Oh, and I also tried just making some level spaces nearby, which had no effect on either issue. Besides there are plenty of level areas just a few squares away near the driveway.

I guess the programmers had their reasons, but it would be so nice if players could simply designate which doors everyone comes knocking on.

It's really the design of your building which is at fault. You are not providing the space on the porch which the game requires, so it is failing miserably. A 1-tile porch is completely inadequate for the game to function correctly.

Why not create a larger porch, so that the paper boy, Humble, etc. can all leave things on the front porch, as the game wants? I always make sure that there is a spare space or two on my porch, not used by doors, stairs, etc., and I never have these kinds of problems.

If you are unwilling to leave an appropriate amount of space, then you should go to the WCIF forum and ask whether there are any mods which will allow your game to function as you want. Perhaps something that will leave the newspaper, gifts, etc. at the mailbox rather than on the porch.

Another option is to uninstall your later EPs and SPs. I don't remember exactly when things changed, but the base game and early EPs delivered the newspaper near the mailbox and there was no Rod Humble to deliver the computer.

I don't know whether you're being facetious, but that's a rather drastic option, and one I won't take, needless to say.

As I said, I can live with it, as pointed out in my previous post for the various reasons.
And, as you point out yourself and as I remembered correctly, the paperboy frequently leaves the paper near the mailbox, or used to in earlier editions of the game, so it's not a big deal at all now.
Although a little irritating, these two issues are rather minor.

As far as enlarging "the porch", ain't gonna happen, as the lot is one of a real house.

I predict one of two things here:
1. You'll quickly realize the necessity of relaxing those types of self-imposed rules
or
2. You'll abandon Sims 2 in search of a more accurate medium for reconstructing real-life buildings, if that's your passion.

Sims 2 building options do not fit any real-life scale. You're trying to meet a standard that simply cannot be met, and it's going to make playing your lots a lot less fun.

There are a lot of compromises to be made when you are playing the sims. As long as ScaryRob is satisfied with the compromises that he has made (imperfect gameplay in exchange for a specific house design), then everything is OK.

However, the next person with this problem may decide on a different compromise, which is why it's nice to know all of the options.

Sometimes giving them a nice large flat area near the bottom of the stairs helps as well. (At least a 2x2 area, 3x3 is better.)

OK, so I changed the name of all the movies by adding ".bk" to them. I did this the other day, when we were discussing it, uptopic.
It seemed to work fine for the first few times I started the game, but within a day or two I started getting disc check failures. That is, the program would not recognize that a valid TS2DD disc was in the drive (even though it was). Most of the time it worked after I hit the "Retry" button, or whatever it was. Once or twice, it did not work and a message said Securom did not recognize a valid disc.

So, considering that the load times were not that much better without the movies (if at all), along with the game simply not recognizing the disc in the drive most of the time, I've renamed the movies back to what they were and am back to starting the game normally.
(As an aside, the movie vs. non-movie load times I gave in my previous post didn't hold true, for some reason. The load times seemd similar regardless of whether I let the intro movie load or not, so there doesn't seem to be much to gain by disabling them.)

To summarize, disabling the intro movies resulted in the game not recognizing the disc in the drive most of the time. And that again is for TS2 Double Deluxe, which is what I have.

Just an FYI.

.bk? Is that a typo on your part? It should be .bak. You don't have to rename those files though- you can just delete them like it says.


If you're comfortable with deleting files, you can check this link at MATY (More Awesome Than You) - the first 4 steps are all about deleting different files from different folders. I've done this twice, the first time being on my old computer and I did notice a big difference in loading time afterwards. When I got this computer, I did all of that before ever loading the game so I can't tell you if there was a big difference or not. I can tell you that with 4gb of cc I can be building or playing in around 5 minutes. Or less, I tend to get caught up reading an article somewhere while my game is loading and not pay attention, lol. (But it doesn't take me that long to read one article.) Steps 5 & 6 are something I've never tried and don't ever intend to.

One other thing. SecuROM? You may be interested in Reclaim Your Game. SecuROM has caused problems for some people. I didn't link you to a specific thread there since the layout of the site has changed drastically since the last time I was there. Just look around, read up about it and if you have any questions I'm sure Lisa Pham or someone else would be more than happy to help you. (I mention Lisa Pham because it's her and her husband's site- I've known Lisa online for years and she's very nice and willing to help.)

It really doesn't matter what you call them at all. BKP or BAK or BK or ThisIsMyReallyStupidFileExtension... All that matters is that the file cannot be found by the game because it has the wrong name. When we write tutorials, we often specify a specific file extension like BKP, but that's just so that we aren't inundated with people asking us which file extension to use.

I'm cautious. I always like to keep the original file, just in case.

Removing SecuROM will stop your game from running, unless you do something else which cannot be discussed.

Ohhh. I didn't know that. SecuROM was on my old computer and I had thought about removing it. Then I saw the instructions, realized that I didn't need to remove it (since it wasn't causing any problems for me at all) and stopped reading.

Yes, typo, I renamed them ".bak".
If the game starts acting up after renaming the files, I'm certainly not going to delete them.
Bottom, line, instead of messing with anything, I'll just let the game load normally and hit the spacebar when the movie starts. It's just one of the many frustrating things about this game. It's a long term labor of love...

At present, Securom is not affecting my computer, AFAIK. I read about Securom a few days ago.
Didn't TS2 have the Starforce DRM years ago, or was that another game I'm thinking of? Now that POS definitely affected my comp; prevented me from burning CDs. Luckily there was an easy removal tool for it.