Charachter Portrait/ Character Thumbnail

[peepeevs]

Okay, first of all, this is my second post in quite a short time, it is not that I use this a lot, and I do not plan to make a habit out of it, but if you really don't like it, shoot me!


Whenever you select a sim, a sort of photo of that sim will appear along with the rest of the menu for this sim (you know, on the bottem of the screen, whenevre you go over this photo with your mouse, the sims name appears). Eversince I installed all the EP's, I noticed that this 'photo' changes everytime the sim changes clothes. When I only had the base game, this 'photo' would only change if the sim changed appearence, but now it happens everytime he/she dresses up.

The problem is that I just don't like this, no it is not a major issue, but I don't know if there is anthing out there to stop this, and make this 'photo' only change whenever the sim changes appearence (the way it used to be), and eeven if there is something like that out there, I just don't know what I am supposed to look for.

So if you could help me in any way with this, I would be grateful, Later!

[Mootilda]

Anyway, my issue today is like the title says pretty hard to describe. But I will try to describe it anyway, hope you will understand what I am talking about because I do not know the name for this particulair thing in the menu:

Whenever you select a sim, a sort of photo of that sim will appear along with the rest of the menu for this sim (you know, on the bottem of the screen, whenevre you go over this photo with your mouse, the sims name appears). Eversince I installed all the EP's, I noticed that this 'photo' changes everytime the sim changes clothes. When I only had the base game, this 'photo' wouldonly change if the sim changed appearence, but now it happens everytime he/she dresses up.

The problem is that I just don't like this, no it is not a major issue, but I don't know if there is anthing out there to stop this, and make this 'photo' only change whenever the sim changes appearence (the way it used to be), and eeven if there is something like that out there, I just don't know what I am supposed to look for.

So if you could help me in any way with this, I would be grateful, Later!You need Dizzy's thumbnail hack. Here is an archive of all of Dizzy's mods:
http://simsasylum.com/tfm/index.php?/topic/635-dizzys-mods-for-sims-2/page__hl__dizzy

Unfortunately, this is not a mod that you can just stick into your Downloads folder and expect it to work. It requires a fair amount of work to get it installed correctly, and the explanation of how to install the mod was lost with Dizzy's site. What's more, you cannot expect to get any support for this hack from modthesims.

My suggestion would be to look for help at MATY. Be aware that MATY is not a friendly site. They expect you to do research on your own and to only post if the answer to your question does not exist elsewhere on the site.

You may find this thread at MATY to be helpful, especially since some of the installation work has already been done:
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,13150.50.html

Note that you must download the correct version for your game. If you have Apartment Life, you must have the correct patch level. If you have Mansion and Gardens, you must use the M&G version of the hack.

One more thing: for the title, may I suggest "Character Portraits" or "Character Thumbnails"? Either of these is preferable to the existing title.

[Mootilda]

This is actually a very complicated mod. Sometimes, it can be really difficult to determine how hard something is until you actually begin to look at the code. In this case, the refresh isn't controlled by a BHAV, which makes the hack really hard to write.

Unfortunately, MATY is probably your best option. Read through that thread and see whether you can download what you need. If the link is broken, ask there and I'll see whether I have the one that you need. If you don't understand how to install the mod, ask in that thread and I'll try to get you some instructions.

[peepeevs]

Ok, I read through the entire thread on MATY, but I still do not know which file I will have to pick from all of the Dizzy hacks. The names of the hacks don't seem to help either.
So if I am not too much trouble, could you, (or maybe someone else) point this out for me. Thanks

PS: sorry for double posting, but I thought it would be clearer this way!

BTW, I will post for some extra info for links and installment on MATY, as you said, thanks a lot for the help!

EDIT: yeah just tried to post on MATY, could not do it I guess because I am not a member. So I try to sign up, what is the deal with the sign up? Not only do they ask some ridicoules questons (the capital of Asyrria, airspeed of an unladen swallow (BTW, the most bizar part is that both of those answers are answered on the same page, the first googlelink you get lookng for the swallowspeed, just, what the heck???)) But I found the anwers, but then it tells me I look like a spammer, just what kind of persons are running this site???
So I guess the bottem line is, I won't be able to post on MATY, so I guess that's that or something.

[Mootilda]

Ok, I read through the entire thread on MATY, but I still do not know which file I will have to pick from all of the Dizzy hacks. The names of the hacks don't seem to help either. So if I am not too much trouble, could you, (or maybe someone else) point this out for me.Do you have Mansion and Garden? If so, then you want the version in the last post of that thread.

If not, then you must have Apartment Life? Which patch level? If you aren't sure, you can turn on debug mode and the game version will be displayed at the top right corner of the window. Alternatively, you can download and install the latest patch.

just tried to post on MATY, could not do it I guess because I am not a member. So I try to sign up, what is the deal with the sign up? Not only do they ask some ridicoules questons (the capital of Asyrria, airspeed of an unladen swallow (BTW, the most bizar part is that both of those answers are answered on the same page, the first googlelink you get lookng for the swallowspeed, just, what the heck???)) But I found the anwers, but then it tells me I look like a spammer, just what kind of persons are running this site??? So I guess the bottem line is, I won't be able to post on MATY, so I guess that's that or something.I believe that Pescado created the difficult registration procedure to ensure that anyone who registers is able to do research. Did you use the Monty Python answers? Did you type the entire answer, including capitalization and punctuation? Did you use a bogus email address? If not, try making one up at random.

If you are not able to use MATY, perhaps you could suggest another website where we could discuss this without breaking any rules?

[Darby]

The BBS is unmoderated these days. ;)

Wondering what Simbology's position is on this topic?

ETA: Checked it out. Simbology looks perfectly safe.

[Mootilda]

I'm hoping that peepeevs can log on to MATY by using a bogus email account, such as [email protected]

It's been a long time since I registered and things weren't so difficult way back then. ;)

The BBS is unmoderated these days. ;)Sounds like a great way to get onto EA's radar.

Wondering what Simbology's position is on this topic?Good point. Simbology doesn't seem to say anything about Dizzy's hack in their site rules:
http://www.simbology.com/smf/index.php?topic=27.0

Just to be sure, I've asked whether it's OK. Better safe than sorry. [Update: yes, it's OK. See above link for details.]

[Darby]

I found several threads where an administrator and a moderator were discussing this in a highly positive way. :)

[Mootilda]

Sounds good. I'd be happy to post Dizzy's original thread, along with whatever files are appropriate. It looks like AL unpatched (v1.16.0.179), AL patch 1 (v1.16.0.187), and M&G are still available, but AL patch 2 (v1.16.0.194) has disappeared.

However, I probably won't have a chance to do this until later today or tomorrow.

They are already discussing Dizzy's thumbnail hack at Simbology, so if you can't use MATY, this might be a reasonable place to continue the discussion:
http://www.simbology.com/smf/index.php?topic=8085.0

There is another alternative. You can choose just one pose and change all of the poses to be that one. That way, the churning will still occur, but you'll never actually see the results. Note that this will not help with the lag, just with the UI:
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,13160.0.html

Here's a mod which does exactly that:
http://www.insimenator.org/index.php/topic,98001.0.html

[peepeevs]

Ok, I finally logged in at MATY, and I posted on the thread asking for a new link.

To anwer your earlier questions, I have all EP's and SP's, so that includes Mansion and garden stuff. Secondly, you were asking for the patch level, this appears to be v1.17.0.66, I acquired it with the method you earlier described.

The last alternative that you mentioned is indeed an option, but I'd rather not do that, because I do like everyone to have a pose that suits them. So I won't do that unless I am absolutely sure that there is no alternative for me.

Hope you can make a link to the original thread, that would be most helpful I think.

[Mootilda]

What's wrong with the M&G link at MATY?

[peepeevs]

oh, sorry, stupid mistake, I looked a bit too far above, but I got it now. Guess I was a bit hasty.
Now I just have to find out where to place it!

BTW, was kinda surprised to see only one file, because when you said that it would be complicated to install, I thought I had to place multiple files, but it luckily turned out to be only one.

Thanx

EDIT: Ok, nice, I got it to work in one try. The portraits aren't changing anymore unless they change appearance (the way it used to be). Also, I was surprised by how much lag this whole portrait change actually brought to the game, usually I use gamebooster, with which everything that involves portrait changes still take way too long, but I just ran it without the gamebooster, and everything is so much faster now than before.
Just to make it a slightly bit clearer to any future readers of this form (if there would be any), just put the file Moothilda pointed out in the TSBin, the exact same way as people were to crack the game.

Anyway, my problem is solved, so that just leaves me to thank Mootilda for all that you did for me, guess I was a little slow, but I got it in the end, thanks.
Also a thanks to Darby for the contribution she made to the thread.

gonna play now, ltr

[Mootilda]

The downloads at MATY have already been pre-patched, so it's a much simpler process than the download at SimsAsylum. I was pleased to see that most of the links at MATY still work.

If you can't find the right folder, try searching your disk for Sims2EP9.exe. You should only have one and that's the correct folder.

[peepeevs]

I am going to raise this subjects once again. My computer accedentally removed the Sims2EP9.exe file downloaded from MATY. I thought that i'd just redownload it, but it cannot be done. The filelink now oficially no longer works, because Mediafire removed the file from their site. Any other place I can find the file?

[Mootilda]

Since MediaFire will not allow this file, I don't see how I can upload a copy. If you have another suggestion, please let me know.

Your best option may be to download the necessary parts and do the patching yourself. Be aware that you must patch the correct version of the game EXE. The thread at MATY should help you to determine what needs to be done.

Next time, you should be sure to keep your downloaded files somewhere safe. As Sims 2 becomes older, more and more download links are unavailable.

[Update:] In the hopes of being helpful, I have posted Dizzy's installation instructions, the patches, and the source code for those patches to both MATY and SimsAsylum.

[MattShizzle]

The BBS is unmoderated these days. ;)



If you are somehow by magic or such able to sign in...

[Darby]

Old post, Matt, from back when the BBS was still up. :p

[MattShizzle]

Ah. For some reason thought this was a new thread.

[Darby]

Honestly, so did I, at first. Started at the top, then saw my own post and went, "Oh. Yeah." ;)

[peepeevs]

Ok, no worries, I got it back already, but it took a systemrecovery to do it. I have got the file stored away safely in my backup folder, so it´s all there. Just too bad the Sims 2 is getting old! It wasn´t that long ago I actually started to play seriously.