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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 15th Aug 2010 at 7:49 PM
Default Can't swim in the ocean!! help needed
Hey there,

I have just built a large hotel with access to the ocean in Desiderata, but I am having an issue with trying to get the sims to actually go swimming in the ocean.

Regardless of where the sims are (by the ocean, in the hotel), every time I select the option for them to "get in", the screen starts lagging, the swimming icon takes forever to appear in the top left corner of the screen, and then the sim just stamps his feet and says he can't get there.

Is there a certain way in which the beach needs to be designed for them to be able to go swimming or will i need to redesign it?

TIA
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Inventor
#2 Old 15th Aug 2010 at 9:41 PM
I haven't had any problems with lag on beach lots. But I did have problems with some of my sims not able to get to the beach because it apparently wasn't flat enough for them to make it to the water with the path they had chosen. This was one of the first vacation lots I played and I had not edited it, so it was a borked pre-made lot.

The only way I solved it was to make a different path down to the ocean and direct them to the path before telling them to go swimming in the ocean. Sometimes I didn't remember to do that. They can also bypass uneven paths by teleporting. If they know how.
Field Researcher
#3 Old 16th Aug 2010 at 1:50 AM
Did you actually select "beach lot" from the special lots and houses bin when you created it, or just build it near an existing waterside lot? I've done both and haven't had a lag problem, but I've found that the pathing into the water is worse on the beach lot than on the lot that happened to already be on the beach. I have to be extremely specific about where my sims get into the water at the lot I created using "beach lot."
Test Subject
#4 Old 13th Aug 2013 at 5:22 AM
I have all EP's, and I still have no option to even get in the ocean. I built a beach lot, right by the water. Only options I get are build sandcastle, sunbathe, etc. Any help would be appreciated.
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#5 Old 13th Aug 2013 at 10:31 AM

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Mad Poster
#6 Old 13th Aug 2013 at 1:18 PM
The game is very picky about where it'll let you click to get into the water; and also you can only do it from certain angles. Keep rotating and clicking till you find it. You might want to pause the game till you figure it out.

Also, there is a "Stupid/random questions" thread in the "Popular Threads" forum where you can ask things like this without starting a new one or searching deep into the past for existing threads on the topic.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#7 Old 13th Aug 2013 at 1:42 PM
Plus you checked that your cc isn't the problem?

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Test Subject
#8 Old 13th Aug 2013 at 8:23 PM
Sorry for "bringing up old thread"... I googled my question and this thread came up. Didn't know it would be a problem, or that it would be considered a "stupid/random" question". Also if this thread is closed, why can we still reply to it? IMO, replying with just a picture saying that it's closed is kind of rude, considering the person who posted it is an admin? Considering the amount of people who start playing the sims every day for the first time, I'm sure there are questions asked over and over again. If it's too much of a bother to answer them, then why have a website at all? Sorry, I just don't understand the rudeness in forums these days. Anyway, thanks to those who replied. I clicked on every square inch of the beach from every angle. I made sure it wasn't steep, only one click down to the water....I do have custom content but didn't know this could interfere.
Mad Poster
#9 Old 13th Aug 2013 at 9:08 PM
If you go to the Help tab, and then the Game Help FAQ, you'll see steps for troubleshooting your game, one of which is removing the custom content to see if that's the problem (and in a game this complex, it doesn't have to be obviously relevant in order to become a problem); but of course before you follow the FAQ you want to be sure you're not just doing it wrong.

Don't click on the sandy beach, but on the water where it covers the slope of the beach. There's a narrow band (which depending on your graphics capacity and the angle may or may not look different) in which the clicking has any effect at all.You might want to experiment with different beaches, see if any of them are easier to get to than others. Is this a lot you made, or one that came with the game?

If anybody here can tell us an efficient way to tell at a glance which part of the water to click on, please speak up, as I want to know as much as anybody!

Nobody here wants to be rude, but we get a fair number of people barging in through the front door, walking right past the "rules of conduct" sign, and proceeding to break all the rules, then getting offended at being directed to the right place. You apparently came in through the back service entrance and never realized you were somewhere that needed a rules of conduct sign.

This place is disorienting at first, but if you take things slowly and reasonably you'll find that most people here are plenty helpful. Only you have to familiarize yourself with the rules, ask questions that contain enough information for us to know how to answer, and ask in the right place. Technical help goes into the Help forum, for example; and you'd be shocked at the number of people who ask for Sims3 help in the Sims2 forum. As for "stupid/random questions," it's a thread for questions that aren't likely to promote fruitful discussion and therefore aren't worth starting a whole thread about. Nobody actually believes these questions are stupid; but people often feel stupid asking things that they're sure are obvious to everyone else (which is not true; if you don't know, somebody else doesn't either); and the thread was started years ago and has been going strong ever since. The name may or may not have been a good idea, but it's become Traditional.

I hope you get your beaches working, and hang around awhile. I first came here full of frustration with a specific problem and making lots of blunders, but I eventually figured out both my problem and how to navigate and behave, became comfortable, and made friends here, as well as learning lots of things that have improved my enjoyment of the game. So welcome aboard.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Test Subject
#10 Old 13th Aug 2013 at 9:30 PM
Thanks Peni. This is a lot I built. I used an empty beach lot. I was clicking on the water also. It's not really even a big deal, but now that I "can't" make my sims swim, I want to more than ever. lol. I will try different locations for beach lots and see what happens. I have tons of custom content so I wouldn't even know where to begin looking to see what the problem could be if it's an object. As far as this site goes, I have had mostly good experiences, and people have for the most part been very helpful in answering my questions. I have found tons of cool stuff here. I like this site. But to be honest, when I first came here, someone was extremely rude to me, and after reading some posts, I got that feeling that there were too many chiefs, not enough Indians around here. I almost didn't come back here after that, but found out this is one of the only websites, if not the ONLY website that offers certain things I needed. it's a shame when people feel the need to throw around their so called power or knowledge and treat people with less like they are dumb or wasting peoples time. I can't stand rudeness in a forum. It's completely uncalled for and immature IMO. There are basic rules to follow for every site, and some sites just have too many stupid rules. Like not bringing up old threads is ridiculous. Sometimes it cannot be helped. It doesn't mean people are lazy, mostly it means they searched and couldn't find a similar thread, or whatever, doesn't matter. It's not the end of the freakin world....Just sayin.
Site Helper
#11 Old 13th Aug 2013 at 10:27 PM Last edited by Mootilda : 13th Aug 2013 at 11:00 PM.
There's a possibility that you don't have any beach portals. If I remember correctly, there was a bug where beach portals were deleted when a family moved out of a lot. This was fixed with a patch FreeTime. You can check whether you have beach portals using Inge Jones' Portal Revealer. If you find that the portals are missing, then you could try downloading her buyable beach portals (same link). Note that the beach portals do not work the same way as the normal in-game portals and may not work for beach lots; be sure to read the download thread.

Everyone is correct; you are having a problem with your game, where the game doesn't work the way that it was intended. Whenever you have a problem with your game, you should do the Game Help:Game Problemwiki FAQ, including checking your CC and patching your game (if you haven't already). If the game problem FAQ doesn't solve your problem, then you should post in the Sims 2 Help forum.

So, if the portal revealer and buyable portals don't solve your problem, you really should do the game problem FAQ. If that doesn't solve your problem, then start a new thread in the Sims 2 Help forum and tell us exactly how you tried to solve your problem (everything that you did, in order), and the results of each test. That way, we'll all be on the same page and will be able to suggest other solutions.

In general, posting in a thread which is 3 years old is a bad idea. The site rules are available under the Site menu; you'll want to familiarize yourself with the rules. As well, when you start a new thread, you'll often be given a list of what belongs in the forum, and where to post other kinds of threads; be sure to read it carefully as it will help you to post in the correct forum.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 14th Aug 2013 at 2:57 AM Last edited by gazania : 15th Aug 2013 at 2:35 AM.
Many of us have necro'd a thread at some point in our lives. I know I have. It's easy to miss the date, particularly if someone before you posted. Just try to sin no more.

Actually, I was just having a beach lot problem myself. I'm finding out that beach lots are picky little sons of a gun. The lots I download here tend to crash, for some reason; probably some elevation issue. I've given up on downloading any custom beach lots. The EA stuff SEEMS to work OK, if I utter magical incantations and spin around three times.

It can seem frustrating when others get the beach lots to work and you seem to be getting that telltale "application has crashed" notice, Nyx913. Or your Sims won't do squat. Not fun. I just got a community beach lot to work (EA lot template with a couple of port-a-potties, a basketball court, and an outdoor food stand. If I submitted this to MTS2, I would be laughed out of existence!) and felt like breaking out the champagne.

And this situation DOES tend to fall in a gray area. Game issue or user issue? Content issue? The moon is in the wrong house?

If it's a content issue, there is little to get around it, whether you have 10 KB or 10 MB of content ... you have to do the ol' game help steps. It's frustrating, but if you don't do it, you will be told to, so you might as well get busy. See if it's a routing issue or portal issue first, though. Make a test neighborhood using your desired terrain and try the EA beach lots, using the size you selected for your hotel. Don't put anything on it yet. (That's what I did when my custom-downloaded lots kept crashing, and that's how I knew that it was some issue with the lots themselves, in my case. YMMV..) Are your stripped-down EA lots crashing? That's promising if they aren't. Can you get your Sim to swim?

Build a rough facsimile of your hotel and put it on the lot ... bare-bones version. You can package your hotel if you haven't used it and try it on the test lot. if your lot has already been used and visited; don't package the original and try it on the neighborhood. Whenever I package lots I've already used in a neighborhood, I run the risk of seeing personnel there from the previous neighborhood. That isn't good.) Just frame out the walls. We're not going for fancy. Are you having trouble now?

Move the lot elsewhere, flatten areas, etc. Can you get it to work at all?

This is what I, a rank beach-lot amateur tried. More experienced users might be able to give better advice. But I am finding the utterly useful function of a test or trash neighborhood. If you corrupt the neighborhood, delete the test lot and start a new one. If you're checking out a new neighborhood terrain ... use a test sub-neighborhood in the trash neighborhood. (Delete the neighborhood when you have too many subs.) Good for testing skin tones, custom lots, new mods, etc. as well.

Peni and Mootilda is right about what a PITA it can be to get a beach lot to work sometimes! Good luck.

Thanks to ALL free-site creators, admins and mods.

RIP Sunni ... truly a ray of light.
Mad Poster
#13 Old 14th Aug 2013 at 4:13 AM
I believe the issue with downloaded beach lots crashing has to do with them being particularly narrow-minded about terrain. If you don't place it exactly within a few pixels of the place it was originally made it'll throw a hissy fit. Or something. Every beach lot I've made has worked fine, but all I do is plop down an empty lot on Twikki Island, using the provided beach templates, and start it as a primitive camp site. The owners can build to suit as their families grow and they get more affluent. No moving them, and minimal building.

Ugly is in the heart of the beholder.
(My simblr isSim Media Res . Widespot,Widespot RFD: The Subhood, and Land Grant University are all available here. In case you care.)
Site Helper
#14 Old 14th Aug 2013 at 5:45 AM
You can often use the LotAdjuster to stop the crashing when downloading custom beach lots. Just adjust your neighborhood terrain to match your lot terrain, or vice versa.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#15 Old 15th Aug 2013 at 2:00 AM
I think you are taking offense where none is intended. Nysha gif is meant to be slightly amusing not offensive. Gifs are often posted when someone resurrects a very old thread.
Most internet forums, not just here, have rules about bumping old threads. Usually they are not to be bumped unless there is a very good reason.

If you have no beach lots that work in your game than there is a good chance cc is the problem. I would start by trying to think if I had any particular mod that dealt with beaches, water or swimming and remove those. If that didn't sort it I would remove my entire mod folder and after that I would try pulling all my cc. Doing a 50/50 is no fun, I've done it three times now and I have a couple of things that I could fix if I did another one. So the two choices are if it's a cc problem is take the time to find it or live with it. Right now I'm living with it.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
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