Random Rant

Every single time I post on the official forums, I regret it. Why do I keep going back? You’d think I’d learn my lesson once and for all, but no, I always end up going back to help someone out, or try to explain something.

In the end, if somebody cares to know my opinion, they will probably ask me personally, whether through this blog or some other way. So yeah. I gotta stop posting on the official forums, for real.

In other news, I will shortly be making an update to the Amazing Nectar post from yesterday, where I included some false reports about Amazing Nectar. Truly, I apologize for this. I spent a lot of time making nectar in game, and then I forgot whether some were amazing or not. Instead of making the nectar again, I just used EA’s “Predict Fruit Combo Effectiveness” which, it turns out, can be wildly inaccurate. I don’t remember this being the case in the past, but maybe it’s always been like that. Either way, it looks like that particular interaction is useless because it seems to be wrong, very wrong,  and often wrong. Maybe it’s just wrong about the store fruits though. I might do some testing and look into the code later, if time allows.

One more thing: Maybe you noticed I haven’t been very active after all since I came back from my trip home. I’ve actually been really busy and rather stressed. I don’t want to say much yet because I don’t want to jinx myself, but I’m working hard to get something done and I should know in a few weeks at the latest if I was successful. Cryptic, I know. Sorry! It will definitely take away a big chunk of the time I can spend on the Sims though. Sorry for that, too.

Bohemian Fruits and Nuts – Plants Won’t Grow

Help! I bought the Bohemian Garden set form the Sims 3 Store and the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts plants won’t grow! I can’t find the plants at the grocery store, and when I buy the plant from buy debug, nothing happens.

The Bohemian Fruits and Nuts, which are part of the Bohemian Garden set, are Premium Content (for some reason, people don’t seem to consider these plants premium content), and as such, require specific data from the ccmerged.package in the DCBackup in order to function correctly.

Just like the Orange Tree (Grandpa’s Grove), Lemon Tree and Purple Eggplant (Alfresco Set), these plants will not grow if their data is not in the ccmerged. To learn about how to repair the ccmerged (or to download a working one), see: DCBackup, ccmerged.package and Your Premium Content Items

If updating your ccmerged isn’t helping:

• It is possible for certain types of mods to cause the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts plants not to grow. If you are using a mod that alters the Store Ingredients XML or the Store Plants XML, these mods will cause the new plants not to work. Remove the mod or download an updated version.
• Make sure you don’t have an old copy of the ccmerged.package hanging out somewhere else in your Sims 3 folder.
• Did you install the set as package files? (Only applicable to people who did not install the set via the Sims 3 Launcher) The scripts for the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts are located in a separate package file, and you might not have noticed this! Make sure you have included the following package file in your Mods folder:
  • 0xc121afdc04bd47b89e3b5444b35320ef
  • Contains the StoreObjectsStoreHarvestables.dll but several resources are called bedDoubleFairy, making it look like a dummy package at first glance.

Related reading:
What is the ccmerged?

Amazing Nectar Recipes with the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts Premium Content

UPDATE : This post has been updated to include new recipes, and the recipes have been sorted by quality.

If you bought the Bohemian Garden set from the Sims 3 Store, you might be disappointed that the set does not contain any special recipes. While you can use the new plants to make old recipes (such as a pancakes), you can also use the new fruit to make Amazing Nectar.

Amazing Nectar Recipes with the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts

Here’s a list of Amazing Nectar Recipes I’ve made the Bohemian Fruits and Nuts Premium Content. Some of these recipes may contain Renoit Grapes, or some other fruit. I did not think to record the base value of these recipes at first.

All recipes I make are made with the following:

• Fruits: Perfect
• Nectar Maker: L’amour des Fruits Nectar Maker
• Nectar Maker Upgrade: Improved Pressing
• Make Nectar Type: Extended Nectaration
• Nectar Making Skill: 10
• Nectar Making Skill Challenges completed: Master of Nectar, Flavorful Feet, Mix Master
• Only Base game fruits, World Adventures fruits, and Bohemian Fruits and Nuts are used for these recipes, unless otherwise noted

Amazing Recipes
Keep in mind that these are really only a few of the thousands of possible Amazing recipes to be made.

• 5 Cocoa, 5 Strawberry
• 2 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 1 Peach, 2 Pear, 2 Raspberry, 2 Strawberry (§78)
• 3 Blackberry, 1 Blueberry, 2 Cocoa, 1 Pear, 3 Pecan (§78)
• 3 Blackberry, 2 Blueberry, 2 Pear, 2 Pecan, 1 Strawberry (§80)
• 2 Blackberry, 2 Blueberry, 2 Cocoa, 1 Pecan, 3 Strawberry (§79)
• 1 Blackberry, 1 Cocoa, 1 Pear, 1 Pecan, 2 Raspberry, 4 Strawberry (§79)
• 4 Blackberry, 1 Cocoa, 2 Peach, 2 Raspberry, 1 Strawberry (§79)
• 1 Blackberry, 3 Cocoa, 3 Pear, 2 Pecan, 1 Raspberry (§64)
• 4 Blueberry, 1 Pear, 2 Pecan, 3 Raspberry (§78)
• 1 Blueberry, 2 Cocoa, 4 Renoit Grapes, 1 Pear, 1 Raspberry, 1 Strawberry ( §91)
• 1 Black berry, 1 Blueberry, 4 Renoit Grapes, 1 Peach, 2 Pear, 1 Strawberry (§98)
• 1 Blackberry, 2 Cocoa, 4 Life Fruit, 2 Pear, 1 Pecan (§266)
• 3 Blackberry, 1 Cocoa, 4 Flame Fruit, 1 Raspberry, 1 Strawberry  (§221)
• 1 Blackberry, 1 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 4 Flame Fruit, 2 Peach, 1 Strawberry (§219)
• 2 Blackberry, 3 Flame Fruit, 1 Renoit Grapes, 2 Plums, 1 Pomegranate, 1 Strawberry (§230)
• 1 Blackberry, 2 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 4 Flame Fruit, 1 Renoit Grapes, 1 Lime (§236)
• 1 Blackberry, 3 Flame Fruit, 3 Orange, 1 Pecan, 1 Pomelo, 1 Strawberry  (§215)  **Requires Grandpa’s Grove

Great Recipes

• 1 Apple, 1 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 1 Renoit Grapes, 4 Life Fruit, 1 Pecan, 1 Strawberry (§241)
• 1 Cocoa, 4 Fame Fruit, 1 Pear, 2 Pecan, 2 Raspberry (§212)
• 1 Blackberry, 1 Blueberry, 2 Cocoa, 4 Life Fruit, 1 Peach, 1 Raspberry (§237)
• 1 Blackberry, 1 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 4 Life Fruit, 1 Peach, 1 Raspberry, 1 Strawberry (§239)
• 1 Blackberry, 1 Blueberry, 1 Renoit Grapes, 5 Life Fruit, 1 Pear, 1 Raspberry (§227)
• 1 Blueberry, 1 Cocoa, 6 Life Fruit, 2 Raspberry (§325)
• 3 Flame Fruit, 1 Renoit Grapes, 1 Pear, 1 Pecan, 3 Pomegranate, 1 Pomelo (§224)
• 1 Apple, 1 Cocoa, 3 Flame Fruit, 1 Renoit Grapes, 1 Lime, 1 Plum, 2 Pomelo (§230)

Pretty Good Recipes

• 9 Life Fruit, 1 Strawberry (§371)
• 9 Life Fruit, 1 Peach (§360)
• 5 Cocoa, 5 Raspberry

Not Very Good Recipes

• 5 Renoit Grapes, 5 Strawberries (§57)
• 5 Cocoa, 5 Blackberry *
• 5 Cocoa, 5 Pear
• 5 Pecan, 5 Strawberry *
• 5 Pecan, 5 Blackberry *

Terrible Recipes

• 1 Blackberry, 1 Cocoa, 1 Renoit Grapes, 4 Life Fruit, 1 Pear, 1 Pecan, 1 Strawberry
• 5 Cocoa, 5 Blueberry *
• 5 Pecan, 5 Peach *
• 5 Pecan, 5 Pear *

* Using the “Predict Fruit Combo Effectiveness” interaction predicts these combos will be good, but in fact they are not.

If you really enjoy the Nectar Making Skill, I highly recommend Buzzler’s Nectar Combinatorics mod. There are countless combinations of fruits that can make Amazing Nectar, and Buzzler’s mod will help make your sims’ life easier by doing all the math-y algorithmic parts for them.

I plan to add a section that uses more fruits from other expansion packs later, once my sim has all the plants growing again (she has all perfect plants but stopped growing most of them).

Making Amazing Nectar With Buzzler’s Nectar Combinatorics mod

I’m back, and I also have an announcement

I had a lovely vacation and I was sorry to leave my family, but I’m home now. I still need some time to catch up on jet lag, work and other real life things, but I’m here in case anyone has questions or issues for me to look at.

On that note, I’m happy to announce that I’ll be working to help maintain and organize the NRaas Wiki. You can read my “introduction” in the News of the Day post.

Holiday Break: December 16 – January 10

I will be visiting my family over the holidays this year and will be out of the country. During this time, I will probably not be checking forums frequently, so any bug reports, questions and requests are likely to go unanswered. I will be gone from December 16th until January 10th.

I know there is a new world coming out with new premium content, so I will try my best to get the ccmerged updated before I leave. Unfortunately, if there is any other premium content released while I am gone, I can’t promise that  I will be able to update my ccmerged in a timely fashion. It will probably have to wait until after I come back. I do plan to bring my sims data, just in case, but I honestly don’t think I will have any time or even interest in doing sims-related stuff. I want to enjoy the time I will get to spend my family.

If you’ve got any questions, now’s the time to ask 🙂

I wish you all happy holidays and I hope you enjoy them. Much love!

 

Update: I had my dates mixed up and I won’t be back until January 10th!

Workaround for the Playpen and Walker reset bug

Update: This mod is now considered obsolete as I have made an actual FIX for the issue. Get the fix At Simlogical:

FIX for Walker and Playpen Reset Bug

*** Obsolete***

This mod provides a workaround for the bug affecting the Walker and Playpen premium content objects from the Sims 3 Store. Since patch 1.63, the walker and the playpen no longer function properly and cause the toddler to reset. This happens when the toddler uses one of the following interactions: Play with Abacus (playpen), Play with Mirror (playpen) or Play (Walker) and has already achieved the “maximum” skill level allowed for the object/interaction (Logic: 3, Charisma: 3, Handiness 2, respectively).

This mod removes the skill gain from the following interactions: Play with Abacus (playpen, logic), Play with Mirror (playpen, charisma), Play (walker, handiness). This means your sims will no longer be able to gain any logic, charisma or handiness skill points from these objects. Your sim will still be able to learn to talk and learn to walk on their own, but if you want them to learn logic, charisma, or handiness, you’ll need to use NRaas MasterController or another mod  to assign the skill to them.

I did try to fix this problem with a script mod, and I even tried to fix the problem by unhiding the skills for toddlers in the Skill XMLs, but none of it worked. I know that this work around will remove some of the usefulness of the premium content, but at least your toddlers will be able to use their walkers and playpens without resetting.

Note: You MUST have the Head Start Playpen or the Local Motion Toddler Walker (or both) from the Sims 3 Store in order for this mod to work. It will NOT add the objects to your game.

Important Details:

• No Expansion packs required.
• Requires patch 1.63.
• This mod requires either the walker or the playpen, or both, from the Sims 3 Store to be installed in your game. You can use this mod whether you have only one object or both.
• Again, this mod will not add the walker or the playpen to your game. You must have already installed these objects for this mod to have any effect on your game.
• Due to its simplicity, this mod may not necessarily require an update after major patches. It’s always best to check in, though.

*** Obsolete***

Quantum Power Pack Issues

Many people are experiencing issues with the Quantum Power Pack. The following information should be helpful in getting the most out of your Limited Edition content.

1. The most common reason that the Quantum Power Pack does not work is the ccmerged. In order for your sim to be able to transform into the power suit, the sim must get a moodlet from Quantum Power Pack. The moodlet triggers the transformation, so without it, the pack will not work. Repair your ccmerged or download a complete one.

2. On the same note, outdated mods that alter Premium Content moodlets will cause this issue, such as my Spell book tweaks mod (this mod has been updated). Update any premium content moodlet mods, or remove them, to ensure that the Quantum Power Pack will work.

3. If the Launcher did not properly install the Quantum Power Pack, you might experience issues. Try re-installing the pack a few times to get it working correctly. Note that the number one issue with the Quantum Power Pack is the ccmerged/outdated moodlet mods, so I recommend trying the first suggestion before re-installing.

4. Finally, if you have de-crapped your Quantum Power Pack (or installed a pirated version of it), it will not work. Instead, run your untouched sims3pack through s3rc and then install the pack as package files. Make sure you have the correct ccmerged. I recommend installing only the accessories/power suits as package files (i.e. install the decrapped sims3pack and then add only the packages for the accessories and power suits to your game. Don’t add the package for the stasis chamber).

Super Hampers — Automatic Laundry Pick Up (Plus Bigger Hampers)

Tired of your sims leaving their clothes all over the house? Is your click finger numb from dragging those 800 clothes piles to the hamper every sim hour (how do they have so many clothes that all look the same)? If so, prepare to rejoice. My new Super Hamper series will automagically collect all of your sims laundry without any effort on your part.

Important Details:

• This mod is base game compatible.
  • The Super Hamper Script is base game compatible, but the hampers cloned from Ambitions, TLS and UL will require their respective EP/SP in order to be used.
  • If you want to use a CC hamper with this mod you can either provide me a link to the CC hamper, so I can make an override for you, or you can make one yourself.
• This mod was built with patch 1.63. May work with earlier patch levels but I am unable to verify this.
• This is not a default replacement.

Download and more information available at Simlogical.

Windows 8.1 and CC Magic

If you update to Windows 8.1 and start having trouble with your CC Magic launching, re-install your graphics drivers.

After Installing Windows 8.1, my graphics driver decided to turn on Stereoscopic 3D as default. For some reason, I didn’t think much of this and just turned off the setting and my games looked normal and everything was fine. Then I tried to launch CC Magic, and that’s where fine ended. CC Magic would start launching, but immediately shut down. I never saw the window or anything. I tried all kinds of voodoo, like uninstalling and re-installing the C++ redistributables, adding CCM to my anti-virus, seeing if a DEP exception would help. Nothing worked.

Anyhow, after going through the logs generated by CCM, and combing through a bunch of different logs posted on the CCM forums, I noticed my log looked incomplete. Something was shutting down the program before it could finish launching. So finally I went to the event information viewer in Admin Tools, and found that d3d9.dll was listed as an issue with CCM. That’s the DirectX driver. So, I uninstalled my Nvidia drivers and CCM launched fine. Then I reinstalled the drivers and CCM is still doing fine.

While I was trying to find out what Windows 8.1 could have done to my computer, I found many articles where people were having issues with drivers after updating to 8.1. It seems that many drivers have some compatibility issues with 8.1, including some mouse/keyboard drivers. So if you update to 8.1, be ready to re-install your graphics drivers, at the very least.

Patch 1.63

Patch 1.63 is a major patch, and many tuning mods will require an update.

The good news is: All of my script mods are compatible with patch 1.63.

The following tuning mods will require an update:

• Buyable Culinary Career Rewards: MinusOne Kelvin Fridge – Updated
• No Limos, NoLimos Careers Plus – Updated
• No Unfinished Room Moodlet – Updated
• No Celebrity Level requirements for Film (Acting/Director) Career – Updated
• No Autonomous Wishing Well interactions – Updated
• No or Less Autonomous Ice Cream Maker and Deep Fryer – Updated
• No/Less Autonomous Teppanyaki Grill – Updated
• No Autonomous Exit Box Stall, slower motive decay – Updated
• Improved Beloved Pet, and other Animal-Related Traits – Updated
• No/Slower Social and Exercise Decay for Pets – Updated
• More Seasons Interactions for Pregnant Sims – Updated
• No Autonomous Eat Poisoned Apple – Updated
• No Academic Performance Decay – Updated

My MTS mods that need an update:

• More or Less Gigs for Bands and Music Opportunities for your Sims (Late Night) –  – Updated. Only Nona_gigsandmusicopps flavor required an update.
• Cow Plant Tweaks, with multiple flavors – Updated. The changes here are minimal, and the mods are safe to use with 1.63, you will just be missing some restrictions with plumbots.

Any mod not on this list does not require an update for 1.63, and is safe to use with the patch.

For more information about patch 1.63, and to get a list of all altered XMLs in the patch, please see my ABOUT PATCH 1.63 post at Simlogical.