(Almost) Everything we know so far about The Sims 4

Hi Everyone, ZaccyM here

With just over a month until The Sims 4 is released in Australia (September 4, 2014), I figured I'd write up a list of almost everything we know so far about The Sims 4, are you ready? Good, here we go!

• The open world will NOT be as open as it was in The Sims 3, but neither will it be as restrictive as in The Sims 2, it will be sort of in between. Essentially, worlds in The Sims 4 will be broken down into neighbourhoods, and the neighbourhoods will contain lots, there won't be any loading screens between lots, but Sims can now travel between neighbourhoods and worlds, and there will be loading screens between those.
• There are two confirmed worlds for release: Willow Creek (which looks like a sort of outer metropolitan world, nothing fancy but it has everything a family would need, with a few luxuries), and Oasis Springs (which I would say is a typical rural area)
• It has also been confirmed there WON'T be any Toddlers or a pool building tool at release (this could mean they may be added later, possibly a patch or expansion pack, fingers crossed)
• You can also die from laughing too much, but this will be rare (somebody will probably make a mod to disable this)
• Sims now have emotions, and there will be special interactions for a Sim who is in a given mood
• Aspirations are back, and they now have special traits assigned to them
• Ordinary traits are also back
• There are no more sliders in CAS, instead, you just use your mouse to directly manipulate the Sim you are creating
• You know the genetics feature in CAS from The Sims 2 and 3? Well, that has been enhanced so you can now create a Sim's parents and siblings!
• You can now pick up and move individual rooms around a lot, and the objects in any moved room move along with it
• Speaking of rooms, you can also resize them, and the game will move objects accordingly
• Also in Build mode, you can still adjust the height of foundations even after the house has been built, and any stairs will be adjusted accordingly
• Even more in Build mode, blueprints are back
• There is now a gallery, in which you can download stuff from the Exchange while the game is running and have it appear instantaneously (at least, after it's been downloaded), ready for placement. And by "stuff" I mean anything from small objects to entire houses and everything in between. In the case of Sims downloaded from the gallery, they will automatically join your active household.

So that's everything major in The Sims 4 that I've heard about up until this point.

Alrighty everyone, happy Simming!

ZaccyM

How To overcome Save Error code 12 on The Sims 3

Hey Everyone, ZaccyM here

If you play The Sims 3 (like I do) you might have come across Error code 12 when saving your game. Just so you know, this has nothing to do with the state of your actual save game file, it actually has something to do with the world file your save game is based on! Actually, it has nothing to do with that either, more so, it has something to do with the copy of the world file that is stored within your save game file (which is actually a folder, but the game sees it as a file), which might have been corrupted or deleted or something which makes it unreadable by the game (renaming, deletion, corruption, etc.). By now you may be thinking "Oh great so my save game is permanently damaged", guess what, YOU'RE WRONG! The Sims 3 is so smart that when it loads the save game, it loads EVERY SINGLE FILE inside of the save game folder, so not all hope is lost, however, we have to manually trigger the restore mechanism, and I'll show you how to do that now:

1. Switch out of the game (DO NOT CLOSE IT, just switch windows using Alt + Tab on a PC, or Command + ~ on a Mac)
2. Open a Windows Explorer or Finder window (essentially just go to your Documents folder)
3. Browse to where save games are, well, saved (If you don't know where these are look at the bottom of this post)
4. Delete any folder that has a name ending in .bad AND has your save game's name at the beginning of it (e.g. Zac's Game.sims3.bad) (these are the failed saves)
5. Cut the folders that have your game's name at the beginning and end with .sims3 or .backup (e.g. Zac's Game.sims3 or Zac's Game.sims3.backup) and paste them into a backup folder (maybe in a folder called "Sims 3 save backups" on your desktop) (these are the active save games that the game loads and their backups)
6. Try saving again (don't worry about lost files, the game will automatically generate new ones, which may cause the save process to take longer than usual as more data is being copied from RAM into permanent storage)
7. There is no step 7, you're done
8. I said you're done, there's no step 8 either
9. OK you want something to do, go eat a banana!
10. QUIT ASKING FOR MORE STEPS I'M NOT YOUR FATHER!
11. Good Boy/Girl/Other

So that should get you back on your feet! I hope this helped!

Peace everyone!,
Zac

SAVE FILE LOCATIONS:

Windows Vista and 7: C:\Users\USERNAME\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves
Windows XP: C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves
Mac: Macintosh HD\Users\USERNAME\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves

Troubleshooting steps if you can't get video and/or audio from an external device on your TV

Hey Guys, ZaccyM here

Are you having trouble getting video and/or audio from an external device connected to your TV (that is, anything connected through composite (yellow usually paired with audio connections like the red and white connections or in some cases optical audio), component (reddish, blue and green also usually paired with audio connections), or HDMI (the one usually black connection that carries both audio and video), and possibly coaxial (antenna) connections)? If you answer yes to this, then these steps may help you before you call in the pros

1. Check the cable is in all the way: This is a VERY common problem, most TVs won't recognize a connection until it is in all the way, so even though the cable is actually connected, the TV still thinks nothing is there because the cable isn't connected securely! So check the cable and just push it in further until it won't go in any further then check the input to see if the problem is fixed
2. Check you are actually tuned in to the right input: It may seem obvious but some people don't pay attention to where they're plugging in a cable, normally near the set of sockets where you plugged in a device will be a label telling you what input those sockets correspond to, something like "AV1 In" or "HDMI1 In", essentially it'll have the type of connection (most TVs either have AV or HDMI, but it varies based on the TV, check your operations manual), a number, and the word "In" (although some simply have the word "Input" and a number), if it doesn't have the word "In" or "Input" then it's not an input! So yeah, just go back to where you plugged it in and make sure it's a input, and if it isn't, plug it in to an input, and note down what input it corresponds to (it should be above, below, or beside the set of sockets), if it is, ensure you're on the right input, that should solve your problem
3. Plug it in to a different input: sometimes ports can be faulty, which obviously means they won't work, but it could also be the device, to test, unplug the device from the TV, and plug it into another input, if that works, then it's the TV, mark the defective port (you don't have to but it helps!) so that it doesn't get used until it's repaired, then call the store to get it repaired (it should be covered by warranty if it wasn't the result of something you did), if it doesn't work, repeat the previous steps but use inputs that you haven't tried, if none of the inputs work then it's the device, call the store to get it repaired (again it should be covered by warranty unless it was the result of something you did). Remember not to mix and match cables and inputs (composite cables won't go into component inputs even though they fit)
4. Make sure you are using the right sort of input: Just because Composite cables will fit into Component inputs doesn't mean they'll work, remember, sockets are color coded for a reason... to help you connect the cables to the right sockets, for example, red cable goes into red socket, kind of like batteries, you have to put the end of the battery marked + into the + end of the bay, not the other way around! The colors HAVE to match each other EXACTLY, so just because a cable matches the same color but each have a different tone (like a neutral red cable and a bright red socket) it still won't work! So check you are using the right sort of input, and if you aren't make the proper changes.
5. Don't mix and match ports: Unless you are using one sort of cable for video and are pairing it with some sort of audio connection, you should NEVER mix and match ports, it never works!
6. If you use a surround sound system, check the connections and input is correct on that: Some devices let you send the video to one place and send the audio elsewhere (like to a surround sound system), but if you're doing that, you NEED to ensure everything is setup correctly, like the TV is set to the correct video input, the surround sound system is on and is set to the correct input (and quite obviously, the speakers are on and connected!), and all the connections are secured, also sometimes you have to tell the device to send it's audio to the surround sound system and NOT to the TV, otherwise it may cause problems!

All that should fix everything and get you back on your feet, or on your feet if you've always had problems!

Peace,
ZaccyM

PS: Remember that there usually is a troubleshooting section in your TV's or external device's operations manual that could help a bit more then I or anyone else can, don't forget if you're in warranty your device's or your TV's manufacturer is usually on hand to help you with any problems you may have

My HP Story and how I’ve come to hate their printers

Hey Guys, ZaccyM here

As not many of you know, I LOVE HP printers… until now! My Mum purchased a HP Color LaserJet CM1015 quite a while ago, and so far I bloody love it! But the trouble starts when you lose the disc to install the software, as it appears, when you install the software for your printer, you not only install the drivers (which is really all that is required for your computer to communicate with the printer, although not to HP) but you install a heap of other useless software (like OCR (Optical Character Recognition, simply software that takes a pre-printed document, and converts it into editable text) software, scanning software, etc.) that isn’t even required for the printer to do it’s specified job: print! So when you go and download the software, the HP servers will push you an image of what is on the CD, they won’t just let you go and download just the drivers, HP FORCES this stuff on you, they won’t ask you if you want it or not, they’ll just give you what’s on the CD, even if you don’t want it! And the worst part is, if you just want the drivers, they’ll assume you’re a massive enterprise with multiple HP printers of different models, and give you what they call a “Universal Print Driver” which is just something that allows you to print to multiple models of HP printers with the one driver! So to HP, I say this: HP, why do you always insist on telling us how we should use OUR printers? I just don’t see any reason why we should be forced to install software which we don’t even want! Unless you’re trying to lose a customer I suggest you straighten yourself up!

Happy Father’s Day

Hey Everyone, ZaccyM here (obviously since I’m the only writer on this blog!)

 

I just wanted to wish all the fathers out there a Happy Father’s Day and I hope you get many gifts!

 

Peace,

ZaccyM

My repair experience with Acer Service Australia

Hey Everyone, ZaccyM here (for those of you who don’t know, ZaccyM is my new online alias, I used to use my real name in my blog posts but I wanted something cooler that masked my real name, but give a personal touch to it)

Recently, I had to send my laptop away to be fixed (a bunch of keys on the keyboard stopped working), I wasn’t happy that I had to send it away, it really affected my learning (well, not really, since I had a loan laptop to use, fortunately enough), about 2 weeks and 3 days later (after I dropped it off at Harvey Norman), my Mum rang up Harvey Norman for a status update, and, to my surprise, it was back from Acer, so we went and picked it up and took it home, the only change they made was the keyboard, they swapped for a new one! Which means they didn’t have to reset it to the factory image! :)

So yeah all in all I’m happy with the service they gave me, it wasn’t very prompt but they did the job! If I were to give them a rating out of 5 I would give them a 2.5, Great service, not so great timing.

Shout outs go to the following people and companies:

• James Casten of Harvey Norman Caringbah, for being an awesome bloke and keeping track of this case for me and my Mum
• Harvey Norman Caringbah Techteam, for keeping track of this case
• Acer Computer Australia, for the great service they gave us
• My Mum and Dad, for not killing me for breaking yet another computer! LOL!
• the bloke/blokes that was/were assigned to our case, you truly are a Real Man of Genius/Real Men of Genius (sorry I don’t know your name/names, it/they wasn’t/weren’t on the service report and I wasn’t informed of it/them)

Micro$oft Rant: Inabillity to join domains in Win 7 HP

Hey Everyone, it's Zac

There are many things I like and love about Windows 7 Home Premium, including the capability to control my iPod touch with it over Bluetooth (although I can't change tracks since the Bluetooth communications server doesn't know how to switch tracks on the Apple iPod touch 2nd gen due to the lack of Bluetooth drivers for it), but something I absolutely HATE is the inability to join domains despite there being no reason whatsoever to restrict this otherwise useful feature! What's worse is that Micro$oft wants use to fork out $200 (AUD of course) for a PARTIAL upgrade to Professional (which just enables 3 more features: Windows XP Mode (which allows the user to run apps designed for use in XP, and also requires TWO downloads, so technically this isn't a standared feature), Domain Join, and automatic full-system backup over a network. So judging by the fact that there is only two real feature that would be enabled by purchasing this upgrade, the value totals to around $10-20, and maybe an additional $5 for the partial upgrade licence, so here's my question to Microsoft: Microsoft, why are you charging us Home Premium users $200 when you're doing close to nothing other then giving us rights to certain software and making changes to our Windows install?

So yeah essentially what we're paying for is just rights to some virtualization software which most of us will never use, backup software which just images our entire system then coppies it to a remote server on our network, and the capabillity to join domains! None of this is worth even $50! So Microsoft, next time you price something, consider what it does exactly before pricing it, don't just have a 30 minute meeting playing Flight Simulator X for 25 minutes of those 30 minutes then have a 3 minute break then say "Yeah just price it at $200 for Home Premium" then finish early!

Rant Over!
Zac