#patch changes

First Call, Sims 4 Infants Patch is Coming Soon!!

(graphic credit: Bonxie)

It's almost time, the Infants are Coming!! Before the patch on March 14 breaks mods and custom content in preparation for the March 16 Sims 4 Growing Together expansion pack, I thought I'd run through a few things you'll need to know about, ahead of time.

When you load up after the patch, Mods and CC are going to be disabled by EA. This is fine, we're expecting a lot of things to break, and this time, it most likely will include MCCC.

We on Deaderpool's Discord recommend taking all of your mods/cc OUT, not leaving them sitting "turned off" (disabled) in your Mods folder. There's no guarantee the game can't see them anyway, so for the cleanest test, we always say to move the files out into a folder on the Desktop. You need this "game only" benchmark to see how things are supposed to behave, or to see if what isn't working properly is a problem in the game code, itself. 

Most of the time, we would actually recommend a "mc-vanilla" test, which means to ONLY leave MCCC in your mods folder... but in the case of a Big Patch, until Deaderpool has a chance to evaluate (and hotfix) MCCC for code changes that might cause the mod to give you unexpected issues in game, "true vanilla" (mod/cc free) would be where to start testing.

By the way, if you need help getting your files organized ahead of the patch, you can find a downloadable Mods folder template here, courtesy of Shino Nox.

Without benefit of MCCC's mc_lastexception.html error file to help dig for errors, once you have your game-only test run completed, the next thing to do would be a 50/50. Make a copy of your save file, to safeguard against accidentally saving while your mods and cc are not in the game. (Don't worry, if you DO happen to save your main file this way, just come right away and ask us on Discord how to recover from it.)

One tip we've learned over the years is that you might be able to rule out entire sections of files with two basic tests: 

One test with all of your cc & no mods (except MCCC, as long as it's working properly)

One test with all of your script/game-changing mods, and none of your extra custom content. (You would need to keep all of a mod's pieces together, both ts4script and package files.)

If either test results in any kind of error, you'll need to drill down through those files with the 50/50 technique, to find what's broken.

Luth's forum posts and Scarlet's mod list are both excellent resources. You may notice I'm not linking to any specific forum post. The reason is, Luth/luthienrising starts new patch threads in the section I did link, as needed. You'll be able to spot it once she has created it.

Last month, our team on Discord celebrated our sixth anniversary of helping players.  Don't panic once the patch is live, just swing by and see us for help.  If you can't get in, because you've been banned for some reason, our appeal process is outlined here. 

Most questions you might have are probably answered in the #server-info channel. PLEASE read it, before approaching us in support. It will make everything easier, for both of us. 

New emote list for 4.1 /atease - Stand relaxed with your feet apart. /attention - Stand at attention. /beam - Grin from ear to ear. /box - Put up your dukes. /breathcontrol - Take a breath and relax. /concentrate - Knit your brows in thought. /converse - Strike up a conversation. /disturbed - Twist your face in confusion. /groundsit - Assume a sitting position. /squats - Do a set of squats. /ritualprayer - Offer a prayer to the gods. /simper - Give a lazy smile. /situps - Do a set of sit-ups. /pushups - Do a set of push-ups.

Deaderpool's Discord is On a Break

The depth of bad behavior from Simmers we've witnessed on this patch has made me ashamed of a LARGE portion of our community. 

Harrassing Lumpinou was just the beginning. 

Refusing to lift a finger to help yourselves, refusing to read ANYTHING we gave you to prepare for the patch either ahead of time, or after it landed, just made things worse. 

Burying our support channels in repeat demands for help from our volunteer staff without testing your patched game with no mods or custom content in was just one more nail in the coffin. 

But the thing that takes the cake, by far, was the abuse some of you heaped on people in the Sims After Dark discord, especially Meg. NO ONE deserves to be talked to the way she was, and especially not by entitled brats who don't want to read, who expect us to magically force their games into working, with no effort from them.

I was already upset about what happened to Lumpinou, so when SAD decided to take a well deserved break to decompress, Deaderpool's discord also closed. If you're a member, you can see Shino's announcement, here: https://discord.com/channels/285367261374447616/461584055532519426/1086800831971590305 

The epidemic of people STILL not reading continues, too. Several of us have received DMs since yesterday asking about what's going on, when it was CLEARLY laid out in the above announcement post, in which everyone was pinged. Please don't be that person, not now, and especially not after we re-open our servers, probably sometime Tuesday... depending on how SAD's relaunch goes.

People's behavior will determine how long we STAY open. If we immediately start seeing more of the same crap that led us to close for this break, we will take another one. Don't be the reason people can't have nice things. Behave like you have some common sense, and we will do our best to help you with your issues. 

Be aware we are not going to let ourselves be run over. Our tolerance for bad behavior as a whole has run out. We're much more likely to just ban troublemakers on the spot, and move on to the more cooperative people who genuinely appreciate our support. 

Just in case you end up needing it, the process for appealing a ban is here.

Thanks for reading.

Last Call for Infants Patch Prep!!

(graphic credit: Bonxie)

Tomorrow is the day most of us have been waiting for, the patch to prepare Sims 4 for INFANTS!!! It promises to be busy on support Discords, so I thought I'd start off with a few essential things you should know about getting help from Deaderpool's server.

First of all, READ our #server-info channel!!! There is a lot of information there that will streamline your experience with us. We always know who doesn't bother to read it, by the questions we see in support. We're going to be getting slammed by people with broken mods/cc, please do your part to make things easier on everyone involved, on any server you visit.

Pay close attention to the types of mods/cc/creators who may very well get you banned. Don't bring them to our server.

The people manning support channels are volunteers. Don't be an ass. We're not getting paid to help you, and we don't have to put up with rudeness, disrespect, trolling, and so on. We have no issue with banning people who can't behave properly on Deaderpool's discord. Don't try us.

Don't post the same thing in multiple channels, and don't post the same thing on multiple servers simultaneously. If you don't use two lanes at once in a brick and mortar store, why would you try doing it online? It's confusing and not efficient for anyone trying to work with you. The exceptions would be, if staff refers you elsewhere, to either a different channel, or to a separate discord server, in order to better address your issues. Otherwise, pick one channel on one server, and stay there.

BE PATIENT. Expansion patches are legendary for being super-busy. We'll do our best to get to everyone as soon as possible. There's no need to bump your post, or poke us, unless it's obvious your post has been skipped, after a few minutes/posts around yours are being handled. We're human, stuff happens. Don't get angry about it, just remind us, and we'll move forward from there.

If you're a long-time player, please watch out for the new players, if this is someone's first patch, they're likely to be pretty shocked at the damage. If you speak more than one language, we'd LOVE to add you to our group of Interpreters helping in #bilingual-support. If you're familiar with our server's layout, please help new people find their way around. 

Please do not pester creators for information. They're all aware this patch is likely to break things, and they would rather spend their time updating their mods and cc for us, than having to respond to tons of "your stuff broke!" posts on their pages. Don't be that person, just keep an eye on the various #mods-news type channels, Scarlet's list, Luth's forum post, and so on. 

This is not our first rodeo, you can trust us to help get you through the damage and back into your game, in the most painless way we can manage.

Countdown to Sims 4's High School Pack is Under Way!

The next Sims 4 pack is going to be released on Thursday, July 28, and the patch ahead of it will happen on July 26.  This would be a great time for you to get your mods and custom content ready for whatever changes the incoming expansion pack will bring.

If you don't know what I mean by "get ready" ... come to Deaderpool's Discord.  We can help you update and organize your collection in ways that will minimize the damage you'll need to sort out after the patch hits.  

It is IMPORTANT that you follow the directions you'll see for verifying your way onto the server, and that you also READ our #server-info channel in the START HERE! section, as part of the verification process.  There are certain NSFW mods and custom content we will instantly ban you for having, so it's in your best interest to know what you have, and what not to bring onto the server, if you want our assistance.  

We don't help players using stolen/cracked/pirated versions of Sims 4, either.  If you don't play through either Origin or Steam, you'll need to fix that, and also update to the current version of the game, before we can do anything for you.

There are usually over 70,000 members on the server, and the Support Team consists of about 30 folks who are willing to try to help people navigate the ins and outs of keeping Sims 4 running well... as long as we don't feel like we're being taken advantage of.  

The #server-info channel I mentioned contains a LOT of details on how you can best help us help you... and several tips on what NOT to do, also.  If you come into support asking what file we would prefer for you to post, if you post the same thing in more than one channel without specifically being asked to move... we can immediately tell you didn't take the time to read our "rules of the road."  There really is not any reason we should have to repeat the same things to 70,000 people individually, that's the whole purpose behind the server info channel.  

Additionally, impatience, rudeness or any kind of trolling will not be tolerated.  "You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" is very much true.  We simply aren't going to waste time on people who don't appreciate that we're volunteers, people who won't treat us decently.

Please realize that loading a newly-patched game with not-updated mods/cc can be a REALLY bad idea.  We ask players NOT to visit support without having done a vanilla test, or at the very least a MCCC-only test, first.  And with an expansion pack incoming, it's possible MCCC will need an update to work with the new code, as well.  

Be patient with creators, don't harass them about their mods/cc having broken, trust me, they'll know.  Don't ask when things will be updated, across the board, that answer is going to be, "as soon as it's ready."  

We've been navigating patches for over 5 years on Discord, and we'll make it through this one, too, as long as we all do our best to work together.  Bring your popcorn, it's going to be an exciting, busy week!!