#sims 2 problems

ok I need to document this because I’ve just fixed something that refused to work on the SAME machine under Windows 11 😭

Sims 2 custom videos (black screen / not showing) on Linux Mint – FIX

I was having the classic issue:

custom AVIs not showing on computer screens / TVs

black screen or nothing happens

files work fine in VLC so it makes no sense

this is NOT a mod issue. it’s a codec problem.

what’s actually wrong

Sims 2 uses an old video system (DirectShow + VP6 codec)

Linux doesn’t include that properly in Wine by default, so the game literally can’t read the video even though the file exists.

how I fixed it (Lutris method)

open Lutris

select The Sims 2 in your library

at the bottom of the window, next to the Play button, click the small arrow (▲)

click Winetricks

you’ll get a window asking what to do:

👉 choose “Select the default wineprefix” → OK

next screen: 👉 choose “Install a Windows DLL or component”

install these:

quartz

wmp9

lavfilters

let everything install, close Winetricks, then launch the game

result

custom computer screen videos → WORKING

custom TV videos → WORKING

no black screens anymore

important note

if you copied your Sims 2 install from another OS before, don’t overwrite the VP6 folders inside the game files. those are OS-specific and can break video playback.

honestly???

this worked better on Linux Mint than it EVER did on my Windows 11 setup 💀

if your Sims 2 videos are broken and you’re on Linux, try this before doing anything else.

Alright... need help with a sim who won't stay dead

Yeah. So, technically he is dead. Using the sim manipulator, he died of disease. Previously I'd used the manipulator to kill off the older generations by old age, and they've all died properly and have stayed properly dead.

At first I didn't see anything wrong, his tombstone generated just fine, and I was able to move it to the cemetery with no trouble. In fact I wouldn't have realized anything was wrong till I was in SimPE working on something completely unrelated when I saw he was listed under 'Townies' rather than 'Uneditable', and had kept his Household rather than being moved into 'Default'. I then thought I'd fixed it, using the teleporter to teleport him to the original lot, and then the game did the whole 'died on another lot' deal and he was properly moved into Default and uneditable. Killed off his wife to old age, and she's also totally fine and has stayed totally fine.

Thought it was all good, till I pulled up one of his kids, and they had the memories, "Damien died"> "Damien got engaged"> "Damien got married".... I pull him up again in SimPE (he still was properly set) and found all of his memories were like... defaulted? As if he were made in CAS, rather than having been born in game (and all the fussing I'd done under the hood as it were to set up the story). Odd but ultimately fine if not frustrating, I'll fix the still alive family memories later.

But then today I'm going through one of his daughters relationship panel in SimPE trying to find someone and there the fucker is, under the wrong Household again and moved into the 'Townie' category.

I’ve finally got the Sims 2 to work, however there’s some problems:

#1 - Ocean water only on beach lots has turned black and choppy, there’s also screen tearing when both on a lot and in map view. I’m fairly certain this is just a problem with the GraphicsRules.sgr file but I don’t know what to change anymore.

#2 - SimPE, Mootilda’s Hoodchecker, and Sims2Pack Clean Installer refuse to launch. I get the spinning blue thing next to the cursor, but nothing happens after that. I found a Mod The Sims forum post with the same issue that was answered by Mootilda herself years ago, but the link she posted no longer works.

"Ok, this is getting completely out of hand. Time to declutter.”

*opens game, and after much deliberation, deletes 5 objects from the catalogue*

Has anybody else had this problem or know how to fix it? Whenever I try using a dorm lot, custom made or pre-made, after moving in my sims none of the other dorms are claimed by dormies. Nobody else comes, except the mascot/cheerleader/streaker and cook NPCs, and various walkbys.

I’ve tried all the options on the Batbox, and some on Cyjon’s Pizza Box, I’ve gone into the lot without sims and tried doing “changelotzoning dorm” to maybe reset it or something, nothing works.

I wasn’t able to place a window on a wall in one of my older houses. I finally fixed that today with stuck object remover. Now I find that about five graves I recently sent to the cemetery didn’t actually arrive. Great. Where the hell did they get to? I didn’t have nounlinkondelete either (but do now). I’m still learning about so many things with this game, even though I’ve been playing for years.

I spent pretty much all morning trying to identify cc files which are just letters and numbers. I put them all in a folder and had just them in downloads then created a couple of test houses (one for modern cc and the other for medieval cc) where I could put all these cc items in. I then packaged them and used Clean Installer to identify them. Hallelujah. I managed to rename a lot of them, but recolours (of what?) remain unidentifiable and there are a lot of walls and floors which I didn’t use (which probably make up the majority of the files). I’ll try it again with lots of different floors and walls and can hopefully identify them. Slowly my downloads folder is getting more and more organised.