Some owners of The Sims 2 have been complaining that there’s something strange happening to their games. Suddenly whole neighborhoods of people stopped aging or every coffee maker in the game develops the power to cure all your needs in a single cup or all your Sims become more than happy to adopt a polygamist lifestyle and your teenagers develop the ability to become pregnant when the game, as it normally ships, won’t even allow them to have sex. What the hell is going on? Hacked game objects are spreading like viruses, that’s what.
There’s a whole community of modders out there who wasted no time taking hex editors to the standard objects that shipped with the game to see what they could do with them carrying on a tradition from the first game. There’s literally thousands of hacked objects available for The Sims that allowed for all manner of actions not possible in the standard game including some that allowed your Sims to engage in some fairly graphic sex play in the kitchen or bedroom. Nothing that adult oriented has been made for the smash sequel yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Still with the first game you only had these objects if you went out of your way to find, download, and install them. Gamers who had never been anywhere near a mod site were suddenly finding their Sims 2 game being infiltrated by hacked objects and couldn’t figure out why.
Turns out it’s an unanticipated result of one of the game’s cooler features: The Lot Exchange. Design a really cool house and want to share it with other players? Package it up and upload it the exchange for anyone else to download into their own games. The problem is homes packaged this way will include any objects you put in it such as, say, a hacked coffee pot. When a player downloads a home with a hacked object it ends up superseding the normal object in the game so suddenly all your coffee pots are magical and that means that any lots with coffee pots in them that that person uploads to the exchange will help spread the hacked object further. Additionally, the more hacked objects that get added to your game the more you’re likely to spread them if you upload lots that have any of those objects in them. You could end up with hacked objects of all kinds simply by downloading lots from the official Sims website without even realizing it. Oops.
At one point as many as three-quarters of the lots on the exchange contained hacks, estimates Suzanne Walshire, a 57-year-old Sims 2 player from Pflugerville, Texas, and an early victim of the phenomenon.” It’s extremely widespread,” Walshire says. “Someone at Electronic Arts was really shortsighted not to have thought of hacked objects spreading this way. If they knew that their own objects would download with a house, they would know that other objects would download with a house also.”
But the company says it was indeed surprised. EA declined interview requests for this story, but last month, thirty days after the initial complaints rolled in, the company finally issued a warning about the spreading hacks on its Sims 2 forum. At the same time it announced that it had reprogrammed the exchange to identify any lots containing modified objects or behaviors, and to allow users to see all the elements in a property before installing it. “Our community continually surprises us by their creativity and dedication to pushing the game’s limits further then we ever dreamed possible!,” the company wrote, by way of explanation.
Not to fear, though, there is a solution at hand:
“I think the response wasn’t exactly timely,” says a Sims 2 hacker who asked to be identified by his online moniker, Jfade. By then the community, fearful of being blamed for the issue, had already developed its own solution. Modders took a page from the anti-virus industry and created a central list of identified hacks, their names and checksums, then wrote programs that can scan a user’s Sims 2 directory and isolate suspect files. “It allows them to see more details about the hack … and then they can either move it out of the downloads directory or delete it,” says Jfade, who authored one of the programs, called the Sims 2 Hack Scanner and Lister. “I knew I wouldn’t want to have these hacks, and in the process found out that I had quite a few.”
Had some of the more adult hacks developed for the original game were to have become widespread before anyone noticed this could have been a bad PR hit for the folks at Electronic Arts, but they seem to have gotten it under control. They’ve changed the Lot Exchange a bit so that it’s now possible to inspect the contents of a lot prior to downloading it and any non-Maxis created content will be flagged with a warning. Plus you can use the info therein to locate the hacked object in your installation and delete it. This in combination with the Hack Scanners that have been developed should allow those folks who don’t want hacked objects lousing up their game from being overrun by them. Of course, this doesn’t stop someone from ignoring the warnings and installing the lots with hacked objects without realizing it, but if EA’s smart then the next patch/upgrade will incorporate some method of inspecting and alerting someone when a lot they’ve downloaded is suspect.
Still, it’s pretty funny when you think about it.
Get a life.
Take your own advice.
Oh Please whats the big deal
Blha blha blha yea nice to know but some of us just don’t care.
but u know what some of these “Haks” make the game more fun.
Wow, another AOL moron shows up to grace us with their lack of wit or anything worth saying.
u know what u can go F**K your self and HARD!!!!! why don’t you get a F****N life! oh and u know what ur the F****N MORON!
LIKE I SAID BEFORE WHO GIVES A SHIT!
omg can’t we all just get along 🙁 theres no need to call ppl names. well i guess some ppl out there have diff opinions. hehe… i know i like the simple hacks like the ones who bring up ur skill points or needs its usefull when u have a job and kids or just to lazy to bring them up ur self
ok this problem can be solved very easily 4 the ppl who want haked objects, sims etc download them 4 the ppl who don’t want haked objects, sims etc don’t download them and if ur downloading a house or something i think there is a program out there that scans the sims downloads 4 any hacks and takes them out i don’t know the name tho. personally i have just about every Hack there is out there from the thing that gee gee is talking bout the painting or comp that brings up all ur needs, skills etc to the more complicated hacks that alter the sims and their actions etc. my game runs just fine and most of the hacks i download does not affect the whole neighborhood like turning every painting in to a skill gain one so im cool with all the hacks.
Hehe, you notice that all of the “different” AOL users misspell “hack” as “hak” or “hake”!
hehe thats the short hand we Aol ppl r not dumb lolz
I agree with GeeGee some hacks out there do make the game more well….playable lolz. it adds more to the game until the next expansion pak comes out u know wa i mean lol I too have just bout every hack out there just like Lara *wink* they rly don do much to mess up the game if u stick with certain Hakers that do rly good jobs and to tell u the truth i have to give credit where its due i give all them hackers out there who found ways of altering the game in simple to complex ways an A+ coz have u taken a look at the game codes
its worse then HTML 
p.s: yea Haks is short hand lolz us aol ppl too lazy to put the c in.
Yay! everyone agrees with me i feel sooooo loved lol!
p.s: yea Hak is short hand now i don know bout hake maybe their fingers slipped lol, and matt i agree wit u A++ hehehe..
LOLZ hey its me again just wanted to put somethin down if there is any ppl who own sims2 theres a great site that has beautiful “un hacked” downloads
http://www.simstv.com/sims2.htm
i love this site hehehe… its a bit slow when loading but trust me its worth the wait.
I also find it amusing that many of these “different” commenters share the same IP address and post within minutes of each other. Nothing like puppet commenters to ruin a thread.
Look folks, my entry wasn’t meant as a rant against the use of hacked Sims 2 objects. Honestly, I don’t care if folks want to cheat at the game. My intent was merely to warn folks that hacked objects have an unforeseen tendency to spread like viruses so folks who don’t want them could end up with them in their collection if they’re not careful.
If you idiots want to use “hak” objects and type in TXT-speak so you look like a total moron then, by all means, you go right ahead. I couldn’t care less. But I will still call you a moron because you type like a moron.
ok first of all im me and me alone and u never know while im on the internet writing in this post someone else could be too it happends u know well yea now that we got that all figured out. second of all if ppl want to use the word Hak instead of hack then let them im not sure if u ever heard of short hand but maybe u just don’t use IM here is some examples. U=you ttyl=talk to you later, hak=hack, y=why goood now that we got that cleared up les on to the next thing. third of all why do u have to be so rude and call ppl morons if any one is a moron its u and u don’t have to call ppl idiots either i think u should rly think bout how u talk to ppl and if u did not want these kinds of posts why did u put this up u know u think ur all big high and mighty well u know what ur not so get over it get a damn life and keep it and make sure u invest in a good one. all u have been LES!! is rude to all the ppl that write in this post i can understand the one when they said they don’t care but just because of that persons post does not make it right to call everyone idiots or morons God the only person who was from this site that seemed nice in his post waz warbi.
oh and p.s: there is such thing as millions of ppl that use AOL and yahoo its just not one person so yea we have the same IP address.
Oh for crying out loud, please, just shut up.
here ur too up tight looks like u need this
[bunch of porn links deleted]
Sure, you think you were being an asshole, but you just helped me update my blacklist with a whole bunch of URls to ensure they never show up on this site again. Thanks! That was very helpful.
ooooh sweety to bad oh well im a professional i thought u would like to look at them. i know i always do after all i have to see how much compition i have out there. thats ok i bet you saved them all for later use. you’ll prob sit at ur comp and masturbate to them. hmmmmp plus i thought this site could use a lil fun its too boring like the sims2 please the sims is too fake its not nearly as fun watching them having sex as it is in real life.
oh what ever this place is tooo geeky and nerdy for me and to think i wanted to even talk with u and give u advice Les. oh well you are prob ugly as Fuck anyway well by the attitude i see i know ur rly ugly and i know ill be scared to see what u look like in real life my eyes would prob melt clear off. oh well bye i have other things to do at least i killed some time.
A bit of advice 4 all u ppl who posted here. don’t bother putting ur opinions here its a waste of ur time and it will save u the anger of getting a reply for them.
SQ, I don’t have a problem with porn at all and even have a small collection of my own. Just don’t want links to it all over my website. My site isn’t about porn so those links have no real purpose here. For the record I have no problems with masturbation either. Don’t presume I’m a prude just because I deleted your attempt at making an ass out of yourself.
As for your advice, keep it. Somehow I doubt it’s worth the time you’d take to type it in.
Marie, you’ve been posting opinions here? All I see is a bunch of semi-coherent moronic TXT-speak so far.
Babe you have a lot to learn in life i feel so sorry for you. sweety is that the only word you know how to say “moron” oh poor poor baby let me get your bottle don’t worry mommy will feed you and change your Diaper. awwww i think he is a bit iritable. like i said ppl this person is not worth your time i think you should find another site that has the same topic but with a more friendly topic host. oh and babe keep up with the wonderful speach i can tell where you went to school already. good job and keep up with trying to put ppl down coz it just does not work it will just prove my point so go ahead i want you to say something rude and nasty.
Internet Shorthand
Probably the most comprehensive list on the Internet !
Typing is a pain, particularly in the frenzied atmosphere of a chatroom or a lively bulletin board, so a form of shorthand – mainly in the form of acronyms – has been developed to speed things up. Here is a fairly comprehensive list of around 700 of the most common examples.
Be warned: by the nature of their origins, some are quite earthy. They also reflect the American dominance of the medium. A few are simply humorous alternatives to the real definitions (e.g. BASIC) and many date back to the earliest days of personal computing.
In addition to the acronym form in this glossary, the characters of the keyboard have been ingeniously exploited to represent ideas and emotions in a more graphical way. These have become known as emoticons and a short list of these is given here
Thats from a little site called romulus2.com/articles/guides/shorthand it helps with understanding yes you guessed it shorthand. here babe i put a lil example for you
$0.02 – Throwing in your two cent’s worth
? – Please explain
?4U – Question for you
1FTR – One For The Road
24/7 – 24 hours a day, 7 days a week
2L8 – Too Late
2U2 – To you too
3D – Three-Dimensional
404 – I haven’t a clue (error message 404, address not found)
^5 – High Five
A/S/L – Age/Sex/Location
A/S/L/P – Age/Sex/Location/Picture
AA – Alcoholics Anonymous
AAA – Any Advice Appreciated
AAMOF – As A Matter Of Fact
ADGR – Any Donations Gratefully Received
ADN – Any Day Now
AFAIAA – As Far As I Am Aware
AFAIC – As Far As I’m Concerned
AFAICT – As Far As I Can Tell
AFAIK – As Far As I Know
AFAIR – As Far As I Recall
AFAIUI – As Far As I Understand It
AFK – Away From Keyboard
AGAN – As Good As New
AI – As If
AIC – Ain’t It Cool
AISB – As I Said Before
AISI – As I See It
AIUI – As I Understand It
AIW – As It Were
AKA – Also Known As
ALOIA – A Lot Of It Anyway
AMAP – As Many/Much As Possible
AMF – Adios, MotherF’r or Adios, My Friend
AMIGA – A Merely Insignificant Game Addiction
ANAWFOS – And Now A Word From Our Sponsor
APAC – All Praise And Credit
APITN – A Pain In The Neck
ASAP – As Soon As Possible
ASCII – American Standard Code for Information Interchange
ASWGAFF – Ask Someone Who Gives A Flying F-!
ATB – All The Best
ATM – At The Moment
ATS – Across The Street
ATTN – Attention
ATTYO – Anything That Turns You On
AWCIGO – And Where Can I Get One?
AWGTHTGTTA? – Are We Going To Have To Go Through This Again?
AWHFY – Are We Having Fun Yet?
AWOL – Absent WithOut Leave
AYT? – Are You There?
W8 – Wait
W8AM – Wait A Minute
WABOL – What A Bunch Of Losers
WAG – Wild Ass Guess
WB – Welcome Back
WBS – Write Back Soon
WDTM – What Does That Mean?
WE – WhatEver or WeekEnd
WEG – Wicked Evil Grin
WFM – Works For Me
WG – Wicked Grin
WHYD – What Have You Done?
W/O – Without
WOB – Waste Of Bandwidth/Brainpower
WOBTAM – Waste Of Both Time And Money
WRT – With Regard To
WRUF? – Where are you From?
WTF – What The F’?
WTG – Way To Go!
WTH – What The Hell?
WTHDTM – What The Hell Does That Mean?
WUF? – Where are you From?
WWYD? – What Would You Do?
WYGIWYPF – What You Get Is What You Pay For
WYMM – Will You Marry Me?
WYSIWYG – What You See Is What You Get
U2 – You too
UL – Until Later
UL or U/L – Upload
unPC – unPolitically Correct
UR – You are
since you are in denial and put it on your “BlackList” i guess you don’t want ppl to prove you wrong.
Internet Shorthand = A way for hyper-stupid, trendy net assholes to try to be cool.
Pathetic, really.
LOL! LMFO marie u r funny i hand one to u grl!
Halla Back
way to tell these Faks off.
TTFN.
oh P.S: Les looks like ur BF came on to defend u.
KPatrickGlover= a hyper-stupid, net asshole who is trying to be cool Pathetic, really.
*sigh* like i said before can we all just get along :(. i mean ok arguing over opinions on short hand is well kinds silly u know hehehe
. and think of it not alll people who use it is stupid or dumb or retarded coz my big sister uses it in school (college) and my uncle uses it too coz he a doctor and he always on the move so he does not have time to sit down and write whole sentences. but what im rly here to say is maybe we well (you guys) should call it truce? what ya say
Marie showed up and made an attempt at being sardonic with the following…
I’m well aware that there is still a lot left for me to learn in life, in fact that’s part of what keeps me going, but I somehow seriously doubt you’ll be teaching me much of anything.
Where the fuck do you think you are? eBay?
Please do, Les. Not only is the person’s “conversation” inane, insipid, and uninspired, he (or she) has to hide behind multiple bogus e-mail addresses.
Alright maybe I am missreading the article but it didn’t sound like it was about the evils of hacking. I personally love hacked objects and search them out but I would never want them put on my game with out my knowlege. And I am glad that EA caught it before the sex hacks were available, (again I personally enjoy them in the first game but would never want them there without my personally putting them on). I guess I don’t understand why this post generated so much anger.
hey does anyone know where to download the hacked objects?
Oh, thank God I am not the only person who feels that people who type only in TXT-speak are complete morons.
By the way I really enjoyed the post, I never knew that that could happen. Well, more like it never occurred to me.
Thanks for the post! ^ ^
Forget IP logging, you need IQ logging, Les
OMG your sad. now i can’t find any hacks cause all that pops up is “HACKS SPREAD LIKE VIRUS’S” i only want the hacks cause i am bored with the original game and i like to speed stuff up! most of the time i play the game in 3x speed! and after playing it for so many years….you need to spice it up a bit…so don’t complain! jee! maybe one stuffed up ur game and now you wont give any a chance! SAD!
Oh shut up. What the hell is your problem? Don’t come whining to me because you suck at searching so bad that you can’t find what you want. I can’t help it if you’re too big of an idiot to play the game the way it was meant to be played so take your bitching someplace else.
Les, I have to politely disagree.
As far as I’m concerned, the only opinion that matters regarding how a game should be played is that of whoever is playing it. If The Sims 2 is anything like the original, there is some amount of mindnumbing micromanagement and I can’t fault anybody for taking shortcuts and explore more interesting aspects of the game.
On the other hand, installing hacked objects should be a deliberate choice and not something sneaked in somehow.
Wow this thread attracted the poorly-educated like crazy!
SuperDuper, your time might be better spent in school than playing The Sims 2. Just think, you might someday then become smart enough to design your own hacks.
Les, this reminds me of something that would be fun to see on the main page: Pick the silliest comments SEB has ever had, and feature them along with a short description of the entries that inspired them. Or even just have categories like Religion, Politics, Don’t Be That Guy etc. We’ve had some real doozies here, you know.
Maybe it will serve to demonstrate how badly educated so many are in America.
Sims are the Sims. They made it available to the public to be able to create what they want for their sims. If they’re going to bitch about their game not working for the hacks, then let them. It’s their fault for using them. Oh well.
As for the mendicate AIM users, I suggest they all burn.
But thats just me.
Im a modder/hacker myself i make shitloads of stuff im accualy making one atm whislt typing this piece of crap … sooo whats your email so i can fill your fat ass account up with hacks ehh?
Les, don’t you have an invertebrate filter?
I wish. I’m stunned at the number of clueless morons this entry has attracted. It’s like every AOL user in the universe gets a link to it on the main page of the service when they first login in the morning.
I second Brock’s vote for an SEB Hall of Ridicule. But who has time to go through all the wealth of candidates?
Hacking is the new hotrodding, I suppose. Any maroon with a set of wheels thinks he can do it. Too bad hacking doesn’t lead to actual crashing and burning (at least, most of the time).
When will they release a mod with some pumping action, I hear there is a Gimp-skin available already.
alrite u lazy bums listen up its time i but my foot down u guy can disagree all u want but what it get u nothing so shut up!!!!! i mean come on
“wHere do u think u are ebey” are u guys gay.heres a thougth make ur own website make ur own comements and hav a gay old time
I hereby nominate the above post for the Hall of Ridicule.
It’s certainly a contender for the coveted Moronic Babble Of The Year award.
I wasn’t going to respond, since it wouldn’t be nice to make fun of someone who types with a lisp (“thougth”).