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Sims 2 Hacks Spread Like Viruses 311
jowens writes "SecurityFocus reports that players sharing house designs through Electronic Arts' Sims 2 Exchange are finding their game behaving oddly: espresso machines mysteriously satisfy all the Sims needs, Sims are suddenly comfortable with open relationships, and the social worker no longer cares how they treat their children. It turns out hacks were spreading invisibly with Sims 2 lots, infecting thousands of downloadable homes, and catching Electronic Arts by surprise. The hackers, who never intended their hacks to be viruses, have even written their own AV scanner to find and control the outbreak."
Some of those hacks sound kind of cool! (Score:5, Funny)
Me too, think I'll check it out. (Score:2)
Barista Perverts (Re:Some of those... ) (Score:2)
Re:Some of those hacks sound kind of cool! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Some of those hacks sound kind of cool! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Some of those hacks sound kind of cool! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh my God! They are all becoming Democrats! Can't somebody stop the madness?
my favourite line from the article: (Score:3, Funny)
"Another hack allows teenagers in the Sims 2 to get pregnant. As the game is sold, they can't even have sex."
Oh my g0d yhis is SO...
I dunno, normal?
I wonder. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I wonder. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I wonder. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I wonder. (Score:2)
espresso machines mysteriously satisfy all the Sims needs
Exactly the way it should be.
Re:I wonder. (Score:2, Insightful)
Exactly what kind of needs are we talking about here?
Re:I wonder. (Score:2)
Re:I wonder. (Score:3, Insightful)
either that or you really screwed up sometime earlier in the year and you were trying to make up for it...
Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:5, Funny)
Wife: Wow, I love what they did with their place.
Me: What?
Wife: Didn't you notice they redid their kitchen?!?
Me: I noticed the beer was in a different place...
Wife: (ignoring me) I loved their new countertop, and the wine cooler, and...
Me: This is bad, isn't it?
Wife: We need to do something like that.
Me: Yup, it's bad all right.
Wife: I'm sure we can put something together for under $25k...
Me: PWn3d.
wife: Goddamn right.
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:5, Funny)
Surely there's only one slashdotter with id 1000...
Is he half married?
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:2)
Is he half married?
With the amount of time some people seem to spend on Slashdot, that sounds about right.
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:3, Funny)
Never mind.
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:3, Insightful)
Me: PWn3d.
What, you thought the upkeep on females became cheaper after marriage?
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:2)
Every Birthday, Anniversary, Christmas, and Valentines day you have to outspend whatever you spent on the last one. It all ends with your soul.
LK
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:3, Insightful)
Ah, there's the trouble with your relationships. It all STARTS with your soul. See, you're right about the cumulative upkeep; what you've missed is that infinity=infinity+1. So if you give your soul as often as you can (it grows back, you know), your significant other is indescribably happy and you don't have to shell out $$$ on the Hallmark Holidays.
(Sorry, didn't mean to get all serious and sappy there - it's just that what you said clicked so nicely that I felt compelled to
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:2)
It helps that she makes almost as much as I do.
Re:Sims 2 is the least of my problems... (Score:5, Funny)
Hacks? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Hacks? (Score:2)
It may fulfill all the sims needs... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:It may fulfill all the sims needs... (Score:2)
Re:It may fulfill all the sims needs... (Score:2)
Relax. (Score:5, Funny)
Don't worry, a fix is coming. EA has a few employees working overtime this weekend.
Re:Relax. (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Relax. (Score:2)
I take it you've never played Ultima Online. The grandparent's description almost seems normal compared to the side effects of some of UO's patches.
Re:Relax. (Score:2)
but.. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:but.. (Score:5, Informative)
Basically - you create the house using your copy of the game, with whatever tiles you have installed and loaded. Once you're happy with the results, you upload them to the server inside the game. The game then compares the objects to those in the standard game, as well as those in the game database (every object is given a unique ID and checksum from what I've seen so far), and variants are uploaded as well as part of the upload. The more unique objects your house has, the bigger it is.
Re:but.. (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:but.. (Score:3, Interesting)
This is more like the "lag period" after pitching yeast to make beer. There is a period of time (anywhere from 6 to 48 hours) where the yeast is not yet fermenting anything, but working as hard as possible to reproduce and grow its numbers. Then, once the resources start to get crowded, it switches into a new life mode and begins its "
Re:but.. (Score:2, Insightful)
Regards,
Steve
read the fracking article (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:but.. (Score:5, Informative)
Someone set up us the Sims (Score:5, Funny)
+4 Funny? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:+4 Funny? (Score:5, Funny)
Dude... it's an article about the Sims...
Re:+4 Funny? (Score:5, Funny)
So, a game which simulates live (Score:4, Funny)
A virus gets a life, and life gets a virus.
Re:So, a game which simulates live (Score:3, Funny)
A brave new world. (Score:5, Funny)
My head hurts.
It's The Sims! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It's The Sims! (Score:2)
What is the Sims? (Score:2)
And so on.
Re:It's The Sims! (Score:3, Interesting)
"hacks"? Come on.... (Score:2)
It changes details of the game mechanics.
Those maybe wanted or not (perhaps people WANT a coffee machine that satisfies all theirs sims needs), but is it a hacK?
Then making a single player quake level without healthpacks and lots of big monsters would be a hack, too....
Re:"hacks"? Come on.... (Score:2)
-T
Re:"hacks"? Come on.... (Score:2)
Security perimeter (Score:2)
Virtual CDAMC (Center for Disease and Appliance Malfunction Control) officer: Don't worry, we are from the government and we are here to help.
so what? (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:so what? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:so what? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:so what? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:so what? (Score:3, Interesting)
That does explain the popularity of the Sims though. Our Player makes people play it until the urge to poop is overwhelming.
Old news for those in the 'scene' (Score:5, Interesting)
magic toaster (Score:3, Funny)
port (Score:2)
New Sims add-on? (Score:4, Funny)
Does this mean that EA will be releasing a Jerry Springer add-on for the Sims?
Springer - Dr Phil! (Score:2)
Funny (Score:2)
yes but, (Score:5, Funny)
do.... do we see em do it?!?
Re:yes but, (Score:4, Funny)
Dammit I told them that that Abstinence hack was a waste of time...
wow (Score:5, Funny)
Not to worry. (Score:2)
Now we know why "Spamford" Wallace stopped.... (Score:2)
He's secretly in Belaruse, designing new Sims2 malware objects. Infecting every Dishwasher, TV, and Social Worker in the Sims2 universe!
"Sim1, can't get it up? Get Simagra!"
sounds like a patch to me (Score:2)
And what's so odd about that? If the game didn't work that way before, maybe it's just a patch.
Re:sounds like a patch to me (Score:2)
None of these effects are considered 'normal' in The Sims - a coffee machine fills one stat (Energy), but rapidly drains another (Toilet), the result being a Sim gets a momentary boost but needs to go to the toilet sooner. This is intentional and is a (simplified) model of real life. However, the modified expresso machine fills all meters and lowers none - it's the coffee you've always dreamed of. Not at all realistic, and certainly not something EA/Maxis would have introduced.
Ditto with the 'open relation
Re:sounds like a patch to me (Score:2)
Ditto with the 'open relationships' and the social worker. Sims, like us, get kind of jealous if they see their significant other getting intimate with another Sim, and Social Workers will gladly take away a child they feel is neglected. These 'hacks' remove these effects.
Cool - the sims was too much like work anyway.
I've heard this before... (Score:2)
Tank...?!
Sims 2 is a virus (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Sims 2 is a virus (Score:5, Funny)
Hey, I didn't realise it was *that* realistic!
Re:Sims 2 is a virus (Score:4, Funny)
Ah... (Score:2)
How far can the Sims Virus go? (Score:2)
The two methods I would expect to be able to do this are:
1. Direct file/hardware manipulation. I would presume that the features are organized like DLLs, so placing code to execute a from within the addin should be possible.
2. Sub files that can be placed in specific locations (ie execute when the PC boots). If there is no access to the file system, what about the PC's registry? C
You are stoned! (Score:2)
Sigh (Score:2, Funny)
Guys really want something like this in real life.
Another hack allows teenagers in the Sims 2 to get pregnant.Guys really want...no wait. Real life already has this.
the social worker? (Score:2)
Sounds like Florida!
Yet another reason... (Score:2)
I'll stick to Wolfenstein. And Conquest. Subjugating the globe; now that's control! ;)
Sleep Depravation = Bugs (Score:5, Insightful)
Answer: you don't; instead you adopt the Slashdot style of code testing: Ship it!
503? Hacks spread like viruses? Oh, par for the course. [slashdot.org]
Re:Sleep Depravation = Bugs (Score:3, Informative)
If you're feeling especially masochistic, you can download a u
Sounds eerily familiar. (Score:2, Interesting)
You would be dead now
Fortunately it's not
The Metaverse is a dangerous place;
How's your security?
Call Hiro Protagonist Security Associates
For a free initial consultation.
Not really a virus (Score:2, Interesting)
What's strange about magic espresso? (Score:5, Funny)
My idea (Score:5, Interesting)
My GF's hooked on the Sims (and now Sim2), and even she thought it'd be kinda neat to download an innocent looking Sim, only to have them turn out to be a serial killer who begins killing off your other Sims at some point in time. Sort of a simulated "whodunnit" murder mystery.
EA corporate culture in danger (Score:3, Funny)
Downloadable homes (Score:2)
Re:Patches (Score:2)
All while drinking the magic espresso?
Re:And..? (Score:2)
Oh I know, maybe it's to take off some rage. You simulate the life of some pissed off Sim who decides to go punch Lenny right in the back of the head. It all makes sense now!
Re:Fitting Expresso Machine (Score:2)
Re:57 Years Old? (Score:4, Interesting)
I mean, it doesn't get much more obscure than that. Does this woman happen to be a well-known member of a Sims 2 community site or something? Or did they just do a google search for "arbitrary Sims 2 player" and then interview one of the people randomly selected from the list of results?
Re:57 Years Old? (Score:3, Funny)