Why, yes. Yes it is. I've been working on a phone mod, to improve the phone behavior in general. Among the first things I've abolished is the absolutely infuriating tendency for Sims to constantly hang up the phone before they're finished talking. Then you have to breathe down their necks and make them keep calling over and over until they've finished maxing out the relationship. While attempts to alter the terminating conditions were unsuccessful, they *DID* have an alternate effect: Sims now never hang up unless you tell them to, so they'll happily talk until they're ready to pee themselves now. I still consider this an improvement, though, as it has greatly reduced the level of micromanagement involved in making a sim keep up with his friends. At the same time, I also found what I think is the control for the ringer time. It appears that is currently hardcoded to ring about 20 times. I'll try reducing that number to a more realistic 8. As usual, all the warnings apply: Side effects may include dry mouth, nausea, vomiting, water retention, painful rectal itch, hallucinations, dementia, psychosis, coma, death, and halitosis. Hacks are not for everyone. Consult your doctor before use. Version 3 here: Few minor fixes: Set Ringer made to apply retroactively to currently ringing call, allowing you to cut it off. Sims now stop call before they pee themselves. All others same as before.
Seven hours of testing so far. No immediate problems are apparent. The reduction in ringing is fabulous. It is now possible (for me) to ignore the ringing when I decide that my sims are not to be interrupted! As for their ability to keep talking longer ... LOL. This proved to be an excellent way of making new friends without having to go thru the tedious process of feeding them. (Sim brings someone home from work. Chat once to make sure they have got some grasp of each other's likes/dislikes and then say g'bye ... wait a few minutes and phone them up and keep 'em talking till that smiley face appears.
The new version is finally ready for field trials. Short version of all the goodies: 1. Set Ringer: Customize how long you want your phone to ring, from not at all, to the standard 20. 2. Post-Midnight callguard: No more accidentally calling your neighbors after midnight and listening to them ***** about it even though when YOU play them, nobody ever sleeps before 0200. 3. No more useless phone calls of friends *****ing to see they haven't seen you: they'll make a serious call instead. 4. Teen go/sneak out now works correctly even if an adult no longer lives there: If you live alone, you always have permission. Call option appears at appropriate time. All whatnots documented more in the readme. Get it now!
A bug has been reported, found, and fixed with incoming calls. Please download this new version. The old version has been removed.
The rtfm mentions that this mod has not been verified for compatibility with the patch. Is this still the case or can I try it out without breaking my game? Edit: actually, let me put it differently: is there any risk that I break my game beyond repair when trying it out with the patch installed? If no then I won't mind being the betatester, I'm fed up with those phones
That version of the mod is now old. A new version was completed a few days ago that fixes an Maxis-bug that appeared in the patch, the self-inviting headmaster. Get v4 here:
