Ok, got Livin Large installed finally. What a lovely addition, those roaches. Even the best well-kept houses are getting outbreaks. My White Trash family, though, is in big trouble. These roaches are EVERYWHERE and impossible to see on full-screen. Even worse, half of them are sniffling, coughing, unable to get out of bed. Are they dying??? It’s not from any damn gerbil, I know that.
Please help, I don’t want to lose my favorite family!!!
Try hiring a maid.
I had a bit of a problem and she helped take care of it with the work of my peoples. Then, I had a nightmare about just what you are discribing!
Slight hijack if you don’t mind…
What in the hell is up with that crystal ball? It sucks! I have lost nice and personality points, and have never had any good happen.
Highjack
How do I get my Sims abducted by aliens?
If they’re coughing and sniffling, then they have the guinea pig virus! Several ways to get rid of it.
Same as real life - bed rest and good food. Takes a while, though.
In LL, buy the guinea pig painting and hang it up. Supposedly this will cure your Sims.
Buy the chemistry lab and keep making potions untill you get a white one. This will cure the Sim that drinks it.
As for the roaches, hire the maid. Plus, there’s a new patch at thesims.ea.com to reduce the speed of the roaches, so you can spray them easier. It’s on the “Get Cool Stuff” page, IIRC. 
Rather than nap, as I was supposed to do this afternoon, I started playing the sims. Started a new family, built the house and so forth. For about 5 hours. My eyes hurt.
So then I think “aha! I’ll log on, check my e-mail and see what’s up over at the boards! That will take my mind off poor Brenda who has whats-her-name Goth in love with her and poor Mort mad at her because he saw them hugging and flirting and stuff.”
What do I see when I log on? A question about the sims. I haven’t had roaches…but then again, all my families get a maid straight off. None of this cleaning for themselves crap. 
My White Trash family doesn’t even clean up after itself. They practically live in their own filth. The kids do most of the housework autonomously, the Dad just has time to work and sleep and swim, and the Peggy Bundy wife does nothing but lounge about and bicker at visitors when they come over.
I tried the Guinea Pig poster, but it was too late for lil Pepe … and Peggy 
The rest do seem to be doing better but I think I’ll just go back to an old save game.
Does the roaches patch make them not spread so quickly? The place was SWARMING with them…
Yep. Roaches patch slows them down, and doens’t make them appear as quick.
As for other questions…
Crystal ball: it CAN give you positive points, but you have to work pretty hard at it. Whatever motive it gives you has to stay green all day, I think.
Aliens: To get abducted, use the telescope at night. Keep using it…eventually, they’ll get abducted.
Bloody hell, I can’t find the roach patch anywhere on thesims.ea.com and there’s no goddamn search feature. Can someone find me a link, please?
Thanks.
That gerbil poster seems to work, too. In my backup game they were already sniffling but after a day of careful rest & hygeine they were fine again.
Don’t know how the hell they’re gonna afford that maid, though…
Oh that’s easy. The maid is tres tres inexpensive. So’s the gardener…you need to make the outside pretty, too, or the “Room” turns red the minute they walk out.
Unless you don’t even have a job…
Though if you’re at the point where a maid is a serious expense, you’re kinda screwed. 
I cannot wait to get the Sims. Especially now that I have my new computer.
The robot cleans those roaches up good- he sprays like crazy!
I have a cheat for making someone completely healthy and happy- it’s a good one! (I know Falc knows it)
push shift, ctrl, c to bring up the cheat screen
type in:
move_objects on
press enter
go into buy mode
click on your Sim person and push delete on your keyboard
go back into live mode
your sim will appear in the “status” screen with a little red plus sign on him
click on your sim’s icon, and he/she will be returned to you good as new!
Enjoy!
Zette
Well, the family’s already received a couple $1K donations for a new bed, computer, and jungle gym. It’s all those damn kids, they eat over $100/day in snacks alone. I’m trying to let all the plants die to give the house a “Malcolm in the Middle” look but they keep watering the plants behind my back, dammit. They have to eat outside because the house is too small, and all those piled up dirty dishes effectively kill the “Room” score any time they walk outside…
I’ve already given them a few $1K in donations for a new bed, computer, and jungle gym. Can’t think of any neighbor who’ll give $15 for the robot. Cheat codes are nice, but…let’s face it, it’s cheating.
Has anybody tried the “clover” patch for St. Patrick’s Day? I think it’s from simfreaks.com … nice way to gain a bit of money if you’re quick enough.
The crystal ball’s a waste. It seems really finicky. Myself, I like the genie lamp - but save your game before cleaning it!!
Even WITH a maid, my single gal has a serious roach problem. Bella Goth freaks every time she comes over. I think I’ll need to get Servo next time I play it as I have no shame about using money cheats.
Haven’t got HP yet, but hopefully tomorrow!
–tygre