The Sims 3 Exchange(Lots

[Matthew]

Have you ever met problems when downloading lots from The Sims 3 Official Exchange?

I only have base game, and is currently using the newest patch.  I downloaded a residental lot from the official exchange, but when I edit it in buy/build mode, there are white boxes in front of the stairs, so I turned on 'testingcheatsenabled true' and tried to move them, and they are named as 'SHOULDNOTAPPEARINGAME'.  Any solutions?

[Saltypaws]

I think at some point we had some other members that had the same problem.  If they are there in build/buy mode, but not there in live mode, I suppose it would not cause any problems.  I quit getting houses from the exchange a long time ago.  Some are wonderful and built very well and I use to only get them from well known members, but some have alot of CC and other content that might have things attached.  I don't remember what someone did about the white boxes, not sure you can get rid of them with "moveobjects on" or not.  Just be careful with downloading houses, but for the most part they are pretty safe.

[Pam]

Welcome to our Forum, Matthew.

I don't have a solution for your specific problem, but I can say that the lots on the Exchange are risky because of the possible third party content that may be in the building.  It can mess your game up and we don't really encourage people to use it.  We have a Swap Shop board here that may have some houses you like.  There will still be some risk, but hopefully it's minimal because we request that our members use no third party content when constructing things for the Swap Shop.

[wednesday21]

Here is a thread about this subject. It seems that nobody knows what exactly these white boxes are but they are harmless as people have reported.

The exchange is indeed a dangerous place. I don't mean to scare you off of that part of the official site, but be careful. I wouldn't recommend downloading from not popular creators. See if the builder has any recommendations on their other uploads. Just use common sense and you should be fine.

-M.

[Hosfac]

The exchange is indeed a dangerous place.

I wouldn't call it "dangerous," exactly.  You just don't really know what you're getting.  If you don't want custom content in your game, it would be a good idea to read the descriptions carefully.  Paying attention to recommendations isn't a bad idea, though.

[Saltypaws]

There is only about two people I download from.  I just downloaded a world and it is so easy to play in and no CC.  Like wednesday21 said, if they have a ton of recommendations and have been on there a while, it is usually safe, but still be careful.

[Seabody]

I almost always get those when entering a community lot (in BP, more than the rest) and using BuyDebug while going to a basement and looking at a foundation. They are harmless, as far as I can tell. Probably a coding glitch, if they are called "SHOULD NOT APPEAR IN GAME", but that's it.

[warr2098]

I downloaded one house there and ended up with about 20 CC/Mods..Never again..

[wednesday21]

I downloaded one house there and ended up with about 20 CC/Mods..Never again..

Mods do not transfer through custom content for your game created by other players unless something went horribly wrong (such as the corrupt girldolldressed, but that is long gone).

[jeanamariex3]

I downloaded one house there and ended up with about 20 CC/Mods..Never again..

Curtis Paridis has some great houses I've downloaded, and I've never had issues in my game from them! "The Exchange is a dangerous place!" statement is about as true as "Driving a car is a very dangerous form of transportation to get to work!" statement. Yes driving a car can be dangerous, if you have a flat tire, the gas is low, breaks aren't working right, but if you do it safely, you have no problems. Just like the Exchange. If you go with the great creators who know where the CC is from, put effort in, making sure people don't end up with viruses, always know what you're getting and how to spot bad CC, (which can normally be removed anyways!), you're fine.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

Curtis Paradis doesn't use third-party CC so that'd explain why! I love his lots, too.

[Janna]

I'm reviving this as it to some extent covers what I am wondering about, although I haven't downloaded anything from any exchange, CC or anywhere, other then from the bin that comes with the game.

I have the boxes at the bottom of stairs, saying they shouldn't be in the game.  I haven't checked to see if they are there in live mode, as I have been working on creating my blank "utopia" town in MF. 
I placed two different houses, one called Doubleday Lodge, and I don't remember the name of the other one.  They are beautiful homes, I did some remodeling, not much, removed a set of steps (one on each side of room, don't need both and could use the space for something else) in one house, but mainly landscaping. 
Anyhow, has there been any new information on them, what the boxes are for?  If they aren't seen in live mode and doesn't affect the game, then I can just move them out of the way and ignore them. 

[folcon]

This seems like it might be a case where giving us a screenshot of what you are talking about would be best Janna.  Becuase I'm not sure what these boxes you are talking about are, unless they are part of the routing footprint.

[Janna]

I registered to the Gallery so I can download pictures, should have done that a long time ago.  It will take a couple of days for me to be able to do so.  There is another thread that has a picture, but can't seem to get links to work for me.

Basically, they are white boxes, with no names on them, that are at the foot of stairs. They are not items from the buydebug area, so no butterflies or such shows up. They are blank white boxes that state they are not part of the game.  Since I don't do store exchange, or use CC, or any mods, and are in the empty house lot tab in Edit town, they should be EA creations.

Others have had this problem.  They can be moved (I think you have to use the testingcheats and move object cheat) I can move them to a corner of the property.  They are gone when in live mode; but I have yet to use any of the houses in a game, as I am building my blank town to reuse for new games.  It is to be my "utopia" town, where I have added/removed all the buildings I want (or don't want); and plan to add sims from other games such as the Butch or the Keaton family from SV, or George Dean from RV to my town. 
Anyhow, I was hoping that there was new info on what to do about them, if they can be removed.  Affects on game and such.

[Louise56]

Janna I find a link for you,

http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,531.msg7060.html#msg7060