BI-SWILS

 B oddler- I nduced S ocial W orker I nfinite L oop S yndrome, or BI-SWILS, is a TNFL condition that can occur in The Sims 2 when a Social Worker NPC cannot haul a character off of a lot due to the improper alignment of character age data with character geometry. This leads to a failure of the animation scripts upon which the game depends to function properly.

The common error message produced by the game in debug mode is:

"Animaton Error: IK Target Animation cannot find bone on other object..."

Infection
Unlike an occurrence of CT-BILS, which cannot be saved, instances of a Boddler can be saved before BI-SWILS is in full motion. This makes the lot unplayable in the instance of all future attempts to play it. Attempting to play a lot corrupted in this manner results in BI-SWILS occurring immediately after loading; and in some cases, may even lead to CLL-FILS. If this unplayable lot is uploaded to a Sims2Pack file, the file becomes a virus capable of doing serious damage to others' games.

There are several ways to create a Boddler instance, and several reasons one may be generated on its own:

Involuntary causes
These can happen if the game acts up, or if some other prior condition is met which causes the character age behavior data and the skeletal data to become maligned.


 * Obsolete hacks: If using an outdated version of a hack from TwoJeffs or JM Pescado of More Awesome Than You, such as the No Townie Respawn and No Dormie Regeneration hacks, then this can render the game's townie generation engine unstable rather than simply disabling it. With SimPE, it is possible to see exactly what happens. The hack confuses the townie respawn engine right at its ability to commit to memory the age data for a character.  By default, any character with unknown age data is treated like an infant by the game.  This leads to several instances of Baults, as shown in the picture.


 * SimPE operational errors: An error when using SimPE can cause a corruption of character file data.


 * InSimenator glitches: Improper loading of the InSimenator, especially old versions, can cause bad character data.


 * Expansion pack bugs: Faulty installation of The Sims 2: University when one does not have any later expansions can make the game particularly prone to bad character data.
 * Bad character generation: Character data in the Original and in University is particularly prone to bad character data. The Nightlife expansion corrects many of these problems.


 * Hardware failure: Playing the game on an outdated hard drive and / or motherboard with inadequate RAM and / or graphics capability can increase the frequency of character file corruption.


 * Corrupted character mysterious move-ins: This is most likely to happen when you have University and no other expansion, especially if you are fooling around with NPCs. The steps to treat them are the same as for treating Trash Can Boddlers.

Voluntary causes
Careless or deliberate abuse of 3rd-party software, patches, hacks, and even the game's built-in cheat functions will almost invariably increase the likelihood of Boddlers. Well-renowned hacker JM Pescado of More Awesome Than You once claimed that the only cause of BI-SWILS he could imagine was through deliberately misusing game cheats.


 * Trash can abuse: It is possible to enable the deleting of Sims on a lot and then using a debug option on the trash can to bring them back. However, the behavior quirk of the game, according to JM Pescado, is that it will always return them to their last-saved state, not their state before deletion.  This has been the nature of the game since the original game The Sims hit store shelves in 2000.  If a baby ages to a toddler, save the game before you delete the toddler.  Or if you delete the toddler before saving, then exit without saving.  DO NOT bring the Toddler back and then save! If you bring the toddler back and then save, the toddler will retain its toddler skeleton but revert to infant behavior.  Saved, this becomes a basic-class Boddler.  This creature is useless and can lock-up the game.  It will make your lot unplayable and unsafe for uploading.


 * InSimenator and InTeenimator abuse: While this is a little trickier, abusing the InSimenator and/or the InTeenimator will increase the likelihood of out-of-sync age behaviors.


 * NPC moving on to lots: Many NPCs in the base game and University do not have complete character files. Forcing them to move in with the family makes the game prone to corruption.  The Social Worker, for example, has this problem.  The article at The Sims Wiki goes so far as to warn that the Social Worker is the most bugged NPC in the game, unworthy of being interacted with in any way other than her strict function.  Even if a Social Worker is generated by the Nightlife gypsy as a date, this is enough to cause game corruption.  It should be noted that in such an instance, even if the character is generated involuntary of the player, doing anything other than deleting a Social Worker date is voluntary endangerment.


 * Deliberate SimPE tinkering: This is the absolute easiest way to add Boddlers to the game. Players should never misuse SimPE.


 * Corrupt character teleportation: If a character has bad data and you are aware of it, fix them in SimPE before using the InSimenator's Summoner object to haul them around amongst lots. A character not corrected will likely be a Boddler, or one of the Boddler sub-classes.

Symptoms
If you corrupt a lot due to BI-SWILS and it won't load at all, you have CLL-FILS (corrupt lot loading failure infinite loop syndrome.) There is also a possibility that it will load and the Social Worker arrive immediately, which will be BI-SWILS. If either condition occurs, then you and your game are in trouble. Under BI-SWILS, the game becomes particularly picky, especially if there are no Adults on the lot. The Social Worker will not leave until she gets the Baby. She never will, since character age data was first forged in a C++ compiler and skeletal code was assembled with Maya. If ever two age distinctions become maligned, then animations will try to execute on non-existent skeletal bones.

The Social Worker will eternally search in vain for a non-existent infant bone on a Toddler's skeleton. According to JM Pescado, the answer is to delete the Social Worker. This will only work temporarily, and only assuming the correct tools for doing so are active. With regards to the Social Worker NPC, the game is extremely picky. She will arrive very quickly, and not leave until she gets what she wants. In the case of BI-SWILS, she cannot complete the task. The game locks up.

Deleting the Social Worker only unlocks the exit button temporarily. If not exploited quickly, however, the game will re-lock the exit and generate a new Social Worker. Each time, the Social Worker will respawn a little faster. Therefore, the best option when this happens to your game is the same as what one should do when CLL-FILS or CT-BILS occurs: type Ctrl+Alt+Delete in Windows and use the Windows Task Manager to escape your game.

Prevention
The following steps help reduce Boddler occurrence:


 * 1) Never abuse the cheat system.
 * 2) Keep a copy of the latest version of SimPE handy at all times just in case.
 * 3) * Never abuse SimPE.
 * 4) Never abuse the Trash Can's "Reset Age Duration" feature.
 * 5) Make sure your hardware is more than adequate to handle the game's processing and graphics demands.
 * 6) Never play University unpatched.  Preferably, get at least Nightlife to assist in patching it.
 * 7) Don't move University NPCs into residential homes, and especially avoid any interaction with Social Workers outside their core game function.
 * 8) Use all hacks with caution, and read the documentation provided by authors.

Treatment
If you are infected with a Boddler in any of its classes or sub-classes, then there are easy ways to fix the problem:

InSimenator-free solution

 * 1) If you don't have the InSimenator or some other way to manipulate aging, then you have approximately two Sim hours or so (normal real-time of two minutes) to solve the problem.  You must immediately delete the Boddler.  After this, save the game and exit to the neighborhood.  Do nothing else on that lot.
 * 2) After you have done this, find another lot or create one.
 * 3) Move in an unrelated group of Sims.
 * 4) Now, use the Tombstone of Life and Death to force-move everyone but the Boddler to live on the lot.  The Boddler will exist in a bubble and will not bother any other files that way.
 * 5) Once your family is safe, you must decide the fate of your isolated Boddler.
 * 6) To decide the Boddler's fate, close your game.  If you are willing to download the InSimenator and use its Temporal Adjustor, then skip to that step below.
 * 7) If you've decided you will not use the InSimenator, then you can only save the character by editing his/her data in SimPE (see below.)  Otherwise, you'll have to delete the character in-game.
 * 8) To delete the character in-game, enter the neighborhood.  It is recommendable to move child and house to the lot bay and then delete everything.  If you wish to keep the house, move the Boddler out into the Sim holding bay.
 * 9) Delete the Sim.
 * 10) Have the house name bearer of your original family move out of the benefactor's house.  You can then move him back into his rightful house, and use the Tombstone of Life and Death to move the rest of his family back in with him.

InSimenator solution
The easiest way to fix the forged Boddler without escapes, deletes, or SimPE is with the InSimenator Object Edition.


 * 1) After purchasing an InSimenator, make the Boddler selectable.
 * 2) Next, tell the Boddler to use the Temporal Adjustment settings on the machine, or to spawn the Temporal Adjustor hourglass and do the same.
 * 3) From there, use the Select Age menu appropriate to your version. This will allow you to force-age your Boddler into an Adult.
 * 4) Once the game has made them an adult, you can then revert-age them back into Toddlers. Do this, and then save the game.

SimPE solution
The way outside your game to fix a Boddler is to simply select them in SimPE and make their age assignment data match their in-game skeleton. When you are certain that it does, commit any change you make and save. Close SimPE. You more-than-likely will find them restored to their senses. You can then move them wherever you please.

Treating other Boddler types
Another problem that can occur, though less serious than a Boddler, is a Tendault. This specific example of the Boddler Class of Boddler is any Adult that somehow obeys Teen behavior in spite having an Adult skeleton. Without woohoo hacks, this means that the resulting Adult will be sterile. In any other respect, it means that they will behave more or less like they should. They may have Teen needs and education/jobs. The solution to a Tendault is simple: Use the Tombstone of Life and Death to Age Transition them. They will keep their Adult skeleton but will change their default everyday outfit. They will now, however, properly behave like Adults.

Other Bodder-class Boddler types have a similar solution. Endault-class Boddler types, however, usually require SimPE to fix.

Classifications
The most broad definition of a "boddler" in any game environment is:

"...any object with multiple layers of code language and logic, in which the stability of the object depends on a synchronization of logic in its layers, but in which those layers have lost synchronization and become maligned - leading to a useless object that could endanger entire game's stability..."

Not all boddlers are inherently dangerous to all games. Some can be created deliberately and are exploited for humorous purposes. In Medal of Honor: Frontline, for example, one could argue that the game has deliberate "boddlers." The "Men With Hats" cheat makes Nazis wear french fries, entire trains, weapons, and various other random objects as hats. This would therefore be a deliberate instance of a boddler, done for comedic purposes.

Since the term "boddler" originates with The Sims 2, however, the following describes the "boddler" with more distinction:


 * The term "boddler" with a small "b" defines any object with maligned code.
 * The term "Boddler" with a capital "B" defines the confusion of "Baby" and "Toddler" by the game's aging simulator.

The Boddler Type of Boddler can be brought about by almost any of the above-listed causes. The Endault Type, or Inverse Boddler, is almost always the result of cheat/SimPE/hack abuse.