Should you buy The Sims 3 on Steam or Origin?

WinMacSims3

I've seen The Sims 3 and The Sims Medieval on Steam and it's sometimes on sale on that Store but is there a reason to buy The Sims 3 on Steam vs buying the Origin (or DVD) version of The Sims 3?

Unlike Origin, the Steam version is not OS X compatible and can't be installed alongside DVD versions. The Origin release of The Sims 3 supports OS X and can be installed alongside DVD versions (as long the DVD and Origin version aren't the same game). Origin also has the Origin items which probably makes the Origin version of The Sims 3 better than the one on Steam. Also Medieval on Origin works on Windows 8 while Steam I believe doesn't.

However, Steam does have some pros; Steam doesn't have 1.69 and has the game on sale while on Origin, only The Sims 4 is on sale.

It makes me wonder if not putting The Sims 3 on the 2015 Black Friday and Holiday sale is an attempt to encourage players to buy The Sims 4. I know TS3 games are cheap due to their §20 price but putting it on sale would encourage people to also buy TS3 games to complete their collection but you can't complain about TS4 sales either.

So do you think The Sims 3 or Medieval should be purchased through Origin or Steam.

igazor

Looks like it's over now, but you are aware that all of the EPs were on sale for 50% off through Origin for a week or so beginning on Dec 23? Steam's sale is ongoing, better, and more inclusive, but EA did have one for a while there.

BSIRegina

I was just looking up ITF on Amazon and right now the PC download code is less than $7 but the Mac one is still $19.99. I really don't understand the price difference but there it is.

dx1965

The sale is still on at least in US until January 4th. I bought all the eps the combo packs are about 10 and individual one's are 6.99 for all eps in USD its 155 ish add or plus some cents.
The only issue I might have with my game is my video card but I do meet basic minimum.
Plus I read somewhere on Steam site that if you have already installed ep's from Origin that could be some duplication issues. I am not exactly sure how to deal with that would require me to partition section of my computer's hard drive and that is beyond my skill.
I got over 12 hours plus for the installation from Steam.
I am trying to figure out how to back up files/folders and just uninstall Origin content before the downloads are done.
Anyone got any recommendations?
Would just copy and pasting mod, saves, downloads in separate folder work before uninstalling the Origin versions of game work?

dx1965

Oh and I looked around on the store forum and I found this if you need help migrating your current content but I am still open for tips.
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/836820/how-to-save-back-up-storm-items-so-i-dont-lose-them#latest

Kiya_Elle

dx1965 wrote: »

I am trying to figure out how to back up files/folders and just uninstall Origin content before the downloads are done.
Anyone got any recommendations?
Would just copy and pasting mod, saves, downloads in separate folder work before uninstalling the Origin versions of game work?

All windows versions of the Sims 3 use the same folders for saves, mods and store bought content - in 'your pc user name'->My Documents->Electronic Arts->The Sims 3. So yes you can back up any of the folders in there and then put them back in the same place if necessary after uninstalling and reinstalling.

dx1965

I got bit confuzzled I got copies of my worlds, library, downloads, mods but not sure I did it right but right now I just want Origin off my computer. The only things that might not be irreplacable are the worlds because EA removed recently all worlds posted over 1000 days ago on the site.

Kiya_Elle

As long as the worlds are custom worlds or sims 3 store bought worlds you should be fine - they are all in the 'your pc name'->My Documents->Electronic Arts->The Sims 3->Installed Worlds folder and as long as you backed up the folder they can be put back in the same place if necessary after reinstalling the game.

If you have replaced any of the official game worlds (replaced isla paradiso for the fixed modded version for example) that is a bit more complicated.

dx1965

I didn't get isla paradiso until I got island paradise on steam but I did download few favorites that members made before EA started deleting things there.
I got weird message because I was uninstalling because I uninstalled sims 3 first, but I think its all gone now just waiting for steam to download my new purchases.
I am really hoping the hassles I have had with Origin will be no more with this move.
I really didn't want to invest more, but I love the game, actually I am totally addicted to it but for me going repurchasing stuff plus all eps was worth it just to avoid Origin plus for what I would have to spend getting those EP's in future would cost me another 500+ usd vs the 155 usd I only had to spend at steam.

TreyNutz

dx1965 wrote: »

Plus I read somewhere on Steam site that if you have already installed ep's from Origin that could be some duplication issues. I am not exactly sure how to deal with that would require me to partition section of my computer's hard drive and that is beyond my skill.

As far as I understand you cannot mix Steam and Origin installs. You'd have install only through one or the other.

I started with buying from Steam, but then Origin had some sales and I switched over to installing only though Origin. Steam CD keys can be registered with Origin so you can download and install though Origin. I have no idea if the reverse is possible.

When I switched over to Origin I copied most of the folders from my existing TS3 folder in Docs. The only issue I had was saved Store sims3packs would not install. I had to redownload them, not a major issue.

The advantage of buying the base game through Steam and then installing via Origin is that you then get to take advantage of sales from both. I haven't seen a Steam sale this good on TS3 EPs/SPs since winter 2013. The downside, of course, is Origin. Another downside is that not all core mods support the Steam version, which is another reason why I switched to Origin install. (NRaas mods do, but I use another core mod that's never supported Steam.)

dx1965

They got great guide at Steam on the various mods including NRaas.
For me getting all the eps plus repurchasing the old ones is going to save me 345 dollars in future that I can use elsewhere.
Origin and EA still got big chunk of my money the last three months though prior to this sale.
Treynutz how do I know which mods work with Steam which don't?

dx1965

For those on steam I did find this guide called Migrating The Sims 3 to the Origin Client at http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=286282203
I really don't want to go back to Origin, even dealing with registration stuff is a major headache.

TreyNutz

dx1965 wrote: »

Treynutz how do I know which mods work with Steam which don't?

When I get a message that I have a mod that may not be compatible with my patch level, then I know. The one core mod that gave me issues was Consort's 2x Weight and Fitness Integration mod. There is no Steam version for that. It seem to work well enough with my Steam install, but the error message was disconcerting. Tuning and scripting mods work fine with either the Origin or Steam version (and that's most everything). Core mods for the patch level will probably work fine with the Steam version, but you'll get the patch version mismatch error on start up every time just because the Steam version has a slightly different patch number (at least that's what I understand).

dx1965

So far there is only few mods I use none of them are core mods but not sure what core ones are, other than they often describe the one's I am looking at non-core mods.
Truthfully I don't know exactly what they various type of mods are at this point.
The one's I use are like mod the sims gardening service. I tried the magical gardening spells with 1.69 from mod the sims but didn't seem to work. World creation is really want to learn how to do so I am glad there is option to go back 1.67

TreyNutz

dx1965 wrote: »

So far there is only few mods I use none of them are core mods but not sure what core ones are, other than they often describe the one's I am looking at non-core mods.
Truthfully I don't know exactly what they various type of mods are at this point.

I refer to this terminology FAQ for the differences.

igazor

There are literally thousands of TS3 mods out there. And the number of core mods in common usage is about 5 or 6. They are relatively rare beasts.

NRaas ErrorTrap is core, but we have a Steam version.
AwesomeMod, CMarNYC's XCAS, and a couple from Consort at MTS like the one Trey mentioned are the others. Any in addition to those would be really obscure.

If the core versions are mismatched, some players (not all) find the game minimizes to their task bar when the mismatch warning error should appear and they can't seem to move forward.

But none of this is relevant if you don't have a core mod in play.

Regardless of 1.67 vs. 1.69 though, are we certain that CAW works with Steam installs? I have no experience with either, just thought it should be asked.

Edit: Never mind my CAW question, the answer was supplied recently here:
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/14430854/#Comment_14430854

lanlyn

TreyNutz wrote: »

I refer to this terminology FAQ for the differences.

Under Core Mods in that FAQ, ErrorTrap is given as an example of a Core Mod. So would ErrorTrap give me a problem with a Steam install? Any other NRaas mods that are "core?" I know I have to match patch levels with NRaas mods (and most other mods), but I didn't know that NRaas mods were "core." I admit: I'm confused.

EDIT: @igazor posted an answer while I was typing!

igazor

@lanlyn - Look above, I just answered this (you probably didn't see that yet).

The only NRaas mod other than ErrorTrap that is a core mod is UntranslatedKey, but that's primarily for developers. The rest are all script mods and their tuning files.

lanlyn

@igazor Thank you! I saw your answer just as my message posted.