Not recognising University

oRichard89o

So I bought University Life as a digital download today, I redeemed the code and it all downloaded and installed just fine. However, when I boot up the game it loads just as it has before, with no sign of University Life at all. It's listed in my origin games and I tick the box on the launcher so it should be there. I also have Ambitions, Generations, Late Night, Pets, Seasons, Supernatural and World Adventures with a couple of SPs and I've looked into the game folder and there isn't a separate 'The Sims 3: University Life' sub folder as all the other EPs have? But it does have 'EP09' in the original 'The Sims 3' folder, is this right? I've tried speaking to EA help but they couldn't really offer any suggestions, so I came here to try the experts Please help!

igazor

Have you tried running a Repair Game through Origin?

And from where did you purchase the code for this digital version of the Uni EP? There is a huge issue going on with codes purchased from unauthorized re-sellers for which EA has been issued a chargeback (meaning they were essentially stolen), but this shouldn't be affecting purchasers using authorized ones or buying from Origin/EA directly.

1need4kaffee

First, please forgive me if my question/answer seems too basic. I have been needing a Captain Obvious today and so this made me wonder.

When you say there is no sign of Uni, are you looking in the worlds drop down expecting it there, or are you launching a game and your active sim does not have the option to enroll? There is not a separate playable world with Uni. It is a vacation type world like the three in WA and will not appear in the world selection list on the main menu.

igazor

1need4kaffee wrote: »

First, please forgive me if my question/answer seems too basic. I have been needing a Captain Obvious today and so this made me wonder.

When you say there is no sign of Uni, are you looking in the worlds drop down expecting it there, or are you launching a game and your active sim does not have the option to enroll? There is not a separate playable world with Uni. It is a vacation type world like the three in WA and will not appear in the world selection list on the main menu.

That's a really good question, I meant to ask something like that as well but must have gotten sidetracked while replying. The OP could also look for Uni specific items in Build/Buy (with the filter or check for backpacks, Uni logo sweatshirts, pennants, street art kits, etc.) The mascot showing up and being annoying in the first sim hour or two of play is another giveaway, but not sure how much that can be relied upon.

oRichard89o

Thanks for replying

Yeah it was bought from another website, but it still shows up as registered on my origin and launcher? Also, when I spoke to EA they deleted it and gave me a new code but it didn't help.

And yeah it's when I load up there is no uni stuff at all: no annoying mascot, no uni items, no ability to enrol. I can tell it isn't working when I boot it up and the loading screen is still Seasons. And don't worry about asking me obvious questions - I'm hopeful it is something blatant that I'm just missing!

EDIT: I have also tried the repair in origin and it says university has been repaired but still the same issue. It feels like its all installed on my computer but something's hiding it!

phoebebebe13

oRichard89o wrote: »

Thanks for replying

Yeah it was bought from another website, but it still shows up as registered on my origin and launcher? Also, when I spoke to EA they deleted it and gave me a new code but it didn't help.

And yeah it's when I load up there is no uni stuff at all: no annoying mascot, no uni items, no ability to enrol. I can tell it isn't working when I boot it up and the loading screen is still Seasons. And don't worry about asking me obvious questions - I'm hopeful it is something blatant that I'm just missing!

EDIT: I have also tried the repair in origin and it says university has been repaired but still the same issue. It feels like its all installed on my computer but something's hiding it!

Where did you buy the game code from ? Ebay? There are many unauthorized dealers selling game codes. EA has taken action over the past week and deleting eps if you got your codes from an unauthorized dealer. If you just bought the Uni code I would ask the seller for your money back. File a complaint against the seller. Buy a legit game code through EA/Origin directly. See thread http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/918307/anyone-here-have-part-of-their-game-deleted-from-origin/p1

igazor

If the player has a TOS Violation hold on their account, then new codes will not help until that Hold is lifted on EA's end or they are provided with some other kind of instructions. This one doesn't seem to match the experiences other players were having.

I would uninstall the Uni EP and install it again using the new code given them to by EA if they haven't already. If that doesn't work out any better, I would contact Customer Support again and ask directly if there is some kind of Hold on their account. It may take them a while to figure that out, apparently Loss Prevention and Customer Support aren't the same departments or in constant communication with each other, at least from what we can tell.

oRichard89o

No, not from eBay, I bought it from gamesdeal.com. Admittedly I haven't bought from them before, but they seem legit and the EA help people weren't alarmed when I said that's where it was from. Yeah I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling with the new code but still no University! I've had a flick through the other thread and it doesn't seem the same, my University Life is showing as installed on my origin account and comes up to be selected on the launcher, it just doesn't appear in game!

Where should the game files be? Like I say there isn't a separate UL folder in C: -> Program Files (x86) -> Electronic Arts like the other EPs, just an EP09 folder in The Sims 3 folder, is that right? This is so frustrating, I just want to my Sims to learn!!

Thanks again for any suggestions though, still no word from EA support.

igazor

The issue may be more similar than it appears, it's difficult for us to tell. It's not unusual for an EP to show up in the Program Files by number instead of by name, a few of mine do (EP09 is Uni). But an Origin installed game or pack would usually show up under Program Files (x86)\Origin Games (not \Electronic Arts). With a mixed install, Origin can put the packs wherever it wants I guess, there have been variations noted and they can end up in different places from each other, but I've never heard of one showing up inside of the base game as described.

The vendor issue might still be part of it, though. Gamesdeal.com is not an authorized re-seller, or at least they don't appear on the following list, and no one would know where they really obtained these codes from. If EA has put a TOS Hold on your account, Origin isn't really equipped to handle that well and unusual things can happen like an install that appears to go through but not function as it should.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/where-to-buy-ea-games-v2

You could uninstall and reinstall Origin itself (this is easy to do). Or you could uninstall everything related to TS3, the base game and all packs, clean the Registry, and re-install all digital or mixed (this of course is more difficult) and get different results. Or you may end up in exactly the same place you are now, or worse if other packs or the base game stop working.

I think that EA Customer Support really needs to tell you directly if there is a Hold on your account or not and what, if anything, can be done to clear it although it may take them days to get and share this information.

TreyNutz

Have you tried starting a new game? Select any random household and see if they can enroll via phone or computer. Or just got into Edit Town and see if there's an icon in the upper left to load up the university world in Edit Town.

oRichard89o

So I've spoken to EA help again and they've confirmed that there is no hold on my account. I've tried reinstalling origin, and UL again for good measure but still no joy. I still think there's some problem with the folder, it just doesn't seem to be in the right place but I'm not sure why or how to fix that! All my other EPs have been loaded via disc, would that cause a problem that I'm now using a digital download? EA help have just suggested to uninstall the base game and reinstall, so I guess I'll try that tomorrow and see

igazor

Well, that's good news of course, but not exactly a full solution (yet) either.

Origin is supposed to be able to handle mixed disc/digital installs properly, but they do often turn out to be more delicate for some players than all one type or the other. If you uninstall the base game, be prepared for all of your EPs to get messed up too and not be there anymore when you reinstall -- this is a "feature" of Patch 1.69, but am not sure if it hits everyone who tries this so maybe their suggestion will help.

If you do end up having to uninstall and reinstall everything at some point (clean the Registry with CCleaner before reinstalling!), you might want to get creative and install the Uni EP first, after the base game, see if it works with a test game, and then move onto the others. Or perhaps consider doing an all digital install. Regardless though, if you want your user TS3 game folder and any saves within it to have a chance of surviving a reinstall, I would suggest pulling it out of Documents until you have verified that the game and all of the packs work again on newly started test games on the clean folder that will generate in its place.

oRichard89o

So, I uninstalled the base game by copying the My Documents -> Sims 3 folder onto the desktop and deleting the original, and it worked! I booted up the game and the UL loading screen appeared, yay But of course it meant I don't have my saves or downloads in it. When I copied the folder back in, same problem as before. If I have to restart everything over again, it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. But do you think there's any way I could get my saves back in or have an idea which file is corrupting the UL install?

Thanks again

oRichard89o

So I've copied across my saves folder and re-downloaded my items and worlds and all is good! My first sims are in university now and it all seems like it's going well. Thanks so much for all your help all, especially @igazor

ELENA_CULLEN_16

Hi! I have just read your post. That happens to me too. I tried to uninstall and install origin, the base game, all the expansion packs and also I tried to copy the Sims 3 folder onto the desktop... but my game does not recognise any expansion!!
Yesterday I could play for a while, but when I tried to save the game I got the Error 16, I tried to save my game in a new one, but when I opened the main menu, I couldn't open any game because it said that I had not the expansion...
The base game and the expansions are all original.
PS: excuse me if I don't express myself well, English is not my mother language.

igazor

ELENA_CULLEN_16 wrote: »

Hi! I have just read your post. That happens to me too. I tried to uninstall and install origin, the base game, all the expansion packs and also I tried to copy the Sims 3 folder onto the desktop... but my game does not recognise any expansion!!
Yesterday I could play for a while, but when I tried to save the game I got the Error 16, I tried to save my game in a new one, but when I opened the main menu, I couldn't open any game because it said that I had not the expansion...
The base game and the expansions are all original.
PS: excuse me if I don't express myself well, English is not my mother language.

There might be more than one thing going wrong here at the same time.

From where did you purchase your base game and expansions?

Error 16 is a file related error. It usually means that you have files in your game folder opened or locked in another program (such as Windows Explorer even) when they need to be read, but it could also mean that you are simply out of drive space. How large is the hard drive on which you are playing and how much space is free?

ELENA_CULLEN_16

The base game and expansions are all original, I have de CDs. The hard drive is 916GB and there is 52,5GB free.

igazor

@ELENA_CULLEN_16 - I take it that you are on Patch 1.69 and the expected EP/SPs are not even showing up in the Packs and Stuff selector tab of the Launcher to be checked off? This has to be looked at upon every startup to make sure they are all showing up and still checked off.

I asked where they were purchased from, not if they were used. EA is currently deactivating EPs that have been purchased from unauthorized resellers and placing Terms of Service (TOS) holds on players' accounts. But if these were new (at the time) discs and not codes purchased, perhaps none of that applies here.

I would probably uninstall the game and all EPs at this point, then Origin. Then clean the Windows registry using a tool like CCleaner (the free version is fine). Often reinstalls just don't work when invisible remnants of a prior install are left in place.
https://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Then start over with the Origin and game installs.

I would also suggest clearing out some more hard drive space if you can. 52 GB free on a 916 GB drive is workable, but a bit tight. Usually Windows wants at least 10% free space to work with.

ELENA_CULLEN_16

Still not working :'( The expansions are selected when I run the game.
All of them were bought in a shop called Game.

igazor

ELENA_CULLEN_16 wrote: »

Still not working The expansions are selected when I run the game.
All of them were bought in a shop called Game.

So wait, this is a disc install, you are on Patch 1.69, the expansions are showing up in the Launcher and they are checked-off but they just aren't loading and you get...base game only or does the game not load at all even on a clean game folder?

Strange. You might have some faulty discs there. You may have to reach out to EA's Answers HQ board for more help than we can provide, unless someone else here recognizes this issue. Be sure to stress that this was a new (unused) disc install, not Origin download, or else you might get more advice about unauthorized digital keys being sold and Terms of Service (TOS) Holds on players' accounts which probably don't apply here and is the more common issue being handled today.
http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-3/bd-p/the-sims-3