Before I make things worse (registered second base game code - game won't start)

suzses

A few months ago, I purchased the last expansion and couple stuff packs I didn't have via Steam and registered them to Origin. To be able to make the purchases on Steam, I did, of course, also need to purchase the base game. Picked up the pack with Pets, thinking I might eventually get everything on Steam. In the meantime, the base game and Pets codes for Origin have been sitting around on a notepad on my desk, and I had the brainiac idea yesterday to just go ahead and register them, even though I already have registered copies of both.

Fast forward to this morning, my game doesn't start. I get a black screen with spinning circle forever and have to restart computer to make it stop. Looking in Origin, it shows Sims 3 as "new" (also shows all my expansions and stuff) and gives an option to update on base game. Should I update? Should I do something else?

Thanks for any help/tips/advice.

phoebebebe13

You can't mix steam and origin versions of the game. You have to play one or the other. You can take your steam codes and register them to origin. Is your game mixed with steam and origin versions of the game or you have all origin installed?

suzses

I have all Origin installed. I just registered the Origin codes for what I bought on Steam in Origin.

phoebebebe13

If origin is telling you to update the game , than you need to update. You should be on patch 1.69 which will show up in the lower left hand corner of your launcher.

suzses

The patch number has, since I first installed on this computer, been - and still is - 1.69. I should probably correct my 2nd post above by saying I registered the code on the old Sims 3 site under register a game, where I've always registered everything, not actually via Origin, which is what it sounded like. It also isn't really telling me I *need* to update. It's just that update is an option under the Origin menu for the game, and it seems as though it shouldn't be there if not needed. However, I stay away from Origin as much as possible, so I don't really know what options *usually* show up.

Looking at it again just now, it appears to have changed my serial code to the new one I put in. Thinking there may be some conflict in my files? Will try pulling my sims 3 documents file and letting it generate a new one.

suzses

And . . . Sims 3 opens right up when allowing it to generate a new file. Where in the old files is the serial number? I'd like to put back as much of my old Sims 3 file as possible to avoid redoing much of anything.

phoebebebe13

Have you tried switching out your new sims 3 folder for the old one? Will the game start once you replace the new sims 3 folder with the old one in documents?

suzses

I hadn't tried that yet, thinking something in there was causing a conflict. So, I just did, and the short answer, I guess, is it doesn't work. However, it's not quite that simple. The first time I tried to start it, it loaded right up but without some of the content for the save. Thinking things had unchecked themselves in the launcher, I quit and restarted the launcher. Everything was checked, so I started again, and the game won't start.

igazor

This shouldn't be happening, players register the Steam given codes on the TS3 site for use in Origin all the time. In fact, you should have received 1,000 Store Points for the "new" base game registration and again for WA if you had repurchased and reregistered that one (guess WA wasn't part of this purchase though).

Sounds to me like what may have happened is that the new base game registration triggered a patch update on you. Even though you were already on 1.69.something, the Origin silently delivered patch may have been reapplied. Patching, no matter how it's done, can disturb or damage the TS3 user game folder in Documents.

You can't really control "which" game registration Origin uses. What I think you should do from here is keep the new, working game folder and slowly begin copying your content from the older one -- so that's store and custom content (DCCache), mods and package based content, saved sims, installed worlds, until you have enough in place for the saved games to copied over. If your EA Store purchased content in particular no longer works, you many need to redownload it and reinstall it all, a bit at a time, using the Launcher but that would be unusual.

phoebebebe13

I don't play with origin but maybe @SimplyJen knows.

SimplyJen

igazor wrote: »

This shouldn't be happening, players register the Steam given codes on the TS3 site for use in Origin all the time. In fact, you should have received 1,000 Store Points for the "new" base game registration and again for WA if you had repurchased and reregistered that one (guess WA wasn't part of this purchase though).

Sounds to me like what may have happened is that the new base game registration triggered a patch update on you. Even though you were already on 1.69.something, the Origin silently delivered patch may have been reapplied. Patching, no matter how it's done, can disturb or damage the TS3 user game folder in Documents.

You can't really control "which" game registration Origin uses. What I think you should do from here is keep the new, working game folder and slowly begin copying your content from the older one -- so that's store and custom content (DCCache), mods and package based content, saved sims, installed worlds, until you have enough in place for the saved games to copied over. If your EA Store purchased content in particular no longer works, you many need to redownload it and reinstall it all, a bit at a time, using the Launcher but that would be unusual.

That's what I was going to suggest too if the new folder works.

suzses

Thank you all @phoebebebe13 @igazor @Simplyjen for trying to help. What you said @igazor seems what likely happened. Before coming back here, I had started to copy over files to the new Sims 3 folder, and what I discovered was that what wasn't loading was indeed the store content. So, I guess I get the joyful job of downloading it all again, or since I saved the downloads in a separate file after installing, I guess I could start putting them in downloads and installing a few at a time. I suppose I should dump dccache and dcbackup that I copied from my old sims 3 file?

igazor

You may find that you need to redownload the store content again. But if the previously downloaded content works (try just a small number of items first and test), then of course that's more convenient. When I switched from an Origin install over to Steam entirely, not just by using Steam codes, I had to redownload everything from Store Account history because nothing worked -- though that's a very different scenario than a new base game registration having been applied.

Yes, you can just dump DCCache and DCBackup if you are starting to build the content up again from scratch. Note that DCCache also contains your sims3pack CC content, so those will need to be reinstalled as well if you go that route. The ebc files are store content, the dbc files are custom.

suzses

Thanks! Since I currently have only one dbc file LOL, I thought I'd just keep it in there and redo the store. I am so not looking forward to it, though. I was in the middle of making gifts for a sims 3 gift exchange, and they, of course, used boatloads of store content, so I will just have to get it all back in there ASAP. Fun times.

suzses

Just reporting back in. Have the store all re-downloaded and reinstalled - at least I think I have it all. Didn't seem as bad a job this time as last. Lesson learned: Registering an additional game code for something you already have installed CAN apparently do something to damage/change your game files, and so I should have pulled my Sims 3 folder out first. Thanks again for the help.

ciane

I think it was the fact that the new game was Steam. Store content is very picky on "recognizing" if it's the same owner. Digital download games versus discs and Origin versus Steam - they are in slightly different locations or have slightly different codes. So, the powers that be (DRM) decide that you might not be the owner of the store content after all. Last check was an Origin Digital Download or disc. This check was a Steam version. The two don't match, so the game won't load your store content. I'm glad you got all your stuff reinstalled so quickly!

suzses

@ciane That sounds logical. Your "how to install store items" thread helped keep me organized.

igazor

@ciane - That would be correct and expected if the OP had a Steam install, but they do not. Or if they do, I was missing something. The Origin codes provided by Steam as a result of a Steam purchase to be used on Origin only "should" be the same as any other. But as long as they got things fixed and working again, I guess that's all that matters.

suzses

You're right @igazor. It's not a Steam install. I thought @Ciane meant Origin would recognize the code as coming from Steam - or that it was different at any rate. As you said, since it's all fixed, nothing else matters.

phoebebebe13

Your welcome and Glad you got it sorted out. Enjoy your game

ciane

I think it's just the fact that the code was different from the previous one, so that indicated a different owner and required fresh download. So, even though it was the same method here (Origin DD), the code itself was different and that sent up a red flag to not allow the store content to show.