@Odonata68 - Yes, I've had that happen to me too and I haven't figured out why it doesn't get the store icon all the time! I thought maybe I got different results if I downloaded to my hard drive and then installed rather than from my saved files in archive. It is frustrating to see it happen on a brand new install, but as @ZeeGee states, the venue will show and work correctly in your game. I'm just not sure about uploading. It might be safe to keep the dcBackup files for the venues, just in case (because of the cc icon).
It's been over a month since anyone has posted on here, but if anyone's still around, I have a weird issue.
So, today, I decided to bite the bullet and start my store install. Everything was going fine until I started installing the venues. In the launcher, some installed venues have the little store icon next to them along with its name (as I would expect). But some venues have the asterisk indicating CC even though I downloaded from the store page and installed from launcher and some of these don't even have a name. Just a single number where the name should be. The Now&Then manor doesn't have either icon and the thumbnail looks like a small box. I haven't checked if they're affected in game yet.
Has anyone had this happen when installing venues? Thanks in advance.
Most of us are around.
The very early venues were never named in game by whomever was behind building and uploading them. One option, if it really bothers you, is place the lot in game on an appropriate (cleaned lot, of hidden spawners) sized lot open the dialog box in ton edit and enter the lot name and info. For copy - paste you have to old school it with ctrl-c/v for the dialog box, if you want to just copy paste the info in. Then save the lot to your library.
For N&T manor, I'm thinking it should be fine, but @ciane or one of the other more techy simmers like @igazor can help you better with that than I can.
@ZeeGee and @ciane thank you for the quick responses! And I believe you're right, ZeeGee. Now&Then isn't even in the launcher in downloads anymore. But the ebc file doesn't seem any smaller. Oh well, at least I have the option of just redoing one ebc file, I hope.
I made it all the way to ebc8 today.
You know, I was having issues with the launcher and had to shut everything down and run CCleaner twice during this process. I wonder if that has anything to do with the manor not showing.
Edit to say thank you to @Mmdrgntobldrgn. I think we were typing at the same time.
@ZeeGee and @ciane thank you for the quick responses! And I believe you're right, ZeeGee. Now&Then isn't even in the launcher in downloads anymore. But the ebc file doesn't seem any smaller. Oh well, at least I have the option of just redoing one ebc file, I hope.
I made it all the way to ebc8 today.
You know, I was having issues with the launcher and had to shut everything down and run CCleaner twice during this process. I wonder if that has anything to do with the manor not showing.
When was the last time you cleaned your caches for ie or windows edge. As ciane has spoken of often the launcher uses ie/edge as it's browser even if you don't so cleaning it's history & caches on a regular basis comes in handy for anything sims related.
@ZeeGee and @ciane thank you for the quick responses! And I believe you're right, ZeeGee. Now&Then isn't even in the launcher in downloads anymore. But the ebc file doesn't seem any smaller. Oh well, at least I have the option of just redoing one ebc file, I hope.
I made it all the way to ebc8 today.
You know, I was having issues with the launcher and had to shut everything down and run CCleaner twice during this process. I wonder if that has anything to do with the manor not showing.
Edit to say thank you to @Mmdrgntobldrgn. I think we were typing at the same time.
Those ebc files never get smaller! When something is deleted, it really is just hidden and you can't see it. Unfortunately, reinstalling without redoing the .ebc file will probably get you a (1) on the file. So, redoing that ebc file is a good idea. Let's hope it just took a hit and didn't all download or install correctly. So, redownloading and installing should just magically work.
@Mmdrgntobldrgn I ran CCleaner before I started downloading and installing, but I also had this thread open so I could follow the instructions.
I've changed settings in IE, about not keeping favorites or something. There's a thread around here about it somewhere. @ciane thanks for that info! I organized everything as I went along, so completely re-doing one file won't be so bad, I hope.
I started all over with my store install. I decided to redirect my documents folder to my larger HDD drive. My SSD is only 120gb so I didn't want to risk the game not having enough room and all of the re-writing to the SSD . I was pleasantly surprised how quickly things downloaded and installed with the HDD! Much faster than the SSD. Hopefully this reflects when the game is actually loading.
Interesting! I put all my sims 3 current games on my SSD and don't worry about the rewriting. I'll see how long my SSD lasts.
I do keep all the backup sims 3 stuff on my hard drive.
I am currently in the process of installing the game, EP, SPs and the store on my newer computer. I also have installed the program files and the store on the HDD due to limited space on my SDD.
@Ciane - While I commented when you first shared your method and spreadsheet with us, I wanted to share my thanks again. This is the first time I am going through the process to reorganize my store installation. I am so impressed with how organized your spreadsheet is and the amount of data entry that was required to create it.
I love Excel and organization! I also love CYS. I needed a way to organize what was included in each of compilations and the best way to buy things that were in different sets. So I created a big spreadsheet where I could note duplicates. Then, I could compare prices and see what might be on the Daily Deals (and I could note that too). After completing all my sets, the spreadsheets were still useful for looking for dups when installing. I thought maybe all my work could be used by others.
Thank you so much Ciane for all of this! I know it took tons of work!
I'm trying to comprehend this. I think I need a "For Dummies" version of this.
PLEASE FIX TEENS IN TS4! I NEED YOUNGER TEENS NOT YA TEENS! (^_^)Please add Music Bands with lead singers! Please add vehicles and garages! Vehicles have always been part of The Sims.
I would also like to say thank you to @ciane The spreadsheet has been a huge help! I am following it as closely as possible but got thrown off course at ebc 1 because I don't own Sunlit Tides Gold. I tried to install the retreat venue with it and it went over. So I've made adjustments here and there. But honestly, I wouldn't even know where to start without that spreadsheet. So far, I've made it to ebc 15.
And it's absolutely correct that the file sizes, after install, can vary. I've definitely notice this.
OOps! @Goodywood, don't get bogged down and overwhelmed. There is a lot of store content. Break it down into chunks.
1. You rename your old sims folder so a new one is created.
2. You patch that up to the latest store patch, which you can do by simply copying your old contentPatch folder over (or just the contentPatch.package file from the old folder to the new one).
3. You download and install all the store items that have unique patterns with them. (There are only a dozen or so of them.)
4. You can also download and install the items that were left out of sets accidentally (like a pair of high heels) or that, like the dining room chair, was fixed later; but not in the set.
5. Then install your biggest store world.
6. At this point, your first .ebc file in your dcCache folder should be about full.
7. This is where you MOVE that file to a safe spot (like a folder on your desktop that you call EBC) and then install more, so you only have one .ebc file into which you are installing at a time.
When, your .ebc file is getting full, you rename it by only changing the 0 at the end to the next number in sequence. So the first file remains unchanged, but each new one will have the 0 changed to 1 the 1st time and 2 the 2nd time, all the way up to 20 something, depending on how much store stuff you have and want to install.
I did this in logically batches, starting with worlds. I looked at the SIZE of each file and grouped them to get the max amount in, without going over.
So, my spreadsheet shows what I put in each of my .ebc files on the first tab. Each of the other tabs is grouped by type and shows how big the file size is and how I grouped them together.
You can make your own determination of how to group your files by looking at the approximate file sizes. Every system will be a bit different and even the order in which you install them will change the file size a bit. (Sometimes I had to reinstall the items in a file in a certain order in order to get them all in; so, the spreadsheet also shows the order in which I installed items.)
When you finish installing all your store stuff, change that last file number and move it the folder where you put the others. If you keep this folder in a safe place, you can then simply copy and paste it whenever you have to, or want to, start a vanilla sims 3 folder.
@Goodywood it took me some time to understand the "workings" of this reinstall method. I've read the first page on this thread multiple times along with watching ZeeGee's videos multiple times also. With both of these it finally "clicked" for me.
@ciane Thank you sooooo much for explaining it even more to me! It helps so much! I now understand it much better.
I will try to work on doing this sometime this week. This is going to be great! I'm very excited!
You are awesome indeed!
@Odonata68 lol I'm glad you were able to understand it. This is such a good thing to know.
Congrats on your 1000th comment! I'm happy I was part of it!
PLEASE FIX TEENS IN TS4! I NEED YOUNGER TEENS NOT YA TEENS! (^_^)Please add Music Bands with lead singers! Please add vehicles and garages! Vehicles have always been part of The Sims.
@Odonata68 Congrats on reaching 1000!! And so glad the videos helped. I'm trying to redo them as some things have changed and since I've learned how to edit I could do much better, but got so much on my hands in real life right now it's just been impossible!
@ciane thank you I'm not done with the install yet. I'll probably pick it back up as I have a four day weekend coming up. Yay!
I'm excited about all the "new" stuff I'll have to play with.
@Goodywood just take your time when you do your install. That's what I did. After a bit, you'll get the hang of it.
@ZeeGee thank you and yes, the videos were a great help! I imagine they have helped quite a few sim players. I found them easy to follow.
@Odonata68 Okay, I will take my time. I'm going to start now I guess. I hope it turns out well.
@ciane I do have a question: I have all the Worlds from the Store except for DV MH and BB. So when I do get those worlds, how do I add them to the .ebc file since worlds are suppose to be installed first with the patterns? Do I have to start over with that ebc file (ending with 0)?
Edit: I don't see the contentpatch.package. Hmm.
Post edited by Goodywood on
PLEASE FIX TEENS IN TS4! I NEED YOUNGER TEENS NOT YA TEENS! (^_^)Please add Music Bands with lead singers! Please add vehicles and garages! Vehicles have always been part of The Sims.
@Goodywood - The contentpatch.package is in the contentpatch folder. It's a store update that came out later, but isn't in the store updates any more. @ZeeGee posted a link to the file that she uploaded for any one who doesn't have it. It's here, if you need it:
However, if you have an old sims 3 folder saved somewhere, you can copy the file from the old sims 3 folder to the new one.
MH is a huge world, with the toy store, so it basically takes up a whole .ebc file by itself. I stuck it in the first .ebc file with just patterns and a few left-out items; but it doesn't have to be in the first file. When you get it, move out all the .ebc files, install it, change the 0 to follow the last number in your .ebc sequence, and then move back in the other .ebc files. (Remember to copy that new .ebc file to wherever you have saved your other .ebc files too!)
I installed DV and BB together, so, if you get them at the same time, you can install them in the same .ebc file. Or, just install the one you get in a new .ebc file and then, when you get the other world, you'll move out all the other files BUT the one with the latest world. You change the end number to 0, install the other world, rename the file to the number it had before you changed it to 0, and copy the other .ebc files back in.
I like installing worlds first, because there is so much to them. I like the computer to read those files first. It has less chance of missing something in all the items that way. For example, when the launcher is so full, it can't display everything. BUT, as long as you are installing into a basically empty dccache folder, into a file ending with 0; it should install correctly and show up in your game.
@Goodywood - The contentpatch.package is in the contentpatch folder. It's a store update that came out later, but isn't in the store updates any more. @ZeeGee posted a link to the file that she uploaded for any one who doesn't have it. It's here, if you need it:
MH is a huge world, with the toy store, so it basically takes up a whole .ebc file by itself. I stuck it in the first .ebc file with just patterns and a few left-out items; but it doesn't have to be in the first file. When you get it, move out all the .ebc files, install it, change the 0 to follow the last number in your .ebc sequence, and then move back in the other .ebc files. (Remember to copy that new .ebc file to wherever you have saved your other .ebc files too!)
I installed DV and BB together, so, if you get them at the same time, you can install them in the same .ebc file. Or, just install the one you get in a new .ebc file and then, when you get the other world, you'll move out all the other files BUT the one with the latest world. You change the end number to 0, install the other world, rename the file to the number it had before you changed it to 0, and copy the other .ebc files back in.
I like installing worlds first, because there is so much to them. I like the computer to read those files first. It has less chance of missing something in all the items that way. For example, when the launcher is so full, it can't display everything. BUT, as long as you are installing into a basically empty dccache folder, into a file ending with 0; it should install correctly and show up in your game.
So should I bundle the patterns/items left out with the other Store worlds?
I'm sorry to ask the noob questions. I hope you don't mind.
PLEASE FIX TEENS IN TS4! I NEED YOUNGER TEENS NOT YA TEENS! (^_^)Please add Music Bands with lead singers! Please add vehicles and garages! Vehicles have always been part of The Sims.
@Goodywood You can bundle them with any world or other items, as long as the total for the ebc file does not go over 204,800. Keep an eye on that number (it's in your dccache folder) while you're installing.
@Goodywood You can bundle them with any world or other items, as long as the total for the ebc file does not go over 204,800. Keep an eye on that number (it's in your dccache folder) while you're installing.
Thank you @ZeeGee ! I guess I have to stop being so paranoid/OCD. It is just sooo much content. lol
PLEASE FIX TEENS IN TS4! I NEED YOUNGER TEENS NOT YA TEENS! (^_^)Please add Music Bands with lead singers! Please add vehicles and garages! Vehicles have always been part of The Sims.
Comments
Store Install
Unlocked Stencils
random legacy
Most of us are around.
The very early venues were never named in game by whomever was behind building and uploading them. One option, if it really bothers you, is place the lot in game on an appropriate (cleaned lot, of hidden spawners) sized lot open the dialog box in ton edit and enter the lot name and info. For copy - paste you have to old school it with ctrl-c/v for the dialog box, if you want to just copy paste the info in. Then save the lot to your library.
For N&T manor, I'm thinking it should be fine, but @ciane or one of the other more techy simmers like @igazor can help you better with that than I can.
Exploring life through imagination & satire since 1969.
Save Game Often
repair & clear caches Often
S3 Studio
S3 blog Story, lists of empty lots by world
Behrooz
S2/3/4 Randomnes
I made it all the way to ebc8 today.
You know, I was having issues with the launcher and had to shut everything down and run CCleaner twice during this process. I wonder if that has anything to do with the manor not showing.
Edit to say thank you to @Mmdrgntobldrgn. I think we were typing at the same time.
When was the last time you cleaned your caches for ie or windows edge. As ciane has spoken of often the launcher uses ie/edge as it's browser even if you don't so cleaning it's history & caches on a regular basis comes in handy for anything sims related.
Exploring life through imagination & satire since 1969.
Save Game Often
repair & clear caches Often
S3 Studio
S3 blog Story, lists of empty lots by world
Behrooz
S2/3/4 Randomnes
Those ebc files never get smaller! When something is deleted, it really is just hidden and you can't see it. Unfortunately, reinstalling without redoing the .ebc file will probably get you a (1) on the file. So, redoing that ebc file is a good idea. Let's hope it just took a hit and didn't all download or install correctly. So, redownloading and installing should just magically work.
Store Install
Unlocked Stencils
random legacy
I've changed settings in IE, about not keeping favorites or something. There's a thread around here about it somewhere.
@ciane thanks for that info! I organized everything as I went along, so completely re-doing one file won't be so bad, I hope.
https://simsvip.com/sims-3-store-content/freebies/
Hope it helps!
studio http://www.thesims3.com/mypage/teanias/mystudio
Cian's reinstalling store thread http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/866577/how-to-install-store-items/p1
I started all over with my store install.
I do keep all the backup sims 3 stuff on my hard drive.
Store Install
Unlocked Stencils
random legacy
@Ciane - While I commented when you first shared your method and spreadsheet with us, I wanted to share my thanks again. This is the first time I am going through the process to reorganize my store installation. I am so impressed with how organized your spreadsheet is and the amount of data entry that was required to create it.
To help you organize your stalking of the Daily Deal, please join us on the Daily Deal Rotation and Sales Help thread and please view the DD Spreadsheet
Store Install
Unlocked Stencils
random legacy
To help you organize your stalking of the Daily Deal, please join us on the Daily Deal Rotation and Sales Help thread and please view the DD Spreadsheet
I'm trying to comprehend this. I think I need a "For Dummies" version of this.
And it's absolutely correct that the file sizes, after install, can vary. I've definitely notice this.
1. You rename your old sims folder so a new one is created.
2. You patch that up to the latest store patch, which you can do by simply copying your old contentPatch folder over (or just the contentPatch.package file from the old folder to the new one).
3. You download and install all the store items that have unique patterns with them. (There are only a dozen or so of them.)
4. You can also download and install the items that were left out of sets accidentally (like a pair of high heels) or that, like the dining room chair, was fixed later; but not in the set.
5. Then install your biggest store world.
6. At this point, your first .ebc file in your dcCache folder should be about full.
7. This is where you MOVE that file to a safe spot (like a folder on your desktop that you call EBC) and then install more, so you only have one .ebc file into which you are installing at a time.
When, your .ebc file is getting full, you rename it by only changing the 0 at the end to the next number in sequence. So the first file remains unchanged, but each new one will have the 0 changed to 1 the 1st time and 2 the 2nd time, all the way up to 20 something, depending on how much store stuff you have and want to install.
I did this in logically batches, starting with worlds. I looked at the SIZE of each file and grouped them to get the max amount in, without going over.
So, my spreadsheet shows what I put in each of my .ebc files on the first tab. Each of the other tabs is grouped by type and shows how big the file size is and how I grouped them together.
You can make your own determination of how to group your files by looking at the approximate file sizes. Every system will be a bit different and even the order in which you install them will change the file size a bit. (Sometimes I had to reinstall the items in a file in a certain order in order to get them all in; so, the spreadsheet also shows the order in which I installed items.)
When you finish installing all your store stuff, change that last file number and move it the folder where you put the others. If you keep this folder in a safe place, you can then simply copy and paste it whenever you have to, or want to, start a vanilla sims 3 folder.
Does that help at all?
Store Install
Unlocked Stencils
random legacy
edit: Sweet! This was my 1000th comment!
Store Install
Unlocked Stencils
random legacy
I will try to work on doing this sometime this week. This is going to be great! I'm very excited!
You are awesome indeed!
@Odonata68 lol I'm glad you were able to understand it. This is such a good thing to know.
Congrats on your 1000th comment! I'm happy I was part of it!
I'm excited about all the "new" stuff I'll have to play with.
@Goodywood just take your time when you do your install. That's what I did. After a bit, you'll get the hang of it.
@ZeeGee thank you and yes, the videos were a great help! I imagine they have helped quite a few sim players. I found them easy to follow.
@ciane I do have a question: I have all the Worlds from the Store except for DV MH and BB. So when I do get those worlds, how do I add them to the .ebc file since worlds are suppose to be installed first with the patterns? Do I have to start over with that ebc file (ending with 0)?
Edit: I don't see the contentpatch.package. Hmm.
http://simfileshare.net/download/462061/
However, if you have an old sims 3 folder saved somewhere, you can copy the file from the old sims 3 folder to the new one.
MH is a huge world, with the toy store, so it basically takes up a whole .ebc file by itself. I stuck it in the first .ebc file with just patterns and a few left-out items; but it doesn't have to be in the first file. When you get it, move out all the .ebc files, install it, change the 0 to follow the last number in your .ebc sequence, and then move back in the other .ebc files. (Remember to copy that new .ebc file to wherever you have saved your other .ebc files too!)
I installed DV and BB together, so, if you get them at the same time, you can install them in the same .ebc file. Or, just install the one you get in a new .ebc file and then, when you get the other world, you'll move out all the other files BUT the one with the latest world. You change the end number to 0, install the other world, rename the file to the number it had before you changed it to 0, and copy the other .ebc files back in.
I like installing worlds first, because there is so much to them. I like the computer to read those files first. It has less chance of missing something in all the items that way. For example, when the launcher is so full, it can't display everything. BUT, as long as you are installing into a basically empty dccache folder, into a file ending with 0; it should install correctly and show up in your game.
Store Install
Unlocked Stencils
random legacy
Thank you ciane (and ZeeGee) I will download it!
So should I bundle the patterns/items left out with the other Store worlds?
I'm sorry to ask the noob questions. I hope you don't mind.
Thank you @ZeeGee ! I guess I have to stop being so paranoid/OCD. It is just sooo much content. lol