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How to get TS2 - Ultimate Collection (Windows)

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  • WinMacSims3WinMacSims3 Posts: 1,610 Member
    So I guess you can still contact EA and prove you own The Sims 2 to get The Sims 2 UC. Seems nice there's hope for Windows users. This can get confusing since the giveaway ended on August 1, 2014 and nothing on the forums mentions you can still get The Sims 2, also that the game isn't on Origin. What's worse is that The Sims 2 Super Collection is available on sale but it's only on a Mac which can be annoying as most people outside the Mac Forums likely don't have a Mac. TS2 isn't the only game that has this problem.

    Command and Conquer: Generals can also be purchased on the Mac but there's no equivalent Windows version on sale although this is offset by the fact EA still sells a collection that includes this and other C&C games on Windows.
    Origin ID: GothicSimmer, YouTube: GothicSimmer
  • SimplyJenSimplyJen Posts: 14,823 Member
    So I guess you can still contact EA and prove you own The Sims 2 to get The Sims 2 UC. Seems nice there's hope for Windows users. This can get confusing since the giveaway ended on August 1, 2014 and nothing on the forums mentions you can still get The Sims 2, also that the game isn't on Origin. What's worse is that The Sims 2 Super Collection is available on sale but it's only on a Mac which can be annoying as most people outside the Mac Forums likely don't have a Mac. TS2 isn't the only game that has this problem.

    Command and Conquer: Generals can also be purchased on the Mac but there's no equivalent Windows version on sale although this is offset by the fact EA still sells a collection that includes this and other C&C games on Windows.
    I'm not sure why they are still helping out people. They could just tell people "tough cookies". Maybe they don't want to advertise that you can do this because it's more work. :/

    For a game that's not supported anymore, I'm still glad they want to help out those who did purchase TS2 at some point. I wonder if this same thing would work if someone had a Sims 1 code. I know I do somewhere in storage.

    i7-13700K • 16GB • RTX 4070
    S3 simblr: http://simplysimming.tumblr.com/
    S4 simblr: http://simlogic.tumblr.com/
  • Seera1024Seera1024 Posts: 3,629 Member
    So I guess you can still contact EA and prove you own The Sims 2 to get The Sims 2 UC. Seems nice there's hope for Windows users. This can get confusing since the giveaway ended on August 1, 2014 and nothing on the forums mentions you can still get The Sims 2, also that the game isn't on Origin. What's worse is that The Sims 2 Super Collection is available on sale but it's only on a Mac which can be annoying as most people outside the Mac Forums likely don't have a Mac. TS2 isn't the only game that has this problem.

    Command and Conquer: Generals can also be purchased on the Mac but there's no equivalent Windows version on sale although this is offset by the fact EA still sells a collection that includes this and other C&C games on Windows.
    I'm not sure why they are still helping out people. They could just tell people "tough cookies". Maybe they don't want to advertise that you can do this because it's more work. :/

    For a game that's not supported anymore, I'm still glad they want to help out those who did purchase TS2 at some point. I wonder if this same thing would work if someone had a Sims 1 code. I know I do somewhere in storage.

    It's a positive move to do so.

    They figure enough people will be more willing to spend money on EA games if they give them the entire Sims 2 suite for free, to warrant giving it to free to everyone.

    It's like grocery stores always seem to have the soda on sale. They lose money on the soda. But it gets people into the store to buy other things. Giving Sims 2 away via Origin gets people to download Origin who may not use Origin. And they may in turn, buy more games that they see on Origin.

    As for Sims 1, it never had an digital version, not even for the complete collection. I'm not sure they would be able to easily give a Sims 1 version online. But who knows.
  • emmaningemmaning Posts: 3,407 Member
    I didn't play sims 2 much at all but I had a non-origin hard disc copy. Fortunately when I found out about a UC when I'd uninstalled the thing, I realised I didn't need to use the code to get the uc. So yeh I got it free but I've still got a code for it. Weird tbh
    feKqkxf.jpg

    My blog: ning's backlog
    Don't forget the forum rules are on the forum- go find 'em!
  • emmaningemmaning Posts: 3,407 Member
    @winterloc I think it took me an hour to download and install. It does depend on how strong/fast your internet connection is. It's normal for it to take long because this is the whole collection.

    When you have it installed and start it up for the first time, it might take a while to get past the loading screen. That's normal and that's because it's setting up the folders for the game. After that everything should start up normal.

    Normally things take 2 and 1/2 hours to download for me :( uc took longer I think...
    feKqkxf.jpg

    My blog: ning's backlog
    Don't forget the forum rules are on the forum- go find 'em!
  • emmaningemmaning Posts: 3,407 Member
    I can't believe I didn't know about getting the Ultimate Collection last summer for free, but about ten minutes ago I saw this post and went to chat under The Sims 2/PC/Codes, the rep asked for my Origin ID, then for the code I have for TS2 Double Deluxe, and then the answer to my Origin security question. Then the UC was in my Origin account! This took less than 5 minutes all together, thank you for this post @Simasaurus09‌ :)

    The sims 2 double deluxe is a super cheap option brand new and is still availible in some supermarkets so is the best thing to search for a brand new double deluxe instead of base game. The only copy I still had was that. Although the first one I played was the sims: bustin' out for ps2.
    feKqkxf.jpg

    My blog: ning's backlog
    Don't forget the forum rules are on the forum- go find 'em!
  • emmaningemmaning Posts: 3,407 Member
    Seera1024 wrote: »
    So I guess you can still contact EA and prove you own The Sims 2 to get The Sims 2 UC. Seems nice there's hope for Windows users. This can get confusing since the giveaway ended on August 1, 2014 and nothing on the forums mentions you can still get The Sims 2, also that the game isn't on Origin. What's worse is that The Sims 2 Super Collection is available on sale but it's only on a Mac which can be annoying as most people outside the Mac Forums likely don't have a Mac. TS2 isn't the only game that has this problem.

    Command and Conquer: Generals can also be purchased on the Mac but there's no equivalent Windows version on sale although this is offset by the fact EA still sells a collection that includes this and other C&C games on Windows.
    I'm not sure why they are still helping out people. They could just tell people "tough cookies". Maybe they don't want to advertise that you can do this because it's more work. :/

    For a game that's not supported anymore, I'm still glad they want to help out those who did purchase TS2 at some point. I wonder if this same thing would work if someone had a Sims 1 code. I know I do somewhere in storage.

    It's a positive move to do so.

    They figure enough people will be more willing to spend money on EA games if they give them the entire Sims 2 suite for free, to warrant giving it to free to everyone.

    It's like grocery stores always seem to have the soda on sale. They lose money on the soda. But it gets people into the store to buy other things. Giving Sims 2 away via Origin gets people to download Origin who may not use Origin. And they may in turn, buy more games that they see on Origin.

    As for Sims 1, it never had an digital version, not even for the complete collection. I'm not sure they would be able to easily give a Sims 1 version online. But who knows.

    It's simple for ea. It's a little warmup excercise of barely anything. Take a sims original complete collection disc, extract the files from it to a new location, make sure the files are correct, add a simple installer and boom there's your digital sims original completed copy. Not a bad idea actually... I might just purchase it myself and transfer it myself too.... Simple matter right?
    feKqkxf.jpg

    My blog: ning's backlog
    Don't forget the forum rules are on the forum- go find 'em!
  • Seera1024Seera1024 Posts: 3,629 Member
    emmaning wrote: »
    Seera1024 wrote: »
    So I guess you can still contact EA and prove you own The Sims 2 to get The Sims 2 UC. Seems nice there's hope for Windows users. This can get confusing since the giveaway ended on August 1, 2014 and nothing on the forums mentions you can still get The Sims 2, also that the game isn't on Origin. What's worse is that The Sims 2 Super Collection is available on sale but it's only on a Mac which can be annoying as most people outside the Mac Forums likely don't have a Mac. TS2 isn't the only game that has this problem.

    Command and Conquer: Generals can also be purchased on the Mac but there's no equivalent Windows version on sale although this is offset by the fact EA still sells a collection that includes this and other C&C games on Windows.
    I'm not sure why they are still helping out people. They could just tell people "tough cookies". Maybe they don't want to advertise that you can do this because it's more work. :/

    For a game that's not supported anymore, I'm still glad they want to help out those who did purchase TS2 at some point. I wonder if this same thing would work if someone had a Sims 1 code. I know I do somewhere in storage.

    It's a positive move to do so.

    They figure enough people will be more willing to spend money on EA games if they give them the entire Sims 2 suite for free, to warrant giving it to free to everyone.

    It's like grocery stores always seem to have the soda on sale. They lose money on the soda. But it gets people into the store to buy other things. Giving Sims 2 away via Origin gets people to download Origin who may not use Origin. And they may in turn, buy more games that they see on Origin.

    As for Sims 1, it never had an digital version, not even for the complete collection. I'm not sure they would be able to easily give a Sims 1 version online. But who knows.

    It's simple for ea. It's a little warmup excercise of barely anything. Take a sims original complete collection disc, extract the files from it to a new location, make sure the files are correct, add a simple installer and boom there's your digital sims original completed copy. Not a bad idea actually... I might just purchase it myself and transfer it myself too.... Simple matter right?

    That assumes they still have the files. With Sims 1 being so old and there not having been any digital version of the game, they may not have the files. And they may not be willing to spend money on the collection to just give it away.

    They had digital versions of most if not all of the games due to their multi-packs with Sims 2. So it was just a matter of combining them into one package and making sure everything was patched.
  • NissefruNissefru Posts: 4 New Member
    I just got a copy with help from a person in the chat. Yeah!!!
  • Frogprincess_qFrogprincess_q Posts: 1,269 Member
    Me too, me too, me too!!! I finally managed to get the darn live chat to load and the person I spoke to was lovely :grin:
    Edits made and not mentioned will be for typos.

    - Froggie
    1nr15n0.jpg
    WIP: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/851667/australian-world-version-1-0-uploaded/p1
  • Frogprincess_qFrogprincess_q Posts: 1,269 Member
    I am totally buzzed right now, lol :lol:
    Edits made and not mentioned will be for typos.

    - Froggie
    1nr15n0.jpg
    WIP: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/851667/australian-world-version-1-0-uploaded/p1
  • joralydjoralyd Posts: 55 Member
    I got mine last week, I bought a new disc version from ebay (make sure it's not a copy) I then went to EA chat and politely inquired about getting a digital version.

    They are quiet picky with it now and I had to first prove the origin account was mine with both email verification and all my details plus my secret question.
    Then I was to provide a picture of the disc's, with registration code visible in the picture PLUS a piece of paper with my name and the date on it PLUS receipt. However if you have trouble the first time I would keep trying until you get someone that isn't so picky.

    After all if you own the TS2 legitimately you should be able to have a digital version of it right?
    I took the pledge
  • Frogprincess_qFrogprincess_q Posts: 1,269 Member
    I got lucky, the person I spoke with just gave me the code - I hope they don't get in trouble for that, but the game isn't even supported anymore so really, I don't see why they would be so picky. It's not "worth" anything, it's not like they can sell it... Extra lucky because I don't really have digital photography up and running atm.
    Edits made and not mentioned will be for typos.

    - Froggie
    1nr15n0.jpg
    WIP: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/851667/australian-world-version-1-0-uploaded/p1
  • Frogprincess_qFrogprincess_q Posts: 1,269 Member
    edited April 2015
    I mean of course they're picky, but they shouldn't be.
    Edits made and not mentioned will be for typos.

    - Froggie
    1nr15n0.jpg
    WIP: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/851667/australian-world-version-1-0-uploaded/p1
  • joralydjoralyd Posts: 55 Member
    yeah that's what I thought, plus if you already own TS4 and all of TS3 plus Simcity etc etc it should mean something, you're not just there to get a "free" game
    I took the pledge
  • Frogprincess_qFrogprincess_q Posts: 1,269 Member
    And even if you were, Origin has free games all the time... :confounded: anyway, at least it is still possible to get :blush:
    Edits made and not mentioned will be for typos.

    - Froggie
    1nr15n0.jpg
    WIP: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/851667/australian-world-version-1-0-uploaded/p1
  • Sim_LucentSim_Lucent Posts: 689 Member
    My Sims 2 game just came in last week.. I haven't gotten to install it yet (I'm swamped with work, bah!) but hope to sit down some evening this week and do so.. And then get the UC.

    Just hoping the install goes okay on Windows 7 -- I'm sure it won't and I'll need to find a tutorial on how to get it to run properly.. sigh.
    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • Seera1024Seera1024 Posts: 3,629 Member
    Sim_Lucent wrote: »
    My Sims 2 game just came in last week.. I haven't gotten to install it yet (I'm swamped with work, bah!) but hope to sit down some evening this week and do so.. And then get the UC.

    Just hoping the install goes okay on Windows 7 -- I'm sure it won't and I'll need to find a tutorial on how to get it to run properly.. sigh.

    Contact EA and get them to give you the Ultimate Collection. UC will require you to uninstall the game anyway as it is Base game + all EP's and SP's, so you might as well just get it now and install it now.
  • Sim_LucentSim_Lucent Posts: 689 Member
    Seera1024 wrote: »
    Sim_Lucent wrote: »
    My Sims 2 game just came in last week.. I haven't gotten to install it yet (I'm swamped with work, bah!) but hope to sit down some evening this week and do so.. And then get the UC.

    Just hoping the install goes okay on Windows 7 -- I'm sure it won't and I'll need to find a tutorial on how to get it to run properly.. sigh.

    Contact EA and get them to give you the Ultimate Collection. UC will require you to uninstall the game anyway as it is Base game + all EP's and SP's, so you might as well just get it now and install it now.

    Oh, that's good to know! I didn't think I'd need to uninstall. Thank you! I'm very excited.. I hear TS2 was like.. the bread and butter of the sims franchise.
    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
  • Frogprincess_qFrogprincess_q Posts: 1,269 Member
    @Sim_Lucent For setting up TS2, google Sims 2 Graphics Rules Fix. That's the thing that needs to be tweaked. This is the guide I followed with both TS2 and the Ultimate Collection.
    http://🐸🐸🐸🐸/mybb/showthread.php?tid=5446
    Basically, the game is so old that it won't recognise any modern graphics cards amongst other things, but the fixes are fairly straight forward if you follow them step by step. If you try running without the fixes you will notice everything is set to lowest settings, there are no widescreen options and you will probably have big black rectangles under all your sims instead of shadows. This is my game all fixed up, no mods or CC - although I take my screenshots with printscreen and copypaste them into an image program.
    277rkIW.png
    Doing the Smustle... in the shower cubicle...
    Edits made and not mentioned will be for typos.

    - Froggie
    1nr15n0.jpg
    WIP: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/851667/australian-world-version-1-0-uploaded/p1
  • tiffrenee07tiffrenee07 Posts: 682 Member
    I just got the Ultimate Collection today but it keeps crashing. :'(
  • Frogprincess_qFrogprincess_q Posts: 1,269 Member
  • tiffrenee07tiffrenee07 Posts: 682 Member
    I followed the instructions (as best I could) and it still crashes during CAS. I don't know what to do.
  • Frogprincess_qFrogprincess_q Posts: 1,269 Member
    In the leefish link there is something about the possiblity of missing files? If running a repair in Origin doesn't work maybe this is the problem? I'm sorry to hear that you are having trouble :/ even with the graphics unfixed I still had a totally playable game - just really ugly, so I don't think that the graphics are what's causing your crashes.
    ULTIMATE COLLECTION FIX - IF YOU'RE NOT GETTING ALL YOUR FILES (including log folders etc)
    (This is from EA via Marka93 and MMJJSense)

    1. Check to make sure the language you are installing it as, and the language of the account is the same.

    2. It may be that your PC can't cope with the 'TM' symbol. This is EA's fix for it:
    Just incase it is needed for some windows don't know how to handle the "TM" and it needs to be removed.
    Only do this if you have a problem with your game.

    Try this! I got it from a different forum at answers.ea.com (credit goes to MMJJSense) with someone who had a similar issue:
    you need to open regedit (Window+R) and open HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE then SOFTWARE

    For 32 - Bit : Find EA GAMES folder and open the sims 2... change the Display Name... Delete the ™ out... and the problem is solved...
    For 64- Bit : Open Wow6432Node then.. Find EA GAMES folder and open the sims 2... change the Display Name... Delete the ™ out... and the problem is solved...

    Before it's should look like this : The Sims 2™ Ultimate Collection
    After : The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection

    Of course playing with regedit is something to do with care so be very careful with it and seek more detailed advice if you're unsure about it.
    Edits made and not mentioned will be for typos.

    - Froggie
    1nr15n0.jpg
    WIP: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/851667/australian-world-version-1-0-uploaded/p1
  • MLJ28aMLJ28a Posts: 320 Member
    @SIMASAURUS09 Thank you so much for making this thread!

    I bought a new copy The Sims 2 Deluxe from Amazon a couple weeks ago, but I couldn't get the serial code work. I thought I was out of luck. After seeing this thread, I decided to try the Live Chat tonight, and they gave me the Ultimate Collection! :)
    zD4X8.gif
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