Have just bought a new gaming laptop which is capable of running sims 3. My question is on my old laptop I bought the sims 3 bundle through origin but now I have been given most of the expansions on discs, I know I'm going to need a separate disc drive but can I use the discs if I have the origin version. Although I have sims 3 in my origin account I haven't installed yet.
1
Comments
If that is what you're asking, you can. I'd recommend registering your physical copies through Origin. Doing this will give you digital copies of all the physical expansions you add. So they'll all be on Origin and easy to install all at once.
To add them, you open Origin and go to your game library. There, you'll see in the upper right corner "(+) Add A Game," then "Redeem Product Code." A dialogue box should open with a spot to type the CD Key. Put the CD Key in, add it, and repeat this for all of your physical copies.
Yes that's what I meant. Thats great so pleased i can use them. Thank you for the advice.
When Sims 3 was ending the local stores were selling disks cheaply so I purchased all of the expansions and stuff packs I had originally bought digitally with new disks.
When I got my new laptop in early 2014, pre patch 1.69, I installed Origin and installed my game using mostly the disks as it was faster that way.
I did not register any of the disks. So I still have the unused codes for all of the disks I purchased.
Later on we got patch 1.69 and I didn't want to be forced to patch to that level so I lived in constant fear that Origin would one day just do the update for me without my knowledge.
When I got my new computer in 2017 I did not install Origin. I did install all of my Sims 3 game using my disks.
The game works perfectly. Everything is just as it was previously on older computers.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuW44b3uCMtCSaq4gwC8EZg
Thank you for the advice. I have read about a lot of people trying to avoid the 1.69 patch, what does it do to the game?
The advantage of 1.69 is it still maintained and supported by EA. Instead of the launcher you will get a screen which allows you to pick and choose which of your EPs and SPs you want to load. Although it says you should load only a couple of EPs at a time loading all of them will still work. However you should be aware, because Origin is a digital service there is a possibility EA could really restrict the number of packs you can play with.
Version 1.67 is not maintained or supported by EA. Steam users and all disk players are on 1.67. Certainly with an all disk installation you have ready access to your game at all times, even offline and there are no limits on what you can have installed. As someone who enjoys building I wanted to stay with an all disk installation to have the freedom to use whatever I wanted from my packs. I am not a Steam user so can't comment on that digital service.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
Basically, it means you need to play through Origin. It recommends you don't enable all of your expansions and stuff packs and you need to check a lot of boxes to enable the ones you do want to play with each time. Often it unchecks them again and you end up having to relaunch the game. If you open a save and don't have the expansions and stuff packs used in it enabled it will apparently corrupt the save. People generally seem to find it very frustrating and game breaking. There was nothing in it to fix any game related problems so all mods still work. Some mods that have the version number in them will pop up a message saying you have the wrong version but I think most, if not all, of them have got versions with the 1.69 version number available now.
Patch 1.69 is only for the PC version of the game launched through Origin. If your disk version of the base game was purchased before before September 2012 you ought to be able to avoid it if you install it without the EADM or Origin link. But if your base game is a later version, or is a digital version, then you'll find you need to patch to 1.69 unless you got it from Steam. That's why so many people have repurchased their entire games on disk through Steam when there are sales on.
Someone else who actually plays with the 1.69 patch will undoubtedly give you a better idea of what's right or wrong with it. I've just basically outlined the bits of it that I wanted to avoid.
EDIT: This thread might give you more insight.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/868889/update-to-sims-3-on-origin-caw#latest
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuW44b3uCMtCSaq4gwC8EZg
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
If it is being maintained it would be just to lock it down to Origin even more as it appears to be only about forcing the game to be played through Origin. As far as I'm aware, it didn't do anything to fix any game issues. @igazor knows more about the details than I do though.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuW44b3uCMtCSaq4gwC8EZg
Thank you for the advice.
https://youtu.be/X2eiCUQDNvQ
Thank you for the advice.
When you open your game through the launcher and have store content installed, the launcher creates 'tmp' files. This effectively DOUBLES the amount of your store content, thus causing a bigger strain on your game if you have a lot of store content. If I notice my game lagging, I check EA folder, usually I've opened the launcher for something (which created those tmp files) then forgot to delete them.
The other issue is that playing through Origin made my computer run hot. My fans were running on high speed constantly. I read something at the time about that being an issue with having Origin running in the background but that was a long time ago so may have been fixed by now.
Anyway, have fun with your new install!
https://youtu.be/X2eiCUQDNvQ
Thank you, I have noticed when I play sims 4 that the fan is running high on a brand new laptop so definitely want to avoid origin with sims 3.