Sims 3 (Steam Version) Launcher Not Updating, And Stuck At Version 0.0.0.0 [ Edited ]

[Craegon]

So I got my new rig two days ago, and ended up getting Sims 3 again, I had only been off it for around a week or two due to my PC struggling with the game;

Well after I downloaded the game it goes to update the launcher, it does each part but then the launcher closes itself; I go back on it and it reads as Version 0.0.0.0. Of course I didn't notice this till I went to get my Sims 3 Store content for my game; Any content I try to download will not, I also get no prompts in the download window, but if I try a group download it instead opens a tab that has a bunch of random text in the URL here is an example :

sims3://download/?ofbId=OFB-SIM3:24480&encryptedAuthToken=INbCdD6FAe0ND8AcYXJcXHroUvt9myTavgo1NUgVCv_6xHQXgAk0HrCMO-Ihyj8p6ltYAJ5VLkjgWITJQOyvE8jKAVHUcE9pyMUTKq56o58q3hlHbPIQCKV6E46VjiE5

So after this I tried a whole lot of tried and true methods such as deleting cache files and letting the game regenerate them, Fresh installs of the game, Validating the game on steam; None of it has worked, but as I have found a bunch of Steam users have got this issue in the past few days for some reason, so I was wondering is EA aware of this ? and if so do you have any plans to fix it ?

[Lyaidan · Accepted solution]

I found a fix, of sorts. I spent the last three days scouring the internet for fixes and tried every fix suggested multiple times but nothing worked and I was ready to pull my hair out because my husband just spent $100 (a lot for us) on the Steam Summer Sale to get me the base game and all it's expansions/stuff packs for our wedding anniversary.

So what worked? First, I followed this official guide: http://help.ea.com/ca/article/manually-uninstalling-the-sims-3/ on how to remove the game 100% from my system. However, I made a few tweaks in that after I did what the guide said regarding cleaning the registry, I right-clicked on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder and selected find and then typed 'sims'. I then spent the next half an hour hitting the F3 key to skip from one result to the next and anytime I found an entry that was truly sims related (most weren't) I deleted it. Then I downloaded and installed CCleaner (a free registry cleaning program), opened it, selected Registry and then clicked 'scan for issues'. When it finished scanning I clicked 'fix selected issues', saved a back-up of the registry and then told it to proceed. I did this several times in a row until everything was fixed. Then I emptied my recycle bin and restarted my computer.

Finally, and I hated doing this but I hated not playing more, I got my key codes for the games I bought from Steam and I installed Origin and redeemed them all there. Then I installed the base game and started it to make sure it would work. Sure enough, it worked and had the correct version number. Then I installed all the expansions and stuff packs one at a time, in the order they were published, starting the game up after each install to make sure it was running correctly and hadn't changed the version back to 0.0.0.0. When it was all set up I opened the EA store from within the game and successfully downloaded something. So far my game is running beautifully and it's been about 4 hours.

We shouldn't have to install through Origin but it works, it's the only fix I know and it's pretty straight forward. There's obviously some kind of glitch happening between Steam and EA's servers that needs to get fixed asap but what are the odds they'll make this a priority? I hope this has helped someone so they won't have to spend days trying to get this to work. Good luck!

[roberta591]

@Craegon If your having a problem with Steam your goimg to have to take that up with Steam because they run their own authentication servers. There could be a couple of problems. I'm guessing you have Windows 10. Open control panel - programs and features - turn windows features on or off - check .net framework 3.5. the launcher needs this and Windows 10 does no turn this on by default.

[Craegon]

Its already checked it seems, literally it was only like 4 days ago it seems when all this happened, there is an on going thread on steam bout it, and from the consensus there, steam has done no kind of update or mess around, but like you say could be an issue on they're end too, I can still play Sims, but I have got a fair few things in the store that I can't use sadly.

[Lyaidan · Accepted solution]

I found a fix, of sorts. I spent the last three days scouring the internet for fixes and tried every fix suggested multiple times but nothing worked and I was ready to pull my hair out because my husband just spent $100 (a lot for us) on the Steam Summer Sale to get me the base game and all it's expansions/stuff packs for our wedding anniversary.

So what worked? First, I followed this official guide: http://help.ea.com/ca/article/manually-uninstalling-the-sims-3/ on how to remove the game 100% from my system. However, I made a few tweaks in that after I did what the guide said regarding cleaning the registry, I right-clicked on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder and selected find and then typed 'sims'. I then spent the next half an hour hitting the F3 key to skip from one result to the next and anytime I found an entry that was truly sims related (most weren't) I deleted it. Then I downloaded and installed CCleaner (a free registry cleaning program), opened it, selected Registry and then clicked 'scan for issues'. When it finished scanning I clicked 'fix selected issues', saved a back-up of the registry and then told it to proceed. I did this several times in a row until everything was fixed. Then I emptied my recycle bin and restarted my computer.

Finally, and I hated doing this but I hated not playing more, I got my key codes for the games I bought from Steam and I installed Origin and redeemed them all there. Then I installed the base game and started it to make sure it would work. Sure enough, it worked and had the correct version number. Then I installed all the expansions and stuff packs one at a time, in the order they were published, starting the game up after each install to make sure it was running correctly and hadn't changed the version back to 0.0.0.0. When it was all set up I opened the EA store from within the game and successfully downloaded something. So far my game is running beautifully and it's been about 4 hours.

We shouldn't have to install through Origin but it works, it's the only fix I know and it's pretty straight forward. There's obviously some kind of glitch happening between Steam and EA's servers that needs to get fixed asap but what are the odds they'll make this a priority? I hope this has helped someone so they won't have to spend days trying to get this to work. Good luck!

[roberta591]

@Lyaidan Steam wanted EA to remove the DRM and EA told Steam they have to sell it as is. Steam has it's own activation servers so you don't need Origin to run the game under Steam. EA would like TS3 users to use Origin and have been doing updates to EA's servers changing the TS3 forum. You can no longer post to thesims3.com but that is where the store is. The store still works as does the exchange but the forum is gone. As TS3 was released before Origin (it first used EA download manager with manual patches). Pre 2012 disc based release with no patching can still be run using the latest released to market disc in the optical drive for activation. Optical drives are disappearing. As of version 1.69 (pc version) you need Origin, no disc in the drive, and the SecuROM limit has been lifted. If you have the digital download version there is no choice - you need to use Origin. I for one never liked sony's SecuROM so I for one am glad to see it go. Games that depend on SecuROM will not run under Windows 10 for pc because it is like a rootkit and I'm beginning to suspect the same for el capitan for mac. Hey Windows 7 main support has expired so Win 7 is living on an extention and Windows 8 is well you know what everyone thinks of Windows 8.

hth

[Craegon]

@Lyaidan God sounds a nightmare, my game works though; I am only holding off because I like to keep everything on steam plus my download speed is kinda sucky, I dunno; if not for the sheer amount of games I have in my backlog I would probably just cut the middleman, but I can still hold out for steam to fix whatever the problem is, but if nothing can be done I may have to bite the bullet as it were;

Oh and as to the sale and spending all that money, I did the exact same thing lol so many packs one after the other because it added this or that, man I hate this sort of issue because I can still play, but I am just missing those few nice items you know :P

[Robotmassacre538]

I have tried everything to get this working but I think EA just stopped updating the Steam version

because even when I got the version number to show (by setting windows 10 compatibility to windows 7) the version it shows is 1.67 but the Origin version is 1.69, and the launcher on the Origin version looks nicer and new

normally this wouldn't be a problem but it seems that certain content just won't install on this older version, I got a bookshelf to install properly but stuff like "Door of Life and Death" and the cow plant just returns an error

and this was after two reinstalls so the game should be up to date

I feel like EA is just forcing me to use Origin, so if it makes you feel better, your CD codes will get you the game and expansions you have on Origin for free and you can add a non steam game to your library, you could even use this to skip the launcher if you want to

It seems like Sims steam version is just EA abandoned child now