Installing The Sims 3 and Store Content

FrayedFlight

Haven't touched The Sims 3 for about a year, and even then, all I did was install it from Origin. Not sure if the most recent update uninstalled my store content, or if I just never got around to installing it (because it's a LOT of stuff...I have everything except one item as singles instead of the combined pack, since they never offered it in a "complete your set.")

I own all the games/packs as well, and I was a little concerned because I read a thread where folks said their games were not showing as registered from Origin and indeed, that was the case for me, but fortunately clearing the cache fixed it and it is again showing I own everything.

Sorry for the long intro, I guess my question is: Should I uninstall everything and start from scratch, and what would be the best way to do a complete install (or if there is nothing I want to save, can I just delete the files/folders in Doc - Electronic Arts - The Sims 3 and it will just re-create what it needs)?

I know people have issues with the launcher, do I NEED to use the launcher to install all my store content, should I later bypass the launcher (and how do I do this) and what are the must-have mods/fixes for a good experience? I recall NRASS' stuff (I think overwatch/error trap?) were lifesavers the last time I seriously touched the game.

Thanks for any help anyone can give me in advance.

puzzlezaddict

Welcome back. There are still quite a few TS3 holdouts here, and we're usually happy to answer questions from players both new and rusty, as well as each other.

If you'd like to uninstall and reinstall TS3 itself, you'll need to clean your computer's registry as well, either manually or with a tool like Piriform's CCleaner. Otherwise, remnants of the previous install can get in the way of your launching the game going forward. But there's no real reason to reinstall the program files; even when the game isn't cooperating, there are usually better and less time-consuming ways to troubleshoot.

All of your saves, mods, store and custom content, saved sims and families, and saved builds live in your TS3 game folder in Documents. You can save any files within this folder that you like, or you can delete the whole thing and start over. When you launch the game again, a clean folder will spawn, into which you can add whatever combination of your old files and new content you want.

If you have an Origin/Windows install, then you'll necessarily be on patch 1.69 and have no way to bypass the launcher. Sorry.

Store content can only be installed through the launcher. If your old game folder has any store content, it will be bundled into .ebc files inside DCCache. But if it didn't show up in-game, you might have a corrupted file somewhere, and it's probably easier to reinstall rather than go through each file to check. If you're installing a lot of content, you might find ciane's guide to installing store content useful:

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/866577/how-to-install-store-items

As far as mods are concerned, NRaas ErrorTrap and Overwatch are critical to keeping your game healthy and as glitch-free as possible. Traveler is also a must if your sims are ever going to travel. MasterController gives you ways find information about inactive sims, change almost anything about them, and perform resets on stuck sims or objects when necessary. Many people find Register and Traffic useful as well. But the best approach is for you to describe what functions you're looking for, or which glitches you'd rather avoid, and then ask which mods can help. You could also ask over at NRaas, which still has an active community of players as well.

http://nraas.wikispaces.com/

FrayedFlight

Fantastic, thank you.