PLEASE HELP!!!I can only play sims once after i install expansion packs When I Install Expansion packs i can only play the game once.If i exit it the next time i play it and choose a family it shows the screen with the family foto that means it's loading but it doesn't load.The music keeps playing and the cursor keeps rotating but i can't play.Please help!!!
I can only assume that getting help quickly is not a priority for Shishiu. I actually added the I Need Help Fast link because some of the more specific questions cannot (obviously) fit all needs. I haven't actually counted all the way that one single help page is linked to from that FAQ. 20 odd questions and half of them point to the same page. Seems like a rip off but how can we help without knowing what sort of hardware is using the punter's watts.
Oops Sorry I didn't write the specs, but I thought that,since the game started once with patches,it probably isn't a hardware problem and didn't write them. Sorry again.Here's the specs Processor:AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3200+,MMX, 3DNow,~2.0GHz System Memory:1022 MB RAM Windows Version:Microsoft Windows XP Professional Free Hard Disk Space: D-102GB, C-4.5GB Total Hard Disk Space: D-213GB, C-19.5GB DirectX VersionirectX 9.0c Video Card:NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GS Display Driver:nv4_disp.dll Aprox Total Memory: 512MB Sims 2 DVD,Sims 2 Nightlife,Sims 2 Pets,Sims 2 Open For Business,Sims 2 University and a lot of custom content. Description:After I install expansion packs I can play Sims 2 Only once.When try to play it again and choose a Family,it shows the picture of the family and starts loading,but when it looks like it's done with the loading it just stops.The Music continues playing and the cursor keeps rotating,but nothing else happens. Hope someone can help me
LOL ... don't worry, we all tend to make assumptions. Making assumptions is human, but it can have unfortunate side-effects when help is being sought or offered. A first look at the specs leads me to ask a question back at ya. Please bear with me I am not 100% clear about what you have done. Have you installed all those expansion packs one after the other? Please describe what steps you took, making sure to put each step on a new paragraph ... maybe number the stages. It's possible that you may have gotten things tangled up. Please say if you have previously played "saved families", and describe where they are saved and for what game expansion. I ask that above because I am intigued by the huge difference in size between your C: disc and your D: disc. Have you moved anything between times when the game ran and times when it didn't? That graphics card should perform pretty well, but make sure you have downloaded the newest drivers for it. Is it an upgrade? Did you install it yourself (or have it installed for you)? I ask because it looks like something is still using (or trying to use) some of 1024 MB of installed system RAM . you report only 1022 ... it may be that you might need to run the motherboard BIOS setup to disable any onboard graphics adapter ... though this should remain an unimportant matter for now. In short my first instinct is to worry about where your game files are stored, whether you have moved them between times, and MOSTLY if they are actually suitable for the expansions you have installed. Sorry ... more questions than answers.
To answer the first question-Yes,I did install them one after the other,but didn't play the game inbetween. And about the steps: 1.I backed up my Sims 2 Saved Games. 2.I installed Sims 2 Pets in D:\Games\Ex Packs\Sims 2 Pets\ (My original Sims 2 Game is in D:\Games\Sims 2) 3.I installed Sims 2 Nightlife in D:\Games\Ex Packs\Sims 2 Nightlife\ 4.I installed Sims 2 Open for business in D:\Games\Ex Packs\Sims 2 OFB\ 5.I installed Sims 2 University in D:\Games\Ex Packs\Sims 2 University\ 6.I put the Sims 2 Saved Game files in C:\Documents and Setting\*****\My Documents\ -(I backed up the whole EA GAMES folder) 7.I played Sims 2 through Sims 2 Pets as my Sims 2 original game wouldn't start as well as the other expansion packs. 8.I saved my game. 9.I tried to load it again but when it showed me the picture of the family and should have been through with the loading...nothing happened.The music kept playing and the cursor kept rotating though. 10.I realised that I wouldn't be able to play Sims and cried...-Kidding I have saved a lot of Saved Games from Sims in the C: Disk.That's why I have so little space.I've also backed up the TS BIN, CS BIN and TS DATA there. I haven't had any Graphics problems with Sims 2-(I mean lagging and such...).But my drivers were installed by the people from the place where i bought my computer. I have no idea about the why the RAM shows 1022 though. Hope this explains it and thanks for taking the time to find an answer to my question.
Hmmmm ... non standard installations can cause all sorts of problems and you have them in spades. I recommend first uninstalling everything. Then reinstall the game thusly: If you wish to install to D:\Games then create a directory:- \Sims 2\ for it and let it install there without further forcing. After installing the game replace the newly created Sims 2 folder in MY_DOC~1\EA_GAM~1\ with a copy of your original back up folder. NOTE. Each EP makes irreversible changes to the saved game files so it is essential that you add the back up to suit the current installation. When you come to install the expansions packs (EPs) start with the oldest (the order is University, Nightlife, OFB, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage) The installation of Stuff Packs (SPs) is less critical but if you have them and want to be ultra correct then follow: Uni; NL; OFB; Family Fun Stuff; Pets; Celebration Stuff; Seasons; H&M Fashion Stuff; BV. Note that each EP will thus install in D:\Games\Sims 2\[EP name chosen by installer] NOTE an Expansion Pack or Stuff Pack makes alterations to the base game and a new launcher is made. The new launcher is the only one that should be used. (Actually it is the ONLY one that can be used since the original -- although it is still there -- refers to game files that have been altered and will of course prevent the game from loading. All the features of the original installation are still there along with the all the features added by the EPs and stuff packs. I really have the feeling that there is nothing actually wrong with your game ... you are just expecting the wrong things to happen. *Crosses fingers and hope for the best* I am dismantling my own 'puter tomorrow ... if the parcel man comes early enough ...
Delay Sorry my answer's so late but i was preoccupied with school and didn't have any time to fiddle with my sims.Now my teachers are on stryke and i had time to try it, but it didn't work.If you're getting tired of my problem just leave it.I seem to be causing you a lot of headaches. P.S. If you happen to know why sims are vanishing from the list of sims i can call, when i try to phone them a second time, please tell me what i should do.
OK ... you say that you completely uninstalled the games and then reinstalled following my advice and still have trouble? Is it always the same family that is giving trouble? Did you know that the Re-Nu-U-Orb aspiration reward (from Nightlife?) caused lots to fail to load before a the patch was released. (That caused me to nuke one of my neighborhoods.) You ask a lot but explain little. I have more questions than you probably can cope with ... Did you test the game after each install was finished? You now need to uninstall again - follow the advice in the FAQs that tells you how to manually remove the game. That will make sure you have totally cleared the game out of your machine.
