Troubleshooting Concerns about installing xpacs out of order

Concerns about installing xpacs out of order

'ello! I'm new, bear with me. :+)

I recently lost my internet connection at home (this is me posting from work >.>) and I needed something to do since I wouldn't play World of Warcraft and I remembered enjoying The Sims so I thought why not pick up the sequel?

Anyways, the local outlet had the Limited Edition (the one with Deluxe, Night Life, and Bon Voyage) and that sounded like a good deal so I went with that. Its installed and works just fine, but Im thinking of expanding my collection a bit, specifically by picking up University. I've looked through the forums here and figured out quite a few interesting bits, but I still ahve a few concerns:

1. I checked the excellent post about what to do when upgrading to a new xpac. I can backup data just fine, but are the file extensions really going to change since Im adding an older pack? I think Id still be running off the BV disk anyways.

2. Should I uninstall the xpacs and install them in the proper order? Im not sure if Nightlife can be uninstalled, but that might set it up proper. Not sure what that would do to the families though.

3. No internet means no patches. Are there any xpacs I should avoid or anything else I should keep in mind so I dont get caught in a situation that needs a patch that I wont be able to access? Also, at work I cant go to gaming sites. Not I shouldnt, most are blocked. I can visit this forum, but the official sites wont load and neither will most mod sites. :+/

Thanks in advance for any and all help. :+)

Fish

 

Hi Fish

In theory, the Sims 2 expansion packs were designed to be installed in any order, HOWEVER, the official word from Maxis/EA is that to minimise the risks of any problems occurring, install in order of release whenever possible. There are people here who have installed the EPs in any order, but some have had problems. Personally, I would always advocate installing them in the correct order of release.

As for patches, there are several. Having said that, I have rarely encountered any problems with my game - the only time I've really needed a bug fix was for the Final Exam issue in University, but not everyone had that problem either so it's hit and miss with some issues as to whether you have the problem or not.

You should play the game from the last CD that you installed, not from the most recently released EP. If you have BV installed and then you add University, use the University CD to play.

Hope this helps. There are other members who will be able to advise you too.

 

Thank you for the responses so far! :+)

I think what I'm going to do is try to install them in order from now on. Hopefully that won't be too bad. Maybe I'll uninstall Bon Voyage first and then go from there.

Figuring out which CD needs to be in shouldn't be too much of a problem. If it isn't one it's the other and I'll have them both on hand. :+)

Fish

 

I keep meaning to write up a definitive reinstall guide for the FAQ ... but frankly I'm too busy

I just reinstalled onto a Vista system so I have some experience and advice.

The early EPs (Uni, NL and (maybe) OFB) are a little clumsy in the way they complete installation. At the end of installing they announce they are going to check that the previous installation is up to date. If you have previously applied the most recent patch this can cause the updater to crash. This is less of a problem for Windows XP than it is for Vista ... which promptly unsitalls the EP and apologies for the inconvenience

So, my advice is this:

1. Install in order
2. Don't Patch As You Go ... but DO play test to confirm that the installation was perfect before installing another EP
   • VISTA play testing may not be possible as patching is needed to overcome Vista's graphic analysis of your system ... just cross your fingers and hope for the best. It will all come good in the end.
3. When you have installed the last of your EPs go to the official site and download all the patches that pply to your game (http://thesims2.ea.com/update/)
4. Run these patches in reverse order. Many will report that your game is up to date already, but some will ask for a disk from that EP. This is because your disk for that expansion constains a patch that has been superceded by a more recently released one. Follow the instructions so that the patch installer can access the correct files and make the approriate changes.
   • NOTE patches constain a number of components. The principal one is an upgraded game executable file, but there is usually an objects package as well, which contains /improvedmodified game objects that work better than the originally supplied ones.
5. Finally, don't forget to replace your saved games at correct stage of reinstallation. If you have saved games from a previous installation make sure to use them to replace the one in the Dcouments folder before adding expansion packs that were not present in the original installation. BUT TAKE NOTE:
   • If you want to reinstall in order because you have just acquired an older expansion pack for the first time, then you need to install it first to make sure your saved games are suitably modified. Then you can uninstall/reinstall-in-order.

Sorry if all that sounds complicated. I'm still trying to figure out how to make it clear as an FAQ item. :(