More Awesome Than You!

After a few days of researching, trying, failing, and going crazy, I have finally managed to patch my game successfully. And now I collected what I know about patching that "crazy" the sims 3 for those who still have problems. May be this can help...


FOR REALOADED VERSION USERS - PATCHING THE SIMS 3 FROM THE SCRATCH

( i never uninstalled my game before patching but still i recommend you a fresh start in case may be you could have already messed up your game somehow)
( i had removed all mods and hacks except the custom content like hair, patterns, default skin...etc. but it's always better to keep it clean and remove the whole mods/packages folder i think)

Before starting : Always, always download the correct patch files according to your region.

Let's get started,

-Install RELOADED version.
-Crack it.
-Apply the following steps.


1ST STEP:

-First of all you need to update your game to the "official status" which means "RELOADED Version To Razor1911"
-You need to find and download the "sims3patch.exe" file big about 700-1000mb.
-This will update your game from the non-final version "0.0.0.11190" to the official release updated version "1.0.631.00002"
-Open regedit (Start->Run->regedit->Enter).
-Navigate to HKLM\Software\Sims\The Sims 3
-On the right side of the list find SKU. Double click on SKU and change Value Data from 7 to 2.


-Now you need another patch to update your game from the version "1.0.631.00002" to "1.0.632.00002"
-Find that file and patch your game once more.

2ND STEP !!! the key point !!!!

-Find an original "bin" folder.!

((((((( !!! As far as I understood(=not sure) in this case, the original files in the bin file are somehow "region sensitive" So if you're in europian region  the bin file should be copied from an europian release original cd or if you are in USA do accordingly. !!! ))))))))  And remember that,  the language that you choose to play the game has nothing to do with the "region". It's not about the language of the game, it's about the location.
 
-Open the original bin folder that you have copied from somewhere and put the following files in your bin folder. This will replace your crap files with the original ones.
-The location is :---sims3/game/bin--- (pay attention that there's another bin file in the main bin file don't make a mess with that. just open the main bin folder  and do your business there)

I downloaded my bin file from here : http://www.sendspace.com/file/vu1qjk  (patch_fix.rar)  (bin folder from the original EU version install)

-replace these files:
-bin
-HelpPages
-Resources
-code_version.txt
-Default.ini
-gameplay.package
-GraphicsRules.sgr
-scripts.package
-Sims3GDF.dll
-Sims3Launcher.exe
-skuversion.txt
-TS3.exe
-TSLHelper.exe
-TSLHost.dll

Do not delete or do anything else with the rest.


3RD STEP

-Download the patch file which will update your game from the version "1.0.631.00002" to the version "1.2.7.00002". 

(((((yes, in the 1st step we already applied the update from ""1.0.631.00002" to "1.0.632.00002""  so now what the heck the file  ""1.0.631.00002 to the version 1.2.7.00002"" ? , ok,  I don't know either.  That's the file which i have and it worked perfectly.))))

-So, apply that patch and watch how nicely your game updates itself to the version "1.2.7.00002".

4TH STEP

-Download the patch file which will update your game from the version "1.2.7.00002" to the version "1.3.24.00002"
-Apply the patch.

In this step if the patch gives an error at the end of the installment:

-make sure you don't have any changed, cracked "ini" files.
and/or
-try to re- replace the bin folder files with the original ones that you have used in 2nd step.
and/or
-do nothing, say ok to the error and open "game launcher" and as soon as you open it,  you should see a warning that there's a new update and if you'd like to apply it. Trust the launcher! Everything will be fine.


5TH STEP

-The easiest one.
-Find the no.cd.crack of sims3 for the version 1.3.24 and crack your game.
-Here we go! If the game closes itself be calm, give it another try. Still crashing? That means you are caught, go and empty those mods/packages folder.
-Happy simming.

Can't we just use AwesomeMod as a replacement to the No-CD Crack on v1.3?

Yes, we can. I don't have the crack anymore for the v1.3 and it works.

Mine WASN'T working fine until I downloaded a crack specifically for the latest patch, and now I finally have my game back!
So thankyou Veronica for letting me know there was a specific crack available.

Voodoo? :)

That's what I suspect, but for now I'll praise the miracle patch and hope that my game stays semi-stable.

Veronica, I'm trying out your way to patch to 1.3, but I fail. I can't get to update 1.2 -> 1.3. The invalid file format error occurs, plus no update appears at the launcher.
There is the possibility that my 1.3 isn't EU (which is my version), so I will try that... tomorrow.
For now, no AwesomeMod though.

EDIT: I found out using Deplhy's PatchLogViewer that code_version.txt is not updated! Can a good soul post whatever is in their code_version so I can copy it?
Mine is:
description=Version: 0.DL-0.0.11195  Changelist: 625803

IIRC, I had a problem with that file with the last patch, and merely copying the contents isn't enough.  You need someone to package the file itself in a .zip or .rar to send it to you, and then unzip it to its correct location so that it retains the correct date and time stamp.  :p

I just read this in the patch thread.  The patch apparently deletes the d3dx9_31.dll file.  You might want to include that in your instructions.

http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,16099.msg465631.html#msg465631

No, it doesn't. My d3dx9_31.dll file is fine and still in place post patch. Why would it delete that file? The sims3 patcher doesn't even know about it.

Witch is right.  I finally patched last night, and my dx file wasn't tampered with.

Just a word about the patch that updates from "1.0.631.00002" to "1.0.632.00002". I myself have no idea if it's a good idea or not, but Motoki seemed very sceptical about it in this thread: http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,16175.0.html
Since I think he kinda knows what he's talking about, I'm listening to him.  ;)

On a different note, I've searched up and down for a no cd crack that's compatible with the new patch without success. Help would be greatly appreciated.

http://www.2shared.com/file/6913766/fa94c9bd/Sims3ver1324_NoCD_Crack_by_Ma-step.html

3rd Result when you google "no.cd.crack of sims 3 for the version 1.3.24" and it's from MATY as well.

Well all of the patch exes I have come across update from 1.0.631.00002 not 1.0.632.00002. I'm not even sure entirely what the latter is. I seem to vaguely recall some very minor patch early on that was posted from EA then very quickly disappeared or some such.

It may work to patch from 1.0.62.00002 and if it does that's fine, but it's superfluous extra step so why bother or risk extra complications?

Also, you don't need to patch to 1.0.27.00002 at all since there is a patch that takes you directly from 1.0.631.00002 to 1.3.24.00002 so you can patch in one step.

http://akamai.cdn.ea.com/eadownloads/u/f/sims/sims3/patches/sims3_1.3.24.00002_from_1.0.631.00002.exe

Well thanks a lot, to both of you.

Motoki, I have that first patch to 1.0.632.00002 as well but didn't install it as some people back then said that it might fuck up the game somehow. Very glad now that I didn't.

Finally managed to patch using EA download manager. Whew. I only figured out now that it won't need online CD Key registration. Stupid me.

I patched the game both times by just installing from the link I got here and didn't have any problems. That is, until yesterday when I started to get graphical issues something that never happened before. First the images started to be instable and affecting mainly the UI (I could no more read the texts). Initially I solved the problem by toggling to Desktop and going back to the game again. It worked two or three times but when I exited the game I got a serious problem in Windows and had to hard shut down the computer. When I started the computer again I got a message that Windows had recovered from a serious problem. The game launched OK and I continued playing. Everything seemed normal until I went to the central park and tried some romantical interactions over there. Suddenly everybody disappeared. Yeah, all Sims simply disappeared. They were there but became completely invisible, no interactions available.
I turned off the computer. Sure the game is screwed up.
It is really a Beta Game. Should have waited to next year to release the commercial product.