More Awesome Than You!

Well. I got a new computer and I am going to install the whole capútle except for some of hte mini packs and seasons as I don't have them yet but I need to know what I can install without getting the official patches?

And if there is a patch that has fixed the toddler want/fear breakage thing that ONE of the patches broke (I think it was the Open for Biz)  patch that broke it. My game broke because of it on my old computer and no I didn't get it fixed and as this is a new install I really want to prevent it from happening at all.

Any know?

Hm, I'm no guru on the subject, but...

I had just the base game installed for about a year, which I'd patched to the latest version, later I got four expansions in one go. Nightlife, Open For Business, Pets and Seasons. And I just installed them one by one without patching any of them as I went along. And it all seems to work perfectly. So I'd recommend installing the base game, patching that, then installing the rest without patching any of them, but only because that's what I did and it worked.

Sorry if that's no help, but I'm not entirely sure what it is you're asking.

Well, you do want to apply the patches for each EP as you go along, especially for OFB, Pets and Seasons, since the patches also fixed some problems with the neighborhoods and maxis-made sims that came with the EP. 

I agree with this statement.  Patch original before any expansions, then download ALL expansions, then patches at the end.  I'm no guru either, but it worked great for me that way, and University took a lot less time to install with the original patched first.  :)

My understanding is that each EP already includes the patches for the previous EPs built in.  The exception is Seasons since there was a Pets patched released after Seasons hit the shelves.  You definitely want to install the Pets patch before installing Seasons.  (Yes, I know the OP doesn't have Seasons.  That's just general advice.)

Then again, I'm an anal-retentive weirdo so I installed each EP then the corresponding patch then the next EP and so on.

I'm pretty sure you're right.  That's why I suggested downloading the Original patch before installing University, because then you don't have to deal with University installing the patch for the original.  I had quite a bit of trouble installing the base game into my new computer (Original CD is scratched) and this way worked best for me.  :)

Actually, no. Unlike with TS1, the Maxoids have explicitly stated that they are not including patches in the expansions because they aren't assuming that people have bought the previous expansion(s)  Some things may be fixed as you go along, but some things require their specific EP's patch.  However, if you don't want to patch, most borked things have awesome hacks to fix them.  (But I don't have any broken toddler fears/wants)

I also read what you wrote above when Maxis wrote it, but apparently it isn't true. I had a crash and had to install everything again a few days ago.  After the installation of each EP the install then said "checking to see if your game is up to date". If I did not install the patch for the previous EP, then the install would make me put in one of the disks from the previous EP to finish the patching. On the EPs that I installed the patch for before installing the next EP, it would say the same thing but instead of asking me to put an older disk back in, it just said "Your game is already up to date".

Either way works, but for me it was easier to install the patch before installing the next EP just so I didn't have to switch Cd's again. Besides, some of the patches were 'redone' so I just felt safer applying the patches from download rather than letting the EPs take care of it. The Pets patch needs to be installed before installing Seasons because they came out with the patch after Seasons was released.

As I understand it, the 'your game is up to date' message only pertains to the base game, because that's all the new EP/SP checks for, since all you really need for any given EP/SP to run is the base game. You still need to install the patches as you go. Many fixes for previous EPs/SPs are included in the most recent game, but not all of them. For example, many of the Pets fixes are not included with Seasons (as magicmoon has already mentioned).

The exception to this was H&M, which did force me to install the Pets patch.  ???

I've reinstalled several times, and the only time I've ever had it ask for a disk was while installing Uni when it asks for the TS2 disk if you haven't patched. Which I always do that one ahead of time since sometimes the patching breaks the installation.