So...

Patch before getting the expansion, or patch afterwards? Gotta love EA logic. Can't wait to see what mess they serve us with Sims 4!

Yep, same here. I wait for half price sales, BOGO, etc. For now, ARRR thank you very much.

Good. I read that it was a complete waste to even buy it. I'm just waiting for the Almighty EA to announce new stuff in the Store that "compliments" the new stuff pack.... i.e. Stuff they purposely removed to sell separately.

They seem to always come and abduct my sims, and I can't cancel out of the stupid queue either. Thanks for giving me a choice, EA, you fuckwads.

The umbrellas are worthless. Walk to the mailbox in the rain with an umbrella, sim will put umbrella away to get mail, then pull out umbrella to walk back to the house. Result - soaked moodlet. They get a tiny bit wet, and the game acts like they wet their pants.

You can't delete it from the launcher?

Perhaps the next lunacy question will be, "What is your favorite EP and why?" or the ever-popular fan favorite, "Which EP should I buy next?"

Why would pirates unite and create CC? Sounds like they would all hold hands and sing Kumbaya.

I download them mainly for archival reasons. Eventually the store will be shut down and many of these items will be gone. I think I might use a few of them in my game, but I don't play very much nor have much time to do so. But yes, I download them all to preserve the content.

EAxis didn't like people extracting their music, so they made it harder if not impossible to do so now. They couldn't keep it simple like Sims 2. Probably trying to sell more soundtracks. Although if there is a way to extract them, I would be interested.

Too funny.   

AM must be very recent, then.  What I have I downloaded last week.  You did answer one of my other "unasked" questions, though.    As I said previously, I don't care too much if HELS works or not.  I won't lose any sleep over it.  I thought it would be nice to check it out a little, but it isn't all that important.  So, if you wish to help me or point me in the right direction, great.  If you wish to flame me, awesome.  I expected no less.

I have not used the crack.  Unless there are updates not included on Simprograms, then versions 1.12.70 and 2.2.8 are the latest ones - as far as I can see.  I update manually and not through the launcher.  I realize that AwesomeMod is up to 1.14, 2.9 now, however, it still worked for me.

As far as searching, this is what I find here:

Missing S3Launcher.exe file from HELS/game/bin folder.. RESOLVED
Ambitions: What's borked
TOOL: TS3 Recompressor
Those looking for the 1.12/2.7/3.3 Patches
Patch DAY!!
Can't install patch Fuckity FUCK FUCK FUCK
Update Error - Invalid file found
The Launcher lies
I can't update to ver 1.8 - "Invalid file found"

And a whole slew of stuff about "invalid file found" which is not the error I'm getting.

I have arrquired my copies of Sims 3 and WA, both Region 2, and updated them manually all the way to the latest patches of 1.12.70.006002 and 2.7.7.006002.  Everything was fine, and AwesomeMod worked great.  Now enter, HELL -- as in, High End Loft.  The booty version I arrquired on my latest sea voyage turned out to be Region 1 which installed just fine.  Updating, on the other hand, is not fine.  I have version 3.0.38.004001 and I am trying to update manually to 3.1.7.004001 and I get the following:

"Update Error: File Not Found"

Would've been nice if it told me what file was missing, but I wouldn't expect as much from EA.  I've tried using "PatchLogViewer" to see if it would give me some kind of idea, but it says all is well.  I've searched up and down and across Google, but didn't find anything helpful.  I've searched here and I found one possible solution to copying the "bin" folder from the HELS image over to the hard drive, but that didn't work out.

Has anyone found away around this?  I'm not overly concerned, because I can just reinstall everything and try HELS again at an earlier patch version or just not bother with it at all.  It would be nice if I could find a way to avoid all that, though.

By the time they are done with this series of expansion/stuff packs, we'll need a DVD just to store all the bloody patches on.

I got it to work.  For one, I phailed to check the help topics.  When I did so, it explained that "disc errors" are normal for copyprotected games.  Once I read that, I went ahead and selected "Safedisc" and let err rip.  I was a bit concerned when I saw the LONG list of disc errors, but I just let it keep going.  Eventually it finished.

So far, I've made an ISO of the original Sims and Livin' Large, and they both worked.  Gotta love VMware for testing purposes.  I haven't tried Sims 2 yet, but I'm pretty sure that it will work also.

I've been wanting to consolidate everything all one one DVD, including patches, and official downloadable content and programs.  It's much more convenient for archiving.

This caught my interest.  I had started a legacy town awhile ago in Sims 2 with only one sim, and my goal was to build the neighborhood up and only have businesses that were run by citizens there.  The election of mayor and taxes are really interesting, though.  I would like to learn more about that, but the Wayback Machine link doesn't come up with the site.

I would like to see something like this in Sims 3, but I'm finding it harder to believe to be possible.  It seems like EA is forcing us to play "their way", and their way certainly isn't the "awesome" way.

This is what I'm trying to use, and I just get disc errors.  I must be doing something wrong, but I'm not sure what it is.  I've selected the different Safedisc options when trying to make an image, but I just get disc errors.  So, I stop the process.  I'm just trying to start with the base Sims 2 game and University.  I've also tried with Sims 1.

Now, I'm wondering --  Should I expect disc errors to pop up and let it continue anyway?

What I want to do is box up my original discs in their cases and put them in storage.  I want to use a DVD with the images on it for my backup.

And you've used this to make an ISO of a copy protected disc?  The FAQ clearly states that it won't work, unless they are not admitting anything.

Here are the thoughts that came to my mind:

1)  The motherboard is going bad.  (We've had this happen to us.  Computer would shut down more and more, until eventually it refused to come back on.)
2)  Processor is going faulty.  (Probably not, but possible.)
3)  Memory is going bad.  (See #2)
4)  Windows Vista.  (I just hate Vista, although Windows 7 is fantastic.)

What I would like to do is turn all of my Sims 2 EP and SP discs into ISOs, and then consolidate them all on double layer DVD's.  I've tried Alcohol 120%, but I am getting disc errors.  I have tried using the multiple "safedisk" options for the protection type, but I am still getting the errors.  I've also tried "Clone CD", but with the same results.

I was reading the information off of Game Copy World in regards to backing up my collection, which is why I tried Alcohol and also Clone CD.  Does anyone have any suggestions for software they use to ARRR....  err, I mean...  backup up their collection of Sims 2 CD's?

Where do you find the date Awesomemod expires?  I'm using one for "Base Game Version 1.3.24 or 1.4.6.", and it's still working for me.  I haven't updated yet, because I haven't gone any further than that patch.  Eventually, I will have to.

Supersimoholic, has the bickering gotten you anywhere?  Has it solved your issue?  You are a guest on these forums, which is no different than being a guest in someone's house.  Respect the rules.  You are fighting a fight that you cannot win, and by doing so you are showing how "more awesome than you" everyone else is.

Give it up, let it go, and get back on topic.  Which, by the way, I know of no hacks to stop skilling.  I suppose one could be made, but why?  As others have stated, you can cancel your sims from skilling.  Now, simmer down (no pun intended).  That kitty looks pretty damn pissed, and I wouldn't want to mess with it.

The Mininova link no longer works since they have gone "legal".   

I was hoping by now that some imaginative players actually wrote some good adventures.