Begs the question, why have it expire in the first place?

Same here, which is what I attribute to my lack of success with the DCCache solution (i.e my files are not being installed and therefore are not stored in the cache hence not being loaded). The natural solution (at least for me) is to back up my family, wipe, reinstall and reinstall the CC. However if this was the route I was to take, I would just leave off the latest patch all together. If you have 1.7.9 and know that 1.8 causes issues, why invite disaster?

I'd like to thank you all for your patience though. I know guiding a rookie through something mind-numbingly simple can be extremely frustrating. Thanks for having mercy   Depending on how it goes, I *may* try and install 1.8 and use the DCCache method and pray i've done it right.

Why is it everyone else is getting this to work no problems and I can't? I'm doing the same things dammit!

Well I'll try AGAIN and see what happens. I don't hold out much hope though.

Small related question: Doesn't this CC issue effect the files propagated on the Exchange? Or are they distributed as different files?

If so, I would imagine EAxis, despite no doubt rubbing their grubby little hands in glee that they've stopped people from getting their nice but massively overpriced Store content for free for all of 24 hours, will have to release a patch if it does bork the Exchange.

Just to check, does the number of files in your DCCache depend on what you downloaded, or merely the filesize? (i.e the more CC you had, the more files, OR the more CC you had, the the bigger those same files would be)

I'm kind of puzzled why some people had luck getting it to work and I am not. I'll do what I can. As I said, I think its because I tried to install and reinstall my CC, hehe naively believing that the lack of CC was due to it needing to be reinstalled after a patch.

Well, still no luck. All those lovely animal themed items I had in my kids room are replaced with generics. Bummer.

I have a theory though, perhaps since I removed the CC and then added it again, the dbc files do not contain the Store files (the vast majority of the CC I have). So its working, but because the files aren't there it can't add them.

Well I have a choice, I either try and back up my family and reinstall the entire game, avoiding this curse of a patch, or I play with no CC until Mr Pescado works his magic

Well she is French....

Will do. Again, just to clarify, does this make ALL CC work? Or just Non-Store CC?

On that same note, I do have a little programming experience behind me. If the game is now programmed to block certain files unless they are bought, but others that are 3rd party CC work, then would it be possible to extract the sims3pack file down to its constituent parts and then build a new one from the parts? This should in theory make the game think that its ordinary 3rd party CC and load it with no issues. There is clearly some line of code or key that says (in essence) "StoreContent = 1" which a 3rd party sims3pack does not possess. If this is the case, extracting the file then building a new one should remove this data.

I am completely green when it comes to Sims 3 modding however, so thats only in theory.

Hmmm, well I tried using your version, but alas, same result. The weird neighbourhood issues have gone though, after I removed the DCbackup .package files

Okeedokes, i'll give that a try. In the meantimes I tried using the DCbackup package files. As mentioned, it takes forever to load, but it works. However, the neighbourhood seems to be doing very strange things. If I zoom out of the house (My family is in the corner house behind the courthouse, the one thats predominantly blue) then it focuses on some mountain road, and if I navigate around, most of the roads are in the wrong place etc etc.

Whether this is related to the patch, or just my attempts to navigate around it, i'll find out

Just to clarify, because I'm having difficulty getting the above prescribed method to work.

I've installed the latest version of the AwesomeMod (the 1.8/2.3 TEST VERSION naturally)

I've copied the 5 or 6 files I had in the DCCache folder to a new folder in the program files Sims 3 directory (E:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Mods\Packages) called Dbc Files.

I changed the resource.cfg file in the E:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Mods\Files folder and the E:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 directory to read:-

Priority 501
PackedFile Mods/Override/*.package
Priority 500
DirectoryFiles  Mods/Packages/... autoupdate
PackedFile Mods/Packages/*.package
PackedFile Mods/Hair/*.package
PackedFile Mods/Skins/*.package
PackedFile Mods/Decor/*.package
PackedFile Mods/Accessories/*.package
PackedFile Mods/Clothing/*.package
PackedFile Mods/Build/*.package
PackedFile Mods/Patterns/*.package
PackedFile Mods/DCC/*.dbc

However, still no CC in game :S

So, am I unlucky or a total doof who can't do anything right ?

Well, i'm a long time lurker (ever since I learned to hate TSR, back with the original Sims) and thought it finally time to register and post. I wholeheartedly support JMs attempts to work around this insidious patch. I would like to think that, given sites like TSR, that the removal of support for all non-Store CC was an accidental side effect of the ingame store 'feature'. As much as we all hate paysites, EA clearly acknowledges their place (and with TS3 even made their own, the Store) and I therefore find it hard to believe they would deliberately stick two fingers up at paysites. They may not get a slice of the pie, but paysites and publishers make money for each other. Without the game, there would be no paysite. Without the paysites and modding in general, games have far shorter shelf lives.

So, its my hope that eventually this restriction will be removed.

However in the short term, all hail JM