Obviously, I did not know they were Sims 2 packages. I had no way to determine if they were TS3 or TS2 packages until The Dashboard came out. Many download sites do not specify which game their downloads are compatible with - and when people link from one site to another, sometimes they are incorrect about game compatibility - or have just linked to the wrong item. Especially when the sites are in languages other than your own, this can be especially difficult to navigate. However, I acknowledge this was my rookie mistake. And honestly, now that The Dashboard is here, I have no excuse not to catch these types of problems in the future. I didn't have to come back here and own up that it was my own fault, but I wanted to help others who may be experiencing the same thing. Now they, like me, may have a better understanding of what things to check for before reporting an error and bothering you about it.


As stated above, I did not know those files were Sims 2 packages - nor did I notice that these files had not downloaded properly. Pescado, you assume everyone understands the Sims 3 files and Sims 3 file system like you do, but many of us do not - we just want our game and custom content to run better, so we search the Interwebs for tools like yours to help us out to that end. Both downloading incorrect package files (example, for Sims 2 vs. Sims 3) and not downloading files completely are just mistakes - ones I'm not sure the average person is able to determine until they have tried to use a tool like yours and have encountered problems. Guaranteed, others will (and have already) made these same mistakes. I was not trying to ruin your program. In fact, I love what it does and am thankful to have it as a tool to fix my game - I am also very thankful you decided to share the tool with the rest of us!

That brings me to my next question. I don't know if you are interested or not, but I would be willing to compile an FAQ for this program, containing all of the dumbass questions I've asked and others have asked and anything else you would like to add. Would that be something you would be interested in helping me put together? It might make it more unlikely that people will fill your thread with dumbass questions like mine. I mean, RTFM and all that would apply and you would be able to defer people to the FAQ rather than waste your time in here with them. We could also add basic instructions, like command line switches, etc. There could be a section on downloading and using cygwin to batch files - and also an explanation of how to make cmd files for batching fixes under Windowze. Pescado, you may not have intended it to be, but your tool has become one of the most important Sims 3 utilities to date - more people are going to come here and ask you questions that, in your mind are 113.43% retarded. A FAQ or manual would probably help alleviate some of that retardation from filling this thread.


I am new to Windows 7 and had no idea the files were write-protected. In fact, I just checked them again and on my system, they are not write-protected at all. In fact, I am able to manually open them in S3PE, and in the Package Explorer, make changes, and save them again. This makes me wonder how Windows 7 may be handling files and permissions - I will have to investigate this further. :/ At any rate, I appreciate you taking the time to look into the problem.

Nice. Well the reason I asked is because I re-downloaded last night after i read your message about the fixed issues; the file had the same date as previous versions. Now I see the file date has changed and obviously there has been a modification.

Also, I posted an update above to my "stopped working dilemma", along with files to look at if you wanted to examine them. If you don't, that's fine too. Thanks.

Was there an update to the tool itself to fix this issue? Should we re-download?

Because it would make the size of each sims3pack that much more ensmallened. If I understand correctly, the image files are unnecessary. I mean a sims3pack is just a packaged package, right? And from what I've been told in the forums on MTS, the images are only space hogs. I have over 20 GB of sims3pack files; therefore, I am interested in getting more space on my hard drive back. Delphy's new Sims3Pack Cleaner is made to do it on a one-by-one basis. The user opens one sims3pack file, pulls out all the image files, and then re-saves it - all in the name of re-claiming hard drive real estate. I'm looking for a similar solution that will work on a much larger scale. People have been responsive to that tool; therefore, I think they would also be responsive if you added that functionality to the Recompressor. In fact, there were some users in the Sims3pack Cleaner dev forum requesting this same functionality already. But unfortunately, Delphy has said his tool will never be designed to handle more than one file at a time. I thought that since your tool was originally designed to ensmallen, this would be a good addition.

You know, it just dawned on me that maybe you meant that if someone is going to remove all the images anyways, why not just remove the package files from the sims3pack and be done with it? In my opinion, it's because a) some people are uncomfortable with package files and b) some people like their stuff to install with the Launcher since it will have the cute little Custom Content icon in-game. There may be other reasons as well, but those are the first that come to mind.


I will go ahead and do as JFade has recommended and look for the files that did not get modified. Anyways, hopefully I can pull those out and run the Recompressor on them separately. Hopefully at which point I will have gained more information and can report back with something useful! Wish me luck!

NOTE: The error occurs with both package AND sims3pack files - I haven't tested any other types at this point.

UPDATE

using jFade's suggestion (and using Delphy's Dashboard tool), I found the problem files. For packages, the problems were identifiable in most of them - they were not Sims 3 packages - they were Sims 2 packages. But I have about 10 files that were leftover that are still causing the "s3rc.exe has stopped working" error. I do not know what is causing it. For Sims3Pack files, all of the problem files were incomplete downloads. Why they caused it to "stop working" instead of just giving me a stat error, I do not know.

I ran the Recompressor again on the cleaned directories of both package and Sims3pack files and voila! No more problems. The only question I still have then is what is wrong with the package files that I still couldn't get to work? (Unfortunately the packages are mostly over 640K, so I couldn't upload many for you to look at. However, I did manage the two below.)

I apologize ahead of time if there are typos or grammatical errors - it's late and I'm super tired.

@Pescado: I have no idea if this can be done (Delphy is saying his program will never be made for this, so I'm a little bummed!), but I wanted to ask in any case. Is there any chance you would consider developing an optional switch for s3rc.exe that would look through sims3pack files and strip out all images - like .png, jpg, gif, etc - before re-saving them? (By the way, if it is already supposed to be doing this during the ensmallaging process, it isn't happening to my files. By this I mean that when I open a decrapified file using Delphy's Sims3Pack Cleaner, I can still see all the images inside and must remove them manually.)

Additionally, I wanted to report that Windows 7 complains that my s3rc.exe "has stopped working" after every 50 or so files that it decrapifies. Is there anything I can do on my end to stop this from happening? (I was going to ignore this problem, but in JFade's thread for the The Compressorizer Redux!, he states that we should be reporting such errors here.)

(Original post removed because it was not complete. Thanks.)

Ha! Yes, I had noticed its signature yesterday. In fact, I had wanted to comment on the "words of wisdom", but then decided it must have been having a bad day. In the end, I let the irony slide.

@AloeOwl, you might want to check out this sticky here: Important notice from the GRAMMAR POLICE. Plz read. This means you.

I found this portion especially interesting:


Give it a rest already.

@Pescado - As it turns out, Delphy has released a tool on MTS called TS3 Dashboard that does exactly what I was talking about. Namely, it checks for and marks "bad files" so I am able to remove them manually; it also checks for and marks duplicates, (something else I was hoping to find). At any rate, I appreciate the fact that you took the time to answer my questions about how The Recompressor works - I will definitely still be using it for general decrapification. Cheers!

OK, so here's the question, in what way did I not express myself properly "in the written medium"? I have looked over my posts and compared them to many here and I see little to no difference.

What about this:


OR this:


OR this:


etc etc etc - there are hundreds of these here if not more... so i ask again, why pick on me when there are hundred of others to pick on? Why not tell each and every one of them to read the FAQ and critique their grammar??

I have written clearly and identified my issues succinctly. I am very confused why we are even having a discussion about this. As suggested, I have re-read the FAQ and do not find where I have violated it in any way, shape, or form. I do not want conflict with anyone here; I just have questions about a tool I have found useful. Let me ask those questions, and I'll be on my way - simple as that. Why waste your time with me or my posts? Surely you have better things to be doing?

I do not understand why you've decided to pick on me, but I've done nothing to you so cut it out. The problem I came to discuss in this thread is simple and on topic. I have files that when run through the Recompressor come up as "Bad File!" (direct quote). I would like it if the Recompressor could tag them and dump them into a text file or move them into a different folder. The End.

I'm a writer by trade, and I have a Masters in English grammar and literature. I am also a technical writer (my day job) and we don't use passive verbs very often (such as the "have" you indicated), wherever possible, or even the word "the", whereas it can sometimes be redundant. If the sentence is gramatically correct without it, then why include it? We also attempt to use present-tense wherever possible, which is why I negated to use past tense (even though you feel it was necessary). Ellipses are fine as long as they are not overused - they have their place. I used ONE - not two, not twenty - just ONE. Much to your chagrin, I'm sure, I am not going to respond to each and every one of your floggings because really, your opinion just doesn't matter. And anyways, I made my point in the post, and that's what does matter; I am not writing a novel for publication for chrissakes (and yes, I have purposefully combined the name "Christ" with "sakes" - I know it's crazy, but well, that's who I am). Chill. Out. And by the way, while we're at it, the stupid kisses were offered in the emoticons available. I made use of one. If "they" don't want people to use them, "they" shouldn't make them available. If you have a problem with me, let's take it offline. But randomly and blatantly flaming people is not cool. If you want to pick a fight go elsewhere - I'm not as into it as you are.

And by the way (and this is just a suggestion), you could always try using your powers for good instead of evil. For instance, you could make yourself useful (and probably use less energy) and actually respond to the issue described in my post. Try it on in the mirror for a bit - it may take some getting used to, but being nice will probably work well for you. And if you can't be nice, then at least stick to the topic at hand and be clear and leave it at that. Honestly, you posts come across as spam, as they are entirely unrelated to the topic in this thread.

I have many SIMS3PACK files that apparently didn't download completely and therefore come up as "Bad file!" - I suspect I am not the only one with this problem. I move those files to another folder when s3rc finds them. Once they are in the new folder, I am able to review them separately and download fresh, good copies. I guess your tool has yet another function you may not have considered - it is extremely good at pointing out poorly formed files (bad downloads) that should be replaced.

At any rate, it would really help if it could spit out a text file or something with a list of all the "Bad" files it finds. This way, I could batch them all, weed out the nasty packs, and then replace them with good ones. Better yet, in a perfect world, this tool would be able to take Bad files and move them to a subfolder or alternate location as soon as it encounters them... in absence of that functionality, however, a text or csv file would work just fine.

One tiny request - and this would be extremely helpful when batching the decrapification - if it could produce a log of "unfixables" upon completion? Otherwise, I still have batch them in small amounts to figure out which ones didn't makes it... unless there is an alternative I am unaware of?

Thanks again though. This tool is awesome. I am so excited to be able to use my game in peace. 

Is dragging your file over decrapify.exe the same as s3rc.exe -fD?

Also, how does -f (fix only) switch differ from -D (decrapify) - in other words, what does each do differently to the file?

Thanks.
 

I know I'm going to get smacked for this, but obviously I can't figure it out, or I wouldn't be asking. But if s3rc.exe returns "Bad File 0!" then that means the recompressor was NOT able to fix it - or that it was a bad file but has not been repaired? And finally, could you clear up exactly what the "Could not stat *.package" means?

Appreciate it much - may the floggings begin!! As long as I get the information I need, I don't care. And I do need this info.

Thanks in advance!

~lp