Running torrented EP's without CD

[InQuietNight]

The problem: After installing HELS and Ambitions, I get a message upon loading that says that the game could not verify that my copy was legal, and that I should contact customer service.

I have a legal copy of the base game, and torrents of most of the other EPs (I left out WA and Fast Lane Stuff, because meh). I wasn't sure if they needed to be installed in chronological order or not, but I decided it was the better idea. I installed HELS, and followed the instructions on the ReadMe to a T. When loading up the game, it told me there was no CD. I was a little confused, and I didn't know if I needed a no-CD crack. I figured the game would load with the original CD, since HELS is just a stuff pack. That may have been a mistake on my part, but moving on. I decided that maybe I should just install my next EP, Ambitions, and see if that sorted it out. After all, I can't possibly play with two CD's in at the same time. I mounted the image, installed it, and then downloaded a no-CD crack. This time when I loaded the game, it didn't show the message that I had to insert the Ambitions CD, but rather the message that my copy was not a legal one. I tried disconnecting from the internet, hoping that the game was just phoning home and if it couldn't tell EA that the game was arr'd, it would let me play.

Obviously that didn't work. And now I'm having a hard time trying to fix the issue, because everywhere I look tries to give me instructions on how to mount the image or where to download the no-CD crack. That you Google, I got that part. I'd like to install and play everything I've torrented, but I think it would be a bad move to keep ignoring this issue and installing more files that I probably won't be able to play.

So, anyone know anything besides "DIAF, n00b" because I tried that and it didn't do much in the way of resolving my problem. Thanks in advance.

[Naiad]

everywhere I look tries to give me instructions on how to mount the image or where to download the no-CD crack.

Perhaps you DO need a no-CD crack or mod, given that YOU DO NOT HAVE A CD? AM and Twallan's NOCD are both very suitable to fix this problem.

That you Google, I got that part.

Ummm, I doubt it. How long have you been playing TS series, anyway? Do you not know which CD you need to insert in order to play?

It's complicated

[InQuietNight]

"I mounted the image, installed it, and then downloaded a no-CD crack."

If you're going to attempt to flame me, lrn 2 reed. I already installed the no-CD crack. The problem is that, even with said crack, it still does not work.

[Naiad]

"I mounted the image, installed it, and then downloaded a no-CD crack."

If you're going to attempt to flame me, lrn 2 reed. I already installed the no-CD crack. The problem is that, even with said crack, it still does not work.

Sorry, I hadn't noticed that. However, either your crack version does not match your game version, or there's something wrong with your installation. Patch your game up to 1.24 (I think that's the current patch level), then install a noCD MOD, because you will no longer be running the risk of a version-related error.
Also, ofc you cannot run with 2 CDs in, find out which one you need. If you're running a noCD crack for the wrong EP, it probably will not work. Again, a mod does not have this problem. Google will also teach you how to install CC.

[Narmy]

"I mounted the image, installed it, and then downloaded a no-CD crack."

If you're going to attempt to flame me, lrn 2 reed. I already installed the no-CD crack. The problem is that, even with said crack, it still does not work.

Did you update the game? A crack isn't going to work properly on an updated game, unless you get an updated crack. TS3 is updated so often so just download a no-cd mod, like the previous poster suggested which you didn't read either.

I hope you backed up your original exe before replacing it with a useless crack, game patches sometimes reject altered files.

[InQuietNight]

I do have the most recent update, and the crack I downloaded matched that update, so there shoulodn't have been a problem with incompatibility. That being said, I did read Naiad's suggestion about trying a mod rather than a crack. I installed Twallan's No-CD Mod and it worked beautifully. Thank you, Naiad. Hopefully I can now proceed with installing the rest of the EP's.

[Madame Mim]

I'm still trying to figure out why you thought we'd care that you bought your base game - and why you're asking for a no-cd crack on Awesome-site.

[socurious]

Others are telling you that with Awesome, there is an option to disable CD check, which would eliminate your need for crack.

[Naiad]

I'm still trying to figure out why you thought we'd care that you bought your base game - and why you're asking for a no-cd crack on Awesome-site.

I don't get why anyone would want a crack to begin with. Perhaps only to skip the CC installation process.

[dragonic]

I'm still trying to figure out why you thought we'd care that you bought your base game - and why you're asking for a no-cd crack on Awesome-site.

I don't get why anyone would want a crack to begin with. Perhaps only to skip the CC installation process.

Well, with most arr'ed games and apps, there is no modification system that allows you to create a noCD mod. So people automatically assume that to play Sims 3 (and its subsequent expansions), they would need a crack. It's better to keep it a secret. shh...

[Jeebus]

Cracks are pretty fucking pointless, and only serve to bork things up when patching.  A NoCD like Twallan's never needs to be updated and works alongside AM (handy when you have to pull AM out when it hasn't been updated for the latest patch yet).

[Naiad]

I found installing a crack rather fool-proof, (with the exception of making backups - people tend to forget that), so I was wondering if anyone (most likely the original poster) knows why the crack didn't work in the first place, after all.

I'm still trying to figure out why you thought we'd care that you bought your base game - and why you're asking for a no-cd crack on Awesome-site.

I don't get why anyone would want a crack to begin with. Perhaps only to skip the CC installation process.

Well, with most arr'ed games and apps, there is no modification system that allows you to create a noCD mod. So people automatically assume that to play Sims 3 (and its subsequent expansions), they would need a crack. It's better to keep it a secret. shh...

I was talking only about TS3, however, I'm part of that group you mentioned, and I agree that that's the explanation for people using cracks for TS3. Meh, I stopped using cracks the moment I first poked the awesome config tool. As a side-question, though, because it's just occurred to me: I've never seen a NoCD mod for TS2, only cracks... which kinda bugs me now, since nobody can say TS2 has no 'modification system'.