Arr Vs. Retail

[Nimrod]

Okay, so I have become paranoid enough to remove EADM, thereby borking my game and succumbing to the use of a mutilated executable.  I even do banking and shopping on a separate system now.

I'm curious as to what differences people who have played both copies have noted.  You may recall the original ts2.exe "nocd" had issues with walls, or foundations (can't exactly recall) in build mode.

Just now, I've spotted a problem with the business career.  Not a giant problem, because I have had trouble anyway with the "hold meeting" portion of the career, never getting the grade past "bad", which leads me to believe something is left undone anyway, or that there is some type of meeting pattern that I haven't figured.  The only buildings I didn't "hold meeting" with were the science and criminal buildings, because I simply hadn't gotten around to them.  So I can't verify that those buildings had the option.  However, all other rabbit hole buildings had the option to "hold meeting" with the retail executable.  Now that I'm using rzr nocd, there are no options to "hold meeting" anywhere except the business/media building.  The versions match, 11195, with files size 16.5MB retail, 10.7 arr.  These results are from using a file originally saved in the retail and loaded into the arr, plus I didn't actually re-install, just switched out the executables, which may be causing a problem since my original install is from EADM...

I ask, because if there are very many shavings off the original executable, and it seems to me that nearly 6MB is quite a bit, then I may redo the stupid EADM, waste an activation and just live with it.

[Rockermonkey]

Well, The EADM that comes with the game doesn't have securom...Why did you remove it?

Also, there's no activation limit either...No securom at all actually.

[Nimrod]

EADM was from TS2 DD that I had just downloaded a few months ago, after discovering the original TS2 DVD missing and was needing to do a full installation.  Plus, securom removal instructions insist that EADM be removed first and that TS2 DD was indeed infested.

From what I understand, the activations are server side, which is why EADM is required to begin with.  The launcher has the option to deactivate your machine, so I'm thinking Netflix type machine IDs recorded to the accounts and tracked that way. 

[jolrei]

EADM is unnecessary, and therefore a waste of space.  That sounds like a fine reason to uninstall it.  Also, it does try to phone home, and caused a number of lag issues on my system.  Coincidentally, securom entries showed up in my registry around the time I tried using EADM that came with TS3.  I can not make a 100% connection between the two events, but there has been no recurrence since I uninstalled the EADM.  Other people have also noted EADM related problems.

I am running a retail version with the razor no-cd crackfix.  Everything works fine.

[Nimrod]

Okay, just to see if the nocd is responsible, have replaced the executable and allowed it to "phone home."  Unlike was expected, it didn't bitch about EADM being missing and simply checked in then began loading.  Again, I have the downloaded version, without EADM, ts3.exe itself will complain and not run without an initial connection.  ...  Oh, so I allowed the original ts3.exe to connect for "verification" and now, the hidden securom folder in appdata\roaming is again present with files dated for right now and named securom_v7_01.dat, *.tmp, *.bak.  Upon restart, ts3.exe doesn't ask for the connection, so I assume the securom*.dat acts as a digital rights file, perhaps an alternative "check" for the downloaded version since there is no disk?  No signs of cmdlineExt.dll or any variations.

Plus, the borked business career options are still existent after replacing the executable AND loading a previously manually saved copy that was working.  So, which is normal, "Hold Meeting" at all rabbitholes, or just the business/media building?  What a coincidence that this happens exactly when I decide to switch the executables and what weirdness that reverting back and using an older copy that wasn't touched by the nocd is now borked as well.  Lastly, all cache files were deleted between switches.

[morriganrant]

Plus, the borked business career options are still existent after replacing the executable AND loading a previously manually saved copy that was working.  So, which is normal, "Hold Meeting" at all rabbitholes, or just the business/media building?  What a coincidence that this happens exactly when I decide to switch the executables and what weirdness that reverting back and using an older copy that wasn't touched by the nocd is now borked as well.  Lastly, all cache files were deleted between switches.

I assumed that the "Hold meeting" on all of the rabbit holes was normal, as my business sim was required to "hold a meeting" at the local hospital for an opportunity.