Patch problems? Well...

[ecaguimbal]

I don;t know if people are having trouble with this or not, but I just went through it myself, which reminded me.
If you are getting errors when you install the new Nightlife patch, try tool remember if you have changed any of the game files. For example, if you changed your GraphicsRules.sgr file to allow for more party guests and people on community lots, you will need to put the original file back before the patch will install properly. Not only that, you cannot paste the old file over the one you have now, rewriting it will not work, you have to actually delete or Cut the file you have in there now, then Paste the original file back in for it to work. EDIT: Adding that if you have made certain files read only to fix bugs, you will want to unset them, as well, until the patch or new ep is installed.

For example, if you have modified your Graphics Rules.sgr file, here is an easy way to get it back to the original (this applies to any file you modified, just use the location where that file is instead of where Graphics Rules.sgr is):

First, go into C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Config (Note: Make sure you are in the folder of the game file you changed, if you changed the Nightlife Graphics file you have to go into the Nightlife folder to fix it, not the original Sims 2 folder). Right click the Graphics rules.sgr file and select Cut (or Delete if you don;t care about putting the modified file back). Go to an easy to find location, like your desktop, right click in an open space and select Paste.

Go to the location of the original Graphics Rules.sgr file, which hopefully you saved on your computer somewhere. If not, you will have to locate it on the game disk. Right click the original file and select Copy. Go back into C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Config, right click in an open space and select Paste.

Install the patch.

If the patch installs successfully, go back into C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Config and Delete the Graphics Rules.sgr file (provided you used Copy not Cut when you brought it over, otherwise Paste this file somewhere you can find it for next time).

Go to your desktop where you pasted the modified GraphicsRules.sgr file, right click it and select Cut, then Paste it back into C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Config.

You should be good to go.

This is probably useless to most people, but just in case....I was dumb enough to forget from last time. You may need to do this when installing OFB as well, since it uses the same updater.

[angelyne]

This is good information.  Thanks for writing it up.  Now I just need to remember which modifications if any I made

[jrd]

Remember you can always restore the original files from the CD if you forgot to make backups. A reinstall is almost never necessary.

[ZephyrZodiac]

But quicker if you don't know what file is the offender! 

[SimSherry]

This was a very helpful tip, thank you!  I was certain I had not installed the NL patch, and yet when I tried to run the update I got a message saying it was already up to date.  Was able to install successfully after changing things back to original condition.  Thanks again!