Stupid question - safe to download items based on expansion pack I don't have?

[nocomment]

Everyone else probably knows the answer to this, but I want to be safe.  I don't have OFB yet.  If I download an item created from an OFB item, will that cause problems?  I assume the game will simply ignore it, but I don't think it's wise to assume anything about this game!

[akatonbo]

The general impression I have is that some things will fail to show up, but others can cause problems. The best thing to do, if you see something you like for an EP you don't have yet but plan to get and you want to be sure you have it for when you do get the EP, is to put the file somewhere on your computer that ISN'T in your Downloads directory (or elsewhere in your The Sims 2 directory), and then move it over to Downloads when you do get the EP.

[nocomment]

Thanks for the quick reply.  That's a good idea about putting OFB downlaods in a special folder.

However, I'm also worried about downloading things by accident.  Wait, that doesn't sound right.  Sounds like I don't even know I'm downloading things!  What I mean is, I'm worried about downloading something that isn't properly labeled.  I suppose I'll just be extra careful until I get OFB.

[cwykes]

I get this problem a lot as I play with base game only.  If it's cloned off an object you don't have it almost certainly isn't going to work in your game.  Mostly cloned objects aren't truly independent of the original but are tied to them in some way. 

Sometimes the object is in the catalog, but disappears when you try and place it.  Sometimes the object places fine, but the game freezes until you delete the object.  The worst problem I had was a Nightlife lot - a starter home - I placed that in my game, but the game crashed when I tried to get into it.  Worse I couldn't delete it for ages because every time I selected it to move it to the trashcan the game crashed!!!  Sometimes the entire game or a lot refuses to load, but that is usually some sort of clothing/hair problem - it's much harder to tell if that is related to my lack of EPs.

If you know which ones are doubtful, a separate folder works.  Otherwise you just need to be able to ID new stuff.  Date modified on the folders helps there.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I think the real problem is with sets, which may have objects cloned from all three EPs, the Holiday Add-on and the base game!  Perhaps the answer is for creators to include such info in the filename.