Quick Question about File Maintenance before Seasons Install

[Lorelei]

Sometimes renaming my folders works to make the game overlook them, and sometimes it reads custom content in renamed files. I'm not 100% clear WHEN it does one or the other. I'm busily trimming my DL folder and segregating hacks (already segregated into degrees of awesomeness and not-so-awesome-ness, which has already make my life slightly less stressful).

The most recent "prepping for install" thread at MTS2 is geared for NL. Been there, done that. Any new info I should know? I got everything at once in January and had my share of irritation and blue screening and driver hell and clashing hacks (some awesome hacks fought it out, too) and CAS crashes and the usual petz annoyances like imported bodyshopped custom sims morphing into bland Maxian defaults when created as a family in CAS and imported into a lot and blah and foo and bar.

My Plan Of Attack:

Stock up on caffeine and ibuprofin.

Clear wall space for head bangage, if required

Comfy seat

Round up all prior EP CDs and codes *just in case*

Have NeedUpdates.txt and CleanMods.txt lists at hand

Remove NeedUpdates hacks and mods from Downloads

Insert caffeine.

Attempt to pry self away from more DLs, segregate

Insert caffeine.  Insert caffeine.  Insert caffeine.

Set shiny pared-down Downloads folder aside, far away from Sims 2 folder (yes?)

I have to back up Gunmod's Cameras, and the folder is small, so I'll segregate Cameras. Yes / No?

Collections folders are supposedly unborkable. Do I trust this?

Config: remove my userStartup.cheat file. NOTE: aliases NEVER work for me, and using them means none of the other cheats work. Woe. Tears.

LockedBins: kissingpoints pet crap. Whatever. Don't care. Unlocked and still couldn't make a bandit cat in CAS and haven't tried mirror appearance change yet. Is that how it works, or should it work in CAS?

Logs: whatever.
LotCatalog: supposedly unborkable. Is it?

Movies: none. Lazy.

Music: vital, but supposedly unborkable. Would be a hassle to redo, though, even with Music Manager tool. Advice?

Insert caffeine. Optional chocolate infusion.

Neighborhoods: must move far away from Sims 2 folder. Correct?

PackagedSims: I made a ferret cat. Yay me. I should move it if I decide I care enough to save it, or no?

Paintings: What? Where did all these bad photos of dogs come from?

PetBreeds: presumably unborkable, but who knows? Do you?

Projects: none. Lazy AND busy.

SavedSims: two, but I believe they were already imported to game. Keep?

SC4terrains: I have a half dozen custom ones, five of which aren't used. Back up?

Storytelling: pix. OK, I'll back those up.

Teleport: nada

Thumbnails: five mystery packages. Back up?

*.cache files: remove prior to install?

Insert caffeine.

I have Gunmod's Lights, which I am still ambivalent about, but I also have the most recent autoinstaller at hand. So I can reinstall if I decide I like dark shadowyness in return for lighting perks. Any better ideas?

Optional nap here.

Then the usual hell of having to copy over the CD and do the Disk1, Disk2 thing, I ASSUME, though I've mislaid the link and will have to go Googling for it to make sure I don't flark up. Maybe the game will shock me by installing properly the first time.

Insert caffeine.
Insert caffeine. 
Insert caffeine. 
Curse.
Consider prayer.
Insert caffeine.

Test game. Marvel at lightning fast load time compared to load time with usual bloated DL folder. Ogle new hood. Poke, but not with pointy stick. Click on various new crap, say "ooh" or "argh" as is appropriate. Insert caffeine. Do not touch old lots without CC in game. Do not save.

Return customized content to game folder from Double Secret Non-EA Folder.

If all goes well, DLs will load and game will load and happy happy joy joy mindless funsies time.

If all goes poorly, remove large quantity of hair from head, don sackcloth and ashes, lament.

(Insert caffeine regardless.)

Have hours -- if not days! -- of fun attempting to insert CC back into game.

Any reports on CC (not hacks/mods) stuff that is absofrigginglutely borked by Seasons, or are we fortunate this time? I'm hearing encouraging murmurs from the Peanut Gallery _{(FWIW, not old enough to recall this pop culture reference in person, but I have weird parents and grandparents).}

Lastly, fulfill Bladder, Social, Hunger, Fatigue, Comfort needs before starting game. Set motivedecay off.

Insert caffeine.

The end?

Help! 

[miros]

I'm planning to navigate to My Documents/EA Games and renaming my The Sims 2 folder something like The Sims 2 So The Stupid Installer Cant Find It.  Then I'll drag everything back bit by bit after the installation.

[Lorelei]

I'm planning to navigate to My Documents/EA Games and renaming my The Sims 2 folder something like The Sims 2 So The Stupid Installer Cant Find It.  Then I'll drag everything back bit by bit after the installation.

Hee!

So that works during install? I tried testing hack conflicts by renaming Downloads and the game FOUND THEM. It's like twins, it only shows signs of possible AI when you don't want it to.

[angelyne]

I need a good dose of caffeine just to read this through

Good lord that sounds like a great example of making something complicated when it isn't.  Just make a backup of your neighbourdhood for sure, and your entire The Sims 2 folder, if you are paranoid.

Remove your hacks, store them somewhere they will never seen the life of day again.  Create a new hacks folder and start over with the hacks that are known to work.

Hmmm. Dunno about careers ...did you even mention that ?

Oh, and if you don't want the new families (2) that come with Seasons, pre-empt them by installing the blank template, before launching the game for the first time..  See peasantry for more info.

That's it.  Put your ibuprofin back. Relax and enjoy.

Oh.  And rather than trying to rename your folders to prevent them loading, leave them where they are, but zip them instead. (delete the orginal, obviously).  That works 100%.

And, I should mention that I decided to start over with a clean download folder, except for my clothes, skin, eyes, and makeup. Maybe not surprisingly, everything has been pretty bug free.  Best prescription for bloat.  Way better than caffeine and ibuprofin.

[angelyne]

If you rename the folder, the game will create a brand new game.  You won't loose your old one, but you'll have to put stuff back or rename it back to The Sims 2

[miros]

I figure if Seasons or its installer somehow screws up and I have to uninstall it, it will only delete the "new" The Sims 2 folder that it created.  My "real" game and downloads will be safe in the renamed folder.

You're right.  Renaming Downloads doesn't work.  You have to rename The Sims 2 folder.

[Lorelei]

I need a good dose of caffeine just to read this through

Good lord that sounds like a great example of making something complicated when it isn't.  Just make a backup of your neighbourdhood for sure, and your entire The Sims 2 folder, if you are paranoid.

I'm TOTALLY paranoid, after dealing with Simz bugs (and new computer bugs) for the past six weeks. Age of new computer? Seven weeks. Heh!

So, OK, just move everything out, let game do its thing, cross fingers that it works, then start loading CC and updated hacks back in. Easy enough!

Ta v. much!

[angelyne]

Heh you can never go wrong when you got a good backup.  Go nuts!

[Lorelei]

Huzzah! Am running Seasons vanilla (mostly, am trickling hacks in as I go) and the only borkage is apparently NVidia-related, not Sims-related. (Anyone got a copy of Driver Cleaner? I'm this><close to chucking out the current buggy driver.)

[Nepheris]

My prepping for seasons kinda went as follows:

- Take Downloads Folder out
- Delete custom neighbourhoods and reinstall the default ones (I likes a fresh start, me)
- Install game
- Load up game, marvel at shineyness, snork around a bit and poke stuff
- Take 'mods and hacks' section out of downloads folder, put everything else back
- Load up game to check if stuff works. Poke things to see if they don't explode (everything works, teh huzzah!)
- Search around for mods n hacks that have been updated. Download updated/okayed stuff. Stay off the other shineyness, no matter how much my mod-spoiled inner simmer whines

- Have a cleansey game without any bugs so far (touch wood)

[angelyne]

Pretty much what I did Nepheris.  I was already in the process of starting over from scratch when Seasons sneaked up on me.  I suffer badly from download bloat combined with a download addiction.  A nasty combo. Is there a twelve step program for that ?

One good thing about starting fresh with hacks as well, is it reminds you of the awesomeness of modders and how the game would suck without them.

[Ness]

I have two.

Could you possibly have a DVD version or something?

[J. M. Pescado]

Death to all Nesses.

[Lorelei]

My prepping for seasons kinda went as follows:

- Take Downloads Folder out
- Delete custom neighbourhoods and reinstall the default ones (I likes a fresh start, me)
- Install game
- Load up game, marvel at shineyness, snork around a bit and poke stuff
- Take 'mods and hacks' section out of downloads folder, put everything else back
- Load up game to check if stuff works. Poke things to see if they don't explode (everything works, teh huzzah!)
- Search around for mods n hacks that have been updated. Download updated/okayed stuff. Stay off the other shineyness, no matter how much my mod-spoiled inner simmer whines

- Have a cleansey game without any bugs so far (touch wood)

I do the opposite re: CC and hacks. I put the hacks in first, see whaty, if anything, makes the game blow chunks, then once the hacks are all playing nicely with each other and I've poked the shinyness enough, I load back in CC a bit at a time.

ETA: Ness, were you saying you have two copies of Driver Cleaner, or replying to something else in the thread. If the former, then, yes, I have a Blu-Ray / DVD / CD readable/writable drive. Don't get too envious, it's in an XP Media Centre lappy, and this OS is apparently bloated, unfun and buggy.

[Kralore]

I have two.

Could you possibly have a DVD version or something?

My apologies to Ness.  He/She was replying to a message I had originally posted here, but decided to delete and post in a different thread. 

And yes I since discovered that it comes on one dvd or 2 cd's.

[Ness]

blargh!

* Ness is a she.

Why is this not obvious?

[J. M. Pescado]

It's your hairy belly. And death to all Nesses.