January 2015 - last edited January 2015
Introduction
Sims 3 has 4 different ways to enhance the basics of the base game (this does not include third-party custom content which is of course also an option)
There are many situations, where you have to re-download your stuff. Expansions and stuff pack should show in your Origin client in myGames and that's where you redownload them. Store Content on the other hand can be found in your purchase history on thesims3.com.
This guide focuses on issues that occur when trying to download and installing Store items. Some of it is already covered here: [FAQ] The Sims 3 Store, so please make sure to read that first. The focus of this thread is to troubleshoot the availble logs and error messages yourself.
Index
Getting Store content into your game is a two step process (unless you use the ingame Store which does both downloading and installing at the same time). The launcher has a tab for each step.
Please see the following posts for details on each step. You can jump to whatever step you have issues with.
Good Luck
Crin
I don't work or have any association with EA. I give advice to the best of my knowledge and cannot be held responsible for any damage done to your computer/game.
Please only contact me via PM when asked to do so.
Important Threads
January 2015 - last edited January 2015
Issues with Downloading Content
To ensure that it works well, you should follow the following steps to download. I recommend to always download through your purchase history and not the the Store page (unless you have trouble locating it in your purchase history which can happen if you have a lot of stuff)
You do need to be update to at least patch 1.63 (1.67 is the newest but not necessary) to be able to download all Store items.
Common Issues
There are a few common problems with downloading. Please follow the following steps to troubleshoot.
Pressing download only opens Origin
With Patch 1.63. something changed with Origin and pressing download doesn't open the launcher directly anymore. It only opens Origin. You need to start the launcher manually and then press download.
Pressing download doesn't do anything
The browser you're using needs to know what application is associated with sims3packs. Opera seem to have troubles with that. Use IE, Google Chrome or Firefox instead.
For people that use Steam, please refer to this article: Fix for those missing sims 3 protocol.
The download starts but finishes with an error
There's a log which can be found in documents/electronicarts/thesims3 and is called Sims3LauncherLogFile.log. Open that with a text editor and read what it says. Below you'll find a few tips on what error means what. Make sure you check the ones with the newest date.
Something is off with the connection. Could be either your AnitVirus or Firewall blocking or something is off with the EA Servers.
Also, if you're downloading bigger files like worlds or large sets, use a LAN connection instead of wifi. Especially the first error points towards a time-out.
Good Luck
Crin
I don't work or have any association with EA. I give advice to the best of my knowledge and cannot be held responsible for any damage done to your computer/game.
Please only contact me via PM when asked to do so.
Important Threads
January 2015 - last edited January 2015
Troubles with Installing
There are a few common problems with installing. Please follow the following steps to troubleshoot.
Installation Failed: Please make sure your game has the latest Software Updates and try again.
This error has nothing to do with your game not being patched. This error seems to be occuring if the game can't properly verify that you own the item.
To fix, redownload the item from your purchase history here: http://store.thesims3.com/purchaseHistory.html and if the issue still persists, contact a game advisor.
I installed my Store Content but it's not showing up in my game
Unfortunatly, the Launcher is a very unreliable tool. The more stuff you have, the greater the chance that files which have your stuff installed get messed up. If that starts happening to you. First try reinstalling the item and if that doesn't work, try the method below.
When you're done, backup the DCCache folder. If the same starts happening again, go back to that backup so you don't need to start over. Make a backup from time to time, especially after you've installed worlds and lots.
I can't find the venue I've installed
Venues are especially tricky and if you have a lot of content, have the tendency to not install at all.
First make sure that it's really not in your game. You should find the venue in the edit town in the community lot library. Sometimes they don't have a real name but only numbers. The icon they have also varies from showing as Store Content (the little shopping bag) to user-created content (red rosette).
If it's really not in the game, install it again, using this method:
Good Luck
Crin
I don't work or have any association with EA. I give advice to the best of my knowledge and cannot be held responsible for any damage done to your computer/game.
Please only contact me via PM when asked to do so.
Important Threads