Re: sims 3 expansion no cd key

@MeganFord1213  When you ran the Super Patch, what path did you take to get to the Sims 3 icon?  That's the same path you need to use now.  And in Applications, you're looking for a folder labeled The Sims 3, not the icon itself, which will be inside that folder.

Again, if you can't find what you're looking for, a screenshot would be very helpful.

A screen shot is attached but it was of the Origin icon, not Sims 3.

When I ran the super patch it used a path that looks different than when I open Applications.  I am also attaching a screen shot of the path when I ran the super patch.

Attached is a screen shot showing what was installed.

@MeganFord1213  Alright, with a finder window open, click on Finder in the upper left corner of your screen, then Preferences, then Sidebar.  Under Devices, check the box that says Hard Disks.  You might have to close the finder window again to make the change stick.  On the left side of the finder window, click on the hard disk symbol, then open Users > (your username) > Applications > The Sims 3.  What do you see inside that folder?  That's where it looks like your game is appearing.

By the way, I have to go out for a bit, but I'll be back in an hour or two.

Edit:  I just saw your other comment.  That's not the Contents folder you want.  When you follow the path above, then you can right-click on the Sims 3 base game icon and navigate to Contents > Resources > Add-Ons.

Attached is the screen shot for the finder window with the icons for Sims 3 in the folder AddOns.

Icons in the AddOn folder for expansion packs I have downloaded include:

Supernatural - when I double click on it it says - You can't open the application "The Sims 3 Supernatural" because it may be damaged or incomplete.

Ambitions - I updated it.

Generations

High-End Loft Stuff - I updated it.

Into the Future

Island Paradise

Uninstaller (I didn't double click on it)

World Adventures - I updated it.

Icons for expansion packs missing from the AddOn folder are:

Outdoor living stuff

Late Night

Pets

Seasons

University Life

What do I do?

@MeganFord1213  If the AddOns folder doesn't have Outdoor Living, Late Night, etc., that means that those packs aren't installed.  But putting that issue aside for the moment, let's see if your game will launch with the packs you do currently.  Then we can move on to the others.

So, create an alias for Ambitions by right-clicking on the AddOns Ambitions icon.  You're going to drop the alias into the Applications folder that has the base game icon and the uninstaller in it.  (This is the folder where you right-clicked on the base game icon and selected Show Package Contents.)  Once you've moved the alias, delete the "alias" part of the name, so that it just says "The Sims 3™ Ambitions."

Next, you're going to back into package contents and copy some files from Ambitions, and then you'll paste them into the folder for Into the Future.  Again, the video in this post shows you what to do:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-3-Unknown-Error-in-El-Capitan-Sierra-High/m-p/5725514#M5926

Once you've done all of this, try to launch the game, and let me know how it goes.

This is incredibly complex!  Why are consumers like myself supposed to fix this game?  Why can't EA fix these bugs?  I am trying to convince myself that I understand one aspect of the problem and then a new more complex problem arises.  And I am supposed to fix something that only a technician understands?

Sorry to blow off some steam.  You have been very helpful but I have been at this for 3 days, and it is getting more complex and is pushing the limits of my understanding/ability.  I am trying to fix this game for my daughter. 

I think I followed the instructions correctly in the link you provided.  However I can't test it by launching the game right now.  My daughter is using her Origin profile and playing some other game on her old PC desktop.  I will have to wait until she finishes which will probably tomorrow.

I have a couple questions:

1) How do I know which of my expansion packs are not working?

2) How do I make my location - USA?

Thanks!

@MeganFord1213  The last pack for the Sims 3 was released in 2013, and the last real game update in January 2014.  The game has been out of development since then, with no fixes offered for any of the issues that have arisen in the last five years.  The game never ran particularly well in mac OS for reasons I don't have to get into, but it's been harder and harder to get it up and running in the last few years.

The install issues you're having—packs not showing as installed, files not being copied to their proper destination—first showed up with El Capitan, the mac operating system released in fall 2015.  Since there was no one at EA to fix the problem, players were left to their own devices.  You'll notice that I've been linking you guides from one particular site; Bluebellflora's work is the only reason anyone can play the game on newer macs at all.

Aside from the install issues, there's also the fact that no graphics cards released after 2013 are even in the game's database.  This is mostly fine in Windows, as the game will run on an unrecognized card with only a minimal decrease in graphics quality.  But in mac OS, all newer Nvidia cards and integrated Intel chips need require extra steps to force recognition, or the game won't run at all.  Your computer is older, and its graphics chip is in fact supported, so you don't have this issue, at least.

You don't need to have Origin running to play the Sims 3 on a mac.  You can launch it directly by double-clicking on the icon for your newest pack, which is Into the Future.  Either you'll get an unknown error, or the launcher will appear.  If the launcher opens, just press play.

If certain packs are installed but you haven't done the workarounds properly, the game won't launch.  It's an all or nothing proposition.  So you can be sure that the installed packs are behaving if your game launches.  As for the packs that didn't install at all, you've already seen that they're not present in AddOns.  The other way to check is to load a save (it can be a new one) and go to Buy mode.  There, you can sort items by expansion pack, so you can count the icons for each pack and make sure they're all there.

As for your location, where are you trying to set it to U.S.?  I don't remember having to do that for the game itself, but perhaps you're doing something else?

I followed the instructions in the link to copy the folders for Ambitions (and also Late Night).  I pasted them in "Into the Future".  I tried to launch but I get the same issue - Sims3 starts to launch, then "Into the Future" starts to launch, then I get the same error code.

I attached a screen shot of my AddOns folder for Sims3.

Please help me with the next steps.

@MeganFord1213  You need to follow the same steps for Outdoor Living.  You should also delete the Ambitions alias in your screenshot—it doesn't belong there.  You need aliases for Ambitions, Late Night, and Outdoor Living in the Applications folder where you found the base game, but make sure to delete the "alias" on the end after you move them.

Ok, I did what you instructed and made aliases for Ambitions, Late Night, and Outdoor Living.  I put them in the applications folder with the base game and dropped the "alias".

Attached is another screen shot.

What next?

@MeganFord1213  You also need to copy files from Outdoor Living into the folder for Into the Future, as you did (I think?) for Ambitions and Late Night.

Also, what's in those folders in your screenshot?  I'd expect the Contents folder to be empty, and you can trash that.  But what's in the one labeled Sims 3?

I attached a screen shot of what's in the Sims 3 folder that you asked about.

@MeganFord1213  Okay, so those packs don't have aliases in the previous screenshot you posted.  I'd drag those two to where the other aliases are—you can open a new Finder window under File in the upper left corner of your screen.  Once you've done that, please right-click on the folder that had just the two aliases and select Get Info.  Among other things, it will list the size of the folder.  If it's small (measured in kb), you can right-click on it and select Move to Trash.  If it's large, please let me know how big.

If you do trash that folder, try launching your game again.

I copied the two aliases for supernatural and university life, and pasted them in the applications folder with the base game.  However, the pasted aliases don't look right and I am attaching a screen shot.  

The folder that had the two aliases was 2.17 GB.

The game launches and plays now!  I am not sure all the expansions/stuff packs will work but my daughter will tell me if they aren't working.

I closed Origin but it never closes properly and I have to force close it.  Is there a reason for that?

Now my daughter says her profile is blank and all her bought stuff is gone.  Is there a fix for that?

Also, how do I place an alias of Into the Future on the dock?

@MeganFord1213  What I think is that the install path somehow got mangled for those two packs, or at least one of them, and the 2.17 GB represents the size of the program files of one of the packs, plus a bit of overhead.  (I can't check the sizes of those packs myself because I don't currently have them installed on my mac.)  I'd guess that the affected pack wouldn't show up in-game, but who knows.  If it doesn't show, you can manually uninstall just that pack and reinstall it to its proper location.

For the weird aliases, try making new ones the same way you did for Ambitions, Late Night, and Outdoor Living.  If you can't find those in AddOns, go to the broken aliases, or the originals if you still have them, right-click, and select Show Original.  You can make another alias there and drag it into the folder where the broken ones are currently (delete those first).

The other thing you can do is right-click on the highlighted original and select Get Info.  Under "Where," you'll see the location for the file, as well as the size.  For example, this is the location for my installed packs:

Macintosh HD > Applications > The Sims™ 3 > The Sims™ 3 > Contents > Resources > AddOns

I'm curious where these two packs landed.  But again, you can leave that for later, if you want.

As for Origin, you don't need to have it open while playing The Sims 3.  (You do for Sims 4, but that's different.)  Origin refuses to close for me too occasionally, but that's usually because I told it to do something it didn't like.  (It and I don't always get along.)  Try running the Origin reset tool for macs; maybe it will help:

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/how-to-reset-origin-on-mac/

Edit:  I just saw your other comments.  To place an alias for Into the Future in the dock, just drag the alias that's in Applications, along with all of your other ones.  If that doesn't work, right-click on the alias, select Show Original, and drag the original into the dock instead.

If your daughter is looking for her store stuff, she'll need to redownload it to her new game folder.  She can sign into the Sims 3 store, go to Purchase History, and download everythng,  but it's best to do so in batches of no more than six items at a time.  The launcher doesn't handle large amounts of data very well.  Worlds should be handled separately, not in a batch with anything else.

If your daughter's saves are missing, those would be in her game folder (Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3) on whatever computer she used to use.  They can be transferred into her new folder, and they should work, as long as she installs her store stuff first.  On the other hand, if some of the packs aren't installed properly, she may not be able to load saves that depended on those packs.

The original files for Supernatural and University Life are located: 128 GB SSD>Users>MeganFord>Applications>The SimsTM 3>The Sims 3>The Sims3>Contents>Resources>AddOns.

I am attaching a screen shot.  You can see that it is the same screen shot I sent earlier when you asked me about the folder "The Sims 3" and its size.  The contents folder is empty.  I can't open the file "The Sims3" because it is damaged or incomplete.  But if I right click and select "Show Package Contents" I then have a finder with Contents>Resources>AddOns where I find the original files.

Should I move the original files from that location to another?

Also, how do I thank you for your help?  Can I get you a gift card?

@MeganFord1213  It looks like what happened is, you or Origin made a new Sims 3 folder inside the one in Applications and installed those two packs into it.  I don't actually know what would happen if you moved the originals of Supernatural and University Life into the AddOns folder where all of your other packs are installed.  Program files can't be moved from one drive to another, but this might only count as a reorganization, with the files themselves staying put.  You could try it, of course.  Worst case, you manually uninstall those two packs and try to install them again, first trashing the extra Sims 3 folder next to your base game alias.

(You can also trash those empty Contents folders—the one in your latest screenshot, and the one in the folder with all the other aliases.)

I'm not surprised you can't open the Sims 3 file inside the extra folder, since the base game can't be installed there in the first place.  (The base game is about 6.1 GB.)  Once you've tried moving the files for Supernatural and University Life, it's probably best to delete the contents of this extra folder, and then the folder itself.  Make sure you right-click and select Move to Trash, or you'll only move an alias.

Also, it's sweet of you to offer me a gift card, but that's not necessary.  I help people because I enjoy doing so, and because when I wanted to install the game on my new computer a year ago, I received a lot of help myself.  (That's how I learned to do all this.)  So I'm happy to help for its own sake, and knowing that I contributed to getting this wonderful (if maddening at times) game running for someone else is really all the thanks I need.

My daughter tells me that she doesn't have either Supernatural or University Life.  I wasn't able to move those files.  How do I uninstall then reinstall those two expansion packs?

@MeganFord1213  The uninstaller probably won't recognize the files from those packs, so you'll need to delete them manually.  And then you'll have to track down the hidden library files related to each pack; since you haven't been able to launch those packs, some of the files might not exist.  Here's a guide to all the potential files you'd need to delete:

https://bluebellflora.com/manually-uninstalling-an-expansion-or-stuff-pack-in-the-sims-3-for-mac/

Be sure to delete whatever is left over in that extra Sims 3 folder as well.  Then you can redownload the packs from Origin.