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puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
7 years ago

Can't find product codes on Steam

I have a new macbook that generally runs TS3+Ambitions like a charm; when issues come up, they're invariably my fault. I know that this post is kind of long. I'm just trying to be thorough so that people reading this either see that the recommended approaches don't work for me, or they tell me I'm dense (which I know, at least when it comes to computers) and missing something obvious (which would be great—if nothing else, I can follow instructions ).

After reading several threads that assured me this would work, I decided to download Steam and buy a bunch of TS3 EPs that I didn't have. I also bought the base game; actually, that and 3 EPs were $7 and change together, so it was a great deal. I figured I'd just get the product keys and download through Origin. But I can't find the keys. The thing is, Steam won't let me install any TS3 products; in my library it says "The Sims 3 (TM) is not available on your current platform." We all know that isn't true of the game itself, but if Steam doesn't want to let me install, fine. Just give me the codes and I'll leave. But I can't find them anywhere. To the right of the "game info," where the links are listed, my options are merely: community hub; discussions; related groups; news; store page; DLC; community guides; support; write review. Right-clicking on the icon for the base game only gives these options: install game...; view news; view community hub; view forum; view community guides; write review; set custom image...; add to favorites; set categories...; properties. When I click "install game..." I get the message "An error occured while updating The Sims(TM) 3 (invalid platform)." I get the same error when I click the "play now" link from the store page. Again, I get it, I'm not going to use Steam to play. I'm just hoping that someone will tell me where to look for the codes.

I've spent the last two hours on various support sites, Steam and otherwise, and all I get is one of "right-click and the option will come up," "you have to start to install before seeing the codes" (which I obviously can't do), or "you're ... out of luck." I chatted with an EA help guy who was very nice but mostly sent me links that I'd already found (and one that didn't work anymore) before telling me to contact Steam. I've done that, but other comments I've read suggest that its team is not exactly the best resource for fixing this type of issue.

I know I've asked for quite a bit of help recently, and I'm very grateful for all the people here who have made my game playable. I wish I were better at this, but I'm not, and so I must throw myself at the feet of the true Sims gods and beg for a reprieve for this mere mortal.

Okay, I'm being dramatic, but it's really late and I get agitated in all sorts of ways when I don't know how to solve a problem.
  • igazor's avatar
    igazor
    7 years ago
    The procedure, the only one that will work short of getting a refund, would be to install the Steam client on a system running Windows. There is no solution on Steam for Mac; the Mac versions of the game and its EPs are different products than the Windows versions and Steam is not authorized to carry those. Therefore, the Origin codes are not provided by way of the Mac client either.

    If you can get them out of a system running Windows, then the Origin codes will work on either OS.


    Edit: I'm not surprised by the poor quality official customer support on either end. I am surprised that a post on the TS3 Steam Community forum didn't kick up this information, if you had posted there. I don't swing through very often but they have two or three members who are very good at providing tech and game support, one of them even has a knowledge base set up over there, etc.
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    7 years ago
    @igazor Thanks so much for the quick reply. Luckily, I'm spending some time with my brother today; he has a gaming PC with Steam and is willing to help. The only other question I (we) have is, do we run the risk of activating the codes by installing the EPs, and therefore preempting my ability to add them to my own EA/Origin account? That would be a bummer, and also exactly the kind of thing that I've come to expect from the nexus of these greedy or unresponsive companies and my only minimal understanding of the systems involved.

    As far as the Steam forums go, I spent a lot of time reading but got frustrated by the low ratio of actual help to useless suggestions and unrelated noise. Plus, whenever I see comments that use the Cyrillic alphabet, my instinct is to not make myself known. I'm sure that's unfair, but better gamers than me have had bad experiences up to and including needing to completely wipe their hard drives. I suppose there are actually benefits to establishing a *safe space* like the one here. Who woulda thought.
  • TreyNutz2's avatar
    TreyNutz2
    7 years ago
    You shouldn't need to install EPs to get the codes for them. Since moving to an Origin install years ago I've bought quite a few EPs and most SPs on Steam. Never installed them, just copied the CD keys straight into Origin and have never had a problem. Whether you need to install (or start the install) of the base game to generate the CD keys, I don't know. Maybe it's enough for the Steam client to recognize that you have a supported OS.

    I also played with the base game and 3 EPs installed via Steam for 3 months before deciding to register them on Origin and installing through Origin. Didn't have any problems. That was in 2014; things might have changed. Assuming not though, the CD Keys aren't locked to a particular platform or computer. They are locked to your Steam account and Origin account (once you've registered them).
  • igazor's avatar
    igazor
    7 years ago
    One of the reasons I don't "swing through" those forums very often is that yes, they can be toxic and many of the players there do not have very long attention spans nor...how shall I put this, much in the way of good manners. Put that together with an ecosystem where they are surrounded by thousands of games to play vying for that limited attention all of the time, and one doesn't often end up with a very satisfying conversation experience. When I find myself actually arguing with players about how to use NRaas mods and where to turn for more advanced help, and they aren't listening to me anyway nor do they seem to want to, I do have to pause and ask, "What the heck am I even doing here?" ;)

    But this is a borderline tech or really more of an account issue, forums like that serve their purposes at times even if not to be long-lasting hangouts for many of us.

    You shouldn't have to install anything other than the Steam client, but you will have to log in on it using your account. The point of this exercise is to get the Steam client to recognize you as the account owner and therefore the game/packs you have purchased and then, having satisfied the requirement that you have a client program installed that has the ability to run what you have purchased, provide you with your Origin codes. It wouldn't make sense to insist upon the Steam version of the game being installed, no one is supposed install the game through Origin and Steam at the same time on the same computer. Or at least not under the same user account, that shouldn't even work and can mess up the installs and the entire user game folder on every attempted run.

    Not entirely sure, but I think your brother would want to create a new Windows user login account so as not to mix up your Steam credentials with his on that end. Might be overkill, but seems like the more logical way to proceed.

    Or...(looks to the left nervously, then to the right, thinks about it for a minute, and finally blurts out) Bootcamp!
    (scurries away) :p
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    7 years ago
    @igazor @TreyNutz Well, this has been fun.

    This evening, I used my brother's PC to log into Steam (he created a new user account, as suggested) and there were all of my new CD keys. Just like that. I didn't need to install anything. Which was just as well—I think he would have had a hard time watching an EA product pollute his precious PC. I took my codes and ran to the Sims 3 Store on my own computer to register a few of them, just to make sure they were working properly, and now I have my two new SPs installed through Origin, with WA waiting until I'm ready for it. Which should be any day now, really, I swear.

    "igazor;c-16250520" wrote:
    Or...(looks to the left nervously, then to the right, thinks about it for a minute, and finally blurts out) Bootcamp!
    (scurries away) :p


    Speaking of not being ready. You convinced me a long time ago on an intellectual level that Bootcamp is the best answer, but when it comes to actual implementation, my stubbornness keeps reasserting itself. I don't like change, and I'm full of resentments, not the least of which is the compromised way TS3 was made playable on a mac. I'm the type who would spend hours and hours fixing a product that I'm not even particularly attached to instead of spending $20 and a ten-minute run to the store for a replacement. Having said that, I did actually buy Seasons during the Steam sale, even though I know I'll never be able to run it properly until Cider is out of the way. So on some level, I am making progress. Really. I swear.
  • igazor's avatar
    igazor
    7 years ago
    Didn't mean to pile any pressure on, sorry. As you said you are "there" intellectually already. Guess my real point was that I predict you are going to Bootcamp sooner or later anyway, or else restrict your style of play tremendously (or play something else entirely). So as long as it's probably going to happen, the Steam client install and even installing the game itself through Steam vs. Origin become comparatively trivial decisions to make after that.
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    7 years ago
    I know you were just being cheeky. I've become very good at ignoring advice that I know quite well is the best course of action. I was just saying that my procrastination... okay, maybe my tantrum as I'm being dragged by my ankles kicking and screaming... is something that I understand about myself, and yet I don't to anything about it. But I plan to. Maybe tomorrow. Or the next day.

    As it turns out, though, when properly motivated I can actually fix things. Okay, that's probably an exaggeration, butI can at least find someone else who will tell me what to do. When I tried to run my game with Ambitions and two SPs (baby steps) I received the unknown error message. The same thing happened when I first installed Ambitions on this computer, and that time I just needed to find the Ambitions icon and create an alias for the base game to read (I think?). @BluebellFlora's instructions worked for me (which is when I joined the forums to say thank you). This time, though, I needed the more comprehensive solution to copy and paste my Ambitions folder into the SP that was trying to launch the game. If anyone is curious:

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

    As always, I am eternally grateful to all of the knowledgable people who keep fixing the errors and bugs that would otherwise make this great game completely inaccessible to someone like me. Unless I bootcamped my mac. Which I'll totally do. I promise. Someday.

    P.S. Steam eventually replied to me to say that I should just play on a Windows system and then I could have the codes. So... thanks for that.
  • igazor's avatar
    igazor
    7 years ago
    Yeah, that was a pretty useless answer from Steam support then. Again, from their perspective, you were asking them how to go about playing a game (TS3 for Mac) that they don't/can't make or sell -- the Origin code includes are like the free toys inside the box analogy I used prior (edit: oops that was with someone else, but the codes are a bonus, not what was actually up for sale). But one would think that this question comes up for them often enough to have been able to provide a better answer regardless.
  • TreyNutz2's avatar
    TreyNutz2
    7 years ago
    "puzzlezaddict;c-16250805" wrote:

    This evening, I used my brother's PC to log into Steam (he created a new user account, as suggested) and there were all of my new CD keys. Just like that. I didn't need to install anything.


    That's good to hear! Have fun with your new EPs. :)

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