Help with install location?

The decision to install the game on a second (I hope internal, not external) drive is usually dictated by how much space there is on C. How large is the C drive to begin with?

If F is definitely the way to go, note that you will need to create a subfolder on F first if you don't already have one for such purposes and direct the installation there. In other words, you cannot install directly on F:\ but you should be able to on F:\Program Files (or whatever you want to call the new sub-directory).

Your TS3 user game folder will stay in Documents. The best/easiest way to prevent that from taking up too much space on C over time is usually to redirect Documents in its entirety to F at the Windows level. The game (and mods, etc.) doesn't really care which physical volume these things are located on as long as it can find them.

https://www.dummies.com/computers/operating-systems/windows-10/how-to-change-the-location-of-user-folders-in-windows-10
(sorry for the name of the site here, but they do provide some good illustrations)

If even one of your EPs is going to be an Origin digital install (is this what you meant?), then your game will be Origin controlled and you will land on Patch 1.69. Many find it simpler to just go ahead and do the install all through Origin then, provided the base game and all of the packs were yours to register or can be registered now as using the discs is too cumbersome and you will end up in almost the same place in the end.

@igazor Thanks so much for your reply! Yes the second hard drive is internal, I’m trying to save space on my primary drive as I’m an animator (working in Maya) and I’m hoping to keep drive C dedicated to that purpose.

And yep Island Paradise was legally purchased as a digital install through Origin! Sorry, I should have made that clear. Thanks again for all the info, I really appreciate it and I’ll check out the link now :D

@igazor You're a lifesaver :) Thank you so much for the explanation and the link!