Since my ability to connect to the internet connection is not constant, I need to find a way to start Sims 3 from CD only without ANY internet connection. As far as I know the only method is to have the pre-2012 disc to run the game from and refusing to upgrade to 1.69 upon installation of the game. And tracking down the discs to every EP, SP and world. Even with Steam, I presume you still have to log in initially to Steam’s service in order to launch the game and with no access to the internet I presume that’s the only way There is no way to do this when you upgrade to update version 1.69. . That ties you down to always having to have internet access just incase that Origin throws up an update and requires you to login to it’s client service again. I guess I’m a troglodyte however it’s frustrating when you have to maintain a constant internet connection just to have access to the games you want to play, but I guess that’s the way video games are going we don’t pay to “own” the games any more. We pay for the right to rent the use of the game subject to TOS.

This is why I freakin hate to have third party clients to run games. I despise it. But companies like EA are so terrified of losing fifty cents that they punish the legit customers with horrible DRM's and stupid clients. People say that if you set yourself offline on Origin or Steam or whatever, that you can still play your games, but in my experience, it hasn't really been the case. On Origin, yes I can sometimes play a game but none of my DLC or anything will show up because of their stupid "authentication" nonsense.Steam is less bad, but still bad. Someone more knowledgeable than me about Steam might be able to help more. I avoid all these dumb clients as much as possible. I'm sorry, I don't know another way to play completely offline other than the pre 2012 disc install and 1.67edit - can't spell.

Certainly an Internet connection is required to install the Steam versions of TS3 and its EP/SPs and run them the first time for authentication purposes, but not from that point forward. Steam delivers its own build of Patch 1.67 and therefore a Launcher bypass using a shortcut/alias to TS3w.exe is still sufficient to launch the game after the first run. You will however also need some sort of Internet connection to obtain store content all over again as the game won't let you use store content downloaded under an Origin/disc account on the Steam platform, but that's just another form of one-time pain rather than something ongoing.This may change sometime next year when Steam begins expanding its EA titles and there may be more of a Steam-Origin connection than the none, not possible, don't need it anyway one we have now. It remains to be seen what will be required of us TS3 players on Steam once that happens.Of course, not that this is much help for today, it's also possible that Origin may someday fix its Play Offline feature so that it works closer to what was probably intended.

Read igazor's post here - https://forums.thesims.com/en_us/discussion/745695/why-does-the-sims-3-need-internet-to-startOops...late to the show/ignore.

"Goulsquash;c-17295718" wrote:If the issue is the 1.69 patch itself, would doing a re-install and then manually patching to 1.67 work? Players on Windows who are on a Patch 1.69/Origin controlled install cannot downpatch to 1.67. That would break the game install entirely. There was a very short window back at the end of 2015 when the first variant of 1.69 was released where there was a sneaky way to do this that did work for some players, but it hasn't worked since then due to the tighter control and realigning of the program files with 1.69.As soon as one installs a digital (not disc) version of the base game or any one of the EP/SPs by way of Origin or by using a base game disc manufactured after Sept 2012, one is on Patch 1.69 with no choices being offered.

You can leave all of the store worlds off your list entirely if this makes things any easier. The disc "versions" of the worlds just bring you to the TS3 store anyway. Origin for some of them may act as a purchasing agent just like the retail stores did with the discs, but it doesn't matter how the worlds that are sold for cash as opposed to store points are purchased. It's the TS3 store that provides them for download and installation through the Launcher in every case, not Origin itself and the worlds have nothing to do with Patch 1.69.

Is Pre-2012 CD the only way to play Sims w/o internet?

sparky1922
5 years ago
@Nikkei_Simmer

laughed my head off at the pics and this statement "EA: Join me and together we can usher in a new era of peace and tranquility in the Sims community. No more bickering; just happiness 4 ever and ever...Sims 3 fans. NO NEVER!!!!!" so true :) <3

I just took a quick look here in the UK at sims 3 discs on Amazon UK and you are correct the prices here are also high however they are all new discs but obviously the pre 2012 disc is going to be pre owned. I already owned several 3 discs I had purchased when I started playing 3 wayback so had to buy the others and I am using a mix of new and pre-owned and so far everything's fine. I downloaded my store content just using the pre 2012 disc on a seperate laptop because I do not allow my win 7 hard drive online where I play 3 to access the internet ever and to make sure of that I had yet another internal hard drive fitted in my desktop that I can download files/folders/mods/cc on win 10 for my game and transfer them to my 7 drive when i play my game and not ever need to use the internet as I will never risk something else or any other so called updated program to meddle with my disc game and ruin it-)

I also confess to being paranoid enough to own 2 pre 2012 discs in case one gets damaged or corrupted and a duplicate of ITF as well as discs can sometimes get corrupted by lots of use in the disc tray so i cannot think of much more to secure my future 3 playing days at this point haha

I am providing a link to UK Ebay as I have just taken a look and there are still pre owned discs to be had at reasonable prices and if the seller has a good reputation and post internationally it might be cheaper to buy in the UK and pay the postage to your own country?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1313.TR11.TRC1.A0.H0.Xsims+3+discs.TRS0&_nkw=sims+3+discs&_sacat=0

I wish you luck finding what you need at reasonable prices :)
ehl451
New Spectator
5 years ago
Since this thread is about discs, and they are starting to disappear from amazon and ebay, I wanted to post the following link as a bump.

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/683314/pegi-esrb

I can vouch for the this. I ordered a US version of, dare I admit, the KPST stuff pack and was shipped a UK version. After finding the link, I took the plunge and the disc installed without any issues.

As an aside, Barnicle Bay codes are available on ebay for about $8. Register codes on store site and download from purchase history.

Happy hunting.
ZeeGee1
Seasoned Hotshot
5 years ago
I can verify that they work together just fine. When I first bought my discs from Amazon I didn't even think to check region and didn't notice they were different. I have about half and half I think and they work just fine together.
Mikezumi
5 years ago
I could be wrong but I believe that TS3 is region free. My discs are from both Australia and USA.
karritz
New Spectator
5 years ago
The region used to be important but then they got rid of that idea fairly early in the series.
ladygreeneyes64
5 years ago
I actually did end up collecting all of the discs, because I do NOT play through Origin or any other gaming portal, and also because I want hard copies, just in case. We should not need an internet connection to play a single-player game. I seldom even log in to play, honestly. Use a mod for the Showtime unlock, and just don't care about the online stuff most of the time. I don't even have Origin installed on the computer.
NikkeiSimmer
Rising Adventurer
5 years ago
@LadyGreenEyes, I have only Late Night, Seasons, University Life, Island Paradise and Into the Future in disc form in terms of EPs so I’ve gotta lot of searching for EP discs to do and two copies of the pre-2012 base game disc. But I’m seriously thinking about going that route and getting off Origin. My fault is that I only started playing any version of Sims in Jan 2017 so didn’t even think about the game until I got seriously addicted to the game.
ladygreeneyes64
5 years ago
Yeah, that can be a lot to collect , to avoid the Origin issues. Ebay is a great place to look for those, and you can often find them pretty cheap. I even got all of The Sims 2 stuff that way, so no need to have Origin for that, either, and I think there is a lot to do even in that one, still. Lots of folks sells the discs, though, who prefer to go digital and eliminate stuff in their homes, so they can be found! I intentionally looked for the discs, myself, and only the store/online only stuff isn't on those, but I have the downloaded sim3pack files saved outside of the game, too - just copied all from the "downloads" folder into another file, and you can even put those on a disc, and just install them that way. I've done that when switching computers, rather than downloading it all again. You can select up to fifteen at a time, and, with the launcher already open, right-click and "open" them, and they should install. No internet needed then, and you have the security of knowing even if the store someday vanished, you'd still have those files.
karritz
New Spectator
5 years ago
I bought new disks and when I installed them it doesn't seem to make any difference if I use the registered codes from the digital downloads I originally bought from Origin or the codes that came with the disks. The first time I used the disks to install I had Origin on the laptop and was downloading from Origin. Then I decided to try out the disks and found it a lot quicker to install from disk than to download them. I never registered the new codes I bought with the disks. I just use the disks now to install with. Use either code. I think the last time I installed I used the codes that came with the disks. I already had the base game and a few of the early expansion and stuff packs on Disk. I think I started buying digital downloads about the time Pets was released. Just because it was easier back then and didn't really matter if it was disk or digital. Then when Sims 4 was released and so many Sims 3 disks were on sale in the games shops around where I live I decided to get them all on disk. I felt I might need them in future as I didn't really trust EA to leave the game as it was at the time it ended. I feel very lucky I did that. I do only have the one base game disk though so suspect the time will come when the disks will become corrupt and I'll probably move on from the game then and not play any more.
igazor
5 years ago
And to think all these years @Nikkei_Simmer has been typing with that outrageous accent and blathering on about hockey, maple syrup, something about moose (I might be making that part up) just so we would think he is Canadian. One just doesn't know whom to believe anymore. >:) :p