@onica432 The Exchange items may not work as noted and only the creator knows what was used to create the item. As far as the pet store register - you need to have the limited version and the register should be located in the build mode - community.
@darkdrea If the Pet Shop venue has a microwave where the register should be, that likely means the register is not installed at all, so your game replaced it with another object that it thinks is similar. (The microwave seems to be the consensus replacement for the register, but why is anyone's guess.) When it's installed, you can find it in build (not buy) mode, under community objects/misc.
If you can't find the register, you may have a bad install or even a corrupt TS3 folder. You can test this by pulling your existing game folder out of Documents and onto your desktop and then launching the game to spawn a new one. After you quit, you can download only Graham's pet shop into this new folder, and then start a new game so see if the register appears. If it does, you can transfer your saves and other content into the new folder from the old one. You will need to redownload and reinstall your store stuff, unless you want to go through all of your .ebc files to find out which one contains the store.
I hope this finds you all well. I have this problem too. I actually had the content: the register, paw doors and windows, the bone rug, the bone sign, etcetera, when I initially installed it on a blank slate game. I bought the fish tank. I should have bought everything custom to the pet swap shop right then because I still have the tank. I want to redownload it, and am hoping for a way to find the code that it has to uninstall it instead of re-installing all my Store content again. I tried to find a Mod to repair it, but it has been of no use. Repair Game doesn't fix it, uninstalling the game doesn't fix it, only reinstalling the pet swap shop does, and that only works for a session. If you know how to find the codes for the items on the store, I would really appreciate it if you shared it with me so that I may be able to do this fix in a night, rather than two entire days. Thank you, and have the best night and day!
@enchantress6274 If you can find the pet shop in the launcher, you can uninstall it from there, then reinstall it. If the launcher isn't working, you can use Method by Mell, towards the bottom of the article below, to examine the .ebc files (not .dbc, those are custom content) one at a time, which should make it easier to find and uninstall the item.
https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/tutorial-how-to-get-rid-of-unwanted-custom-content.html
You may also have an issue with ccmerged.package, in DCBackup. This file is necessary to make premium store content work, and its corruption is one cause of the pet register disappearing. Since you're missing more content than that, this is unlikely to be your only issue; I'm mentioning it in case simply reinstalling the pet shop doesn't restore the register.
For ccmerged.package, the fix is to create a new one, which means installing all your premium content into a clean Sims 3 folder and copying over the file to your regular folder. Or you can borrow the copy that Nonamena has uploaded. Her copy supports all premium content, and it'll work whether you have all the content or just a few items. (It doesn't make items you don't own appear in-game, just the ones you've installed.) I can't link the site with the download here, since it's third-party content, but google should be able to find it for you.
Graham's Pet Swap Shop is entirely broken when you install it and quit. You'll receive the Warning Missing Content message when you load the Save its in again. The items you bought in the store still work and are not replaced, but every inch of custom content in the store is replaced or missing. My idea is, buy all the custom content the store has, save, and let it be until I want to reinstall the store again. It's the most we can get out it.
Thanks for this post! It was incredibly helpful! I will learn a lot from this site, which makes me quite happy. I will try this from the Launcher. I think I can learn how to do it on YouTube if I have trouble with it. I will try this right now. Have a great day and night everyone!
I found that I have to do it the article way, that it's still in my game when I uninstall it from the launcher. I'm trying the article now, and will come back once it's done to say if it worked or not. I have a distaste for losing any bit of Simoleons, so hopefully I will still have the fish tank after this like I would if I took my The Sims 3 folder out of My Documents and renamed it. Then, installed all my content again. I would do what I know works, but I was hoping for an easier way. I just had an idea. What if it didn't work because I used the original Save that has the pet shop in it already? Would it have worked if I started a new Save just for downloading and installing it? It's really great you helped me, I hope that this way works. Have a great day and night!
@enchantress6274 Does the pet shop lot appear in-game, in the bin, or are you only seeing the building within a save? If it's within a save, the building itself should still be preserved after you uninstall the shop: the walls would still be there, and any missing items (even windows, wallpaper, and other build stuff) would be replaced. You could then reinstall the shop, bulldoze the lot, and place down a new copy, one that hopefully has all its content.
I don't like using money cheats either, in fact I never use them for a household I play, but it seems fair to fix what amounts to a clerical error by restoring the funds your sims spent on an item that's about to disappear.
Hello puzzleaddict!! I hope that you are well.
I had the lot in the World I was playing in at the time.
I might still have the save, but when I played the lot in any other town than Appaloosa, it wouldn't have the register and the rug, sign, window, etcetera.
I got a new computer, and re-download everything, but the launcher couldn't handle its load, so I had to look up Crinrict's blog about The Sims 3 to find out.
It made it so none of my lots, venues, or Lucky Palms made it in my game, but they said they were installed.
I do apologize for my delayed reply. I got busy and then forgot eventually because I found this years later looking into Graham's Pet Swap Shop again. I suppose late is is better than never!! :-)
Thank you for reading my reply and all your attention,
Enchantress6274
@enchantress6274 If none of your Store content works on the new computer, try reinstalling it in a clean Sims 3 folder, as in, move the existing one out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto the desktop and open the launcher to spawn a new one. This time around, download and install only a few items at a time, and worlds separately. As you've seen, the launcher doesn't handle large amounts of data very well.
As it happens, I downloaded the pet store last week, and it works fine in-game. So the content isn't broken; it's just a matter of convincing the launcher to install it properly. If you want to be extra careful, check the size of the highest-numbered .ebc file in ...The Sims 3 > DCCache after installing content. These files are called dcdbX.ebc, with X counting up from zero. (The files that end in .dbc are custom content.)
The launcher will create a new .ebc file when the current one gets to about 205,000 KB, and over about 250 MB, the game has trouble reading the files. So if your current file is 198 MB, it's best to install smaller sets or individual items until you get a new .ebc file, then install large items one or two at a time until you get close to the limit on the next file.
This process can be tedious, but on the other hand, you'll hopefully only need to do it once. And you can keep a backup of the Sims 3 folder with only your Store content installed in case you need to restore it later for some reason.
