Sims 3 nothing works that is from store and exchange

Ghiby​  In case you're not aware, Store content is installed into bundled files located in DCCache inside the user folder.  The files have the extension .ebc, with the .dbc files holding custom content.

The problem that often arises is that one of these bundles gets corrupted, or is unreadable for some reason, and then every higher-numbered file is also unusable.  So it won't matter how much Store content you reinstall if you don't get rid of the existing corrupt file(s).

The same principle applies to any custom content installed through the launcher, whether that's from the Exchange or elsewhere.

Point is, please try installing the Store content into a clean user folder, a few sets at a time, then transfer your other content to that folder.  More detailed instructions are here if you need them:

[Read First] Sims 3 Store guide | EA Forums - 11157679

If your existing launcher-installed custom content is being recognized, you can transfer the .dbc files to the new Sims 3 folder, along with anything in Library or SavedSims you want to keep.  But if you can't install new cc through the launcher, I would at least delete the highest-numbered .dbc file, as it may be corrupt, and reinstall your most recent content.

thank you for following up with me on this

I'll try the solution you propose, but I'm not happy about it, because this is file management, troubleshooting, and extra time, and energy invested on my part, time that I don't have... I just want to play the game, for the little free time that I have, if I have one hour, I just want to play, pick up from where I left off, and play... not spend that one hour doing files micromanagement, to no fault of my own... 

everything was working just fine last time when I saved my last game - in Roaring Heights and in Midnight Hollow - for example... take a break away from the game, and when I came back, I am forced to install a new EA app update - for "my own security" like they usually say - and as always creates more problems than it solves, I cannot load my last saved game in Roaring Heights or Midnight Hollow, only to realize the game doesn't even recognize anymore that I own those, even if I have saved games with those, with my in-game stories of my sims... 

then, I try to reinstall, a tedious and time-consuming process, once again due to no fault of my own, it tells me the installation is successful, yet it's still not working... I've spent over 2 hrs just to troubleshoot on my own, with my limited knowledge, and still didn't get the actually play the game. like I wanted...

if I go to the store.thesims3.com page to my account, it clearly shows I own already this premium content, those worlds - I can post a screenshot if needed - yet, I can't play it anymore, due to no fault of my own, due to a new EA app update I was forced to install, despite my reluctance to install

this is so frustrating that even if I try hard to stay away from hating EA and Maxis, because hate is a awful, unhealthy emotion, I can't help but to give up, and start hating EA and Maxis even more... over time, I've spent so much money, real money, on the game itself, that's not free like the crappy Sims 4, and on the expansion packs, and premium content, and I can't play it, because every new EA app - or in the past Origin - update messes up everything

not sure if EA cares, but this is not helping with players' loyalty and repeat buys... since Sims 3 and its DLCs I've never purchased anything else from EA, and I've shared my feelings with all my friends, advising them to avoid any EA product...

not to mention customer service and support, how hard it is to get in touch with the support team, how incompetent the agents are, who don't even know the game's specifics, and I could go on and on, but I assume they - EA - don't care anyway... 

I'm a mature (35+ y/o) gamer, and I spend thousands of dollars, literally thousands, on GTA Online, ESO, ED - Elite Dangerous,  FSX - Flight Sim X, Eve Online, and more, money that I could easily spend on EA Sims, if they would get their s#$%it together... but no, they keep updating from Origin to EA. and onward - and we all know why - only to mess up everything...

but, I'll stop ranting...

I do appreciate your suggestions to help me out, I really do, thank you, I'll give it a try...

p.s. no, I wasn't aware of anything you just mentioned, I don't care how the files are organized, I'm not a modder, although I admire and respect the modders community, I'm just a player, who wants to play with my sims...

puzzlezaddict​ 

hi again, I'd like to follow up with your solution, hoping this would eventually help with the tedious troubleshooting process

I've followed your advice - once again, thank you for following up with me on my issue, and for the guide you wrote - so I did everything as you suggested in your guide, basically launched a new, fresh Sims 3 game with the older Documents\The Sims 3 folder being renamed

I've downloaded and installed the custom premium worlds I have so far, the Midnight Hollow and the Roaring Heights on to the newly auto-created folder as per your guide

looks like the install was successfull, and now I can see in the launcher the said worlds as available, and it appears I can start a fresh new game in those worlds, or move my existing sims from any regular world that comes with an expansion pack - say Isla Paradiso, or Bridgeport - or any other saved that will load from a world of the default game or an extenssion pack

however, the bigger issue is that I can't - CANNOT - load any saved game from my custom premium worlds, so I cannot load any previously saved game from Midnight Hollow or Roaring Heights, telling me that 

"it might have been saved with an expansion pack that's no longer present on this system"  

which is clearly wrong, since I have the packs installed and I can actually start a new game or move any existing sim into the said premium custom worlds, as stated before, yet, I cannot load the saved games

clearly something is deeply wrong... (I don't know what, I'm no expert, that's why I'm here, frustrated, asking for help)

not to mention, I've spent over 3 hrs, over 180 minutes, of my free time, unpaid time I might ad, to do files micromanagement, redownload and reinstall of over 300, maybe 400 items, digitall assets, I have purchased over the years from the store, only to have those items available in-game...

a long, tedious, and annoying task, spending free time that I don't have, and still, I cannot load a previously saved game from the worlds I got for real money from the store

not sure if anyone in EA or Maxis gets the concept, I cou;d've use that time 1-2-3 hrs to maybe play Sims 3 and enjoy, instead I've spent it doing files management, downloads and reinstalls, wich I already did before, just because a new EA app was pushed that messed up everything

the general message is quite simple, DON'T EVER BUY SOMETHING FROM THE STORE, because as soon as an update of the now EA app, formerly known as Origin app will be pushed - "for my own security" - the things you buy from the store more than likely will not work anymore...

I know it's not your fault mate, I know you in fact are genuinely trying to help us, facing those issues, so please don't take it personally... I hope they pay you for monitoring those bug reports and helping users in need like me... but I didn't get paid for my hours spent trying to troubleshoot, to micromanage files, and to download and reinstall AGAIN, those assets... or even writing here the bug report and following up... that's valuable time that I could use to play Sims 3 and have fun, yet, I can't do that...

so that's why my frustration... I think I've spent over the years in the range of, or close to $1,000 US$$ on expansion packs and premium content from the store on Sims 3, and it's not working as intended, as promised at the time of the purchase...

just look at other games around the same age, Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim, GTA V, FSX that was released around 2004-2005, I can't even remember exactly, Witcher 3, Eve online, etc. etc. etc.... and all their DLCs, they all work, and nothing goes so terribly wrong when they deploy some update... 

but not with the almighty EA and Maxis, they keep changing things - "for our own security" - to make sure no one is messing with the IP rights and to fight piracy, from CD-DVD to online only, from Origin to EAapp and so forth, and nothing works as intended anymore...

bottom line, my friend, how can I fix this issue..??.. how can I load my older saves?? that's the reason I still play Sims 3 in 2025, to keep going with my older households I've built, with their lives and have some kind of fun...

I'm not happy to just start a new game in Midnight Hollow and/or Roaring Heights with brand new undeveloped sims, lots, homes, etc.

I want to continue the story progressions I've created over time with my sims...  but, I can't load saves from those custom premium world...

so, how can I fix that..??.. please advise...

Ghiby​  I apologize for the late reply; I've been away from the forums for a few days.  To be clear, you can currently load a new save in one of your Store worlds, but you can't load an old save that takes place in that Store world?  Have you confirmed that all your expansion and stuff packs are loading in-game as well?  The easiest way to check is to start a new save and try to filter CAS or Build/Buy by pack.  Any pack that isn't loading won't be an option.

puzzlezaddict​ 

thank you again for following up with me, I appreciate it, I mean it... no need to apologize for the delay, it looks like you're the only one willing to help around here with this issue, so I appreciate any extra help...

well I didn't tried all the expanssion packs, because I have too many, I think I have them all, but the ones I've tried so far, like the Bridgeport - Nightlife - and the Soaring Shores - Showtime - and Isla Paradiso, and a few others, are working just fine...

so I could confirm 99% that the expanssion packs are working fine, as expected...

but, indeed, any saves, previous saves of my custom worlds - Midnight Hollow and/or  Roaring Heights - are not loading... looks like a new saved gamefile will load, but not the older ones... which is an inconvenience, because I have "worked" a lot, so to speak to build househollds, sims, homes, mansions, even castles (by my standards) to those worlds, and now, I cann't access those previous saved gamefiles, to continue those households lives, stories progression as I envisioned...

so, what should I do..??.. just accept the fact that because EA decided to push a new update on their EA app, all my previous work is completetly lost..??.. that's not fun... not to mention, that's not encouraging to me as a consumer, paying customer to buy even more content, more worlds from the store, as I was planning to... what should I understand?? that anytime a new EA app update will be pushed, my custom premium paid worlds won't work?? should I not even play those premium worlds, simply because I won't be able to load any saved game in the future..??..

this is not why I've purchased those premium worlds, clearly I wanted to use them, to save my progress and continue to use them... I don't play every day Sims 3, not even every week, sometimes I'm months away, or almost 6 months, like in my last case, from Jan 2025, to now, I didn't touched Sims 3, simply because I don't have much time to play games, and as a gamer, I also play other games too, that don't give me so much grief... even older games, same age as Sims 3, or older, and those work just fine, even if they also have updates...

I play Eve online since 2006, and FSX - Flight Sim X - since around the same time... Skyrim, Witcher 3, ESO, Elite Dangerous, and more, they had over the years thousands of updates, none of them messed up my own saves, on my own local hard drive or their servers so bad like Sims 3 by EA and Maxis...

just for comparison, I can load a saved game in FSX or Skyrim, or Witcher 3 that I've saved 10-12 years ago and it will work, all my digital assets are there, all the textures, cells - buildings, structures - all the missions, jobs, are there and I can just pick up from where I left...

why am I unable to do so after EA app had a new update..??.. I did't nothng wrong on my end, I was not even present, logged in, active when the update was released and deployed, so why are my saved games impacted - and practically rendered unusable - by a new update..??.. why are we forced to install a new update that will mess up everything..??..

and I have even more issues.. I have FM 13 - Football Managed 2013 - from EA, it's installed, I own it, I played it, of course after the initial activation, I have saved games on my hard drive, and now, when I try to launch it again, it routes me to a window to activate the game AGAIN, and after typing in my credential logins - my email and password - it tells me the game cannot be activated..??..

to avoid any confusion...

so I'm logged in successfully into EA app, I can launch Sims 3 - as faulty as it is - but I can launch it, and when I try to launch FM 13, it prompts me to activate it again, even if it was activated first time when I purchased and downloaded and installed, via Origin if I'm not mistaken, and when I try now, with the new updated EA app it tells me that my logins are not valid, ironically, while I am logged in EA app with the same exact logins...

how is that possibile, when the game was already activated, years ago?? when I alreadu have it downloaded and installed on my hard drive..??.. when I have saved games on my hard drive, from previous sessions..??.. again, it was working with the Orign App and the previous version of EA app, now, with the lastest updated version of the EA app, it's not working, acting like I never owned the game in fact, when it's already saved on my hard drive...

I just don't understad why is this happening, with no fault of my own that I am aware of... I just accepted a new EA app install and now everything I had is messed up...

how can I buy more EA products..??.. honestly I wanted to buy more Sims 3 premium worlds, to have even more "fun" so to speak... 

how can I move to Sims 4 and start a new outrageous round of spending on the DLCs as the powers that be, collecting their bonuses in their ivory towers, hope for..??.. not counting that Sims 4 is a total disaster, not open world... 

what is happening with EA..??.. and Maxis..??..

please don't take it personally, I'm just extremely fustrated and unhappy with the EA and Maxis as a corporate, taking our money, but delivering crappy products, and no actual support - except now, for your efforts to help - years later after having issues due to newer "better" updated versions of EA app...

what do they expect, we spend tons of money on a game and its DLCs just to play it for a few months, then just forget about it, and never attempt to play it again..??..

do they expect we're just goning to move on to newer products, like Sims 4 and its DLCs, with a poor track record of servicing older titles..??.. not to mention Sims 4 is a total failure, the base game is even free and its DLCs are on sale most of the time... while Sims 3 was never on sale, or its DLCs, or if it ever was on sale, I can't remember... why is that..??.. because real gamers won't buy Sims 4, recognizing it for what it is...

not that it matters much, but just so you can get a general idea, I just dropped over $245 (US$) on ESO premium plus membership, because I deem it as it's worthy of my money and my time in-game... I could buy a good chunk of Sims 4 and its DLCs with that, yet, I choose to look away and spend my money someplace else...

all simply because EA app latest update is messing up everything... how does this make any sense..??.. how can I remain loyal to EA and Maxis and keep buying..??..

Ghiby​  The EA App doesn't always handle older games well.  It's the unfortunate reality at this point.  It's possible that your FM13 issues are because the App doesn't know what to do with the game, although I have no idea beyond knowing that sometimes it helps to remove the License folder here:

%ProgramData%\Electronic Arts\EA Services

I wouldn't delete it just in case some other game can't regenerate its license data.  (This shouldn't happen, but it does.)  Removing it is a quick test, and you can restore the old folder if necessary.

Store content getting corrupted is a common issue these days, but it's far from universal.  I haven't figured out what the underlying issue is for those affected, or maybe it's several issues.  I do know that a lot of players use the EA App and don't have this happen, or it only happens once every couple of years and they play often enough that it's not too much of a burden overall.

As for your saves, I can try to load them if you'd like, the idea being to see whether they're actually corrupt or just not working on your particular computer.  I don't own all Store content, but I do own a lot of it, and every world, and every EP and every SP except for Katy Perry, so I should be able to load any save that's intact overall.  If you're interested, zip up the saves you'd like me to test, upload the .zip somewhere, and either post the link here or send it to me via PM.

puzzlezaddict​ 

thank you for following up with me, really, I appreciate your efforts to help me...

as far as FM 13, I love it, same as FM 12 and before, those were the entire franchise at that time

yet, I can't play it anymore, not even launch it, let alone load a previously saved game

• so the EA app shows it in my library, shows it that I own it
• it's also already installed on my hard drive on the same computer I had in Jan 2025
• I also have saved games on my hard drive, on my gaming rig, since the last time when I've played, also around Jan-Feb 2025
• but, when I try to launch it, it asks me to log in and authenticate, even if I'm already logged in EA app and try to launch it via EA app from my library
• when I try to actually log in again in that pop-up window, it tells me it's not recognized, even if oddly enough I am logged in EA app with the same login credentials, so it makes no sense to me as a user

back to Sims 3, I am now able to play and save and load newly saved savefiles from any default world as EP and from Midnight Hollow and Roaring Heights, and Riverview, since those are the only custom worlds I have from the store

• last time when I played and saved, around Jan 2025, I was in Midnight Hallow, and at the time all was working just fine, I could save and reload as needed, same computer, same specs, same OS
• now, EA app was updated forcefully with a push that I didn't want to accept, but had no choice in the matter
• now, my old saved game files from Midnight Hollow and Roaring Heights are grayed out, cannot load, and when I hoover the mouse over it tells me they may have been saved with content that I no longer own, which obviously is not accurate, since I can save new game files, just not load the old ones before the last EA app update
• clearly the last EA app update is a milestone, and something happened during and after this update being installed, not only I lost every store content, and I had to reinstall it, as per your guide, but also  cannot load old saves files, that were working just fine before the last EA app update
• as a side note, re-downloading and re-installing all my custom content from the store, over 300, close to 400-450 items, was a very tedious and time consiming task, that I didn't have to do again, and this adds to my frustration - luckly they are accessibile in-game now after reinstalling them all, based on your guide, but my point is we shouldn't have to do that, just to play the game, that's not even that old compared to others

I play many other older games, from MMOs - Eve Online, FSX (flight sim X) since 2006, Witcher 3. with all its DLCs, Elder Scrools V - Skyrim, with all its DLCs, GTA Online, RDO (Red Dead Online) - nothing else from EA, sorry guys, but I try to stay away as much as I can when I see the EA label, but don't feel bad about being alone, I do the same with the big U - Ubisoft - when I see those labels, not only that I don't buy anymore - except Sims 3 stuff - but I run away, as far as I can... 

anyway, my point is that I play other older games too, that seems to be better - less microtransactions - that the newer games, but I don't have such issues with other older games, like I have with Sims 3, which is unfortunately for me, as it's one of my favorites of all time, because it's well made, as a concept, despite its faults...

in the end, my conclusion is simple: if other older games work after hundreds and thousands of updates released and pushed, me as a gamer I also expect my Sims 3, and FM 12 & FM 13 to work...

yes, I'll try to zip some older saved files and post them here somehow so you can try it...

but I really don't understand how can those be corrupted, since I saved those with the EA app that was in effect active in Jan-Feb 2025 and I could load those at the time with no problems whatsoever, yet now, atound 6 months later the same exact files, could be, might be magically corrupted after the latest EA app..??.. don't you see the irony in this..??..

something is wrong at the core... I can't put my finger on what could be, and it's not worth my time and energy to research reasons and speculate, but something is deeply wrong with the team that works on EA app, and copyright infringement protection, and IP enforcing, via the EA app, for "our own security"...

whenever I hear others telling me - in promos, or TOS, or whatever descriptions - it's for "my own security," I run away as far as I can, because it's fishy 99.99% of the cases...

there was a time when we could own a game - I still have the original Sims 3 CD-DVD in some storage box - on CD-DVDs and were working just fine, on any computer that was meeting the minimum requirements... 

now, no... no way... now, we have to go through a portal like the former Origin, now EA app, for security purposes, because we're not using CD-DVDs anymore, and they need to protect their IP and periodically launch a new update to keep up with the hackers' tech...

please don't take it personally, it's not you, it's the corporate greed that I'm facing every day, even in gaming, while playing games...

I'll try to post some zip files so you can try on your end...

Ghiby​  I don't know whether the saves are corrupted, or how they would have become so.  But testing on my end could be informative.  So feel free to send me one or more of them any time.

If you do still have the CDs, and your base game copy was manufactured prior to September 2012, you could install the game via disc and do without the EA App entirely.  Let me know if you're interested and need help with the process.

I really don't know anything about your other games, so I can't help there.