SIMS 3 version installed is more recent than expected
What can i do?
Forum Discussion
Hi there,
Thanks for your fast reply. Are you telling me to keep installing them and when it tells me that the version is more recent even after I’ve patched it - is to patch it again? I am getting the unknown error has occurred message when I try and launch anything to do with the sims 3 after an attempted expansion pack installation. The base game is fine until I do this and then I have to reinstall it because even if I delete e.g. World Adventures files they’re still somehow there and when I launch the base game it will still try and load the World Adventured launcher - so basically everything besides the base game is buggering up the base game.
This is what has been happening to me when I go to install anything:
I will install the base game first and then I will patch it and it will run no problems even without the super patch it will run no problems and then I install the first expansion pack according to chronological order which is world adventures and it gives me the message that the version is more recent than expected and so then I just say yes I install it and then it will try and open but it just jumps trying to load and then says unknown error occurred. So basically I can play the base game but as soon as I go to install anything else like expansions it has a temper tantrum. I also tested this with an out of order sequence like generations FIRST I believe as well and the same thing happened - unknown error. I am installing the files to the same place where TS3 is on my external HD.
Thanks for your help if you need further information let me know
Sarah
@sarahthebos3 What I'm saying is, the "more recent than expected" error is not always a problem. When you run the Super Patch, or even when the launcher does its job and patches properly, your base game will be on patch 1.67. For the earliest packs—either Generations is the last one like this, or the first one not to be—they had their own patches separate from the base game. So the version you're downloading from Origin may not be the patched version that works with patch 1.67. This alone isn't a big deal though; the message can be ignored, and the game should play just fine.
The base game alone doesn't technically need to be patched if you don't install any packs, since there's no other content it needs to match. That's why it will run the same regardless of whether you apply the Super Patch.
Instead of installing an early pack, try your newest one instead (and then running the Super Patch again). If the patched base game runs but, say, the base game plus University Life does not, then there's something weird going on. You can always go back and install out of order later. And please let me know which packs you're trying to install, so I can describe the sequence of troubleshooting steps more specifically. Some of them need extra help to install properly, but that shouldn't include any of the newer packs.
Hi there!
I've installed university life, no error messages yet. I can launch the launcher via the University play button but it doesn't say it's installed & the version of my game has changed I think??? Can't toggle the expansion on or off though as you usually can do in the launcher. What should I do next? Should I patch the BASE GAME with the super patcher? You mentioned patching each individual expansion pack if need be, is this likely I'll have to do so?
Best Regards,
Sarah
@sarahthebos3 That is weird, that University Life isn't showing in the launcher. Does it have its own alias in Applications\The Sims 3, alongside the alias for the base game? If not, you can create one yourself easily enough:
https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed/
UL isn't one of the packs that typically needs this step, but it shouldn't hurt. First though, go ahead and patch the base game. UL never received its own patch, like the other new packs, so it doesn't need any special help. Besides, the Super Patch would likely not even run properly on UL.
The version number is definitely off—it should say 1.67.something. But UL was the 18th pack, so I would guess that's what you're seeing. Let me know whether running the Super Patch again fixes this.
Hi again,
Step 3. Double click on the pack icon you are missing.
I do this and it just opens the launcher again, no university life hahaha
Also, I have not super patched the base game AT ALL yet but I will do that now.
Sarah
Launcher opened no problems! University Life is running! It's a miracle! Still no option to turn on/off expansions though? Bit confused about that... Not that I want to turn them off right now haha. Am I okay to go ahead and try and install seasons or something? Also - is the version of the game correct now? This is after the super patch.
Sarah
@sarahthebos3 Yes, that's the correct version now. I think because UL was newer than the unpatched base game download (that version of the base game was current when Seasons was released), the launcher was reading the UL version rather than the one for the base game.
I should have said earlier, but you won't be able to turn packs on and off in the launcher. That feature came with patch 1.69, and there is no version of 1.69 for macOS. So if you don't want a pack active, your only choice is to not install it at all.
Yes, you can start installing your other packs now. Most of them should install fine, but four (Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane, and Outdoor Living) need some help. The first step is to create an alias for each one in Applications\TS3, as I mentioned you might need to do with University. when it wasn't showing in the launcher.
https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed/
The second step is to copy a folder from each of those affected packs into the folder for University Life, if that continues to be your newest pack. (If you install Isla Paradiso, Movie Stuff, or Into the Future, that's where the folders will go.) This video explains where to find the folders and how to copy them over:
If you want to try an unaffected pack like Seasons first, and make sure everything is still installing correctly, that's fine. Let me know if you get any error messages, but usually, installing the newer packs out of order doesn't cause any problems.
My game crashed while loading into the main menu (it might have been because I alt tabbed) & now I am getting a different error - I had this one the other night
It won't let me launch it now, it just pretends to be loading the launcher and then quits. Sigh
@sarahthebos3 What if you launch the game by double-clicking on the University Life icon in Applications, and leaving Origin out of it entirely? There's no reason Origin needs to be running while you play. For Origin itself, the reset tool usually takes care of the problem.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/how-to-reset-origin-on-mac/
Also, if you want to do other things while playing, hit command-enter to switch to windowed mode.
Alright - I can launch the game through the University Life Icon!!!
Am I okay to start trying to install other packs?
Honestly why is Origin so buggy???
@sarahthebos3 Sure, go ahead and start installing your other packs, and see how it goes. I'd do one at a time, just to make sure everything keeps working, and apply the fixes each time you add one of the packs that needs them.
As to why Origin is so buggy... if I ever find out, I'll let you know. But it does mostly work if you know how to make it do what you want. The key is figuring out how to force it to cooperate.
Thank you so much for all your help. I'll let you know how the expansion installations go. Sorry to be a further pain but can I ask your thoughts on where the "Electronic Arts" folders are - the game was opening WITHOUT it in my Origin Games folder on my external hard drive but now I have moved it there too because I was worried it was going to mess it up... Do you think I can delete the folder off my mac's hard drive or is it better to be safe and have it in two places... Although even this sounds dodgy to do. I have attached screenshots (basically i have two Electronic Arts folders, exactly the same - one on my Mac's HDD and one on my external HDD. The folder called "Origin Games" is within my external hard drive one, and the second that's within "Documents" called "Electronic Arts" is just the folder that's downloaded to my Mac's hard drive, which I believe is the standard folder everyone has for EA Games they have installed.
I only ask as the whole point of the external HDD (which I pretty much specifically bought to store all TS3/Sims stuff on lol) is to not have any of it on my Mac's HDD because of the storage issue.
Thank you so much again,
Sarah 🙂
Alright just installed pets - had the warning message come up (the sims 3 version more recent than expected) - I used the super patch on the BASE game before and then installed - didn't work. Tried to load pets and then tried to load university (jumping up and down icon/appearing) and then just disappeared. Both of these loads were through the icons in the TS3 applications folder from my external HDD, with origin completely closed. So I patched the BASE game again with the super patcher and the same thing. It's not working... I really don't know what to do!!! Running out of patience.
@sarahthebos3 The Sims 3 game folder, the one with all your user data, is stored by default in Documents\Electronic Arts on your local hard drive. Sims 3 will always look there for its game folder, and if it doesn't find that folder, it will create a new one with no content. So you can move your saves, mods and cc, builds, etc. to your external drive, but that content won't load when you launch the game. (The same applies to Sims 4 as well.)
The only way I know of (on a Mac) to force the game to read a folder on your external drive is to redirect all of Documents there. I'm actually not quite sure how to do that in macOS, although I can look it up or ask someone, if you really need it. This isn't common practice though—most people have enough space to at least leave their game folders on their internal drives. You can always store backup saves, or entire backup game folders, on the external, and move them to your internal when you're ready to use them.
I can see in the snippet of screenshot of your local drive that your computer is staying your storage is full. Are you sure it's not referring to your iCloud account? It wouldn't be surprising if iCloud was syncing your entire Documents folder, which it does by default in macOS (and likes to turn back on with an OS update). A free iCloud account only provides 5 GB storage, which will get filled quickly. You can disable automatic syncing easily enough though:
https://bluebellflora.com/2017/02/06/sims-3-and-sims-4-not-loading-save-games/
I would definitely back up your game folder on your external drive. Even if Sims 3 isn't using this data, it's always good to have backups, because you never know when something might go wrong with your user data. It's much easier to delete a corrupt folder and drop in a recent backup than it is to rebuild the entire folder from scratch.
And you're not being a pain. Believe it or not, some of us help here for fun.
Edit: I just saw your more recent post. Please check to see whether the folder for Pets got copied to its correct location inside the folder for University Life. Specifically, right-click on the Sims 3 icon in Applications, choose Show Package Contents, and follow this path:
Contents > Resources > AddOns > University Life > [right-click, Show Package Contents] > Contents > Resources > transgaming > c_drive > Program Files > Electronic Arts
Do you see a folder for Pets there? If not, you can copy one over using this same technique designed for the problem packs:
Please check to see whether the folder for Pets got copied to its correct location inside the folder for University Life. Specifically, right-click on the Sims 3 icon in Applications, choose Show Package Contents, and follow this path:
Contents > Resources > AddOns > University Life > [right-click, Show Package Contents] > Contents > Resources > transgaming > c_drive > Program Files > Electronic Arts
It is there... so what do I do now? It's still not opening the launcher.
@sarahthebos3 Okay, since I posted, it occurred to me that the issue might be that you're out of storage, as your screenshot of the Electronic Arts folder shows. Please check the overall storage on your computer: click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen, select About This Mac, and click the Storage icon.
Please also disable automatic cloud sync as mentioned in my previous post. If your iCloud account is full and you're allowing auto syncing, or if Sims 3 is somehow using your iCloud drive as the primary location for your game folder, then being out of space will prevent the game from generating a new folder or even adding to the one that already exists. That could prevent the launcher from opening at all.
I'm a bit concerned to do this. I have assignments etc. on here and this option appears to me as if it's going to take it all off my computer and store it in the cloud which is definitely not what I want to do (cannot lose my work). I understand its my icloud that's out of space but like the way this is worded I'm super hesitant.
@sarahthebos3 I agree, the wording is not great. What it's saying is that everything currently stored only in iCloud currently appears on your desktop or in Documents, as if it were stored locally. When you turn off iCloud, none of that will appear. It will still be in cloud storage though, and you can access it whenever you want. Anything new added to the folders that have been syncing with your iCloud account won't be synced going forward unless you do it manually.
If you'd prefer, you can copy everything in cloud storage to your external hard drive first. It's simple enough: right-click on a folder to select Copy, then right-click inside some folder in the external and select Paste. Having backups is a good idea anyway, and this is an excellent reason to make some.
I did this (turned off iCloud) and nothing happened. Yes the EA folder was removed off my computer and I could still not launch the game via my External HDD. It also took all my other documents with it. I've turned it back on because I need my work on my computer.
Do you have any other suggestions?
If not, I think I might just have to call it quits
By doing that iCloud thing it completely messed up my files - literally cannot be found anywhere. I could have lost all my assignments for this stupid game. It's not worth it.
Update: I found all my files in iCloud archives - so they’re fine but that’s still RIDICULOUS that turning that feature off removed it all from iCloud and wasn’t just stored in local files in the first place..,
@sarahthebos3 I'm glad to hear you found your archived iCloud files; they're kind of buried if you don't know where to look. The difficulty of dealing with iCloud is precisely why I always leave it off, and also not allowed to sync on the rare occasion that I want to use it to upload something.
I don't know why your game loaded fine with one pack installed, but not a second one. I understand why you might not want to put any more effort towards making the game work. If you do decide to give it another go, let me know, and I'll try to help.
