Wednesday, December 16, 2009

New patch - new tool

There is a new patch. Supposed to fix many issues, including Sim ages being reset if you change their clothes or hair.

Create a world is officially out. They even have left it as beta so beware that they must be sure it will have some issues.

37 comments:

  1. The forums erupted when it hit. Now, I can't get on the forums so I imagine they're overloaded. I'll wait to load the patch until I see that it's working as intended. As for CAW, I hope everyone realizes it's beta and what that means.

    I really don't want to have to paw my way through CAW sucks posts on the forums.

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  2. If past performance from Sims 2 is any indication, this is the patch that actually fixes almost everything (no Sims patch ever catches *everything*). I dislike that it bundles in a connection to the Sims store but I'll see how that works in practice.

    As for CAW - they have made a separate forum for it. Hopefully most of the "It sucks", "It broke my computer" and "Best thing 4ever" mostly go there. I'll wait for a patch or three before I get it.

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  3. I feel the same about CAW. I'll wait until it's been around a while. I agree about the store bundle. A lot of games do this now. Dragon's Age even has a contact in game you can talk to and pay for additional missions. City of Heroes (an NCsoft game) has store access in it's loading screen.

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  4. Sigh. I can't stand games that you have to buy over and over again.

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  5. Sue, I never quite understood the appeal of World of Warcraft for that reason. You have to purchase the game and then pay per month to play. Talk about a game that you pay for over and over...

    I know that Dragon's Age is playable without buying the additional content, it's one of the other things I'm playing when I can tear myself from Indiana Sam.

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  6. My husband loves Dragon Age. I spend most of my gaming time with our sims so I'm not in a hurry to get into it but it looks great.

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  7. That's why I still play Diablo. :)

    Mmm, I'll have to put Dragon Age on my list of games to check out. There are some amazing looking free MMOs out there. Before I did a big disk cleanup, I was getting into Silkroad Online and Supreme Destiny online. The graphics on those are breathtaking.

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  8. I'm going to see what others have to say about CAW first before I get it. If they have a problem and don't have cc or mods or hacks then I will be very wary.

    I want to try it out so bad. I will probably us the SV or RV template first just to see what all is involved.

    who knows, I may give in and be the guinea pig again. LOL.

    I can see it now and I haven't even been to the forum yet.

    It sucks, it broke my computer, it's too hard, etc,etc, etc...

    I want that patch.

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  9. So am I to understand one downloads the patch and the CAW tool seperately?

    I saw something about the sims3pack files being changed to package files and that then makes the game unable to read the previous files or something to that effect.

    http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php

    I am not sure if this just applies if one has mods?

    I read through the list of things the patch supposedly fixes, I hope it does fix all those things. But I am still hesitant to dl it and I think I will wait a few days to see what the forum response is to it working or not.

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  10. Btw, I have been looking at the forum, it seems that the sims3pack thing is an issue for everyone. Store content is no longer visible in game.

    Some people cannot get past the loading screen.

    Seems like they will have to release another patch now to fix this.

    Can they in all honesty tell us that they test these patches before releasing them to the public?

    This sims3pack thing is another major but basic issue like the files to folder issue with the 1.6 patch.

    Honestly, they look like amatuers.

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  11. I decided to be a guinea pig last night.
    I downloaded the patch and then downloaded CAW.
    They are in separate folders. They are both in the EA folder of my documents. When I click on EA in my documents I see the sims3 folder and the caw folder separate.
    I went into the game and played for about an hour to see if I had any problems. I didn't so far.
    I went into the CAW and played around with it a tiny bit. Let's just say I am going to have to read the instructions. I haven't made a town yet so don't know what happens when you put a town into the game.
    Pamela is still wearing the store bought closthes that I gave her.

    I tested a toddler at the dresser and the age still went back, BUT, I later did a "save as" and changed the game from SV2 to SV3. That may fix that problem. I'll find out later.

    The first time I went to start the game, the launcher was taking forever, so I closed it using the little red X and started it again with no problem.

    The CAW shows as not responding but it starts up anyway.

    I restarted my computer before I went to bed last night so I'll find out tonight is restarting the computer changes anything. I should have done that to begin with before trying to play anything after downloading so many things. I also had to download Adobe to read the instructions.

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  12. More. I don't know what you mean about the folders since I have never used cc. My sim3 game folder looks the same right now as it did before. I still have the same 5 cache package files.

    I do know that people have always said we have to move the mod and cc folders before installing patches or EP's.

    Reading the forum had me nervous about installing the game in the beginning. I was holding my breath that day back in June hoping my computer wasn't going to explode.

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  13. Dee,I know I also find that folder thing confusing. I do not have any mods either.

    In my program files the only folder I have is EADM.. no Mod or package folders.

    So does that mean then it is safe?

    I am too scared to DL it:/

    On investigating further it seems that store bought content that ppl got via other sites and not paying for it is the content that is not showing up.

    Though I have seen some posts of simmers who only have store content which they paid for but it is not showing up either. These ppl do not have mods in the game to blame either.

    I hope it was just the save as issue with regard to your mirror aging.
    I did see a post that said they had checked the mirror and the sim didn't age back.

    If the CAW tool is a BETA version does that mean that they won't release a proper version?

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  14. Also Dee, do you have Riverview still? Some ppl are reporting that missing?

    With my luck if I dl the patch I will be one of the ppl with all the glitches LOL

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  15. I just went to my documents folder and emptied those 4 cache folders. I usually do that and forogt last night. That too may fix my aging back problem.

    Safe for your game or not, I don't know.

    I checked for Riverview last night and it was still there. I didn't try actually starting a new game.


    As far as I know my store content is still there and I played around with Ariel in CAS and had no problems.

    I won't know anything else until tonight. I have to leave for work now.

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  16. Thanks Dee for the advice!

    You don't have to reply now but whenever you have time as I am in no hurry to DL it.

    I have only one DCCashe folder?

    It has 3 files in it.

    dbcdb0.dbc
    dbcdb0.ebc
    missingdeps.idx

    Are those the files that I am supposed to delete that replicate themselves?

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  17. Worsie, no, no, no.
    I have never messed with that file as I don't have the slightest idea what it is.
    You may have to scroll down, but somewhere in there you should see: CASPartcache.package
    ScriptCache.package
    SimcompositorCache.package
    CompositorCache.package

    Mine are near the bottom. Those are the four that I right click on and click delete.
    After you do that and start the game back up, let the intro movie play through. I have heard that we need to let it play to regenerate the folders.

    Be prepared. When you first go back into the game it will take a minute, does in mine anyway, for the game to put the color back into items and to make sims faces clear again. After deleting those, whenever I go to a different lot the first time it is a bit slower to kick in. It will get back to normal.

    I check those after every game play session. When the files start getting pretty large, I delete them. I did the same thing in Sims 2.

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  18. I don't know for sure what fixed it but they aren't aging back anymore. It was weird. It may have helped emptying the cache folders or it could have been when I did the "save as". I had sierra's toddler plan outfit and change appearance and she still aged back. I then had Jon Lessen change outfit and he didn't. I tested Tyler and he didn't. I then tested Wyatt's toddler at the dresser and mirror and she didn't. It was as if it just took a few minutes to kick in.

    I have gone so many places that I may end up starting over. I may put them all back in Riverview and let them begin again. Just too many in SV for a freewill game. I haven't really decided yet.

    Where is everybody anyway.

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  19. So far I haven't had any problems. I haven't downloaded CAW, yet.

    I've been lurking here and there. My father in law is having surgery in the morning. Hubby left to go be with them while I stay home with our daughter who still has school. I'm a little distracted.

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  20. I saw your comment on the forum right below mine just a few minutes ago.

    I'm sure you are distracted. Our in-laws, many times, can be very dear to us.

    As I stated, since I did the things I did, I haven't had any problems. I am so glad to be able to change their clothes and appearance again. I'm practically jumping for joy here.

    I haven't been back into CAW. I want to wait until I'm not so tired, so when I read the tutorial, my brain can actually absorb the information. I also wanted to check my game out and make sure everything is okay.

    I know cc and mods can't be the problem for all those people having problems. I know it is for a lot of them.

    Here I go again. I just got to tell it though.
    We are supposed to have 3-6 inches of snow tomorrow. It used to be we didn't get much at all until around Jan or Feb. In these mountains you just never know whether it will happen or not. I live 7 miles from work and have left home with clear roads and got to town and the roads were covered, and vice versa. The road crews just never get to my back roads. If it snows I'll be staying home. If I'm at work, I'll be coming home.

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  21. Now I have to go sleep. Hope everything goes well for your father-in-law.

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  22. Thanks, Dee. If you stay home tomorrow you can study your CAW manual.

    I hope everyone has a glitch free game. Wouldn't that be nice?

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  23. Oh... Ok Dee, I just remember them being a folder before or did I imagine that?

    I see them now. One is 282KB, one is 487KB and one is 1.32 MB is that still small?

    SOrry to ask all the dumb blonde qustions, I am just really nervous to delete things LOL

    Dee, LadyEmily has started a Q and A thread in Genl Disc for CAW tool... she makes it easy to understand, I looked at that manual and they don't explain everything clearly.

    I can't in my wildest dreams imagine a white christmas. I have only ever seen snow once, and only once it had fallen. My dad drove for four hours to show us and we stood in it knee deep.

    Here over xmas it is usually around 32 to 35 degrees celsius which is 89 to 95 degrees fahrenheit.

    Chrysame I hope all goes well with your dad-in-law.

    I am going to hold off with installing the patch. I saw last night BigGuy saying that EA is aware of all the issues the patch is creating and they will work on it.

    I just wish they would test these things before release:(

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  24. "Be prepared. When you first go back into the game it will take a minute, does in mine anyway, for the game to put the color back into items and to make sims faces clear again. After deleting those, whenever I go to a different lot the first time it is a bit slower to kick in. It will get back to normal."

    :) That's situation normal for me. I run the game with graphic options a bit too high for my 4 year old computer and graphics card. Any time I go to view town and jump to a new location, I have to wait 30 to 90 seconds for the game graphics to rebuild. Still better and faster than reloading lots in Sims 2.

    I haven't loaded the patch, and haven't touched the forums.

    Snow, I love watching snow fall. And loathe actually being in the stuff, I hate cold. In the tropics, this is seldom a problem. :)

    Chrysame, best of luck for you, husband and father in law.

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  25. PiB, I was reading about CC Cleaner and I have never actually used this on my PC.

    All it really has on it is sims games, quake, doom, rayman and prince of persia.

    I do not really download anything else.

    I exclusively use it atm for playing sims and university stuff.

    I don't even install those demo games we get with our gaming mags because I want my PC to be clean and pristine.

    Is this CC Cleaner helpful? Should I DL it and use it?

    I have been having issues with the exchange saying that my personal items(some of them) contain items and my game is not upto date to latest patch. Which was baloney at the time.

    After more than a week a response from EA was that I should uninstall/reinstall my game. I am nervous to do this because I see that there are a number of ppl who cannot even get the game to work after.

    Is this because they did not do a manual uninstall?

    I really don't want to have to restart my darn legacy again! I am thinking just to finish it and then do a fresh start with sims after.

    Anyway, if I could just get some advice on the CC Cleaner and the uninstall I would really appretiate it.
    I am really a technophobe when it comes to pc's and I am so scared I will mess something up.

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  26. Thanks everyone. I've already talked to hubby this morning. It's going to be a long day.

    I can only access the forums at night. I get the proxy error or a note saying the servers are over capacity. I've only posted a few times about the patch, mostly hoping it will remind people to do maintenance, backup and remove all mods and cc. There still seems to be a lot of confusion about cc.

    I think some of that is due to the fact that some cc escapes the filters and can be downloaded through the exchange. I know I was surprised by some of the things I acquired by downloading a sim here and there. The exchange is great but there's no way they can build it to complete block every piece of cc.

    I have to imagine that the forum Gurus are cursing the names of the guys who are responsible for the patches. I know I still haven't patched up my daughter's game. I might try that this weekend. Mom is always the guinea pig. Kiddo would not be pleased if her store items disappeared.

    I'm still not doing any traveling with my family after the Wyatt issue but I'm going to start a new game and try it out, again. I want to go to Egypt!
    *reminds self to backup, again*

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  27. I managed to get on the forums. I think I'll wait to patch up my daughter's game. It's working alright now so why risk it.

    SimGuru_BGY_11 posted in someone's thread, "It appears that the 1.8 patch is causing issues for a large number of users, including game corruption. We're currently gathering as much data as possible right now so we can locate the root cause." Yeah, he's definitely banging his head on his desk.

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  28. First Rain, then sleet, then snow. I woke up to white roofs, green grass and clear looking road. That was an hour ago. Now we have white roofs, very lttle green grass and not so clear road. It's pretty but, I'm a summer person. The sleet of course made it icy under the snow so I won't be going anywhere. Supposed to continue through tomorrow. Not good.

    Let us know how father-in-law does, Chrysame.

    My Cache folders at this time after I played less than 2 hours last night.
    CAS 1 KB
    compositor 45,887 KB
    script 1,349 KB
    simcompositor 261,067 KB

    I would think when it reaches MB that would be high.

    I don't know how to help with anything else.

    Here is what I usually do when I remember to do it all.

    Before installing patches. I'm notorious for forgetting to back up my saved game. Forgot to do it this time too.
    I check the installed content folder for anything that doesn't look like it came from EA.
    I empty the 4 cache folders.
    I do the download of the patch.
    I restart my computer.
    In game I "save as" and change the name of the game slightly.
    I play.
    I sometimes leave the game after all this and start over. If I have a problem I leave and restart the computer again. So far so good.

    If I had cc and mods I would make sure they were out of the files completely.

    PiB, I sometimes get the white stuff, blurred faces and even sometimes invisible sims when first entering a lot. Mine too clears up. My takes longer if I have just emptied those cache folders.

    It doesn't happen all the time. I've think I've been very lucky considering I am using integrated graphics. I've been afraid to install a video card because I don't know what I'm doing.

    Since I have Vista I still don't try to smooth edges since they warned us about that. I have some things set lower and some higher. I don't remember right now what my settings are on.

    It's 32 degrees F here. Grass almost disappeared now. Hope the power doesn't go out. I have battery backup/surge protector for my pc but if power goes out I always go ahead and shut it down. Battery is good for about 3 hours.

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  29. Just talked to hubby. My FiL's surgery went well. He'll be in the hospital for several days to a week to recover and then back to the assisted living apartments he and MiL call home.

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  30. That is great to hear Chrysame. Now you can relax. You're probably exhausted just from worry.

    I just came back from Riverview. I think I have altered just about everything in town including the Rave Warehouse. I hope sims will go there now.

    I'm about to start over in Riverview. I put all the same sims into it. I also added 4 more of my own. I don't think I am going to delete anyone and just hope for the best.

    My husband went out and measured the snow about 1 1/2 hours ago. 5inches and still going strong.

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  31. Boy, am I glad I haven't installed the patch yet. Something told me to wait on this one.

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  32. I just put 16 sims into Riverview and I'm still not having any problems with the patch. I hope it stays that way. I even sent a couple of them to the dresser and mirror. No aging back.
    I of course put The Corner Pub into the game and it is still a very popular place Sue.

    I was going to try to make a town with CAW but got aggravated with it because it is sooooo slow and is not the easiest program in the world.

    Our power keeps flashing. Keep your fingers crossed for me. Last report, we had about 17,000 without power in my county. We don't normally get this much snow in two years.

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  33. Here I am again. I blamed EA for something that wasn't their fault. All this time I wasn't able to see the furniture in the other homes because I had the option off. I decided to turn "enable hide objects" off and now I can see inside everywhere. *claps hands* I'm so happy. It just seems so much more real.

    I have played through 4 sims and everything is still working great. I am actually having them do things when I spend the day with them so I can see if anything is going to mess up. Nothing messed up yet.

    Update: 14 inches of snow in my front yard as of two hours ago. Still snowing.

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  34. I'm so glad you figured it out, Dee! Yay! Fourteen inches of snow?! Wow. You're not going anywhere for quite a while. Playtime for Dee!

    I was bored and created a new male. I didn't play him but it was fun messing around in CAS. Keep warm, Dee.

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  35. Dee, you are so clever! Thanks for that hide objects tip! See now, I have been asking for help with that issue on the forum for ages and nonone bothered to help... at least I get help from you guys!

    I will try to load my game later to check.

    I don't know what any of the graphics settings do in game. LOL

    At least you have your sims if you are snowed in Dee, I hope the power doesn't go out.

    I just took my PC to the store and got the professionals to install the new graphics card for me after Sims3 fried the first one.

    Oh shame, does that mean your FiL will be in hospital over xmas Chrysame?

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  36. I'm glad you ladies figured it out. I'd have told you if I'd known, but I had disabled hide objects ages ago and I didn't put two and two together.

    Grats on the new graphics card.

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  37. Right now it looks like FiL will be home before Christmas. We're very pleased. I hope Dee is okay and has power. That winter storm is huge.

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