Autolauncher and Gem Cut Calculator

[Carl]

Some cool programs have come my way recently. Jagid sent me 2 scripts handy for Simmers. You can find not only a gem cuts calculator, but also a script that will automatically launch Sims 3, open the most recent saved file, and pause your game when it's done. It's a great tool for people who have huge files to load.

You can download Autolauncher here

Both of these are scripts created with Autohotkey and are not mods. They run like any other program but require no installation.

If you use chrome or another smart browser, ignore any warning about the files. They're safe, just not filenames it has been programmed to recognize.

Thanks a lot James!

[Pam]

Thanks, Carl.  What's the difference between a script and a mod?

[Galena]

Thanks, Carl.  What's the difference between a script and a mod?

I may be wrong, as I haven't looked at these files, but I think they don't actually modify the game at all, and are like the code in one of the stickies in technical help that deletes you caches and then starts your game. 

[Pam]

I just tried the autolauncher and got through the setup all the way to getting the sample of the red pause border.  When I hovered and pressed F12, I got an error message that said the INI files couldn't be located or something.  (Sorry I didn't copy the exact wording.)  I clicked OK to exit and then it setup went away.  I'll try it again and see if it works better.

Also, Carl, is there a way to download the script to my computer so I don't have to use the link you provided every time?  And, is the link found anywhere besides the news section on the Guide?

Edit:  Actually, the instructions didn't say to press F12 while hovering over the red pause border.  But it doesn't do anything if I just over it.  What am I supposed to do to get the sample of the red pause border?

Edit:  I tried F11 and Enter, but neither did anything.  This time I got a screenshot of the error when I press F12.

[Galena]

First, see if the file is at the location in the popup.  If its not use search to look for it and if you find it move it to the location in the popup.  If search doesn't find it, or it is in the correct location you should redownload it.  Make sure you delete it first if it is the correct location.

[Pam]

Does that mean it's automatically downloading to my computer when I click Carl's link?  I wasn't given an option for it to download in a particular location.  It just started straight off with the program running and telling me what to do.

Edit:  It's not in the location mentioned in the error message.  Nor does a search for "jagid" bring up anything.

[Galena]

You should try downloading it again.  Maybe it will work.

[Carl]

I suspect it was because of the filename. Redownload the file, but do refresh the page as the extension is now zip. Inside you'll find the exe, with the name the author assigned it.

[Chuckles_82]

Can someone post a printscreen of exactly where in the shortcut tab you're supposed to click when you update the launcher location thingy? It's not making a lot of sense to me.

[Carl]

Inside the box where it says Showtime\Game\Bin\Sims3Launcher.exe Push the F11 button when your cursor is flashing inside that box.

[Twinmum]

It's a good idea, but I noticed one flaw. When it autoclicks the in-game play button (the big check mark) it does so too soon (in my game anyway). It doesn't give enough time to actually log in. So instead of starting the game straight away, it presents a screen to ask if you want to play without logging in. So if you went off to do something, you would have to come back through the process to click that button before the game will start to load.
I also noticed that once the game started and it was paused, it was making a strange clicking noise and when unpaused, it exited to the desktop then went back to the game, but the game was still paused. It did that several times before it stayed unpaused. I'll exit the game and try again to see if it does it again.. might be just something I did.

[Chuckles_82]

Inside the box where it says Showtime\Game\Bin\Sims3Launcher.exe Push the F11 button when your cursor is flashing inside that box.

Ahh that's what I was afraid of. For some reason mine is greyed out and I can't click in there. I'm not sure what that is about - probably a windows setting. I actually usually launch the game without the launcher from the taskbar, and had to create a new desktop shortcut in order to get that far, but being able to pause the game when it loads is really useful, so I'd like to try to get it working.

[Carl]

Did you make the shortcut by right-clicking the desktop? Doing so that way should give you the permission you need to modify the target box. If that doesn't work, browse to your Sims 3 installation folder, right click the sims3launcher file and choose create shortcut. Right-clicking that and choosing properties should do the trick, as far as configuring it goes.

You could also download this file which is a barebones copy of my config and extract it to your documents directory. Edit it with notepad, change the path to your own Sims 3 launcher location. That will trick it for that part, and you can then configure the rest using the setup option.

[AdnaanA]

Do you have instructions to put the auto launcher in?

[Pam]

I'm about to try it again.  It's accepting the .zip file and takes me to Winrar to run it.  I double click on the .exe file to run the program.  Hoping it will work this time.

Do you have instructions to put the auto launcher in?

It gives you instructions as you go.  Just click the link on the Guide and it will start automatically and lead you through it step by step.

Edit:  This is no good.  Now it won't go past the target window under the properties tab of the game's icon.  I press F11 as instructed and it does nothing.  The window just stays there and won't do anything even I click OK.  I have to use the Task Manager to shut the program down.