New patch: Game Update for 1.12/2.7/3.3

[Branr]

The new edit town makes placement of lots much better (since we couldn't do that at all before). My only gripes about it are that you can only rotate the lot to 8 positions, and you can only use the pre-sized lot sizes , instead of setting your own lot size.  But since this is more than we had before, I can't complain.

Looks like EA is giving the official wink to Mods too.

To install this update, please start your game and use the “Updates” tab in your Launcher.

This game update includes:

    *      This game update enables dynamic ad serving capabilities in The Sims 3. However, there are no immediate plans to activate any content of this kind. The Sims 3 EULA has further details. See http://www.ea.com/1/product-eulas.
    *      Lights placed on residential and community lots will now properly display onto the neighborhood
    *      Sims may now walk and stand on bridges
    *      Players who play The Sims 3 with game modifications can now create a folder in which to place their game modifications. The folder should be located here:

C:\Documents and Settings\YourComputer\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Mods

    *      When Mods are placed in the official Mod folder, a notification will appear to remind players that Mods are installed.
    *      Placing Mod packages into the Mod folder is an officially sanctioned way to bypass assembly signing verification. The Resource.cfg file must be placed in this folder in order for the modifications to work correctly.
    *      When Mods are installed that are incompatible, the player will receive a message notifying them of the error.
    *      Additional bug fixes to existing features

Edit Town Mode

    *      Players may now add, delete, and move residential and community lots from the Edit Town menu
    *      Players may now add, delete, and move neighborhood decorative objects from the Edit Town menu
    *      Players may now purchase and upgrade neighborhood community lots using the new Real Estate system via the Computer
    *      When using the Library in Edit Town, lots will now display their venue type (i.e. Park)

Gameplay Changes

    *      Story Progression has been improved to prevent Sims required to complete Opportunities from changing.
    *      Sim genetics have been improved so that children now better reflect their parents’ skin tone and hairstyles.
    *      Sims can unlock outfit choices and share them with household members when using the “Plan Outfit” interaction on the Dresser.

Build/Buy Mode

    *      Players may now use Create a Style on Ceilings or add and delete them when in Build Mode
    *      Players may now use Create a Style on the edges of floor tiles
    *      When placing walls, rooms, foundations/decks, floor tiles, roofs, pools, fences, and basements the measuring tape tool will display to aid in more precise building.
    *      Wall Covering sets can now be found in a tab in Build Mode
    *      Players may now manipulate the roof pitch for individual roof sections when in Build Mode
    *      Sculptures can be found in a new Sculpture sorting category when in Buy Mode

Create a Sim

    *      Players may now use the Tattoo feature to customize Sims when in Create a Sim
    *      Players may now select the Fiancé, Girlfriend, and Boyfriend relationship settings when in Create a Sim

UI & Controls

    *      The user-interfaces for Sim View and Map View have been merged to provide more control and consistency between the two modes.
    *      The Opportunity interface has been improved to clearly outline the fiction, gameplay objectives, rewards, and Opportunity location for all Opportunities and Adventures.

World Adventures

    *      Certain Adventures and Opportunities will properly display in the Opportunities Panel when traveling between worlds

Before installing an Update for The Sims 3, an Expansion Pack, or a Stuff Pack, it is a good idea to run through the following checklist to ensure your game continues to work smoothly.
If you have any questions about the below steps, please visit the Technical Support forum on the official Sims 3 community found at this URL: http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/forums/show/10.page

Step 1: Disable Custom Content

Custom Content is all Sims content that did not come from an official The Sims 3 Update, The Sims 3 Store, Expansion Pack, or Stuff Pack. Custom Content is created by 3rd Party Developers that are not regulated by Electronic Arts or The Sims 3 Development Team and may not work with new updates. Custom Content may cause the game to behave unexpectedly or not function entirely.

To disable your custom content, undo whatever you did to install this content to get your game back into an unmodified state. If you placed it in a Sims 3 directory folder, move it to a new folder that is outside your Sims 3 file directory. Your Sims 3 file directory can be found using the paths listed below:

Windows File Directory: C:\Documents and Settings\USER\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3

Mac File Directory: User/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims/

Once you have installed the official update you may re-enable your custom content. If you experience problems, disable it again until the 3rd party developer updates their content to work with the official Update, Expansion Pack, or Stuff Pack.

Step 2: Back Up your Save Files

It’s always a good precaution to back up your save files before installing an Expansion Pack, Update, or Stuff Pack. To do this, copy the “.sims3” folders found in the Saves folder onto your desktop or another file directory.

Your Sims 3 Saves folder can be found using the paths listed below:

Windows File Directory: C:\Documents and Settings\USER\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves

Mac File Directory: User/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims/Saves

After the Update is installed, run the game to verify your saves still function correctly.

Step 3: Let the Update Complete Entirely

Updates can sometimes be rather large and may take a while to download and install completely. Cancelling the update before it has completed may cause unexpected problems, so it is always best to let it finish entirely. Do not close the Launcher until you have confirmed the update is completely installed, as this will cancel the update.  

[Valadhiel]

This ...   ... this is beyond amazing!  I'm flabbergasted is what I am!  I hope this is foreshadowing of good things to come for mods.
Is the Resource.cfg something that the game auto generations now?  Or do we use the Resource.cfg that we currently have where are mods are (with the helper monkey)?

[Pam]

Regardless of whether EA gave a wink to mods or not, it's still against our Forum Rules to discuss them and/or link to them.  So, we need to stifle the mod discussion, please.

[Valadhiel]

Sorry, Pam.  I wasn't trying to break the forum rules or anything.  The patch notes specifically mentioned the Resource.cfg (mentions it right beneath the second bullet beneath the link to where the folder would go).  Am I allowed to ask about that if I leave out the bit I mentioned about the mod (which I wasn't attempting to discuss at all) or are we not supposed to ask questions about the patch ... period?

[Pam]

No worries, Valadhiel.  I was just trying to make sure it doesn't turn into a full blown discussion about mods because we do have a strict rule about that. There's a link to the Forum rules in my signature below.

For your specific question, it looks to me like the game does not auto generate the Resource.cfg folder, but you do have to place it in the new Mod folder that EA wrote into the game with this patch in order for the mods to work. There's also a nice disclaimer about the risks of using mods further down in the patch information. Be sure to take note of it! 

[Valadhiel]

Sure thing, Pam.

[RubyLovesSims]

"Players may now purchase and upgrade neighborhood community lots using the new Real Estate system via the Computer"
What! Am I seeing an OFB style thing? Oh wow! So sims can own community lots! Oh wow!

[Pam]

Ruby -

To me, it sounds similar to when you could buy businesses in Sunset Valley and Riverview.  You'd buy first a partnership, then buy out the business.  This is handled differently in Ambitions, but I think it's similar to what we've already had.

[malteser60]

Wow, that is an amazing patch. I must admit I didn't install it yesterday when I started the game launcher as I wasn't sure if it was a good idea with not having Ambitions. Seeing what it does however, it's going to be the first thing I do. Some personal comments on the patch:

Mods (not going to be a discussion about it, just a comment) - bit of history from what I can recall, when sims 1 first came out it was designed to be open source so that players could change what they want, which was the premise behind the sims. I'm just mentioning this as there's quite a few people on this forum that haven't played the first sims. Obviously since the programming/game has become more complicated it's become much easier to create dodgy and unreliable mods. However nice to see EA acknowledging all sims players, including those that love to do mods.

Real Estate - can't wait! Do I sense a bit of 'Locations, Location, Location' about to happen 

Unlocking outfit choices - not too sure what they mean. I realise that in Ambitions there's outfits to unlock during the gameplay, but if you don't have Ambitions then what does it mean?

Roof pitch - about time! I got fed up of having to stay deleting roof and doing ctrl-z just to change the pitch of a single roof.

Can't wait to go home and play the sims now!

[samoht04]

Wow, best patch ever! 

*Opens Launcher and starts clicking yes, accept, download buttons*

[igzigpuff]

My game is finally running better after the patch.
I have read over on the EA forum that a lot of people are upset because CAW won't work with the new patch.   Thankfully I didn't download CAW, so I don't have to deal with all those problems.

[Simbacat]

I love the patch. My game runs quickly and quite well.

I don't have CAW because I read the tutorials and wow. It would be easier to learn a new language than tackle that.

[samoht04]

I can't download the patch! I think I will uninstall my games first, for Ambitions and also to remove that CC that snuck in on a Exchange Sim. Then see if it works, hey maybe Ambitions will fix it...

It says QtCore4.dll is missing from my PC? It says reinstall the program to fix this?

[Pam]

I can't download the patch! I think I will uninstall my games first, for Ambitions and also to remove that CC that snuck in on a Exchange Sim. Then see if it works, hey maybe Ambitions will fix it...

It says QtCore4.dll is missing from my PC? It says reinstall the program to fix this?

Did you do the reinstall of the games?

[samoht04]

I am doing it this morning, I tried updating it at 7pm last night, but then I had to go for food. Time to get the uninstall and reinstall of my Store Stuff before Postman comes!

EDIT: Uninstalls Complete, Disk Defrag thing in progress.

EDIT2: Disk Defrag Complete, Initiating Install.  

Wow Sims 3 takes forever to install! I only have a few hours till postman comes and I haven't got the store stuff done yet!