Complete Re-install on a Mac

[Slingsby]

Hope this helps a few people.  Our game had become so bug-ridden, and having Sims getting stuck [especially in bed] all the time, there was no point in playing any more.

PART ONE - Un-instal from your Mac.

1.  Finder > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3.  Copy that complete folder to your Desktop - it takes up to 5 minutes.  It should be in the pop-up from your Dock.  That will contain everything you had in your game.  Don't lose it!!

2.  Finder > Go > Applications > The Sims 3 > The Sims 3 Uninstaller.  Double-click, and don't be afraid!  You get the option of which TS3 Application/EP you want to uninstall.  I took it one at a time [having been bitten in TS1 and TS2 for doing it in the wrong order] and uninstalled the latest first ... and then worked back to the original TS3.  Easy-peasy, everything has gone.  At this point, hard drive rattles with confusion!  If you have the Apple Time Machine, this may be a good moment to force a backup, and have a cup of coffee or something ... a lot will be happening on the drive.

PART TWO - Install The Sims 3.

Right ... all CDs to hand, with the manuals with the Product Key printed on the back cover.  If you have lost them, seek help elsewhere in the Sticky part of this Forum.

1.  Install TS3.  I'd forgotten how un-intuitive it was.  Double-click on the installer button in the bottom right corner.  Then make a cup of tea/coffee, Dinner for 4, and walk the dog.  When it's all over, close the install panel [why do I have to do that?] and eject the disc.  At this point you will [possibly] notice that there is no Electronic Arts folder in Finder ... don't panic, it will happen the first time you launch the game.  Oh, and no icon in the Dock either ... you will make that will happen later.

2.  Install WA EP.  While that loads, build new garden furniture or do BSc in Computing Sciences.  If you want to stare at the screen, you will see that the EP patches the original TS3.

3.  Install AMB EP.  Don't blink, or you'll miss it!  This takes a few minutes, including patching WA and the original TS3.

Continue if you have NL, or Stuff Packs.

4.  Place latest Icon in Dock.  Finder > Go > Applications > The Sims 3 ... drag the latest EP icon into the Dock [it will copy automatically].

5.  Phew ... getting there.  You still have your latest EP in the CD drive, yes?  Good.  Double-click that, and will tell you there are Patches available.  Clicky-Yes-Thing, and while waiting complete your MA in Serbo-Croat culture.  That took a good 30 minutes, which is a bit unfair on Serbo-Croat culture which is far more complex and time-consuming.

You now have re-installed the basics of TS3 with your EPs.  You have also lost at least 2 hours of your life, but your Sims are safe [see Step 1].

Now is also a good time to run a Time Machine backup, doing that long-wanted BSc in Astro-Physics.  A LOT has changed on your hard drive, so give your Mac a chance to keep up.

After an hour or so, you can now [hopefully] launch a "Vanilla Game".  Oh ... when you are in the Launcher, you won't see any of the Downloads you got from the Store.  This is where you use your Backup files ... you did save those, didn't you?  Open the Backup folder [you did save it all, didn't you?  See PART ONE], open the Electronic Arts folder, and drag across the backed-up contents of the folder called "Downloads" into the EA "Downloads" folder.  More magic! 

We then launched a new Vanilla game with any old Sim, and it worked fine ... including the Adventures Board in France.  At that point, you will find [magically] that Finder in the Dock now has the Electronic Arts folder ... cool, huh?   

Next instalment later, when we start importing our saved data ... and legacy Sims.  Tomorrow may be a bad day!

[Metropolis Man]

From where I'm sitting copying the complete Sims 3 folder to the desktop is unnecessary. All that's needed if someone wants to retain previous files is copying the Save folder inside. If someone has a bugged out game the last thing they want to do is copy over possible bugged files.

Using the uninstaller to individually uninstall the base game and expansions on a Mac is also completely unnecessary and involves more work than what's needed. After a player copies their Save folder it's just a question of moving the whole Sims 3 folder in Applications to trash as well as the Electronic Arts folder in Documents. I like purging the related preference files as well.

[Pam]

Metro,

Will this get confusing for players who want to keep their saved game files?  I know you normally get rid of all of them, but many people want to save them to have after the reinstall.  On a PC, Electronic Arts says to save the whole Sims 3 file.

I'm making this sticky, too, if it's not already.

[Slingsby]

I defer to your wisdom.  I'm not highly technical ... I was once, but that was in the days of DOS and early Win applications.  I'm a 2-year newbie on Mac, and just trying to help.

All I need is the "saved game" folder?  I just didn't want to lose my families and their collections.

Feel free to delete my entire input ... I will not be offended.

[Slingsby]

Sorry, folks ... obviously causing some grief here.

My rationale is that I want the game to work, with my existing families.

Dumping everything is easy ... keeping the history and the families is less easy.

Your call, folks.  I'm not bothered one way or another.

[Pam]

No, Slingsby, you're fine.  If your method is what it takes to be able to save all of your families and game files, then so be it.  It's just that I know Metro doesn't save his families and starts completely fresh.  So, I was concerned that his recommendations, being different from yours, may produce different results.  It could cause confusion for people reading it and I just want to make sure we have it all spelled out correctly.

[Metropolis Man]

Metro,

Will this get confusing for players who want to keep their saved game files?  I know you normally get rid of all of them, but many people want to save them to have after the reinstall.  On a PC, Electronic Arts says to save the whole Sims 3 file.

Well, all I know is if a Mac user wants to retain their save files, all that's necessary is saving/copying the Save folder to the desktop. That's where the save files are located. Everything else is completely safe to nuke in a complete reinstall situation. Then you just put the copied Save folder back in after the reinstall.

------

EDIT: And Slingsby, no need to apologize. Pam's right — I typically nuke everything just in case a save file itself is bad. I actually have not done a total wipe in quite a while. For now, everything runs pretty smoothly (knocking on wood loudly).

[pallyndrome]

I agree with Metro. I have done it his way and everything to do with my saved games was saved just fine - didn't need to copy the whole sims folder, just the saved games folder. And just moving everything to trash is the way to go too. I got these instructions form EA.

[Slingsby]

Thanks for that, fellow Mac-people!!

To keep things simple, what I may do is copy and amend my initial post, then delete the thread [it looks like I can do that] ... then re-start with the revised text.  There are a few aspect I want to explore, like what happens when NOT importing the foreign data files.


DANGER ... WORK IN PROGRESS   

[Metropolis Man]

There's no need to delete the thread, Slingsby. There's always more than one way to skin a cat and it's fine to give players the various options for a complete reinstall.

[Slingsby]

Fair enough, Boss.  I didn't want to confuse people.

I would have reported back earlier, but Broadband has been playing up all day over here.  I've done a bit of reloading and testing ... with mixed results.  More later.

[Slingsby]

In a slightly-stressed state, after nearly 24 hours with no broadband connection, my ISP has decided to fix the problem!!

PART THREE - Importing legacy families.

Having established the re-installed game was working, it was time to see what has happened to one of our legacy families that was having severe problems.  From the backup folder I had created, drag the required sub-folder from "Saves" into the "Saves" folder in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Saves.  In this case the folder was called "Hotspur's Retreat.sims3" ... that's the standard suffix for a saved game.

Then launch the game ... ooops, pop-up says "Game process could not be started".  Strangely, the game process then started   Oh well, on with the test with the Hotspur family.

...................

PART FOUR - Did it solve any problems?
A resonably quick load of the game, which was nice. And the really good news was that they seem to have stopped getting super-stuck in beds. 

Game play seemed perfectly normal, but a new glitch seems to have arrived; teen Ophelia now doesn't get given homework any more [not in her inventory]!  She can be tasked by a family member to "Do Homework", she goes to a desk/table and then stamps her feet and drops the task.  Fortunately she can send herself to school at 0800 and "Do late homework" so by 0900 she can get on with a normal school day.

And so to France, for Harry to try to complete the last two Adventures at the Nectary.  No, the Adventures Board wasn't fixed.  He tried on 2 consecutive days to get adventures, with the following results [in binary  ]
010000000000
001000000000
He then gave up and went home.

Anyway, apart from the numerous well-known bugs [e.g. Adventures Board, Excavate] it seems that many of the "issues" relate to legacy families rather than new ones.  Where the file damage might lie is the §100,000 question ... I haven't had the time or courage to start interfering with the family files such as *.nhd or *.ExportDBpackage.

[Pam]

Thanks very much for this thread and all the information, Slingsby.  I'm glad we have a topic specifically for a Mac.

[Slingsby]

Hope it helps someone 

Slightly OT, even with the re-install and using a new family [Gwen Glover, to be precise] the Adventures Board in France continues to be dysfuntional/erratic.  On her second visit to France, her Board results [binary again] were...
00001
10000000000 [we rejected the first Adventure on offer, as she had done that on the previous visit]
000001
1

[Jancy]

I have also reinstalled before and put back just the save folder and the games worked fine.  But I have a question if the need arises again to do another uninstall, reinstall.  When I started the games after the re-install I noticed that non of my custom content (hair colors that I have changed, clothes patterns, redo colors/patterns on furniture etc ) where not in game.  Is there a folder that stores these so they can also be put back in the game after the re-install?

To answer my question above:
userPresets.package

Edit: I also saved this file before the uninstall (located in The Sims 3 folder) userPresets.package
I put this file back in Electronic Arts, The Sims 3 folder.  This file saves all the custom hair colors and custom color patterns.