Bugs don't spawn with high end loft.

[Pam]

Don't use the launcher/EADM to download patches, both are way too buggy to be reliable. Try manual patching instead.

I've seen you recommend this before and I'm not sure why. I'm on a Mac and I don't know if things are smoother, but I have 0 problems installing patches via the Launcher/OSX dock. I click the application icon on my desktop dock, I immediately get a notice if a patch is available and if I want to install it. It's always been bug free.

I don't have problems using the launcher, either.

[TGBlank]

- Launcher/EADM don't support download resuming, any hiccup in the connection means the download is lost and it redownloads from the start, that is with some luck, sometimes it doesn't even notice the download failed at all.
- EADM doesn't even notice updates unless EADM itself is updated, not to mention it's a needless waste of resource to have it constantly running/spying.
- Launcher is known to be buggy/crashy/unresponsive sometimes. Having it crash mid-patch means you'll need to reinstall and repatch the game from scratch.
- Using manual downloads means you can have each patch file saved on your computer, if a patch fails or a new patch introduces a gamebreaking bug the game can be reinstalled and repatched without the need to redownload the patches.
- EA doesn't really have a good track record regarding patches, some of them have caused more bugs than what they fix; automatically updating to a freshly released patch is really not a good idea, better to wait a day or two to see if it doesn't break the game for other people.

[Pam]

- Launcher/EADM don't support download resuming, any hiccup in the connection means the download is lost and it redownloads from the start, that is with some luck, sometimes it doesn't even notice the download failed at all.
- EADM doesn't even notice updates unless EADM itself is updated, not to mention it's a needless waste of resource to have it constantly running/spying.
- Launcher is known to be buggy/crashy/unresponsive sometimes. Having it crash mid-patch means you'll need to reinstall and repatch the game from scratch.
- Using manual downloads means you can have each patch file saved on your computer, if a patch fails or a new patch introduces a gamebreaking bug the game can be reinstalled and repatched without the need to redownload the patches.
- EA doesn't really have a good track record regarding patches, some of them have caused more bugs than what they fix; automatically updating to a freshly released patch is really not a good idea, better to wait a day or two to see if it doesn't break the game for other people.

You must have had an incredible amount of bad luck with all this. I haven't run into these problems. And as for the patches causing more bugs, yes, I suppose that's true. But if you wait a day or two to see if it doesn't break the game for other people, you're not getting the benefit of the things it fixes. And then what? Just live with the first set of problems? If that's what you want to do, that's fine. But not everyone feels that way and not everyone has the problems you describe. I think you're one of very few people here (if any) who choose to go outside the system developed by Electronic Arts for their game. Again, if that's what you want to do, then fine. However, as a forum, we're not going to recommend it to our members as standard procedure.

[TGBlank]

You must have had an incredible amount of bad luck with all this. I haven't run into these problems.

From the list, i have not personally experienced #1 since i avoid it like the plague, however, there are several reports even within this forum of EADM refusing to update the game the day HELS came out (and thus either forcing people to wait or to manually patch to be able to play HELS), a problem which persisted until EADM itself was patched.
Launcher for me refuses to close after starting the game and then starts to leak memory sometimes, which in turn brings game load time slowdown, others have reported crashes installing store content. Launcher's download behavior is different from windows to mac, under windows it uses explorer to download, explorer's download system is definitely not the best out there and is more prone to broken downloads than others.

And as for the patches causing more bugs, yes, I suppose that's true. But if you wait a day or two to see if it doesn't break the game for other people, you're not getting the benefit of the things it fixes.

Patch 1.9/2.4 comes out, breaks bug spawn, fixes photography theater issue. Waiting a day gives me the ability to decide whether i can live without proper bug spawning in order to get photography theater fix or not. I decided not to update (if i where playing a photographer instead of a collector at that time, i would have updated), within a week patch 1.10/2.5 comes out and fixes the bug spawn issue 1.9 introduced, wait a day, no new errors reported, i update.
In other words, if a new patch is fixing an issue that doesn't affect my current household but introduces a new one that does, i am probably going to skip said patch.

Manually patching is not "outside the system", the manual patches are also provided by EA; users have the ability to choose between EADM (which is an OPTIONAL part of the installation), the launcher or manual patches, all provided by EA. I don't see your problem with me recommending this last option for being the least prone to issues.

[igzigpuff]

I never had problems with my launcher before, but after WA came out and the numerous patches...sadly my launcher has become unstable.  When I download an item from the store, it will crash after installing and I have to force the launcher to close as it will become unresponsive.  I'm sure it has to do with the EADM problem, because that's when my launcher started acting up.    With only on EP and SP out, I am beginning to dread the updates and wonder how long I...or my computer can run this temperamental game.   

[Pam]

Have you tried doing a reinstall of the game?  That's what I did a few days ago so I could have everything fresh.  I also deleted all of the custom content that had slipped in, which always helps.

[igzigpuff]

Trying to avoid a reinstall  ...but from reading the EA technical forum, the EADM is the problem and reinstalling the game won't fix that, EA says you need to uninstall EADM and reinstall and even their instructions say if you are not comfortable or knowledgeable with computers to have a professional take care of the removal of EADM  and it's reinstallation as you can damage your computer. 

[Pam]

My EA Download Manager was updated and corrected with one of the Sims 3 patches.  Suddenly the EADM started popping up with the launcher and it never did that before.  You might still think about doing a reinstall, though.  Both Carl and Metro recommend reinstalling periodically just to keep the game clean of things that make it glitchy.  I agree that it's probably a good habit to get into.  It's always good to freshen up your computer and such.

[MegTrog]

Reinstalling isn't so bad now, but further down the line, once you've got plenty of expansion packs, it's going to be really tedious!

Everybody's going to have their individual choice of the best way to maintain their game.  I prefer to opt for the simple route of letting EA's interface deal with it, but I know that if my husband played, he'd want to have a bit more control over things and sort it out manually.  It's kind of like the difference between letting the game install itself in the default location or choosing a folder for it.  I don't think it's a particularly big deal which one you choose (with the disclaimer that you'd better be sure you know what you're doing if you're going the manual route, and don't go blaming EA if you screw up).

Also, speaking for myself, I don't play every day, so I think waiting a few days before installing patches or a new expansion pack is a perfectly valid precaution.

[RockinRobin]

So how do you do a manual install of the latest patch? (3.1.7) This is the first time I've have a problem with an update, but this one absolutely will not install on my system. The first error message I get says that I don't have a required library file....QtCore4.dll......which I do....and the second error message says that it can't be installed because the launcher is running. Well duh! The only reason I knew there was an update available is because I opened launcher and tried to install it from there.

[Metropolis Man]

So how do you do a manual install of the latest patch? (3.1.7) This is the first time I've have a problem with an update, but this one absolutely will not install on my system. The first error message I get says that I don't have a required library file....QtCore4.dll......which I do....and the second error message says that it can't be installed because the launcher is running. Well duh! The only reason I knew there was an update available is because I opened launcher and tried to install it from there.

I'm curious how PC users launch their Sims 3 app. On Mac OSX I throw my most commonly used apps (like Sims 3) onto my "dock" that runs along the left side of my desktop. I click the icon once and that brings up the Launcher with the big arrow which I press to continue with the game. If I need an update, then a blue screen will prompt me before I ever even get to the Launcher. I don't know. I've never had problems. What's the protocol with PCs? Is it different?

[Swede1992]

For me it's pretty much the same; click the shortcut on the desktop and bring up the launcher (which is sometimes for me a little buggy, but that's besides the point). If there's any updates available a pop-up thingie comes and tell me that and then to play I also have same big arrow. Nothing special really. (I run Windows Vista)

[HelenP]

In essence no different. We don't have the dock as such, mostly either icons on the desktop or a 'start' button which brings up a list of all our programmes.  What some people have done is search through their hard drive to find the game exe file instead of the launcher exe. This skips the launcher with its big arrow and takes us straight to the Sims3 Plumbobs.  The launcher will still run fine and can be used for updates and freebees from the store.

Some people prefer to find the patch as a download from another website like Fileplanet or Gamershell and keep  it on the system as a separate exe so it can be run without needing the launcher, useful if the launcher is broken or if the latest patch causes big problems.  I did this myself when the 1.6 patch mess up the investment deeds and I was in the middle of the Trump challenge.  I dl'd the 1.4 patch from another site, uninstalled and reinstalled using that. As far as I know it's the only way of rolling back to a previous patch if the latest gives trouble.

[TGBlank]

Yep, that's pretty much it HelenP.
I modified the shortcut on the desktop so it goes straight to the game, launcher is still perfectly usable if decide to (if i'm feeling lazy i open it to check if there's any update); EADM is not installed.
As for patches, i just get the patches from fileplanet and have them neatly organized in a folder, whenever a new patch comes out i download it, wait a day or two to see if any major problems with it crop up on the net, then install it.