I deleted the Simpacks. I don't think I have changed anything and I didn't know there was another way to open the game.
Deleting the sim3packs does not remove custom content, let me explain how things work with sim3packs, which is also how store items come (all folders named here should be somewhere electronic arts\the sims 3\, which should be inside my documents):
- The launcher calls the game, the game takes the sim3packs and decompresses them into packages.
- The packages are all merged into a handful of large dbc files inside the DCCache folder.
- the packages are moved to a DCBackup folder, this is a backup, the game doesn't load them or touches them for anything.
* When one disables a sim3pack through the launcher, the game rebuilds the dbc files, this time without the pack you unselected.
So to actually remove your custom content, you'd need to either disable it all on the launcher, or to move/rename/delete the dbc files.
HOWEVER, it is strange that your game decided to constantly crash and refuse to start if you didn't changed anything lately, sim3packs should NOT be the cause of this. You can try two things:
1) Deleting your cache files: the game creates a bunch of files to cache information so it's easier to find, however, a dirty cache file can cause a lot of trouble.
Deleting the cache files is not harmful for the game, the game will just rebuild the info.
The cache files are located under electronic arts\the sims 3, which should be under my documents. They are:
- CASPartCache.package
- compositorCache.package
- scriptCache.package
- simCompositorCache.package
Inside the Thumbnails folder, there should be also:
- CASThumbnails.package
- ObjectThumbnails.package
Lastly, inside the WorldCaches folder there is also:
- China_objects.package
- China_sims.package
(same for the other world adventure locations)
- Riverview_objects.package
- Riverview_sims.package
- Sunset Valley_objects.package
- Sunset Valley_sims.package
2) trying to start the game without the launcher:
Sometimes the launcher gets wonky, sometimes one wants to avoid it for no particular reason, in any case, to start the game without the launcher, you must run the game's exe file directly, either manually or by creating a shortcut to it.
- The exe file should be (wherever you installed the sims, probably program files)\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3.exe
You may want to create a shortcut to it (right click on it, then click on send to -> desktop (shortcut) ).
For expansions, like, say, world adventures, it should be:
- (wherever you installed the sims, probably program files)\The Sims 3 World Adventures\Game\Bin\TS3SP01.exe
[Edit by Pam: Note that for Vista and Window 7, you need to look under Documents, not My Documents.]
