Edit (6/7/13): Mod the Sims now has an automatic patch updater. It can be found here. I've used it myself, and it works great! It seemed to work for both Origin copies and hard copies. I don't know if it will work with Steam copies or copies from other nations. Thank you for the link, Sarabi.
Hello again,
Just another tip from a fellow simmer. I've been having some crashing lately, and I found that it was due to the fact that my pre-Generations games hadn't been patched. When the patch for Generations came out, EA started applying the patch (and all future patches) to the base game and not to the game with which it corresponds. Well, now the launcher does not tell you if you need to patch your pre-Generations games, and you only get prompted for the latest patch, which is applied to the base game. I will now tell you how to find out if you need to patch, where to get them, and which ones to download.
Instructions for Mac users can be found
here.
How to find out if you need to patch (Windows 7):
1. Open your Sims 3 launcher.
2. On the bottom left-hand side, there should be icons with plumbobs in them. Each one corresponds with a certain expansion pack or stuff pack. All of the icons that are lit up are the ones you have installed. The ones that are more faded are ones that you do not have installed. In the following picture, I have circled World Adventures in yellow. You can see how it is bright, which means it is installed. I also have Showtime circled in red to show that it is more faded, which means it is not installed.
3. Now move your mouse over to any bright icon that is
not the first one on the left. The first line of the small pop-up will be the name of the expansion pack. The second line will be the patch number. Write these down until you get to Generations, the eighth one from the left (fifth from the right, assuming you are patched to 1.31).
Here is the list of each expansion and stuff pack and the current patch number. If the number you have written down does
not match the corresponding number in this list, then you need to patch.
World Adventures: 2.17.2.01103# (The last number has to do with region. It should be 1, 2, 3, 5, or 7.)
High End Loft Stuff: 3.13.1.01103# (The last number is either a 1 or a 7, depending on if you used a disk or digital download, respectively.)
Ambitions: 4.10.1.01103# (Same as High End Loft Stuff.)
Fast Lane Stuff: 5.8.1.011031 (For installation by disk.)
5.5.4.011037 (For installation by digital download.)
Late Night: 6.5.1.01103# (Same as High End Loft Stuff.)
Outdoor Living Stuff: 7.3.2.01103# (Same as High End Loft Stuff.)
This is the end of the list. These are the only expansion and stuff packs that have individual patches.
Here is the link to the individual
patches. The website is called SimPrograms. I have used all of these patches myself with no problems. There are also patches for Sims 3 and for Sims 3 Create-A-World. You will not be using these.
Instructions for patching:
1. Click on the picture of the patch you need. Please read the information at the top, especially the text in blue.
2. Scroll down until you see "The Sims 3 [expansion/stuff pack] - Patch #". Make sure you are looking at the patch with the highest number, and make sure it matches the first four numbers of the corresponding patch numbers I have provided above.
3. If you click on World Adventures, the options are slightly different than the other expansion and stuff packs. If you do not need to patch World Adventures, skip to Step 4.
3.1. Under "The Sims 3 World Adventures - Patch 2.17.2" there is a small box titled "The Files." You will be downloading
one of these. Click on the blue "
Download Here" link that corresponds to your region or digital download. Please continue to Step 5.
I am not 100% sure which regions "English" covers, but you will get prompted upon installing whether or not you have downloaded the correct patch. If "English" does not work for you, please download the one titled "Worldwide."4. Under "The Sims 3 [expansion/stuff pack] - Patch #" there is a small box titled "The Files." You will be downloading
one of these. Click on the blue "
Download Here" link beside either "English" or "Digital Download." Knowing which one to download is easy. If you installed your game by disk, click "English." If you installed your game by digital download, click "Digital Download."
5. Once your download(s) is complete, you need to make sure you do not have Sims 3 running at all. Make sure your game is closed and your launcher is closed. Also check that the launcher is not running in your taskbar. And just in case, make sure Origin is not running. It may be open in the taskbar too, so make sure you exit out of there.
6. Now, you need to open your downloaded patch. You may need to navigate to your Downloads folder to do so. If you are asked to allow permission for the program to install, allow it. A screen very similar to Sims 3 installations will come up. The installation should only take a few minutes, sometimes even just a few seconds.
7. Once all of the patches are successfully downloaded, you are good to go!
Alternatively, if you are doing a complete reinstall, you can skip this whole process by opening the launcher after installing each of these Expansion/Stuff Pack. Thanks to grimsoul for that information.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
