Revision as of 14:09, 6 October 2008

Having Issues Installing Game Patches

Problem

You try to install one of the game patches, but the install fails. The patch installer may tell you to reinstall an expansion pack or your base game.

Cause

This problem is caused by certain files in your game having been changed in some way, perhaps when you installed a game mod, or by corruption when the game attempts to write to its own system files. When the patcher looks for these files, it finds bad (corrupted or altered) versions of them, and so it cannot install the patch. Any of the game data files could be affected, but commonly affected files are graphicsrules.sgr, objects.package or any of the files in the 3D folder.

Solution

There are two ways of fixing this problem.
1) Reinstall the affected game.
2) Manually replace the affected files.

1) Reinstalling

This is the more time-consuming way to fix the issue. If you find manually copying files too bothersome or daunting then this method will possibly be easier.

First, back up your user files!! Using this guide. If you skip this step, you will loose your sims, neighbourhoods, and downloads. Do not skip this step!

Second, uninstall the affected game by clicking Start> All programs> EA Games> The Sims 2 (EP/ SP name)> Uninstall The Sims 2 (EP/ SP name). Note that if you need to uninstall the basegame, all expansions and stuff packs need to be uninstalled first. However if an individial EP or SP is affected, you need only uninstall that EP/ SP.

Third, reinstall the game. For problems with installing or uninstalling see Game Help:Wizard/Install and Uninstall.

Finally, Install the patch straight away. Test the game.

Once you have reinstalled Seasons and the patch is working, restore your user files as described in the Backup guide.

Copying the Files Straight from your CD/DVD

When the patch installer fails, it will show you the path of the file which it cannot update. This is usually a file for the game you are updating, but in the case of certain EPs you may find that the patch updates some basegame files too. You need to note the path and name of the file, so that you can copy a replacement from your game disc. An example would be C:\ Program Files\ EA Games\ The Sims 2\ TSData\ Res\ Objects\ Objects.package.

You need to put your CD/DVD for the affected EP/ SP/ Basegame into the drive, holding down the Shift key to keep the game from autorunning (Note: if you have your game set up not to autorun, you needn't press Shift. If it runs anyway, just close it.). Go into My Computer, right-click the icon for the CD drive, and hit Explore.

Now you need to open the file 'Compressed.zip'. (Note: This file is usually on the first game disc of multi-disc editions, but if you cannot find it check the other discs too.) You will need a program capable of opening compressed files, for example WinZip, WinRar or Ultimate Zip. Once you've got that open, find and copy the affected file to the path you noted earlier, for example C:\ Program Files\ EA Games\ The Sims 2\ TSData\ Res\ Objects\ Objects.package. Click 'yes' when asked if you want to overwrite the file.
Note: Whereas most files will be inside compressed.zip, certain other files may be in other archives or folders on the install disc. If you cannot locate the affected files yourself, you could use the reinstall option instead.

Test that the patch now installs; if more files are found to be 'bad' then repeat the above procedure for the other affected files. You may find it easier to replace all files in an affected folder at one time; for example by replacing all files in the 3D or Sims 3D folder if one is affected.

Contributor Credits

Thanks go to the authors of this article and MaxoidSam for information in this article. Original article written by whiterider.