Why can't I use Sims 2 expansion packs and have downloaded content at the same time?

Question

I have the Sims 2 and all of the expansion packs, BUT if I download content from the internet the Sims dosn't load at all! When I take off the downloaded stuff they work fine. MAAANY other people have ALLLL of the expansion pack AND loads of downloads, why can't I? Do I need more RAM or something?

Answer 1

A lot of downloads are specific for the expansion packs. What you can do to find out what files work and what ones don't is to take your downloads folder out of the sims file. Make a new downloads folder for your sims2 game (it will be an empty folder). I put the original downloads folder on my desktop. I took about half of the downloads and put them into the empty folder. Then started up the game. If it loads, then you know those downloads are okay. You then want to take those downloads out of the sims 2 downloads folder and put them into another folder.. maybe named "okay sims downloads".. or something like that. Then you have to take the remaining downloads from the original downloads folder and put them into the sims2 downloads folder that you made for the game. See if the game runs.... you basically have to figure out what downloads are causing the game to not play correctly. If the game doesn't load when you have put files into the downloads folder... just halve it again and see if you can narrow down the search this way to get rid of the offending files. This does take a long time... but if you want to keep your downloads, this is how to figure out which ones are causing your game to not load.

If you have career downloads... i would start with just removing them though, the game seems to have a problem with custom careers.

If you really don't care if you lose your downloads, then just delete em... you can usually find what you deleted at a sims2 downloads site (I like http://www.modthesims2.com ). You also might think about downloading the sims2 pack clean installer. It will look over your files and see if there are any hacks there (when you download a house, you can accidentally download a hack). It is also good for getting rid of those empty folders that get left behind in the game after you install stuff.

If you need any more help, just email me and I will try to help you further. Good luck.

Answer 2

Some of those skins and extras available are not supported by EA Games. They may work fine with the basic Sims 2, but can cause conflicts with later expansion packs.

There is an online Support Centre for Sims 2, but if the problem is because you downloaded unsupported and unlicensed add-ons they are going to tell you to uninstall it and start over afresh.