"To install The Sims 3 [Expansion Pack] you must already have The Sims 3 installed."

Hi! So i've been trying to install the Sims 3 + expansions for a looong time and im getting closer...but there is always something that goes wrong. Heres the newest problem ive encountered:

First ive been following the most up-to-date guide found on this site-http://games4theworld.org/Guides/Sims_3_Mac_Guide.pdf

i have followed the guide exactly. i was under the impression that the base game i was directed to download was installed as i followed the base game installation steps from the guide perfectly. however, when i got to installing the first expansion from the .dmg file i created i began the process but was stopped by this message:
"To install The Sims 3 [Expansion Pack] you must already have The Sims 3 installed."

this particular torrent was said to not need installation on the pirate bay, and also had no "installation" instructions on the guide i was using. it simply had me update it from the launcher. (i know that many say to never do this, but this guide appears to be very new date-wise so i went ahead and did it)...you'll see that i tried to manually update later anyway.

the launcher shows up fine, and updated with no glitches. i followed the update instructions from the guide, but once i hit the issue with installing expansions i manually updated it with the download found on this site. manual update changed nothing. i then applied the crack to the base game found in the ultimate fix/update to see if that was why it thought the base wasnt installed. the crack also changed nothing. these are the two magic fixes i have found in my searching that supposedly fixes all problems. unfortunately it did not.

does anyone know how to get past this problem? is there a step not included in the guide that actually installs the base game?

Thanks

Hello,

Firstly, I am sorry you encounter lots of problem but everyone does and everyone fix with using that "Magic fixes". So, probably you do something wrong or even doesn't work for you for a reason but it doesn't mean the fix is or the instruction thing is broken. We all are having the game in our Macs, and running it smooth thanks to THAT magic thingies.

And we, countless people install it like the guide says and runs smoothly, but you, one person, just you didn't read it right or do something wrong, just claim that the Instructions or Fix aren't working. Such a clever way of thinking

Are you REALLY sure you unzip the file after you download and put the game in your Application folder?

i realize that i did something wrong. i wrote a long post because i wanted to be descriptive so you know exactly what ive done so you could possibly tell me where exactly i went wrong.

but yes the first step i did was unzip The Sims 3.app.zip that i downloaded and moved it directly into my applications.
is it ok that it is in a folder i made to keep everything organized in my apps? i think the guide said it was ok.

This might be your problem. Try to put the Sims 3 app back in the app folder, and go ahead with the instructions again.

roxanneperu wrote:i realize that i did something wrong. i wrote a long post because i wanted to be descriptive so you know exactly what ive done so you could possibly tell me where exactly i went wrong.

but yes the first step i did was unzip The Sims 3.app.zip that i downloaded and moved it directly into my applications.
is it ok that it is in a folder i made to keep everything organized in my apps? i think the guide said it was ok.

That was thr thing I was talking about. It's so important to check every step BEFORE blaming guides or instructions. And yeah, you need to keep every Sims 3 game in one folder. Otherwise when you wanna add a new EP, it won't see the base game or the other expansions.

im really sorry...i wasnt trying to blame but to be descriptive because i knew i did something wrong. anyway, i think maybe i figured out what happened. the ultimate fix comes with instructions that have more steps than the guide found on this website. the guide says to simply apply one crack to the base game whereas the ultimate fix instructions has me apply a crack to each expansion. i did both when i tried this the first time. should i not follow the instructions found in the fix and just stick to the guide? the fix comes with a lot of files that the most recent guide never mentions. so should i ignore them and just use the one crack the guide mentions? im confused because the guide has a link directly to this fix so i figured i should follow the instructions that came with the fix. but then why doesnt guide include these extra steps? if this doesnt make sense i'll try to elaborate...but basically i have two sets of instructions and i don't know which to follow. i followed both as best i could but that got me into trouble i think. thanks again for the help.

First off I've been running into a few problems as well, but coming from a programming background I have gone into troubleshoot mode.

About the zip file for the base game the guide tells you to download. This is a pre-cracked application, so if you weren't going to add any EP's this would be the application to use.
Mac's are very different from Windows in the way things are "installed" because with Windows you go through an installer that puts files in your Programs folder as well as writes certain things to the registry. With Macs all this information is built into the app file. Really the only thing that an application does similar to the registry is save a preference folder/file to your library (either system wide or local).

Now that you know this information you should understand that when you drag the "The Sims 3.app" file to the "Applications" folder (or any folder for that matter) you've installed the application. Opening The Sims 3 application will write preference files and a folder in your local preferences folder inside your library.

As the guide says after you have put this file in your Applications folder you need to open the application and update it, but remember to say no the first two times it asks and manually go to the "Game Updates" tab and click "Update Now." If this fails you can download the current game update and install it manually from https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t3597-can-t-update-the-sims-3-to-v150-fix-manual-patch. It's a large download either way so you may need to make a cup of tea and read a book while it's downloading.
If you went the manual update route you'll need to extract the file from the .tgz archive by double clicking it. This may take a while since it's a large file. Double click the application that was extracted from the .tgz file and it'll ask you to locate The Sims 3.app. This is pretty self explanatory, but you will just navigate to where you put that application (should be your Applications folder) and double flick the app. Enter your password to patch the files and watch it do it's work.

After this you'll start installing your EPs. I assume you've read through the guide on how to put the installations in a dmg since you are able to get the installer running.

Open up the installer for the EP you wish to install (I recommend going in chronological order of release a quick Google search will help you determine which ones to install first).
When you get to the part of the installation that says "Select Destination" click the "Choose..." button at the bottom of the screen above "Continue." This should bring up a finder browser. Navigate to your Applications folder on the main disk (where you put The Sims 3.app before) and click "Select."
When you press "Continue" you should get a warning that the version installed is more recent that expected. This is what we want, go ahead and continue to install the EP.
When it's done installing you should see an Alias file (it has a curved arrow in the bottom left of the icon) with the name of the EP you just installed in the directory of The Sims 3.app. If you do not see this alias file repeat the installation until you do (it took me 3 tries once). The installer crashes sometimes at the end. I think it's okay to leave it, but best to go through the installation again just to be safe.

After you've installed all the EPs you want, go through the Ultimate Fix guide on how to apply the crack to everything.

I hope this helps.

EDIT //

Also forgot to add that in regards to your question about the additional folder inside of the Applications folder. It SHOULDN'T hurt anything to put the files in their own folder, but I DO NOT have them like that.
Try it at your own risk.

Hello,

Actually the guide says the same things, but people either don't read carefully or.. I don't think there is no "or", they don't read carefully.

I was trying to explain the same things to you over and over again, as this way I made my game work, and this way everyone could get the game work.

So please, read everything carefully. And thanks for explaining it again spaz926! 

Help me please. Please respond ASAP. I'm installing Town Life Stuff and I'm currently stuck in "Setup needs the Next Disk". Please help meeee! What should I do?

thatdoggonegirl wrote:Help me please. Please respond ASAP. I'm installing Town Life Stuff and I'm currently stuck in "Setup needs the Next Disk". Please help meeee! What should I do?

Hi there, please make your own thread topic and we will happily assist you. Plus you're in the wrong section, whereas this is a mac support group.Thanks.

hi, I have exactly the same problem, I've followed the instructions just as the guide to install EP's says, first Install the base game downloaded from games 4 the world then unzip and drag the sims 3.app to the applications folder, second I update the game manually to the latest version, after that I've downloaded the EP's also from the games 4 the world torrents and made a .dmg image, but when I'm running the EP installer it pops out a window that says that I need to install the sims 3.
I've read the instructions carefully and tried it lots of times, my games all are in the same folder and still doesn't work.
please help me! thanks

viafan2012 wrote:hi, I have exactly the same problem, I've followed the instructions just as the guide to install EP's says, first Install the base game downloaded from games 4 the world then unzip and drag the sims 3.app to the applications folder, second I update the game manually to the latest version, after that I've downloaded the EP's also from the games 4 the world torrents and made a .dmg image, but when I'm running the EP installer it pops out a window that says that I need to install the sims 3.
I've read the instructions carefully and tried it lots of times, my games all are in the same folder and still doesn't work.
please help me! thanks

Hi there, can you please make another topic about your problem. We will gladly assist you if you create another topic (reason: avoid confusion).