Steam Base game and torrented expansions, cant find base installation folder

Hi there everyone,

First of all thanks for hosting the content that you put out, a lot better than the hefty prices EA decided to put out.

MY PROBLEM:

I bought the base game through Steam and installed it. Launched it once to make sure all the base stuff was there and it worked fine like it should.
I then downloaded Sims 3 Pets DLC to start of with. I extracted the RAR files in a seperate directory from the Sims 3 directory

D:\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3 <-- Base game
D:\Do Not Trust\Sims3pets <-- Torrented DLC. (I put all my torrents here hence the name)

Upon launching Sims3EP05Setup.exe i get the splash art of the sims 3 installer and not too long later the error: "this product requires a installed version of the Sims 3. Install Sims 3 first and try again."

I get the same problems for any other DLC that i have tried downloading.

Basically, it thinks Sims 3 hasnt been installed.

THINGS I HAVE TRIED:
Restart PC
Run as admin
Reinstall Sims 3 through Steam
Drag torrented files into Sims 3 directory, but that just made a huge mess of overlapping folders and what not.
Follow this guide: https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t1171-must-read-how-to-install-the-sims-3-correctly , With that guide the installer gives me the same error as above. The guide also assumes that the Sims 3 has been detected and expansions are already installed, which isnt in my case.

Apologies in advance if this has been asked/solved before.
Thanks in advance for solving the problem!

Welcome to the forum @Snake and sorry for the late reply, 


Try using a pirated base game, because the Steam version of The Sims 3 isn't compatible with pirated expansions/stuffpacks.

Good luck and keep us posted if you like!

I actually was able to fix the problem by using the activation code i got through Steam and use the code back on Origin. Got the Sims 3 working now with your torrented expansions. 

I haven't tried the next thing myself but: I believe after activating the product on Origin through the code on Steam, you can ask for a refund on Steam for The Sims and get your money back but then playing through Origin. Since the two dont communicate (like Steam would communicate with Uplay) you can basically get the legit version for free. So just to clarify:

1. Get Sims 3 through Steam and save the product code
2. Activate the product code on Origin
3. Refund Sims 3 on Steam and continue playing the game on Origin
4. ???
5. Profit.
6. (extra) Download all expansions from games4theworld

Snake wrote:I actually was able to fix the problem by using the activation code i got through Steam and use the code back on Origin. Got the Sims 3 working now with your torrented expansions. 

I haven't tried the next thing myself but: I believe after activating the product on Origin through the code on Steam, you can ask for a refund on Steam for The Sims and get your money back but then playing through Origin. Since the two dont communicate (like Steam would communicate with Uplay) you can basically get the legit version for free. So just to clarify:

1. Get Sims 3 through Steam and save the product code
2. Activate the product code on Origin
3. Refund Sims 3 on Steam and continue playing the game on Origin
4. ???
5. Profit.
6. (extra) Download all expansions from games4theworld

Thanks for sharing this information @Snake; I wasn't aware that the code for the game on Steam can/could also work on Origin. Not sure if that Origin version of the game updates to patch 1.69, but in case it does, have a look at the notice here:
https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t22114-important-information-regarding-the-sims-3-version-1-69-36-0240

Is there anything else you need help with, for the time being?