A few broken store items (Sims3Pack).

I prefer to install as much as my Sims 3 store content as possible in the Sims3Pack form to reduce package load (artificial load time increase from .package files). However, there are a few .Sims3Pack files I got from the current .ru mirror that don't install in the launcher. Specifically:

Mother Brassbeard's Birdbath.Sims3Pack (The associated premium content is not installed.)
Pineapple Pottery.Sims3Pack (Install failed.)
SpanishVillaSET.sims3pack (Install failed. Invalid file?)

Is there a way I can fix these so they install properly?

YoGriz wrote:I prefer to install as much as my Sims 3 store content as possible in the Sims3Pack form to reduce package load (artificial load time increase from .package files). However, there are a few .Sims3Pack files I got from the current .ru mirror that don't install in the launcher. Specifically:

Mother Brassbeard's Birdbath.Sims3Pack (The associated premium content is not installed.)
Pineapple Pottery.Sims3Pack (Install failed.)
SpanishVillaSET.sims3pack (Install failed. Invalid file?)

Is there a way I can fix these so they install properly?

Hello and welcome to the G4TW Forums @YoGriz,

There is of course a small chance that something has happened during the upload of these singular items, in which case you could try grabbing the stuff from the old website, if you can find them:
https://games4theworld.org/the-sims-3-store-updates/

^that website has been discontinued and is basically not under our control anymore. But there are still these store items that you can download.

Other than that, when it says "the associated premium content is not installed" it means that you have to install some other item before. Now, that may sound obvious, but in practice it's not as easy as it sounds. Towards the end of The Sims 3's lifespan, someone at EA came up with the idea of these "themed decoration/styles" or whatever it is called. These are basically re-colorings for existing store items. In your case, I would not know which other item goes along with that "Mother brassbeard"-thing. I'm sorry.

These invididual store items - for which there has never been an official and public catalogue (I guess the aim was, to "make it harder for pirates"...?), have always been a source of certain difficulties.

I myself use the G4TW complete store compilation/torrent, that utilizes essentially 5 big .package files, into which most store items are compressed. I'm fine with that, though of course, some people might prefer just individual items. I also think that compressing .package content into fewer, but bigger files, also helps reduce loading times. Though of course I don't know by how much, compared to .sims3packs.

I'll leave the thread open, in case someone else has a better idea.  

The_gh0stm4n wrote:

YoGriz wrote:

I've used the complete store package files before, however, I find that absolutely wrecks my performance when entering buy or build mode. Also, there end up being a few red 'resource missing' errorkeys that show up randomly around town when using the complete store collection. There are probably a few items missing from those packages that other items depend on. I can make a separate thread documenting the missing items I find if that would help.

YoGriz wrote:I've used the complete store package files before, however, I find that absolutely wrecks my performance when entering buy or build mode. Also, there end up being a few red 'resource missing' errorkeys that show up randomly around town when using the complete store collection. There are probably a few items missing from those packages that other items depend on. I can make a separate thread documenting the missing items I find if that would help.

Sorry to hear that the complete store compilation didn't work out so well for you; some (minor?) issues with the torrent have been documented, like here:
https://www.games4theworld.club/t35026-sims-3-complete-store-collection-issues-invisible-bodies#204119

But if you observed other issues, you're welcome to post your findings directly in this thread here. I can't say I experience any serious issues, except for a long initial savefile-loading. I've heard that using SSD drives can help on that end. Other than that my PC is decently strong, maybe that also plays a role. I don't really know.

Does using .sims3packs really make such a big difference, on your end? 

One of the other Moderators here said they wanted to work on a new & revised G4TW repack for the entire TS3 store, but since they turned inactive, that project has been put on hold, I guess. I myself will probably not work anymore on TS3 projects.

For me, I'm not noticing much difference between .sims3pack and .package store content. However, you do have to try and merge .package stuff, because otherwise it seems the game performance drops~