[Read First] Sims 3 Store guide [ Edited ]

[puzzlezaddict]

Overview

This guide covers how to acquire and download Store content, and how to troubleshoot various associated problems.  If you need further help, please create your own thread, in this section of the forum, describing the issue.

jump to:  SimPoints and standalone worlds

jump to:  How to purchase items

jump to:  Getting the most out of your points

jump to:  Accidental double purchase/double charge

jump to:  Missing purchased content

jump to:  How to install Store content

jump to:  Common errors

jump to:  Disappearing content

jump to:  Installing into a clean folder

SimPoints and standalone worlds

SimPoints can only be purchased through the EA App (Windows), listed as "Sims 3 Currency"; or through Origin (macOS), listed as SimPoints.  When you make the purchase, points are automatically added to your account.  Make sure you've signed into the same account, by email address, that owns your other Sims 3 content.

Please see this thread for further information:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Store-Issues/Can-t-Buy-SimPoints-on-Store-TheSims3-com/td-p/11953657

Some Store worlds can only be purchased with real money (not SimPoints), for example Dragon Valley or Monte Vista.  For issues with registering or installing a Store world, please see the first post of this thread:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Store-Issues/Sims-3-Store-world-can-t-register-install/td-p/12619800

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Purchasing Store content

How to purchase items

Firefox has been the most reliable browser for purchasing or downloading Store content over the years.  I would suggest trying it if you run into any trouble with your preferred browser.

Sign into the Store (https://store.thesims3.com/) with the same email address and password you use in Origin or the EA App.  When you've chosen your items, visit their product pages to purchase.  You'll see a Buy Now button on the right side of the screen:

If the purchase appears not to go through, wait a minute, sign out of the site and back in, or clear your browser cache.  A purchase can appear to hang while completing in the background.

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Getting the most out of your points

If you haven't already, click the My Page header and look for a blue Redeem Points button.  Registering the base game and World Adventures should grant free SimPoints.  Sometimes other packs grant free points as well.

If the item you're interested in is part of one or more sets, you'll see "Also Part of a Set" below the item name.  It's worth clicking this link for two reasons.  One is that the set itself is usually cheaper than buying all of its items separately, and sometimes much cheaper if it's ever on sale, so depending on how much of it content you like, you may prefer to buy the entire set rather than one item at a time.  The other reason is that if you already own other items in the set, the overall set will usually be cheaper than its original price and may even be free.

A green Download button means that you do not yet own the item or set but that you can "buy" it for free.  A blue Download button means you already own it.

For further reading, please see the Daily Deal rotation master thread, and check out the thread that lists the cheapest way to acquire sets:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/866448/daily-deal-dd-2018-rotation-list-and-sales-help

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/939145/cheapest-way-to-own-compilation-sets-venues

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Accidental double purchase/double charge

If you've inadvertently purchased the same item twice, or been double-charged, or you were charged points but did not receive the content, please contact EA customer support for help.  A support rep can credit the points to your account.  Make it clear you need your SimPoints back, not the money you spent on them.  Support cannot provide a refund for the money you spent on the points, only the points themselves.

I would strongly recommend using live chat rather than email.  If you don't see the option, try this link:

https://help.ea.com/en/help-contact-us/?product=the-sims-3&topic=missing-game&category=manage-my-acc...

Make sure you're signed into an EA site (this one is fine) before clicking the link and that the location in the lower-right corner of the browser window is set to U.S. or U.K.

Missing purchased content

Please contact EA customer support, as above.  If the issue has to do with a standalone Store world, please see the first post of this thread:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Store-Issues/Sims-3-Store-world-can-t-register-install/td-p/12619800

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Issues installing Store content

Please see the next post below.

[puzzlezaddict]

How to install Store content

back to:  Overview

jump to:  How Store content installs

jump to:  Best practices

jump to:  Common errors

jump to:  Disappearing content

Over the years, Firefox has consistently been the most reliable browser when purchasing or installing Store content.  I would suggest using it if you run into any trouble with your preferred browser.

To install your content, visit the Store site (https://store.thesims3.com/), and sign in with the same email address and password you use in the EA App or Origin.  You can click Store > My Store Account > Purchase History to view your purchase history and download items from there, or you can download an individual item or set from its product page.

When you download an item, you're downloading a file ending in .Sims3Pack that lands in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Downloads.  Once it's there, open the launcher's Downloads tab, select the item, and click Install.

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How Store content installs

The information in this section and the next applies to all types of Sims 3 installs: Windows plus EA App, disc, or Steam; and the 32-bit and 64-bit Mac versions.

The Sims 3 launcher bundles installed Store content into files ending in .ebc, stored in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > DCCache.  The files are numbered sequentially, starting with zero: dcdb0.ebc, dcdb1.ebc, etc.  (The files that end in .dbc are bundled third-party custom content.)  When the current file exceeds 200 MB in size, the launcher creates a new file the next time it installs an item.

When the game cannot read a particular .ebc file, or that file is missing, it does not attempt to read any higher-numbered files.  So if you delete dcdb3.dbc, the game won't read the contents of dcdb4.ebc even if the latter is intact.  This can make content appear to be missing or corrupt when it's not.  Files can be renamed though: dcdb4 could become dcdb3, and the game should be able to read it again.

When the installed item is a venue, it also deposits a .package file in ...The Sims 3 > Library.  When the item is premium content, it also deposits data in the ccmerged.package file inside ...The Sims 3 > DCBackup.  "Premium" in this case means an item that includes new interactions, for example the glass blowing station or the basketball hoop.  It does not refer to items that involve interactions already included in the game: a chess table is not premium content.

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Best practices

Again, Firefox is the most reliable browser for downloading Store content.

The launcher doesn't handle large amounts of data very well, and the launcher and game may struggle to read excessively large .ebc files.  For these reasons, it's best to install only a few items or sets at a time, and worlds (which are very large files) separately.  If the .ebc file currently in use is just shy of 200 MB already, installing a world may increase its size to the point of breaking it.

So keep an eye on the size of the current highest-numbered .ebc file, and as it nears 200 MB, install only smaller sets and individual items until the launcher creates a new file.  Once it does, you can install your next world, then proceed from there.

Once you've installed an item, you can remove its .Sims3Pack file from Downloads; the game no longer needs this data.  You may want to store these files elsewhere on your computer for convenience—you can later use them to reinstall your content without downloading it again.  This is not completely reliable, so end up needing to redownload your Store content anyway, especially if you've installed the game on a new computer.

You can also delete any files in DCCache that end in .tmp.  The launcher should delet these once it's finished installing Store items, but that doesn't always happen.  Finally, you can delete all files in DCBackup except for ccmerged.  The other files are duplicates of launcher-installed content, meant to allow this content to attach to Exchange uploads.  They serve no other purpose and can occupy a significant amount of space on your drive.

If you're often reseting or deleting the Sims 3 user folder, or you like to maintain multiple folders, or your Store content disappears from time to time, I would recommend making a backup copy of the Sims 3 folder after installing Store content and before adding anything else to it.  You'll be able to restore this backup with all your Store content intact rather than needing to install everything fresh.

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Common errors

"There are no packages to install"

In the EA App, open Settings > Notifications, and disable "When I'm in a game."  Disable the in-game overlay as well.  If this doesn't help, disable everything on this settings page.

You don't own this item

If you see a message saying you don't own the item in question, refresh the Store page.  If that doesn't help, try clearing your browser cache or using a different browser.

Additionally, if you use a VPN, disable it and restart your computer.

You're asked to sign into the launcher

This should not be necessary when installing Store content.  If it happens anyway, clear your browser cache, or use a different browser.  If that doesn't help, disable your VPN and restart your computer.

Mac-specific issues

Please see the first post of this thread:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/Sims-3-64-bit-problems-installing-store-custom-conten...

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Disappearing store content

Only some content is missing/doesn't work

First, identify the items that aren't loading or working.  If these items are only premium content, you may have a corrupt ccmerged.package file.  If you have a backup copy of ccmerged, you can try restoring it.  Note:  In order for this file to work, it must have been present when you installed all of your premium content.  Otherwise, please see this post from Nonamena for further information:

https://nonasims.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/dcbackup-ccmerged-package-and-your-premium-content-items/

If the issue is not limited to premium content, you may have one or more corrupt .ebc files.  Try removing the highest-numbered file and reinstalling one missing item.  If it shows up, great, reinstall the rest of the missing content a few items at a time.  If the first reinstalled item doesn't load in-game, remove the next-highest-numbered .ebc file and try again.  Proceed until any newly-installed Store item stays installed.

None of the content works

Please first confirm that the relevant files are in DCCache, inside Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3.  If the files are intact, close the game and launcher and try deleting the SigsCache folder inside Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3.  If this doesn't help, you'll likely need to reinstall all of your Store content.  I would recommend installing into a clean folder, as described in the next post.

If there are no .ebc files in DCCache, the issue may be OneDrive (Windows) or iCloud Drive (macOS) pushing files to cloud storage and removing the local copies.  If you think this may be your issue, please see the corresponding master thread (Windows, macOS) for help.  Both these guides are written for Sims 4, but the cloud storage principles and relevant settings are the same.

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Reinstalling Store content

Please see the next post below.

[puzzlezaddict]

Installing into a clean folder

Sometimes installing Store content into a clean folder is the only way to make the content work again.  It's also a useful test when content won't install properly.  This does not delete any of your data.

Go into Documents > Electronic Arts and either move the Sims 3 folder to the desktop or rename it.  Either approach is fine; the result is the same.  If you get an error when trying to move or rename the folder, or it copies instead of moving, stop here; this is likely a OneDrive syncing issue, as covered in this master thread.

Otherwise, open the launcher to spawn a clean folder.  (None of your saves or other user content wil be present, but it will all still be intact in the old folder and can be restored later.)  Download a fresh copy of one Store item and install it, then load the game to see whether it works.  If it does, try installing a few items, or a world, and test again.  If everything still works, install the rest of your Store content, as described in Best practices in the previous post.

Once your Store content is all installed and loading, you can transfer your saves and any other files you'd like to preserve to the new Sims 3 folder.  Here's a list of data you probably want to keep:

• Saves:  This folder holds your saves.
• Library:  This folder holds your saved households and builds, both those you've created and those you've installed.  Transfer the contents of Library, not the entire folder, so as not to delete any Store venues installed into the new folder.  Any duplicate files are likely multiple copies of the same Store venue, so skip the old file and keep the new one.
• SavedSims:  This folder contains sim templates saved in CAS.
• Mods:  This holds mods and .package-based custom content.
• Screenshots:  You can store these elsewhere if you want.
• Options.ini:  This file holds your in-game options: graphics, lifespan, etc.  Restore this if you don't want to reset all these options.
• UserPresets.package:  This file holds data from any recolors or retextures you've saved in Create a Style mode in CAS or Build/Buy.  Consider deleting this if it's very large, as it can become corrupt or increase CAS or BB loading times.

You may or may not want to preserve these:

• DCCache:  If you've installed custom content (not only Store content) through the launcher and don't want to reinstall it, transfer only the files that end in .dbc.  This is not necessary if you simply want to preserve cc-free households or lots—these will be intact in Library.
• Downloads:  If you'd like to preserve downloaded Sims3Packs that are not Store content, find them here.  Do not transfer the entire folder; rather, if you wish to preserve your Store downloads, use the copies inside Downloads in the new Sims 3 folder.
• InstalledWorlds:  If you've installed custom worlds, find them here.  Discard any Store .world files, which you'll have recreated when you reinstalled the worlds.
• Custom Music:  Only save this if you've added music to the folder.

The rest can and should be deleted; the game will recreate the files.

When in doubt, you can put aside a file or folder without deleting it.  If you find you're missing some content you wanted to preserve, review the files you put aside.

jump to:  Overview