I just ordered Bon Voyage. I should be getting it Friday or Saturday. I wanted to know-I already have The Sims 2 Deluxe and Seasons installed. The Deluxe came with Night Life. And I have my CC in there also. Will there be a problem with this? Did I have to uninstall everything before installing Bon Voyage? I don't think so, but I just wanted to be sure. I was so use to my son doing this. Also, in the 3 dots (where you set up options) Is the UI transparency on or off? There was a thread where it showed how to do all the settings, but the picture is now gone. And do I have to use this patch?

http://thesims2.ea.com/update/getpa...appVersion=1.10

Thank you very much!

Well the first thing you should do is take out your downloads folder and make a recent backup of your game before installing BV

You don't have to uninstall everything. Just do this: http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?..._Next_Expansion

As for all the settings, UI transparency is up to you. One setting makes the controls semi-transparent, the other doesn't. Most of the rest, higher is better, if your graphics card can handle it.

Yes, you need to patch Bon Voyage once you have installed it - as you need to patch all EPs you have installed.

Ok thank you both very much. I never knew what that UI transparency was until now I never used the patches on the games I have now, but I will find the others too. Yes everything is on high.

Thank you again!

To be honest, you dont actually have to patch the game. The only patched game i have is Freetime because the Matchmaker was bugging me!
You may want to patch it though if you experience lots of glitches and problems

:D

You know, I never had a problem with my games, so I never put the patch in! I better stop before I jinx myself

Thanks again!

When you install BV, it will automatically patch your previous games. So you'll only have to patch BV, not your other games

No, actually, it won't patch all your previous games. You need to patch each EP separately. And I really would suggest getting the patches - they fix more issues than they cause.

Really? I thought it did, because when you install the game it says that its 'checking that the Sims 2 is up to date'. I thought thats when it patched the game.

as we're talking bout this:

is UI transparency harder on the CPU?

I have heard from some that the patch made their game run worse. I can't imagine how that could be possible! And now I'm thinking to myself, maybe there is something wrong with my game that I don't see or know! I will try and find all the patches.

I've also heard that too, though, Michele... I personally have had no problems with the official Maxis patches though, but I do know people who have had to stay away from them

I'm a bit afraid with all this. I will install the game and see how it goes. I see I wasn't the only one who heard this Genetix! Thanks again

Ferret - That's not the same as patching.

Michele - The first Freetime patch had a lot of bugs - it's been updated now and is fine. Maybe that's what they were talking about... There's no reason a patch would cause any sort of performance issues like slowdowns though.

tizerist - CPU, no. Graphics card, yes, but very very minor. Compared to things like resolution, smooth edges, shadows, graphic effects, bump mapping, higher resolution textures, UI transparency does basically nothing.

Oh ok, thank you very much HystericalParoxysm!

And thanks again to you all! You have all been very helpful!

You know, I've always been curious myself about this 'pre-install' routine. Being the kamikaze user I am, I just chuck the stuff in without moving or removing any CC or hacks, and I've never had a problem. (No, I'm not recommending that, I just find it curious that I've never had a problem. Now watch my game blow up. *knocks on wood*)

One thing I did learn was that the problems I got from installing/ using BV- the worst being the 'endless NPC' bug where the game would make 23,874 NPC's- disappeared when I re-installed it *after* buying and installing Free Time.

[QUOTE=Hinoemasim]You know, I've always been curious myself about this 'pre-install' routine.QUOTE]


Me too, thats why I posted! HystericalParoxysm gave this link up there ^ it's helpful.

http://www.sims2wiki.info/wiki.php?..._Next_Expansion