Is there any way to force SimPE to accept a particular game version as a given, no matter what files it is being fed? Is there a preferences file I could edit, or something along these lines? I don't care about proper catalogue thumbnails or anything, I just want to force it to load a particular objects.package.

I know how it would normally work -- point it at the game files in Prefs, tick boxes in File Table, reload and restart --, but that approach doesn't work for me since I don't have the game on that machine in the first place, resulting in greyed-out File Table tickboxes. (Or perhaps it is something else that makes them greyed out? I only know they have never worked for me)

I have the game on my mac; SimPE lives on my Windows box. I have *some* game files copied over to the Windows machine (the 3D/objectsXX.packages I need and most of the other stuff that is listed in the Advanced part of File Table), and this works fine for cloning/recolouring base game objects. Only when EPs come into play it seems to be a matter of luck, coincidence and moon phase whether or not it loads anything from an EP.

Currently the advanced File Table thing tells me

[x] (Unused) folder: (Nightlife)/TSData/Res/Objects (only when Game Version = 2)

and I take it that it would only believe Game Version = 2 if I could tick the #&%$ box above this list, which I can't, since it's greyed out. All of the Nightlife folders look as if SimPE can find them (it calls them "Folder:", not "(Missing) Folder:", so the files are all there, it just doesn't load .. some of them. Most of them. Currently it's loading all the half walls, fences, floors, walls, and neighbourhood objects from Nightlife, but nothing else.

Sometimes, very rarely, it suddenly decides to load a ton of stuff (in the form of a long unordered list, but that's fine) -- when that happens, I can clone and recolour EP objects perfectly fine, so the files are not broken. I just don't know what exactly it takes to make that work. I'm running SimPE in normal and Advanced mode alternatingly but haven't noticed that that would make a difference.

So, yeah. Is there a way to force-feed it the files I want? Installing the game on the Windows box is not an option (even though I still have all the disks), because that box is old and lame and would die of shock if I'd go near it with a game disk. I doubt a complete install would even fit on that harddrive.


I'm using SimPE 0.72.01c; I also have 0.73.43 floating about somewhere in case it might help trying with that instead. Could it be a problem that there are two versions on the same machine? (I have only used 0.73 once, and that was a long time ago)

Last edited by plasticbox : 21st Apr 2009 at 6:02 AM.