YESSSSSSSSSSSS!

Brilliant!! Thank you SO much!!!

I'm all for automating chores like these :thumbsup:

I think instead of starting the Launcher you could make it so it runs TS3W.exe in "steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin" folder and then runs "Steam\GameOverlayUI.exe -pid X" where X is the process TS3W.exe's ID. That way you avoid the super slow launcher.

PS: One BIG issue if you have Store content is that when you run the launcher it makes backup copies of everyone of those files (ebc and dbc files inside DCCache folder).

In Steam library, select The Sims 3 and you'll see CD Key text on the right. You can access CD keys by clicking on it and redeem them on Origin.

Just a little note for anyone who uses this, this will make your CAS and buymode a lot slower because it has to re-generate thumbnails every time you play. Might be worth not running it every time you play or taking those lines to delete the thumbnail cache out.

With the FeaturedItems folder within My Documents, it might be better to set it to read-only so it doesn't write anything to it (i.e. the Store thumbnails) instead of deleting it every time. Otherwise the game will keep writing to it while it's running.

I had no idea you could do that! Thanks! I'll update the upload with an Origin-compliant version.

This is a smart workaround. I just have it pointed at the Steam ID because it seemed like the simplest solution. I'm getting a lot of good ideas for a Version 2 already!



I don't have a lot of store content, so you're all teaching me some important stuff. Folder permission are outside the scope of my program, but I can remove the FeaturedItems line from the next version if it's not actually helping.



This is true. Well, ymmv, CAS is definitely slower, but my buymode is exactly the same. I put this together from the perspective of someone who does a lot of modding, so it was more important to me to clean out any broken/redundant thumbnails than maximize speed. I can put a note about this in the description. I'll think about adding another version for download that doesn't delete thumbnails, but that can get out of hand pretty quickly. Thanks for the comment!

From what I've noticed, it's not about the Store content you have installed; I think those are thumbnails for the promotional items you see in-game with a gold border around them if you have Shop Mode enabled. It's basically just another way for EA to sell DLC. And while they don't take up that much space (since they're tiny), some players have reported the game lagging as it writes to that folder during the play session.

This may be obvious, but I want to make sure.

"3. Double-click the Clean Start .cmd"

We need to navigate to the file (or a shortcut on the desktop) each time we want to run it, right? It doesn't run automatically?

I'm one of those players who spends a lot of time before every session deleting files. This will save a lot of time and aggravation. Thank you!

I just looked at the picture, and see the instructions for the desktop icon. (Maybe they should go with the text, instead of the picture.) So we will be clicking it each time. Got it. Thanks!

I honestly forgot about the icon changing part, my roommate added that in during testing, lol! I'll make a note that it isn't automatic.

Ahh, I see. I have all of that turned off. I appreciate the tip, but I'm not going to bring anything involving folder permissions into this particular mod. It's a whole can of worms that I can't provide support for if something is impacted unexpectedly.

When I double-click my prettified desktop icon, Origin says
"Enter the product code for Unidentified Game to begin the installation process."
(It says the same thing when I try it from File Explorer.)

Nobody else has mentioned this. Am I doing something wrong?

Hmm. I'm not sure what's causing this, but I'll help if I can. Did it work before you changed the icon? Please walk me through what you did after downloading the file.

I downloaded the Origin No Thumbs version and unzipped it (7-Zip).
I moved the file CleanStartSims3OriginNoThumbs.cmd to the bin folder with the other applications. (C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin)
Instead of running it right away, I sent a shortcut to the desktop. I changed the icon on the shortcut.
I opened Origin to my library, but didn't click Play.
I double-clicked the shortcut icon. Origin gave me a pop-up window asking for a product code.
I canceled that and went back to the app in File Explorer. (It still has the original icon.) I double-clicked it.
Origin gave me the same pop-up window. I canceled.
I went and deleted files the old way so I could play the game. ;-)

I'm quite willing for you to point out something silly that I did so I can get it working!
Thanks!

You can merge Steam and Origin versions in one bat, exe or cmd file and ask which will it be the first time someone launches it. I can do it for you if you want. Also you can add NoLauncher or with launcher to the same file and just make the user choose on the first time launch.

Downside; it completely messed up my CAS catalog (all disorganized missing stuff, dont really care though), Upside, my game runs a heck alot smoother.

Sorry it's been a couple days, I've been super busy. I'm not sure exactly what could be causing that specific error. Here are a couple ideas:

1. Since you have the game installed inside the Program Files folder, you may need to run the cmd as administrator.
2. Where are the actual cache files located? The cmd could be pointing at the wrong place.
3. Have you tried using the non-launcher version? If Origin won't play nice, it might be easier to run that version to clean the files and launch manually.

I thought about this, but ultimately decided against it. It's a little clunkier to have the files individually, but it's also less complicated. If you'd like, you have my full support to use what I've provided in this mod to create a merged version and upload it separately. I'd appreciate credit for the code I wrote, but it's free to use.

Wow! I am beyond happy to see this. My friend sent this page to me as soon as she found it. We are beyond thankful to you for making this wonderful program. I have spent years going in to the folders and hunting down all these files each and every time i played. Became such a chore! Now I can jump right to playing. Thank you! <3

Quick question: does/will this work in tandem with the Sims 3 Booter and FPS Limiter programs? Or will I not need them?

I don't use either of these, but you can always use the CleanStartSims3NoLauncher.7z version, then start you game as you normally do.