First off, I've googled this issue and can't seem to find the Dummies version for fixing this. I was great with Sims 2. Sims 3? I can't even make my own patterns. So help please! Thanks in advance!

Ok! So I was playing Sims 3 + Ambitions just fine. Installed Late Night and let it patch with EADM. Got this message when I ran the game:

"It looks like you have installed an unofficial game modification that does not match your current version of The Sims 3. We recommend that you either uninstall these game modifications or get updated versions of them - otherwise you may experience crashes or significant bugs."

I assumed this was a custom content issue so I did the following:
- deleted cache files
- removed ALL mods
- removed ALL custom sims

After some googling it seems like this is some sort of patching issue? So:
- I used http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=409829 but according to that, everything is up to date. Was working fine before installing Late Night (was just running on the base game + Ambitions before that). Same problem after re-install.
- runs absolutely fine without Late Night. When going to install Late Night I get the "Warning: The installed version of The Sims 3 is more recent than this product."
- I tried not to update after installing Late Night and got this message "Your The Sims 3 Base Game is incompatible with the current Sims 3 Expansion Pack. Please update your game via the game launcher."
- I followed instructions, disabling ALL custom content and tried updating to 6.2.4 again. Same first message all over again. Rinse and repeat! Help please!

I do not use or trust the patch downloader, please supply your games and current versions as stated in the first line of the skuversion.txt which can be found in the links below:

What is the version of your base game and any/all expansions?
Windows OS: Game_Help:TS3_Patching_Find_Gameversion^wiki
Mac OSX: Game_Help:TS3_Patching_Find_Gameversion#info.plist^wiki

Copy and paste the indicated line from the skuversion.txt or info.plist from the following locations, for ALL games you have (adapt as appropriate for OSX):
C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 <EP or SP name>\Game\Bin



"It looks like you have installed an unofficial game modification that does not match your current version of The Sims 3. We recommend that you either uninstall these game modifications or get updated versions of them - otherwise you may experience crashes or significant bugs." This is caused by either having a script or core mod that doesn't match your game version. It would have occurred when you patched/updated your game.

"Warning: The installed version of The Sims 3 is more recent than this product." Late Night was released the same time as patch 1.17.60 / 2.12.8 / 3.8.6 / 4.5.6 / 5.2.4, so if you have patched to a higher version when you install Late Night, then you will get the message that The Sims 3 is more recent than this product.

"Your The Sims 3 Base Game is incompatible with the current Sims 3 Expansion Pack. Please update your game via the game launcher." This is a follow up message to the one above, You must have your games on the same patch level, base install of Late Night is 6.0 and the current version is 6.2.4. Since Late Night is your highest game installed, it MUST match your Base Game Patch level.

First off, I know there's a lot of info on these sorts of problems floating around online. So thanks for answering this and not treating me like an idiot (although I am a complete idiot when it comes to Sims 3).

1) skuversion.txt list. Also, I bought the BG + Ambitions from Amazon recently in the US. I'm starting to think LN was not a legit version, though.
BG: GameVersion = 1.19.44.010001
WA: GameVersion = don't have (yet)
HEL: GameVersion = don't have
AMB: GameVersion = 4.7.4.010001
FL: GameVersion = don't have
LN: GameVersion = 6.0.81.009001

2) "It looks like you have installed an unofficial game modification that does not match your current version of The Sims 3. We recommend that you either uninstall these game modifications or get updated versions of them - otherwise you may experience crashes or significant bugs."
I fixed that by testing the CC I had installed. It was this one: http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=389680

3) Interesting! Thanks for that info!

4)"Your The Sims 3 Base Game is incompatible with the current Sims 3 Expansion Pack. Please update your game via the game launcher."
I'm not sure what you mean. The base game says it's patched to 1.19 while Late Night says 6.0. I can only find patches 6.1 and 6.2 for download (I checked http://www.patches-scrolls.de/sims3_late_night.php for patches).

So what do I do from here? When I update to 6.2.4 is when I get that last error.

1.19 is the latest basegame patch, so you need to update LN to its latest patch too - right now, that is 6.2, so you will definitely need to update to that. You might also want to try "updating" basegame to 1.19: it won't change anything, but it might kick the game out of this stupid error, since it doesn't seem to be recognising your basegame patch version correctly.

It wouldn't hurt to update Ambitions to the latest version too, while you're at it. You can get all the most recent patches here: Game Help:TS3 Patching:Patch Download/Current^wiki

Patched to 6.1 manually, same problem

@whiterider: updated based on that link you provided. GameVersion = 6.2.4.010001

Haha, now it starts up but gives me It looks like you have installed an unofficial game modification that does not match your current version of The Sims 3. We recommend that you either uninstall these game modifications or get updated versions of them - otherwise you may experience crashes or significant bugs again. Removed all game mods and still get this error.

Did you delete the cache files after removing all game mods? There are 4 files to delete.

They'll regenerate again as soon as you boot up the game .

You betcha.

• Sims 3 - Game Problems
  For generic game related issues, please see this FAQ:
  
  Game Help:Sims 3 Game Problem^wiki
  
  

You have removed all mods or updated them, removed caches and you still get that error?

How about after renaming the Sims 3 folder (step#3 in the above FAQ)?

Reinstalled again, this time after purchasing World Adventures, and everything works fine. Odd, but ok, I'll take it!

Another question: I've always had this problem with The Sims 3, even just the base game. It takes forever to load (I think the last time I timed it was 25 minutes to load my active household). I have an HP Pavilion Media Center m8530f PC so I can't figure out why it's taking so long. Any ideas? It makes moving around the neighborhood a bother too since everything takes awhile to render. I seem to meet all the specs so I don't get it. Surely not everyone is playing a game that is so laggy and takes so long to load?

• General - Post System Specs
  We need more information before we can help with your issue. Please post your system specs - instructions on finding them are here: Game Help:System Specs^wiki.
  
  If it is not specifically asked, please provide the Quick summary only.
  
  

25 minutes to load without CC? No way it should be even close to that with a vanilla game.

Below is a sample 'form' you can use to help you out. You'll need to copy and paste the entire template below, and fill it in.

==System==

* Operating System:
* System Manufacturer
* System Model
* Processor:
* Memory:
* Page File:
* DirectX Version:

==Display==

* Name:
* Manufacturer:
* Chip Type:
* Approx. Total Memory:

* Main Driver:
* Version:
* Driver Date:


==Sound==

* Description:
* Driver Name:
* Driver Version:
* Date:


==Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives==

* Drive:
* Free Space:
* Total Space:
* File System:
* Model:

==System==

* Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002)
* System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
* System Model: KT334AA-ABA m8530f
* Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) 9550 Quad-Core Processor (4 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
* Memory: 4862MB RAM
* Page File: 2505MB used, 7422MB available
* DirectX Version: DirectX 11

==Display==

* Name: NVIDIA GeForce 9300 GE
* Manufacturer: NVIDIA
* Chip Type: GeForce 9400 (GF 9300 + GF 8200)
* Approx. Total Memory: 2417 MB

* Main Driver: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2
* Version: 8.15.011.8627 (English)
* Driver Date: 6/26/2009


==Sound==

(there are three different sound pages. If this is pertinent info I'll edit)
* Description:
* Driver Name:
* Driver Version:
* Date:


==Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives==

Drive: C:
Free Space: 119.3 GB
Total Space: 703.8 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: NVIDIA STRIPE 698.63G

Drive: E:
Model: HP DVD Writer 1270d SCSI CdRom Device
Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.00.6002.18005 (English), , 0 bytes

Your graphics card is probably the cause of the ingame lag - beware of anything from nVidia which says "GE" or "SE" at the end, those are the damaged or refurbished chips that they can't pass off as a proper GPU, so they call 'em "Special Edition" and whack on a discount so they don't have to throw them away. The GE/GT/GTS/GTX/GS/SE is much more important, when looking at graphics cards, than the numbers (although numbers do also make a difference - but got instance, an 8600 GTX would probably be better than a 9300 GE).

Have you tried renaming the TS3 folder in Documents to something else, so the game creates a new one? Do you still get lag and slow loading that way?