Hey amigos,

I've recently installed The Sims 2: Ultimate Collection onto a new laptop and transferred my saved files from my old laptop into the documents folder but as usual nothing is simple and straightforward when installing TS2 onto computers with newer OS.

The problem I encounter is that upon launching the game the main screen does not display any neighborhoods. Please see the screenshot below for reference.

The game also crashes when I attempt any of the tutorials on Learn to Play, although I believe this is a seperate issue that will require a different fix to make the game playable.

Really hope I can play this beloved game again on my new laptop! Any help would be greatly appreciated! :lovestruc

Here are my laptop specs for reference:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 11 Home
Version 10.0.22000 Build 22000
System Manufacturer ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC.
System Model ROG Strix G513QY_G513QY
System Type x64-based PC
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 16.0 GB
AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX with Radeon Graphics, 3301 Mhz, 8 Core(s), 16 Logical Processor(s)


*** SOLUTION ***
Mysterious_Potential over on Sims2Help Reddit was so kind enough to spend the time resolve the locale and game crashing problem if any fellow simmers are facing similar issues and would like in depth step by step instructions on what to do to get the game working:https://www.reddit.com/r/sims2help/...ter_installing/

Did you install the UC from Origin site, or from somewhere else?

Did you check everything was installed correctly, and that the regular neighborhoods showed up before replacing the files?

How did you transfer/replace the files?
-By removing the files from the "...\Documents\EA Games\The Sims™ 2 Ultimate Collection\Neighborhoods" (or the full "The Sims™ 2 Ultimate Collection" folder) and replacing them with your backup (remove files, then copy/paste from backup)
-by copy/paste and letting the files and folders overwrite?
-a different method?
(asking, because overwriting folders can cause a lot of issues)

Have you deactivated the OneDrive app, or set it to ignore the Documents folder? This one comes with Windows 10 and 11, and if it's set to synch backups with the Documents folder, this can cause the game not to save properly due to it not having enough cloud space to work with.

Are you sure you put the files in the proper Documents folder? There can be one for the OneDrive files too, and it's easy to mistake the two.

Did your last install have the Store Edition? If you aren't sure, maybe you could attach one of the neighbourhoods for us to take a look at.

I've installed the Origin version I downloaded off a website some time ago but I can't remember what that particular website is

I downloaded the UC from somewhere else but I can't recall which website, it's the Origin version

There wasn't a The Sims™ 2 Ultimate Collection folder in the documents folder when I checked after installing the game

I moved my backup directly to the documents folder from an external hard drive but as I mentioned there wasn't a default The Sims™ 2 Ultimate Collection folder when I checked

I think you might be on the right track, upon checking the documents folder it appears that the document folder is located on my OneDrive.

When I click on the Sims2EP9 app I get a prompt that mentions "You are running on low disk space and may encounter problems with you game under these conditions. Are you sure you want to launch the game?". It initially confused me because I should have plenty of space on my laptop since I don't have any games installed, it's mostly been used to browse the internet and stream content (such a waste of a gaming laptop lol)

How do I deactivate or set it to ignore the documents folder?

Thanks so much for your help so far, simmer22!

I attempted to deselect the Documents folder but encounter this error message

You have to disable OneDrive, otherwise it will corrupt your saves. But the low disk space warning and the neighborhoods showing up is caused by having the wrong locale.

I think it automatically synchs to Desktop, Documents and Pictures, and the setup seems to be in a way it can't choose just one folder to not synch.

Try disabling OneDrive entirely.

This topic can probably be of some help:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...38-6efb09f944b0

You need to disable, uninstall -get rid of OneDrive however you can, its crap and not just with sims 2 files it literally made an important Word document I had vanish.

Thanks guys, is there a way I can reassign the Documents folder elsewhere?

I've checked the properties settings of the Documents folder it it’s indicating that it’s still located on the OneDrive (C:\Users\billabum\OneDrive) despite uninstalling it

I've tried restoring the Documents folder to the default location (C:\Users\billabum\Documents) however an error message appears (please see screenshot below). It still appears in the OneDrive (C:\Users\billabum\OneDrive\Documents)

The only file inside the Documents folder is McAfee Vaults which I have no use for but I can't move or delete it.

So, that means there is a Documents folder there already, so you don't have to do anything. Now if you fix your locale, the game should work just fine.

I see, how do I fix the locale and where would it be assigned to?

It should be fixed once you've stopped OneDrive from synching your computer. If it's still appearing in the OneDrive folder it's still synching.

I've uninstalled OneDrive by removing it through Apps & Features and so if it's still syncing is there a way to relocate the Documents folder?

There's probably some way to do it via the registry or some such (I'm not an expert on that one - maybe someone else can explain?).

Another way would be to reinstall the game. That way it should link up the folders properly.

Also make sure you check once in a while after Windows does updates, because OneDrive has been known to reinstall during updates, and then you'd likely be back to the same issue. If this happens, deactivating the app can sometimes be a preferred method over uninstalling because the settings are usually kept (I've deactivated it, plus turned off everything remotely OneDrive related under startup settings).

Still no luck I'm afraid. I've uninstalled OneDrive in addition to the game and then reinstalling it however upon start up no neighbourhoods appear even the create a neighbourhood menu is empty.

Did you clean the registry before reinstalling? This should set the game up to a clean reinstall.

https://modthesims.info/wiki.php?ti..._Help:Uninstall
(scroll to "Remove Leftover Windows Uninstall Data" and "Remove Registry Entries" - the info is probably a bit old, as in not updated for Win10/11, but more updated info is rarely more than a search away if you need it)

Before reinstalling, here's someone who had the same issues with the Documents folder and OneDrive, with a possible solution:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...3b-0b3308ca1ad7

Try all of this BEFORE reinstalling the game again. That way your game should hopefully connect with the proper folder (and if it does, you did it correctly).

I come bearing good news!

Following the instructions in the General Support section on the Sims2Help Reddit, I simply removed the TM from the display name in the registry and now all the the neighbourhoods are displaying. Also confirming that the Documents folder in the OneDrive is where the normal EA Games/The Sims 2 UC folder is created and so I removed the TM from my saved EA Games/The Sims 2 UC folder and voila! It's all there!

I've applied the 4gb patch and set the appropriate parameters on Graphics Rules Maker and the game runs but seems to get overloaded and subsequently crashes when navigating my custom hood perhaps due to the size and scale of the hood and all the mods? It also lags if I move around the hood too quickly and eventually crashes.

I also have a nasty case of the pink soup and my dog's face is missing textures as you can see.

Considering my laptop specs surely it should be able to run the game smoothly.

Is there anything you could suggest to fix these issues?

Depends on your settings and amount of CC.

With the GRM, make sure the two first boxes are ticked, or the pink-flashing and crashing is going to be much worse than if you don't. You'll probably also want to do some test rounds with a different neighborhood than your original, just to see if the game holds up - enw computer, new rules. Newer graphic cards and other setups can be more difficult to set up properly, and throwing everything you've got at them can be a bit much, especially if you have to go in and out to test several times.

Could also depend on the ingame settings VS Graphic Rules settings VS (out of game with a dedicated card) graphic settings.

Does the computer have only integrated graphics, or does it have a graphic card, too? (that version of integrated graphic looks to be decent compared to some other variants, but just checking).

Yes, having the wrong locale causes this problem, like I've been saying. That's one way to solve it, you could have also fixed the locale.

Yes, but you didn't follow it up with instructions, or a link to a tutorial.

I've posted the solution in the OP for my fellow simmers to follow! Hope this also helps others!

I think it's pretty easy to google how to change your locale? I don't have ready expert knowledge about how to do everything in Windows, either, if I need to know how to do something, I google it.

Locale of what? The game or the OS? Why should this cause the problem the OP was having?
Unless you at least give a hint at these answers, you can't expect OP to understand what you mean and be able to search a solution. If it's pretty easy to search for a tutorial, why didn't you just do that and post a link? It's no good saying 'I told you that' if you really didn't.