Using AnyGameStarter with TS2 Collections
 

As requested by Mootilda, I'm making a public thread about this.

For those who don't know, Numenor's AnyGameStarter does not support Collection packs other than Deluxe, Double Deluxe and Holiday Edition 2005/2006. Using it with the University Life, Best of Business, or Fun with Pets Collections can cause problems, requiring you to reinstall unless certain registry files are fixed.


Mootilda has been very kind and helpful in repairing others' games, but she deserves a break and repairing everyone's game individually would be daunting.

This thread has been made in order to compile the information related to repairing the file(s) for AnyGameStarter and the TS2 Collections to work.

Using AnyGameStarter with TS2 Collections
 

Just to be clear: I don't know how to solve the issue with collections. As far as I can tell, the AGS doesn't recognize the collections and therefore doesn't include the necessary information in the full game restore procedure. If we can determine which registry entries are required for each collection pack, then it should be a simple matter of adding the correct entries

Skills required:
- The ability to follow instructions.
- Knowledge about how to create a system restore point and how to restore your system.
- Knowledge about how to backup and restore a file or folder.

WARNING: Do not run your AnyGame before you have either 1) created a system backup or 2) fixed the AppFiles folder. Preferably both.

If you have already run an AnyGame and your full game is no longer working, and if you are unable to restore your system to working order, then this will not help you. We need to examine your registry before the AGS attempts to restore your full game. At this time, we do not know enough to tell you how to fix this problem. Hopefully, with everyone's help, we'll gather the information that we need.

Note that this is a work in progress. I haven't explained how to fix the AGS yet. I'd like to see some people's registry data and AGS files first. Once I have a clear idea of what they look like, I'll make some suggestions on fixing them.

Step 1: The first thing that I would suggest is to make a system restore point before running your AnyGame. Until you are sure that your AnyGame is working correctly and that your full game can be restored correctly, this will ensure that you won't have to uninstall and reinstall everything; you can just restore from that restore point.

Step 2: If you have not yet installed an AnyGame, this would be a good time to do so. Just be sure NOT to run the AnyGame until we have fixed it.

Step 3: Installing an AnyGame should not change the state of your computer. However, it never hurts to be sure. After installing the AnyGame; make sure that you can still run your full game. If you have any problems, restore from your system restore point and let me know. There may be a problem which is unrelated to your TS2 collection pack.

Step 4: Since we will be modifying your AnyGame, backup your AnyGameStarter\AppFiles folder now. If you'd prefer, you should be able to just backup any file that you actually change, such as the AnyGameStarter\AppFiles\Sims2_Full.reg file. However, don't edit any files without a proper backup.

Understanding the information in your AnyGameStarter \ AppFiles folder
 

Step 5: Understand your AnyGameStarter files. There should be only one or two AGS files which need to be modified to make everything work correctly: AnyGameStarter\AppFiles\Sims2_Full.reg and possibly AnyGameStarter\AppFiles\Sims2_AnyGame#.reg. The Sims2_AnyGame#.reg file contains the information necessary to run your AnyGame, there will be one copy per AnyGame. The Sims2_Full.reg file is supposed to contain the information necessary to restore your registry to the standard full game setup. Let's take a look at a simple Sims2_Full.reg. This file contains several sections. The Sims2_AnyGame#.reg file is very similar.

To follow along on your own computer, just find your AnyGameStarter\AppFiles folder, find the Sims2_Full.reg file, and edit it by doing one of the following:
1) Right click on the file and select "Edit"
2) Click on the file and select "Edit" from the "File" menu.

WARNING: Do not open the file by double clicking on it. The default is to actually install the registry file, which we don't want to do until we've fixed it.

Each Sims2_Full.reg is going to be different, because it reflects the state of a specific user's machine. However, the general format will be the same.

Here's the first section:This tells the registry that the file is a valid registry file. Leave this as is.

The second section tells The Sims 2 which EPs and SPs you have installed:The first two lines specify the location in the registry that we're examining. Leave them as is. The final line lists your EPs and SPs, in a specific order, separated by commas; please note that I split the line so that it would fit on the screen, but it should always be only one line in the .REG file. You'll note that I have all EPs and SPs, except for the Sims 2 Store Edition. The extra comma between Sims2SP6.exe and Sims2EP7.exe will sometimes contain Sims2SE.exe, which is the store edition.

The second section will probably need to be fixed for people with unsupported collections. But first, we'll have to compare this line with what's in your registry.

The third section tells The Sims 2 which EPs and SPs you have installed:You'll note that each of my EPs, SPs, and collections are listed, along with a language code for each (1 is English). Rather than having Nightlife, this section shows that I have the Deluxe Edition.

Again, this section will probably need to be fixed for people with unsupported collections. But first, we'll have to compare this section with what's in your registry.

The final section explains where to find the Documents folder. The AnyGameStarter works by temporarily fooling the game into thinking that the AnyGameStarter folder is your Documents folder. You can see that I moved my Documents folder to C:\MyDocs.

This section is probably OK and will not usually need to be changed.

We're done looking at this file for now, so you can close it without saving.

Finding the correct information in your registry
 

Step 6: Now that we've looked at how the AGS intends to restore your full game, it's time to find the correct way to restore your full game. We do this by examining your registry. Be sure that you have a valid system restore point before opening your registry, since even minor changes can stop your system from working.

We will want to examine the registry for each of the sections in Sims2_Full.reg, to find any differences. Then, we'll fix the Sims2_Full.reg file so that it has the correct entries.

1) Click Start, then Run. When the Run window comes up, type regedit and then click OK.

2) When Regedit comes up, you'll see something like this:
https://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/...geditScreen.png

3) If it looks a bit confusing, you can press the 'home' key on your keyboard (on the right, above the four arrow keys). Then close Regedit, and restart it as you did before. It should now look nice and neat like this:
https://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/...8-3TopLevel.png

4) Locate entries by expanding the "+" to get to the next level or the "-" to collapse it.

The Easy Way

5) Now, for each of the sections in Sims2_Full.reg, we need to compare the registry with the file. The simplest way is provide the entire tree, but some people prefer not to share that much information. If you want to use the more complex procedure, which provides only what we need, skip to 6). Otherwise, navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES. If you expand that node, you should see a list of all of your games in the left pane. Select the "EA Games" node and choose Export... from the File menu. You will be asked to provide a file name, with a file extension of .REG. Zip and attach that entire file here. If you want to see what you will be sharing, you can edit the .REG file as we did in the previous post. Skip to 9).

The Private Way

6) Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 in the left pane and look for EPsInstalled in the right pane. If you double click on EPsInstalled, a window will come up with all of your EPs and SPs. You can copy the string by selecting it and then typing <ctrl> C. Then, click on the cancel button to avoid accidentally changing anything. You can paste the string here for us to view.

7) Still looking at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 in the left pane, look for DisplayName in the right pane. If you double click on DisplayName, a window will come up with the name of your save game folder, usually "The Sims 2". You can copy the string by selecting it and then typing <ctrl> C. Then, click on the cancel button to avoid accidentally changing anything. You can paste the string here for us to view.

8) Move one level up, to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES. If you expand that node, you should see a list of all of your games in the left pane. For each game, select it and choose Copy Key Name from the Edit menu. You can paste each string here for us to view. We'll need to see the entire set, to understand how the registry should look when running the full game and to compare them against your Sims2_Full.reg.

In both cases:

9) You can also check the other keys from the final section in Sims2_Full.reg, to see whether they match your current values. If not, be sure to let us know.

10) We're done with the registry, so you can close it now. Unfortunately, you won't be given an option to avoid saving.

11) At this point, you might want to run your full game again, just to make sure that nothing has broken. If there are any problems, restore your system.

Make sure to attach all of the information that we've gathered above. You'll also want to attach your Sims2_Full.reg file, so that we can compare the two.

Fixing your full game
 

This is the space for my explanation about how to fix your full game registry file using the information from your registry. However, for now let's just concentrate on getting the information from the registry, so that we can try to figure out what the problems are.

I just learned some additional information about TS2 collections which may have a bearing on whether the AGS will work.

In the registry, under:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES\The Sims 2]
there is a string value named "DisplayName", which is usually set to "The Sims 2" for non-collection EPs. However for Double Deluxe, it's not clear where the DisplayName is stored, but it is likely set to "The Sims 2™ Double Deluxe". I haven't checked this with the AGS, since I don't have any collections. However, this value may need to be temporarily changed for the AGS to work correctly.

We'll need to know what this value is set to for each of the collections. If the AGS always adds its files to "The Sims 2", then we may need to change the DisplayName temporarily. I've added instructions to the posts above.

Since no one has provided information yet, I've included a simplified method to retrieving the necessary information from your registry. Until someone actually provides this information, there is nothing more that I can do.

I have the collections packs (they were cheap) but I don't understand the question?

Which question? How to help?
- First, create a system restore point. If you don't have a system restore point, you may need to re-install all of your games.
- Run RegEdit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES. If you expand that node, you should see a list of all of your games in the left pane. Select the "EA Games" node and choose Export... from the File menu. You will be asked to provide a file name, with a file extension of .REG. Zip and attach that entire file here.
- Install the AnyGameStarter. DO NOT RUN your AnyGame. However, I would like you to run your full game to ensure that it still works. If it doesn't, restore from your system restore point and let me know.
- Zip and attach your entire Documents\AnyGameStarter\AppFiles folder.

ok I understand! So, I have created a system restore point and exported the registry entries. Please find attached file.
Have not downloaded the Any game starter yet.
****Update*** I downloaded and installed it. Then tried to start the game (from the Fun w pets icon on the desktop). But the sims 2 launcher said that I only had Nightlife and Celebration stuff installed. But I don't have celebration stuff. But, Anyways the game would not run. It said, something was wrong so I must re-install.
So, I un-installed it /the AGS that is.

Thanks for the file. That should be helpful. However, I still need to know something about the changes that the AnyGameStarter makes to your registry. Since you've already uninstalled it, we may be able to use your current registry.

You might want to remove the attachment now, since you and I are the only ones who need it.

Is the Fun w Pets icon your normal Sims 2 game, and not an icon created by the AGS? If so, then please rerun regedit and export the EA Games node again, to a different file name, and zip and attach it here. Then, you should restore from your system restore point so that you'll be able to play your game while I look at the registry entries.

Hello, I attached the new file, as per instructions, however perhaps I should mention that I installed the Fun with pets collection before.
(So, it would be another registry entry because of that, I suppose.)
In case it would be significant, I got messages from the ASG Installer, that it could not determine the proper path to the documents folder, it wanted the path, and then it said I must restart the computer.

OK, I've got it. You can remove that attachment too.

Just to be clear, you never tried to run the AnyGame, just the full game? Which EPs and SPs did you select for your AnyGame?

No, I did not start the AnyGameStarter, even though I installed and uninstalled it two times.
I also did not check any options, when it listed ep:s and stuff packs etc, when it was installing.

OK. The AGS default is to create a base game only mini-game (no maxis content).

Unfortunately, I'm having problems finding any diff program which can find the minimal set of changes between the two reg files, so this is going to take longer than I expected. It's probably because you installed Fun with Pets. Here is the main change to the registry which seem to be causing your problems:

***** eagames.reg
"EPsInstalled"="Sims2EP1.exe,Sims2EP2.exe,Sims2EP3.exe,,,,,,Sims2SP5.exe,,Sims2SP6.exe,,,Sims2SP7.exe,Sims2SP8.exe"

***** EAGAMES2.REG
"EPsInstalled"=",Sims2EP2.exe,,,,,,Sims2SP4.exe,,,,Sims2SC.exe"

Those two lines should be identical, since you have never run the AnyGame. However, the AGS has completely changed the set of games that you are running, the only original EP left is Nightlife and the AGS has added Celebration Stuff which you don't have installed. I would have to see the actual AGS source code to understand why it has become so confused.

It looks like the correct resolution may be to replace your Sims2_Full.reg with the registry file that you extracted before running the AGS.

So, if you'd like to try again, here's what I'd like you to try.
1) First, create a system restore point. If you don't have a system restore point, you may need to re-install all of your games. We need a new copy because you installed Fun with Pets and we don't want to lose that.
2) Run RegEdit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES. If you expand that node, you should see a list of all of your games in the left pane. Select the "EA Games" node and choose Export... from the File menu. You will be asked to provide a file name, with a file extension of .REG.
3) Install the AnyGameStarter. DO NOT RUN your AnyGame. Take a snapshot of each screen that you get and attach them here.
4) Run Regedit and export the EA GAMES folder again. Provide a new file name, so that it won't conflict with the old one.
5) Zip and attach your entire Documents\AnyGameStarter\AppFiles folder, plus the two reg files from steps 2 and 4.
6) Double click on the reg file from step 2. Windows will ask you whether you want to change your registry. Say yes. You should then get a message that your registry has been updated.
7) Run your full game to ensure that it still works. If it doesn't, restore from your system restore point and let me know.

[Update:]

Yes, the problem with diffing the reg files was Fun with Pets. I removed Fun with Pets and the only change was the one that I spotted. Here is the command line which will compare the two reg files.
fc /u /n eagames.reg eagames2.reg

Hello, I attached the files, So, Hopefully I have done everything right. (There was no problem with the game but it started as usual, so, no need for the system restore.)

OK, I've got them; you can remove your attachment. Let me see whether I can get your AnyGame working.

Sorry to take so long. Busy week.

I have made the fixes that I believe that you need. Rename your existing AppFiles folder to AppFilesOriginal and extract this new version of the AppFiles folder into Documents\AnyGameStarter.

Try running both your AnyGame and your full game. Let us know what happens.

If it works, then the steps to get the AnyGameStarter working with collection packs is pretty straightforward. I'll explain what I did once we know that it works.

If anything goes wrong, double click on your eagames1.reg file to reset your registry and you should be fine (plus, you still have that system restore point, right?).

I can not do that immediately, :-( because, I have noticed so much noice from my computer recently. I think it was the graphic card. It is not very good.

It was probably over heated. I read about this problems in some other thread on the forum.

So I could not play, So yesterday I uninstalled the collection packs with all the stuff packs. I bought some expansion packs second hand. and installed them, with the base game, so I can experiment and see if the noise goes away.

I will download the files when I get home, I'm at work now.

If you've uninstalled the collection packs, we'll probably have to start over from scratch. The AnyGameStarter really relies on the specific EPs and SPs that you have installed.

However, I think that we've learned a lot about why the AGS doesn't work with collections, so your time and energy haven't been wasted.

Sims2Playerfan, here's what I'd like you to do:

1) Create a system restore point, just in case. We'll want this in case things go really wrong.

2) Run RegEdit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\EA GAMES. If you expand that node, you should see a list of all of your games in the left pane. Select the "EA Games" node and choose Export... from the File menu. You will be asked to provide a file name, with a file extension of .REG. Zip and attach this file. Keep your copy of this file in a safe place. We'll need it soon.

3) Install the AnyGameStarter. DO NOT RUN your AnyGame until I tell you to.

4) Zip and attach your entire Documents\AnyGameStarter\AppFiles folder.

5) Double click on the reg file from step 2. Windows will ask you whether you want to change your registry. Say yes. You should then get a message that your registry has been updated.

6) Run your full game to ensure that it still works. If it doesn't, restore from your system restore point and let me know.

7) Let me know which EPs and SPs you included in your AnyGame and I'll try to make a working version of the AnyGameStarter\AppFiles folder. Once you can verify that your AnyGame works, I'll write up some general instructions on how to fix the AppFiles folder.

Ok, it's late where I am, so I probably won't have a chance to do this tonight, but I will tomorrow. Anyway, do you want me to install the published AGS on the normal downloads page or the fixed AGS you posted a few posts up?

Edit: Well, I could at least get through step 2. here's my EA GAMES node. It wasn't directly under SOFTWARE, however, it was under some node called Wow6432Node, and underneath that node were all the other expected files. I'm assuming it's what you want because it had all my installed EPs and SPs under it.

Edit while I'm removing attachment: Yes, I am running Windows 7 64 bit.

Yes, I suppose we'll need instructions for each of the main Windows O/S. Are you running Windows 7 64-bit?

You should install the AnyGameStarter from the main download page.

I've got your file, so you can remove it if you like. Just be sure to keep a copy for yourself. Yes, that was the correct location.

Also, for the sake of research, when I first ran the AGS installer, it gave me an error that Windows (7) was pointing to four different documents folders (I recognize them as the My and Public Documents under Local Disk/:C/Users/(User) as well as the My and Public Documents under the Library shortcut.)It required me to manually select the proper folder (the My Documents under Users) and restart Windows and rerun the program.

Edit: Here's the zipped Appfiles folder. Running the "full game" means running the original .exe, right?

Funny. fruitsymphony had the same problem. I've never seen that error before.

I wonder whether the collection packs are setting the Documents folder to something odd?

OK, I've got that one too. Yes, running the full game means running your normal game. Just ignore the AnyGame until I get your AppFiles sorted out.

Was fruitsymphony running Win7? The reason is likely that Windows 7 creates two Documents folders, one called "My Documents" and the other called "Public Documents" but it merges them together in the Library shortcut and just calls them "Documents" (which is also the reason it creates two EA Games folders in Documents only one seems to be empty, if you know anything about that, one is actually located in the public documents) Thus, I believe by referencing just "Documents" the AGS got both My and Public Documents but was only looking for one folder. Just my speculation on that.

That makes sense. I'm not sure which O/S fruitsymphony was using, but it was probably 32-bit, which is why the extra folder in the registry wasn't an issue.

Sorry, I was updating my previous post while you were posting. I just want to make sure that you're still able to play your normal game while I'm working on the fix.

I'm also going to be signing off for the night. I'll try to get you the new files tomorrow.

But first, I'll need to know which EPs and SPs you chose for the AnyGame. Is this the list: Sims2EP1.exe, Sims2EP2.exe, Sims2EP3.exe, Sims2SP1.exe, Sims2SP2.exe, Sims2EP4.exe, Sims2EP5.exe, Sims2SP4.exe, Sims2SP5.exe, Sims2EP6.exe, Sims2SP6.exe, Sims2SC.exe, Sims2EP7.exe, Sims2SP7.exe, Sims2SP8.exe, Sims2EP8.exe, Sims2EP9.exe? That looks like you chose everything.

Yeah, I did, which, now that I think about it, seems to defeat the purpose. However, my original .exe works fine, but thats probably because my anygame is an everygame *end bad pun*

If you want, I can make another with only the SPs to see what removing an EP does, and another with only the EPs, but I'm also signing off, so I won't be able to test until I get back up (which, over the summer, can range from 8:00 AM to noon )

No. This one should be fine. Once we verify that my changes work, it will make sense for people to start testing the new procedure for a variety of games. For now, I'd be happy if we could just get this one working.

I actually have multiple AnyGames which include all of my EPs and SPs. It's a great way to keep different sets of CC for different neighborhoods. I also have an AnyGame just for helping people with problems. This allows me to test other people's neighborhoods without having to worry about conflicts with my own games.

[Update:]

I have made the fixes that I believe that you need. Rename your existing AppFiles folder to AppFilesOriginal and extract this new version of the AppFiles folder into Documents\AnyGameStarter.

Try running both your AnyGame and your full game. Let us know what happens.

If anything goes wrong, double click on your EA Games.reg file to reset your registry and you should be fine (plus, you still have that system restore point, right?).

Thanks so much for your help with this issue. It would be so nice if there were a simple fix that people could make to resolve this problem.

I have win xp on my computer. The installation program said something about §§User§§ or %%User%% and it could not determine the path.

Public Documents is maybe Delade Dokument in Swedish, I have a folder which is called Delade Dokument.


There is an EA Games folder in it, with a sims 2 folder, that is empty. Like you said.
Also there is one in My Documents, C:\Documents and Settings\Dell\Mina dokument\EA Games.
Which is not empty.

Ok, well the first thing I noticed is that 7-Zip extracted all the files directly into the Anygamestarter folder without making an appfiles or Icon subfolder, so I had to sort all those out manually. When trying to run the normal game, my installer showed all the EPs and SPs from the collection packs as greyed out and asked me to use my AL disk to run instead of the usual Fun With Pets (I will update this as I go, but I'm just posting this real quick [while I dig for my AL disk]

Edit 1: The game loaded with the AL splash screen instead of the M&G, and my megahood, the only neighborhood I had, was missing from the menu. The CC warning dialouge popped up, so all of my CC is intact. The taskbar icon also shows the AL icon instead of the store edition.

Edit 2: I created a blank Strangetown template, and the neighborhood buttons are greyed out for Uni, OFB, and Pets, and the stuff pack items seem to be missing. The OFB and Pets premades are not in the family or occupied lot bin, though the other EPs' are. Remember this is on my full game, not the anygame.

In short, it seems to have "uninstalled" the collection packs from my main game.

That's disappointing. Can you just confirm for me that you have a file in your AppFiles folder named Sims2_Full.bkp and that it has a later date than the file named Sims2_Full.reg?

Did you try to run the AnyGame first, then the full game? Or, did you just go directly to your full game? How did you run your full game? Did you use the method that was working yesterday, or did you use a new shortcut?

Let me work on this further then. In the interim, run your EA Games.reg file, which should "reinstall" your games. If that doesn't work, restore from your system restore point.

You should be able to continue to play your full game, but don't touch the AnyGame again until I ask.

Yeah, I have a Sims2_Full.bkp file that has a later date than the original. I ran the original game from the same shortcut I usually use, but I think I may have clicked the anygame icon first. However, I know that the anygame did not start before I played the game, though I am not sure why. It may have been that I had forgotten to click run as administrator before I ran it the first time or it may have been a result of 7-Zip not saving the subfolders of what it extracted, and I may have moved a file to the wrong spot, but I compared the old appfiles to the one I rearranged and the only difference was the backup file.

Do you have any idea how much time elapsed between clicking on the AnyGame icon and running your full game? It's possible that a conflict occurred; the AnyGame needs some time (about 2 minutes) to do all of it's work. In addition, the game may need additional time to generate your AnyGame save game, depending upon the AGS options that you chose. If you tried running the full game while the AnyGame was still adjusting things, it would explain the behavior that you saw.

I'm going to ask you to try the test again, with a new AppFiles folder. Should be ready in a few minutes. In the interim, get your full game working properly by double clicking on the EA Games.REG file. It's important that we always start test runs from a clean state. Go ahead and run your full game and make sure that everything's OK. You may need to restore your neighborhoods from your backup.

fruitsymphony, how is your computer? Have you solved your problem yet?

[Update:]

OK, I've attached a new AppFiles folder. Delete your existing one and try this one, please.

If the EA Games.REG file doesn't solve your problems, restore from your System Restore point. We really want to make sure that you can run the full game correctly before we try running the AnyGame again.

1) Once your computer is back to it's working state, run the AnyGame. Give it at least 5 minutes more than it would normally take to start, just to make sure. Then, zip and attach your new AppFiles folder. Of course, let us know whether the AnyGame actually worked.

2) Try running the full game. If it doesn't work properly, double click on the EA Games.REG file again to get back to a clean state, or restore from your System Restore Point. Don't touch the AnyGame again until I say.

Ok, I loaded the program and waited for about 8 minutes, and nothing started, though I did get a notification when I first ran the program about it being an unsigned program. I checked the Processes and Services tabs on the task manager to see if it was still running but I didn't see anything relating to hidcon.exe or anything else from the AGS. Here is the AppFiles folder so you can see if it did anything.

Edit: forgot to respond to step 2. From a cursory analysis, it seems the full game still works even without touching the registry file. All the icons are lit up on the launcher, and I'm currently waiting for the game to start.

Follow up: The game loaded, complete with the custom splash screen music I had, and seems to work. However, I got a notification about CC in my game, which I had previously turned off, though it seems it did not alter any of my other settings. Also, the game hung for about three minutes after it had finished "loading" at the Loading Neighborhood screen, but after a few minutes it began responding again. All EPs and SPs appear present.

I'm glad that the full game is still working. That's certainly an important step.

The log doesn't contain too much of interest. The AGS believes that everything is OK and tried to start the game, which quit immediately. Then, the AGS cleaned up correctly. The mystery is why the game stopped immediately:
Fri 06/08/2012 13:29:37.64 - Starting TSBin\Sims2EP9.exe
Fri 06/08/2012 13:29:37.64 - Game ended

Let me do some more pondering.

In the interim, can you tell me what's in the Documents\AnyGameStarter\AnyGame3 folder, especially under the EA Games\The Sims 2 subfolder?

There is nothing directly under it but EA GAMES, which leads to a single folder called The Sims 2, which only has five folders; Cameras, Collections, Config, Downloads, and SC4 Terrains, and a .id file called AnyGame3. The Cameras folder appears to be complete, All my collections (even the custom ones) are under collections, config is also intact, downloads has nothing but the CEP and Scriptorium shortcuts, and SC4 Terrains has all the neighborhood templates.

In short, those five folders seem complete, as expected, but there is nothing else.

Edit: I had a look at that log file. One thing that interests me is that @ Fri 06/08/2012 13:29:37.67 it says it begins its sixty second countdown, and yet the countdown ends in the same minute. I don't know much about the program, but could that be important?

No. The countdown is usually plenty of time for the game to access the registry and get the appropriate file paths. Besides, the game is obviously ending before the countdown ends, which means that the registry should contain the correct information. The AGS relies on the wait time for the ping command to do the countdown. I'm not sure why it would be unreliable, but I've seen very few cases where the countdown wasn't adequate.

If you are really concerned, we can double or even triple the countdown time; IIRC it's a simple change.

The disadvantage of extending the countdown is that your Documents folder is unavailable to newly-run programs during the countdown. I'm pretty sure that's why Numenor decided to keep it fairly short. I've actually run other programs just after starting an AnyGame, only to find that they were looking in the wrong location. A slight annoyance, but something to keep in mind.

Right, but what I noticed was the countdown which should last 60 seconds began at Fri 06/08/2012 13:29:37.67 and ended at Fri 06/08/2012 13:29:37.67(the same number), which I was assuming are increments of time (such as on a 24-hour clock, 13:29:37 would mean 1:29:37 which means 37 seconds past 1:29 PM) If it was supposed to last sixty seconds shouldn't every stage have added ten seconds to the clock (As in 13:29: 47, 13:29:57, 13:30:17, etc) and shouldn't it have ended on 13:30:37?

Technie Notes
 

Just a quick note to explain what we've learned so far:

1) One primary problem with the AGS is that it is removing the collection EPs and SPs from the EPsInstalled string in full game registry, effectively "uninstalling" them forever. This problem can be completely eliminated by getting the list from the registry before you install the AGS. After installing the AGS, just restore that string in the registry and your full game will continue to work perfectly.

That registry string should also be replaced in the full game registry file: Sims2_Full.reg. This will allow each of your AnyGames to properly restore the registry once they're done.

It's not clear to me why the AGS is bothering to change that string in the first place. I would have assumed that the string could just be copied as it is. My guess is that Numenor was attempting to resolve the problem where people would install new EPs and SPs after creating their AnyGames, only to find that running the AnyGame would "uninstall" their new EPs. By adding logic which would search for all of your installed EPs and SPs, he hoped to resolve that problem. Unfortunately, if the AGS doesn't know about a pack, like the collection packs, then it can't find them to add them to the string. Which just proves that fixes for problems can have their own problems.

2) The AGS doesn't properly recognize the Wow6432Node node on 64-bit systems. This node may need to be added to each registry key in each Sims2_AnyGame<#>.reg file and the Sims2_Full.reg file.

3) The AGS doesn't seem to change the DisplayName string. In fact, the EA logic for DisplayName seems a bit contorted anyway. Why have a folder named "The Sims 2", another named "The Sims™ 2 Deluxe", and another named "The Sims 2 Store Edition"?

Area for unrelated research: I wonder whether those folders could all be merged into "The Sims 2" by changing all DisplayName strings in your registry to "The Sims 2"? Imagine all the confusion that would remove!

4) If the latest EP in your AnyGame comes from a collection pack, the AGS has only a partial path to the EXE in the Start_AnyGame<#>.bat file. This needs to be updated to the full path.

5) If you have the updated Store Edition in your AnyGame, the AGS places the EP in the wrong location in the EPsInstalled string. It also assumes that the Store Edition is one of the earlier EPs, rather than the latest EP. It's likely that the game needs to be run from the Store Edition.

Yes, I understand. It seems odd that they are not at least 10 seconds apart. For example, here's my last countdown on one of my AnyGames:

This is more typical, because the game rarely ends before the countdown does. When the countdown ends, the AGS restores the registry so that it will be in its AGS state for a minimal amount of time. The game only needs the AGS registry when it is first starting up; one of the first things that the game does is to get the relevant data from the registry (it needs that data before it can even begin to load the EPs, SPs, and save game).

I still believe that the countdown was sufficient because the game ended before the countdown ended. I'm not sure why the countdown is so odd on your computer.

Still, there's no harm in eliminating this as the possible problem. There are two options. We can try increasing the countdown, or using another program for the countdown. I have no problems with trying a longer countdown, but you should avoid starting any new programs between when you start the AnyGame and when the countdown ends.

More technie stuff...

I notice that ping has the following options:
The AGS is using the following command 7 times:
PING 1.1.1.1 -n 4 -w 1000
which means that each one of the 4 replies should timeout after 1 second. 7 X 4 X 1 = 28 seconds, not the 60 seconds that are mentioned in the comments.

I know that setting a URL in one's hosts file to 0.0.0.0 returns an instant fail, rather than a timeout. Perhaps something in Windows 7 is smart enough to determine that 1.1.1.1 should fail before the timeout?

Well, one theory I had was that it was recieving the reply to the ping before the timeout (which would be likely because I have an insanely fast processor) and it was proceeding on to the next check in a fraction of a millisecond (and in another log, it showed this
Fri 06/08/2012 16:18:15.80 - RestoreDocs64: Starting the 60 (30) seconds countdown
Fri 06/08/2012 16:18:15.80 - RestoreDocs64: 60...
Fri 06/08/2012 16:18:15.80 - RestoreDocs64: 50...
Fri 06/08/2012 16:18:15.82 - RestoreDocs64: 40...
Fri 06/08/2012 16:18:15.82 - RestoreDocs64: 30...
Fri 06/08/2012 16:18:15.82 - RestoreDocs64: 20...
Fri 06/08/2012 16:18:15.82 - RestoreDocs64: 10...
Fri 06/08/2012 16:18:15.82 - RestoreDocs64: 0...
Fri 06/08/2012 16:18:15.82 - RestoreDocs64: Countdown ended.
which would show that it was still preforming the required process, but preforming it faster than expected.) However, if you say it isn't supposed to get a response to the ping, and was supposed to wait and time out, then that would negate my theory.

But yeah, I would agree it really isn't an issue relevant to this problem, but it is worth noting.

The ping is just a wait mechanism; nothing more.

Something is making your game quit as soon as it starts, before it has a chance to generate the other save game files and folders, and before the countdown ends. The question is: what would make the game stop running, without even displaying an error? You don't even seem to be getting the splash screen.

[Update:]

Found it! Your save game path is incomplete:
SET GAMEEXEC=TSBin\Sims2EP9.exe

Is EP9 from one of the collections? Can you give me your full path to your Sims2EP9.EXE?

One other thing: Is the AGS programmed to automatically use certain aspects like the CEP and Scriptorium from the main install or does it regenerate the files as if it were a brand new game?

Its possible I could have some override in my installation files that is corrupting it... I'll look at those first.

No, I'm sure that it's the path to Sims2EP9.EXE. If I can get the full path, I'll fix the AppFiles folder and get you a new one.

Well anyways, the .exe is located on my computer at C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Fun with Pets Collection\SP9\TSBin\Sims2EP9.exe


I don't know why EA couldn't have named the executable and the file its located in consistently... at least name the file EP9 if you are going to name the executable EP9!

OK, it's the same routine.

Delete your existing AppFiles folder. Extract this new one. Make sure that your full game is working correctly. Run the AnyGame. If it fails, zip and attach the AppFiles folder. Then, make sure that your full game is still working.

We're close. I can feel it.

These collection packs just seem to be a mess. They cause any number of problems.

IT'S ALIVE!

After a cursory examination: It plays the nhood 3 music from Sims 1 which I had set on my full game's splash screen, but instead of showing the M&G splash decal, it shows the original The Sims 2 Logo. It shows the M&G logo when minimized, and has all the neighborhoods in their unopened state. I will update in a minute or two with more results.

Follow up: Ok, it's alive, but twitching. As expected, it reset all my settings to default. While I can confirm the existance of Pets, AL, H&M, M&G, Seasons, Freetime, BV, and NL, it crashed when I tried to enter CAS to test the other stuff packs. Also, the button to send sims to Uni was not there, nor was the usual toolbar at the top to change seasons, add sub-hoods, and instead was a sole button to return to neighborhood select, which was also missing the add subhoods buttons. But hey, it starts, and thats a significant improvement.

The one difference between your AnyGame and your full game is that the Store Edition is listed in a different location in the EPsInstalled string. So, it would be interesting to know whether you still have the Store Edition features in your AnyGame.

If you'd like, I can change the AnyGame EPsInstalled string to match the full game. That might make a difference. It would also be nice to know whether you run your full game from Sims2EP9.exe or Sims2SC.exe.

Nope, it doesn't look like store edition works, which is probably what is causing the crash in CAS. Also, if I may suggest another groundless theory, it looks like it may be an unupdated UI file issue, which would explain the base game splash screen, because I get a message from AL telling me I have neighborhoods with unassociated subhoods.

To above: It looks like the shortcut on Desktop points to the file under EP99 (which is Store Edition) The path to it is
"C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Fun with Pets Collection\EP99\TSBin\Sims2Launcher.exe"(Directly from the shortcut Properties)

It's worth a try, I think. Let me make that change and we'll try again.

[Update:]

Here's the newest version, which runs from the Store Edition rather than Mansion and Garden. I have it set to start from Sims2SC.exe, rather than the launcher.

When you are running with the newly generated shipped neighborhoods, I would expect to get the message about missing subhoods.

Well, after a cursory analysis, I would say this is a go! The game loaded with the M&G splash screen, and all the UI buttons are present. I haven't tested it thoroughly yet, but it looks like it works. Which begs the questions: what if it was the Store Edition that was included with the collections packs that was borking the AGS and not the collection packs themselves?

Ramble Edit: Ahh yes, I remembered another thing that supported my outdated UI hypothesis, which was all the premade lots that came with anything past NL (which was when the premade lots started using icons) did not have any icons (EG: the King's Gardens that came with M&G did not have an M&G logo on them, but just had a picture of the lot as if they came with the base game.)

So far I think all my EPs and SPs are present, and I found the two Store Items I had left over in my game.

Excellent. We found a number of problems which are relatively simple to find and fix. Thanks so much for your help.

I've made notes about everything and will try to write up something more formal later. Rewriting the AGS from scratch will obviously take a lot longer.

Numenor says that the AGS supports the Store Edition, but of course that would have been one of the earlier versions of the SE. My recommendation will be to follow the convention from the full game registry.

Glad I could help. It's too bad the only way to fix it is to manually alter every appfiles folder for every anygame made. From what I understand, there is no way to obtain a source code from the current AGS, right? You'd need the original source code that Numenor had to alter the current AGS, and it isn't possible to alter the program without the original source code? Wish I could do more, if you need more research done I'll gladly help.

It's possible to alter the program without the original source code, but it's a tedious process that wouldn't make much sense.

However, it's possible to write the exact same program from scratch (with the updates, of course). Except that one could make one's own version open-source, which would allow future updates.

Thank you there was a weird noise, but it has gone away.
But, my computer is actually a "Reconditioned" office machine. I looked at the System requirements for the Fun with Pets collection and I am thinking to either buy a new graphics card or else another computer, before again installing the Collection packs.

I don't know if you still need any more information, but I decided to try to fix the problem tonight, and although I wasn't successful I was able to get it working enough not to uninstall my game when re-installing the register. I admit that I don't know anything about editing registers, but I thought I might give it a shot. The info you have here helped me get pretty far, so thanks a lot.

To start out, I have installed all EPs except University and Bon Voyage, and IKEA and Celebration SPs. My Sims Collection is the Best of Business one, with OFB, K&B and H&M. I have Windows 7.

One thing on your description, you say that only running the AnyGame will re-write your registry, but that wasn't the case on my computer. When I opened the installer and it asked me about the location of My Documents it re-wrote the registry so that my collection pack was uninstalled. I reinstalled the original register I had extracted before and continued. Then I created an AnyGame, which also rewrote my register to uninstall my collection pack. But, I finally got the AnyGameStarter folder to work from. Again, I reinstalled from the original registry and my real game opened fine.

I examined the registry files, as you describe above, and re-wrote the Sims2_Full registry to include all of my EPs and SPs. The AnyGame I had created included all of my packs, but it prompted me for my Apartment Life CD. However, after I attempted to run it I was able to run my original game without re-installing the register (and it did load up as it was on the log). I decided to try a game that included everything but my stuff packs, and replaced my AnyGame with one that had Apartment Life as its latest disk. It did run, finally, but it did mess up my registry. When I compared the new registry with the old registry (the actual EA Games registry, not the AnyGame one), the only difference was the "EPsInstalled=" line, which was a list of the one on the Sims2_Anygame registry and not the Sims2_Final registry. Everything else was exactly the same.

The only way I imagine I can get it to work in the state it is in now is by manually re-installing the EA Registry file after every run of the AnyGameStarter. I have to change the Sims disc out to Apartment Life to run an AnyGame as well. Since I wanted to use AnyGameStarter to run an historical themed game that uses Open for Business as an integral part, this doesn't really solve the problem, but at least I can test things for the base game now.

I've attached my registry files if you think they might help. I've included EA Registry, my original registry file I extracted from my files, and a post-AGS version of it, as well as my original Sims2_Full file and my edited version.

Instead of giving me individual files, could you please include the entire AppFiles folder?

Okay, here it is. I think this has the version I altered in it... should I get a clean folder for you to look at?

EDIT: Okay, I finally got it to work myself. I can see why you wanted the whole folder now. I downloaded the version you had fixed for Sims2Playerfan and tweaked mine to be like it. It works fine, wow! But I did have to edit the Start_Anygame3 file as well as both of the registries. It runs a different version of my game with a different downloads folder--I'm so excited!! Thanks so much for figuring out how to work around this problem!

However, I would also like to make a BGS, but my game always tells me that I need to run "Best of Business" when I start running my edited BGS, even though it also asks to run from my basegame disc. What do I need to do to get it working, do you think??

I've attached my new PermaGame (former Anygame3) that works folder and my AppFiles for the BGS I want to run (AnyGame1).

As you've discovered, all of the files in the AppFiles folder work together, which is why it's important to see them all together.

From your StartAnyGame1Log.txt file, which documents what occurred during the last run:
Content of the "REGFILE" file:
REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\EA GAMES]
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\EA GAMES\The Sims 2]
"EPsInstalled"=",Sims2EP2.exe,Sims2EP3.exe,,,Sims2EP4.exe,Sims2EP5.exe,Sims2SP4.exe,Sims2SP5.exe,,,,Sims2EP7.exe,Sims2SP7.exe,Sims2SP8.exe,
Sims2EP8.exe,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,Sims2SC.exe"

This should be identical to the Sims2_AnyGame1.reg, but it clearly isn't. That's because you've forgotten the \Wow6432Node\ in Sims2_AnyGame1.reg. Change that and I believe that you'll be fine.

By the way, very good job on getting the AGS running properly on your machine! It can be a struggle to get everything working in sync.

It is still giving me the same error message, so there must be some other problem...

Can I see the new AppFiles folder?

Again, only the AppFiles folder contains the answers to your questions. Otherwise, I'm just guessing.

Sorry, here it is.

I thought that you were trying to run a base-game AnyGame, yet you've changed EPsInstalled to include a bunch of EPs and SPs.

I could have sworn that I had tried that and that it hadn't worked... but I tried it today and it worked. I guess it was some other issue that had stopped it last time. It works fine, thank you so much for helping me figure this out!

Is it possible to get the AGS to work with games downloaded from Origin:
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=508616

Some new information about getting the AGS to work with Origin:

I have the sims 2 ultimate collection and windows 7 x64.
I tried to create an anygame with UNI, NL, OFB, AL and MG.
I modified my files using Jawusa's AppFiles as a guide (because UC is a collection as well as an origin game), but I can't get it to work
I get the "can't find the fullgame.id" error, even though the file is there and the path is right as far as i can tell...

I would love some help

Is there a fullgame.id file in C:\Users\padre\DOCUME~1\EA Games\The Sims™ 2 Ultimate Collection? If not, you'll need one.

yes there is one, but the AGS is not "seeing" it for some reason...

btw, thank you for answering so quickly

I know I won't get an answer from Moo, but does anyone have this file they can share with me? It has to be one from a full game, no UC. The UC one is actually an empty file.

Do you mean this one? I have a full game, not UC, with all EPs and SPs. I do have Double Deluxe instead of a separate basegame, in case that makes any difference.

Okay, after playing around fruitlessly, I think this will not work with UC. Because there are no .exe files in UC. So you cannot point to one of those for an AGS setup.

Sorry to resurrect an old thread. I see exactly what you mean, HugeLunatic, and that does indeed point to it being impossible.

However - would it perhaps be possible to port the necessary files from a (legal) disc installation across to UC, and make it work from there? I use UC now, reluctantly, because when I upgraded to Windows 10, my discs would no longer install. However, on an old hard drive, in my current computer, I have the Program Files for a TS2 installation consisting of the base game (original, CD edition) plus every EP except BV and no stuff packs. Theoretically, couldn't the various "Bin" folders be copied over and this would allow AGS to run even with UC? Or is this too close to piracy? I can't see that it is, given that I own all the discs legally (I have BV as well, I just never got around to installing it before I upgraded).

Please see this post to see how to get Sims 2 and expansions running on Windows 10:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...n=1501760390047

This works on my Windows 10 machine, but unfortunately I can't get AGS to work as it's a 64-bit system, and none of the info I've found about it helps.

Okay, I seem to have figured out a very easy way to get this to work with 64-bit Windows 10. Simply choose 'Advanced User - Select Directory' upon installation of the game and any packs, and then remove the (x86) from the path. This worked for me as it installed everything into the correct programs directory.