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marcos4503 / ts3-dream-launcher

This is a Launcher for The Sims 3 created by Marcos Tomaz, a fan of The Sims. The Launcher automatically fixes and maintains active the fixes for several known game issues, replaces the game problematic default launcher and even has a built-in mod manager. There are lots of other features too! The Dream Launcher for any player who loves The Sims 3!
MIT License
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Uninstalling/Disabling Patches #11

Open HalfEnder776 opened 1 week ago

HalfEnder776 commented 1 week ago

I can understand that uninstalling some patches like the GPU/CPU ones would be permanent but I don't understand why we cannot disable patches like naars story progression or other mods? Especially since mods like naars story progression can cause lag....

marcos4503 commented 1 week ago

Hi!

I created Dream Launcher primarily with the goal of making the life easier for players who want to play the game without the stress of having to spend hours configuring it, for beginners/casuals, for people who don't understand much about computers, etc. With that in mind, everything I did in the Launcher, all the features that exist in it were put there with the guidance of "This can't cause problems, and it has to be very easy to use/install. After that, it can't be changed and the only one who has to take care of this is the Launcher, not the user.".

Things like Patches take this logic even more seriously, which is why it is not possible to uninstall a Patch after it is already installed by Launcher. For this reason, the Launcher monitors them after they are installed, to ensure their integrity and avoid possible problems. Allowing things like Patches to be removed, would open the door for lay users to cause problems in their games, because once a core Mod is installed through a Patch, it cannot be uninstalled without performing several checks or actions. For example, once installed, the Launcher also depends on these Patches and saved games can be affected as well, if such Patch is removed.

I know that this methodology is restrictive for the user, but as the Launcher's logic is to avoid problems at all costs and just ensure that everything works well, this measure was taken.

It is also important to keep in mind that all patches provided by the Launcher and installed in your game, are fully pre-configured with the best configuration, reviewed and where possible, optimized for better performance. As example, with NRaas Story Progression, the version installed by the Launcher is already installed with the best configuration for performance and realism in the simulation. I also spent hours and hours testing with average computers today, and the game can run without any problems with the patches, through generations of Sims.

But anyway... I thought it was important to give this explanation instead of just giving a neutral and cold answer. :)

All that said, if you still want to uninstall Patches, it is possible to do so, but you will need to do it manually, by deleting files added by Patches and editing the Launcher's Save file, so that the Launcher knows again that the Patch is no longer there.

HalfEnder776 commented 1 week ago

I understand wanting to make it easier for casual users, however I feel like something simple like an "advanced mode" hidden in the settings that enables more advanced modifications would be very helpful for more technical users.

This would also help with https://github.com/marcos4503/ts3-dream-launcher/issues/2#issue-2417698862

HalfEnder776 commented 1 week ago

Also is there a log file anywhere? The launcher crashes sometimes and I am not sure why.

HalfEnder776 commented 1 week ago

Btw one of the installed patch mods is called #ERROR-UNKOWN-PATCH-MOD#, I assume this is a bug?

marcos4503 commented 1 week ago

Regarding the advanced mode option, there are already some things more geared towards advanced users. For example, in the Mods list, an advanced user can open a Mod in S3PE to edit it more deeply. This can be useful if the user wants to translate it, or even adjust or remove features. I think the most restrictive part is Patches. I'll see what I can do about that.

Regarding Crashes, there are some logs focused on only a few features, since most features have errors that are easier to spot. In which area is the Launcher crashing? Could it be during startup?

Regarding the "#ERROR-UNKOWN-PATCH-MOD#" error, this error probably occurs because one of the mods installed through Patches was removed, or was renamed to a name other than the default, which makes it impossible for the Launcher to detect which mod it is, since it can't find it in the internal mod name DB.

HalfEnder776 commented 1 week ago

Thanks for taking my suggestion into consideration.

As for the crashes I was getting crashes when double clicking on the hex values provided during the conflict stage of the custom mod installer. I was getting a startup crash later on and since there were no logs I had to do a reinstall. I started getting the startup crash after messing with in game settings (sims 3 not the launcher), not sure if it is related though.

I don't think I touched anything in the patches part of the packages folder so I have no clue where "#ERROR-UNKOWN-PATCH-MOD#" came from.

Also I would like to report that some of the launcher settings do not seem to work. When I launch the sims 3 High Detail Lots gets set to 4 and Enable Object Hiding gets set to false no matter what I set ingame or in the launcher. The game also asks me if I want to enable Edge scrolling and if I want to log in every time I start it.

marcos4503 commented 6 days ago

I see. It's likely that the Launcher is having trouble accessing the files in your computer's "Documents/EA/The Sims 3" folder. All of the Launcher settings should be applied without issue.

Check to see if your computer has OneDrive installed. If so, check to see if the "Documents" folder path has been changed from "C:/Users/user/Documents" to something like "C:/Users/user/OneDrive/Documents".

If the Documents folder path is okay, one thing you can try is to Save your preferences using the Launcher, then reset the Launcher's settings template. There should be a button for this in the "Launcher" tab in Settings.

As for the Patches error, close the Launcher, then try accessing your game's "Mods" folder, then go to "Packages/DL3-Patches" and delete all of the folder's contents. Open the Launcher and reinstall all of the Patches. Maybe this will fix the problem. In fact, the crash when clicking on the HEX in the mod installation window may be caused by this.

HalfEnder776 commented 6 days ago

Yep my documents folder is just "C:\Users\User\Documents". Also I tested it and it seems the launcher is what causes my settings to reset. They save perfectly fine unless I reopen the launcher or click the save button. My personal guess is that it might have something to do with having both a dedicated and integrated graphics card, I tried setting all the launcher executables to use my dedicated gpu but that didn't help :/

As for the crash with the hex values, no that should be impossible the patches error is appearing on a fresh install where I removed the old "C:\Users\User\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3" folder. Also I figured out what is causing the patches error. It was "FasterElevatorMoving.package.disabled". For some reason it is disabled I have no clue why I swear I never touched it....

And yes the hex crash still happens when re-enabling "FasterElevatorMoving.package". I should of clarified this before but it only happens when clicking on the same hex value multiple times.

marcos4503 commented 6 days ago

It is important to keep in mind that in-game settings are not retained by the Launcher. Whenever the Launcher is opened, it will overwrite the settings using the settings defined in it. This design is intended to provide a more reliable way of maintaining your settings, as the game may reset its settings on occasion (such as when updating drivers). Now, as for the different GPUs, that could be the reason, but I think it's unlikely to be the case. Everyone I know who uses the Launcher and has both an integrated and a dedicated GPU doesn't have this problem. (including me)

Regarding the Patches error... That may indeed be the problem... Some of the mods installed by Patches are disabled by the Launcher if you don't have an Expansion Pack required for the mod. In that case, the different format of the mod may be causing the problem... So, it does indeed seem to be a bug. I'll check this out as well when I work on the next Launcher update.

Regarding the Crash error when trying to access the HEX from the installation window... What mods do you have installed in your game? What Launcher Patches are installed? And finally, what is the mod you are trying to install that is causing the conflict warning that causes the crash?

HalfEnder776 commented 5 days ago

Yes I understand why the launcher handles the settings I just wanted to clarify that the launcher seems to be the problem not the game. (In case that helps you)

As for the hex crash, from what I have seen it seems to happen for any conflicting mod. However if it helps I first tried to install clean ui after already installing gamefreaks loading screen overhaul. This was via a manual installation since I did not have any expansions installed at the time and despite the requirements those mods work fine without them. As for patches it should be all of them except for the tuning one.

Imo, in the future it would be a good idea to setup a logger so these issues are easier to debug.

marcos4503 commented 4 days ago

I see. I'll add this HEX crash to my list of things to check in the next update.

About the preferences error... Could you post here the "options.ini" file present in your The Sims 3 folder, after starting the Launcher?

Then, this same "options.ini" file, but after starting the game and loading a neighborhood, closing the game and closing the Launcher? (don't open the Launcher again, before share the file)

The Template file, present in "/Content/options-template.ini", would also be essential.

marcos4503 commented 4 days ago

With these files I can try to find inconsistencies. It doesn't look like a Launcher script error or anything like that, so it could be something the game is rejecting...

HalfEnder776 commented 4 days ago

Debug-Sims3.zip

marcos4503 commented 3 days ago

I forgot to ask, but could you also run "dxdiag" on your computer, click "Save Information" and post the resulting log here?

HalfEnder776 commented 3 days ago

DxDiag.txt

marcos4503 commented 2 days ago

Thank you very much for all this information. I will review it while creating the next version and try to find the best and most reliable way to fix these issues. :)