Game not starting after installing University

[Suncat]

I've been playing Sims 2 Double Deluxe successfully for a few months now. I just picked up University, installed it and now the game will not start. I put in the Uni CD, the logo screen comes up for a few moments, vanishes, and nothing else happens.

I've been through the Game Problem FAQ, with removing custom content, user files, getting the patch and just today uninstalled and reinstalled both Sims 2 Double Deluxe and University. No change.

I've looked over the system requirements information here, and while I admit to still being a bit confused, I think I should be able to play at least though University. The Nightlife component of Double Deluxe never has exhibited any problems.

My system specs:
OS: Windows Vista Home Premium with SP 1
Mfg, model: Dell Inspiron 530
Processor: Intel Duo Core 2.40 GHz
Memory: 4.0 GB
Graphics card: ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO, driver 8.530.0.0 8/20/2008

[Canoodle]

Have you tried using the Double Deluxe CD? Try that to launch the game. NL came after University, so I would imagine that you would use the DD disk. It is funny that you aren't getting the 'wrong cd' error. Double Deluxe is a sort of unholy hybrid. We're still working out how that darned thing works. lol

Oh, and try deleting your groups.cache file found in mydocs>EAgames folder.

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

Canoodle, Double Deluxe didn`t come on a CD, as far as I know. Mine came on two DVDs, one with the game itself, and one with "bonus" stuff such as backdrops, hints, and interviews. Also, I suspect that the CD`s AutoRun only launches the installer, not the game itself, as several of the CDs I have do "nothing" when they autorun. I have to launch my game from a suitable shortcut, because of this.

[whiterider]

If DD came on a DVD, then try using the DVD... that point was really rather irrelevant, GeneralOD.

[Suncat]

Canoodle: I had the same thought, and tried running the game off the DD disk even before I wrote. But nothing happened, the disk just spun in the drive. Not even any splash screen.

Deleting groups.cache also seemed to do nothing.

I did check the Task Manager before taking the disk out of the drive, and there was clearly nothing running on the Applications or Processes tabs that might relate to the game.

GeneralOperationsDirector: Mine came in a form similar to yours, but I could run the game just from autorun if I cared to. But, as I say above, it didn't work anyway.

Thanks for the thoughts so far, I hope someone else will have more.

[Canoodle]

Do other CDs/DVD's play in the drive? Check out another game or some music just to make sure the drive is working correctly.

[whiterider]

And does using the shortcut work?

[Suncat]

Canoodle: the drive seems to be working fine, playing music CDs, or even Sims 2 DD when Uni is not installed.

whiterider: no, using the shortcut proved no different. I even put Task Manager up to watch while trying to start the game. Nothing at all appeared on the Applications tab. On the Processes tab, one did appear briefly for Sims2, EP1, but then it disappeared after a few seconds.

[Jaedle]

In your logs folder, are there any recent exception log text files? If so, see if they note errors with any specific thing.

[Canoodle]

Exception logs are pretty much useless if I recall correctly. It's object error logs that are of help.

[Jaedle]

Both useful actually. The exception errors will sometimes tell you if a specific lot or family, subhood, or CAS! is crashing. The object errors are useful too, but Suncat does not appear to be getting into the game far enough to generate object error logs. I could be wrong, and if there ARE object error logs, checking those would probably be more informative. Exception logs are good for identifying potentially corrupt neighborhoods, lots, subhoods, or families. They won't tell you what the problem is, just where. Sometimes that is enough to give a big hint. I suspect the game is crashing too early in the load and and crashing too hard to generate a Sims log at all, but still worth checking.

[Suncat]

*blink* *blink*

Why yes, there are exception files in the logs directory. These are dated from Monday, which was when I reinstalled both DD and Uni. They haven't altered when I've actually tried to start the game. The files with "stuff" are AppErrors.log and AudioErrors.log.

The errors in AppErrors.log refer to the DJ Booth and Karaoke Machine from Nightlife/DD. Here's an example:
ERROR TSAudio: Segment at %DataDirectory%Res\Sound\Locale\%Language%\Sfx\Samples\Karaoke\ has no extensions defined in section DBSegmentDirectoryFiles
.\source\TSAudioResourceManager.cpp(944)

And then there's a set of errors claiming certain properties are defined twice, which I could see happening with this somewhat unknown install order. E.g.

ERROR TSAudioMusic : Music category (NHood) listed twice in category property set.
.\source\TSAudioMusicManager.cpp(1651)

So now I'm off to research to see if there's a way I can manipulate and correct these files.

[Canoodle]

I just peeked into my logs and have the same exceptions plus 14 KB of other sound and audio errors. And I had no crash. Audio and sound errors are extremely common and normally can be disregarded.

[Suncat]

Well, I sure haven't found anything else out there on the web about the sound file errors. In fact, I can't really find anything at all about issues of installing Uni after DD.

[Canoodle]

If you search this forum and the archived help threads, there's plenty of info about those bogus sound file errors. Almost everyone has them. ;)

[simsample]

Yes, I can confirm that these audio errors are in all game versions since the base game in one form or another; they seem to be some sort of legacy coding 'junk'. They have proved to be a reliable red herring in many threads over the years.

[Suncat]

Great news! It's working now!

I recalled that when I was just playing DD, before installing Uni, it would begin with a start console, which showed icons for all the expansion packs and stuff packs. At the time only the Nightlife and Celebration Stuff icons were colored in, the others were gray.

So I ran it with the DD disk *and* the DD shortcut. The start console came up and showed the Uni icon colored. Hit "play" and the game started as normal, claimed it was loading DD. But as soon as I entered a neighborhood, the music was subtly different. All of the Uni options were available.

I've now restored my old saved games and even custom content. I was able to pick up and continue with my previous characters, and then add on a college campus.

Thank you all for your help. You gave me things to think about and try, and I was finally able to crack the puzzle.

Do you want me to document this somewhere here at Mod the Sims 2?

[GeneralOperationsDirector]

"Do you want me to document this somewhere here at Mod the Sims 2?"

:D You just did. :)