Sims2 Sims2 Ultimate Collection

@CatherineTCJD always handy to have a backup.

That is what I was using. I'm pretty sure that just removes the sim shadow as a workaround not a fix. I wanted to have my shadows back normally. You're totally right, though; it is the driver not the game.

@CatherineTCJD - Leefish is right, you should definitely get the Ultimate version for a back up. Another thing I noticed about Origin (this is my first time using it as well) is that after the install, you do not have to click the "play" button from Origin which is what I did originally. You can close the application and just run the sims from M&G like the disks; no cd and no 'no cd' hack is necessary. My concern was tracking since you have to agree to allow EA to do gather and share your information and they don't say specifically what information that is in their privacy policy. However the game works fine without Origin running. I am testing this now and will check to see if the next time I use Origin whether it has updated my game play information.

For a backup, I'll just do with the images of the physical disks. I already have those, so it's no extra work and costs no more space on the external drive

So you think it would download to an external hard drive? I don't want it on C drive in case it messes up AGS or my main game on D drive. I haven't checked again to see if I have it yet.

No, I'm not certain you can just download it and save it on an external drive. Maybe you can, but I'm not making any guesses there.

I was talking about making backups of the physical CDs/DVDs. If you do not have those backups yet, you would need to reserve space for them on an external drive. I already have those backups, so I don't have to because they are on that external drive already!

I have them backed up too. I have an external drive just for my simmies and all their corresponding baggage (CC.)
Does this 'new' UC version use a different game engine? When everyone else converts to the UC, and I don't - will I still be able to share lots for download?

I really don't need another piece of software clogging my machine - and I'm not into sharing my personal files. *confuzzled*

I hear it said that the game engine is exactly the same as for AL/M&G and the tri-pack Collections. So that would mean it's all compatible, for what these words are worth. On the other hand, just like the tri-pack Collections, the UC is NOT AGS compatible.

Gotcha BO
And that's another reason for me to NOT use it - I love my AGS; I was just concerned over sharing my non-UC lots with all the UC users out there. If that's not gonna be an issue, then I'm good - just as I am! My "big rig" is not gonna mess with the UC. That's settled.

So, now that some of you have actually tried it... what are the 'extras'? And how is compatibility with W8.1?
I can play TS2 with all it's EP/SPs/noCC on my little netbook (W8.1; 64bit) with very few problems (mainly, I just can't get ceilings to work) Would the combined UC work better, or the same, on my little machine?

AGS? May I ask what is that? Thanks. Ginnie

AGS = Any Game Starter. It allows you to have different game configurations.