Parallel Game Files Question

[karennumbertwo]

Hello, I have been wondering if i can have two separate "The Sims 3" files to switch in and out of the electronic arts file. I want to do this because i want to have a completely different game for my families and another for houses and decorating. I also want to do this because i want to try out mods in the house file before i put it in my legacy family files. Do you guys know of any problems this could cause? Do any of you do this?

Thanks in advance :beer:

[simsample]

Yes, I do this and it works just fine. I use an unmodded game for testing, and different modded games for playing/ creating, so it's a solution which works well.

I put a folder in each Sims 3 folder with a name indicating the purpose, and that helps to identify which set of files is in place. Otherwise it's easy to mix them up!
http://thumbs2.modthesims2.com/img/5/2/8/4/8/MTS_simsample-1306845-Bluefunk_0407-Jul-1218.11.jpg

[karennumbertwo]

Thanks! I'll try this now. And the labeling is probably a good idea...

[Belzader]

A much simpler solution is to use AnyGameStarter3 from here and make a new profile on it for testing, no need for renaming folders back and forth then.
Also though offtopic to your question with that program one can run diffrent patch lvl's of game, a bit tricky to get that to work though.

[simsample]

Here's the link for that, if you're interested:
http://modthesims.info/download.php?t=406814

That's a big mod though, so may be a bit of an overkill if you just want to run different mod/CC folders.

[karennumbertwo]

I kind of like it this way now, i've started playing around with some mods and it's working out the way i wanted. I do want to know how you update.... if i update while one file is in place, will the other work when i switch them out?

BTW, any game starter looks like fun

[Belzader]

The user files aren't affected when updating game so it doesn't matter which you use when doing that, aslong you update the mods (if needed) on both, it will work when changing.
Since AnyGameStarter3 make a whole new profile to reduce the size if you only wanto use diffrent mods/cc, you can use mklink (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc753194%28v=ws.10%29.aspx) to make virtual links to the other folders on "orginal" profile.