I'm a bit scared to install this UC now... It seems like everyone is losing their neighborhoods. I can't lose my Belladonna Cove!

Nothing beyond all the EPs and SPs. If you had them all installed already, there's no need to install the Complete Collection.

If you back up your neighborhoods, you can't lose them. Sooner or later the smart folks around here will figure out why neighborhoods aren't showing up when put back in the folder. You might just have to play a different neighborhood for a little while.

Hmpf! I would have thought they might have included some of/all of the store stuff, at least, since that's (technically) no longer available. I have all EPs/SPs without the $@*!ing Store edition (which I assume is what this "ultimate collection" is) so I have no interest in this "ultimate collection" at all, but it would have been nice if they'd put in some of that stuff, for completists who might want it. (Me, I've already downloaded what I want, thanks mostly to threads at GoS.) Then again, EA isn't doing this to be "nice." For one thing, there's no reason for them not to give away EPs/SPs now, since they aren't selling them anymore and they don't make any money off the secondary market. From their point of view, buying from the secondary market is the same as pirating it. Rather, they're doing this to officially get rid of TS2 so that they officially don't have to support it anymore. And they're trying to entice you to buy TS4, I imagine. Given the bad press in the fan community lately, I smell PR.

And now I will go away and stop sullying y'all's excitement with my curmudgeonliness.

Yes you need to uninstall first.


ADD: Warning if you had the store edition any and all hoods will not work.
I don't know if the store edition that is still on Origin will install to the UC or not for I don't want it anyway.

Hi Mark,
where did you read about this? My friend downloaded the UC and the custom hood she plays doesn't show, she had the store edition. I can't find a lot of info on that problem, she's kind of lost about what to do now. Uninstalling everything right now to maybe try another clean UC install (she did not uninstall before downloading the UC).

She may have lost every thing for the UC should have redone the My Doc "The Sims 2" folder, if she copied it to her desk then she should still have the back up other wise it may be all gone.

The store edition uses it own game engine and the UC uses AL game engine.

I haven't looked into this question yet, but does it work in Windows 8? Do we still need to follow the "Windows 8 installation" thread?

OK. Yes she made a back up of course. Thanks

Updated the original post to include any questions asked + answers to those questions if they had been answered yet.

Ok, I have Windows 8.1 and this game won't run, no matter what I do. :/

I haven't had any issues like that since I use Windows 7. I'll dig around in some of the other threads/news articles about TS2 Ultimate Collection and see what I can find about getting the game to work on W8.

You all can do as you please with this "Origin" collection download, I will say one thing take my advice or not. I would "Not get rid of my Sims 2 game and replace it with what they are offering.
Best to "save" your Sims game you already have right now on an extra hard-drive. Remember with origin download you will not have a hand on hand CD you have to depend on their digital downloads to play.

Question that need to be answer:
1. Can my Customs and Mods work with their setup ?
2. What do I do if there are bugs, what about patches ? Have much support will I get ? Will I have to spend my whole day on the phone?
3. Are you willing to have the nasty "Securom" on your computer ? Securom was place on all of EA Eps and Stuff pack after Seasons.
4. Are you sure that when playing the game that the launcher to start it up is not some forum of "Spyware" ( checking your in and out sending messages ) this is how people get ads and others things they did not ask for.
That will end up on your computer without your knowledge because they are hidden,sometime everything free is not always the best choice. Do as you please that your choice.

1. Can my Customs and Mods work with their setup ? Yes, they will since it's just a compilation and it uses the lastest released game engine (AL).
2. What do I do if their is bugs, what about patches ? This version is the lastest version, so all the bugs they ever fixed are fixed here as well. They won't release any further patches since tech support will stop by July 22nd, that's why the want users to upgrade to this version.
3. Are you willing to have the nasty "Securom" on your computer ? This release doesn't include Securom or any other anti-piracy tool, in fact you don't even need to load Origin because it doesn't even ask you a CD or key to play it.
4. Are you sure that when playing the game that the launcher to start it up is not some forum of "Spyware" ( checking your in and out sending messages ) this is how people get ads and others things they did not ask for. Read the previous answer.

Cant get body shop items to show up

It is still open as to if Customs and Mods will work with this collections or not. Some members had problems getting customs and mods working with the Deluxe collections.
And NO I do not accept that Securom is not included, the fact is "all " EA Sims EPs and stuff packs that was made after "Seasons" have securom on it that is a fact.
Did Origin just go into the game coding and use a paper towel and wipe securom out ? I think not.

And as far as tech support EA "Stop" supporting Sims 2 from the first release of Sims 3. So what new about July 22nd ?
Oh and last questions do you work for Origin? You seem to know it all.

If anyone could give me some (over) clarification on one question, I'd sure appreciate it. Everyone is stating that you need to uninstall before installing this , is that referring only to uninstalling previous Sims 2 games from Origin ( of which I have none) , or does it also mean uninstalling any/all disc/cd copies is required as well?

I'm thinking it's the latter, but wanted to make sure. If so, I think I'll bag it. I have all the EP's and a few of the SP's , including M and G which functions ( game engine wise) as EP9 anyway. There are a few items from the SP's that I don't have and wouldn't mind having ( and a few cc recolors based on such) , but not many. As is , my game is stable and enjoyable , not sure I want to throw EA/Origin the keys and potentially need to rely on them , for anything.

They'll officially stop caring about it.

And no, I don't work for them.

If you get the Ultimate Collection you're gonna have to uninstall TS2 + any expansions and stuff packs you have. Digital or physical doesn't matter.

@> > MOOKIEBLAYLOCK>> You said " As is, my game is stable and enjoyable, not sure I want to throw EA / Origin the keys and potentially need to rely on them, for anything." AMEN TO THAT.

@Noeh, thank you, much appreciated!

@Simonut , They're on a short leash, I'll put it that way

No problem. Happy to help

Anyone know where I can get body shop since it didn't install with this?

Body shop did install but it did not give you a desktop short cut to it, it is here C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Fun with Pets\SP9\CSBin
Right click on it and send it to desktop (create shortcut).

There is a reason to install Ultimate Collections, but it will be a personal choice. EA is going to 'fix' problems, not for the original Sims2 EPs & SPs though, only on the Ultimate Collections game. They will listen to problems about this new collection and work on fixing them. I think the reason for creating this collection is some of us have a variety of different set ups we play, hence making it more difficult to figure out the problems. From what I was told in live chat, things will be taken care of as they figure them out. This makes sense to me, but who knows what the outcome will be. Considering we had no support for awhile, I have no idea what they mean by 'support will be suspended soon' on the originals.