The Sims 3

[Saffron]

I was using Windows 7 on another hard drive until it failed the other day. The hard drive is dead, and cannot be restored. So I decided to switch over to purely using Linux.

I play Sims 3. How do I install Sims 3 and the expansions packs in Linux so I can play them? Most of the guides I've found online are either extremely old (with patch links that are dead), or simply don't work. I have been able to install the base game with PlayOnLinux, but I cannot play the game nor install the expansion packs (which is an important part of the game). Can anyone please explain how to install Sims 3 and the expansions in a way that works on Linux Mint (most recent update). The only good one that seems to exist was written for highly knowledgeable Linux users that just says 'use terminal' to get programs and updates and I have no clue how or what they are.

[xenopeek]

I don't use WINE. The entry for how to run Sims 3 on WINE is indeed looking complex https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager. ... &iId=16664. Looks to have lot of issues. Perhaps somebody that plays Sims 3 on Linux will respond here but I think you'll have a better chance by posting on the WINE forums. There are several posts about Sims 3 on there. Make sure to filter to search only the Linux forum (WINE is also used by macOS users).

Ultimately it is easier to play games that are available for Linux.
There's about 4700 of them on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/search/?c ... 8&os=linux
And about 830 of them on GOG: https://www.gog.com/games?system=lin_mi ... ity&page=1

I get that you want to play Sims 3. Just giving some pointers.

[uberdorf]

My kids play Sims 3 on Windows even though I got it working on WINE, so I don't know how well it works once you get into the game. There are a few options for playing Sims 3. One is to dual boot, which is what we do because my kids didn't want to try starting over in WINE. Another is to run Windows in a virtual machine on Linux, if you have 4 cores or more and enough RAM for the game. Finally there is the current stable version of WINE.

To use WINE with Sims 3, first get rid of PlayonLinux, WINE, and anything related that you got from the repositories. They are too old to easily work. After getting rid of them, deleting your .wine folder (have view hidden files enabled and it should show up in your home directory of your file manager), and rebooting just to make sure; then install the current version of WINE from PPA at the wine website. https://wiki.winehq.org/Ubuntu

Then in terminal run

Code: Select all

winecfg

That will configure wine and install some mono and gecko packages.

Then install the Windows version of Steam. Launch Steam and install Sims 3. It should work just like that. If you have any problems, check out https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager. ... n&iId=9732 to see if anything there will help.

[Pierre]

The Sims 3 does work under Linux though:
https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibili ... the-sims-3
but there are also, others versions of The Sims - as well.

[Saffron]

Then install the Windows version of Steam. Launch Steam and install Sims 3. It should work just like that. If you have any problems, check out https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager. ... n&iId=9732 to see if anything there will help.

Will that work for the non Steam version? I bought the game and expansion packs long before they were on Steam, so I just have the games and don't use Steam or Origin. I'm not worried about 'starting over', it's half the fun really. It's just getting the custom content tweaked just right that takes ages, but is a part of the game after all these years.

I'll give it a try though, as I have 8 cores and hopefully enough RAM to not be an issue.

[Saffron]

The Sims 3 does work under Linux though:
https://www.codeweavers.com/compatibili ... the-sims-3
but there are also, others versions of The Sims - as well.

That software is a little bit out of date, isn't it? If I wanted to spend money on out of date software to run the game it would be cheaper to just buy a new hard drive and use my existing copy of Windows 7, no yearly renewal license necessary.

[Pierre]

ahh - NO

Runs Well
Last Tested: 17.0.0 (1)

v17 was released in February 2018 - - so that's not very old, at all.


YEP - - I'm also realize that some folks won't fork out $29:00,
as that's waaay tooo much to pay.


also2: their site does give a good indication of, just how good some < program > will run under ./wine

[uberdorf]

Since you have 8 cores and an existing windows license, you probably are best off in my opinion in running a virtual machine like virtualbox. Virtualbox allows you to install nearly any OS, including Windows, inside another OS, and as many times as you have space for it. https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Screenshots So reserve one core and a couple of gigabytes of RAM for the host machine like the linux you install directly to the computer, and then with the rest you can run Windows and Sims 3 or any other game. That way you can have the security and stability of linux for your important stuff, and still have Windows to play games. And then if you decide to try other linux distributions for whatever reason, you can try them out in a virtual machine first to see how you like it. I have some youtube videos about this, at the time I was using debian.

Installing virtualbox in debian video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvCPzb ... 0s&index=9

Installing Windows 10 in Linux video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL-udoP ... 0s&index=8

The official virtualbox installation guide
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads

[Saffron]

ahh - NO

Runs Well
Last Tested: 17.0.0 (1)

v17 was released in February 2018 - - so that's not very old, at all.


YEP - - I'm also realize that some folks won't fork out $29:00,
as that's waaay tooo much to pay.


also2: their site does give a good indication of, just how good some < program > will run under ./wine

No, the issue is that it's $29 for the current version, but that version may not be compatible with any future updates of Linux and I would have to shell out another $29 to get the new version. Constantly. Or shell out $500 for the full version that's updated. I'm a teacher, I can't afford that kind of constant money gouging.

[kelltech]

Since you have 8 cores and an existing windows license, you probably are best off in my opinion in running a virtual machine like virtualbox. Virtualbox allows you to install nearly any OS, including Windows, inside another OS, and as many times as you have space for it. https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Screenshots So reserve one core and a couple of gigabytes of RAM for the host machine like the linux you install directly to the computer, and then with the rest you can run Windows and Sims 3 or any other game. That way you can have the security and stability of linux for your important stuff, and still have Windows to play games. And then if you decide to try other linux distributions for whatever reason, you can try them out in a virtual machine first to see how you like it. I have some youtube videos about this, at the time I was using debian.

Installing virtualbox in debian video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvCPzb ... 0s&index=9

Installing Windows 10 in Linux video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL-udoP ... 0s&index=8

The official virtualbox installation guide
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads

@uberdorf, Do you happen to run any games with this method? I'm wondering if I would be able to play games like Need for Speed or Skyrim inside a virtualbox. I do have a newer laptop with really decent specs. Bottom line, I dislike Win10 so much and I miss Linux, if I could play the games I had invested in while using Linux I would switch and never look back!

[uberdorf]

Since you have 8 cores and an existing windows license, you probably are best off in my opinion in running a virtual machine like virtualbox. Virtualbox allows you to install nearly any OS, including Windows, inside another OS, and as many times as you have space for it. https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Screenshots So reserve one core and a couple of gigabytes of RAM for the host machine like the linux you install directly to the computer, and then with the rest you can run Windows and Sims 3 or any other game. That way you can have the security and stability of linux for your important stuff, and still have Windows to play games. And then if you decide to try other linux distributions for whatever reason, you can try them out in a virtual machine first to see how you like it. I have some youtube videos about this, at the time I was using debian.

Installing virtualbox in debian video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kvCPzb ... 0s&index=9

Installing Windows 10 in Linux video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BL-udoP ... 0s&index=8

The official virtualbox installation guide
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads

@uberdorf, Do you happen to run any games with this method? I'm wondering if I would be able to play games like Need for Speed or Skyrim inside a virtualbox. I do have a newer laptop with really decent specs. Bottom line, I dislike Win10 so much and I miss Linux, if I could play the games I had invested in while using Linux I would switch and never look back!

No, unfortunately my kids only have dual core desktops. That would leave one core for linux, and one core for Windows and games which probably would not be satisfactory to them. I would recommend having at least a four core cpu and at least 8 GB of RAM to play games in virtualbox, so that after reserving one core and a couple of GB for linux, one still would have multiple cores left to run Windows and games. My personal games are Civ VI and Minecraft, which both run fine natively in linux.