HELP! cant install games

[Lactating Cow]

i have the sims 3 regular game and the night life expansion on steam. i just recently purchased the other expansions from retail. it says i need to install the game first before i can install these. the games are installed. am i not able to run retail versions of the game or even install them with the digital games that are steam? do i have to buy them all again? please help

x.x:confused:

[ploppo]

As far as I know, you cannot mix and match retail and Steam version - although, there may be workarounds.

I hope that there are workarounds as Electronic Arts and Valve are currently having a spat over Crysis 2 - which EA claim has been taken off Steam by Valve.

If EA walk away from Steam altogether, then we can only proceed with retail versions of Sims 3 expansions. So, a solution might be required for all of us as the next expansion pack is due in October.

[taz rose]

i have the sims 3 regular game and the night life expansion on steam. i just recently purchased the other expansions from retail. it says i need to install the game first before i can install these. the games are installed. am i not able to run retail versions of the game or even install them with the digital games that are steam? do i have to buy them all again? please help

x.x:confused:

I think the problem there is that when you go to instal the addon, it cannot find your copy of Sims3 in the steam directory. You might be able to get it to work if you can install the Sims3 into your steam games directory. Just a thought

[ravenstar68]

I have 2 possible suggestions to this
1st one keeping everything tith steam is to Link your retail copy of sims3 to your steam account.
In the steam client go to games - Activate a product on steam and enter CD keys for retail versions.

Alternatively you can download Origin (Formerly EA store) and add your CD keys for both retail and steam games into that - it definitely recognises the steam cd keys as genuine.
Then you can download the files from EA and install them - uninstalling the steam games 1st.

[spyrochaete]

Read the Steam store pages CAREFULLY before making a purchase. It clearly says on these pages, highlighted and in a different colour, that you cannot mix and match the retail and Steam products.

[Lactating Cow]

now i am unable to register some of my games with origin and its a sims 3 expansion. i cant play the sims 3 all the way either on steam or not on steam :mad::mad::mad: