Hey guys
I have a question: I'm portuguese, and I bought all my Sims 2 games here in Portugal, so it's the Portuguese version. But now I want to buy Mansion & Garden, but all on ebay are in english. I know I can change the language when installing, but does the fact that they're from two different countries harm or mess with the game?

It does not; however, you should check to see that the names of your sims are unchanged.

That's something that happened to me when I installed a UK English version of M&G on top of my US English game. All I had to do was change the language in the regedit files from "UK English" to "US English," and I got all my names back. I don't know whether this is a peculiarity that arises only when changing from one kind of English to another, or if it will arise in your case; but either way, changing the language to match your other EPs should fix it.

If this doesn't arise, so much the better. If it does, the Game Help FAQ has instructions for how to change the language in various operating systems. If your OS isn't covered, you can probably learn enough from studying the FAQ to do it; if not, post in the Game Help section and I bet somebody'll be able to help you figure it out. Good luck!

What do you mean change the language in regedit files?

There is a place, deep in your computer, where the game tells itself which language files to access. Ideally, when you install a new EP and tell it "Portuguese," these files will say "Portuguese" and you won't have a problem.

Don't even worry about it unless, after you load the foreign copy of M&G, something weird happens to the language in the game, like some of the names changing. If something does, the Game Problem FAQ will tell you where to go and how to fix it it. It's very simple, I promise, and may not arise. I think the problem I had was peculiar to a UK English/US English conflict. But I'm not sure, which is why I mentioned it at all. You can never rule out the possibility of weird stuff happening.

And remember to back up your game before installing the new EP.

Ok thanks for the help!

I wouldn't have thought that names would change from US to UK English lol. Which names were considered too American for the British to understand.

It wasn't anything like that - it applied only to my sims, not the premades, and was completely weird and random. For the most part, the name not only changed, it changed to something far more common for the wrong gender. So Kitty Hawkins got named something bizarrely inexplicable like John McDonald.

It's complex code. It doesn't have to make sense to happen. Which is important to remember when troubleshooting.

I never got why Johnathan Tricou is "Jon Smith Tricou" in the US version.
I think he's Jonathan in other languages too. Strange

I have most of my games in UK English but I have all from BV upwards in German.

The installer takes the language from your computer's language, so I didn't even have to select English when installing, it already did that for me.

There are no problem. I bought Sims 2 in Italy (years ago - before getting ultimate collection) and I installed it in italian, then when i had to re-install the game, I re-installed it in Norwegian (I want to learn Norwegian andI hate Italian language).
The only problem is that all names, including those of sims you've created, will change.

I didn't find any sims' names changed, but I wasn't changing the language of my install.

The UK version should include all the European languages as well so there will be no problem (I think atleast)

By the way, since the game considers M&G an EP, do I need to use the Mansion & Garden CD or the Apartment Life CD in order to play?

M&G. You'll find it adds some peculiar little things to the game engine. Not all of them desirable - you'll have to use move objects to put stairs next to walls now, for instance.