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Scholar
Original Poster
#1 Old 25th Jul 2014 at 2:13 AM
Default HOWTO: Sync your TS2 game across multiple computers
WARNING: This should only be attempted if you have a good understanding about how the game works and where your files are located, and a decent understanding of computers in general. You should make a safe backup of your game files first.

Background: Due to my life/work setup, I play TS2 on as many as four different PCs, depending on which time of day I get a little free time. I wanted to figure out a way to keep my game files in sync, so that if I play the Joneses at work, those changes have been synced to my PC at home when I get there. For a while I used SugarSync successfully, but it cost money and it eventually started creating duplicate files. For the last few months, I've been using Copy:

https://www.copy.com/home/

It's free, for now at least. The basic steps would be:

1) Install copy on your 'source' computer, the one where your current EA Games\The Sims 2\ folder lives (the one with your downloads and hoods and such). When you first load the program, it'll ask to create a shared folder, exactly how dropbox does. It'll want to name it Copy. Select a location wherever, and let it make the folder.

2) Now quit Copy (from the system tray), make sure it's not running. Delete that Copy folder it created.

3) Now run it again. It'll ask you to locate the copy folder. Point it at your Sims 2 folder. (Not EA Games, but the actual \The Sims 2\ folder, under which you find your hoods and downloads and such.)

4) This time it should accept that as your shared folder rather than trying to make a folder called Copy. And now it should start uploading all of your The Sims 2 files. (Not the program files, but all of your saved data, including hoods, downloads, cameras, startup cheats, etc.) Obviously the time this takes will depend on how much CC you have and how fast your internet is, but you will only have to do the big upload once. After that it will only sync individual files when they get changed.

5) Now, if you have a target PC (or PCs) you want to sync your game files to, you need to have The Sims 2 already installed. Ideally you will start with a clean install and no files you're worried about retaining. I always just delete the entire \EA Games\The Sims 2\ folder and let it sync everything from Copy. Trying to sync over existing files will have unpredictable results. Install Copy using steps 1-3 above (you must make sure it's accepted \EA Games\The Sims 2\ as your sync folder). Now let it sync/download everything. Again, you'll only have to do the large download once.

6) Repeat for any additional PCs

WARNING: I don't advise leaving the Copy client running while you're playing. Best practice would be: DON'T let Copy automatically start up when Windows starts. Instead, leave it off on all PCs until you're ready to sync. Example:

1) I play for a short while on computer A. When I finish, I run Copy. It uploads all the files that have been changed, and only those files, so usually hood and sim files (which are small), plus whatever CC I may have downloaded during that play session. When it's done syncing, I exit Copy. This will be a very fast process on most modern internet connections because the files being modified during a typical play session are pretty small.

2) Later I'm at another location and I want to play The Sims on computer B. I run Copy. It syncs the changes from Computer A (again, very fast, a minute or two), I exit Copy and play. When I'm done I run Copy, let it upload, and then close it again.

That said, I've accidentally left it running on multiple machines during play sessions and had no problems, but it could theoretically cause an issue.

Bottom line: If I have the Jonses get married on one PC, when I go to play on another PC I can continue where I left off and take them on their honeymoon.

Again, please don't try this if you're not computer savvy. Use at own risk! I've never had a problem but I also make fairly frequent backups of my The Sims 2 folder to non-cloud locations.

And finally: I have successfully synced game files between 'traditional' installs and UC installs with no problems.
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