Game guide:Getting store content to work with the Steam version of The Sims 3

Anyone who owns the Steam version of The Sims 3 may have encountered issues in the past with getting content from The Sims 3 Store to work with their game because the web browser cannot find the application associated to the protocol known as "sims3". Fortunately this can be fixed with some configuration.

Firefox

 * Go to Mozilla's help page for this issue.
 * On the same window/tab as this page, replace the contents of the address bar with " " and press enter
 * A dropdown menu should appear, click yes to accept program for the specific protocol.
 * Go into Tools > Options > Applications and find "sims3" in the list, and right next to it under 'Actions' click on it to see the dropdown menu. It will already be selected to use Sims3Launcher, but its assuming you have the retail version, which uses a different file path to the Steam version.
 * Select Use Other, then click Browse. The correct launcher you need is located in your Steam folder.
 * The path for this (on Windows 7 64-bit) is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin" - a 32-bit system would be the same except substitute "Program Files (x86)" with just "Program Files".
 * There will be 3 launchers listed: S3Launcher, Sims3Launcher, and Sims3LauncherW. Select Sims3Launcher and Apply. Then click the box to make this the default.

Now you should be able to download from the Store via your browser and it will automatically launch from the correct directory.

Google Chrome
Google Chrome automatically finds "Sims3Launcher" from the Steam directory after initiating the download process via The Sims 3 Store - you don't need to do anything else on your part.

Internet Explorer
Unfortunately there is no fix for Internet Explorer which we can list here at this time, as "Sims3Launcher" is already attributed to the correct directory via the registry, which shouldn't be edited unless you are absolutely sure of what you are doing.

Tips

 * It may be easier to launch the game via Steam and leave it on the launcher before prompting any downloads or installations. This tends to make things more streamlined as then the launcher won't have to do a disc check (which would be the "Connecting account " screen on Steam) and installs have less chance of not happening.
 * If you tell any content to install but nothing happens, close the launcher and relaunch it again - that usually fixes things.
 * Once the content is installed, you can delete the downloaded files. These won't affect usability of the installed content and are free to redownload.
 * You may also register and redownload TS3 + Expansion via Origin using CD key. Registry entry for steam version of High-End loft stuff, if installed, may need to be deleted, since it is titled differently from other boxed, and other digital distributuion versions. Add game to Steam library via "add non-steam game". This may or may not be legal as this is a 'grey area'.