Launcher

The Launcher serves to present news related to the game and alert the player about game updates.

The Sims 2
The Launcher first appeared in Bon Voyage. It is not present in the base game, or in expansion packs up to and including Seasons. The executable for the Launcher may be present if stuff packs released after Bon Voyage are installed. However, unless Mansion &amp; Garden Stuff is installed, that should not be an issue if Seasons is the latest expansion pack installed.

It will also be present if The Sims 2 University Life Collection, The Sims 2 Best of Business Collection, The Sims 2 Fun with Pets Collection or The Sims 2 Double Deluxe has been installed, and if the compilation disc and shortcut are used to start the game.

While the Launcher's news pane is no longer used, the promotional pane is still used. As of August 24, 2013, some content shown in that pane has been observed to cause the Launcher to stop responding. This can be avoided by clicking the Play button before the promotional pane finishes loading, or by bypassing the Launcher.

Avoiding the Launcher in The Sims 2
The Launcher can be avoided by starting the game directly from the executable. This can generally be done by right-clicking on the shortcut used to start the game, selecting Properties, and editing the textbox labeled "Target:" so that "Sims2Launcher.exe" is replaced by the filename of the game's executable file. For an illustrated guide on how to do this, see this page at ModTheSims.

In general, the executable will be in the same folder as the Launcher. However, this may not be the case if the disc and shortcut for one of the compilations is used to start The Sims 2.

The Sims 3
The Sims 3 launcher connects to Origin (formerly known as the Electronic Arts Download Manager) when new updates are available and enables the player to install and upload .sims3packages. It also displays the player's installed expansion packs and their game version. The Steam version of The Sims 3 omits the ability to install game updates via the launcher as they are handled by the Steam client due to the different file structure utilised by Steam. Also, players are able to download custom launchers from 3rd party sites such as Mod The Sims.

Criticism
The launcher and the .sims3package format has been criticized by some community creators as it is slow and can potentially mess up packages.

Avoiding the Launcher in The Sims 3
To fully avoid the launcher, the player needs to cover its functionality by other means:
 * Start the Sims game directly from the executable.
 * Download and install patch notes manually. (See The Sims 3 patches)
 * Use a user created tool to install .sims3packages, see below for suggestions.

Similar Sims 3 tools

 * TS3 Install Helper Monkey by Delphy at ModTheSims.
 * More tools