IMHO, reinstalling is
pointless! Errors hardly ever affect the files in
Program Files/EA Games/The Sims 2 (etc.), with very few preventable exceptions. Yeah, it'll get your game running... then you'll put your backup back in... and the game won't work again, because the problem was in the
My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/ folder. Or you've lost all your neighborhoods and downloads and get to
start over, because you didn't make a backup. If we all wanted a game that you have to start over, we'd play an First Person Shooter, not The Sims!
Follow my
tutorial on preventing file corruption, and you should never need to reinstall again, since the game
cannot corrupt its own files.
Most likely really corrupt file: groups.cache. Suggested fix: go to
My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2 and rename groups.cache to groups.cache.bak. Run the game. You'll be surprised at the number of times this fixes your game! And you've got your old file on the odd chance that it was something else.
Next most likely corrupt file: NeighborhoodManager.package This file can be deleted without harming your game in any way. Apparently the game ignores it except to crash if it's corrupt.
Miros' #1 Rule:
Don't delete! Just drag stuff out of your game!
Reasons: 1) It's probably perfectly good, so why delete it? 2) You might not be able to get another copy of it, so it could be gone for good...
After that, if your computer crashed during a save, it might manage to corrupt real files in
My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2. You can simply rename that folder and let the game create a new one. You can even attempt to salvage your old 'hoods and Downloads if you like once you have a functional game again.
Do you hate ugly Townies? Try
my tutorial on ugly townie prevention.
Do this before you start making new neighborhoods!
As for face templates, although you can only have one set installed at a time, there's no law that says you can't have several sets and switch them from time to time or even create your own set by using single templates from each set. Switching your templates or sets will have
no effect on Sims generated from the templates that were switched out. All needed information is copied into the Sim at creation. By their nature, all face templates are "genetic," if you mean the children will inherit a blend of their parent's faces.
Greg's suggestion for skinners (and people attempting to install missing meshes): Every time I make new or install new clothes, I delete the
CASthumbnails.package from
My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Thumbnails so that the game will regenerate the preview pictures of the clothing. The entire Thumbnails folder can be deleted if it's a suspect in crashes.
Do make backups. You can use SimPE, or you can simply right click on your Neighborhoods folder (or a single neighborhood inside it) and choose to Zip it. I like to put the date in the file name instead of relying on the creation/modification dates. I also like to drag them to a different disk partition or an external drive or another computer on your network or burn them to CD or DVD.
(Written so I don't need to keep retyping the darn thing every time someone says why do you tell people reinstalling is pointless?)