Expansions of expansions

[phediuk]

GTA: London 1961 is a curious expansion in that it requires GTA: London 1969 to play, which itself requires the base GTA game.

I know this arrangement is pretty common in MMOs, but are there any other single-player examples of an expansion to an expansion pack? Keep in mind I am talking about a situation of the expansion requiring a prior expansion that in turn requires the base game.

[spanky]

I'm not entirely sure on this, but maybe the Sims games?

[blackdrazon]

GTA London going "back in time" so to speak always made that even weirder.

Feb 21, 2021 20:19:32 GMT -5 spanky said:

I'm not entirely sure on this, but maybe the Sims games?

There surprisingly aren't many of these, despite the sheer volume of packs. Some Sims expansion packs include bonus features if you have other ones, but it's rare for them to require one another. We're going to have to play fast and loose with the term "expansion." Some of Sims 3's EA-developed microtransactions might count, since some could get large enough to potentially consider "expansions." Then there's Sims 4: My First Pet Stuff, which is a "Stuff Pack" that requires an "Expansion Pack." But that's all I can think of.

[dsparil]

Calling London 1961 an expansion is rather generous for how small it is. It was a freebie for the PC version not a commercial release so it's basically a content adding patch for 1969 which isn't that unusual. It's normal for an MMO including a commercial but subscription-less one like the two Guild Wars games. In all fairness, I am having trouble thinking of a non-MMO example since it's much more common for a base game to get one (plus expansions getting replaced by DLC which isn't quite the same) and it's only been increasing in this age of Kickstarted games getting stretch goals added in later patches.

[teroknor]

I think Icewind Dale's Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster might fit this definition?

[Owlman]

Feb 23, 2021 4:56:27 GMT -5 teroknor said:

I think Icewind Dale's Heart of Winter and Trials of the Luremaster might fit this definition?

Sort of, thought TotLM was free DLC IIRC.

[dsparil]

Trials of the Luremaster was free. The only real commercial example I can think of is Diablo III: Rise of the Necromancer which was $15 and required the expansion to use. It is in Sim stuff pack territory though since it primarily added the new character class.

[Bumpyroad]

2nd and 3rd Titan Quest expansions require Titan Quest Anniversary Edition, which in itself has a base game and 1st expansion.

[dr_st]

So, Heroes of Might and Magic II Gold was basically the "Price of Loyalty" Expansion + 20-something maps, which I believe required the expansion itself to play. However, it's probably way too big of a stretch to view a bunch of maps as an expansion...

[dsparil]

I'm pretty sure that Gold was literally just the base game and expansion packaged together. The Price of Loyalty adds four campaigns not just the one with the same title.

[dr_st]

Feb 24, 2021 12:09:35 GMT -5 dsparil said:

I'm pretty sure that Gold was literally just the base game and expansion packaged together. The Price of Loyalty adds four campaigns not just the one with the same title.

There was also a bunch of non-campaign maps added to the Gold release, which I believe were not in the original PoL expansion. For sure, the 1997 "Heroes Compendium" package does not have them.

This is the list, per the Heroes II Gold Manual:


But this map-pack was never released separately, as far as I know, unlike some other things discussed here.

[dsparil]

I must have had the Compendium not Gold. It even says there's 25 extra maps on the box!

[jorpho]

The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+ requires the original Afterbirth, which requires Rebirth. But apparently Repentance will only require Rebirth, so the insanity stops there.

Feb 21, 2021 19:34:46 GMT -5 phediuk said:

GTA: London 1961 is a curious expansion in that it requires GTA: London 1969 to play, which itself requires the base GTA game.

London 1961 did require London 1969, but I'm quite sure London 1969 existed independently of the original GTA.

[dr_st]

Feb 25, 2021 21:36:49 GMT -5 jorpho said:

London 1961 did require London 1969, but I'm quite sure London 1969 existed independently of the original GTA.

I thought so too, briefly, but looking through my notes, apparently it does require the original to be installed. The manual for London 1969 which I have as part of that collection says it very clearly too. What I don't remember now is whether it is just a copy-protection thing, or if it actually needs any of the data from the original. I suspect the former.