Any fixes for the .tmp files? «123...Next Go

ZeeGee

Hello, well I've gotten lots of store content and found a great way to organize it, (thanks @ciane) but now my game is cloning my .ebc files which doubles the content in my dccache folder and makes my game really slow. Not to mention agonizingly slow to open if I don't remember to go in and delete the .tmp files everytime I play.

After much googling, it seems this was an issue created by an update awhile ago and the way around it is to not use the launcher to open your game. However, as I bought all my games just last year through Origin I don't have the option to bypass the launcher. I have not been able to find a recent fix for this for people who are not allowed to bypass the launcher.

ciane

It might be possible, @ZeeGee... I fixed the problem with reoccuring store featured items pics by creating a word document called FeaturedItems and renaming it to get rid of the extension (.txt or whatever). Then I was able to delete the folder with that name and move the blank word document into the sims 3 folder. The game can't create the folder to put pics in because there is already a file with that name. It works like a charm. So...

Using that logic, it MIGHT be possible to create empty word/text documents with those same names and rename them by deleting the extensions or renaming the extensions to .tmp BUT... backup your sims 3 folder first and then try it.

ZeeGee

Oh thank you! Off to try it right now.

ZeeGee

Well thanks @Ciane for the suggestion. It didn't work. When I launched the game it replaced my files with the big temp files again. Any other ideas?

ciane

No, that was my only idea. Sorry you did all that and then it didn't work.

ZeeGee

ciane wrote: »

No, that was my only idea. Sorry you did all that and then it didn't work.

Oh don't apologize. It was sweet of you to try to help. It was worth a try!

Me1620

@ZeeGee - I am glad you asked this question because I have been meaning to look into this myself. This certainly has been a common question. There are quite a few threads.

I play the games from the DVDs so I bypass the launcher by starting my game from the Electronic Arts folder. I did read in this post that you may be able to open your game by bypassing the launcher even if you downloaded the game from Origin. Elanorbreton bypasses the launcher by opening the game from

elanorbreton wrote:

"C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe"

(It's for Origin Games rather than Electronic Arts because I use the download versions)

I did buy the Diesel pack from Origin and I do have an Origin Games folder. In C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3 Diesel Stuff\Game\Bin\ there is a executable file for the launcher and one TS3SP07.exe which is likely the one the would bypass the launcher.

ZeeGee

Thanks for your reply @Me1620. I have tried that. There are two exe files in that folder, TS3W.exe and TS3.exe. I tried clicking on both of them and they both bring up the Origin Window so you have to use the stinking launcher to start. Grrrrrrr.

Me1620

@ZeeGee - Do you have any expansion or stuff packs? TS3W and TS3 are in my base game folder. Did you try to use the application executable file in one of the expansion of stuff pack folders? I started my game without the launcher using TS3SP07.exe in my Origin Diesel folder I posted above. It may have only worked for me because my base game is from a DVD and not Origin, but it is worth a try.

ZeeGee

@Me1620 I tried that. I went into all my expansion and stuff packs and tried to open with those exe files. EVERYTHING opens origin. I also did a factory restore and transferred my save and content into the new file. That didn't work either. I guess I'm just going to have to delete a lot of my store content. My game is so slow it's not even fun to play anymore.

The tmp files don't start until ebc 4 so I'm now considering going back and only installing my very favorite things from the store and leaving the rest out. I don't know what else to do.

ZeeGee

@Me1620 On that thread that you posted, on 6/25/13 a simguru commented that the issue was being investigated and asked people to post game file info. A bunch of people did. There was never any reply. I've never understood people moaning about the game being glitchy but I guess now I do!

There was another question raised on that thread - if you take the package files from your DCBackup folder and plop them into your mods folder will that fix it? I'm going to try that next. They're not in my game but I kept them.

ZeeGee

Oooh, I just got a survey from EA! Perfect timing! "Queue evil laughter"

ZeeGee

ZeeGee wrote: »

There was another question raised on that thread - if you take the package files from your DCBackup folder and plop them into your mods folder will that fix it? I'm going to try that next. They're not in my game but I kept them.

And that would be a no. After dropping the backup files in my mods folder the game wouldn't load. After 30 minutes of black screen I ended task, which had the 'not responding' message.

So I guess I'll do a reinstall of my store content and only install my very most favorite things. Sad really.

Me1620

I am so sorry you are having problems. My game does take a few minutes to get to the opening screens even when bypassing the launcher.

I noticed that SimGuruKelly had posted the were looking into the issue and after that only silence from EA. EA's inability or lack of desire to fix the most common bugs in the game is one of the reasons I decided not to invest in Sims 4.

I cannot remember where I read this, but a Simmer has many Sims 3 folders in which she set up themes of her store downloads. If she wants to play a medieval theme, she will only download items that match that theme in that Sims 3 folder. Then she sets up other Sims 3 folders based on other themes. Her game folders are not so big and her game works better.

ZeeGee

Me1620 wrote: »

EA's inability or lack of desire to fix the most common bugs in the game is one of the reasons I decided not to invest in Sims 4.

I cannot remember where I read this, but a Simmer has many Sims 3 folders in which she set up themes of her store downloads. If she wants to play a medieval theme, she will only download items that match that theme in that Sims 3 folder. Then she sets up other Sims 3 folders based on other themes. Her game folders are not so big and her game works better.

Me too on the Sims 4. Sims 3 is so much loved. Why would they leave it broken?

Well thanks for all your suggestions. That is a good idea about setting up themes. I do that somewhat but now will have to be more precise. And on that note, I am trying to redownload my store content and it won't download!! The launcher won't work!! There comes a time for even the most avid sims junkie when you realize nothing is working right and it's time to step away from the computer. FORGET THIS! I'm going to see Jurassic World

ciane

ZeeGee, I made a discovery on why the .tmp files bloated again for you. I don't use the launcher to load my game. I use the ts3w.exe from the game bin. When I installed something with the launcher today, the .tmp files filled up again.

I don't have to use Origin to play my game as I have original discs (for the base game and most of the EPs and SPs).. I did get some of the EPs and SPs as digital downloads because they were cheap. But my game will still load with that ts3w.exe file.

If your game is digital download or a disc made after they changed it to require Origin, then you might not be able to use the same method I do to avoid bloat because just using the launcher itself might cause that.

For me, I can simply overwrite the .tmp files that were bloated by the launcher with the ones I saved to a folder called tmp.

I do heartily recommend creating separate sims 3 folders though. I do that ALL the time. You can only play one world at a time after all, so a separate sims 3 folder for each world is a great idea. And you probably won't need modern stuff for Dragon Valley or old time stuff for Lunar Lakes.

My suggestion to you is to find a disc - pre-Origin requirement time - on eBay or somewhere. Then you can install that and update it with all patches. And check to see if everything works okay using the short cut for ts3w.exe. If it does, you can still install all your other stuff and use the short cut to play. The "w" on the end means that it doesn't matter how many EPs and SPs you have, they'll all load.

veiledstar

The game has to be made pre August 2012 to be able to bypass the launcher.
I just delete the .tmp files before I launch the game through origin. You can also delete the file called missingdeps.idx. It should cut down on the bloat. It's kind of a crappy fix, but it seems to help me since they put those in after IP.

ZeeGee

@ciane I think I've found a pre-2012 disc, description says 2009 so we'll see. Thanks for the advice. Thanks @veiledstar for the date.

I now know the extreme importance of being able to boot without Origin. I got locked out of my account for some reason the other night and couldn't even play my game offline. Squueeeeeee!!

Sims is an expensive habit. I started playing SFP and ended up buying an iPad, which I now couldn't live without. Started playing S3 and ended up buying a gaming laptop, which I now couldn't live without. I've bought all my S3 stuff from Origin, now I'm going to buy the physical discs so I can launch without the launcher and install all my store stuff without double bloating the game. I think a 🐸🐸🐸🐸 habit would have been cheaper...

ciane

You don't need all the physical discs as just having the one physical disc pre-origin requirement will enable you to play off-line. I am thinking of picking up the discs for the games that I got as digital download though, just so I'll have them in the future. And yeah, Sims is was a very expensive habit! I am done buying more sims stuff though. The good news is that I never got into any other games, so Sims is was the only habit.

ZeeGee

Same here. I've always said I'm a simmer, not a gamer. I know I just need the one to boot up but I'm thinking of getting the others too just to have. I think I will be playing this game for many years to come and what if Origin goes belly up or just DC's the Sims downloads? I want to have a back up in case that happens.

ZeeGee

Well, as it turns out, the multitude of Sims 3 discs out there are manufactured in 2014 though they say 2009 in the description. If anyone has a source, I'd sure be grateful to hear of it.

kellycot1

ZeeGee wrote: »

Well, as it turns out, the multitude of Sims 3 discs out there are manufactured in 2014 though they say 2009 in the description. If anyone has a source, I'd sure be grateful to hear of it.

Unfortunately, video games aren't the same as books ─ they never like to tell you when they were reprinted! The only way I know for differentiating the Sims 3 copies is based on the cover. The original 2009 era releases have this diamond pattern:



The ones since then have changed a bit, but usually look like this:



I'm not sure how easy it will be to find a store that shows you the actual game cover (rather than a placeholder that could be for any version). I'd say your best bet would be ebay or a local seller website that is popular for your area.

ZeeGee

Thank you so much @kellycot1! That helps so much to know what it looks like

ZeeGee

I got my disc in the mail. It's the right one! I put it in and click on autorun and guess what, it automatically boots up Origin. Any suggestions? Should I try uninstalling the Origin Sims 3? Would I need to uninstall all my expansion packs too? Should I start a new threat so people will know what I'm actually asking? But I guess this is relevant to the main question I asked as that is what I'm still trying to fix and maybe this thread will help someone else with the same problems.

kellycot1

ZeeGee wrote: »

I got my disc in the mail. It's the right one! I put it in and click on autorun and guess what, it automatically boots up Origin. Any suggestions? Should I try uninstalling the Origin Sims 3? Would I need to uninstall all my expansion packs too? Should I start a new threat so people will know what I'm actually asking? But I guess this is relevant to the main question I asked as that is what I'm still trying to fix and maybe this thread will help someone else with the same problems.

I really don't have experience with this, but I would suggest installing it as per usual (even with Origin getting in the way) and then trying the TS3W shortcut. Before you install the new base game, I'm fairly certain the old base game will need to be uninstalled. At this stage, I wouldn't worry about uninstalling EPs -- that can come later, if it doesn't work out as planned!

Of course, make sure all of your saves are backed up somewhere safe.

Good luck!

ZeeGee

Thank you