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patch 1.47

Comments

  • SimGuruSteveSimGuruSteve Posts: 125 SimGuru
    edited January 2013
    Well, this certainly isn't the thread to answer these questions in... but you guys are here and although I'd like to provide answers the best I can probably do is provide insight.
    if there are always people scanning the forums for bugs, then why do we Mac users almost never get a patch?

    The bottom line is that it's difficult to fix Sims 3 bugs in general. The majority of user related bugs have to do with outdated drivers, unsupported hardware, and 3rd party (ie: not EA) mods and custom content. We have limited engineering resources and our team has to decide what exactly we should spend our time doing. Being vocal about issues helps us determine how badly a fix is needed and convinces producers to squeeze it into our development time.

    As for Mac specifically, we use a third party developer to get our game to run on that platform. They are an incredibly capable team that develops for mac across the video game industry. While we could have attempted to develop Sims 3 on Mac ourselves - we simply do not have the knowledge to do that effectively. This provides a higher quality product than we would produce on our own - but causes an extra layer of work to everything we do. Communication, bug discovery, reporting, fixing, etc. All of this now goes through another company during regular meetings.

    Now, those were not excuses - but I do want to be transparent about bug fixing difficulties.
    yenial wrote:
    WHEN will we recieve a patch that resolves our problems that started 2 MONTHS AGO?!

    This is an especially interesting question because it revolves around the rather unfamiliar game development timeline. Although I can't speak for the specific issue (I don't personally know it), the short answer is that its severity probably wasn't known enough to make it into the SP08 patch.

    Now I really don't think I should be diving into that at 3am, but ultimately the cutoff for a bug fix can be (as in this case) 2+ months prior to when the patch would actually be released. I could mock up a timeline, but it might simply make it more confusing.


    So there's some added info. Sorry I can't make any promises and I wish I could go into more detail. No, I didn't answer many questions about specific issues, but maybe it provided a little insight about difficulties of Sims bug fixing and game development in general.
  • yenialyenial Posts: 198 Member
    edited January 2013
    the short answer is that its severity probably wasn't known enough to make it into the SP08 patch.

    Well, I don't wanna be rude, but EA doesn't simply does its job properly if they aren't aware of the issue, even if we contacted support 100+ times. The answer I get from the advisors is "We will look further in this issue," all the time. I don't accept the idea that the severity of the problem wasn't known enough.

    (SimGuruSteve) Don't take it personally.
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • TheSingingSimmerTheSingingSimmer Posts: 3,348 Member
    edited January 2013
    They are not aware of the issue. ARE. YOU. FREAKING. KIDDING. ME?! Every single one of us removed any 3rd party content. Yet the game fails to run. Did you even test your game on MACS?! You definetly didn't because we wouldn't be facing these issues. I don't care if a bug takes 4 years to fix. Say your working on the issue and apologizing for not being responsible with your products would be enough. We have waited 3 months. This is the first SimGuru response we've got. That says a lot.
  • yenialyenial Posts: 198 Member
    edited January 2013
    Corey785 wrote:
    They are not aware of the issue. ARE. YOU. FREAKING. KIDDING. ME?! Every single one of us removed any 3rd party content. Yet the game fails to run. Did you even test your game on MACS?! You definetly didn't because we wouldn't be facing these issues. I don't care if a bug takes 4 years to fix. Say your working on the issue and apologizing for not being responsible with your products would be enough. We have waited 3 months. This is the first SimGuru response we've got. That says a lot.

    WOW, take it easy champion. I know you are angry and I am too blowing off steam, but they now know the issues (I hope). If we keep yelling at them, they will either respond our long messages, or fix the game. The only thing we have to do is wait now.

    SimGuruSteve, I hope The Sims Studio is now aware of the issue.
  • joolieajooliea Posts: 1,262 Member
    edited January 2013
    Corey, my buddy. Come have a scooby snack.

    I truly believe EA is aware of the issue based on their correspondence with me and the statement that they could replicate the issue.

    As tempting as it is to jump on SimGuruSteve, let's keep in mind that he came to the forum to interact with us on a specific issue that is within his ability to fix. Just that stuff. Nothing else. Department store analogy: Taking a mushy apple to the sports section to rant at the sports guy about how they never look at their produce is silly, yes? Let's not do that. Even though he has been really cool about it.

    Let's make sure that when EA DOES send us a representative for whatever in order to properly communicate with us, that we provide positive reinforcement for that act!
  • TheSingingSimmerTheSingingSimmer Posts: 3,348 Member
    edited January 2013
    yenial wrote:
    Corey785 wrote:
    They are not aware of the issue. ARE. YOU. FREAKING. KIDDING. ME?! Every single one of us removed any 3rd party content. Yet the game fails to run. Did you even test your game on MACS?! You definetly didn't because we wouldn't be facing these issues. I don't care if a bug takes 4 years to fix. Say your working on the issue and apologizing for not being responsible with your products would be enough. We have waited 3 months. This is the first SimGuru response we've got. That says a lot.

    WOW, take it easy champion. I know you are angry and I am too blowing off steam, but they now know the issues (I hope). If we keep yelling at them, they will either respond our long messages, or fix the game. The only thing we have to do is wait now.

    SimGuruSteve, I hope The Sims Studio is now aware of the issue.

    LOL. Yeah, I guess I was pretty angry.....I just needed to say some questions in a noticeable way.
  • TheSingingSimmerTheSingingSimmer Posts: 3,348 Member
    edited January 2013
    jooliea wrote:
    Corey, my buddy. Come have a scooby snack.

    I truly believe EA is aware of the issue based on their correspondence with me and the statement that they could replicate the issue.

    As tempting as it is to jump on SimGuruSteve, let's keep in mind that he came to the forum to interact with us on a specific issue that is within his ability to fix. Just that stuff. Nothing else. Department store analogy: Taking a mushy apple to the sports section to rant at the sports guy about how they never look at their produce is silly, yes? Let's not do that. Even though he has been really cool about it.

    Let's make sure that when EA DOES send us a representative for whatever in order to properly communicate with us, that we provide positive reinforcement for that act!

    Well he said he wasn't aware..But I apologize for being too hostile. Sorry! Love your signature. :-)
  • dramaattinenpyllydramaattinenpylly Posts: 18
    edited January 2013
    If you are not prompted with a 1.47 patch I'd like to know:
      Location in the world
      If you can see a patch and what version is listed at the top (prompted during launcher boot or available in the update window)
      If you can see 1.47 patch notes in the launcher.
      Finally, the technical and post important part - what version of basegame are you on?
    Basegame version can be determined through the info.plist file:
    Right click the basegame
    Choose "Show Package Contents"
    Open Contents/Info.plist (ie: expand Contents and open Info.plist)
    Search for ClientBuild, I want the line after that. Example: my test machine shows "<string>1.36.45.017001</string>"

    Yeah, i checked these from my Mac and:
    I'm from Finland
    Versio 16.0.136.019001 (? is that right, i have updated to 1.42)
    Nope, my launcher says it's full updated..
    <string>1.42.130.019002</string>

    Hope you can say something..
  • Chris719Chris719 Posts: 100 Member
    edited January 2013
    I honestly don't really mind waiting a while... I just want a SimGuru or anyone that works for this company to simply reassure me that they're working on the issue. That a patch that fixes this crashing issue for macs WILL actually be released within the next month or two. That's all I want. 'Cause I sit here every day wondering if it will ever come out or if it'll just be ignored. I've owned Seasons since it came out and have it sitting there on my desk uninstalled 'cause it's 'causing the crashing issue. I'm just waiting for the day that I'll finally be able to play it. It's sad, really.....
  • lomopoplomopop Posts: 44
    edited January 2013
    @SimGuruSteve - while you haven't (and possibly can't) answer questions about when a patch will be out to fix the problems that many of us Mac users are having, I really appreciate that you have taken the time to come on this thread and give us some information. It's great to feel that we aren't just shouting into the wind. I realize that to some extent it is an unenviable job because you're bound to be yelled at, but if SimGurus could have more of a forum presence, perhaps once in a while offering suggestions when we're having problems, that would probably alleviate some of our frustration.

    Is there anywhere for me to download patch 1.39? I can't play Seasons, and I can't update my game to 1.42 without breaking the game. I have Supernatural which I still love playing, but would like to update it to 1.39, and don't want to risk updating from just any website.

    Thanks again for your time.
  • laryenhilllvrlaryenhilllvr Posts: 133 Member
    edited January 2013
    Why didn't i get online earlier??? it's good to hear that ea knows about the issue and at some mythical, mystical point in time a patch will (hopefully) be released. however i find it a little hard to stomach (even i can't do much about it). i've spent thousands of dollars on the sims franchise between store content and the games. I've bought every expansion pack and stuff pack through through digital downloads and discs (that's right i have at least two copies of every sims game except pets and seasons). So to find out a game was released with serious problems is one thing, but for it to continue this long without acknowledgement from ea on a website for the game is ridiculous. to find out they released a stuff pack without a single issue experienced by mac users is down right disgusting. clearly no one monitors this forum, i could go back 5-10 pages and i'm sure there is at least one thread on every one of those pages about some problem caused by the 1.42 patch. don't even get me started on the fact that the constant game freezes and crashes most likely played a part in my mbp crashing within a month of buying it. if my words come across as harsh, so be it. they are not directed at simguru specifically, it's aimed at the blatant disregard for basic customer service ea has demonstrated with the latest ep.
  • ceejay402ceejay402 Posts: 24,507 Member
    edited January 2013
    lomopop wrote:
    @SimGuruSteve - while you haven't (and possibly can't) answer questions about when a patch will be out to fix the problems that many of us Mac users are having, I really appreciate that you have taken the time to come on this thread and give us some information. It's great to feel that we aren't just shouting into the wind. I realize that to some extent it is an unenviable job because you're bound to be yelled at, but if SimGurus could have more of a forum presence, perhaps once in a while offering suggestions when we're having problems, that would probably alleviate some of our frustration.

    Is there anywhere for me to download patch 1.39? I can't play Seasons, and I can't update my game to 1.42 without breaking the game. I have Supernatural which I still love playing, but would like to update it to 1.39, and don't want to risk updating from just any website.

    Thanks again for your time.

    hi lomopop. so i googled patches for mac and found this link http://www.strategyinformer.com/pc/patches/sims3/patch.html

    perhaps someone else can confirm if its safe. i myself have been wondering if for some folks patching to older patch could help to play base and older EPs.

    of course the downside is u shouldn't be able to add newer than an old patch of CC, mods, or store content but it may be worth it if u cant currently play.

    if u do decide to re patch can u post how it works out, thanks
  • yenialyenial Posts: 198 Member
    edited January 2013
    Ok, I'm going to make two posts. Business first. This pertains to acquiring the patch - not the content, but I want to get users their 1.47 patch:
    My issue is that I tried to download the latest patch... it came up with "Download Complete" and then it still told me I needed to update.
    yenial wrote:
    if some of us cannot download the patch, why don't you release the cumulative patch in the forum so that we can update our games manually?

    1.47 Mac patches should be available across the board. If you don't have a patch available (or it doesn't apply correctly) let me know. This is the specific reason why I approached our team to get a SimGuru account to ask for and respond with info directly to you guys in the forums.

    So there's two options:
    #1: Here's the cumulative patch:
    http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8625-1.47.6.020001.tgz
    http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8625-1.47.6.020002.tgz
    http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8625-1.47.6.020003.tgz
    http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8625-1.47.6.020005.tgz
    http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8625-1.47.6.020017.tgz
    I just sent an email off earlier today with those URLs so this page will likely get updated in the next 24 hours.

    #2: Help me figure out why you don't see the patch.
    If you don't see a patch, I want to know why. Yes you can get the cumulative patch, but you shouldn't have to do that manually. Those workarounds are solutions to problems I don't even know about - so I can't fix it and the problem won't go away. Unfortunately it gets a little technical as I need to know what basegame version you are on.

    If you are not prompted with a 1.47 patch I'd like to know:
      Location in the world
      If you can see a patch and what version is listed at the top (prompted during launcher boot or available in the update window)
      If you can see 1.47 patch notes in the launcher.
      Finally, the technical and post important part - what version of basegame are you on?
    Basegame version can be determined through the info.plist file:
    Right click the basegame
    Choose "Show Package Contents"
    Open Contents/Info.plist (ie: expand Contents and open Info.plist)
    Search for ClientBuild, I want the line after that. Example: my test machine shows "<string>1.36.45.017001</string>"

    If you don't feel comfortable digging into your sims 3 package file, please don't! However, if you do then the info above would be appreciated.

    Questions about acquiring the patch or determining basegame version? Reply or message me. And then I'll figure out how to message back ;-)

    Hi SimGuruSteve,

    I installed the patch from the link that you provided. The thing is, when I clicked "Play" in my launcher, I got an error. The picture is attached.
    (sorry for the right-click menu BTW)
  • ashjack20ashjack20 Posts: 163 Member
    edited January 2013
    The simple fact that there is a Guru who is posting SOMETHING on this forum actually brightened my day.

    Don't harass the guy, people. There are some things he may not know, considering that he doesn't work on them, but be happy that someone is responding and TRYING to help.

    Maybe with the reaction he has received, he can relay the message to others to start helping us out with other problems.
  • SimGuruSteveSimGuruSteve Posts: 125 SimGuru
    edited January 2013
    Yeah, i checked these from my Mac and:
    I'm from Finland
    Versio 16.0.136.019001 (? is that right, i have updated to 1.42)
    Nope, my launcher says it's full updated..
    <string>1.42.130.019002</string>
    Thanks for looking, I don't see anything wrong, so I'll ask two more questions:
      What is your CiderBuild number? This is immediately above the ClientBuild in the same Info.plist.
      Please let me know the first few lines of this file: llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/sims3_sku1_update_manifest.xml . The section should look like this:
    <patch NewLauncherTargetHigh="8361-1.42.130.019001" NewLauncherTargetLow="8361-1.42.130.019001" NewVersion="8625-1.47.6.020001d" PatchContentId="To-8625-1.47.6.020001-From-8361-1.42.130.019001.tgz.md5" Required="1" URL="http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8625-1.47.6.020001-From-8361-1.42.130.019001.tgz.md5">
    

    ceejay402 wrote:
    lomopop wrote:
    Is there anywhere for me to download patch 1.39? I [...] don't want to risk updating from just any website.
    hi lomopop. so i googled patches for mac and found this link <redacted>

    perhaps someone else can confirm if its safe.
    Thanks for looking ceejay - but lomopop is right, I personally wouldn't risk downloading from just any old website. This is something I can actually push buttons and fix. I dug out the old 1.39 cumulative patches and am pushing the files to the interwebs now. The final resting place should be:
    http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8258-1.39.3.018001.tgz
    http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8258-1.39.3.018002.tgz
    http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8258-1.39.3.018003.tgz
    http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8258-1.39.3.018005.tgz
    http://llnet.thesims.cdn.ea.com/sims/u/f/sims3/mac/To-8258-1.39.3.018017.tgz

    NOTE: These patches will NOT work with EP08 Seasons (or they shouldn't, and if they somehow do we can't help). This mis-match configuration is exactly why EA wouldn't normally let you guys patch backwards because we don't want to see reports of "my 1.39 patch won't play seasons". *Shrug*, you're going to get the files from somewhere, at least I can provide a legitimate source. I'll try to make the links available until the next patch - but they will be hidden and a secret. Don't tell anyone. Shhhhh.


    yenial wrote:
    I installed the patch from the link that you provided. The thing is, when I clicked "Play" in my launcher, I got an error. The picture is attached.
    (sorry for the right-click menu BTW)
    Unfortunately I get this text when I click on your picture link: "The requested file could not be found. It probably was deleted." If you're willing, please try again or let me know what the text is. (I'm guessing it's a very very long text, so if you want to screenshot and post again, that makes sense)


    yenial wrote:
    Corey785 wrote:
    They are not aware of the issue. ARE. YOU. FREAKING. KIDDING. ME?! Did you even test your game on MACS?!

    I know you are angry and I am too blowing off steam, but they now know the issues (I hope).
    Without getting into specific detail I can say that based on the timelines I was aware of, EP08 bug fixes easily might not have made it into the SP08 patch. Game development resources can be generally thought of as a bell curve. In the middle of the project, you use all your resources in order to generate new content and fix bugs. Near the end, the bugs are (mostly) fixed and a product needs less attention. The most efficient use of a team's time is to keep those bell curves overlapping such that the team is always being productive. (But not too much overlap, as EA learned through EA Spouse that its employees don't really like that so much). SP08 had to be planned in such a way that knowledge of game-breaking bugs may not have made it into the patch.

    However I don't know if the above is actually the case so I'll again reiterate that having exact reproducible steps on accessible hardware is usually the bottom line. I'm likely going to take some time for the rest of the week attempting to reproduce some of these Mac crashes, but if I can't reproduce them, it's a wild goose chase that sinks resources without return.

    ashjack20 wrote:
    The simple fact that there is a Guru who is posting SOMETHING on this forum actually brightened my day.
    jooliea wrote:
    As tempting as it is to jump on SimGuruSteve, let's keep in mind that he came to the forum to interact with us on a specific issue that is within his ability to fix.
    Thanks for the support! I have to admit that stepping into the forum (even last patch) was something that was against my better judgement, but I'd like to think that cutting the middle man (customer service, etc) out of communication is a good thing.

    EDIT: Had to remove the url links - the version numbers look incorrect and I will investigate soon.

    EDIT2: Reinstated the correct URLs.
    Post edited by Unknown User on
  • AshpeefAshpeef Posts: 173 Member
    edited January 2013
    ...
    #2: Help me figure out why you don't see the patch.
    ...
    If you are not prompted with a 1.47 patch I'd like to know:
      Location in the world
      If you can see a patch and what version is listed at the top (prompted during launcher boot or available in the update window)
      If you can see 1.47 patch notes in the launcher.
      Finally, the technical and post important part - what version of basegame are you on?
    ...
      Since patch
    1.42 and installing Seasons the game crashes as soon as you try to actuallly play.
      I'm in the Netherlands and bought all Sims EPs & SPs
    locally on disc and an awful lot of store content through the Store.
      Nothing from the Exchange, no mods or 3rd party CC.
      Everything is 'freshly' installed and patched with the cumulative update
    To-8361-1.42.130.019002.app and for now there's no store content added.
      The launcher states I'm at
    16.0.136.019001 and up to date. I find the final '1' in that string, ehm, interesting.
      Digging down as you suggested, I find the plist giving
    1.42.130.019002 -- yes, final number a '2'.
      Hitting the Refresh button offers a software update, immediately followed by a Store content Patch.
      Patch notes of the latter reveal it to be
    Patch V 2.1 (12/13/12).
      Accepting the store update gives 'successful update' to store content (obviously, as there is none at this time!).
      The Launcher now states:
    New game version available: 8625-1.47.6.020002d and the window shows release notes of said patch.
      However, the 'Update Now' button is
    not active.
      The 'Refresh' button
    is. Using this you again get the opportunity to apply the same Store Content Patch.
      After accepting this the second time, you're offered a software update. Accept that and you're again offered the Store Content Patch.
      Accept that and you're
    back at the screen with that inactive 'Update Now' button...
      Ad infinitum?
    Actually, no!
    Repeating this cycle a couple of times (sorry forgot to count, but it's over 4 times) finally started a download. Apparently that worked, patching started and finished. Then again the, same, Store Content Patch.
      The Launcher now states I'm at
    16.0.136.020001 and up to date.
      info.plist now shows
    1.47.6.020002.
      Refresh on the update page again offers a Store Content Patch, but this time 'see patch notes' leads to a
    404 page, in Dutch.
      After quitting and restarting the Launcher, the update tab no longer insists on getting the Store Content Patch.

    Steve, thanks for making an actual effort of solving even part of our long list of problems. I hope you can use at least some of this information.
    And it would be 'nice' to be able to play again. :)
  • ceejay402ceejay402 Posts: 24,507 Member
    edited January 2013
    ceejay402 wrote:
    lomopop wrote:
    Is there anywhere for me to download patch 1.39? I [...] don't want to risk updating from just any website.
    hi lomopop. so i googled patches for mac and found this link <redacted>

    perhaps someone else can confirm if its safe.
    Thanks for looking ceejay - but lomopop is right, I personally wouldn't risk downloading from just any old website. This is something I can actually push buttons and fix. I dug out the old 1.39 cumulative patches and am pushing the files to the interwebs now. The final resting place should be:
    <REDACTED, the patch files are the wrong files - I'll look into this and update hopefully in the next few hours>

    NOTE: These patches will NOT work with EP08 Seasons (or they shouldn't, and if they somehow do we can't help). This mis-match configuration is exactly why EA wouldn't normally let you guys patch backwards because we don't want to see reports of "my 1.39 patch won't play seasons". *Shrug*, you're going to get the files from somewhere, at least I can provide a legitimate source. I'll try to make the links available until the next patch - but they will be hidden and a secret. Don't tell anyone. Shhhhh.

    thank you! i really appreciate you helping us out here.
  • yenialyenial Posts: 198 Member
    edited January 2013
    yenial wrote:
    I installed the patch from the link that you provided. The thing is, when I clicked "Play" in my launcher, I got an error. The picture is attached.
    (sorry for the right-click menu BTW)
    Unfortunately I get this text when I click on your picture link: "The requested file could not be found. It probably was deleted." If you're willing, please try again or let me know what the text is. (I'm guessing it's a very very long text, so if you want to screenshot and post again, that makes

    Sorry for that. I don't remember the whole thing, but it said that my game is patched from an unknown source and I uninstall the game and install it again, retrieve the original patches or just play it but it said that it could be buggy. The funny thing is that I could spend 15 minutes in CAS, and the game didn't freeze for 30 minutes ( I'm not sure how can the game continue because I quitted the game after I saw the graphics issues AGAIN.)
    The patch 1.47 helps a little bit but not a permanent solution.

    Yenial
  • SimGuruSteveSimGuruSteve Posts: 125 SimGuru
    edited January 2013
    Ashpeef wrote:
      The launcher states I'm at
    16.0.136.019001 and up to date. I find the final '1' in that string, ehm, interesting.
      Digging down as you suggested, I find the plist giving
    1.42.130.019002 -- yes, final number a '2'.
    Yes, it's a little confusing even internally. Long story short, basegame (and the first expansion) was released with 5 skus, 1 (North America), 2 (Europe), etc, 7 (Online). Since then we realized that maintaining and patching 5 products was a pain, so we reduced to only 1 (disc) and 7 (online).

    So your basegame was from Europe, but your recent purchase was a disc. Although they don't match, it's not concerning at all. In fact, we specifically try every combination during each product release to make sure every flavor of Sims 3 basegame works with every flavor of our new product. It's a huge pain in the rear and takes up a ton of resources, but obviously a necessity.
    Ashpeef wrote:
      However, the 'Update Now' button is
    not active.
      The 'Refresh' button
    is.
    This, however IS concerning. I'm not sure if it's a delay or if our QA is aware of it. Unfortunately it does have a workaround and that drops the bug's priority. Nonetheless, I'll chat with our QA to find out what they've seen and if it's reproducible enough to harass our Mac developers about.


    ceejay402 wrote:
    thank you! i really appreciate you helping us out here.
    No problem - I'm glad there are some things I can fix. The patches should now be up and I updated the above post. Side note: I found some version numbers incorrect on a few files - so technically if a user was on 1.39, they would not have seen a patch. This is now fixed because of lomopop's request. :D


    yenial wrote:
    [...]it said that my game is patched from an unknown source
    Wait, wut? There is an issue I had to fix with Mountain Lion that pertains to one of Apple's new features called Gatekeeper. It requires signatures on files downloaded from the internet, so I'm wondering if this is at all related. If you ever do see the message again, I'd be very interested.
  • joolieajooliea Posts: 1,262 Member
    edited January 2013
    OH A 1.39 PATCH BLESS YOU. Bless you. I'll be playing The Sims again by the end of the day. :D (Without Seasons, of course.)

    Thankyouthankyouthankyou.
  • PurpleAmharicBunaPurpleAmharicBuna Posts: 624 New Member
    edited January 2013
    Thank you very much, Steve, I shall give it a shot. :)
  • rosidbonrosidbon Posts: 184 New Member
    edited January 2013
    Sim Guru Steve

    Even though I am furious about the nothingness of the 1.47 patch, i do understand that it really is not down to you personally.
    Now that we actually have some communication with a GURU, and not someone with a SCRIPT, perhaps you won't mind if i try to get some information or opinions from you while we still have you around.
    (This is the FIRST TIME I have ever seen a Guru on this forum!!!!!!).
    I have an enormous list of questions and querys and while I don't expect you to be able to answer them I wonder if you could maybe give your opinion on some of them.

    1) There are many of us playing The Sims on a Mac who have been buying the games since the very beginning and have given a lot of money to EA.
    Personally, I have spent around £2,000.
    Since the release of Pets my game has become more and more unstable, and with the 1.42 patch and Seasons, i can no longer play, ( like many others ).
    We have absolutely NO redress with EA as they seem to be completely ignoring the FACT that the game is BROKEN for us. In most other customer relationships with the retailer, if a product does NOT WORK or is BROKEN the customer can get their money back, or a replacement, or, at the very least, get it repaired.
    WE DO NOT HAVE ANY OF THESE OPTIONS.
    Have you any suggestions as to what steps we might be able to take? is there ANYONE who might talk to us about this?

    2) Can you tell us HOW it is possible that EA DO NOT KNOW the extent of the problems that Mac players are having with this game? Could you possibly get someone WHO DOES HAVE THE ABILITY TO BRING THESE PROBLEMS TO THE ATTENTION OF THOSE WHO COULD MAKE IT A PRIORITY TO FIX IT FOR US ?

    3) Could you please find out for us EXACTLY what EA would need from us in order to help them FIX the game for Mac.

    4) The MAJOR problems are, THE CAS problem- We are no longer able to make Sims. The games CDT or freezes within a minute or two of loading the Cas screen. This is horrible as it is the favourite bit of the game for most players.
    THE GAME CRASHING problem - Many of us are unable to stay in the game environment for more than 5-10 minutes before the game CDT, freezes, or we get the 'Exception Raised' Error or 'Service Initialisation Failure' Error, or 'Error 12'.
    The thing is that these problems are the same for many players playing on different Macs with different specs, so we think that its not so much a problem with our machines as a problem WITH THE GAME, that COULD BE FIXED.

    5) Do you know if the people who actually make the new EPs are making them with all the EPs and StuffPacks loaded, or are they just using the Base game? Just wondering if that might be a factor. Also, do they actually try playing the game on Mac machines? Or is it just made by them for PC and then they have no further input other than to wrap it in Cider and hope that it will work? WHICH IT DOESN'T

    6) Do you think that thousands of us are being unreasonable to want to be able to PLAY a game that has cost us all so much money? Do you think that EA think that we are being unreasonable?

    7) Do you yourself know Macs?

    8) Do you think that anyone at EA would be interested in seeing the 30mb file !!! of Script Errors and 'Exception unknown' files that I have gathered from my game in the last 10 days? Would it be in any way helpful if more of us were to do this? Is there anywhere we could send them to help get these problems solved?

    9) Is there any way that we can make a request to EA that they actually employ a few people who know Macs to be dedicated as 'Mac Help' employees who DO NOT WORK FROM A SCRIPT for PC users, in order that we can talk to people who know what we are talking about and don't give advice that could end up destroying our Macs? This would be an enormous step forward for us. We just don't know who to talk to or how to go about doing this.

    10) Is there any way to access items that we have bought from the STORE that seems to be no longer available on the site? Where has all the stuff gone? Is their an archive somewhere that we could access?

    Just a few of hundreds of questions.

    Thank you for your time if you have waded through all this, look forward to hearing your thoughts.
  • joolieajooliea Posts: 1,262 Member
    edited January 2013
    Just as an aside, as OT as it is, the freezing/crashing issue can be replicated within ten minutes pretty easily in CAS. Just try on various hairstyles, including hairstyles with accessories, customize the color on the accessories, try to save your custom colored style, go back to fiddling with hairstyles. You really can't go wrong there. Hairstyle fiddling always always always gives me a crash. Late last night I had the game open for NINE entire minutes because I was playing with clothes before hair. GASP.

    So, not exactly the most exact of replication steps, but it's pretty reliable for me.
  • joolieajooliea Posts: 1,262 Member
    edited January 2013
    It seems I can't revert to 1.39. I uninstalled Seasons and then used the cumulative patcher to patch to 1.39. When I open The Sims, it says it's The Sims Supernatural, and the version in info.plist is 1.39.3.018001, but the launcher gives me this message:

    "Your The Sims 3 Base Game is incompatible with the current Sims 3 Expansion Pack. Please update your game via the game launcher."

    What de fudge did I do wrong here?
  • littlemissleolittlemissleo Posts: 2,445 Member
    edited January 2013
    Did anyone go to the homepage, see that there was a patch released, get really excited, click on it, skim the patch notes, and then realize that we got ignored YET again? :( I guess it's my own fault for expecting our problems to be somewhat addressed. I have both seasons and supernatural sitting unopened on my desk right now and I'm seriously considering taking them back. :(:(:(

    This was extremely disappointing. What if they never fix this?
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