Got a big house with a lot of stuff, my sims have come very long etc, and it all freezes at the same time over and over if I restart from the last saved game.
1 Sim is inventing stuff (he turns invisible)
2 Sims are making statues (they freezes)
3 Sims (child & teenagers) just comes out from school, freezes
All the same time everytime, tried everything.
From what I read in the old thread, it seems that LN is the problem.
Computer specs (if it might be needed)
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
Graphics: nVidia Geforce GTX 480 1.5GB
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
OS: Windows 7 Home Edition
Ps: From what I've read in the old thread, the problems seems too occur when you've gotten far in the game, when you have a lot of money and other stuff.
H-m-m-m-m, so "disgusting" gets attention while a 50+ page thread of Simmers begging and pleading for help gets ignored. . . for months! crinrict is one of the "techie" Simmers (as I think of them) who I have never seen ON THE ORIGINAL THREAD, until now!
I have all EPs and SPs (except Outdoor Living) installed. Will not purchase any more until the game works!
I have NO CC, NO mods, NO third-party content of any kind and never have had on Sims3. I have store items installed.
Problems began after LateNight.
First problem (if I am remembering correctly), vampire family (husband) became invisible after time-travel into the past, returning in "cave-man" getup. Then both husband and wife were frozen.
Have not, personally, experienced "melded" Sims. Have had "levitating" Sims.
Have lost entire families to freezing and disappearing. Once, family froze after child departed for a new week "at school". Instead of going to school, child was pedaling back home on bicycle. Many Sims standing outside school. When I was still trying to play Sims3, I saved families to bin, against the inevitable time when the problems would begin again. Lost all properties and relationships (and, at least in one family, the family relationships). . . but, better than starting completely from scratch. If one plays one family long enough, the problems will begin.
ResetSim cheat only works sometimes. Cache clearing helps (I think), but, is not a cure-all.
Perhaps you sense some doubt on the part of many who spent lots of time, in the original thread, documenting problems, only to have the effort completely ignored. THE GAME HAS PROBLEMS.
Now, only playing Sims2 and checking in frequently hoping something will be done to make 3 fun again!!!
H-m-m-m-m, so "disgusting" gets attention while a 50+ page thread of Simmers begging and pleading for help gets ignored. . . for months! crinrict is one of the "techie" Simmers (as I think of them) who I have never seen ON THE ORIGINAL THREAD, until now!
Does lurking count ? Since I did not play for awhile and had nothing really to add, I thought yo guys were doing a well enough job. When I saw what happened, I just though, I start a new one and let everyone know what happened.
I made a thread about this but I'll post my problem here because there seems to be more people around here who might have a solution...
Pentium(R) Dual-Core
Windows Vista-Home Premium-32 bit
Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family/ Intel Graphics Media accelerator
I have every sims game
I use mods though only about 20mbs of clothes/skin and hair.
The problem is that after the latest patch/installing outdoor living it's like the edge smoothing option has completely crashed. The edges are extremely ruff and whether it's on low/medium or high it never changes. It's quite annoying because the game just looked like a pile of jagged lines.
Is there a way around this? I've uninstall-ed all 7 of my sims games and re-loaded them TWICE today and there doesn't seem to be a difference. Any ideas? I've also seen others with this issue after installing the latest patch.
iMac late 2009 21,5"
3.06 GHz Intel "Core 2 Duo"
4 GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 4670
SL 10.6.6 (recently updated to 10.6.7)
I tried with and without mods/CC: no difference.
All EP and SP installed, all updated. Uninstalled and re-installed at least three times.
It all started after I installed LN. If I play the game without LN, it all goes perfectly.
No invisible sims and no stuck sims (yet?), but a lot of frozen sims... Basically, my sim stand still, NOT doing the action(s) in the queue, but instead waiting and waiting endlessy as if he had nothing to do. The game DOES NOT freeze; in fact, my sim (as well as the others) do what they usually do when they have no action to make, that is, laughing, scratching their head, doing the "flirty move", showing their muscles, stretching... depending on their traits, needs and mood, while the clock stops for a moment and then jumps 3-4-5 seconds (for instance, from 10:50 to 10:55).
It happens a lot, but can be "handled" when:
- the sims has a long queue of actions;
- I switch the time speed (normal--superfast--fast---normal and so on).
It's simply unbearable when:
- my sim uses the elevator (no everytime, but a lot of times, especially when there are other people waiting);
- my sim is in a rabbit-hole and tries to speak with someone;
- my sim tries to speak to a bouncer, a mixologist, a paparazzo;
- my sim goes in/out of a door/gate (everytime, it skips at least 2 minutes).
Intel Core 2 Quad
3.25 GB
Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT
Windows XP
Aside from the Overwatch and Master Control mods (which I only tried after the problems began) I only used no mosaic. I didn't have any CC and only downloaded items from the Sims 3 store.
I might consider trying some of these other mods crinric mentioned to see if they help the game at all. With any luck they might help make the game playable again.
My info:
- Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30GHz
- RAM: 3.00GB*
- Graphic Card: ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series (self-installed into available PCI-e slot)
- OS: Windows Vista 32-bit
2. What Add-Ons do you have: I have every available expansion and stuff pack installed, as well as a fair amount of paid-for Sims Store content.
3. Are you using Mods/CC: I have gone from using a very large amount of custom content (including skin tones, clothes, cars, and other simple objects - NEVER, until now, major game-altering mods) about a year ago with no problems, to cutting down my mods folder to just a handful of 5-10 custom cars from freshprince, and one skintone mod, to now those custom cars and skintone, plus Twallan's Overwatch, Master Controller, and NRaas Story Progression mods (which have made my game playable again).
*When I purchased this computer about 3-4 years ago at Best Buy, before taking it home I had additional RAM installed. I'm not entirely sure if the "3.00GB" reflects the added on RAM, because I THOUGHT I'd had 2 GB added... and 1 GB for base RAM does not sound right. I can't remember though, 3.00GB could be right. Anyway, I've never had any problem with graphics and performance - my first household when I first started playing was up to 8 Sims at one time in a giant mansion full with custom objects with all graphic settings maxed out and I was able to play comfortably.
I feel like I should also point out the major details of the way I play my game, because if this problem has anything to do with story progression, or just general game progression with the active household becoming corrupt over time, the way we each individually play may help point towards a solution.
I ALWAYS play with Lifespan set to Epic. Aging is ALWAYS on. Free Will is set to Low. Previously (before playing with Overwatch, Master Controller, and NRaas Story Progression), I always had EA's Story Progression enabled. I tend to start out my active household with either 1 or 2 young adults, and get them very far into the top of their careers before even considering adding children to the household. Children in the active household are NOT the problem for me, the first time this problem occurred was when I was playing my household of 2 young adult Sims in Bridgeport. No kids. The problem first occurred around week 12. I NEVER change active households. Since I recently encountered the Save Error 11 corruption again, I began using Save As... every single time I save my game, switching between "Sim" and "Sim 1".
If I think of any other gameplay details that may be helpful, I'll edit this post later. But I agree Crinrict that it would be a good idea to keep this thread more organized and not have repeated posts from everyone (I think I'd posted in the deleted thread 10+ times throughout the 50 pages).
Edit 3/30/2011
My cache files (which I haven't deleted over the past couple weeks) are:
CASPartCache: 374 bytes
compositorCache: 55.1 MB
scriptCache: 168 bytes simCompositorCache: 209 MB
The simCompositorCache is always much larger than any of the other game files - even my Bridgeport household which I played for well over 20 Sim weeks is just 119 MB, nearly half the size of the simcompositorcache. I don't know how this game works when it comes to the programming details and what information is accessed where, but that seems a little off to me.
I have Sims 3, World Adventures. High End Loft Stuff, and Ambitions. However, Ambitions is not installed any more, for that is when I noticed my game starting to mess up. My sims either disappeared or froze in place after a certain time (I don't remember how many sim weeks it was now.). The sim time kept ticking.
My computer is more than capable of running this game, in fact it could run games with much greater graphics and activity.
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 7850 Dual-Core Processor 2.80ghz
Ram: 6.00 GB
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
OS: Windows 7, 64 bit
1. AMD Phenom(tm) II
N620 Dual-Core Processor 2.80 GHz
4 GB RAM
AMD M880G with ATI Radeon HD 4250
Windows 7 Home Premium
2. LN only.
3. No CC. Never had mods, but downloaded Master Controller and Overwatch after experiencing the freezing/lagging.
4. Plenty of save errors. Usually if I try to save again (after the first error), it's able to save correctly. Sometimes I have to hit save for a third time before it will save.
Only other major issue that starting happening:
ALL the kids in town (including my active's) can't get into the school building. They crowd around the door, standing there, not able to get in. I used Master Controller to "Reset Everything", which sent all the kids back home. However, it happened again the next day - the entrance is clogged with kids who can't get into school. I don't even know what to do
Only other major issue that starting happening:
ALL the kids in town (including my active's) can't get into the school building. They crowd around the door, standing there, not able to get in. I used Master Controller to "Reset Everything", which sent all the kids back home. However, it happened again the next day - the entrance is clogged with kids who can't get into school. I don't even know what to do
Picture: [/quote]
I had this issue in my game as well. Though I always found if I canceled the action and had my Sim move away from the crowd they would disperse and I could enter normally. Not sure how helpful this will be but I thought I'd mention it
Grr... arrggh... I had hoped the other thread would return. Stupid troll :evil:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 6420 2.13 ghz
Ram: 4G (3g usable)
OS: Windows 7 Professional 32 bit
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX
I have the base game plus World Adventures installed. I have no other expansions or stuff packs. I have no mods or CC installed, not even anything from the exchange. I do, however, have some items from the store, including the free stuff. I did have some save problems before all this started, but that was resolved by a clean install. I also had some launcher issues before this started, but that seems to have cleared up and I've not had any problems with that.
Here's hoping that someone finally does something about this!!!
I agree with drewmann 3301 that it might be useful to briefly mention our style of game play, as differences in style of play might explain why many of us are experiencing the same issues, despite having different computers, but others appear not to be?
I have Aging on (and set to normal lifespan) and Story Progression on. I have Free Will set to low. I have turned down some of the settings for the graphics to low to try to make the game run as smoothly as possible, although an iMac should really be able to handle higher settings.
I play just one family, never switching between households within the town and I like to play them indefinitely, through many generations. I kick some people out (e.g. kick out the kids as they become adults and see how they fend, but I do that by inviting them over and remaining friends, not by switching household).
I have a mixture of normal sims and vampires in the family. I like to make my own sims to start the game off with and then they have kids and adopt other kids.
Since I haven’t been playing for long I have not tried building my own properties, my sims live in ready-made ones but I do redecorate and modify/extend over time. Sims have moved house a couple of times.
Agreed, let’s try to provide as much useful information as possible but without becoming repetitive. If anyone can think of other key elements of game play or settings that we should record, we can then update our posts.
I’ve asked the customer support guy who forwarded the old thread data to the Sims 3 patching team to send them word about this one – so we need to make sure that this thread fills up with helpful information that they can use. Andree’s photo stream could be very useful for this, as it documents clearly the major glitches. A picture being worth a thousand words. I think we could get pictures of the invisi-sims, by taking a picture when they are invisible but their thought bubbles are visible. Someone on the old thread had a brilliant picture of some invisi-sims protesting outside city hall – invisible people waving placards – if that person is around maybe they could add the photo here to neatly document the invisibility problem.
I’m glad that the crowding-outside-school issue does at least have a solution so thanks to crinrict for that!
Edited later: Does it help to say which version we have? If so then my Launcher says I have version 7.0.55.01001. I read elsewhere that even if the Launcher says your game is fully updated, some of the patches may be missing. When I reinstalled my game it seemed to do more patching than anyone could hope for, so I hope that mine really is up to date.
After waiting a few weeks I thought that I would check back and see if the lagging, stuck on the second floor outside of a window, people stuck in groups problems, etc., were fixed. I find that the whole thread was deleted because of a troll. (Way to solve problems techies!) Fifty some pages of pleas for help and the troll gets attention. Why isn't it possible to delete the trolls messages or ban them from the forum? My game is unplayable, I have no custom content, and I have purchased every EP, and if it wasn't for the great players in this thread who have generously shared their tweaks and answers, I would have no support at all. However, before I try the dreaded complete re-installation, I would also like to know which cache file to keep cleared out, as I have tried everything else suggested in this thread. I will make sure that the game doesn't update automatically. It would be nice if we could stop the launcher from nagging about the updates. Especially since this last time they were your very own personal invitation to Simmy H-E-double toothpicks!
Never mind about which cache file to delete! I found the answer on Crinrict's Sims 3 Help Blog! Here is the link: http://crinrict-help.blogspot.com/ Thanks Crinrict!
Repeating myself again: My invisible, frozen and/or stuck sims started with the LN patch! After this 'illness' started showing up in my game my saved, game file corrupted to the extent that the game's control panel went missing too.
Sadly this massive, game killing glitch ate my year's worth of hard work and a legacy game. My saved back-up files would only play for two days before they too would corrupt giving me the same errors.
I have no mods no cc and I avoid downloading anything.
I have reported this many times since November and yet we are still sitting here waiting for something to be done.
Of course as recently as yesterday I lost yet another saved game. It was the one I had started after LN's patch ate my other one. So it's played this long before a glitch arose. This glitch appears to be due to an opportunity in the directors career. My sim was to pass out fliers at a dance club. Dance club hours started at 5 p.m. and my sims working hours ended at 6 p.m. This only gave her one hour to distribute fliers. And she didn't make it! The opportunity shut down BUT town's folks kept spawning to the lot. This is when people were stuck, screaming, peeing one-selves, etc... Resetsim didn't work because they only returned back once you reset them. Deleting the lot didn't work either, they only spawned to the sidewalk then. Basically it rendered my game useless as everyone was on that one lot.
BTW, I'm sad to see the original thread, which documented many cases of this glitch, conveniently deleted. While I understand the alleged "troll" I would think the option to delete only one post could have been implemented. It just seems too convenient. That's lots of hard work on the players part to give info on a massive glitch in the hopes of a fix being found!
Thank you so much! I'll try that tonight and download those mods to help.
I had actually emailed Customer Support about it, and they literally told me to read a strategy guide:
I am sorry to say but, after reviewing your request the situation seems to be more gameplay related rather than something we can resolve through technical troubleshooting or adjustments to your account details. ...
If you find that your question is not being addressed on the game's message board forum, there are other online resources to try. Web sites such as www.gamespy.com and www.ign.com have reviews and information on almost every game, and www.gamefaqs.com has walkthroughs for most games currently available*.
Another option for game play help is to try the official game guide for the title in question. ... One of the leading publishers of strategy guides is Prima, you can find their website at http://www.primagames.com
You were a lot more helpful, thanks!
As for the freezing/lagging issue:
- I always play on the normal age span with free will on.
- The issue occured when one sim was coming home from school, and she got stuck outside the entrance w/ dozens more sims stuck in the same spot as her.
- One sim was having a birthday.
- One sim was out around town, talking to a neighbor.
- One sim was getting out of his car to come inside the house.
- Out of these sims, the two at home became invisible.
- Using Reset Sim DID NOT help at all. The whole town froze.
- Issue stopped after I downloaded master controller and "reset everything". Haven't had it since.
Thanks for this It sure beats having my Sim's kids miss an hour or so of school just so they can enter the building.
As for how I play; I typically play with long lifespan, high free will, and story progression on. I like to stick with one family (often starting with just one or two Sims) and build them up into a legacy family lasting several generations. I don't really like to switch households and if there are any Sims (or their families) in town I want to play with more I usually build up my house and have them move in. I also buy out community lots too so my household always has an active income regardless of if they have jobs or not. I also have at least one Sim travel from time to time too.
I have every Sims 3 expansion and stuff pack save for Outdoor Living. Also, I'm not sure if this is important or not, but I also tend to play in window mode. That way if I need to look something up or want to talk to my friends I won't have to alt/tab out of the game to do so.
Ok, I went to the thread to download the updates and there's no button to download. How are we suppose to download the updates?
You can update your game through the Sims 3 launcher. When it pops up there should be a button that says Game Updates. Click on that and it should tell you if there's a more up to date version to download. Then you just select it and tell it to update.
How to post your info in this thread
Reading through your posts I decided it's probably best if everyone just writes down what ever they think important. There is a few info, that you should include though:
1. Basic System info (no DxDiag unless you are asked this info by a guru, they just make it hard to read through everything)
- Processor
- RAM
- Graphic Card
- OS
2. What Add-Ons do you have
3. Are you using Mods/CC
- If you are using mods, please post the bigger ones (no need to list every single one)
- If you have cc, how much do you have (little, moderate, a lot)
4. Do you have any other significant problems like crashing/save errors
Also, if I ask you a question back and you answer, it would be great if you could quote the question. It's sometimes hard to keep track on who I asked what.
Sigh... Gonna try this again, although I'm not sure what the point is, being we're still being ignored. This time instead of just venting/ranting I'm gonna add more detailed input as I've seen others do. My two cents worth I suppose... :?
-Version 5.5.4
-Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.67GHz
-2GB RAM
-NVIDIA GeForce 7050/NVIDIA nForce 610i
-Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 (32-bit)
-DirectX 11
I have: Base, WA, HELS, Ambitions & Fast Lane
I have not at anytime used 3rd pary content!!!!
After giving up on The Sims 3 (after my last rant in previous thread), I went back to Sims 2 for awhile. Didn't take too long before I became bored with it, as I have already thoroughly played & enjoyed that game. So, yet again, I started over on the Sims 3. One last try, with the hopes of maybe a new fix/patch...yet to be seen.
I have not ever really been able to play/enjoy the game since I've purchased it. I'm one who tends to wait a bit after a new release til the "bugs" are worked out. So, in this case it has only made it worse for me as it seems I waited too long. The "bugs" seemed to be worse...
HOW I PLAY:
-Free Will OFF
-Epic Lifespan
-Story Progression ENABLED
-Aging ON/OFF (tend to switch between the two)
-Shop Mode OFF
-Usage Sharing OFF (recently tried this to see if that may make
a difference, not like EA pay attention anyway)
Everything else is default. Also, I tend to play only my created household until recently. I gave a couple other households a go for a bit. Kinda trying to do new things... what could it hurt? Don't care for how you lose a lot of stuff (wishes, opps, groceries, etc).
Since I have started playing this game I have experienced SO many issues. However, this recent (dare I call it recent) issue of frozen or invisible sims (have experienced both) is RIDICULOUS!!!!
I have experienced: Lag (for no apparent reason), EP compatability issues (for no apparent reason & seemed to just go away), not being able to fish (given the option when clicking on a pond or what not, but sim wouldn't actually do it). Launcher issues...
Now, the FROZEN or INVISIBLE sims. This, like many others, always happens to me in Sim Week 10. Although, I have had it happen as early as Sim Week 6. This happens to them either in the home, various places, in the bed, or the dreaded merged sims while trying to leave work. Have also had the maid go invisible, old newspaper seemed to trigger that...?? Have had issues with pizza delivery, just never showing up even though sims had never moved and always been in same household. Have also had the Sims "reset" themselves, I guess. Command to go to a Community Lot & POOF right back @ home.
I have uninstalled and reinstalled so many times I could vomit. I have tried reseting sims (just prolongs the inevitable it seems), I have checked for BAD files (NONE), I have cleared caches. NONE OF THIS WORKS!!!! I WANT TO PLAY MY GAME!!!!
So, with this recent try of a new game I started, I have to my surprise/dismay made it to Sim Week 14/Day 6, without any of the above mentioned issues! :shock: However, I'm not holding my breath, because in the previous thread I read of other players making it to either Sim Week 15 or 19 before their issues started. So, we shall see...
Again, I will say this whole experience has really soured me on EA and the Sims. Both of which I have been a long time fan/supporter. I have not & will not purchase anything even remotely related to either until this is fixed or ACKNOWLEDGED for that matter!!!
Have to agree with the one gal who posted something in the previous thread regarding EA learning a thing or two from Blizzard...
Customer Service & Integrity is severely lacking!!! Quite Sad...
I just bought a new computer (toshiba satellite c655-s5132). i downloaded it through ea manager and it said some of the cache files were corrupt but i just ignored it. now everythings all messed up. some of my sims are invisible or parts of them are. It saves when it wants to and all of a sudden sims get "stuck". They will be in the middle of something like sleeping or reading and they will stay there forever. :?
@herself_theelf: Don't jump on me but you might want to look into getting some extra RAM and a 64 Bit OS. 2 GB is a little low with all the EPs
It probably won't help with invisible Sims but it might help with the lags depending if they are coming from the spawned cars and stuck sims or because of the low RAM.
I posted in the last thread. And despite AndreeAndree's (SO helpful!) complaints to the contrary, I kept it logical: I posted my system specs, my expansions, my complete absence of third-party custom content (aka, EA's favorite scapegoat), my game update status, the details of my completely clean reinstall, the definite observations I had been able to make about the when/where/why/how of this bug's innumerable recurrences--the whole thing. But, no, the whole problem with that thread was the totally illogical ranting, amirite?
Now I'm supposed to post all that again because of one troll? Yeah, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that one troll works for EA. Call me a cynic, but HOW CONVENIENT. Fifty-three pages, last I checked, at, what, 10 posts per page? With some duplication of posters? That's around 300 bug reports on all kinds of systems, even allowing for just general venting--which, so we're clear, is perfectly understandable at this point. I mean:
If I buy a movie, it isn't as though the last half is blacked out and unwatchable.
If I buy music, it isn't as though the last half of the song is silence or unlistenable.
If I buy a book, it isn't as though the last half of that book is gibberish and unreadable.
So these expectations upon purchase should be completely different with games because why again?
But you, EA, or rather, your management (I'm not blaming your development team; I firmly believe most developers out there want to ship stuff that works), your management has taught me that with enough clout, with enough of a monopoly, with enough power, a company can ship something that doesn't remotely do what it's supposed to do, and just call it a day. If or when the backlash gets going, you can simply delete the thread and blame your users some more. And why not? Users = losers, right? No: Users = your customer base.
Do I have to take this to your shareholders? I write a mean letter, but really? Is that what it's going to take?
You shipped broken software, or you turned working software into broken software with your idiotic updates, whichever?--I don't even care at this point. Maxis made games with slow loading times and occasional goofy bugs; you've turned that into games with relatively fast loading times and game-killing bugs. I'm out way too much money for a game that doesn't run as advertised. I don't want to hear anyone's theories about stairs; I don't want to hear anyone's theories about moving families town-to-town; I don't want to hear anyone's theories about uninstalling or reinstalling; I don't want to hear anyone's musings on Macs vs. PCs; I don't want to hear anyone's theories about whether I'm sure I don't have any custom content? Am I really sure? Have I double-checked and triple-checked and checked again, just to be totally sure?
It's not me. It's not my system. It's not the way I play (oh HINT, EA: If you didn't want games to get buggy through sticking with one family, you shouldn't have designed a game that granted the most rewards playing one family! This is like if Rockstar punished players of GTA IV by upping the frequency with which Niko dies in a fiery wreck every time he completes a mission). It's not 45rpm (bless you, 45rpm, for hanging in there and trying to get some resolution on this!). It's not any of the other posters on this thread or the last one. It is not the users, EA. It is not your customers. It's not us.
Comments
Got a big house with a lot of stuff, my sims have come very long etc, and it all freezes at the same time over and over if I restart from the last saved game.
1 Sim is inventing stuff (he turns invisible)
2 Sims are making statues (they freezes)
3 Sims (child & teenagers) just comes out from school, freezes
All the same time everytime, tried everything.
From what I read in the old thread, it seems that LN is the problem.
Computer specs (if it might be needed)
Processor: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T
Graphics: nVidia Geforce GTX 480 1.5GB
RAM: 8 GB DDR3
OS: Windows 7 Home Edition
Ps: From what I've read in the old thread, the problems seems too occur when you've gotten far in the game, when you have a lot of money and other stuff.
Ps2: Sorry for the bad english (I'm Swedish)
I have all EPs and SPs (except Outdoor Living) installed. Will not purchase any more until the game works!
I have NO CC, NO mods, NO third-party content of any kind and never have had on Sims3. I have store items installed.
Problems began after LateNight.
First problem (if I am remembering correctly), vampire family (husband) became invisible after time-travel into the past, returning in "cave-man" getup. Then both husband and wife were frozen.
Have not, personally, experienced "melded" Sims. Have had "levitating" Sims.
Have lost entire families to freezing and disappearing. Once, family froze after child departed for a new week "at school". Instead of going to school, child was pedaling back home on bicycle. Many Sims standing outside school. When I was still trying to play Sims3, I saved families to bin, against the inevitable time when the problems would begin again. Lost all properties and relationships (and, at least in one family, the family relationships). . . but, better than starting completely from scratch. If one plays one family long enough, the problems will begin.
ResetSim cheat only works sometimes. Cache clearing helps (I think), but, is not a cure-all.
Perhaps you sense some doubt on the part of many who spent lots of time, in the original thread, documenting problems, only to have the effort completely ignored. THE GAME HAS PROBLEMS.
Now, only playing Sims2 and checking in frequently hoping something will be done to make 3 fun again!!!
Does lurking count ? Since I did not play for awhile and had nothing really to add, I thought yo guys were doing a well enough job. When I saw what happened, I just though, I start a new one and let everyone know what happened.
You guys do seem to find your way back.
Please do not send me PMs/post on my wall if you're looking for help. I can't attend to those. You can find me at AnswerHQ.
How to report bugs at AnswersHQ
AHQ Tutorial
Pentium(R) Dual-Core
Windows Vista-Home Premium-32 bit
Mobile Intel(R) 4 Series Express Chipset Family/ Intel Graphics Media accelerator
I have every sims game
I use mods though only about 20mbs of clothes/skin and hair.
The problem is that after the latest patch/installing outdoor living it's like the edge smoothing option has completely crashed. The edges are extremely ruff and whether it's on low/medium or high it never changes. It's quite annoying because the game just looked like a pile of jagged lines.
Is there a way around this? I've uninstall-ed all 7 of my sims games and re-loaded them TWICE today and there doesn't seem to be a difference. Any ideas? I've also seen others with this issue after installing the latest patch.
3.06 GHz Intel "Core 2 Duo"
4 GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 4670
SL 10.6.6 (recently updated to 10.6.7)
I tried with and without mods/CC: no difference.
All EP and SP installed, all updated. Uninstalled and re-installed at least three times.
It all started after I installed LN. If I play the game without LN, it all goes perfectly.
No invisible sims and no stuck sims (yet?), but a lot of frozen sims... Basically, my sim stand still, NOT doing the action(s) in the queue, but instead waiting and waiting endlessy as if he had nothing to do. The game DOES NOT freeze; in fact, my sim (as well as the others) do what they usually do when they have no action to make, that is, laughing, scratching their head, doing the "flirty move", showing their muscles, stretching... depending on their traits, needs and mood, while the clock stops for a moment and then jumps 3-4-5 seconds (for instance, from 10:50 to 10:55).
It happens a lot, but can be "handled" when:
- the sims has a long queue of actions;
- I switch the time speed (normal--superfast--fast---normal and so on).
It's simply unbearable when:
- my sim uses the elevator (no everytime, but a lot of times, especially when there are other people waiting);
- my sim is in a rabbit-hole and tries to speak with someone;
- my sim tries to speak to a bouncer, a mixologist, a paparazzo;
- my sim goes in/out of a door/gate (everytime, it skips at least 2 minutes).
Intel Core 2 Quad
3.25 GB
Nvidia GeForce 8600 GT
Windows XP
Aside from the Overwatch and Master Control mods (which I only tried after the problems began) I only used no mosaic. I didn't have any CC and only downloaded items from the Sims 3 store.
I might consider trying some of these other mods crinric mentioned to see if they help the game at all. With any luck they might help make the game playable again.
- Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2.30GHz
- RAM: 3.00GB*
- Graphic Card: ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series (self-installed into available PCI-e slot)
- OS: Windows Vista 32-bit
2. What Add-Ons do you have: I have every available expansion and stuff pack installed, as well as a fair amount of paid-for Sims Store content.
3. Are you using Mods/CC: I have gone from using a very large amount of custom content (including skin tones, clothes, cars, and other simple objects - NEVER, until now, major game-altering mods) about a year ago with no problems, to cutting down my mods folder to just a handful of 5-10 custom cars from freshprince, and one skintone mod, to now those custom cars and skintone, plus Twallan's Overwatch, Master Controller, and NRaas Story Progression mods (which have made my game playable again).
*When I purchased this computer about 3-4 years ago at Best Buy, before taking it home I had additional RAM installed. I'm not entirely sure if the "3.00GB" reflects the added on RAM, because I THOUGHT I'd had 2 GB added... and 1 GB for base RAM does not sound right. I can't remember though, 3.00GB could be right. Anyway, I've never had any problem with graphics and performance - my first household when I first started playing was up to 8 Sims at one time in a giant mansion full with custom objects with all graphic settings maxed out and I was able to play comfortably.
I feel like I should also point out the major details of the way I play my game, because if this problem has anything to do with story progression, or just general game progression with the active household becoming corrupt over time, the way we each individually play may help point towards a solution.
I ALWAYS play with Lifespan set to Epic. Aging is ALWAYS on. Free Will is set to Low. Previously (before playing with Overwatch, Master Controller, and NRaas Story Progression), I always had EA's Story Progression enabled. I tend to start out my active household with either 1 or 2 young adults, and get them very far into the top of their careers before even considering adding children to the household. Children in the active household are NOT the problem for me, the first time this problem occurred was when I was playing my household of 2 young adult Sims in Bridgeport. No kids. The problem first occurred around week 12. I NEVER change active households. Since I recently encountered the Save Error 11 corruption again, I began using Save As... every single time I save my game, switching between "Sim" and "Sim 1".
If I think of any other gameplay details that may be helpful, I'll edit this post later. But I agree Crinrict that it would be a good idea to keep this thread more organized and not have repeated posts from everyone (I think I'd posted in the deleted thread 10+ times throughout the 50 pages).
Edit 3/30/2011
My cache files (which I haven't deleted over the past couple weeks) are:
CASPartCache: 374 bytes
compositorCache: 55.1 MB
scriptCache: 168 bytes
simCompositorCache: 209 MB
The simCompositorCache is always much larger than any of the other game files - even my Bridgeport household which I played for well over 20 Sim weeks is just 119 MB, nearly half the size of the simcompositorcache. I don't know how this game works when it comes to the programming details and what information is accessed where, but that seems a little off to me.
I do NOT have any mods or Custom Content!
I do NOT have Late Night.
I have Sims 3, World Adventures. High End Loft Stuff, and Ambitions. However, Ambitions is not installed any more, for that is when I noticed my game starting to mess up. My sims either disappeared or froze in place after a certain time (I don't remember how many sim weeks it was now.). The sim time kept ticking.
My computer is more than capable of running this game, in fact it could run games with much greater graphics and activity.
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) 7850 Dual-Core Processor 2.80ghz
Ram: 6.00 GB
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
OS: Windows 7, 64 bit
N620 Dual-Core Processor 2.80 GHz
4 GB RAM
AMD M880G with ATI Radeon HD 4250
Windows 7 Home Premium
2. LN only.
3. No CC. Never had mods, but downloaded Master Controller and Overwatch after experiencing the freezing/lagging.
4. Plenty of save errors. Usually if I try to save again (after the first error), it's able to save correctly. Sometimes I have to hit save for a third time before it will save.
Only other major issue that starting happening:
ALL the kids in town (including my active's) can't get into the school building. They crowd around the door, standing there, not able to get in. I used Master Controller to "Reset Everything", which sent all the kids back home. However, it happened again the next day - the entrance is clogged with kids who can't get into school. I don't even know what to do
Picture:
ALL the kids in town (including my active's) can't get into the school building. They crowd around the door, standing there, not able to get in. I used Master Controller to "Reset Everything", which sent all the kids back home. However, it happened again the next day - the entrance is clogged with kids who can't get into school. I don't even know what to do
Picture:
I had this issue in my game as well. Though I always found if I canceled the action and had my Sim move away from the crowd they would disperse and I could enter normally. Not sure how helpful this will be but I thought I'd mention it
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 6420 2.13 ghz
Ram: 4G (3g usable)
OS: Windows 7 Professional 32 bit
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX
I have the base game plus World Adventures installed. I have no other expansions or stuff packs. I have no mods or CC installed, not even anything from the exchange. I do, however, have some items from the store, including the free stuff. I did have some save problems before all this started, but that was resolved by a clean install. I also had some launcher issues before this started, but that seems to have cleared up and I've not had any problems with that.
Here's hoping that someone finally does something about this!!!
The school crowd issue is a little different. I have a blog entry on this here:
http://crinrict-help.blogspot.com/2011/03/bug-crowds-in-front-of-school.html
Please do not send me PMs/post on my wall if you're looking for help. I can't attend to those. You can find me at AnswerHQ.
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I have Aging on (and set to normal lifespan) and Story Progression on. I have Free Will set to low. I have turned down some of the settings for the graphics to low to try to make the game run as smoothly as possible, although an iMac should really be able to handle higher settings.
I play just one family, never switching between households within the town and I like to play them indefinitely, through many generations. I kick some people out (e.g. kick out the kids as they become adults and see how they fend, but I do that by inviting them over and remaining friends, not by switching household).
I have a mixture of normal sims and vampires in the family. I like to make my own sims to start the game off with and then they have kids and adopt other kids.
Since I haven’t been playing for long I have not tried building my own properties, my sims live in ready-made ones but I do redecorate and modify/extend over time. Sims have moved house a couple of times.
Agreed, let’s try to provide as much useful information as possible but without becoming repetitive. If anyone can think of other key elements of game play or settings that we should record, we can then update our posts.
I’ve asked the customer support guy who forwarded the old thread data to the Sims 3 patching team to send them word about this one – so we need to make sure that this thread fills up with helpful information that they can use. Andree’s photo stream could be very useful for this, as it documents clearly the major glitches. A picture being worth a thousand words. I think we could get pictures of the invisi-sims, by taking a picture when they are invisible but their thought bubbles are visible. Someone on the old thread had a brilliant picture of some invisi-sims protesting outside city hall – invisible people waving placards – if that person is around maybe they could add the photo here to neatly document the invisibility problem.
I’m glad that the crowding-outside-school issue does at least have a solution so thanks to crinrict for that!
Edited later: Does it help to say which version we have? If so then my Launcher says I have version 7.0.55.01001. I read elsewhere that even if the Launcher says your game is fully updated, some of the patches may be missing. When I reinstalled my game it seemed to do more patching than anyone could hope for, so I hope that mine really is up to date.
Sadly this massive, game killing glitch ate my year's worth of hard work and a legacy game. My saved back-up files would only play for two days before they too would corrupt giving me the same errors.
I have no mods no cc and I avoid downloading anything.
I have reported this many times since November and yet we are still sitting here waiting for something to be done.
Of course as recently as yesterday I lost yet another saved game. It was the one I had started after LN's patch ate my other one. So it's played this long before a glitch arose. This glitch appears to be due to an opportunity in the directors career. My sim was to pass out fliers at a dance club. Dance club hours started at 5 p.m. and my sims working hours ended at 6 p.m. This only gave her one hour to distribute fliers. And she didn't make it! The opportunity shut down BUT town's folks kept spawning to the lot. This is when people were stuck, screaming, peeing one-selves, etc... Resetsim didn't work because they only returned back once you reset them. Deleting the lot didn't work either, they only spawned to the sidewalk then. Basically it rendered my game useless as everyone was on that one lot.
BTW, I'm sad to see the original thread, which documented many cases of this glitch, conveniently deleted. While I understand the alleged "troll" I would think the option to delete only one post could have been implemented. It just seems too convenient. That's lots of hard work on the players part to give info on a massive glitch in the hopes of a fix being found!
Thank you so much! I'll try that tonight and download those mods to help.
I had actually emailed Customer Support about it, and they literally told me to read a strategy guide:
You were a lot more helpful, thanks!
As for the freezing/lagging issue:
- I always play on the normal age span with free will on.
- The issue occured when one sim was coming home from school, and she got stuck outside the entrance w/ dozens more sims stuck in the same spot as her.
- One sim was having a birthday.
- One sim was out around town, talking to a neighbor.
- One sim was getting out of his car to come inside the house.
- Out of these sims, the two at home became invisible.
- Using Reset Sim DID NOT help at all. The whole town froze.
- Issue stopped after I downloaded master controller and "reset everything". Haven't had it since.
Thanks for this
As for how I play; I typically play with long lifespan, high free will, and story progression on. I like to stick with one family (often starting with just one or two Sims) and build them up into a legacy family lasting several generations. I don't really like to switch households and if there are any Sims (or their families) in town I want to play with more I usually build up my house and have them move in. I also buy out community lots too so my household always has an active income regardless of if they have jobs or not. I also have at least one Sim travel from time to time too.
I have every Sims 3 expansion and stuff pack save for Outdoor Living. Also, I'm not sure if this is important or not, but I also tend to play in window mode. That way if I need to look something up or want to talk to my friends I won't have to alt/tab out of the game to do so.
You can update your game through the Sims 3 launcher. When it pops up there should be a button that says Game Updates. Click on that and it should tell you if there's a more up to date version to download. Then you just select it and tell it to update.
Sigh... Gonna try this again, although I'm not sure what the point is, being we're still being ignored. This time instead of just venting/ranting I'm gonna add more detailed input as I've seen others do. My two cents worth I suppose... :?
-Version 5.5.4
-Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 @ 2.67GHz
-2GB RAM
-NVIDIA GeForce 7050/NVIDIA nForce 610i
-Windows Vista Home Premium SP2 (32-bit)
-DirectX 11
I have: Base, WA, HELS, Ambitions & Fast Lane
I have not at anytime used 3rd pary content!!!!
After giving up on The Sims 3 (after my last rant in previous thread), I went back to Sims 2 for awhile. Didn't take too long before I became bored with it, as I have already thoroughly played & enjoyed that game. So, yet again, I started over on the Sims 3. One last try, with the hopes of maybe a new fix/patch...yet to be seen.
I have not ever really been able to play/enjoy the game since I've purchased it. I'm one who tends to wait a bit after a new release til the "bugs" are worked out. So, in this case it has only made it worse for me as it seems I waited too long. The "bugs" seemed to be worse...
HOW I PLAY:
-Free Will OFF
-Epic Lifespan
-Story Progression ENABLED
-Aging ON/OFF (tend to switch between the two)
-Shop Mode OFF
-Usage Sharing OFF (recently tried this to see if that may make
a difference, not like EA pay attention anyway)
Everything else is default. Also, I tend to play only my created household until recently. I gave a couple other households a go for a bit. Kinda trying to do new things... what could it hurt? Don't care for how you lose a lot of stuff (wishes, opps, groceries, etc).
Since I have started playing this game I have experienced SO many issues. However, this recent (dare I call it recent) issue of frozen or invisible sims (have experienced both) is RIDICULOUS!!!!
I have experienced: Lag (for no apparent reason), EP compatability issues (for no apparent reason & seemed to just go away), not being able to fish (given the option when clicking on a pond or what not, but sim wouldn't actually do it). Launcher issues...
Now, the FROZEN or INVISIBLE sims. This, like many others, always happens to me in Sim Week 10. Although, I have had it happen as early as Sim Week 6. This happens to them either in the home, various places, in the bed, or the dreaded merged sims while trying to leave work. Have also had the maid go invisible, old newspaper seemed to trigger that...?? Have had issues with pizza delivery, just never showing up even though sims had never moved and always been in same household. Have also had the Sims "reset" themselves, I guess. Command to go to a Community Lot & POOF right back @ home.
I have uninstalled and reinstalled so many times I could vomit. I have tried reseting sims (just prolongs the inevitable it seems), I have checked for BAD files (NONE), I have cleared caches. NONE OF THIS WORKS!!!! I WANT TO PLAY MY GAME!!!!
So, with this recent try of a new game I started, I have to my surprise/dismay made it to Sim Week 14/Day 6, without any of the above mentioned issues! :shock: However, I'm not holding my breath, because in the previous thread I read of other players making it to either Sim Week 15 or 19 before their issues started. So, we shall see...
Again, I will say this whole experience has really soured me on EA and the Sims. Both of which I have been a long time fan/supporter. I have not & will not purchase anything even remotely related to either until this is fixed or ACKNOWLEDGED for that matter!!!
Have to agree with the one gal who posted something in the previous thread regarding EA learning a thing or two from Blizzard...
Customer Service & Integrity is severely lacking!!! Quite Sad...
I just bought a new computer (toshiba satellite c655-s5132). i downloaded it through ea manager and it said some of the cache files were corrupt but i just ignored it. now everythings all messed up. some of my sims are invisible or parts of them are. It saves when it wants to and all of a sudden sims get "stuck". They will be in the middle of something like sleeping or reading and they will stay there forever. :?
Processor*
Intel® Celeron® Processor 925 (2.3GHz)
Operating System*
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)*
Graphics Engine*
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M
Graphics Memory*
128MB-1341MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory
Memory*
3GB DDR3 memory
It probably won't help with invisible Sims but it might help with the lags depending if they are coming from the spawned cars and stuck sims or because of the low RAM.
Please do not send me PMs/post on my wall if you're looking for help. I can't attend to those. You can find me at AnswerHQ.
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I posted in the last thread. And despite AndreeAndree's (SO helpful!) complaints to the contrary, I kept it logical: I posted my system specs, my expansions, my complete absence of third-party custom content (aka, EA's favorite scapegoat), my game update status, the details of my completely clean reinstall, the definite observations I had been able to make about the when/where/why/how of this bug's innumerable recurrences--the whole thing. But, no, the whole problem with that thread was the totally illogical ranting, amirite?
Now I'm supposed to post all that again because of one troll? Yeah, I'll bet dollars to doughnuts that one troll works for EA. Call me a cynic, but HOW CONVENIENT. Fifty-three pages, last I checked, at, what, 10 posts per page? With some duplication of posters? That's around 300 bug reports on all kinds of systems, even allowing for just general venting--which, so we're clear, is perfectly understandable at this point. I mean:
If I buy a movie, it isn't as though the last half is blacked out and unwatchable.
If I buy music, it isn't as though the last half of the song is silence or unlistenable.
If I buy a book, it isn't as though the last half of that book is gibberish and unreadable.
So these expectations upon purchase should be completely different with games because why again?
But you, EA, or rather, your management (I'm not blaming your development team; I firmly believe most developers out there want to ship stuff that works), your management has taught me that with enough clout, with enough of a monopoly, with enough power, a company can ship something that doesn't remotely do what it's supposed to do, and just call it a day. If or when the backlash gets going, you can simply delete the thread and blame your users some more. And why not? Users = losers, right? No: Users = your customer base.
Do I have to take this to your shareholders? I write a mean letter, but really? Is that what it's going to take?
You shipped broken software, or you turned working software into broken software with your idiotic updates, whichever?--I don't even care at this point. Maxis made games with slow loading times and occasional goofy bugs; you've turned that into games with relatively fast loading times and game-killing bugs. I'm out way too much money for a game that doesn't run as advertised. I don't want to hear anyone's theories about stairs; I don't want to hear anyone's theories about moving families town-to-town; I don't want to hear anyone's theories about uninstalling or reinstalling; I don't want to hear anyone's musings on Macs vs. PCs; I don't want to hear anyone's theories about whether I'm sure I don't have any custom content? Am I really sure? Have I double-checked and triple-checked and checked again, just to be totally sure?
It's not me. It's not my system. It's not the way I play (oh HINT, EA: If you didn't want games to get buggy through sticking with one family, you shouldn't have designed a game that granted the most rewards playing one family! This is like if Rockstar punished players of GTA IV by upping the frequency with which Niko dies in a fiery wreck every time he completes a mission). It's not 45rpm (bless you, 45rpm, for hanging in there and trying to get some resolution on this!). It's not any of the other posters on this thread or the last one. It is not the users, EA. It is not your customers. It's not us.
It's you, EA. It's you.