@CourtnieCullen There are several steps necessary to make TS3 run on that computer. It should be noted that you have a processor/graphics card combination that's incompatible with the game, so there's no guarantee the process will work. But if you want to try, there are several handy guides to help you. Also, if you're already tried to install and it hasn't worked, or you previously played on this computer, it's best to do a clean uninstall before proceeding. The uninstaller that comes with the game misses some files that can interfere with a later install.
On this computer, you need to install through Origin, as High Sierra won't authenticate discs. It's best to start with only the base game at this point. Then run the Super Patch (digital download version) rather than patching through the launcher.
At this point, you can try to launch the game. You'll probably get an unknown error message, due to the processor/card combination. The solution to this is to edit your .sgr files. BluebellFlora has written out some very helpful instructions for doing so. Just figure out your mac's model number and then follow the corresponding link. Be sure to make copies of your .sgr files before you start, in case something goes wrong.
Now, you can try to launch the base game again. If it works, you can start installing packs. There are four packs—Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane, and Outdoor Living—that will throw another unknown error and need extra interventions. But these steps are much simpler than the one above. The first thing to do is to create an alias for any pack that does not already have one in your Applications folder, alongside the alias for the base game.
The second step is only necessary if at least one of the affected packs is NOT the newest pack by release date. (So if you only had, for example, the base game, High End Loft Stuff, and Late Night, you could skip this step.) Certain files don't get copied from the affected packs into their proper destination, which is the folder for the latest pack to be released. If you had all packs, that would be Into the Future. You can copy the files manually by following the instructions in the video embedded in the post below. This thread also discusses all the unknown error issues that affect mac users.
If all this doesn't work, please post back here listing all of your mac's specs, as well as which troubleshooting steps you've tried and any error messages you've received.
When I started up my game, I got a message saying I should consider getting a new video/graphics card. When I continued in the game I just had extremely low resolution. Any ideas on how to fix it?
@superk3ll Graphics issues on newer macs range from the easily ignored to the game breaking. The fact that TS3 launches on your computer is a good sign, but you certainly should be able to play the game on higher settings. If simply adjusting them doesn't do the trick, or you want the best graphics you can get out of your mac, we can certainly help with that.
It would be useful to know what the error message says, as well as the specs of your computer. There are a couple of different MacBook Pros from last year. Here's how to find all of the relevant information:
Hi just wondering if anyone had any recommendations for what laptop (on a budget) would be the best to run the sims 3, if so what mac would run the game the best ?
Hi just wondering if anyone had any recommendations for what laptop (on a budget) would be the best to run the sims 3, if so what mac would run the game the best ?
:/ I'm hoping someone can give me advance strategic advice. I am very grateful for your input. I have a new mac desktop: Processor Name:Intel Core i5; Processor Speed:3 GHz; Memory: 8GB; Graphics:Radeon Pro 555 AMD - VRAM:2048 MB.
2 days ago I successfully downloaded and installed but didn't test play as I went. So when I tried to play, of course it said nothing was compatible, it couldn't open, needed updating, the patch which took 9 years to download said it couldn't be applied to that version. So I deleted everything.
Yesterday I was able to successfully download from Origin - Base game, then re-downloaded and installed patch to 1.67 by deauthorising, and the game opened and played. So I started downloading / installing expansion and stuff packs from Origin - in this order: WA, HELS, AMB, LN, GEN, IP. Everything appeared to go smoothly.
It crashed on launch with "unknown error". I tried bypassing the launcher and got an initialization error. I tried deleting just the IP expansion, but the uninstaller didn't show any options so I had to do it manually and I think I borked it, because when I tried to launch, nothing at all happened. So TODAY (21 JAN 19) I have manually deleted everything as per guides, emptied trash, am currently re-downloading base game for the third time, preparing to patch. Is there anything else I can do in the installation to help me not have to go through 9 hours of downloading and installing a 4th time, if this doesn't work out?
If not, it's best to clean out those hidden library files before installing any packs, or you may well get another pile of unknown errors. But once the base game is installed and patched using the Super Patch, if you can launch the game, you've dodged that issue. (Don't use the launcher to patch; it often does a less than thorough job.). By the way, the Super Patch needs to be run on the base game icon in Applications, not its folder or the icon for another pack. You can download the digital region version here:
If for some reason the patched base game won't launch, even after a manual uninstall, you can uninstall again, create a new admin user on your Mac, and install into that account. This will remove the hidden library files from play.
Aside from the incompatible graphics issue that it sounds like you don't have, unknown errors have two other causes. Both are due to certain packs—Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane, and Outdoor Living—not installing correctly. The first issue is that these packs likely don't have their own aliases in Applications, alongside those for the base game and your other packs. But you can create them manually:
The second issue is that files from these four problem packs don't get copied into the folder for your newest pack by the date EA released them; in your case, that would be Island Paradise. So you'll need to copy those files yourself, for both Ambitions and Late Night. The video guide in this post shows you exactly what to do:
If you do all this, you should be fine. Bluebellflora's guides are the source of almost all of our information about how to install and play TS3 in Mac OS. But if you do happen to have trouble, feel free to ask for more help.
P.S. The world of Isla Paradiso is so poorly made that it's almost unplayable, even though the other content of the pack is fine. Before playing in that world, you may want to read @ciane's thread on fixing IP. You can follow her instructions to edit the world yourself, or you can download her fixed version and play it forward.
EDITED: I have just found a couple of relevant older posts and am working though the guidelines for reinstalling. hopefully resolved, though time consuming.
Thankyou Puzzleaddict. I did eventually find my way to Bluebellflora, and have been meticulous but occasionally distracted, so still managing to balls it up. but still I persist, and having success. Up to LN reinstall, everything working so far :D. Even introduced my graphics card to the game, thanks to bluebellflora. I didn't know about IP, but have been playing it for years with various mods to fix the stuck sims etc, I'll head over and read the thread thanks.
Hi, I wonder if someone has another idea to help me install the expansion packs from LN onwards? All my installs are from Origin downloads. Just to review my system:
I have edited the graphics card script successfully, although the game did run with an unrecognised card.
Following Bluebellflora's and the EA guides to installing, I have been able to install Base game WA HELS AMB - I used the workaround by Bluebelleflora with pasting alias into the SIMS 3 folder and it worked, game launched and played.
Then I installed LN, as expected got the "unexpected error". tried Bluebelle again, still got the error, so did as advised and tried the Corey strategy of pasting the folder from transgaming into the latest download (WA). Still got the error. I figured I might be able to salvage later EP's so have gone ahead and installed GEN IP but obviously I haven't been able to test anything. I've removed the transgame package from WA and tried it in (respectively) IP, GEN, base game, but still the error; so have deleted LN manually as per instructions, being sure to check all the library cache / cookie / preferences etc as well as all the transgaming folders for the installed packs.
I'm still getting the unknown error. I have already deleted and reinstalled the whole damed thing twice; yesterday I stuffed up and forgot what I was up to when I had AMB and had downloaded LN, so had to delete back to WA, managed to keep it all working, and then reinstalled HELS & AMB. I was SO careful the second time, so can't think of what to do to correct it.
I'd be really glad if someone had some alternative to deleting and redownloading and reinstalling yet again. Thanks.
@rellietay - Afraid there isn't much point in addressing your issue to "someone" who might have other ideas. @puzzlezaddict and Bluebellflora are the pinnacle of TS3 for Mac support (among other geat things). The rest of us, including us Mac users, watch in awe as they help players get through these things. I am certain that puzzlez will be able to resume assisting and help you find the missing part to that process.
But there is something that I don't think has been mentioned here yet. The experience you are chasing down might be a bit disappointing. TS3 for Mac once you get it going properly is limited to 2 GB of RAM no matter how much is installed, unlike its Windows counterpart that can address almost twice that. There is no way to fix that. When we start talking about all or most EPs being in play, that restriction is very limiting and crashes or Error 12s upon trying to save typically become the order of the day unless you don't intend your ongoing games to progerss very far. This is why so many of us on Macs use Bootcamp to run the Windows version of the game instead. I had all sorts of reasons for Bootcamping mine anyway at one point, though now most of them have melted away and I keep this thing in place strictly for TS3. When I purchase a new iMac later this year, I will end up doing the same thing.
It might also be worth mentioning that by all accounts, Mojave (OS 10.14) is likely the last Mac OS that TS3 will run on at all given that Apple is dropping all support for 32-bit applications. It wasn't even supposed to be able to run on Mojave, but Apple extended the ultimatum a bit.
But again, it shouldn't be totally impossible to get the Mac version going on your end. Just very challenging.
@rellietay I'm not exactly sure where you are in the process—as in, what's currently installed and what isn't—but I can see why you kept getting unknown errors. In addition to creating an alias for each pack that doesn't have one, which it sounds like you handled fine, you needed to copy files (per corey's instructions) from your problem packs into the folder for the newest pack by release date. WA is the oldest pack. So after you had Ambitions running and then installed Late Night, the files for Ambitions needed to go into LN's folder.
If you don't want to start over yet again, I'd suggest copying the files for Ambitions into the folder for IP and trying to launch. This is assuming you did a clean uninstall of LN; if LN is installed, copy its files into IP's folder as well. Then run the Super Patch again.
If this doesn't work, the last thing you can try before yet another clean uninstall is to install all of your packs, create aliases where necessary, and make sure that the folder for IP has files from all of your other installed packs. If it doesn't, copy them as corey's video describes.
I know this is frustrating, but if you can launch the patched base game, you can get your packs installed correctly. But speaking of frustrating, igazor is right—TS3's RAM limit is much more difficult to manage in Mac OS than it is in Windows. With only a few expansion packs, and just one of the most demanding (Pets, Seasons, and ITF are the three ahead of IP), you might well be able to stay under 2 GB memory while you play, at least for a couple of hours at a time. You can monitor the game's RAM use in the Activity Monitor and purge memory to free up a bit here and there, but the only way to reset memory use completely is to quit to desktop and relaunch.
But many of us, myself included, have ended up Bootcamping our Macs to get around the memory limit. It was igazor's insistance that playing in Windows would be so much better than convinced me to finally do so, and he was absolutely right.
And for the record, Bluebellflora is the one who's figured most of this out. I just do what she tells me.
Edit: I should add that 8 GB RAM total is more than enough for the game, but if you're running other apps in the background, your computer might run out of memory. Mojave is a memory hog, and so are certain browsers, Chrome in particular. So it's a good idea to launch the game immediately after you restart your Mac and keep background tasks to a minimum while you play.
thank you both, igazor and puzzleaddict. At present I've uninstalled LN, GEN and IP, so am comfortably playing with only WA and AMB. no probs - makes sense given what you say about the memory.
I did get confused about where to drag the LN package to - can I just clarify (assuming I have another go) - could I copy the package from LN transgaming and paste it say to the desktop, then install GEN and IP, and copy their transgaming packages to the desktop, then drag all the packages into IP folder?
@rellietay What you've described is a bit more work than is necessary. The idea here is that your newest pack (by the date EA released it) runs the game to some extent, so it needs to have access to files from other packs in its own folder. Most of the packs install correctly, and the proper files are moved, or rather, aliases are created that point to the proper files. So, for example, right now you only have WA and Ambitions installed. If you open TS3's package contents and go to Contents\Resources\AddOns\Ambitions[show package contents]\Contents\Resources\transgaming\c_drive\Program Files\Electronic Arts, you'll see a folder for Ambitions's data and an alias that points to a folder for WA's data. So Ambitions can access WA's content while the game is running.
If you were to add HELS, a pack that installs correctly, an alias for a folder containing HELS's data would land in the same place as above. HELS is older than Ambitions, so Ambitions would still be running the game. If you installed Late Night, the proper aliases for WA and HELS would land in LN's version of the program files in the path I described above. But there would not be an alias for Ambitions, so you'd need to create it yourself. The instructions say to paste the entire folder; I've never tried making an alias instead (maybe I'll do that the next time I'm testing something). Regardless, the point is that inside LN's package contents, there need to be references to the data for all the other packs.
If you install a later pack than LN, that pack will run the game, and you'll need to transfer over the files from BOTH Ambitions and LN. If you install IP, that's where the folders go, if you have Generations but not IP, Generations needs to contain those folders. Again, you don't need to do anything for the other packs besides Ambitions and LN; the install process takes care of that. And there's no need to copy the folders onto your desktop, or anywhere else, before you install more packs. You also don't need to make a copy of the folder for your newest installed pack, whatever it happens to be. So if that's LN, you need to copy over the files from Ambitions into LN but don't need to mess with LN itself.
If you're still having trouble, just remember that whichever your newest pack is, it needs to contain references for every other pack you have installed. If something is missing, follow corey's instructions to go find it and copy it over.
Okay I need help. ;u; I usually research for hours and till now have been able to figure out all my problems, I'm very familiar with Bluebellflora's site (you're a lifesaver.) I've dealt with everything from 'Bad CC' to 'Blackscreen' issues and the last time I had issues - it was solved by corey_0414's solution (Unknown Error/copying EPs folders into the most recent EP so it can access them).
Recently I've expanded my EPs (already having WA, High End Loft, Ambitions, LN, Generations, Pets, Supernatural, Seasons, UL) and added: Showtime & Island Paradise. I've ran through every solution before from checking my folders (corey_0414's solution) I didn't add any new cc, moved my 'The Sims 3' folder to the desktop so it made a fresh folder and just hit 'Play' and when that blackscreened too, I finally came to reason that maybe not installing them in order had finally caught up to me. (I originally started with just Supernatural, bounced to Pets, Seasons, Gen and etc.)
So I decided to do Bluebellflora's #1 'Clean uninstall and reinstall on a Mac': I ran the game after each EP to make sure it wasn't crashing from too much EPS or something and got it to work and began installing store content first and only. After a good 20 or so - I tried picking out one or two items to uninstall and after hitting 'uninstall' my launcher decided to blackscreen and did nothing after 20 mins so i Force Quit it and decided I just wasn't going to be uninstalling anything. However since then, I tried resuming installing and kept getting a black screen. I let it play out and after an hour (I was only doing 4 or 5 dress/decor/hairs at a time) it finally went through and got success on everything. So then closing the pop-up box it proceeds to go blackscreen again and never closed itself. I learned to force quit it and the launcher updated itself, moving them to installed section so tried living with it and finally hitting 'Play' after a while only for the game to blackscreen and never start. I'm familiar with waiting, prior I had a bunch of CC and it did take a minute to load and finally play the intro but this was without CC, just store content and I mean I started with the the free Halloween/Harvest/etc set. This wasn't venues, or worlds.
I was convinced the broken launcher required a full uninstall/reinstaller including origin. 2nd 'Clean uninstall and reinstall': Long story short: launcher still broken right out of the gate, it somehow survived even a origin reinstall.
I just spent another day on my 4th 'Clean uninstall and reinstall'. Tried installing 1 sim3pack and gave up after 20 mins. Hit 'Play and after 45mins I gave up and force quit that too.
I don't know what's wrong anymore, is it too much EPs? mac specs btw: macOS Mojave version 10.14.3 MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012) Processor 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7 Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB (And I have 473 GB of Storage still available)
I got it to work at first, with all EPs so I don't know why trying to uninstalling ruined my launcher and why uninstall/reinstall did nothing after the first. Maybe I gotta remove all of origin again? I kept getting the 'install origin helper tool' pop up which is why I reinstalled the first time. My mac is old but gold, and never struggled before or had a problem, and knowing Cider has a 2GB RAM limit tempts me into buying a laptop exclusively for sims 3 but I'm hoping someone can still tell some possible solutions before I give up completely. I'm also more seriously considering BootCamp but I need a guide that can ELI5 because while I think I'm tech s̶a̶v̶v̶y̶ tech decent, I'm terrified of ruining my mac because I'm a poor college student. (mac was a graduation gift)
Update: 1) I have Super-clean-uninstalled both TS3 and Origin (including all the hidden Preference/Cache/Cookie/AppSupport/SavedState/etc files). 2) Mac had an update so I am now at macOS Mojave version 10.14.4 3) Made sure to download the newest origin for mac. 4) One more time installing TS3 base, superpatch it and running first. Ran Reset Origin Tool when origin claimed the download was still in progress despite being completed. (I know I don't have to run TS3 through Origin but I like knowing I can too be sure no issues of any kind - related to origin or not - have been eliminated.) After hitting 'Play' it takes about 15 seconds of blackscreen before it plays the intro and all seems good. I lower my graphics setting like visual particles and lighting/shadows just to be on the safe side (I was also looking for the skip intro option in Options panel but maybe that was mod so I move on.) 5) Quit to save settings and run again (this time without Origin, and again only 15 secs to load.) Then check the launcher to see if it can handle 1 small store content/bought item. I choose the 'Lovely Wall Mirror' cause it was the first thing I saw. I look away when it takes a few seconds for the install dialog to even pop up and when i look back up after only a minute boom - it's already installed. Sweet heavens I think I think I finally fixed my launcher.
Broken Launcher SOLUTION: (so far) Uninstall Origin completely (if you google it, it's called the 'hard way') and only if uninstalling TS3 didn't help. I guess Origin was still somehow holding data on it or it might be related to EPs speaking of..
I am going to restall and run my game after every EP up until UL. I would stop earlier but it just happens that Supernatural and UL are my favorites and I think IP is another heavy EP so I'll wait a while before I get brave enough to try adding it again. Even with my launcher fixed I'm going to turn all my s3pack into packages using Delphy's except for things like House/Worlds/Sims where I don't think it works as well? and point being is that I'm not convinced yet it was Origin causing issues so I will keep checking to see if a certain EP or too many end up 'breaking' my game before I call an official solution.
Origin is only needed to download Sims 3 and the packs. Once downloaded the installer is external from Origin and the game doesn't need it to run. You could even uninstall Origin once you've finished downloading everything and the game will still run
You just need to make sure that you add the relevant folders into the last installed pack (last by release date) as per Corey's instructions. So for you I think that's Island Paradise.
Ye I'm aware I don't need Origin I want to delete it, however I do have TS4 and I've actually never tried running it without Origin? So idk if it's possible but even then it's still being updated so I'd probably keep it around anyways till TS4 stops getting updates.
Anyways, yeah that is what I did - I made sure IP had all the folders and it wasn't working. That what didn't make sense to me, the solutions so far have revolved around that and bad cc so when the folders aren't the issues and I haven't even installed CC or store content, what else could it be? That's why I uninstall and restall so many times because I couldn't find or think of any other solutions till uninstalling/reinstalling Origin itself.
Update 2: I installed LN and Gen at the same time with Origin, probably a mistake because hitting 'Play' I get a blackscreen, great so LN or Gen is a problem. I manually uninstall them both (since my uninstaller doesn't show anything under where it tell me to select EP/SP) per Bluebellflora's guide 'Manually uninstalling an Expansion or Stuff Pack in the Sims 3 for Mac'.
I'm realizing I didn't run the superpatch again after installing LN and it may be the culprit and Gen has nothing to do with it but before I do anything, I run Ambitions to make sure LN and Gen uninstalled - and in the launcher only shows Ambitions. I double check the folder and it has High End Loft and World Adventures in it so why is it not showing? I;m trying to make dinner so I'll be taking a break and coming back to this and hope maybe I realize it or someone might see this and post.
You definitely need Origin for Sims 4 to run. I was explaining about Origin not being needed for Sims 3 because you referenced it in your posts. It has no effect on getting Sims 3 to run as the files are completely separate, unlike Sims 4 which requires Origin for authentication. The only issue Origin might cause is a corrupted download.
Unfortunately Sims 3 is not supported in Mojave, it hasn't been officially supported since OS X Mountain Lion and this is an issue for some players. There is no expectation that the game should run on unsupported Macs as it hasn't been updated since January 2014 (which was a cursory update anyway).
If I were you I would:
Completely and cleanly uninstall Sims 3 including any shortcuts to the game
Start up Origin and download and install the base game
Patch the base game by running the 1.67 manual patch, not through the launcher
Start up the game and check it is working. If so carry on with the next steps
Download each pack and install it in release date order. Once installed open the Launcher and download any further patches it prompts for. When you install the problematic packs - Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane, Outdoor Living - make sure to add them to the Launcher. When you then install subsequent packs you must follow Corey's instructions to add those packs to the pack that the game launches. It is tempting to skip this step, to install all packs then copy the folders into the launching pack, but I advise against this because you want to launch the game after installing each pack to make sure it is working. In order to launch it successfully you must copy the folders over for Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane and Outdoor Living
Ok, one more time we clean uninstall and reinstall everything (including Origin just cause). Reset Origin, download Base game, run it's update, and the SuperPatch update then rn the game and ... oh great it's stuck on blackscreen.
Ok one last time for real - I prob should've done the Superpatch first, (I only ran it first to see if Origin was gonna give me a 'still downloading error'). That or I'm in denial but we'll get to that later.
I'll be exact about this too and step-by-step: 1. Clean uninstall TS3 2. Origin Reset Tool 3. Empty and Restart - well better save this somewhere before I do 4. Download and install Base 5. Close Origin and Superpatch first 6. Run TS3 and hit 'Play' and several minutes of blackscreen and force quit. Okay maybe I was suppose to open it in Origin? annnnnd I get a 'install the new helper tool'. What. You were just open before the Superpatch. Annnnnd now Origin isn't doing anything. Okay Reset Origin again. And it's the helper loop again except now after telling it to install it's frozen. Several minutes later it open and immediately trying to updates TS4 it doesn't let me pause or cancel until 10 minutes lates it finally unfreezes and tells me it's been paused. Finally run TS3 for my last feeble hope it might work.
"Error: Game process could not be started."
But oh wait it's still trying to and black screen for several minutes before I force quit that nonsense. I don't even know what this error is. (Note it is not the "Cannot start the process when the game is running. Please quit the game and try again” error I double read to make sure. I try running TS3 alone just make sure, it gives no Error but still is getting stuck on a blackscreen. -heavy sigh-
- This is where I give up. I can't see how uninstall TS3 made Origin flip out and give me this weird run around when I did nothing different and I can't even get the base game to run now. I don't understand this randomness and I hate it. I regret not buying all the physical EPs now although there's no guarantee that would make a difference either.
I'd rather waste my time trying an alternative like setting up BootCamp and seeing if the windows process is any better but I can't find a trusted source. Is this and outdated alternative? (note: I even checked your site Bluebellflora but it's link doesn't not exist anymore.
Any help and hope is appreciate at this point. Thanks.
Anomalies: A) While removing TS3 completely to delete it from my mac and redo Origin after it's little freak out, I found something inexplicable - a file in preferences "com.transgaming.tginstall-sims3-bg-ep08.plist" created "Today, 12:59 PM" right around this morning when I was trying one more time to clean uninstall/reinstall but I never got past the base game and didn't allow Origin to download any EPs (although it did try to while I was disable the updates). I already had deleted some files so I couldn't test removing this one file to see if it was mucking my Sims game but did try one last uninstall and reinstall or both origin and TS3. B) And after running the launcher I noticed - it already had me logging in to the TS3 store (or whatever we log into in that launcher). I ran the game, it didn't work but now I feel there had to be some folder left behind something that saved my login into the launcher data and maybe having more data possibly connected to whatever is messing up my game but I don't know where this file would be. I've been very attentive to removing all the files and after the first anomaly, I've watching the files in my library to see if anything out-of-place would spawn like that 'ep08' file. So I don't think I left anything behind in the Preference, Caches, Cookies, or Saved Application State. and I had removed Origin completely to so it wouldn't have been hidden and left over from previous download.
I'm still as a loss as before again on the off chance this information leads to some revelation I'm all for posting it. I might try playing TS4 or using Sims base game CD for a while before retrying TS3 or looking into BootCamp.
Comments
https://bluebellflora.com/how-to-do-a-clean-uninstall-and-reinstall-on-a-mac/
On this computer, you need to install through Origin, as High Sierra won't authenticate discs. It's best to start with only the base game at this point. Then run the Super Patch (digital download version) rather than patching through the launcher.
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/549552/official-ea-download-links-for-the-sims-3-cumulative-manual-update#latest
At this point, you can try to launch the game. You'll probably get an unknown error message, due to the processor/card combination. The solution to this is to edit your .sgr files. BluebellFlora has written out some very helpful instructions for doing so. Just figure out your mac's model number and then follow the corresponding link. Be sure to make copies of your .sgr files before you start, in case something goes wrong.
https://bluebellflora.com/fix-for-incompatible-graphics-for-the-sims-3-on-mac/
Now, you can try to launch the base game again. If it works, you can start installing packs. There are four packs—Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane, and Outdoor Living—that will throw another unknown error and need extra interventions. But these steps are much simpler than the one above. The first thing to do is to create an alias for any pack that does not already have one in your Applications folder, alongside the alias for the base game.
https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed/
The second step is only necessary if at least one of the affected packs is NOT the newest pack by release date. (So if you only had, for example, the base game, High End Loft Stuff, and Late Night, you could skip this step.) Certain files don't get copied from the affected packs into their proper destination, which is the folder for the latest pack to be released. If you had all packs, that would be Into the Future. You can copy the files manually by following the instructions in the video embedded in the post below. This thread also discusses all the unknown error issues that affect mac users.
https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-3-Unknown-Error-in-El-Capitan-Sierra-High/m-p/5725514#M5926
If all this doesn't work, please post back here listing all of your mac's specs, as well as which troubleshooting steps you've tried and any error messages you've received.
mac specs: https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p/4756624#M4
It would be useful to know what the error message says, as well as the specs of your computer. There are a couple of different MacBook Pros from last year. Here's how to find all of the relevant information:
https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p/4756624#M4
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I have a new mac desktop:
Processor Name:Intel Core i5; Processor Speed:3 GHz; Memory: 8GB; Graphics:Radeon Pro 555 AMD - VRAM:2048 MB.
2 days ago I successfully downloaded and installed but didn't test play as I went. So when I tried to play, of course it said nothing was compatible, it couldn't open, needed updating, the patch which took 9 years to download said it couldn't be applied to that version. So I deleted everything.
Yesterday I was able to successfully download from Origin - Base game, then re-downloaded and installed patch to 1.67 by deauthorising, and the game opened and played.
So I started downloading / installing expansion and stuff packs from Origin - in this order: WA, HELS, AMB, LN, GEN, IP. Everything appeared to go smoothly.
It crashed on launch with "unknown error".
I tried bypassing the launcher and got an initialization error.
I tried deleting just the IP expansion, but the uninstaller didn't show any options so I had to do it manually and I think I borked it, because when I tried to launch, nothing at all happened.
So TODAY (21 JAN 19) I have manually deleted everything as per guides, emptied trash, am currently re-downloading base game for the third time, preparing to patch.
Is there anything else I can do in the installation to help me not have to go through 9 hours of downloading and installing a 4th time, if this doesn't work out?
https://bluebellflora.com/how-to-do-a-clean-uninstall-and-reinstall-on-a-mac/
If not, it's best to clean out those hidden library files before installing any packs, or you may well get another pile of unknown errors. But once the base game is installed and patched using the Super Patch, if you can launch the game, you've dodged that issue. (Don't use the launcher to patch; it often does a less than thorough job.). By the way, the Super Patch needs to be run on the base game icon in Applications, not its folder or the icon for another pack. You can download the digital region version here:
https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-manual-super-patch-for-mac-1-67/
If for some reason the patched base game won't launch, even after a manual uninstall, you can uninstall again, create a new admin user on your Mac, and install into that account. This will remove the hidden library files from play.
Aside from the incompatible graphics issue that it sounds like you don't have, unknown errors have two other causes. Both are due to certain packs—Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane, and Outdoor Living—not installing correctly. The first issue is that these packs likely don't have their own aliases in Applications, alongside those for the base game and your other packs. But you can create them manually:
https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed/
The second issue is that files from these four problem packs don't get copied into the folder for your newest pack by the date EA released them; in your case, that would be Island Paradise. So you'll need to copy those files yourself, for both Ambitions and Late Night. The video guide in this post shows you exactly what to do:
https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-3-Unknown-Error-in-El-Capitan-Sierra-High/m-p/5725514#M5926
If you do all this, you should be fine. Bluebellflora's guides are the source of almost all of our information about how to install and play TS3 in Mac OS. But if you do happen to have trouble, feel free to ask for more help.
P.S. The world of Isla Paradiso is so poorly made that it's almost unplayable, even though the other content of the pack is fine. Before playing in that world, you may want to read @ciane's thread on fixing IP. You can follow her instructions to edit the world yourself, or you can download her fixed version and play it forward.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/811253/removing-ip-lag
Just to review my system:
Model Identifier: iMac MacOS Mojave 10.14.2
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 3 GHz
Memory 8 GB
Radeon Pro 555
Vendor: AMD (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x67ef
I have edited the graphics card script successfully, although the game did run with an unrecognised card.
Following Bluebellflora's and the EA guides to installing, I have been able to install
Base game
WA
HELS
AMB - I used the workaround by Bluebelleflora with pasting alias into the SIMS 3 folder and it worked, game launched and played.
Then I installed LN, as expected got the "unexpected error". tried Bluebelle again, still got the error, so did as advised and tried the Corey strategy of pasting the folder from transgaming into the latest download (WA). Still got the error. I figured I might be able to salvage later EP's so have gone ahead and installed
GEN
IP
but obviously I haven't been able to test anything.
I've removed the transgame package from WA and tried it in (respectively) IP, GEN, base game, but still the error; so have deleted LN manually as per instructions, being sure to check all the library cache / cookie / preferences etc as well as all the transgaming folders for the installed packs.
I'm still getting the unknown error. I have already deleted and reinstalled the whole damed thing twice; yesterday I stuffed up and forgot what I was up to when I had AMB and had downloaded LN, so had to delete back to WA, managed to keep it all working, and then reinstalled HELS & AMB. I was SO careful the second time, so can't think of what to do to correct it.
I'd be really glad if someone had some alternative to deleting and redownloading and reinstalling yet again. Thanks.
But there is something that I don't think has been mentioned here yet. The experience you are chasing down might be a bit disappointing. TS3 for Mac once you get it going properly is limited to 2 GB of RAM no matter how much is installed, unlike its Windows counterpart that can address almost twice that. There is no way to fix that. When we start talking about all or most EPs being in play, that restriction is very limiting and crashes or Error 12s upon trying to save typically become the order of the day unless you don't intend your ongoing games to progerss very far. This is why so many of us on Macs use Bootcamp to run the Windows version of the game instead. I had all sorts of reasons for Bootcamping mine anyway at one point, though now most of them have melted away and I keep this thing in place strictly for TS3. When I purchase a new iMac later this year, I will end up doing the same thing.
It might also be worth mentioning that by all accounts, Mojave (OS 10.14) is likely the last Mac OS that TS3 will run on at all given that Apple is dropping all support for 32-bit applications. It wasn't even supposed to be able to run on Mojave, but Apple extended the ultimatum a bit.
But again, it shouldn't be totally impossible to get the Mac version going on your end. Just very challenging.
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Our new site is at http://nraas.net
If you don't want to start over yet again, I'd suggest copying the files for Ambitions into the folder for IP and trying to launch. This is assuming you did a clean uninstall of LN; if LN is installed, copy its files into IP's folder as well. Then run the Super Patch again.
If this doesn't work, the last thing you can try before yet another clean uninstall is to install all of your packs, create aliases where necessary, and make sure that the folder for IP has files from all of your other installed packs. If it doesn't, copy them as corey's video describes.
I know this is frustrating, but if you can launch the patched base game, you can get your packs installed correctly. But speaking of frustrating, igazor is right—TS3's RAM limit is much more difficult to manage in Mac OS than it is in Windows. With only a few expansion packs, and just one of the most demanding (Pets, Seasons, and ITF are the three ahead of IP), you might well be able to stay under 2 GB memory while you play, at least for a couple of hours at a time. You can monitor the game's RAM use in the Activity Monitor and purge memory to free up a bit here and there, but the only way to reset memory use completely is to quit to desktop and relaunch.
https://bluebellflora.com/resetting-ram-during-gameplay/
But many of us, myself included, have ended up Bootcamping our Macs to get around the memory limit. It was igazor's insistance that playing in Windows would be so much better than convinced me to finally do so, and he was absolutely right.
And for the record, Bluebellflora is the one who's figured most of this out. I just do what she tells me.
Edit: I should add that 8 GB RAM total is more than enough for the game, but if you're running other apps in the background, your computer might run out of memory. Mojave is a memory hog, and so are certain browsers, Chrome in particular. So it's a good idea to launch the game immediately after you restart your Mac and keep background tasks to a minimum while you play.
I did get confused about where to drag the LN package to - can I just clarify (assuming I have another go) - could I copy the package from LN transgaming and paste it say to the desktop, then install GEN and IP, and copy their transgaming packages to the desktop, then drag all the packages into IP folder?
If you were to add HELS, a pack that installs correctly, an alias for a folder containing HELS's data would land in the same place as above. HELS is older than Ambitions, so Ambitions would still be running the game. If you installed Late Night, the proper aliases for WA and HELS would land in LN's version of the program files in the path I described above. But there would not be an alias for Ambitions, so you'd need to create it yourself. The instructions say to paste the entire folder; I've never tried making an alias instead (maybe I'll do that the next time I'm testing something). Regardless, the point is that inside LN's package contents, there need to be references to the data for all the other packs.
If you install a later pack than LN, that pack will run the game, and you'll need to transfer over the files from BOTH Ambitions and LN. If you install IP, that's where the folders go, if you have Generations but not IP, Generations needs to contain those folders. Again, you don't need to do anything for the other packs besides Ambitions and LN; the install process takes care of that. And there's no need to copy the folders onto your desktop, or anywhere else, before you install more packs. You also don't need to make a copy of the folder for your newest installed pack, whatever it happens to be. So if that's LN, you need to copy over the files from Ambitions into LN but don't need to mess with LN itself.
If you're still having trouble, just remember that whichever your newest pack is, it needs to contain references for every other pack you have installed. If something is missing, follow corey's instructions to go find it and copy it over.
I usually research for hours and till now have been able to figure out all my problems, I'm very familiar with Bluebellflora's site (you're a lifesaver.) I've dealt with everything from 'Bad CC' to 'Blackscreen' issues and the last time I had issues - it was solved by corey_0414's solution (Unknown Error/copying EPs folders into the most recent EP so it can access them).
Recently I've expanded my EPs (already having WA, High End Loft, Ambitions, LN, Generations, Pets, Supernatural, Seasons, UL)
and added: Showtime & Island Paradise.
I've ran through every solution before from checking my folders (corey_0414's solution) I didn't add any new cc, moved my 'The Sims 3' folder to the desktop so it made a fresh folder and just hit 'Play' and when that blackscreened too, I finally came to reason that maybe not installing them in order had finally caught up to me. (I originally started with just Supernatural, bounced to Pets, Seasons, Gen and etc.)
So I decided to do Bluebellflora's
#1 'Clean uninstall and reinstall on a Mac': I ran the game after each EP to make sure it wasn't crashing from too much EPS or something and got it to work and began installing store content first and only. After a good 20 or so - I tried picking out one or two items to uninstall and after hitting 'uninstall' my launcher decided to blackscreen and did nothing after 20 mins so i Force Quit it and decided I just wasn't going to be uninstalling anything. However since then, I tried resuming installing and kept getting a black screen. I let it play out and after an hour (I was only doing 4 or 5 dress/decor/hairs at a time) it finally went through and got success on everything. So then closing the pop-up box it proceeds to go blackscreen again and never closed itself. I learned to force quit it and the launcher updated itself, moving them to installed section so tried living with it and finally hitting 'Play' after a while only for the game to blackscreen and never start. I'm familiar with waiting, prior I had a bunch of CC and it did take a minute to load and finally play the intro but this was without CC, just store content and I mean I started with the the free Halloween/Harvest/etc set. This wasn't venues, or worlds.
I was convinced the broken launcher required a full uninstall/reinstaller including origin.
2nd 'Clean uninstall and reinstall': Long story short: launcher still broken right out of the gate, it somehow survived even a origin reinstall.
I just spent another day on my 4th 'Clean uninstall and reinstall'. Tried installing 1 sim3pack and gave up after 20 mins. Hit 'Play and after 45mins I gave up and force quit that too.
I don't know what's wrong anymore, is it too much EPs? mac specs btw:
macOS Mojave version 10.14.3
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)
Processor 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB
(And I have 473 GB of Storage still available)
I got it to work at first, with all EPs so I don't know why trying to uninstalling ruined my launcher and why uninstall/reinstall did nothing after the first. Maybe I gotta remove all of origin again? I kept getting the 'install origin helper tool' pop up which is why I reinstalled the first time. My mac is old but gold, and never struggled before or had a problem, and knowing Cider has a 2GB RAM limit tempts me into buying a laptop exclusively for sims 3 but I'm hoping someone can still tell some possible solutions before I give up completely. I'm also more seriously considering BootCamp but I need a guide that can ELI5 because while I think I'm tech s̶a̶v̶v̶y̶ tech decent, I'm terrified of ruining my mac because I'm a poor college student. (mac was a graduation gift)
1) I have Super-clean-uninstalled both TS3 and Origin (including all the hidden Preference/Cache/Cookie/AppSupport/SavedState/etc files).
2) Mac had an update so I am now at macOS Mojave version 10.14.4
3) Made sure to download the newest origin for mac.
4) One more time installing TS3 base, superpatch it and running first. Ran Reset Origin Tool when origin claimed the download was still in progress despite being completed. (I know I don't have to run TS3 through Origin but I like knowing I can too be sure no issues of any kind - related to origin or not - have been eliminated.) After hitting 'Play' it takes about 15 seconds of blackscreen before it plays the intro and all seems good. I lower my graphics setting like visual particles and lighting/shadows just to be on the safe side (I was also looking for the skip intro option in Options panel but maybe that was mod so I move on.)
5) Quit to save settings and run again (this time without Origin, and again only 15 secs to load.) Then check the launcher to see if it can handle 1 small store content/bought item. I choose the 'Lovely Wall Mirror' cause it was the first thing I saw. I look away when it takes a few seconds for the install dialog to even pop up and when i look back up after only a minute boom - it's already installed. Sweet heavens I think I think I finally fixed my launcher.
Broken Launcher SOLUTION: (so far) Uninstall Origin completely (if you google it, it's called the 'hard way') and only if uninstalling TS3 didn't help. I guess Origin was still somehow holding data on it or it might be related to EPs speaking of..
I am going to restall and run my game after every EP up until UL. I would stop earlier but it just happens that Supernatural and UL are my favorites and I think IP is another heavy EP so I'll wait a while before I get brave enough to try adding it again. Even with my launcher fixed I'm going to turn all my s3pack into packages using Delphy's except for things like House/Worlds/Sims where I don't think it works as well? and point being is that I'm not convinced yet it was Origin causing issues so I will keep checking to see if a certain EP or too many end up 'breaking' my game before I call an official solution.
Origin is only needed to download Sims 3 and the packs. Once downloaded the installer is external from Origin and the game doesn't need it to run. You could even uninstall Origin once you've finished downloading everything and the game will still run
You just need to make sure that you add the relevant folders into the last installed pack (last by release date) as per Corey's instructions. So for you I think that's Island Paradise.
Anyways, yeah that is what I did - I made sure IP had all the folders and it wasn't working. That what didn't make sense to me, the solutions so far have revolved around that and bad cc so when the folders aren't the issues and I haven't even installed CC or store content, what else could it be? That's why I uninstall and restall so many times because I couldn't find or think of any other solutions till uninstalling/reinstalling Origin itself.
I'm realizing I didn't run the superpatch again after installing LN and it may be the culprit and Gen has nothing to do with it but before I do anything, I run Ambitions to make sure LN and Gen uninstalled - and in the launcher only shows Ambitions. I double check the folder and it has High End Loft and World Adventures in it so why is it not showing? I;m trying to make dinner so I'll be taking a break and coming back to this and hope maybe I realize it or someone might see this and post.
You definitely need Origin for Sims 4 to run. I was explaining about Origin not being needed for Sims 3 because you referenced it in your posts. It has no effect on getting Sims 3 to run as the files are completely separate, unlike Sims 4 which requires Origin for authentication. The only issue Origin might cause is a corrupted download.
Unfortunately Sims 3 is not supported in Mojave, it hasn't been officially supported since OS X Mountain Lion and this is an issue for some players. There is no expectation that the game should run on unsupported Macs as it hasn't been updated since January 2014 (which was a cursory update anyway).
If I were you I would:
Reset Origin, download Base game, run it's update, and the SuperPatch update then rn the game and ... oh great it's stuck on blackscreen.
Ok one last time for real - I prob should've done the Superpatch first, (I only ran it first to see if Origin was gonna give me a 'still downloading error'). That or I'm in denial but we'll get to that later.
I'll be exact about this too and step-by-step:
1. Clean uninstall TS3
2. Origin Reset Tool
3. Empty and Restart - well better save this somewhere before I do
4. Download and install Base
5. Close Origin and Superpatch first
6. Run TS3 and hit 'Play' and several minutes of blackscreen and force quit. Okay maybe I was suppose to open it in Origin? annnnnd I get a 'install the new helper tool'. What. You were just open before the Superpatch. Annnnnd now Origin isn't doing anything. Okay Reset Origin again. And it's the helper loop again except now after telling it to install it's frozen. Several minutes later it open and immediately trying to updates TS4 it doesn't let me pause or cancel until 10 minutes lates it finally unfreezes and tells me it's been paused. Finally run TS3 for my last feeble hope it might work.
"Error: Game process could not be started."
But oh wait it's still trying to and black screen for several minutes before I force quit that nonsense. I don't even know what this error is. (Note it is not the "Cannot start the process when the game is running. Please quit the game and try again” error I double read to make sure. I try running TS3 alone just make sure, it gives no Error but still is getting stuck on a blackscreen. -heavy sigh-
- This is where I give up. I can't see how uninstall TS3 made Origin flip out and give me this weird run around when I did nothing different and I can't even get the base game to run now. I don't understand this randomness and I hate it. I regret not buying all the physical EPs now although there's no guarantee that would make a difference either.
I'd rather waste my time trying an alternative like setting up BootCamp and seeing if the windows process is any better but I can't find a trusted source. Is this and outdated alternative? (note: I even checked your site Bluebellflora but it's link doesn't not exist anymore.
Any help and hope is appreciate at this point. Thanks.
A) While removing TS3 completely to delete it from my mac and redo Origin after it's little freak out, I found something inexplicable - a file in preferences "com.transgaming.tginstall-sims3-bg-ep08.plist" created "Today, 12:59 PM" right around this morning when I was trying one more time to clean uninstall/reinstall but I never got past the base game and didn't allow Origin to download any EPs (although it did try to while I was disable the updates). I already had deleted some files so I couldn't test removing this one file to see if it was mucking my Sims game but did try one last uninstall and reinstall or both origin and TS3.
B) And after running the launcher I noticed - it already had me logging in to the TS3 store (or whatever we log into in that launcher). I ran the game, it didn't work but now I feel there had to be some folder left behind something that saved my login into the launcher data and maybe having more data possibly connected to whatever is messing up my game but I don't know where this file would be. I've been very attentive to removing all the files and after the first anomaly, I've watching the files in my library to see if anything out-of-place would spawn like that 'ep08' file. So I don't think I left anything behind in the Preference, Caches, Cookies, or Saved Application State. and I had removed Origin completely to so it wouldn't have been hidden and left over from previous download.
I'm still as a loss as before again on the off chance this information leads to some revelation I'm all for posting it. I might try playing TS4 or using Sims base game CD for a while before retrying TS3 or looking into BootCamp.