"However, you can have as many different saves as you want in any given town, whether they're different versions of the same save game or not. So when you rename your backup save, it will also be listed and available to load. This has nothing to do with starting a brand new save; I just used the only screenshot I had handy, since I couldn't load my own game at the time."
I just re-read all your posts in this convo (skimming them this time around). I apologize if I am missing something obvious here, but the only things you seem to have said is to go to the saves folder and remove the backup extension extension from the backup folder. Doing this will simply bring up an option to merge the two folders. If I instead renamed it to something like Sekemoto.sims31, then effectively it is still a backup folder, as it appears to effect nothing at all.
"However, it sounds like your game folder has moved, and you now have two of them. There's no point in adding mods or playing with your backup saves until you sort this out. So search for Sekemoto.sims3 again, and check its file path. (It will show in File Explorer, above the list of files that the search turned up.) Then copy it here. Do the same for the empty game folder that you're currently seeing."
Okay, I checked the file path, and what happened is it moved deeper into the computer. As for being unable to see the family folders, from re-reading your posts you mentioned the saves folder, so I checked that and I was able to find them there. Now either this was a brain fart where I was glossing over the saves folder and thus unable to find the family folders, or previously the family folders were directly in the Sims 3 folder and not encompassed in another sub-folder.
"If you downloaded ErrorTrap directly from NRaas, you downloaded a .zip file. Perhaps your system automatically unzipped it. But if the ending is .package, it's ready to use. You can just drop it into Mods\Packages. You could create these folders yourself, but you'd still need the resource.cfg file in the correct place to make the mods work. That's why I linked the Mod the Sims Framework. You just download it, unzip it, and place it inside your game folder. Once you've confirmed that the two sample mods work, you can add whatever else you want."
Oh, I see. I downloaded that, and I downloaded 7 Zip like they recommended. The problem is, when I right-click the ZIP and click extract here, it still shows as FrameworkSetup.zip. However, I was able to confirm that both mods work, the intro video and the build sparkles have been removed. What do you make of this?
I'm on a 2016 Macbook and doing a fresh install of all my expansion and stuff packs. Everything has gone well except for my most important expansion, Supernatural. Instead of a product code it just says "no_cd_key" and I can't bypass the section where the game requests the product code. I have asked this question three time to EA Help and each time they have closed my case without answering or acknowledging me. I would repurchase this expansion if I could but it gives me no way to do that. I just want to play my game, can someone help?
I have been playing sims 3 pets for a long time now. But lately it has started to freeze every few seconds! I'm trying to be patient with it, but it's getting really annoying! Please help? ):
I'm on a 2016 Macbook and doing a fresh install of all my expansion and stuff packs. Everything has gone well except for my most important expansion, Supernatural. Instead of a product code it just says "no_cd_key" and I can't bypass the section where the game requests the product code. I have asked this question three time to EA Help and each time they have closed my case without answering or acknowledging me. I would repurchase this expansion if I could but it gives me no way to do that. I just want to play my game, can someone help?
Is this an Origin installation or are you installing from discs? Perhaps I am misunderstanding, but the current versions of the Mac OS, meaning El Capitan and forward (so 10.11 and higher), will not authenticate the discs and the entire installation needs to be through Origin for Mac.
While there, Bluebellflora has compiled all of the installation issues with their solutions that TS3 for Mac has along with tips for playing that version of the game, so that site would be a great resource to use.
If you need more assistance and do not get a further response here, you could also post on the TS3 section of EA's AHQ board as there are Mac players there who have solved and helped other players get through all of these things. https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-3/bd-p/the-sims-3
I have been playing sims 3 pets for a long time now. But lately it has started to freeze every few seconds! I'm trying to be patient with it, but it's getting really annoying! Please help? ):
Can we confirm that you are playing the Sims 3 on a computer, so either the Windows or Mac version of the game? Pets is an expansion pack, do you have any (or all) of the other 10 packs installed as well?
Are the freezes in any world or saved game or only happening in one world or saved game in particular? What happens if you try to start a new test game in Sunset Valley (Riverview, Twinbrook, some gentle to play world like that)?
Have/do you clear (delete) the five cache files that appear on the top level of the TS3 user game folder in Documents on a regular basis? These can get clogged with stale cache data and sometimes clearing them out will help -- they will respawn the next time the game is launched.
CasPartCache.package
compostiorCache.package
scriptCache.package
simCompostiorCache.package
socialCache.package
(it's okay if these show up without the ".package" extensions in their names, it's the same files either way)
Any new mods or custom content (CC) added lately, since before the trouble started? Has anything else changed, like a Windows or graphics card update?
> @igazor said: > Dreamer01 wrote: » > > I have been playing sims 3 pets for a long time now. But lately it has started to freeze every few seconds! I'm trying to be patient with it, but it's getting really annoying! Please help? ): > > > > Can we confirm that you are playing the Sims 3 on a computer, so either the Windows or Mac version of the game? Pets is an expansion pack, do you have any (or all) of the other 10 packs installed as well? > > Are the freezes in any world or saved game or only happening in one world or saved game in particular? What happens if you try to start a new test game in Sunset Valley (Riverview, Twinbrook, some gentle to play world like that)? > > Have/do you clear (delete) the five cache files that appear on the top level of the TS3 user game folder in Documents on a regular basis? These can get clogged with stale cache data and sometimes clearing them out will help -- they will respawn the next time the game is launched. > CasPartCache.package > compostiorCache.package > scriptCache.package > simCompostiorCache.package > socialCache.package > (it's okay if these show up without the ".package" extensions in their names, it's the same files either way) > > Any new mods or custom content (CC) added lately, since before the trouble started? Has anything else changed, like a Windows or graphics card update?
I am playing sims 3 on my dell pc. I have not tried other places I will try that now. Let me try the delete cache files next if that doesn't work. I got supernatural before the trouble started? And I think my Windows updated... Let me try your ideas and I'll let you know what happened
> @Dreamer01 said: > > @igazor said: > > Dreamer01 wrote: » > > > > I have been playing sims 3 pets for a long time now. But lately it has started to freeze every few seconds! I'm trying to be patient with it, but it's getting really annoying! Please help? ): > > > > > > > > Can we confirm that you are playing the Sims 3 on a computer, so either the Windows or Mac version of the game? Pets is an expansion pack, do you have any (or all) of the other 10 packs installed as well? > > > > Are the freezes in any world or saved game or only happening in one world or saved game in particular? What happens if you try to start a new test game in Sunset Valley (Riverview, Twinbrook, some gentle to play world like that)? > > > > Have/do you clear (delete) the five cache files that appear on the top level of the TS3 user game folder in Documents on a regular basis? These can get clogged with stale cache data and sometimes clearing them out will help -- they will respawn the next time the game is launched. > > CasPartCache.package > > compostiorCache.package > > scriptCache.package > > simCompostiorCache.package > > socialCache.package > > (it's okay if these show up without the ".package" extensions in their names, it's the same files either way) > > > > Any new mods or custom content (CC) added lately, since before the trouble started? Has anything else changed, like a Windows or graphics card update? > > > I am playing sims 3 on my dell pc. I have not tried other places I will try that now. Let me try the delete cache files next if that doesn't work. I got supernatural before the trouble started? And I think my Windows updated... Let me try your ideas and I'll let you know what happened
@SekemotoFamily When I described how to use your backup saves, I said to delete the .backup extension and rename the save precisely because otherwise it would have the same name as your current (and possibly borked) save file. But when you rename it, you can't change the .sims3 extension, or of course the game won't read it. My suggestion was to label it SekemotoFamily1.sims3 or something like that.
The proper file path for your game folder is Users\[your username]\Documents\Electronic Arts. Your Saves folder should sit inside your The Sims 3 folder, and your individual save folders inside Saves. If your game folder isn't in the appropriate place, the game won't read it and will instead create a new folder, which won't have any of your saves or other content. If your game folder is in OneDrive, move it to your desktop, then disable OneDrive, then place the game folder in Documents\Electronic Arts. If your Saves folder, or some other game data, is not directly inside your game folder, move it there.
When you unzip a file or folder, the zipped version remains on your computer. You can delete it when you're sure you don't need it anymore. If NoIntro and NoBuildSparkles work, though, you clearly unzipped the Mods Framework, and it clearly landed in the correct location, which is inside your game folder. So you can add ErrorTrap, Overwatch, and MasterController now—the unzipped .package files go inside Mods/Packages—and make sure to delete your cache files before loading the game again. It's a good idea to add Traveler as well, to help prevent the travel transition from breaking when you send your sims back home from the future.
Once you have the mods in place, you can click on the pregnant future sim and select NRaas > MasterController > Advanced > Reset Sim. This is the best reset available, short of replacing a sim entirely. You can also reset the entire town at once by clicking on City Hall (or the future equivalent; if there's no City Hall, try base camp instead) and selecting NRaas > MasterController > Town Options > Reset Everything. If you don't want your home lot included in the reset, select NRaas > MasterController > Settings > Include Active Lot in Reset Everything > False. Either way, the command may take a few minutes. It's a good idea to run it every few sim-weeks even if you're not having any game issues. And you can reset inactive sims as well, either by clicking on them or through City Hall. For the latter, select NRaas > MasterController > Sim > Advanced > Reset Sim, and then hit X to dismiss the filter options and find the sim's name on the list.
"When I described how to use your backup saves, I said to delete the .backup extension and rename the save precisely because otherwise it would have the same name as your current (and possibly borked) save file. But when you rename it, you can't change the .sims3 extension, or of course the game won't read it. My suggestion was to label it SekemotoFamily1.sims3 or something like that."
Okay, I see. But that just created a duplicate game that spawned at the exact same save point and had the exact same issue. I was hoping to find a way to revert to a previous save where Lesley hadn't gotten pregnant yet, and then take her to the present and see if it works there.
"The proper file path for your game folder is Users\[your username]\Documents\Electronic Arts. Your Saves folder should sit inside your The Sims 3 folder, and your individual save folders inside Saves. If your game folder isn't in the appropriate place, the game won't read it and will instead create a new folder, which won't have any of your saves or other content. If your game folder is in OneDrive, move it to your desktop, then disable OneDrive, then place the game folder in Documents\Electronic Arts. If your Saves folder, or some other game data, is not directly inside your game folder, move it there."
So I looked again. I am able to access the Sims 3 folder from 2 different file paths.
This PC > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3
and This PC > OS (C:) > Users > Family > OneDrive > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3
This would suggest there are two folders, but they both look identical, as it looks like they both have the exact same content, including the saves.
"When you unzip a file or folder, the zipped version remains on your computer. You can delete it when you're sure you don't need it anymore. If NoIntro and NoBuildSparkles work, though, you clearly unzipped the Mods Framework, and it clearly landed in the correct location, which is inside your game folder. So you can add ErrorTrap, Overwatch, and MasterController now—the unzipped .package files go inside Mods/Packages—and make sure to delete your cache files before loading the game again. It's a good idea to add Traveler as well, to help prevent the travel transition from breaking when you send your sims back home from the future."
Also, when I deleted the zipped version of the folder on the file path "This PC > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3", it also automatically deleted on the other file path, "This PC > OS (C:) > Users > Family > OneDrive > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3", without me having to do it, as well.
"Once you have the mods in place, you can click on the pregnant future sim and select NRaas > MasterController > Advanced > Reset Sim. This is the best reset available, short of replacing a sim entirely. You can also reset the entire town at once by clicking on City Hall (or the future equivalent; if there's no City Hall, try base camp instead) and selecting NRaas > MasterController > Town Options > Reset Everything. If you don't want your home lot included in the reset, select NRaas > MasterController > Settings > Include Active Lot in Reset Everything > False. Either way, the command may take a few minutes. It's a good idea to run it every few sim-weeks even if you're not having any game issues. And you can reset inactive sims as well, either by clicking on them or through City Hall. For the latter, select NRaas > MasterController > Sim > Advanced > Reset Sim, and then hit X to dismiss the filter options and find the sim's name on the list."
What exactly does the reset do?
By the way, a friend of mine told me the other day they had tried mods in the past, but it would break their game. I would guess you have used the mods you are recommending so I would imagine these wouldn't do that, but if I were ever to look into other mods, how would I be able to tell if they will cause any glitches? Are mods done by NRaas generally considered to be good quality?
@SekemotoFamily If the backup save is from the exact same point in-game as your current save, then there's no other way to revert to an earlier time. TS3 doesn't keep any other backups.
What's happening with OneDrive is that your computer is syncing the data inside Documents, including the contents of your game folder, with your OneDrive account. That's why the two folders have the same content, and why deleting the .zip file on your desktop would cause the one in cloud storage to be deleted as well. The good thing is, your game folder isn't actually being moved. If you or someone in your family uses OneDrive, you can leave the setup as is. But if your saves go missing in the future, the likely reason is that your game folder was moved, rather than copied. In that case, you'd just need to drag it back to your desktop, disable OneDrive, and put the game folder back where it belongs, inside Documents\Electronic Arts.
A MasterController reset rebuilds a sim from the data available on it. This can fix many low-level corruption issues, although some major corruption is not reachable. And yes, I use all of the mods I've mentioned to you, as do many other players. (I have no idea how many, but I'd guess that over the life of the game, it's easily into five figures, if not six.) They've been extensively tested along the way, with the original and current developers requesting feedback and fixing issues as they appeared. And both of these people are software developers in real life, so they're exactly the type of competent professionals you'd want coding fixes for your game.
You're absolutely right to be cautious about mods, though. There are plenty that can and will bork your game, whether because they're poorly designed, or because they were never updated for the current patch level. But that's not true of any mods you'd find at NRaas. You could also ask about other mods on the NRaas discussion boards; there are still a number of players who post regularly, and some of them have extensive knowledge of other modders' work. If you do post there, it's best to either ask about a specific mod or mods, or describe the function you'd like to add to in your game. Mod the Sims also has discussion boards, as well as hosting the work of a number of creators.
Hi guys, I have not played in a while. I am starting to play again but, having a problem. I downloaded the game from Origin and all the packs and expansions i bought with it a long time ago downloaded as well. All of the content i downloaded from the sims resource was still on my computer. I never changed anything. When I hit play game in Origin, it goes to the sims3 launcher, acts like it is going to launch the game and then i get an error message that says sims3 has stopped working please close the game. This happens everytime i try to launch the game. How do i fix this? Please help as i really want to play.
Hi guys, I have not played in a while. I am starting to play again but, having a problem. I downloaded the game from Origin and all the packs and expansions i bought with it a long time ago downloaded as well. All of the content i downloaded from the sims resource was still on my computer. I never changed anything. When I hit play game in Origin, it goes to the sims3 launcher, acts like it is going to launch the game and then i get an error message that says sims3 has stopped working please close the game. This happens everytime i try to launch the game. How do i fix this? Please help as i really want to play.
There's at least three things in play here.
1 - Your former TS3 user game folder in Documents stayed in place this entire time, including during the new Origin install and its silent patching. These things can damage an existing user game folder if it's not pulled out first. I would suggest pulling it out now, to your Desktop or some other safe location, and then launch the game to see if you get a fresh game folder spawned to take its place and if you can get a test game started on that. There will be no added content nor prior saves, but those will still be safe in the pulled out folder and can later be moved into the new one if it's working properly.
2 - You had TS3 installed prior, uninstalled it, but did not clean the Windows Registry before the new Origin install and remnants of the prior one are getting in the way. If (1) above doesn't work out, then you would need to uninstall again, clean the Registry, and reinstall (but again without the prior user game folder in place). Piriform's CCleaner is a good tool to use for Registry cleanups, the free version is fine.
3 - You are still working with the computer whose specs you shared here some time ago. I'm afraid that one really isn't strong enough to carry more than the base game only with no EPs, if that, and with the passage of time if you are still on that system it may perform worse or not be able to launch the game at all.
Hello, I’m not sure if this is the right place to post if not any direction on where to post wold be greatly appreciated. I am looking to purchase a new computer in the next couple weeks, and am looking for a system to run TS3 plus all EPs and SPs and store content/worlds. Maybe even TS4, at least the base game. I’m trying to stick to a budget of $1200 in the US, upfront including tax and any other fees. I prefer a laptop as I travel a lot for extended times and would like to be able to take my game with me. Other than the games I probably would only run streaming content on the computer. I don’t have a specific brand or seller in mind, I’d even be willing to order a customized system as long as it ships built and ready to use. I am not tech savvy so if I customize I would need assistance with what components to choose. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and want to say you all are an amazing community!
Hello, I’m not sure if this is the right place to post if not any direction on where to post wold be greatly appreciated. I am looking to purchase a new computer in the next couple weeks, and am looking for a system to run TS3 plus all EPs and SPs and store content/worlds. Maybe even TS4, at least the base game. I’m trying to stick to a budget of $1200 in the US, upfront including tax and any other fees. I prefer a laptop as I travel a lot for extended times and would like to be able to take my game with me. Other than the games I probably would only run streaming content on the computer. I don’t have a specific brand or seller in mind, I’d even be willing to order a customized system as long as it ships built and ready to use. I am not tech savvy so if I customize I would need assistance with what components to choose. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and want to say you all are an amazing community!
Hi there. I'm not very good at picking a laptop out the millions or so that are available without more constraints to work with but in that price range you should have plenty of good choices. Others may contribute their recommendations here. But I can tell you what to look for or advise for or against a couple of models you might have under consideration.
Processor - Required 2.4 GHz or higher (most modern systems in your price range already have this), i5 and quad core or higher, or the AMD equivalents, for a laptop we usually recommend an i7. Avoid the ultra low-power U- and Y- series processors at all costs.
RAM - At least 6 GB, but in your range you should be looking at 8 or 16 GB. The game doesn't need and can't use that much, but Windows and other processes do. At 16+ GB you can run a web browser and more even while the game is running without worrying about running out of memory (usually). At 8 GB you can run a web browser up to a point but may find that you have to keep quitting it to return to the game.
Graphics Card - Must be dedicated, Nvidia GTX 1050/1050Ti or higher within that series which is the most commonly seen today. At your price range, a 1050Ti or 1060 should be easy to find. Or again the AMD equivalents. You could go higher, though out of your price range, if you intend to play other games or have other uses for the machine in the future, but TS3 can't use more graphics power than that. The also current Nvidia MX 130 and 150s, which may also show up as GT 1030s, are lower-end cards and should be avoided.
Hard Drive - The Solid State Drives (SSDs) on laptops of this class would, although not a requirement, be great for TS3. On TS4 they won't make any difference. But you do need one that is at least 500 GB to get the full benefit and not have to constantly fight running out of space. A common configuration is a very small (128 GB) SSD together with a larger second standard Hard Disk Drive (HDD) which is okay but you will have to install the game on and shift the Documents folder with the user game folder to the secondary HDD and thus lose the benefit of even having the SSD as it will carry only Windows and systems applications.
@puzzlezaddict "If the backup save is from the exact same point in-game as your current save, then there's no other way to revert to an earlier time. TS3 doesn't keep any other backups."
Alright, I see. Anyway, I installed all the mods you recommended, and when I checked the Lothbrok and Eis families, both of their original glitches were gone, and I didn't have to do anything at all. However, when I tried to load the Sekemoto family, the loading bar would progress to 50% of the way through, then it would freeze and the music would stop (could it have anything to do with the fact that there a bunch of sims in the household?). Also, Layla Eis is supposed to the child of Amatheia Eis and Cicero Sage. However, after installing the mods she was no longer their child. I told my sister to try resetting Layla with MasterController, and it partially fixed it. Layla was registered as a child of Cicero Sage, but not Amatheia. I have yet to check if this problem has effected any of the Lothbroks yet.
"A MasterController reset rebuilds a sim from the data available on it. This can fix many low-level corruption issues, although some major corruption is not reachable. And yes, I use all of the mods I've mentioned to you, as do many other players. (I have no idea how many, but I'd guess that over the life of the game, it's easily into five figures, if not six.) They've been extensively tested along the way, with the original and current developers requesting feedback and fixing issues as they appeared. And both of these people are software developers in real life, so they're exactly the type of competent professionals you'd want coding fixes for your game."
Got it. By the way, do the NRaas mods come with tutorials on how to use them? I didn't see any linked on the download pages. MasterController is kind of confusing. I read on a yahoo answers thing that MasterController allows you to edit family relationships, i.e. making a random default sim someone's brother. I was looking into doing this because my sister and I recently decided to make a sim family in Bridgeport based on our real life family. In the create a household area, it only allows you to create 8 sims, so I didn't have room to make the sim of my uncle, so I was thinking if possible I could create his sim then use MasterController to make him the brother of my dad's sim, but I couldn't figure out how to do that, which is why I was looking for a tutorial for the mod.
Also, besides Isla Paradiso, are there any other glitched towns?
All of our mods come with an Interactions page (except for those like ErrorTrap that have no interactions) that lists out all of the options and commands, with a description of what each one does. Most of them have FAQ pages. Here is the main page for MasterController, with the Interactions page off of the Documentation link and the FAQ page is available. https://www.nraas.net/community/MasterController
While there, scroll down a bit further and you will see four optional add-on modules for downloading. The one you need to allow the command to add a family relationship between two existing sims is MC Cheats. It goes into Mods\Packages alongside of the MC base mod that you now already have. Then it's NRaas > MC > (Sim) > Advanced > Family > Add Parent (Child, Sibling).
Also note that we do have discussion boards at NRaas where players discuss mod usage and we are happy to help anyone who needs it. Each of the major mods has its own discussion board and the general one called Chatterbox is also fine to use especially when more than one mod is involved or the player isn't sure which one(s) they need.
Thank you @igazor this helps especially the break down when looking at possible customizations as I was getting a bit overwhelmed. I have been looking at different places and so far here is what I have been looking at,
h t t p://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1L9E43 h t t p://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1L946J h t t p s://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA65E8DW9384
Hoping I didn’t miss the mark too badly, if you or anyone is able to say if these are good or am I missing something have too much or too little. Thankful for this community as when I asked some others I know they scuffed and said a gaming computer can’t be done in my price range, but they are thinking in terms of other games and not the Sims, which I get scuffed at as well for.
@lamblm3 - I'm having a difficult time finding the practical difference (besides some minor ones) between the two cyberpowerpc builds. They both have a stronger graphics card than the MSI, but the MSI has strengths in other areas and that appears to be a great price for that model. I think any of them would be fine choices.
Since we are talking about custom builds potentially, paging @chesterbigbird.
Edit: Oh, I see that chester hasn't logged in here for a couple of weeks so am not sure of her availability. Paging @puzzlezaddict for another opinion then.
Edit 2: Taking another look, the second and third model have an additional 1 TB HDD, so twice the storage of the first one which only has the 1 TB SSD. That makes me like the second and third ones better.
@lamblm3 I was looking at the same model of CyperpowerPC laptop a few days ago for someone else, and I think you're absolutely on the right track. The model has a better processor and graphics card than the MSI; any prebuilt model with an i7-8750H and an Nvidia 1060 GB is probably going to cost $200 more than its CyberpowerPC equivalent, at least with the way the sales look right now.
I would suggest though that you pick a slightly different configuration, and a couple of different components. For example, if you start with the next model up, you can keep the better screen (it has a 144 Hz refresh rate) for $40 more than the model you linked, or downgrade to the normal 60 Hz screen and save $60:
For the other choices, if you're going with a single hard drive, definitely get the PCIe SSD—the 1 TB Intel 660 Series you selected in your second link is a great choice for the price. Even though it's slower than other PCIe models, it's still much faster than the SATA SSD you chose in both links (whether the SATA uses the M.2 slot, as in the first link, or not). And if you're buying the 1 TB version, you might not need a second drive at all; 1 TB is more than enough storage for most people. If you do want a second drive, though, you could probably save $95 and go with the 1 TB mechanical drive. Anything you want to run fast you can run off the PCIe drive, and anything you just need to store can stay on the HDD.
Also, if you really wanted a faster second drive, adding 32 GB Intel Optane memory for $39 would boost the HDD's speed to around that of a SATA drive for anything you ran more than once. The idea is that the Optane memory boosts the speed that any data already written to the drive can be loaded. Here's a more thorough description:
Which option is best for you really depends on how you'd use that second drive. TS3, TS4, and a few other similar games would all fit comfortably on your 1 TB primary drive; movies or music would be written more slowly to a 7200 RPM HDD, but they'd play back the same no matter what drive they were stored on. (An external would be fine too, and slightly cheaper.)
The only other consideration is whether you want to spend an extra $30 to upgrade your RAM to a better brand. I'm sure the unnamed option you'd get in the base model laptop is good enough, but GSKILL Ripjaws is one of the top brands available. The $30 you'd pay to upgrade your RAM from 2400 Mhz to 2666MHz may not be worth it—you probably wouldn't notice a difference, certainly not with Sims games.
Finally, this computer at any configuration would also run TS4 with all current packs at high settings, and given the direction of development, that's likely to be true for a long time, if not for the entire duration of the game.
P.S. I didn't notice it before, but the third laptop you linked has been upgraded from its stock configuration and sold by a third party. I'd never trust that option—companies have been known to break the product with faulty upgrades, or do ridiculous things like stuff a piece of Styrofoam into the laptop to make the parts stay in place.
I can’t thank you enough @puzzlezaddict and again @igazor for the direction. I have done some reconfiguring based on the information provided and came with the following: h t t p://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1L9EFK I took out the secondary drive and upgraded the screen and the first SSD drive. Thanks to your guidance I realize I don’t really need the extra drive. I do have a non gaming desktop that I use for most other things like video storage, photos, music, etc., that I was going to replace it but I travel too much to justify getting a desktop when that will sit unused :( and as you mentioned if I need more I can look for an external HD.
Can’t say it enough, thank you thank you thank you!!!
@lamblm3 That looks like a great choice. If you wanted, you could switch to the 512 GB version of the ADATA Gammix PCIe SSD to save some money; that drive would still hold TS3 (and TS4) and all your saves and custom content. Even if you added a 500 GB WD Blue series SATA SSD as a second drive, you'd still save $67 overall. But if you'd prefer to keep everything on one drive instead of managing two, the configuration you've picked out will do nicely.
And I'm glad you found something you like. Either way, this computer will handle everything you want it to do.
I just got some help from the support center since I was having issues downloading the registration reward content for The Sims 3 - Ambitions. They registered the game again for me and I can now download the extra content, but when I go to My Page (h t t p s : / / mypage . thesims3 . com / mypage/), the badge for Ambitions is no longer enabled. Is there any way to fix this? and if not will this affect any of my future gaming/downloading if I change computers?
@ungraceful This is a known issue with the store—it sometimes doesn't list a pack or world as owned, even though it was properly registered. As long as Ambitions is listed in your Origin library, it doesn't matter what the store site says. But you could also try clearing your browser cache (be sure to uncheck the box to preserve data for favorite sites) or using a different browser.
If that doesn't help, the only way to really fix the issue of the EP not being displayed is to go through the same process you already tried, namely, asking support to remove and re-add the pack to your account. If it's worth it for you, go ahead, but there shouldn't be any consequences of not doing so.
So I was able to fix the glitch where Layla was no longer part of the Eis family with MasterController Cheats. However, why was she removed from the family in the first place? It happened after I installed the mods. I am also curious what happened with the Sekemotos, here is the problem as I described it earlier: "However, when I tried to load the Sekemoto family, the loading bar would progress to 50% of the way through, then it would freeze and the music would stop (could it have anything to do with the fact that there a bunch of sims in the household?)." This also was an issue that happened after I installed the mods. I ended up deleting the Sekemotos as I haven't been able to access them but if this is a problem with any of the mods then it should be on the radar of NRaas.
Also, with the Lothbrok family, I had Alfred time travel back to the present, and later on made him travel to the future again to see if the descendants would be the same (they weren't by the way, and they had a different surname oddly enough), but when I tried traveling back to the present this time the portal didn't work. I would click the option to travel back home, and it would ask me to name the save, ask if I wanted to override the save, then all my sims would turn invisible temporarily and I would remain in the future. Deactivating and reactivating the portal didn't fix it. So I ended up deleting this version of the Lothbroks and placing an exact copy of the family that was saved to the bin in a fresh version of Appaloosa Plains, but I suspect this may be an issue with the Traveler mod, so it should be made known.
Also, I decided to install all the add-on modules to MasterController: Cheats, ExpandedTattoo, Integration, and Progression, but when I did this, and tried to start the game, the loading screen that shows before you enter the family selection would make a tiny amount of progress, then the music would start glitching, and the Sims 3 program would close. I was able to fix it by removing MasterController ExpandedTattoo, Integration, and Progression, so it had to be one of those add-on modules causing this. After this, I tried using Total Annihilation on a sim and noticed the option wasn't there. I did some research and saw you had posted a response to a thread where someone had the same issue, and you recommended installing fresh copies of the mods. So I reinstalled the MasterController base mod and MasterController Cheats, and Total Annihilation was still missing.
Also, I have noticed one of the mods, ErrorTrap I believe, will occasionally detect an "unroutable sim", then reset it. It has interfered with stuff I was doing several times, for example one of my sims would be flirting with someone and suddenly they were found to be unroutable and reset (when there was seemingly nothing wrong with them), which was irritating because then I would have to start over with what I was doing. What exactly is going on here?
Furthermore I noticed since installing ErrorTrap a bunch of files have been showing up in my Sims 3 folder all starting with "Script Error DIRAC". I'm assuming these are just records of errors, but just in case I wanted to ask if they are safe to delete.
Comments
"However, you can have as many different saves as you want in any given town, whether they're different versions of the same save game or not. So when you rename your backup save, it will also be listed and available to load. This has nothing to do with starting a brand new save; I just used the only screenshot I had handy, since I couldn't load my own game at the time."
I just re-read all your posts in this convo (skimming them this time around). I apologize if I am missing something obvious here, but the only things you seem to have said is to go to the saves folder and remove the backup extension extension from the backup folder. Doing this will simply bring up an option to merge the two folders. If I instead renamed it to something like Sekemoto.sims31, then effectively it is still a backup folder, as it appears to effect nothing at all.
"However, it sounds like your game folder has moved, and you now have two of them. There's no point in adding mods or playing with your backup saves until you sort this out. So search for Sekemoto.sims3 again, and check its file path. (It will show in File Explorer, above the list of files that the search turned up.) Then copy it here. Do the same for the empty game folder that you're currently seeing."
Okay, I checked the file path, and what happened is it moved deeper into the computer. As for being unable to see the family folders, from re-reading your posts you mentioned the saves folder, so I checked that and I was able to find them there. Now either this was a brain fart where I was glossing over the saves folder and thus unable to find the family folders, or previously the family folders were directly in the Sims 3 folder and not encompassed in another sub-folder.
"If you downloaded ErrorTrap directly from NRaas, you downloaded a .zip file. Perhaps your system automatically unzipped it. But if the ending is .package, it's ready to use. You can just drop it into Mods\Packages. You could create these folders yourself, but you'd still need the resource.cfg file in the correct place to make the mods work. That's why I linked the Mod the Sims Framework. You just download it, unzip it, and place it inside your game folder. Once you've confirmed that the two sample mods work, you can add whatever else you want."
Oh, I see. I downloaded that, and I downloaded 7 Zip like they recommended. The problem is, when I right-click the ZIP and click extract here, it still shows as FrameworkSetup.zip. However, I was able to confirm that both mods work, the intro video and the build sparkles have been removed. What do you make of this?
Some of the packs will not install without taking some extra steps first, although Supernatural is not known to be one of them and that's not the error that gets displayed. But here is the solution for the four problematic packs in case it is relevant.
https://bluebellflora.com/2017/01/02/sims-3-unknown-error-fix-el-capitan-sierra-late-night-ambitions-related
While there, Bluebellflora has compiled all of the installation issues with their solutions that TS3 for Mac has along with tips for playing that version of the game, so that site would be a great resource to use.
If you need more assistance and do not get a further response here, you could also post on the TS3 section of EA's AHQ board as there are Mac players there who have solved and helped other players get through all of these things.
https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-3/bd-p/the-sims-3
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
Are the freezes in any world or saved game or only happening in one world or saved game in particular? What happens if you try to start a new test game in Sunset Valley (Riverview, Twinbrook, some gentle to play world like that)?
Have/do you clear (delete) the five cache files that appear on the top level of the TS3 user game folder in Documents on a regular basis? These can get clogged with stale cache data and sometimes clearing them out will help -- they will respawn the next time the game is launched.
CasPartCache.package
compostiorCache.package
scriptCache.package
simCompostiorCache.package
socialCache.package
(it's okay if these show up without the ".package" extensions in their names, it's the same files either way)
Any new mods or custom content (CC) added lately, since before the trouble started? Has anything else changed, like a Windows or graphics card update?
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
> Dreamer01 wrote: »
>
> I have been playing sims 3 pets for a long time now. But lately it has started to freeze every few seconds! I'm trying to be patient with it, but it's getting really annoying! Please help? ):
>
>
>
> Can we confirm that you are playing the Sims 3 on a computer, so either the Windows or Mac version of the game? Pets is an expansion pack, do you have any (or all) of the other 10 packs installed as well?
>
> Are the freezes in any world or saved game or only happening in one world or saved game in particular? What happens if you try to start a new test game in Sunset Valley (Riverview, Twinbrook, some gentle to play world like that)?
>
> Have/do you clear (delete) the five cache files that appear on the top level of the TS3 user game folder in Documents on a regular basis? These can get clogged with stale cache data and sometimes clearing them out will help -- they will respawn the next time the game is launched.
> CasPartCache.package
> compostiorCache.package
> scriptCache.package
> simCompostiorCache.package
> socialCache.package
> (it's okay if these show up without the ".package" extensions in their names, it's the same files either way)
>
> Any new mods or custom content (CC) added lately, since before the trouble started? Has anything else changed, like a Windows or graphics card update?
I am playing sims 3 on my dell pc. I have not tried other places I will try that now. Let me try the delete cache files next if that doesn't work. I got supernatural before the trouble started? And I think my Windows updated... Let me try your ideas and I'll let you know what happened
> > @igazor said:
> > Dreamer01 wrote: »
> >
> > I have been playing sims 3 pets for a long time now. But lately it has started to freeze every few seconds! I'm trying to be patient with it, but it's getting really annoying! Please help? ):
> >
> >
> >
> > Can we confirm that you are playing the Sims 3 on a computer, so either the Windows or Mac version of the game? Pets is an expansion pack, do you have any (or all) of the other 10 packs installed as well?
> >
> > Are the freezes in any world or saved game or only happening in one world or saved game in particular? What happens if you try to start a new test game in Sunset Valley (Riverview, Twinbrook, some gentle to play world like that)?
> >
> > Have/do you clear (delete) the five cache files that appear on the top level of the TS3 user game folder in Documents on a regular basis? These can get clogged with stale cache data and sometimes clearing them out will help -- they will respawn the next time the game is launched.
> > CasPartCache.package
> > compostiorCache.package
> > scriptCache.package
> > simCompostiorCache.package
> > socialCache.package
> > (it's okay if these show up without the ".package" extensions in their names, it's the same files either way)
> >
> > Any new mods or custom content (CC) added lately, since before the trouble started? Has anything else changed, like a Windows or graphics card update?
>
>
> I am playing sims 3 on my dell pc. I have not tried other places I will try that now. Let me try the delete cache files next if that doesn't work. I got supernatural before the trouble started? And I think my Windows updated... Let me try your ideas and I'll let you know what happened
So far it's working well!
The proper file path for your game folder is Users\[your username]\Documents\Electronic Arts. Your Saves folder should sit inside your The Sims 3 folder, and your individual save folders inside Saves. If your game folder isn't in the appropriate place, the game won't read it and will instead create a new folder, which won't have any of your saves or other content. If your game folder is in OneDrive, move it to your desktop, then disable OneDrive, then place the game folder in Documents\Electronic Arts. If your Saves folder, or some other game data, is not directly inside your game folder, move it there.
When you unzip a file or folder, the zipped version remains on your computer. You can delete it when you're sure you don't need it anymore. If NoIntro and NoBuildSparkles work, though, you clearly unzipped the Mods Framework, and it clearly landed in the correct location, which is inside your game folder. So you can add ErrorTrap, Overwatch, and MasterController now—the unzipped .package files go inside Mods/Packages—and make sure to delete your cache files before loading the game again. It's a good idea to add Traveler as well, to help prevent the travel transition from breaking when you send your sims back home from the future.
Once you have the mods in place, you can click on the pregnant future sim and select NRaas > MasterController > Advanced > Reset Sim. This is the best reset available, short of replacing a sim entirely. You can also reset the entire town at once by clicking on City Hall (or the future equivalent; if there's no City Hall, try base camp instead) and selecting NRaas > MasterController > Town Options > Reset Everything. If you don't want your home lot included in the reset, select NRaas > MasterController > Settings > Include Active Lot in Reset Everything > False. Either way, the command may take a few minutes. It's a good idea to run it every few sim-weeks even if you're not having any game issues. And you can reset inactive sims as well, either by clicking on them or through City Hall. For the latter, select NRaas > MasterController > Sim > Advanced > Reset Sim, and then hit X to dismiss the filter options and find the sim's name on the list.
Okay, I see. But that just created a duplicate game that spawned at the exact same save point and had the exact same issue. I was hoping to find a way to revert to a previous save where Lesley hadn't gotten pregnant yet, and then take her to the present and see if it works there.
"The proper file path for your game folder is Users\[your username]\Documents\Electronic Arts. Your Saves folder should sit inside your The Sims 3 folder, and your individual save folders inside Saves. If your game folder isn't in the appropriate place, the game won't read it and will instead create a new folder, which won't have any of your saves or other content. If your game folder is in OneDrive, move it to your desktop, then disable OneDrive, then place the game folder in Documents\Electronic Arts. If your Saves folder, or some other game data, is not directly inside your game folder, move it there."
So I looked again. I am able to access the Sims 3 folder from 2 different file paths.
This PC > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3
and This PC > OS (C:) > Users > Family > OneDrive > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3
This would suggest there are two folders, but they both look identical, as it looks like they both have the exact same content, including the saves.
"When you unzip a file or folder, the zipped version remains on your computer. You can delete it when you're sure you don't need it anymore. If NoIntro and NoBuildSparkles work, though, you clearly unzipped the Mods Framework, and it clearly landed in the correct location, which is inside your game folder. So you can add ErrorTrap, Overwatch, and MasterController now—the unzipped .package files go inside Mods/Packages—and make sure to delete your cache files before loading the game again. It's a good idea to add Traveler as well, to help prevent the travel transition from breaking when you send your sims back home from the future."
Also, when I deleted the zipped version of the folder on the file path "This PC > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3", it also automatically deleted on the other file path, "This PC > OS (C:) > Users > Family > OneDrive > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3", without me having to do it, as well.
"Once you have the mods in place, you can click on the pregnant future sim and select NRaas > MasterController > Advanced > Reset Sim. This is the best reset available, short of replacing a sim entirely. You can also reset the entire town at once by clicking on City Hall (or the future equivalent; if there's no City Hall, try base camp instead) and selecting NRaas > MasterController > Town Options > Reset Everything. If you don't want your home lot included in the reset, select NRaas > MasterController > Settings > Include Active Lot in Reset Everything > False. Either way, the command may take a few minutes. It's a good idea to run it every few sim-weeks even if you're not having any game issues. And you can reset inactive sims as well, either by clicking on them or through City Hall. For the latter, select NRaas > MasterController > Sim > Advanced > Reset Sim, and then hit X to dismiss the filter options and find the sim's name on the list."
What exactly does the reset do?
By the way, a friend of mine told me the other day they had tried mods in the past, but it would break their game. I would guess you have used the mods you are recommending so I would imagine these wouldn't do that, but if I were ever to look into other mods, how would I be able to tell if they will cause any glitches? Are mods done by NRaas generally considered to be good quality?
What's happening with OneDrive is that your computer is syncing the data inside Documents, including the contents of your game folder, with your OneDrive account. That's why the two folders have the same content, and why deleting the .zip file on your desktop would cause the one in cloud storage to be deleted as well. The good thing is, your game folder isn't actually being moved. If you or someone in your family uses OneDrive, you can leave the setup as is. But if your saves go missing in the future, the likely reason is that your game folder was moved, rather than copied. In that case, you'd just need to drag it back to your desktop, disable OneDrive, and put the game folder back where it belongs, inside Documents\Electronic Arts.
A MasterController reset rebuilds a sim from the data available on it. This can fix many low-level corruption issues, although some major corruption is not reachable. And yes, I use all of the mods I've mentioned to you, as do many other players. (I have no idea how many, but I'd guess that over the life of the game, it's easily into five figures, if not six.) They've been extensively tested along the way, with the original and current developers requesting feedback and fixing issues as they appeared. And both of these people are software developers in real life, so they're exactly the type of competent professionals you'd want coding fixes for your game.
You're absolutely right to be cautious about mods, though. There are plenty that can and will bork your game, whether because they're poorly designed, or because they were never updated for the current patch level. But that's not true of any mods you'd find at NRaas. You could also ask about other mods on the NRaas discussion boards; there are still a number of players who post regularly, and some of them have extensive knowledge of other modders' work. If you do post there, it's best to either ask about a specific mod or mods, or describe the function you'd like to add to in your game. Mod the Sims also has discussion boards, as well as hosting the work of a number of creators.
1 - Your former TS3 user game folder in Documents stayed in place this entire time, including during the new Origin install and its silent patching. These things can damage an existing user game folder if it's not pulled out first. I would suggest pulling it out now, to your Desktop or some other safe location, and then launch the game to see if you get a fresh game folder spawned to take its place and if you can get a test game started on that. There will be no added content nor prior saves, but those will still be safe in the pulled out folder and can later be moved into the new one if it's working properly.
2 - You had TS3 installed prior, uninstalled it, but did not clean the Windows Registry before the new Origin install and remnants of the prior one are getting in the way. If (1) above doesn't work out, then you would need to uninstall again, clean the Registry, and reinstall (but again without the prior user game folder in place). Piriform's CCleaner is a good tool to use for Registry cleanups, the free version is fine.
3 - You are still working with the computer whose specs you shared here some time ago. I'm afraid that one really isn't strong enough to carry more than the base game only with no EPs, if that, and with the passage of time if you are still on that system it may perform worse or not be able to launch the game at all.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
Processor - Required 2.4 GHz or higher (most modern systems in your price range already have this), i5 and quad core or higher, or the AMD equivalents, for a laptop we usually recommend an i7. Avoid the ultra low-power U- and Y- series processors at all costs.
RAM - At least 6 GB, but in your range you should be looking at 8 or 16 GB. The game doesn't need and can't use that much, but Windows and other processes do. At 16+ GB you can run a web browser and more even while the game is running without worrying about running out of memory (usually). At 8 GB you can run a web browser up to a point but may find that you have to keep quitting it to return to the game.
Graphics Card - Must be dedicated, Nvidia GTX 1050/1050Ti or higher within that series which is the most commonly seen today. At your price range, a 1050Ti or 1060 should be easy to find. Or again the AMD equivalents. You could go higher, though out of your price range, if you intend to play other games or have other uses for the machine in the future, but TS3 can't use more graphics power than that. The also current Nvidia MX 130 and 150s, which may also show up as GT 1030s, are lower-end cards and should be avoided.
Hard Drive - The Solid State Drives (SSDs) on laptops of this class would, although not a requirement, be great for TS3. On TS4 they won't make any difference. But you do need one that is at least 500 GB to get the full benefit and not have to constantly fight running out of space. A common configuration is a very small (128 GB) SSD together with a larger second standard Hard Disk Drive (HDD) which is okay but you will have to install the game on and shift the Documents folder with the user game folder to the secondary HDD and thus lose the benefit of even having the SSD as it will carry only Windows and systems applications.
Hope some of that helps.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
"If the backup save is from the exact same point in-game as your current save, then there's no other way to revert to an earlier time. TS3 doesn't keep any other backups."
Alright, I see. Anyway, I installed all the mods you recommended, and when I checked the Lothbrok and Eis families, both of their original glitches were gone, and I didn't have to do anything at all. However, when I tried to load the Sekemoto family, the loading bar would progress to 50% of the way through, then it would freeze and the music would stop (could it have anything to do with the fact that there a bunch of sims in the household?). Also, Layla Eis is supposed to the child of Amatheia Eis and Cicero Sage. However, after installing the mods she was no longer their child. I told my sister to try resetting Layla with MasterController, and it partially fixed it. Layla was registered as a child of Cicero Sage, but not Amatheia. I have yet to check if this problem has effected any of the Lothbroks yet.
"A MasterController reset rebuilds a sim from the data available on it. This can fix many low-level corruption issues, although some major corruption is not reachable. And yes, I use all of the mods I've mentioned to you, as do many other players. (I have no idea how many, but I'd guess that over the life of the game, it's easily into five figures, if not six.) They've been extensively tested along the way, with the original and current developers requesting feedback and fixing issues as they appeared. And both of these people are software developers in real life, so they're exactly the type of competent professionals you'd want coding fixes for your game."
Got it. By the way, do the NRaas mods come with tutorials on how to use them? I didn't see any linked on the download pages. MasterController is kind of confusing. I read on a yahoo answers thing that MasterController allows you to edit family relationships, i.e. making a random default sim someone's brother. I was looking into doing this because my sister and I recently decided to make a sim family in Bridgeport based on our real life family. In the create a household area, it only allows you to create 8 sims, so I didn't have room to make the sim of my uncle, so I was thinking if possible I could create his sim then use MasterController to make him the brother of my dad's sim, but I couldn't figure out how to do that, which is why I was looking for a tutorial for the mod.
Also, besides Isla Paradiso, are there any other glitched towns?
Thanks for all the help, by the way.
All of our mods come with an Interactions page (except for those like ErrorTrap that have no interactions) that lists out all of the options and commands, with a description of what each one does. Most of them have FAQ pages. Here is the main page for MasterController, with the Interactions page off of the Documentation link and the FAQ page is available.
https://www.nraas.net/community/MasterController
While there, scroll down a bit further and you will see four optional add-on modules for downloading. The one you need to allow the command to add a family relationship between two existing sims is MC Cheats. It goes into Mods\Packages alongside of the MC base mod that you now already have. Then it's NRaas > MC > (Sim) > Advanced > Family > Add Parent (Child, Sibling).
Also note that we do have discussion boards at NRaas where players discuss mod usage and we are happy to help anyone who needs it. Each of the major mods has its own discussion board and the general one called Chatterbox is also fine to use especially when more than one mod is involved or the player isn't sure which one(s) they need.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
h t t p://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1L9E43
h t t p://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1L946J
h t t p s://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA65E8DW9384
Hoping I didn’t miss the mark too badly, if you or anyone is able to say if these are good or am I missing something have too much or too little. Thankful for this community as when I asked some others I know they scuffed and said a gaming computer can’t be done in my price range, but they are thinking in terms of other games and not the Sims, which I get scuffed at as well for.
Since we are talking about custom builds potentially, paging @chesterbigbird.
Edit: Oh, I see that chester hasn't logged in here for a couple of weeks so am not sure of her availability. Paging @puzzlezaddict for another opinion then.
Edit 2: Taking another look, the second and third model have an additional 1 TB HDD, so twice the storage of the first one which only has the 1 TB SSD. That makes me like the second and third ones better.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
I would suggest though that you pick a slightly different configuration, and a couple of different components. For example, if you start with the next model up, you can keep the better screen (it has a 144 Hz refresh rate) for $40 more than the model you linked, or downgrade to the normal 60 Hz screen and save $60:
https://www.cyberpowerpc.com/system/Tracer-III-15-Xtreme-VR-400
For the other choices, if you're going with a single hard drive, definitely get the PCIe SSD—the 1 TB Intel 660 Series you selected in your second link is a great choice for the price. Even though it's slower than other PCIe models, it's still much faster than the SATA SSD you chose in both links (whether the SATA uses the M.2 slot, as in the first link, or not). And if you're buying the 1 TB version, you might not need a second drive at all; 1 TB is more than enough storage for most people. If you do want a second drive, though, you could probably save $95 and go with the 1 TB mechanical drive. Anything you want to run fast you can run off the PCIe drive, and anything you just need to store can stay on the HDD.
Also, if you really wanted a faster second drive, adding 32 GB Intel Optane memory for $39 would boost the HDD's speed to around that of a SATA drive for anything you ran more than once. The idea is that the Optane memory boosts the speed that any data already written to the drive can be loaded. Here's a more thorough description:
https://www.pcgamesn.com/intel-optane-32gb-accelerator
Which option is best for you really depends on how you'd use that second drive. TS3, TS4, and a few other similar games would all fit comfortably on your 1 TB primary drive; movies or music would be written more slowly to a 7200 RPM HDD, but they'd play back the same no matter what drive they were stored on. (An external would be fine too, and slightly cheaper.)
The only other consideration is whether you want to spend an extra $30 to upgrade your RAM to a better brand. I'm sure the unnamed option you'd get in the base model laptop is good enough, but GSKILL Ripjaws is one of the top brands available. The $30 you'd pay to upgrade your RAM from 2400 Mhz to 2666MHz may not be worth it—you probably wouldn't notice a difference, certainly not with Sims games.
Finally, this computer at any configuration would also run TS4 with all current packs at high settings, and given the direction of development, that's likely to be true for a long time, if not for the entire duration of the game.
P.S. I didn't notice it before, but the third laptop you linked has been upgraded from its stock configuration and sold by a third party. I'd never trust that option—companies have been known to break the product with faulty upgrades, or do ridiculous things like stuff a piece of Styrofoam into the laptop to make the parts stay in place.
h t t p://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1L9EFK
I took out the secondary drive and upgraded the screen and the first SSD drive. Thanks to your guidance I realize I don’t really need the extra drive. I do have a non gaming desktop that I use for most other things like video storage, photos, music, etc., that I was going to replace it but I travel too much to justify getting a desktop when that will sit unused :( and as you mentioned if I need more I can look for an external HD.
Can’t say it enough, thank you thank you thank you!!!
And I'm glad you found something you like. Either way, this computer will handle everything you want it to do.
I just got some help from the support center since I was having issues downloading the registration reward content for The Sims 3 - Ambitions. They registered the game again for me and I can now download the extra content, but when I go to My Page (h t t p s : / / mypage . thesims3 . com / mypage/), the badge for Ambitions is no longer enabled. Is there any way to fix this? and if not will this affect any of my future gaming/downloading if I change computers?
Thank you for your help!
If that doesn't help, the only way to really fix the issue of the EP not being displayed is to go through the same process you already tried, namely, asking support to remove and re-add the pack to your account. If it's worth it for you, go ahead, but there shouldn't be any consequences of not doing so.
Thanks for your response!
So I was able to fix the glitch where Layla was no longer part of the Eis family with MasterController Cheats. However, why was she removed from the family in the first place? It happened after I installed the mods. I am also curious what happened with the Sekemotos, here is the problem as I described it earlier: "However, when I tried to load the Sekemoto family, the loading bar would progress to 50% of the way through, then it would freeze and the music would stop (could it have anything to do with the fact that there a bunch of sims in the household?)." This also was an issue that happened after I installed the mods. I ended up deleting the Sekemotos as I haven't been able to access them but if this is a problem with any of the mods then it should be on the radar of NRaas.
Also, with the Lothbrok family, I had Alfred time travel back to the present, and later on made him travel to the future again to see if the descendants would be the same (they weren't by the way, and they had a different surname oddly enough), but when I tried traveling back to the present this time the portal didn't work. I would click the option to travel back home, and it would ask me to name the save, ask if I wanted to override the save, then all my sims would turn invisible temporarily and I would remain in the future. Deactivating and reactivating the portal didn't fix it. So I ended up deleting this version of the Lothbroks and placing an exact copy of the family that was saved to the bin in a fresh version of Appaloosa Plains, but I suspect this may be an issue with the Traveler mod, so it should be made known.
Also, I decided to install all the add-on modules to MasterController: Cheats, ExpandedTattoo, Integration, and Progression, but when I did this, and tried to start the game, the loading screen that shows before you enter the family selection would make a tiny amount of progress, then the music would start glitching, and the Sims 3 program would close. I was able to fix it by removing MasterController ExpandedTattoo, Integration, and Progression, so it had to be one of those add-on modules causing this. After this, I tried using Total Annihilation on a sim and noticed the option wasn't there. I did some research and saw you had posted a response to a thread where someone had the same issue, and you recommended installing fresh copies of the mods. So I reinstalled the MasterController base mod and MasterController Cheats, and Total Annihilation was still missing.
Also, I have noticed one of the mods, ErrorTrap I believe, will occasionally detect an "unroutable sim", then reset it. It has interfered with stuff I was doing several times, for example one of my sims would be flirting with someone and suddenly they were found to be unroutable and reset (when there was seemingly nothing wrong with them), which was irritating because then I would have to start over with what I was doing. What exactly is going on here?
Furthermore I noticed since installing ErrorTrap a bunch of files have been showing up in my Sims 3 folder all starting with "Script Error DIRAC". I'm assuming these are just records of errors, but just in case I wanted to ask if they are safe to delete.