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STILL Getting Error Code 12

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Hey everyone,

Recently, I've been getting Error Code 12 basically every other save. I've read everything I possibly could to try to fix it. Even if I remove the "bad" folder from Saves, or all the save folders, it doesn't help. I also read that sometimes it's because there's too much data in the town, so I deleted a bunch of households and saved sims I didn't need.

I keep reading that it's a space/data issue dealing with computer RAM. But I never run anything in the background, and I have plenty of space on my hard drive.

I manually updated my game and I removed all mods. I'm still getting error code 12.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Comments

  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    You need to be purging RAM during gameplay and right before you save.
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  • Abidoodle333Abidoodle333 Posts: 10 New Member
    How do I do that?
  • Abidoodle333Abidoodle333 Posts: 10 New Member
    That still isn't working.
  • caspinwallcaspinwall Posts: 916 Member
    As well as purging your RAM frequently while playing and always before saving, you might also want to save more frequently. I have read of some simmers not saving for hours - you need to do it much more often. Always use "save" or "save as" rather than the combined "save and quit". Also, how old are your save games and do you use any mods to keep the town tidy - Overwatch and ErrorTrap from NRaas will help.
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  • Abidoodle333Abidoodle333 Posts: 10 New Member
    edited January 2015
    I save every single night in the game, or if I've edited the town, house, or an outfit.
  • cianeciane Posts: 16,996 Member
    I too have read that error 12 is associated with game bloat. Do you have memories turned off? That is a big bloat! I move my screenshots out to a folder outside sims 3 if I want to save them. The same goes for downloads... once installed, keep the DLs somewhere safe outside the sims 3 folder. The DCbackup files are all package backups of the sims3packs. So they can be kept in a backup folder outside the sims 3 folder too.
    You can move your family to a new town and that will decrease the save file size too. Twallan's NRaas porter mod can be used to keep relationships (I think).
    Does any of that help?
  • plopppoplopppo Posts: 5,031 Member
    It might be a case of adding more RAM - for a long-term solution.

    You'll probably find that if you start a new game, you won't have this problem - quite often people who get this were the ones who were playing for a long-time.

    The game basically cannot process the save - ie it is a World Save error.

    The problem is, the game can be running fine - no visible/apparent glitches but, at the point you want to save your game, the engine just cannot process the data to a save - ie, it just can't compile in memory to disk.

    It's not so much your computer does not have enough RAM/memory to play the game, it's more the game is struggling to compile the game into a save. So it is kind of a memory issue - you will be pretty much guaranteed to get rid of the problem by adding more RAM. However, following the advice others have given you well help - assuming you don't always do those things.

    You want to limit gameplay sessions to 1-2 hours (real-time) - save - then quit the game - then relaunch and load your save and continue (assuming you want to play for longer than 1-2 hours) - use an alarm clock if necessary. The longer each game session, the more you tempt this bug out of the woodwork. Saving more frequently will not help you, other than allow you to recover from an old save - it's more a case of limiting how long you play per session, then relaunch the game and continue.

    In addition to what has been mentioned above, use sequential saves - Save 1, Save 2, Save 3, etc - don't try to overwrite a save file with a new one.
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    plopppo wrote: »
    You will be pretty much guaranteed to get rid of the problem by adding more RAM.
    Not exactly. The OP is playing on the Mac OS version of the game, which can only utilize ~2GB of RAM as compared to just short of 4GB on Windows. Stuffing their Mac with more RAM certainly isn't going to hurt, but it's not going to help much after a certain point either.
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  • plopppoplopppo Posts: 5,031 Member
    igazor wrote: »
    plopppo wrote: »
    You will be pretty much guaranteed to get rid of the problem by adding more RAM.
    Not exactly. The OP is playing on the Mac OS version of the game, which can only utilize ~2GB of RAM as compared to just short of 4GB on Windows. Stuffing their Mac with more RAM certainly isn't going to hurt, but it's not going to help much after a certain point either.
    Oh, I know nothing about Macs - never used one.
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    plopppo wrote: »
    Oh, I know nothing about Macs - never used one.
    The basic concepts are the same and Macs can benefit from more RAM in just about every other way. It's EA's Cider implementation of the Mac version of TS3 in particular that is problematic. :)
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  • plopppoplopppo Posts: 5,031 Member
    I wonder how much RAM they already have installed? Would be handy to know.
  • moonandsixpensmoonandsixpens Posts: 553 Member
    I learned from @christinebremner‌ that you can use master controller total annihilation to delete all the unnecessary sims to keep the save smaller. I haven't encountered error code 12 recently but when I used TA, I did find a total of 96 service sims in the town, which I presume can consume much memory space. I deleted them in no time :smiley:
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  • HarperJaneHarperJane Posts: 59 Member
    I had a lot of problems with my game at first, for a year or so I had constant lagging, freezing, blackouts, crashes, and errors. I did the whole clear the cache files thing constantly, repaired my permissions, reinstalled a number of times…

    Finally, I added more RAM to my MBP, (macsales.com - it’s pretty easy to do with the help of their videos, and cheaper than the “geniuses” I’m on an early 2011 MBP which now has 8 GB RAM) and started using NRass mods. Seriously - ErrorTrap, MasterController, Overwatch, Saver, and Traffic are ESSENTIAL to running a smooth game for me. I set my Saver to 15 min (real time), and the only blackout crashes I have now are in CAS. No Idea why, but I SAVESIM once a min (yeah, it’s a hassle, but I get the Sim I want :) )

    I also run DiskWarrior once a month. Seems to keep everything stable.

    I wish you luck. <3
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    edited January 2015
    The game crashes more in CAS because that's where it requires a ton of memory, hence the need to purge RAM frequently, especially in CAS. The game CANNOT access anymore than 2Gb RAM (as Igazor has already pointed out), no matter how much your Mac has. If you have a Mac which has an integrated graphics card (all MacBook Airs, all 13" MacBook Pros and the current entry level 15" MacBook Pro) then there is even more strain on your system because the graphics processor is using the system RAM, not it's own RAM which higher level 15" MacBook Pros and iMacs have.

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  • Abidoodle333Abidoodle333 Posts: 10 New Member
    Wow. That's all super helpful. No wonder CAS always crashes! How do I do the Master Controller cheat & total annihilation? That won't kill off any of my Sims or their friends in town? And I didn't know I could turn memories off! I hate them anyway. I'll definitely do that!

    My problem is probably because I play legacy and have been on the same file for months now.
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    My problem is probably because I play legacy and have been on the same file for months now.

    Yep, probably. How big is your save file?

    As for Master Controller, you can find NRaas mods here. Error trap and Overwatch are the two that I find invaluable. But I've only been using mods for the last 6 months or so, I'm not the most experienced with them. @Igazor is the mod genius.

    ItsaprilXD also wrote a wonderfully simple and easy to use guide which sadly the mods/gurus here kept on deleting, you can find it on her tumblr and my website

    And just keep purging RAM. As soon as you hear the fans ramping up overtime in your Mac, it's a good indicator that the game is struggling.

    And always, always, ALWAYS play in windowed mode.
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  • Abidoodle333Abidoodle333 Posts: 10 New Member
    Do I do that with "sudo purge" in Terminal?

    And windowed mode as in not full screen? I guess I haven't messed with settings enough to know that was an option.
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Do I do that with "sudo purge" in Terminal?

    And windowed mode as in not full screen? I guess I haven't messed with settings enough to know that was an option.

    Yes and yes. Whilst your game is loading hold down CMD and press Return then let go. Your game will change to windowed mode and you can then change the resolution in Options.

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  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited January 2015
    @Igazor is the mod genius.
    I think "id10t savant" might be more accurate. But as long as I keep blurting out reasonably correct answers to mod questions, they let me continue hanging around the NRaas site. :p

    In addtion to RAM purging, playing in windowed mode, and turning down key graphics settings in Game Options, here is an extensive list of things that can be done to improve/maintain game performance, some mod related and others not. Some tasks like Save Cleaning are going to be challenging if a setup running Windows is not available, but much of it applies to both platforms.
    http://nraas.wikispaces.com/Tips+For+Better+Game+Performance

    But I do have to say, once again, how impressed I am that players can keep moving their long-running games forward on the Mac OS. In my own case, around two years ago now, my at the time 3rd generation already Save Cleaned, stuffed with mods, RAM purged every few minutes, legacy style game got into serious trouble when I foolishly allowed the hometown's population to rise above 190 residents. Adding Seasons and then Pets killed it almost completely. It was right there that I decided I either had to change my style of play completely or switch over to Windows. Since bootcamping Win 7 was within my reach at the time, I chose that and am actually still playing the same game, generations later. :)
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  • Abidoodle333Abidoodle333 Posts: 10 New Member
    Thanks everyone! I've been taking all your suggestions and finally decided to just save my legacy family and move to a new town. I can't believe how much faster everything is - nothing has failed thus far.
  • caspinwallcaspinwall Posts: 916 Member
    I had problems within about two weeks of installing TS3 on my Mac back in 2010 or whenever that was. I couldn't believe what was happening - I had been so used to things just working perfectly with TS2, which was properly made for the operating system. If it hadn't been for NRaas mods as well as people like BluebellFlora taking time to write out guides and explanations for what was happening, I would have been in a real pickle and terribly disappointed as I've always enjoyed Sims games.

    Now I can play for hours and hours with no problem. I like legacy-type games as well and can keep them going for many, many generations by diligently purging RAM, saving often, using Overwatch and ErrorTrap, not installing dubious CC etc. I use CAS sparingly, but have no problem building or playing the game.

    At some point, though, the game file does just get too big. I'm still on the first generation in my current game and Overwatch is deleting around 6000 stray cars per night, but I'm playing in Sunset Valley so that's just the way of it. You can imagine how much junk the game ends up storing if you don't use the right mods to clean it up. If the game gets really slow then I sometimes try resetting everybody in town. Sometimes it's just a case of a stuck sim somewhere, especially if you are using a big world or one with poor routing. If that doesn't help then it's time to save the family and any of their very close friends to the library and re-start in a new town. I just make it part of the story - people move towns in RL and so my sims occasionally pack up and head off somewhere new, but these days my game runs great and I usually end up moving them by choice rather than necessity.

    The game can be made to work on many Macs. We just have to do a little bit of extra work to get it going and help each other out.

    @igazor - You've all done a brilliant job keeping the NRaas site running and keeping players well-informed here. I was so worried when Twallan "retired", although goodness knows he deserved the break and what a brilliant legacy he left for TS3-players, but my fears were unfounded and SimAd and Co. have done an excellent job to keep it all in good shape. Cheers!
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  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    caspinwall wrote: »
    At some point, though, the game file does just get too big. I'm still on the first generation in my current game and Overwatch is deleting around 6000 stray cars per night, but I'm playing in Sunset Valley so that's just the way of it. You can imagine how much junk the game ends up storing if you don't use the right mods to clean it up.
    Kind of hijacking this thread now, but have you tried the NRaas Traffic mod to disallow Showtime career limos and to stop the game from issuing free, cheap model cars to inactive sims not owning any so they can get around? Nonamena also has a mod compatible with Traffic hosted at Simlogical that prevents limos from being issued to LN celebrities. With all of those in play it can mean you end up with a lot more taxis on the road, but I only see Overwatch cleaning up around 5-10 stray cars per night on average in my worlds now.

    http://nraas.wikispaces.com/Traffic
    http://www.simlogical.com/ContentUploadsRemote/uploads/1581

    And thanks so much for the kind words. Very much appreciated! :)
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    NRaas has moved!
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  • caspinwallcaspinwall Posts: 916 Member
    Ah! I might check that out, thanks!
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