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Thread for new members to post their Sims 3 game issues

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  • hehaatdithehaatdit Posts: 9 New Member
    @igazor I've installed the app, when I run it it asks for permission but when I agree, nothing happens...
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited July 2018
    hehaatdit wrote: »
    @igazor I've installed the app, when I run it it asks for permission but when I agree, nothing happens...
    Do you have full admin rights on the Windows account you are using? If so, perhaps try uninstalling RTSS and installing it again.

    I guess should also mention where Win 10's Creators Update might be getting in the way, but version 7.x of RTSS is specifically supposed to work around that.
    http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/15902876/#Comment_15902876
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  • marciep85marciep85 Posts: 6 New Member
    I have been launching my Sims 3 game via Origin, and it is un-playable :( It freezes when I move from Buy/Build to Live mode or Edit Town, it freezes after I place the Fire Station, and I'm sure it will freeze due to other activities. I'm not even convinced that the game is actually downloaded on my computer since I launch it via Origin, and I can't find anything for Sims 3 in my Program Files (but I do have Sims 4). I am not sure if my specs are sufficient, but I am able to run Sims 4 without issue (I just don't like it as much). I have tried changing my display settings so it doesn't play in full-screen mode. I am on Windows 10, my processor is an Intel Core i5 1.80 GHz, and I have 6.00 RAM. I'm running Generations and Ambitions, and I only have one house that contains custom content, but it freezes even when I run the game without custom content. What can I try?
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    marciep85 wrote: »
    I have been launching my Sims 3 game via Origin, and it is un-playable :( It freezes when I move from Buy/Build to Live mode or Edit Town, it freezes after I place the Fire Station, and I'm sure it will freeze due to other activities. I'm not even convinced that the game is actually downloaded on my computer since I launch it via Origin, and I can't find anything for Sims 3 in my Program Files (but I do have Sims 4). I am not sure if my specs are sufficient, but I am able to run Sims 4 without issue (I just don't like it as much). I have tried changing my display settings so it doesn't play in full-screen mode. I am on Windows 10, my processor is an Intel Core i5 1.80 GHz, and I have 6.00 RAM. I'm running Generations and Ambitions, and I only have one house that contains custom content, but it freezes even when I run the game without custom content. What can I try?
    The game is installed on your computer, it wouldn't run otherwise. There is no way of running TS3 from the cloud or anything like that. Origin is merely an interface tie-in that launches the game for you and manages the DRM (the rights you have to run your own games). The program files should be arranged under Origin Games, not EA Games like in the past with non-Origin installs, and that would be under Program Files (x86) since TS3 is a 32-bit program only. Your TS3 user game folder that holds added content and saves should be in Documents.

    Can we get the rest of the specs on this computer? A 1.8 Ghz processor (of any kind) is not filling me with confidence that this computer will run the game well, that's below recommended requirements, and we don't yet know if you have a dedicated graphics card or what kind. If you could, please run a full dxdiag report, post the results on Pastebin.com, and provide a broken up link (use "h.t.t.t.p." or something like that) so we can read it. Or you can post the report here, but it will have to be in many replies by section because it will be far too long to fit into one.

    How to run one: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information
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  • marciep85marciep85 Posts: 6 New Member
    @igazor I was concerned about the processor as well. Here's my dxdiag text - thanks for the instructions! h.t.t.p.s://pastebin...com/QpuKdYUX. I still didn't see the file for The Sims 3 in my Origin Files, it's so weird! More and more things are going wrong. One of my Sims just disappeared, and I have no fruits, vegetables, or dairy for sale in the market (only fish and miscellaneous items!).
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited July 2018
    marciep85 wrote: »
    @igazor I was concerned about the processor as well. Here's my dxdiag text - thanks for the instructions! h.t.t.p.s://pastebin...com/QpuKdYUX. I still didn't see the file for The Sims 3 in my Origin Files, it's so weird! More and more things are going wrong. One of my Sims just disappeared, and I have no fruits, vegetables, or dairy for sale in the market (only fish and miscellaneous items!).
    If you are running an Origin controlled version of the game on Patch 1.69, try a Repair Game on TS3 through Origin. I believe you might have a faulty install there, this may or may not help fix things. And I'm sorry, but the Program (x86) files have to exist someplace, there wouldn't even be a game to run otherwise.

    Did this computer ship with Win 10 or did you update (or allow it to be updated) over a prior Windows version?

    It also sounds like the game is not loading up all the way on you. Your computer's processor is under recommended requirements and it has no dedicated graphics card. I would not expect more than the TS3 base game plus maybe a couple of the earliest EPs to function on that one, or at least not for very long, and not on very high graphics settings in Game Options. Base game features like grocery store categories not even loading suggests that it's just failing to make it through the loadup process all the way.

    If you haven't already done so, try pulling your entire TS3 user game folder out of Documents to the Desktop for safekeeping. The game will spawn a new no added content one on its next launch. Can you get a new test game started up that way, and without base game things missing on you?

    If all else fails, you could uninstall your two expansions and then the TS3 base game, clean the Windows Registry with a tool such as the free version of Piriform's CCleaner, again pull your TS3 user game folder out of Documents entirely, and re-install the base game (only) again to see what happens. But I'm still not feeling confident that you are going to get a great TS3 experience out of this one.
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  • hehaatdithehaatdit Posts: 9 New Member
    @igazor I've tried those things, haven't gotten it to work yet. I'll keep trying to get RTSS running though. Anyway,thank you very much for all the help!
  • GalaxyDreamerGalaxyDreamer Posts: 4 New Member
    [b]Sims 4 can't go home on PS4[/b]
    I recently bought Sims 4 and had my two Sims go on a date. After it was over I tried to leave but I couldn't. I also couldn't control the Sims on the date but that might just be part of the game. I tried using the phone to travel but couldn't. I tried going home in manage worlds, but the date wasn't officially ended and I still couldn't control things. This is a problem because one passed out and the other caught on fire. I restarted my game and tried again. Still can't control them. Tried the early exit button and it didn't work. Help?
  • GalaxyDreamerGalaxyDreamer Posts: 4 New Member
    @GalaxyDreamer
    [b]Update[/b]
    Just decided to quit trying dates. Went to my game that I saved before the date, still can't control anything.
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited July 2018
    @GalaxyDreamer - Hi there. This is the TS3 section of the forum, not TS4, and this message sub-board is for technical assistance for the players of TS3 on computers, not consoles. You will get better results if you find a thread on the correct section of the forum to post onto.
    http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/categories/console-discussion
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  • GalaxyDreamerGalaxyDreamer Posts: 4 New Member
    @igazor - Oh, sorry! I just made this account and didn’t see that. Thank you!
  • donutluvrdonutluvr Posts: 3 New Member
    Hi. I'm having trouble with getting my sims to move.
    Everything starts up fine, game loads, can interact, but when I try to get my sims to move, they get in the cab and drive away but, one the loading screen comes it just stops. It loads halfway, and then it stops. I let it load for 2 hours when I went out and still, nothing.
    Thanks for reading.
  • donutluvrdonutluvr Posts: 3 New Member
    Oh, forgot to mention, its the sims 3.
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited July 2018
    donutluvr wrote: »
    Hi. I'm having trouble with getting my sims to move.
    Everything starts up fine, game loads, can interact, but when I try to get my sims to move, they get in the cab and drive away but, one the loading screen comes it just stops. It loads halfway, and then it stops. I let it load for 2 hours when I went out and still, nothing.
    Thanks for reading.
    Possibly you are playing on a system that isn't strong enough to handle TS3 and the EPs you have in play?

    But to check other things, first try starting up a new test game, play some random household of one or two sims, and see if you can get them to move either by phone or by way of Edit Town. The issue could also be just on the world or household you are playing or its game save.

    Also, while the game is not running, try clearing (deleting) the five cache files on the top level of your TS3 user game folder in Documents, if you don't already always do this in between game sessions, to see if that helps. They caches will rebuild as soon as the game is launched the next time.
    Post edited by igazor on
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  • donutluvrdonutluvr Posts: 3 New Member
    Appears to be just that one save, sadly.
    Thanks for the help :).
  • nnataliaggcnnataliaggc Posts: 15 Member
    Hello! I can't get my game to past the loading and saving screens, by that, I mean the ones that when you leave a lot to edit town or try to save, it doesn't freeze, it just leaves in loading or saving for hours, with the little icon circling around as if it still were. It isn't crashing either. HELP!
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    Hello! I can't get my game to past the loading and saving screens, by that, I mean the ones that when you leave a lot to edit town or try to save, it doesn't freeze, it just leaves in loading or saving for hours, with the little icon circling around as if it still were. It isn't crashing either. HELP!
    Does this happen in every world you try to play, including newly started games, or just one?

    Can we get some specs on the computer you are playing on?
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  • YazzpYazzp Posts: 9 New Member
    I have a problem where one of my expansion packs (University Life) have just disappeared. It has been like this for over a year now but i don't want to re buy it. It says its installed on origin but when im in the launcher it isn't there. I've tried repairing the game uninstalling university life then reinstalling. Also have uninstalled sims 3. I have searched the internet for other solutions. I tried that thing where you doing something without uninstalling origin. I'm really annoyed because university life was one of my fave sims 3 eps. i don't know what else i can do. could anyone help?
  • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
    @Yazzp The usual steps to recover a pack that's disappeared from the launcher are to restart your computer a couple of times (simple, but surprisingly effective) and to clear Origin's cache. I'm not sure whether you've done this, so here's a link:

    https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

    But given that the EP has been gone for a year, it's likely that EA removed or blocked it from your account. Did you happen to buy the pack from a third party seller like Ebay? Last May, the company started deauthorizing codes that had originally been stolen or otherwise fraudulently obtained, despite users' lack of knowledge that the codes were problematic. This is the danger of buying from unauthorized sellers—you never know whether the codes will work.

    If you want to know for sure what happened to your EP, you'll have to contact EA customer support and ask someone on that end to look at your account. It's always possible that EA made a mistake in blocking your access to the pack; if you think this is the case, be sure to have whatever proof of purchase or ownership you can find on hand for the chat. But either way, only customer support can resolve this issue.

    https://help.ea.com/en/contact-us/
  • Nyx_NightmareNyx_Nightmare Posts: 57 Member
    Simple question (maybe?).... Is it possible that I have a laptop that's too modern to run Sims 3 well?

    (Further info)
    Recently installed Sims 3 to my new laptop, and have horrible lag and stuttering when using ultra speed, and also lag in general when on normal. Since this is the first time that I've ever had an issue like this on any laptop for Sims 3 (have had 5 laptops in past and all ran the game perfectly... Well as perfect as you can get with Sims 3, I'm well aware the game itself is just one giant bug lol), I was wondering.. Maybe my laptop is a bit too modern for it? Sort of like how Sims 2 has shadow graphic issues when played on modern PC technology?

    (Some PC info)
    My laptop is a Lenovo Yoga, touchscreen with both Hard drive and SSD, and is pretty HD (although obviously not 4k, I'm not even sure laptops can pull that off yet), and it has Windows 10.

    (Packs I have currently installed)
    Base game, obviously.
    Ambitions.
    Late Night.
    Supernatural.
    Generations.
    University.
    High End Loft Stuff.

    I have every single EP and stuff pack, but had to uninstall the ones I absolutely did not need because I thought it would help the lag/speed issues.... It did not. They're still just as terrible. so, is my laptop too new for it?
    I am that one player in D&D that will ALWAYS roll 1s on Stealth, especially when I'm a Rogue :(
  • Nyx_NightmareNyx_Nightmare Posts: 57 Member
    Oh. Also forgot to mention...

    I can play ANY other game on medium and high, without any lag issues, all of these games being FAR more extensive than any Sims game.
    Sims 3 is the only game I have any issue with, so I know my specs are good, I just dont know if they're [b]too[/b] good or not.
    I am that one player in D&D that will ALWAYS roll 1s on Stealth, especially when I'm a Rogue :(
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited July 2018
    @Nyx_Nightmare - Can we get the specs on this laptop? All I can get from Lenovo's site is a dizzying array of options, that's an entire series of laptops whose specs run all over the place. In particular, processor, RAM, hard drive (size and space free, there may be more than one), graphics card. If it's not too much more difficult, you could provide us with a full dxdiag report, sent up to Pastebin.com and a broken link (use "h.t.t.p.s." or something like that) so we can read it.

    The most typical issue with newer hardware is that the graphics card frame rate needs to be capped. Unlike more modern games, TS3 has no fps limiter and the stronger cards will run wild on it. This was also true back in 2009 but far fewer players back then had cards strong enough for it to matter, now this is no longer the case. Uncapped fps can lead to graphics glitches, performance issues, lag, screen tears, and can ultimately burn out the graphics card. But whether this is an issue and what the steps are to remedy it will depend on what you've got in there. It is also possible that your laptop has dual graphics and the game is reaching for and using the "wrong" card.
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  • Nyx_NightmareNyx_Nightmare Posts: 57 Member
    The cap issue sounds like something that might be the issue here then, but I'll post my specs anyway.

    Processor: Intel i5-7200U
    RAM: 7.81 GB usable (so 8 total)
    It's 64 bit, if that makes a difference

    As for Hard drive, it has both a hard drive and an SSD, however the SSD is only used for touchscreen functionality, so very small.
    The hard drive has 213 GB, with only 8.14 free currently because I put on more games after uninstalling the other Sims 3 EPs and Stuff packs.

    Graphics Card: Intel HD Graphics 620.


    And even though this laptop isn't made for gaming, it works great... Just hates Sims 3 :/ Every other laptop of mine has loved the game, this one just throws a fit with it lol
    I am that one player in D&D that will ALWAYS roll 1s on Stealth, especially when I'm a Rogue :(
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited July 2018
    @Nyx_Nightmare -There are some issues I see here without having to read a dxdiag.

    -- The Intel chip is not a dedicated graphics card. The HD 620 is far better than many Intels have been in the past, but it is still integrated and will limit your ability to work with the game especially on the heavier hitting EPs. I would still check on those fps rates though, it is possible that an HD 620 might be strong enough to still be throwing them over the refresh rate of your monitor. That would likely be 60 Hz, so 60 fps should be the goal. In-game, ctrl+shift+C to bring up the cheats console and type fps on (enter). As you play and move the game camera around, the displayed frame rate should not exceed 60. To make the display go away, cheats console again and fps off (enter). Since you wouldn't have Nvidia or AMD specific tools to work with here, a good one to help cap the fps if that turns out to be required would be RivaTuner Stats Server (RTSS).

    -- The U-series processor is not doing the game any favors either. It doesn't matter how well other modern games run, both TS3 and TS4 require more processor power than these can typically deliver.

    -- On which drive is Windows installed? I'm sorry, but running Windows and/or the game on a drive that small with only 8 GB of free space is never going to work out well. The standard would be at least 35 GB free or 15%, of the drive size, whichever is higher. You may have a bit more leeway here if Windows is on the SSD (sounds like it's not) while the game is on the HDD, but not much. Windows and the games both need much more space to maneuver than it sounds like you are currently providing.

    How much time you want to spend trying to get TS3 to perform better on this laptop is of course up to you, but it's not that it's too new or modern for the game. Once some initial issues are squared away, the game runs fine (well, as fine as it can) on most modern hardware of suitable strength. This laptop isn't really strong enough for the task, though I am sure it has many other strong points and will be great for other uses.
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  • YazzpYazzp Posts: 9 New Member
    @puzzlezaddict im pretty sure it was from another seller online so i probably don't have the proof of purchase as i bought it years ago. i will be sure to clear the cache though!
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