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    Sims 3 Trouble with Mac

    JourneyGirl2015JourneyGirl2015 Posts: 3 New Member
    in The Sims 3 Mac Discussion
    I got The Sims 3 (along with University, Pets and Loft) for christmas and downloaded Origin. And whenever I would try to play it it would always say to insert disc when the disc was already in my computer. And whenever i actually get a chance to play the game it always crashes after a few minutes (especially when i am trying to create a sim)

    Comments

    • Tremayne4260Tremayne4260 Posts: 3,126 Member
      Ok, download the Base Game. Patch up to 1.67 which is the current Mac patch. Granted you may get the Disk message, but that's ok. Next install High End Loft and allow it to patch itself once installed. Once that is installed, you should no longer get the Disk Error message.
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    • hmg337hmg337 Posts: 191 Member
      In any case, any Mac, no matter how much video memory you have, whether it's 512 MB, or 2 GB, can only use 2 GB of RAM regardless of how much memory was installed. If you have 8 GB of ram installed, the results would be the same as the 16 and 32 GB RAM versions, because when The Sims 3 was released for the Mac concurrently with the Windows, the Mac developers either didn't have enough time to port it, or started late. Origin also works on Windows. To get windows on your mac, you would need either a Virtual Machine or a Bootcamp Partition. Bootcamp is a lot better than a Virtual Machine, because with bootcamp, you get the entire graphics card, plus you preserve the memory. Not only that, but the number of Gigabytes that the Sims 3 uses on windows is doubled, so it should work better. Once you download Origin through Windows, log in and download the Sims 3, then patch it with the Super patch. Then, you download those two expansions and one stuff pack in chronological order (release date, starting with the least recent and ending with the most recent), patching each of them when each expansion or stuff pack has been downloaded. Make sure to put the serial numbers in Notepad and save them in a safe place, like your desktop. Make multiple copies of the same file if you like, and if you lose one, you still have the others. You have to do a clean install. If you have any custom content from the sims store that you would like to download, then go to your store account, and look at purchase history. If you have custom content, then download them. you'll be in good hands.
    • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
      edited May 2017
      Just a couple of slight corrections to the above, if I may. Porting a game to OS X properly requires a significant investment on the part of the company developing the game. EA went in a totally different direction with TS3 than they did with the other iterations, the results were not good, and they have chosen to not invest anything further to reverse that decision and have a proper re-do which would have done all of us Mac users then and now a tremendously huge favor if they had. By the time LateNite and Patch 1.17 came out, which is when TS3 for Windows was made able to access nearly 4 GB of RAM as needed but TS3 for Mac could not be so extended, I'm afraid the writing was on the wall for how the rest of the series was going to pan out.

      TS3 on either platform can only utilize 800 MB of video memory. That's not like the RAM restriction that leads to instability and crashes, and there's nothing wrong with having more capable cards than that, but the rest of the video memory just won't be usable by the game.

      On the Windows side, it is not necessary to install the EP/SPs in any kind of order. This may have been true in the very beginning up until Ambitions or so but things changed along the way. The sequence usually goes base game, Super Patch to 1.67 (but not if on 1.69 as Origin will manage the patch level), play the game to make sure it's working. Then add the EPs as desired, they don't need to be put in all at once unless the player wants it that way. Finally, if intending to stay on 1.67, Super Patch at the very end before playing again. If on 1.69, there is no Super Patching as Origin manages things like that by itself. Forcing the Super Patch to run on a 1.69 Origin for Windows managed game will break the install -- this is kind of a new thing as of Jan 2016.
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    • dramagirl123dramagirl123 Posts: 14 New Member
      Hello, So my sims 3 game has been running super slowly and lagging, making it impossible to play the game. I've tried almost everything to solve this problem. Including deleting my folders from my electronic arts folder, and starting the game over, checking and getting rid of virus on my computer, updating my computer, nothing works. I also noticed that when I launch the game it slows down my computer as well unless I restart my computer. I'm thinking the only solution is to uninstall the game and then reinstall it, but if anyone has another suggestion, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks guys
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      @dramagirl123 Before going through the more drastic step of uninstalling and reinstalling TS3 entirely, there may be some intermediate steps you can take. But how to proceed will depend in part on the specs of your computer. Please provide those, as described here:

      https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p/4756624#M4

      Since you posted in the mac section, I'm assuming you're on a mac, but if not, please list your specs anyway. It would also be good to know which packs you have installed.
    • dramagirl123dramagirl123 Posts: 14 New Member
      so I have a mac book pro mid 2012, 1 TB of storage. When it comes to the sims 3 I have all the expansion expect for pets, island adventures, and into the future. I don't have any stuff packs and nothing from the sims store. I have about 15 mods, but I don't think their the problem personally cause I've had the same ones for about 5 years and this problem is super recent, but just in case, I have master controller, woohooer, portrait panel, and a few others that I forgot the names of haha.
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      edited October 2018
      @dramagirl123 The reason I asked for all of your specs, not just what you listed, is because some macs come with dedicated graphics cards and others do not. Even if your macbook pro was stock (not upgraded), there are two different models it could be, and only one of them came with a dedicated card. Either way, your laptop might struggle with Seasons, but there's a big difference between the performance of an Intel 4000 and an Nvidia 650M.

      Since we're talking specs, how much free storage do you have? You can check under About This Mac > Storage.

      The other question is in which worlds you're playing. Does the game run better in a clean folder, with only NRaas mods present, in a well-made EA world like Sunset Valley? Or are the problems present no matter where you play?

      Finally, if you do have a dedicated card, it's worth checking to make sure the game is using that and not the integrated one. You can copy and past the first 40 or so lines of your deviceconfig here; delete your machine and usernames if you like, but include everything else up to where the game options start.
    • dramagirl123dramagirl123 Posts: 14 New Member
      oh okay I got it. I have about 549 GB available. And for the most part it ran fine with my mods both NRass and non NRass mods, and my expansions. I've had them for almost 3 years, and only recently been having problems like this. Also what is a dedicated card?
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      @dramagirl123 Computer processors come with graphics chips integrated into them. These cards are generally weak and don't run even moderately demanding games like TS3 very well. A dedicated graphics card is a separate piece of hardware that has its own video memory and is built to handle the demands of gaming. (To what extent will depend on the make and model of the card.) TS3's most demanding packs really do require a strong dedicated card to run well, although some of the slightly weaker variants will be okay as long as you make some adjustments to your graphics settings and playstyle.

      Please post the first 40 lines of your deviceconfig, as described above, and the overall specs of your computer, as described here:

      https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p/4756624#M4
    • dramagirl123dramagirl123 Posts: 14 New Member
      2.9 GHZ, intel core i7, 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB,
    • dramagirl123dramagirl123 Posts: 14 New Member
      and sorry if it sounds like i'm a idiot but where would I find the deviceconfig, I'm not super tech savey and have actually never heard of that before. Thanks for all the help by the way
    • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
      edited October 2018
      Alright, so it looks like you have the 13" model (macbook pro 9,2), which has no dedicated card. (This makes finding the deviceconfig mostly pointless, although for future reference it will be in your game folder in Documents.) The built-in Intel 4000 will struggle mightily with Seasons, particularly snow and hail. Do you have more issues when your game has inclement weather? I'm also interested in the answer to my previous question about how a new save runs with only NRaas mods and in a well-made world like Sunset Valley.

      The other point to make is that TS3 for mac can only use up to 2 GB RAM at a time, no matter how much you have installed. Depending on your playstyle and the worlds you prefer, it's easy to come close to the RAM limit almost as soon as you load the game, especially with so many EPs in play. You can monitor memory use in the Task Manager and purge RAM via Terminal, but this only helps a little bit. The only thing to do when you're close to the game's RAM limit is to quit to desktop (not to the Main Menu) and reload.

      https://bluebellflora.com/resetting-ram-during-gameplay/

      It should also be noted that while most NRaas mods end up lowering the game's RAM use by cleaning up errors and glitches, StoryProgression will actually add significantly to overhead. If you have SP installed, you might try removing it, especially when testing a new game.

      The other possibility is that your laptop is wearing out and is struggling to run TS3 as well as it did before. This is why I keep asking how well a new save plays in SV (or Riverview, or Twinbrook). If it runs well, then this becomes an issue of keeping demands down in your existing saves. If not, then you might need to lower your graphics and take other steps to protect your system. But it's also possible that your computer might not be able to handle the game at all any more. After all, it is six years old, and laptops aren't really built to last much longer than that.
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