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- The Sims 4 help, troubleshooting & BUG Thread -

BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
The aim of this thread is to:
  1. Provide basic troubleshooting steps you can take yourself to resolve problems with your game without having to post on the forums asking for help.
  2. Provide helpful links regarding general gameplay, graphics and CC/Mods
  3. Make users aware of general game bugs which affect both Mac and Windows users.
  4. Report Mac specific issues

Basic troubleshooting steps:
  • The very first thing you should try when experiencing problems, especially crashing ones or the game not loading, is to move your Sims 4 folder out onto your desktop and let the game generate a new one (just like in The Sims 3). You can find the folder in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4. If your game then works ok the problem was in your user data (most causes for this are incompatible or conflicting CC/Mods). Now you have a nice, new, clean user data folder you can try adding your old data back into the game gradually, testing after each addition. For example, copy your saves from your old The Sims 4 folder into the new one. If your game once again doesn't perform properly then you know that there is a problem somewhere in your saves, one or more may be corrupted. For more information on Saves read this.
  • Try repairing your game. Open Origin, go to My Games, right click on The Sims 4 image and select Repair Game.
  • Disable Origin in Game. Open Origin, navigate to the The Sims 4 image in My Games, right click on the game and select Game Properties. Make sure Disable Origin in Game for this game is ticked.
  • The cheat console can be opened by holding down CTRL, Shift and C together. If this is not working for you check your keyboard configuration in System Preferences, have you changed it in the past? Have you changed something in System Preferences > Accessibility > Keyboard? Have you changed the Modifier keys? The cheat console is coded into the game, there is no reason why it shouldn't work unless the user has changed some settings or has software installed which may be conflicting with the keyboard settings. Check whether your CTRL key is faulty or broken. If all else fails, try plugging in or bluetoothing another keyboard to your Mac.
  • If you have Origin open but your game won't load, quit Origin then try launching the game again from the Sims 4 icon in your Applications folder.
If your game still isn't working after trying those recommendations and you would like some help, PLEASE post the following information (examples in brackets). It is unfair to expect anyone to help you if you do not take the time to post the information we need to work out what the problem may be. Please also take the time to click on threads that people link to that may help you. A lot of time and effort is spent on compiling information and most of the time your problem will already have been reported and answered, whether there is a solution or not. To find the info about your Mac click on the Apple icon, top left of your desktop then select About This Mac:
  • Mac model (mid-2012 15" non-Retina MacBook Pro)
  • Processor (2.6 GHz Intel Core i7)
  • Memory (16Gb RAM)
  • Graphics (Intel HD 4000 1Gb/NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1Gb)
  • Operating System (OS X Yosemite 10.10.5)
  • Official EA EPs/SPs/GPs installed (Get To Work, Outdoor Retreat, Spa Day, Luxury Party Stuff, Perfect Patio Stuff, Cool Kitchen Stuff)
  • Do you have antivirus or clean up apps installed? If so what are they? (Sophos, AVG, MacKeeper, SimpleCleaner)
  • Are you running any background tasks? If so, what are they? (Time Machine, Dropbox, Memory Clean)
  • Do you have any CC/mods installed?

General Gameplay tips:
  • If you want to copy your save games into a new game installation navigate to Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 and copy your saves folder onto a USB stick. You can then place this folder into the Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 folder on your Mac, replacing any saves folder you already have in there that you do not want. Only copy over the saves folder, not the whole Sims 4 folder. You can also move over the Tray folder if you want to keep the Lots/Sims you've saved to your Library.
  • The best place to find game tips, such as keyboard controls and a general Q&A is Simsocity's help thread. You can find it stickied here.
  • If you haven't yet installed The Sims 4 in OS X, and want to know if your Mac can handle it, please read this thread.
  • Want to know how well the game can perform on your Mac? It's all about the graphics card. Read this thread to get an idea of how well you will be able to play.
  • If you want to stop your game from storing all the little thumbnail images from the Gallery you can use Automator to write a simple script to automatically delete them.
  • If you play on two or more Macs, and want the same save game on all of them, you can use a file sharing site and MacDropAny to sync your saves automatically

Graphics related threads
CC & Mods
Origin
For any issues regarding Origin (downloading, installing, connectivity etc.) please try the recommendations in this thread at AHQ.

General game bugs affecting Mac and Windows users:
  • The most comprehensive bug list is Crinrict's bug thread over at EA's Answer HQ. She regularly updates it and has more knowledge of game bugs than probably anyone else.
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Post edited by BluebellFlora on

Comments

  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    edited November 2017
    Mac specific bugs
    Outstanding as of 11th November 2017
    1. Greyed out and opaque windows - please post on this thread if you are experiencing this.
    2. Multiple displays not configuring properly in game - When one or more external displays are hooked up to the Mac the game can appear in a random display.
    3. UI controls are missing or distorted - this is an intermittent problem but can be reproduced. Playing in windowed mode seems to fix the issue, also toggling edge smoothing settings can sometimes fix it.
    4. The Sims 4 does not work on Macs running macOS El Capitan 10.11 and Sierra 10.12 with certain NVIDIA graphics cards. Graphics distort and generally glitch very badly. This can possibly be fixed by updating your NVIDIA drivers manually. More details here - http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/14675024/#Comment_14675024
    5. Photos taken in game are black - this is affecting users with Retina Macs since the October '16 patch, 1.24. For now disable the retina setting in Game Options.
    6. CAS cursor glitching and not working properly - please read and post information requested on the ongoing thread at AHQ here

    Mac specific CC bugs
    • Shiny, glowing Sims - Some CC makes the Sims look like they have oily/shiny/glowing skin. More details in this thread. Contact the CC creator to make them aware. The only solution is to remove the CC. No specific CC has yet been identified.

    Cats and Dogs EP Mac bugs
    • Glitched fur texture on cat - this is caused by a specific cat collar. Change the cat's collar to fix.

    Fixed Mac bugs
    • The Sims 4 is not compatible with macOS El Capitan 10.11.1 Build 15B17c and subsequent beta releases - when trying to launch the game it crashes. Either roll back to the GM candidate via the App Store, install the final release, again through the App Store, or try 30Jon's fix here.
    • Edge scrolling - not properly compatible with macOS' full screen mode. When scrolling to the edge of the screen the Finder menu bar is showing. A work around for now is to turn off edge scrolling, using the arrow keys instead to move around the screen. Playing in Windowed Mode also fixes this issue.
    Post edited by BluebellFlora on
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  • stilljustme2stilljustme2 Posts: 25,082 Member
    edited February 2015
    Hi @BluebellFlora -- great to see you here to support us wonderful Mac folks!

    Just ran into first sort of minor issue; when I moved my household camera was sluggish to non-responsive. It would move a little bit, then I'd get a brief spinning beach ball, then move a bit, spinning beach ball, etc. I'm playing an existing save that I brought over from my Boot Camp partition; it's got a bunch of achievements that I really don't want to have to repeat.

    Specs:
    iMac (21.5 inch, mid 2011)
    2.7 GHz Intel Core i5
    16GB RAM
    AMD Radeon HD 6770M 512 MB
    OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

    Official EA DLC: Outdoor Retreat, Holiday Celebration Pack, Up All Night, Animal Hats

    Background apps running: Safari, Origin, Dropbox (probably), Growl, SteelSeries Engine (for Sims 4 Mouse)

    Anti-virus: Intego Virus Barrier

    No CC, but several mods which are all up to date.

    Addendum: just remembered that when I looked at the graphics options, the game defaulted to Medium; I changed them to High because I'd been able to run on High under Windows 7 with no issues. Maybe I should go back to Medium?

    Check out my Gallery! Origin ID: justme22
    Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    @stilljustme2 hey :)

    According to the GraphicsCard.sgr yes, you should be on Medium - how does it perform?
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  • stilljustme2stilljustme2 Posts: 25,082 Member
    edited February 2015
    Okay, I'll switch back to Medium and see how it does -- other than the issue with the spinning beach ball it was doing great. Fortunately I hadn't played that long -- just have to go back to manage households and move in another household member again; my baby daddy Sim had a child with a Sim who aged up and I don't want the kid to disappear when his mom dies. :\

    EDIT: Aaaaand now it crashes when I try to play. :s:'(

    EDIT 2: Crashing issue solved; removed Mods folder and repaired game. Have reduced graphics to Medium. Now I'm going to re-download a few of the mods and see if I can keep playing (I'll just have to decide which ones are essential and which ones aren't).
    Post edited by stilljustme2 on
    Check out my Gallery! Origin ID: justme22
    Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
  • MithriadMithriad Posts: 2 New Member
    TS4 crashing on my iMac. The window launches from Origin, then crashes. Anyone else?

    SPECS: (computer should play this game no problem)

    Processor: 3.5 GHz Intel Core i7
    Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
    Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4096 MB
    Storage: 3TB Fusion Drive

    I can post the crash report if that makes a difference.
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    edited February 2015
    Just loaded my game, it's horribly laggy at times. Opened Console to have a look at the log files, it's burning up the CPU. This is nothing new really because Cider did the exact same thing but I would have expected better as it's native (Simcity isn't behaving like this). Lowering my graphics makes no difference.

    I don't have any mods or CC, purely vanilla. Going to keep tinkering around with it and see how it behaves.

    Anyone figured out how to tilt the camera yet? I've changed the settings to Sims 3 controls but CTRL +S/W isn't working. I can twiddle my fingers round on the trackpad though to spin the camera round, that's pretty cool :)

    Edit - figured out the tilt control. Hold down CTRL then right click (two fingers) and swipe up and down on the trackpad.
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  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Mithriad wrote: »
    TS4 crashing on my iMac. The window launches from Origin, then crashes. Anyone else?

    SPECS: (computer should play this game no problem)

    Processor: 3.5 GHz Intel Core i7
    Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
    Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M 4096 MB
    Storage: 3TB Fusion Drive

    I can post the crash report if that makes a difference.

    Try opening the game this way:

    Open Applications then right click on The Sims 4 icon and select Show Package Contents. Now navigate to:

    Contents > Mac OS

    then double click on The Sims 4. A Terminal window should open to launch Origin, then the game, automatically.

    What happens?

    Also, please can you state what other stuff is running as mentioned in the opening post?
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  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Okay, I'll switch back to Medium and see how it does -- other than the issue with the spinning beach ball it was doing great. Fortunately I hadn't played that long -- just have to go back to manage households and move in another household member again; my baby daddy Sim had a child with a Sim who aged up and I don't want the kid to disappear when his mom dies. :\

    EDIT: Aaaaand now it crashes when I try to play. :s:'(

    EDIT 2: Crashing issue solved; removed Mods folder and repaired game. Have reduced graphics to Medium. Now I'm going to re-download a few of the mods and see if I can keep playing (I'll just have to decide which ones are essential and which ones aren't).

    Hope it behaves :D

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  • stilljustme2stilljustme2 Posts: 25,082 Member
    Just loaded my game, it's horribly laggy at times. Opened Console to have a look at the log files, it's burning up the CPU. This is nothing new really because Cider did the exact same thing but I would have expected better as it's native (Simcity isn't behaving like this). Lowering my graphics makes no difference.

    I don't have any mods or CC, purely vanilla. Going to keep tinkering around with it and see how it behaves.

    Anyone figured out how to tilt the camera yet? I've changed the settings to Sims 3 controls but CTRL +S/W isn't working. I can twiddle my fingers round on the trackpad though to spin the camera round, that's pretty cool :)

    Edit - figured out the tilt control. Hold down CTRL then right click (two fingers) and swipe up and down on the trackpad.

    I know you can tilt the camera up/down in Build/Buy mode with the T key -- haven't figured how to do it with the mouse. I have the Steelseries Sims 4 mouse so I might have to play around with it and see if I can program it for an automatic tilt function.
    Check out my Gallery! Origin ID: justme22
    Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    @stilljustme2 LOVE your picture :D:D
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  • stilljustme2stilljustme2 Posts: 25,082 Member
    @stilljustme2 LOVE your picture :D:D

    I changed it when they announced the release date for Mac Sims 4. My Mac will be very happy to get the stupid Windows 7 partition off of it once I'm sure I can actually play on the Mac side without crashing every time I try to play. :|

    Check out my Gallery! Origin ID: justme22
    Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
  • crinrictcrinrict Posts: 18,771 Member
    Crinrict's Help Blogs -- Twitter
    Please do not send me PMs/post on my wall if you're looking for help. I can't attend to those. You can find me at AnswerHQ.
    How to report bugs at AnswersHQ
    AHQ Tutorial

  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    crinrict wrote: »

    Hmm, would be interesting to know what graphics cards they have. It looks like most Mac ones from the last 7 years are supported but the Intel HD cards should be on low/medium.
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  • crinrictcrinrict Posts: 18,771 Member
    I'll ask what they have
    Crinrict's Help Blogs -- Twitter
    Please do not send me PMs/post on my wall if you're looking for help. I can't attend to those. You can find me at AnswerHQ.
    How to report bugs at AnswersHQ
    AHQ Tutorial

  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    @crinrict I just replied on that thread :)
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  • stilljustme2stilljustme2 Posts: 25,082 Member
    I think I tracked down my crashing problems -- seems to be more with script mods, even with the enable script mods box in options ticked on. Unfortunately three of my favorite mods fall into that category, but I can work around them by using TwistedMexi's cheat codes (better go write those down). The tuning mods all seem to be okay. Might try another solution -- wonder if they'd work if I unzipped the file and put the unzipped folder in the mods folder (you're not supposed to unzip them but I just wonder if that might work on the Mac side). I'll post the problem at MTS and see if there are any solutions.
    Check out my Gallery! Origin ID: justme22
    Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Thanks so much for the info and updates @stilljustme2. I'm really not into Mods so your knowledge is invaluable. I'm going to add the CC and Mods thread you're commenting on in the Help post :)
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  • XalerichXalerich Posts: 8 New Member
    Hi! I seem to have this problem. I launched my game for the first time after its download and it seemed to be working fine. I launched it so I would be able to exit the game and switch over my saves from my bootcamp, but before I closed the game I switched the settings over to a medium-highish setting because my computer was able to handle it fairly well on the bootcamp side. But now when I try to relaunch the game all the graphics freak out and my computer either crashes, or I Force Quit and the display goes all crazy on me. I'm uninstalling and reinstalling now but I was just curious to see whether or not any one would have an idea why it would do that. I figured it was most likely because I raised the graphics to those levels, but I love to hear other's input on the situation! Thank you!

    Here are my specs:
    Mac model (mid-2012 13" non-Retina MacBook Pro)
    Processor (2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 turbo boost to 3.1)
    Memory (4Gb RAM)
    Graphics (Intel HD 4000 1024MB-approx 1GB)
    Operating System (OS X Yosemite 10.10.2)
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Xalerich wrote: »
    Hi! I seem to have this problem. I launched my game for the first time after its download and it seemed to be working fine. I launched it so I would be able to exit the game and switch over my saves from my bootcamp, but before I closed the game I switched the settings over to a medium-highish setting because my computer was able to handle it fairly well on the bootcamp side. But now when I try to relaunch the game all the graphics freak out and my computer either crashes, or I Force Quit and the display goes all crazy on me. I'm uninstalling and reinstalling now but I was just curious to see whether or not any one would have an idea why it would do that. I figured it was most likely because I raised the graphics to those levels, but I love to hear other's input on the situation! Thank you!

    Here are my specs:
    Mac model (mid-2012 13" non-Retina MacBook Pro)
    Processor (2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 turbo boost to 3.1)
    Memory (4Gb RAM)
    Graphics (Intel HD 4000 1024MB-approx 1GB)
    Operating System (OS X Yosemite 10.10.2)

    People are reporting the same issue over on Answers HQ with the Intel HD 4000 graphics. I'm still going through the GraphicsCards.sgr file but after a quick glance it looks like the Intel HD 3000 and Intel HD 4000 aren't officially supported in OS X.
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  • stilljustme2stilljustme2 Posts: 25,082 Member
    Thanks so much for the info and updates @stilljustme2. I'm really not into Mods so your knowledge is invaluable. I'm going to add the CC and Mods thread you're commenting on in the Help post :)

    I've got the bad mods (gets out whip -- "Bad Mods! Bad! Bad!" >:) ) in a separate folder on the desktop; hope I can find a solution soon. It's going to get tiresome using testingcheats so often again. :\
    Check out my Gallery! Origin ID: justme22
    Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
  • XalerichXalerich Posts: 8 New Member
    edited February 2015
    @BluebellFlora
    Thank you so much I truly appreciate your hard work!
  • stilljustme2stilljustme2 Posts: 25,082 Member
    Xalerich wrote: »
    Hi! I seem to have this problem. I launched my game for the first time after its download and it seemed to be working fine. I launched it so I would be able to exit the game and switch over my saves from my bootcamp, but before I closed the game I switched the settings over to a medium-highish setting because my computer was able to handle it fairly well on the bootcamp side. But now when I try to relaunch the game all the graphics freak out and my computer either crashes, or I Force Quit and the display goes all crazy on me. I'm uninstalling and reinstalling now but I was just curious to see whether or not any one would have an idea why it would do that. I figured it was most likely because I raised the graphics to those levels, but I love to hear other's input on the situation! Thank you!

    Here are my specs:
    Mac model (mid-2012 13" non-Retina MacBook Pro)
    Processor (2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 turbo boost to 3.1)
    Memory (4Gb RAM)
    Graphics (Intel HD 4000 1024MB-approx 1GB)
    Operating System (OS X Yosemite 10.10.2)

    Graphic specs for Mac seem to be different than Windows; I was on High on my Windows 7 partition but the install defaulted to Medium, then when I changed to High I kept running into hangups (spinning beach ball) when trying to zoom in on a house to furnish it. I think it's best to stick with what the install comes up with.
    Check out my Gallery! Origin ID: justme22
    Fun must be always -- Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks hockey player)
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Xalerich wrote: »
    @BluebellFlora
    Thank you so much I truly appreciate your hard work!

    You're welcome :)

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  • tocool123tocool123 Posts: 7 New Member
    So I just downloaded Sims 4 on Mac. When it finished downloading I went into CAS and I couldn't see any of the clothing or hair color. I could only see little grains of color. I tried changing the graphics settings but nothing worked. Any help is appreciated.
  • stewielover1992stewielover1992 Posts: 308 Member
    Is it normal for my whole computer to slow down and lag while playing in full screen mode? When I play in windowed mode my computer doesn't lag. I don't know if it's normal since I don't normally play games on my mac side. I didn't have that problem in bootcamp.

    My specs
    Model: late 2013 15-inch retina macbook pro
    Processor: 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7
    Memory: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
    Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750M 2GB
    Storage: 500 GB flash storage
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