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Old Sims3 Games Keep Blowing Up

As in crashing, without warning.

I thought it was my Sims themselves that may be causing the problem, as they are the original Sims I first starting playing from the beginning - eight years ago. Then I got a new computer with Win 10; Sims 3 installed and ran fine, but after all these years, I concluded my original Sims were just too corrupt to continue playing. So I decided to revisit old saves from years ago, as in 2012 - before Seasons and Supernatural were released. I noticed the redraw time was far less on the old games, so I figured great, I'll just play these again - relive old times. Nope. A simple trip to the public pool or even just doing some redecorating in edit mode and the game crashes, without warning. This is back when I did not have more than 8 Sims per household. I know I could try creating my Sims all over again and see what happens, but I'd rather not go through that. And with no hint of Sims 5 in the near future, I'm worried I may have to return to games like Doom or Wolfenstein. They're good games, but I prefer Sims 3.

Computer stats: 16GM RAM; Intel Core i7-800 CPU; 3.2 GHz Processor

Comments

  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    What does your newer computer have for a graphics card? Have you taken the steps to cap its frame rates and check the actual fps rates you are getting in game with the fps on cheat code? Remember that being an older game, TS3 has no functional built-in fps limiter.

    Do you have/still have NRaas mods designed to preserve game performance in play, most notably being Overwatch, ErrorTrap, Register, and Traffic? Does a MasterController Reset Everything run from the City Hall MC > Town menu help at all?

    If it's not any of these things, I would ask how the game plays if you were to transplant one of your older households to a new game by way of the household bin.
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  • Jed_Bartlet_02Jed_Bartlet_02 Posts: 425 Member
    NRass mods - absolutely. Wouldn't run Sims without them. And I did do a reset everything - it didn't help.

    Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Had not considered the fps rate, you might have to give me a little more detail here.

    I have been contemplating transporting the household to a new game, I was just hoping to avoid that.

  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    To see the actual frame rates you are getting 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, including in Build/Buy, the fps should never wander above the refresh rate of your monitor. Most are 60 Hz, so that's 60 fps, some can run a bit higher. To make the display go away, cheats console again and type fps off (enter).

    The usual tool to start with is the built-in Nvidia Control Panel. There needs to be a profile set up for TS3.exe (for Patch 1.69) or TS3w.exe (with the "w" for 1.67), Vertical Sync On or Adaptive (whichever one works). Vertical Sync only works in full screen mode. If that's not enough to lock things in or if windowed mode is required, then we add Nvidia Inspector, which is a separate download, and for TS3 explicitly set the Frame Rate Limit to 60 (or whatever the refresh rate of the monitor is). See this post, under the spoilers, for illustrations.
    https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16365571/#Comment_16365571
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  • Jed_Bartlet_02Jed_Bartlet_02 Posts: 425 Member
    Started a brand new game with my original family from the library with a blank slate - no memories, no skills, no LTRs, etc. Was able to save once, did a couple of Outfit changes and skill changes (Using Nraas Master Controller) then tried to save and BOOM! Error 12 and crash. The game file was only around 50 MB. I tried the fps on and I hope I'm losing my mind, because the fps rate ranged anywhere from a low of 30 to as high as 400. The monitor is a 60hz. Is a high fps rate normal? I don't even have very high settings in Sims 3. The problem is definitely WIN 10.

    I started a new game on WIN 7 with the same original family and had no problems, but the fps rate on that went as high as 700. How is this possible? I really don't want to have to go back to WIN 7 because I don't know how long the computer will last - it's 7 years old and has already gone through a graphics card and a mother board, so it's on borrowed time.

    I did the thing with the Nvidia Control Panel vertical sync and am about to try yet another game but I have a sinking feeling it will blow up.
  • igazorigazor Posts: 19,330 Member
    edited November 2019
    I'm very sorry, but I've already answered these questions just above. Win 10 vs. Win 7 has nothing to do with this directly. :/

    Let's take it from the top. TS3 has no functional built-in fps limiter. It was developed and released in 2008-09 when most (not all) home consumer range graphics cards would not even be capable of throwing frame rates that are too high and Intel or low-range AMD integrated graphics chips never would, so in the beginning it wasn't an issue for most players. Time has passed and that has changed.

    Your monitor is 60 Hz as most are these days (some can run a bit higher like 75 or 144, but not 400 or 700). When the graphics card throws frame rates that are higher than 60, your monitor cannot possibly interpret them and they become the equivalent of digital noise. If you allow the game to run with wildly fluctuating fps rates on either system and those running into the middle or high hundreds or beyond, the symptoms become lag, screen tears, graphics glitches, crashing, and eventually high pitched metal coil whining noises coming from the area of the GPU. Eventually that can lead to a burned out graphics card and system board or other forms of permanent damage which may actually be at least part of what happened with your now older system. This is why capping the fps in not optional on any system that is capable of throwing such high frame rates.

    Fluctuations below 60 fps, going down to 30 and back up again, are normal especially as complicated scenes render. In the WA tombs I've had my fps go as low as 10 and then recover because some of those tomb rooms are very intricate and complicated. But at the higher end things do need to be capped at 60. This is also why we always recommend keeping the High Detail Lots setting in the Game Options set to no higher than 2 on just about any system.

    If vertical sync isn't locking things in, then as said we move onto the next tool which is Nvidia Inspector in your case and for TS3 set it to explicitly cap the frame rate to 60 or as close as it will let you get (59 or 61 would be okay too). The explicit frame rate limit setting is in Section 2, under the button in the center next to the driver version that looks like a green object or a toolkit.

    https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/nvidia-profile-inspector-download.html
    (the real download links are 2/3 of the way down the page, ignore anything showing in the upper right corner if you have no ad blocker as those might be rogue advertising links)

    Vertical sync on the Nvidia Control Panel alone will work for some players, not for others, and it never works in windowed mode as it's meant for full screen only. Adding in the Inspector setting should take care of both.
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  • KarritzKarritz Posts: 21,908 Member
    I haven't read everything carefully here - I'm really tired and about to turn the computer off.

    Just a thought though. I often play with old sims and old games. Often from as far back as June 2009. The games were usually originally abandoned by me due to corruption I couldn't do anything about at the time. I find if I use NRAAS Master Controller Reset Sim or Reset Lot I have no further issues with them.
  • rubyskywalkerrubyskywalker Posts: 1,174 Member
    igazor wrote: »
    Your monitor is 60 Hz as most are these days (some can run a bit higher like 75 or 144, but not 400 or 700). When the graphics card throws frame rates that are higher than 60, your monitor cannot possibly interpret them and they become the equivalent of digital noise. If you allow the game to run with wildly fluctuating fps rates on either system and those running into the middle or high hundreds or beyond, the symptoms become lag, screen tears, graphics glitches, crashing, and eventually high pitched metal coil whining noises coming from the area of the GPU. Eventually that can lead to a burned out graphics card and system board or other forms of permanent damage which may actually be at least part of what happened with your now older system. This is why capping the fps in not optional on any system that is capable of throwing such high frame rates.

    I can't help but wonder if that's what caused my computer problems now. My graphics card did give out not too long ago. I'll keep the Inspector in mind for new computer...
    Origin ID and TS3 Username: DollyGizzy
    Hoping to complete the Brunch at the Old Mill set for CYS. 16 items left.
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