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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 24th Jan 2014 at 4:21 AM Last edited by ladybarefeet : 24th Jan 2014 at 5:06 AM.

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, Island Paradise, Into the Future
Default Understanding how to optimize my PC for SIMS 3...
My big gripe right now is Error Code 12. I have tried increasing my Page File size to 7gb. Whopping, I know. I have tried removing cache files. I have tried deleting all memories using Twallans Master Controller app. I suspect the problem is that my town is overpopulated and maybe the save file is getting too big? Perhaps?

My city is Union Cove, I moved here using NRAAS PORTER to escape Code 12 in Starlight Shores, the code followed me.
My nhd save file is currently 146,246kb. Is that ridiculously large?
The Travel DB package file is 692718
The Union Cove Seasons exportDB package is 590 KB.

I tested my system by going to Dragon Valley, creating Sims to drop into the town. It ran like a dream and save times were short. No Code 12, thats why i think my file size is just too large and there wont be ANYTHING I can do to save my Union Cove game. Alas, I am hopeful. I have 3 generations of SIMS my kids and I have played and we want to continue. We think its great to watch Story Progression do silly things with our crazy family members when we are in different households. The game would be boring if we all had to stick to our own neighborhood.

With that said, my PC is great, in my opinion. I am on WINDOWS 8. I am not on 8.1- I am avoiding 8.1 because my work programs arent yet compatible, it would make my real life job difficult. But remember, the game ran perfect in Dragon Valley so I dont think the lack of the 8.1 update is an issue.
My Processor is an AMD 6 core processor, 3.50 GHz. I have a 64 bit Is. I have 10 GB or RAM. Currently my Paging file is set a total of 7120 for all drives (whatEVER that means). SIMS 3 has been added to the DEP, every single expansion.

Here is the info specifically how ya asked for it from Dx Diag:

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 1/23/2014, 20:13:39
Machine name: MOMS
Operating System: Windows 8 64-bit (6.2, Build 9200) (9200.win8_gdr.130531-1504)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: h8-1414
BIOS: v8.08
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-6120 Six-Core Processor (6 CPUs), ~3.5GHz
Memory: 10240MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 10030MB RAM
Page File: 6293MB used, 10855MB available
Windows Dir: C:\windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.02.9200.16384 64bit Unicode
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650 Ti
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GTX 650 Ti
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Type: Full Device
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_11C6&SUBSYS_30593842&REV_A1
Display Memory: 4042 MB
Dedicated Memory: 1994 MB
Shared Memory: 2047 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: HP 2311xi IPS LED Backlit Monitor
Monitor Model: HP 2311xi
Monitor Id: HWP301B
Native Mode: 1920 x 1080(p) (60.000Hz)
Output Type: DVI
Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
Driver File Version: 9.18.0013.1106 (English)
Driver Version: 9.18.13.1106
DDI Version: 11
Feature Levels: 11.0,10.1,10.0,9.3,9.2,9.1
Driver Model: WDDM 1.2
Graphics Preemption: DMA
Compute Preemption: DMA
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 2/25/2013 23:32:38, 18055184 bytes
______________________________________________________
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: Speakers / Headphones (IDT High Definition Audio CODEC)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_111D&DEV_76C7&SUBSYS_103C2AC8&REV_1001
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: stwrt64.sys
Driver Version: 6.10.6418.0000 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 8/10/2012 00:34:52, 540160 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: IDT
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
Description: Stereo Mix (IDT High Definition Audio CODEC)
Default Sound Capture: Yes
Default Voice Capture: Yes
Driver Name: stwrt64.sys
Driver Version: 6.10.6418.0000 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Date and Size: 8/10/2012 00:34:52, 540160 bytes
Cap Flags: 0x1
Format Flags: 0xFFFFF
_____________________________________________________
Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives
------------------------
Drive: C:
Free Space: 220.8 GB
Total Space: 931.9 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD10EZEX-60ZF5A0 SCSI Disk Device

Drive: D:
Free Space: 2.5 GB
Total Space: 20.2 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD10EZEX-60ZF5A0 SCSI Disk Device

Drive: J:
Free Space: 543.8 GB
Total Space: 953.8 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WD My Passport 0730 USB Device

Drive: E:
Model: hp DVD A DH16ACSHR SCSI CdRom Device
Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.02.9200.16384 (English), 7/25/2012 18:26:36, 174080 bytes
_______________________________________________________________________________________________

I use digital SIMS, no CD, its all through ORIGIN.

So, is there ANYTHING I can do to be able to play our Union Cove game with our 8 households and 3 generations of family? Or is it pretty much at capacity? WHY Is the save file so dang big? Can I make it smaller? I am going to delete alot of the families that came in Union Cove, and that way there will be less people in the town, might help.
Shouldnt my PC be GOOD ENOUGH to save a large Sims file? Maybe SIms isnt good enough and its not my pc at all?

**Also I have SOME trouble with crashing randomly. Usually while in edit town mode, but its not ALWAYS in edit town mode. It just says the game stopped working. I do have the crash log analyzer tool and when it does capture the crash, it says its probably memory related.
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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#2 Old 24th Jan 2014 at 7:06 AM
Ugh, just crashed again. The crash log tells me to try to reduce memory by lowering settings. Maybe it means the in game, graphics options. But, when I do that, the hair goes half bald on some sims.
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#3 Old 24th Jan 2014 at 12:19 PM
How often do you save? Usually error code 12 is caused by lack of memory, but that doesn't seem to be your problem . Your save files are big, but not unreasonably so for TS3. So the best option may be to just save regularly, as that reduces the incidence of error 12s - you may want to try using twallan's Saver mod to remind you to save every x minutes.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#4 Old 25th Jan 2014 at 1:50 AM
I would have to save every 3 minutes and it takes average of 7 minutes to save.
What I did yesterday was DL S3PE and open up my save file and delete all SNAP filed from one and all IMG files from another. This made the save file much smaller. I haven't gotten error code 12 yet since then but I've only played a few times and saved about 6 times.

I have, however, had sims crash and simply stop working on me each season. Every time I play right now, that's how the session ends, by crash.

And my gratis have been taking longer to load, they're staying white for quite awhile. Maybe due to me having deleted all the games snap and image files not sure.

So now idk if code 12 is fixed or not because I'm saving often and game ends by crash. I'm know more in a few hours about code 12 if I can prevent the game from crashing long enough to find out.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#5 Old 25th Jan 2014 at 10:27 PM
Nope. Not fixed. Neither problem is fixed. Ugh. All this work and we still can't play this game in peace. We never know when it's going to just crash out or decide not to let us save. What kind of game IS this with all these problems
I'm going to save all my sims & houses to the bin I guess and try to manually drop them into a new Union Cove game. Maybe using nraas Porter to move the family contributed to the bugginess.

What hell to go through to play a game with your kids.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#6 Old 27th Jan 2014 at 6:33 AM
Tried a new town, dropped my people from the bin into the new town.... first save was fine, second save was Error Code 12. I about freaked.

I guess since I am not getting participation from this thread, most people have just hung their hat to Error Code 12 and accept it as fatal to the relationship between my computer and the game. I have tried everything, my PC has all of the memory it needs. All I can think is that SIMS for some reason isnt being granted access to the memory it needs. And that is just too techy for me, I have no idea what channels it goes through to gain access to the RAM it needs in order to save. I've added SIMS 3 and all EPs to DEP and I've even increased my virtual memory from an already plentiful amount.

This seems to me like its NOT a memory related issue.

I just tried to run a game with no CC (I only have 3 or 4 sims from the exchange, not much CC) and when I attempted to load it with no CC it froze up my PC and went black with a white frame placed wonky on top of a black screen, and the task manager was unable to come up to force the program to end. I had to reboot... was ready to see smoke come out my PC.

The ONLY Reason I am still messing with this is sheer determination to solve the mystery and win.
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#7 Old 27th Jan 2014 at 10:22 AM
Why would you have to save every 3 minutes?

What else are you running in the background while you play TS3?

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#8 Old 27th Jan 2014 at 11:37 PM
I run nothing else in the background. I save every time I make a significant change, like in the buy or build mode, after I set an outfit, idk... anything I wouldnt want to have to do over. Right now I've had to have my sim give birth to the same child 3 times so far due to crashing and code 12 errors. I cant save often enough to end the problem.

What I've learned is that there is a memory leak somewhere. As soon as my game loads The sims is already using up more resources than it should be, I had a guy over at Nraas helping me. We are looking at the resource monitor vie the task manager to see at what point my game will spike up.

I am on Windows 8. I play SIMS 4 on a Surface Pro 4. I love it, runs beautifully.
I miss Sims 3, but not Error Code 12. Good Riddance.
I'm a football mom & play Sims with my little ones. I build, they wreck.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#9 Old 27th Jan 2014 at 11:38 PM
I should rephrase, we've determined that the size of my game is not causing this, nor is it anything to do with DEP or my video card. Its likely an item or corrupt skill causing the problem.

I am on Windows 8. I play SIMS 4 on a Surface Pro 4. I love it, runs beautifully.
I miss Sims 3, but not Error Code 12. Good Riddance.
I'm a football mom & play Sims with my little ones. I build, they wreck.
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#10 Old 27th Jan 2014 at 11:56 PM
That's interesting. TS3 is very leaky but I haven't heard of specific, identified causes yet. Please post when you work out what it is - it could help future users.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
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