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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 23rd Aug 2016 at 3:58 PM
How many ways does your game mess up?!?!
DISCLAIMER
THIS IS NOT A THREAD FOR DETERMINING WHY THE GAME IS CRASHING


I've been really getting into playing the Sims 3 again. I've got a couple different games with the towns setup just right, the homes and Sims all done up nice, and I'm interested to see how the lives of my pixelated creations will pan out. I could literally play for hours.
EXCEPT THAT I CAN'T!

No. My game decides when I've had enough. Sometimes enough is two minutes. Sometimes, when the game is more generous, it's several hours. But I am stubborn and I will relaunch the game almost every time, even if it is the fourth re-launch in the last hour

At least my game mixes it up, as there is a handful of ways it crashes.
  1. Randomly crash to desktop to be greeted with "Sims 3 has stopped working" and "Windows is checking for a solution to the problem" Don't even pretend Windows, you have no idea what's wrong.
  2. While in Buy Mode an item description starts to popup and freezes half-visible. Nothing is responsive. Buy mode music continues to play as if everything is ok. EVERYTHING IS NOT OK!!
  3. Most of the user interface disappears. All I can do is edge scroll. Sometimes I can still save which I am legitimately thankful for... but I'd be more thankful if I could just keep PLAYING!!
  4. I go to map view. Computer goes to desktop view. By closing Sims 3.



So, how does your game mess you up? What crazy things happen? What does it do?



It's probably because of something I downloaded, but I'm not going to make the effort to fix it right now. I just decided to vent by making this post. It's all in good fun!

I need to know I'm not the only one suffering from these crazy glitches. :lovestruc
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Site Helper
#2 Old 23rd Aug 2016 at 4:16 PM
I spend 3 hours building a lot. I go to Edit Town to drop it into the lots bin....
Ok, I wait another hour to go to Edit Town....
And overnight....
And close with Task Manager. Again.

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
Top Secret Researcher
#3 Old 23rd Aug 2016 at 4:18 PM
Mine used to randomly crash too, i.e. after a couple of minutes to 6 hours. Sometimes no crash at all and sometimes YOWZA! 2 minutes! Also had your UI disappearing bug you got, twice. The game stopped being possessed with Park Control, a small tool I discovered here in the forum. I still don't know if it's a placebo effect -only been using it for like a month- but maybe it would help you too.
Alchemist
#4 Old 23rd Aug 2016 at 8:37 PM
Usually when textures take a long time to load, or when the UI disappears, I know it's 50/50 between a CTD and a forced close
These can be avoided by saving and reloading frequently after spending time in CAS or build/buy. Building a sim sometimes takes me 2-3 trips into CAS, and building a house can take 5+ game reloads for this reason.

Tumblr - more downloads! ◾ CC reuploads / creator backupsTS3 CAS Conversion Catalog - for basegame, EP, SP, and Store clothing!
Virtual gardener
staff: administrator
#5 Old 23rd Aug 2016 at 8:45 PM
When your sims just literally freezes and all the sounds are still working which are usually the moments that keep me 'Oh god... did I save?'
Scholar
#6 Old 23rd Aug 2016 at 11:31 PM
On the laptop I'm using now the only problem is game lag, crashes and freezes are rare. It was because of the lag that I re-installed Sims 3 on my old PC, in the hopes that its Geforce GT 730 graphics card would give me better performance. Generally it does, but I am getting much the same problems mustang34 describes, sudden crashes, or 'Sims 3 has stopped working'. Also if I go into Edit Town in some towns it will invariably crash to desktop. I don't understand it, because I have set everything up there exactly as it is here on this machine, same EPs and SPs, same mods, same CC. The only difference is that the PC only has 2gb RAM whilst the laptop has 4gb. And yet I used to play both SIms2 and 3 on that machine without any of those problems, just a bit of lagging, that was all.

Another thing is that, although new games will play and save fine, any games that I have transferred over from this machine will load and play okay but invariably give me an "Error 12" when I try to save them. And my usual work around - going into Buy Mode for a few seconds, pausing the game and zooming out into map view - won't work at all. I have been trying to hunt down any rogue CC or mod incompatability but with no success.

Legend is history as we would like it to be. We pick through the dusts of time for what is worth keeping and, here and there, we occasionally find treasure.

Simblr: Elyndaworld *** Wordpress: Tales of Nantrelor
Scholar
#7 Old 24th Aug 2016 at 2:48 AM
I just had a really beautiful error.

I was trying to use "save as" to create a copy of an existing save, and kept getting an error 12. Gave up and went back to main menu, the UI was gone all funny. So I decided to quit and restart.

Apparently it couldn't even quit without fucking up though, because then I got one of the 'Sims 3 has stopped working' errors.

I mean, I guess I got the intended result? The game is no longer running. But still...

no power in the verse can stop me
ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim
jus nou drein jus daun
Scholar
#9 Old 24th Aug 2016 at 4:19 AM
The Sims 3 online features went poof after i deleted some cache files.

Oops?
Lab Assistant
#10 Old 24th Aug 2016 at 11:15 AM
I'm restricted to play for a certain amount of time (about maybe an hour or 2) due to my computer just overheating like mad over the game. I've cleaned out the dust and everything (added fans too, merged cc), even lowered the graphics, where it let me play for 4 hours but then it just started overheating again. It makes it hard to play since at any time my computer will shut off in the middle of a session.

Game bugs rarely happen since I have Error Trap, Overwatch and Save Cleaner, but I've only had to close down a few times while trying to build stuff (random crash when I tried to put a city plant holder down for a Pet Shop). I've also had a few cases of the sound bug while playing in Bridgeport and having all those clicks and noises sudden merge together and hurt my ears a few minutes later.
Test Subject
#11 Old 24th Aug 2016 at 12:58 PM
My game occasionally fails to read its config file, and resets to default configs. The file and disk don't show any errors when I test them, nor do the binaries. And the next load will be perfectly fine again.

Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
It always saddens me to read about people not being able to fully enjoy this game b/c it is something that requires you to tweak it and keeping it clean. I compare it to a car engine.


It's disheartening. I have given up on trying to help people with their install, because there is just too much stuff that needs explaining, or tweaking, or fixing. And I am not very good at explaining complex things I have an intimate understanding of. I just link them to the NRAAS and MTS wikis, and wish them good luck.
Site Helper
#12 Old 24th Aug 2016 at 7:32 PM
Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
Majority of issues have to do with people hording CCs, outdated mods, and not cleaning their game.



It also helps if you have been told that growing too many plants in a garden can be a problem. I've started not replanting when they go barren, so I'm down to "only" 96. Just 90 more to go. (If only I can figure out which 6 plants I want to keep... At least I didn't plant any money trees.)

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
Scholar
#13 Old 24th Aug 2016 at 7:41 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Ghost sdoj
It also helps if you have been told that growing too many plants in a garden can be a problem. I've started not replanting when they go barren, so I'm down to "only" 96. Just 90 more to go. (If only I can figure out which 6 plants I want to keep... At least I didn't plant any money trees.)

Wait, WHAT??

More than 6 harvestable plants in a garden can cause problems??? That's just insane.

no power in the verse can stop me
ge smak daun, gyon op nodotaim
jus nou drein jus daun
Site Helper
#14 Old 24th Aug 2016 at 7:54 PM
It depends on your system how many plants the game engine can easily keep up with before it starts clogging memory. But my system is probably about 6 months newer than nitromon's, so 6 is probably my limit. (It came pre-installed with a copy of the brand new Windows 8 that was released earlier that month. And I STILL want XP back!)

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
Field Researcher
#15 Old 24th Aug 2016 at 8:29 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Greenplumbbob
When your sims just literally freezes and all the sounds are still working which are usually the moments that keep me 'Oh god... did I save?'


My problem is the other way around. I'll be playing and the sound will completely go off and I find the sound very important so I'll spam `,1,2,3 (the keys I use to change the speed of the game) to see if it's coming back and if it doesn't, I'll have to save and quit so I can get the sound back but of course once I hit save and quit, most times immediately after all the sounds of me pausing, going speed three, speed one, speed two, pausing, speed two, speed three, speed one play all in a row and I get so irritated because I'll still have to wait the half hour it takes to restart my game.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#16 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 9:38 AM
Quote: Originally posted by nitromon
I am running mods and ccs, but most of them I put in a test folder for at least 3 months before moving them into the main mod folder.


Good Lord. I aspire to be you and have attempted simmilar setups in the past. But then I get tired of remembering what goes where and determining what might be causing the problem. Or I stop playing for a while and return unable to remember what I was testing. So I give up throw it all into the main folder and hope for the best... and then I complain when it doesn't work

Quote: Originally posted by themysteriouscorn
My problem is the other way around. I'll be playing and the sound will completely go off and I find the sound very important so I'll spam `,1,2,3 (the keys I use to change the speed of the game) to see if it's coming back and if it doesn't, I'll have to save and quit so I can get the sound back but of course once I hit save and quit, most times immediately after all the sounds of me pausing, going speed three, speed one, speed two, pausing, speed two, speed three, speed one play all in a row and I get so irritated because I'll still have to wait the half hour it takes to restart my game.


I think I've had that one too. Abruptly all I could hear was the background wind noise and nothing else. Didn't matter if I clicked, played, paused, went to Buy Mode. I even returned to the Main Menu but in the end I had to reload the game. It wouldn't matter so much if the game loaded faster.
Instructor
#17 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 4:18 PM
Quote: Originally posted by themysteriouscorn
My problem is the other way around. I'll be playing and the sound will completely go off and I find the sound very important so I'll spam `,1,2,3 (the keys I use to change the speed of the game) to see if it's coming back and if it doesn't, I'll have to save and quit so I can get the sound back but of course once I hit save and quit, most times immediately after all the sounds of me pausing, going speed three, speed one, speed two, pausing, speed two, speed three, speed one play all in a row and I get so irritated because I'll still have to wait the half hour it takes to restart my game.


If you playing TS3 in a laptop computer, I think the problem with the sound went off after a while playing TS3 has anything to do with processor temperature, I also did experiencing this in my laptop some time ago after I upgraded my Core i3 processor with an i7, the i7 is certainly more hotter in temperatures compares to an i3, i7 has 4 cores 8 threads vs 2 cores 4 threads for my i3, when I put my i3 back in, the sound problem gone, in my case I think because the original cpu cooler for my i3 is insufficient for my i7 because my laptop only 13 inch big, most of an i7 laptop usually at least 14 inch or bigger..

If your case is the same, check your laptop processor temperature while TS3 is running, the sound went off is automatically done by your system in the background when it found that your temperature is too hot, is not only TS3's game sound that went off, but the Windows volume control also went off when it's too hot, it's normal because that means your system is working to prevent your hardware from damage because of overheating, I usually just exit TS3 when it happened, restart my Windows and the sounds back to normal. To fix your problem, maybe you should check it (or bring it to laptop technician), to open your laptop and clean up the cpu/gpu cooler from dust, if the dust is too thick, it also contributes why it went too hot..
Mad Poster
#18 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 4:36 PM
In about tree fiddy. It actually doesn't mess up much anymore.
My savegame's 2 and a bit years old, and there's a lot of crap being stored, but it loads in a couple of minutes and only crashes when pushed to the limit for extended periods of time. But even then, it's not very likely to actually crash.

I consider myself lucky since I've modded just about everything I can mod. I've got bigger draw distances, higher quality textures, fully loaded and cluttered lots, fancy anti-aliasing, high-quality ambient occlusion, depth of field, a crapton of CC and mods, and whatever else there is that could make a PC groan in disapproval.
But I've kept it in line using A) a mix of tools and mods to keep everything clean, and B) RAW COMPUTING POWER. You know, SSDs for the data, quick RAM for the loading, and a good ol' GTX 1070 for the pretties.
And did I mention that I run the game in 4k where practical?

insert signature here
( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
Field Researcher
#19 Old 25th Aug 2016 at 10:14 PM
Quote: Originally posted by PapaEmy
If you playing TS3 in a laptop computer, I think the problem with the sound went off after a while playing TS3 has anything to do with processor temperature, I also did experiencing this in my laptop some time ago after I upgraded my Core i3 processor with an i7, the i7 is certainly more hotter in temperatures compares to an i3, i7 has 4 cores 8 threads vs 2 cores 4 threads for my i3, when I put my i3 back in, the sound problem gone, in my case I think because the original cpu cooler for my i3 is insufficient for my i7 because my laptop only 13 inch big, most of an i7 laptop usually at least 14 inch or bigger..

If your case is the same, check your laptop processor temperature while TS3 is running, the sound went off is automatically done by your system in the background when it found that your temperature is too hot, is not only TS3's game sound that went off, but the Windows volume control also went off when it's too hot, it's normal because that means your system is working to prevent your hardware from damage because of overheating, I usually just exit TS3 when it happened, restart my Windows and the sounds back to normal. To fix your problem, maybe you should check it (or bring it to laptop technician), to open your laptop and clean up the cpu/gpu cooler from dust, if the dust is too thick, it also contributes why it went too hot..


That actually makes alot of sense. My laptop does tend to get really hot when I play the sims for longer spans of time. I don't think there's any dust that needs to be cleaned out, I think it's just because I have all the highest settings turned up on the sims when I play and I have tons of CC downloaded into my game so it probably just gets heated from how much work it takes to run everything properly. But that does make a lot of sense and I had always wondered why it would do that so thank you
Mad Poster
#20 Old 26th Aug 2016 at 10:17 AM Last edited by GrijzePilion : 26th Aug 2016 at 1:17 PM.
See, the problem is that you guys are playing on laptops. Don't. Just don't. They're not made for gaming. Just waste a shitload of money on a PC, like I did, and then you'll be void of problems forever. Maybe.

insert signature here
( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
Field Researcher
#21 Old 30th Aug 2016 at 11:38 PM
My game has a mind of its own I think lol XD
Mad Poster
#22 Old 1st Sep 2016 at 2:28 PM
I had a UI load failure once in a save where my active family's baby had been taken by the non-playable EA social workers and the save had become so corrupted it stopped loading after a few sessions.I had two other saves also get corrupted by the same social workers though both had been inactive families losing children.The first one messed my active family's relationships and made the family pets the toddler's parents while one of them had a bike in their family tree.I saw a few get household objects in family trees before it error coded and was lost.Clare Ursine's baby was taken in the second corrupted save and that one put my toddler into law enforcement and his sister into military when she was a child.Elders were assigned to elementary school and listed as too young for careers.
Top Secret Researcher
#23 Old 2nd Sep 2016 at 2:43 AM
Started a NEW game. Send sim to alchemy shop; sim goes to Varg's Tavern instead, and buys alchemy products at the Varg's Tavern LLAMA. Somethings corrupt with this game, time to scrap it and try again.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#24 Old 2nd Sep 2016 at 6:23 AM
Quote: Originally posted by TadOlson
I had a UI load failure once in a save where my active family's baby had been taken by the non-playable EA social workers and the save had become so corrupted it stopped loading after a few sessions.I had two other saves also get corrupted by the same social workers though both had been inactive families losing children.The first one messed my active family's relationships and made the family pets the toddler's parents while one of them had a bike in their family tree.I saw a few get household objects in family trees before it error coded and was lost.Clare Ursine's baby was taken in the second corrupted save and that one put my toddler into law enforcement and his sister into military when she was a child.Elders were assigned to elementary school and listed as too young for careers.


Wow, I've honestly never seen anything like that... I kind of assumed that inactive Sims just... floated around waiting for interaction with my active Sims. I didn't even know inactive toddlers could be "neglected"

Also those family trees... I mean I've heard of "Keeping it in the family" but a bike is a new one lol

Quote: Originally posted by Emmett Brown
Started a NEW game. Send sim to alchemy shop; sim goes to Varg's Tavern instead, and buys alchemy products at the Varg's Tavern LLAMA. Somethings corrupt with this game, time to scrap it and try again.


I've only had one game corrupt out of the gate like that, but it was totally different. Well I assume that's what it was. A household of two women had two pets that were unable to complete autonomous actions to the detriment of their needs. If I directed them to do anything that wasn't an immediate action it would cancel. Their attempted actions resulted in little balls and also huge areas of invisible but unroutable and unselectable places. As a result, directing someone to go upstairs would make them walk go outside and through the backdoor when they were two tiles from the stairs...

Eventually the social worker took the dog and horse away for neglect. I found the result hilarious which was the older roommate walked around crying at random over her lost pets (of which she had virtually no relationship) the other woman who had an actual relationship with the dog was unaffected. The older woman, when she wasn't crying kept autonomously slapping and yelling at her roommate. Idk it was entertaining to watch until the game crashed.
Field Researcher
#25 Old 2nd Sep 2016 at 3:29 PM
I get a "Sims 3 has stopped working" after a long time of playing the game. I leave the game running for days and after every time my sims accomplish something major or I do a major edit of a house or town I save often to different files such as Sunset Valley 1, Sunset Valley 2, I use a third Sunset Valley 3 when I go into a vacation world.Even with a powerful enough system the game still becomes unstable after a time.
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