Hi,

I recently built a new computer . All my games are working correctly, except the SIms 3... When I click on play in Origin or Steam, the launcher opens correctly, but then when I click on play to launch the game, nothing happens. I can't even see the Sims in the tasks manager.

I'm running on Windows 11 + the new Alder Lake processor. So the issue may comes from that... What I don't understand, is that the Sims 2 & Sims 4 are working correctly...

Could you help? 

Here is what I already tried, without any success:

- Installing Direct X9

- Removing the Sims 3 folder in my documents (the folder is being recreated automatically, but I only see the crash logs, the rest is empty)

- Activating the legacy mode in the Bios 

- Launching the game on Origin & on Steam.

I have no cc.

You will find attached my Dxdiag report. 

Thanks for your support!

edited title for visibility.  -puzzlezaddict

So, semi related, but earlier today I decided to try and play SWTOR again after 6 years because I'd watched a streamer play it, saw quite a few good changes to it and thought I'd give it a shot again. I downloaded it off the SWTOR site, it seemingly installed correctly but, much like with Sims 3, I can't get the launcher up. I click the desktop app, it does that loading spin thing and nothing happens. Not in the tray, task manager, it's not there. I looked into it and, yet again, there is the Alder Lake issue. So despite them saying that they patched it to make all those games play it seems they missed a few, or it probably didn't work.

It's not just Sims 3 that's still affected by 12 Gen troubles, which sucks, though there is a workaround. Just got to wait on some actual fix.

So, semi related, but earlier today I decided to try and play SWTOR again after 6 years because I'd watched a streamer play it, saw quite a few good changes to it and thought I'd give it a shot again. I downloaded it off the SWTOR site, it seemingly installed correctly but, much like with Sims 3, I can't get the launcher up. I click the desktop app, it does that loading spin thing and nothing happens. Not in the tray, task manager, it's not there. I looked into it and, yet again, there is the Alder Lake issue. So despite them saying that they patched it to make all those games play it seems they missed a few, or it probably didn't work.

It's not just Sims 3 that's still affected by 12 Gen troubles, which sucks, though there is a workaround. Just got to wait on some actual fix.

This post is being marked as the solution for visibility.  This is still considered an open issue by EA.

Update Jan 13, 2025:  This problem is fixed for the EA App version of Sims 3.  It is NOT fixed for the disc or Steam versions; the workarounds below are still necessary.

Edited to add links to PowerShell script and Task Manager method here.  Try these if the patch doesn't help you.

Lazy Duchess has created a patch that can be applied to the game .exe to fix the issue of Sims 3 not loading on computers with 12th-gen (Alder Lake) Intel processors.  Please understand that this is NOT an official fix.  EA had no part in the creation of this tool and does not vouch for its safety or efficacy.

If you would like to revert your game to its previous state, you can restore the backup of the .exe that the patch creates.  Or you can repair the game files:

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• EA App/1.69:  Open My Collection, hover over the Sims 3 icon, click the three dots, and select Repair.
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• Origin/1.69:  Open your Origin game library, right-click on the Sims 3 icon, and select Repair.
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• Steam/1.67:  Open your Steam library, right-click on the Sims 3 tile, and select Properties > Local files > Verify integrity of the game files.
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• disc/1.67:  Run EA's \"Cumulative Base Game Super Patcher,\" which can be downloaded here.
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The text below was quoted from this post by LazyDuchess:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11524785#M250970

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@LazyDuchess wrote:
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Hey there!

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I hope it's okay for me to share this here.

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I've been trying to find a good solution for this, and I came up with a little patcher that should work around the issue without you having to use a Powershell or third party apps to run the game (Click on \"AlderLakePatch.zip\" to download):

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https://github.com/LazyDuchess/AlderLakePatcher/releases

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It's completely open source.

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I'm hoping this method actually solves the issue with the added benefit of not needing a custom launcher or third party app, but I'm not able to test it as I don't own affected hardware. All you have to do is extract the .zip, launch the patcher and locate your [edit from puzzlezaddict 1/13/25] TS3W.exe if you're on 1.67, it should then patch the game and make a backup for you.

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As puzzlezaddict mentioned earlier, you can find your game's executables on the program files folder:

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Program Files (x86)\\Electronic Arts\\The Sims 3\\Game\\Bin

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Program Files (x86)\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\The Sims 3\\Game\\Bin

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Let me know if this actually works, the issue is complicated to get around due to how early in the game's execution it happens.

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If you're not sure which patch level you have and therefore which .exe to patch, check the game version in the lower-left corner of the launcher.  Edit:  Patch TS3W.exe, with the W, as TS3.exe is now patched with the update from 1/13/25, and patching is unnecessary with an EA App install.  -puzzlezaddict

An alternative is to use this PowerShell script, created by another player, to force Sims 3 to use one CPU core in the first few seconds it's loading.  This script is self-limiting; you don't need to do anything to restore the game's full access to the CPU.

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11144265#M249006

If you get an error when trying this method, you may need to manually update PowerShell, as described here:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/powershell/scripting/install/installing-powershell-on-windows?view=powershell-7.3

For anyone who can't get the above to work, try limiting the game to one CPU core in the Task Manager, as described in this post:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11720109#M251930

Thank you for your reply, @puzzlezaddict ! I am using that wonderful workaround. I just thought that maybe there was some news and an official solution somewhere as TS3 is not the only EA game affected by this bug if I understood correctly. 

Thank you for your reply, @puzzlezaddict ! I am using that wonderful workaround. I just thought that maybe there was some news and an official solution somewhere as TS3 is not the only EA game affected by this bug if I understood correctly. 

Okay so Good news and kind of Bad news-

Good news, the PowerShell script got my game to launch and although my card isn't recognised it still runs smoothly and so far no errors. Huge step forward as at least now I can get the launcher to actually LAUNCH.

Kind of bad news: My mods aren't working. Two of the mods I have is the NoIntro and NoBuildSparkles mods and the intro plays when I launch the game. I have tried deleting caches, replacing the mods, restarting the computer but nothing seemed to work. One that I haven't replaced though is the recourse cfg file because I don't know if there's a newer one or if I have to do something with the PowerShell thing to recognise the mods.

Any advice?

@lozzomatic  The resource.cfg that comes with the Mods Framework you downloaded, i.e. the one with nointro and NoBuildSparkles, works just fine on any current (and most not-current) versions of Sims 3.  I haven't heard anything about people who use the PowerShell script not being able to use mods, or needing a workaround to get them to load, and given what percentage of Sims 3 players do use mods, it seems unlikely that none of the ones in this thread would have tried to add any.  Nor do I see any reason mods wouldn't work when the script was used.  So I'm guessing that mods do work with the script and you have a different issue.

It's still worth downloading a fresh copy of resource.cfg, on the off chance that helps.  Otherwise, one common reason mods wouldn't load is that they're in the wrong location, for example the Documents directory in OneDrive rather than the one stored locally on your computer.  You can right-click on a file or folder and select Properties > General to see its location.  Please make sure the full path is this:

C:\\Users\\[your username]\\Documents\\Electronic Arts\\The Sims 3\\Mods\\Packages

I did as you said and the path is empty.

I got as far as C:\\Users\\[your username]\\Documents but there's no Electronic Arts folder. The only other EA path under C: is through Programe Files 86 for BioWare and SWTOR. The only path I can get past it is through This PC - Documents- Electronic Arts-Sims 3. The mods folder was one I transferred from my old computer very recently and last time I played the mods all worked without a problem, in fact I thought they were all up to date from when I last checked just before the transfer. Perhaps the resource is the issue in which case do you have a link to the latest version of it?

@lozzomatic  That's a bit odd, but it's not really anything to worry about if your saves and other content are showing up.  If you create a save in-game, does it show in This PC > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Saves?  If so, that's the correct folder to use.

For the mods, it's definitely a good idea to download a new framework and test—it's always possible that your Mods folder was corrupted during the transfer process.  You can get a new copy of the framework here:

https://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Installing_Sims_3_Package_Files/Setup_and_Files

If nointro and nobuildsparkles work, you may need to redownload your other mods.  Alternately, you can try transferring the Mods folder from your old computer again, except this time, zip it beforehand: right-click and select Send to > Compressed (Zip) file.  Extract it once it's on your new computer and see whether it works this time.  But if not, you'll need to redownload the mods.

Re-downloading fresh mods did the trick, I think it was the resource file that was acting up or something. Either way, now the intro is gone and the pop up for the mods show upon the main menu.

At least in my experience the PowerShell method worked. I think the mods was more a separate thing, as you said, they probably got corrupted or something.

Finally I can play the damn game! Thank you all for the help