Is my iMac able to run the Sims 3?

[katetripper]

Hi,

I just got a new iMac and wanted to play the Sims 3 on it. I keep getting that "Unknown Error Occurred" message every time I try to launch the game. I have been researching for days on this forum and others for answers but haven't been able to come across something that works. I tried the super patch, I tried making an alias of the Late Night expansion, but still nothing. I'm wondering now if my iMac just will not run the game at all. Here are my iMac's specs:

iMac (Retina 4k, 21.5-inch, 2017)

macOS High Sierra version 10.13.6

Processor: 3.6 HGz Intel Core i7

Memory: 16 GB 2400 MHz DDR4

Graphics: Radeon Pro 560 4096 MB

If anything I just want to know if theres any chance I can get the game to run so I can stop wasting my time trying to get it to work.

[Bluebellflora · Accepted solution]

@katetripper

It may be possible but your hardware is not supported and you are running an incompatible version of macOS. There are a lot of us who can run the game on newer Macs though but there is no 100% guarantee that you will be able to. When following the guides and instructions to get the game working it is really important to follow them properly and accurately. A lot of people cut corners and think they don't have to do every step, you do! We've written these guides after tireless research and testing, knowing what works and doesn't work. 

As you have already tried to install we need to start again, with no traces of the game anywhere on your Mac. Remember, even after doing all this there is no guarantee you will be able to play as your Mac is NOT supported.

1. Properly uninstall the game and packs installed, getting rid of ALL files. Empty the trash, restart your Mac.
2. Download and install the base game then patch manually to 1.67.
3. Install each pack in order, launching the game after each install and applying a further patch if prompted. For Late Night, Ambitions, Fast Lane and Outdoor Living you also need to manually add the packs to the Launcher AND apply the specific Unknown Error fix for each pack. You must do this after installing each pack, not after installing all of them, as you need to test that the workarounds have worked.
4. When you have got your game running you can then add your AMD GPU to the game files for better graphics. Yours is listed as a successfully added GPU at the bottom of this article so all you have to do is copy and paste text from my files into yours, instructions are included.

You should be able to play on your Mac as we have the same GPUs, same generation CPUs and running the same OS. 

[Bluebellflora · Accepted solution]

@katetripper

It may be possible but your hardware is not supported and you are running an incompatible version of macOS. There are a lot of us who can run the game on newer Macs though but there is no 100% guarantee that you will be able to. When following the guides and instructions to get the game working it is really important to follow them properly and accurately. A lot of people cut corners and think they don't have to do every step, you do! We've written these guides after tireless research and testing, knowing what works and doesn't work. 

As you have already tried to install we need to start again, with no traces of the game anywhere on your Mac. Remember, even after doing all this there is no guarantee you will be able to play as your Mac is NOT supported.

1. Properly uninstall the game and packs installed, getting rid of ALL files. Empty the trash, restart your Mac.
2. Download and install the base game then patch manually to 1.67.
3. Install each pack in order, launching the game after each install and applying a further patch if prompted. For Late Night, Ambitions, Fast Lane and Outdoor Living you also need to manually add the packs to the Launcher AND apply the specific Unknown Error fix for each pack. You must do this after installing each pack, not after installing all of them, as you need to test that the workarounds have worked.
4. When you have got your game running you can then add your AMD GPU to the game files for better graphics. Yours is listed as a successfully added GPU at the bottom of this article so all you have to do is copy and paste text from my files into yours, instructions are included.

You should be able to play on your Mac as we have the same GPUs, same generation CPUs and running the same OS. 

[katetripper]

@Bluebellflora

Thanks so much for replying. So I've been messing around with it and this is what's happening so far.

The only expansion packs and stuff packs I have are High End Loft Stuff, Late Night, Supernatural, Seasons, University, and Island Paradise. I've followed the directions you gave me and the Base Game itself, High End Loft Stuff, and Late Night (fixed with the alias) launch and work fine after patching with the super patch each time. But once I go on to download and install Supernatural after finishing with Late Night, I start getting that "Unknown Error Occurred" message again. Is it because of Late Night and having to make the alias for it? 

I tried 3 times just to make sure I did everything right and I always get stuck on Supernatural. I even tired to skip Supernatural all together and go on to Seasons in case it was Supernatural that was messing things up and the same thing happened. And then when I would go to try to manually clean uninstall Supernatural and go to see if the game will launch again, I get the error message and nothing works again. 

I'm guessing Late Night is the issue, and I'm going to try one more time but this time wait until I finish downloading and installing the other expansions I have. 

I appreciate you so much, if anything I can at least play the Base Game with a couple expansions installed, and that's already amazing!

[puzzlezaddict]

@katetripper  It sounds like you did everything right up to and including the install of Late Night.  But when you install a pack that's newer than LN, you need to copy files from LN into the folder for that newer pack.  That's why you got the unknown error again.  Since you were able to run the game before adding Supernatural and Seasons, this last fix should resolve the issue.  The embedded video in this post will walk you through the process:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/Sims-Mobile-Summer-Throwdown-League/td-p/6967332

If this doesn't fix things, than the problem may be that you uninstalled Supernatural (if this is what you did) but didn't remove every single associated file.  Regardless, installing the other packs first, making sure that the game runs, and then installing Late Night last, followed by the unknown error fixes, is also a viable approach.  As always, when uninstalling, be sure to follow Bluebellflora's guide to removing all the extraneous files that the uninstaller misses.

[katetripper]

@puzzlezaddict @Bluebellflora 

Thank you both SO MUCH. I finally got my base game and all the expansions to work. I am so grateful!! 

[Bluebellflora]

@katetripper

Fabulous! It can be tricky and time consuming, especially as you have to do so much c/p but definitely worth it.

If you want to make your graphics look better you can copy in the text from the .sgr files I uploaded. The link is in my original post (step 4). @puzzlezaddict started a great thread over on the game forum with side by side comparisons of before and after - https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/946069/better-graphics-and-screenshots-for-newer-cards

It seems to have been taken over by Windows users which wasn't really the point of the thread so just the opening post is relevant for you. I completely understand if you want to leave well alone though! Puzzlez and I have the same GPU as you