Re: Sims 3 64 bits and metal pets crash

by puzzlezaddict
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Sims 3 64 bits and metal pets crash

★★ Apprentice

Hi!

 

I've been playing sims 3 since it first came out and I was really excited when it came out on Mac with the 64 bit and metal version. Unfortunately, I've been unable to play. I have a brand new Mac, it has the latest update and the required preferred specs. The game runs great from what I've seen...until I play with pets. The second I add a pet to my household be it a dog, a cat or a horse, the game just quits. Right back to Origin and my desktop without warning. This is very frustrating as I've purchased the pet expansion pack so I could play and the sims team had promised us we would be able to play with our games on Mac. When the issue first happened, I chose to be patient and give it a few weeks so the sims team can work on the bugs... It's now been a few months and I found out yesterday I am still unable to play with pets.

This is really frustrating and saddening as it's the best expansion pack to me.

Has anyone had and fixed this issue? Is there anything I can do to play with a dog? Why is this happening considering the sims team made an entire version of the sims that can run on Mac. 

 

Please if anyone can help that would be amazing.

 

Thank you in advance !

 

Message 1 of 4 (677 Views)

Re: Sims 3 64 bits and metal pets crash

@XprincessdidiY  There is unfortunately no guaranteed fix for this issue, and it happens to a lot of players using integrated Intel graphics chips.  You can try lowering the graphics settings, including disabling Advanced Rendering, or playing in windowed mode, or playing in a different world (e.g. Sunset Valley or Riverview).  But for a number of players, none of this makes a difference.

 

The issue was reported when the 64-bit version was first released, and it's still possible that it will be fixed or at least that there will be some kind of workaround.  But there hasn't been any news on that front.

 

As for the reason this is happening, the graphics engine had to be rebuilt to run on Metal rather than OpenGL, and this could be a side effect.  Windows computers running the game on Intel chips often have similar issues: sometimes the game crashes when there's a pet on the screen, sometimes it just runs very badly with various graphics glitches.  This has been true since the release of Pets, or close enough, and is why that pack isn't recommended for players with integrated chips.  So in a way, the Mac version has caught up with the Windows version in that respect.

 

That's not to say you shouldn't be able to play with the Pets EP, just that it's not surprising integrated graphics chips would struggle with what has always been the most demanding expansion in the game.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 2 of 4 (661 Views)

Re: Sims 3 64 bits and metal pets crash

★★ Apprentice

Hi!

thank you so much for taking the time to reply and explain this to me.

This is definitely really saddening news especially since my 2009 PC ran every sims 3 game perfectly, including pets, but my 2021 Mac can’t....

I’m considering building my own gaming computer so I can run this game (I’m determined haha). Which Graphics card should I get to run the sims as best as possible?


Thank you again for your help XD

Message 3 of 4 (639 Views)
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Re: Sims 3 64 bits and metal pets crash

@XprincessdidiY  An Nvidia 1650 Super should be perfectly fine, or a 1660 ti or Super (or AMD 5500XT) if you want to play at a higher resolution, e.g. 2560x1440.  Graphics cards are extremely expensive right now though: a 1650 should normally be about $150 but is $350 and up; the 1660 ti should be around $220 but is over $400.  The issue is supply and demand and should clear up eventually, but in the interim, you might want to get your other hardware together and wait on the GPU.

 

Another option I've suggested to a couple of people is getting a used card on Ebay for cheap and then buying the card you really want when it's available.  This is more helpful for people who want a high-end card, for example the Nvidia 30-series GPUs that are barely available at all, but it's certainly an option for anyone who doesn't want to wait.  You might spend $80 on a good-enough card and figure if you have to replace it in a year or so, it's a worthwhile expense.

 

Sims 3 does have some graphics limitations regardless of how fast someone's card is, so don't expect pristine images.  Color banding is particularly bad, as is pixellation of the skin.  But the game is quite playable and still looks great a lot of the time.

 

If you want to talk about components at any point, feel free to post in the PC tech section, and I'll answer to the best of my abilities.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 4 of 4 (633 Views)