Sims 3 Unknown Error Occured

[WildChild109]

Hello,

I've been having issues for days on this problem and can't find a solution. I haven't played my Sims 3 in almost 3 years and wanted to start playing again. I reinstalled Origin and my Sims games were still saved in Origin and so I downloaded the base game first.

I was able to pull up my game fine under the base game, but it's when I started downloading the expansion, I run into this problem. Ambitions was my next download and once I tried to open the game, it says "Unknown Error Occured." I asked for help on Origins/EA customer service and it was absolutely terrible. Kept losing my agents  because the server kept crashing on their end and one of them pretty much told me good luck....

So I started googling and youtubing and have tried deleting the sims docs in my Preferences folder in Finder, saving the gaming folders for the AddOns , reinstalling Origin and Sim 3 multiple times, etc. I have a Mac OS High Sierra for starters and not sure if that is the issues. 

Thank you 

[puzzlezaddict]

@WildChild109  Do you want to play the 32-bit version of Sims 3, or the new 64-bit version?  The latter has some issues, especially on Macs with Intel graphics chips, but if your Mac has an Nvidia or AMD card, you should be fine.  There are also some broken features that we hope might get fixed.  On the other hand, the game can use a lot more memory now.  So it's a tradeoff.

If you'd like to know how well your Mac would run the 64-bit version, if at all, please post its specs, as described here:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/32-bit-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p...

Otherwise, the unknown error should be straightforward to fix.  If Ambitions is the only pack you have installed, all you need to do is create an alias (icon) for it in Applications > The Sims 3, alongside the icon for the base game.

https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed/

If you have other packs installed, please list them.  And if the above doesn't work, do a clean uninstall (the regular one doesn't remove all the hidden files), reinstall just the base game, and make sure it works before moving on to Ambitions.

You'll also want to run the Super Patch (digital download version) when you're done installing.

https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-manual-super-patch-for-mac-1-67/

[WildChild109]

The AddOn folder worked! I'm going to try working the other expansions one by one and hopefully I won't have any more issues. Thank you so much! :D 

[puzzlezaddict]

@WildChild109  You'll definitely have other issues if you install packs that are newer than Ambitions.  The other workaround necessary is to copy a folder from Ambitions into a folder for your newest pack by release date.  The video in this post shows how to do it:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-3-Unknown-Error-in-El-Capitan-and-...

Late Night, Fast Lane, and Outdoor Living are similarly affected, so if you install any of those packs, you'd need to apply both workarounds as well.  This is why I asked about other packs: it's easier to describe the process when I can name the affected packs.  Anyway, if you do have more issues with the unknown error, just name the packs you've installed and any others you'd like to install but haven't yet.