Sims 3 - "Important Message! There is a problem connecting to the server." HELP!

[_mevan51_]

Hey, so I downloaded The Sims 3 recently and I cannot play it. Download went perfect and everything but whenever I try to open the actual game, I get a notification saying "Important Message! There is a problem connecting to the server. Please ensure your internet connection is active. If the problem persists try again later." I have checked my internet connection but still my game is not opening up. Please help!

[puzzlezaddict]

@_mevan51_  Please list any packs you've installed, and any packs you would like to install but haven't.

[_mevan51_]

@puzzlezaddict I don't have any packs or have any packs I would like but haven't installed, I have just got the plain game.

[puzzlezaddict]

Edit:  This workaround is currently not working.  It has been flagged, and EA is looking into it.  This thread will be updated as soon as there is any news.

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@_mevan51_  Start by running the Super Patch (digital download version).  The launcher doesn't always do a thorough job patching, and if it tries to patch again later, it will undo the workaround for this problem.

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

Once the Super Patch as run, right-click (or hold the control key and click) on the green Sims 3 icon in Applications\The Sims 3 and select Show Package Contents.  From there, follow this path:

Contents\Resources\transgaming\c_drive\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\Packs\TS3

Right-click on the paul.dll file inside the TS3 folder and select Move to Trash.  Then go back one level, to the Packs folder, and open TS3EP03.  Right-click on the paul.dll file inside this folder and select Copy, then go back to the TS3 folder, right-click inside and select Paste.  (All this right-clicking is necessary because Macs are particular about how you move files from within Applications.)

Now your game should get past the connection error.  Let me know if it doesn't.

[_mevan51_]

@puzzlezaddictOkay, so I did everything that you said. The launcher loads up and when I press play, the Sims 3 logo pops up as usual and then it asks me for my game key because I got the key version of the game and then I enter it in and then it starts to load and then it says "Exception raised Unhandled exception 0x80000004 at address 0x00000000. Do you wish to debug it ?" What should I do? Also whenever I press play on the Origin launcher it opens up 2 Sims 3 games

[puzzlezaddict]

@_mevan51_  You don't need to play through Origin; just launch Sims 3 by double-clicking on the plumbob icon in Applications\The Sims 3.  Seeing two green plumbobs in your dock when you open the game is normal, and one of them should go away right before the screen goes black and the introduction starts.

For the unhandled exception error, it could be a memory issue.  Try launching TS3 immediately after restarting your computer, with nothing else running (not even Origin).  If that alone doesn't help, try bypassing the launcher.

https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-how-to-bypass-the-launcher-on-a-mac/

[_mevan51_]

@puzzlezaddict The same "Exception raised Unhandled exception 0x80000004 at address 0x00000000. Do you wish to debug it ?" question keeps on popping up, I've tried to press no and then it just closes so then I opened it and pressed yes and the same this happened (This is from opening from applications btw)

[_mevan51_]

@puzzlezaddict I've tried the method of opening the game without using the launcher but the same "Exception raised Unhandled exception 0x80000004 at address 0x00000000. Do you wish to debug it ?" question keeps on popping up, I've tried to press no and then it just closes so then I opened it and pressed yes and the same this happened (This is from opening from applications btw)

[puzzlezaddict]

@_mevan51_  I'm not sure why that message is popping up.  You normally wouldn't be asked for a code either, at least not after you'd already installed and tried to launch the game.  That's a separate issue that's been showing up here and there for the past few months.  I can ask someone to look into that part, although it may take a couple of days.  Considering the timing of the error, the two may be related, but I'm not totally sure.

One experiment you can try is running the Super Patch again.  This will undo the paul.dll swap you did, but maybe there's something weird going on with the replaced file.  At the very least, you won't do any harm to your install.  And if you did get the license server error again, it would be useful information, in that we'd know the orfer of the errors.

I believe that the Super Patch will also undo the launcher bypass, but if it doesn't, please undo it yourself, just to be thorough.

And since it's always good to gather more information, please post the specs of your Mac here.  These are the stats needed:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting...

[caketin7]

Hi, did you find a solution for this? I got the base game to work fine, but since installing Generations I’ve been having this exact problem and cannot load my game. Any help would be much appreciated!