Sims not launching for past month

[heatertrain]

Haven't been able to get Sims 4 to launch from Origin for a month. I've put in many support tickets and no one has been able to help me yet from EA. I've uninstalled both Origin and the game and reinstalled them, to no avail. It opens to the launch screen, then crashes my computer every time. Any other suggestions? I'm on OS Catalina. Thanks.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@heatertrain  There are plenty of people who can play in Catalina with no issues.  There are many others who can't.  Some of it is probably due to underpowered hardware, at least for Sims 4.  Other systems should be more than fine for the game, and it's not always clear why things aren't working.

I don't know what things look like on your end, but please check iCloud's settings anyway.  Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen, select System Preferences, then iCloud (for me, it's the third row, first one on the left).  Sign in if necessary, click through whatever popups you see, then check the box next to iCloud and click Options.  Make sure the box next to Desktop & Documents is unchecked.  Then you can sign out of iCloud again, although if you see a Sims 4 game folder in iCloud storage, make sure to copy it to your desktop before doing so.

[puzzlezaddict]

@heatertrain  Please post the full specs of your Mac, as described here:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-4-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting...

Please also list any error messages you get.

[heatertrain]

Thanks. I'm running Bitdefender Antivirus. I've tried to repair the game in Origin. I am not using any mods.

[puzzlezaddict]

@heatertrain  Here are the simpler troubleshooting steps, other than the ones that haven't worked, of course.  If the first one doesn't work, try the first two together, then the first three, etc.

• Reset Origin:  https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/how-to-reset-origin-on-mac/
• Move your entire Sims 4 game folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop.
• Make sure iCloud isn't automatically syncing your Documents folder to cloud storage:  https://bluebellflora.com/2017/02/06/sims-3-and-sims-4-not-loading-save-games/
• Disable Origin in-game both globally and for Sims 4.  To see the global setting, hover over your username, select Application Settings, then the Origin in-game header.  For the Sims 4 setting, right-click on the TS4 icon in your game library and select Game Properties.
• Disable the Origin web helper service, under Application Settings > Application (scroll down to Start-up options).
• Disable Bitdefender temporarily, just long enough to test.

Let me know if none of this works.

[fayerinrose]

I have heard of no one getting sims4 to work in Catalina yet, there’s a big thread about it on this forum. It’s crazy.

[heatertrain]

Unfortunately this didn't work. Still crashing my computer. The instructions for the iCloud sync didn't fit the settings my computer has but I don't think I'm backing documents up to iCloud anyway. I'm going to try to find this other forum thread that fayerinrose talks about below.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@heatertrain  There are plenty of people who can play in Catalina with no issues.  There are many others who can't.  Some of it is probably due to underpowered hardware, at least for Sims 4.  Other systems should be more than fine for the game, and it's not always clear why things aren't working.

I don't know what things look like on your end, but please check iCloud's settings anyway.  Click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen, select System Preferences, then iCloud (for me, it's the third row, first one on the left).  Sign in if necessary, click through whatever popups you see, then check the box next to iCloud and click Options.  Make sure the box next to Desktop & Documents is unchecked.  Then you can sign out of iCloud again, although if you see a Sims 4 game folder in iCloud storage, make sure to copy it to your desktop before doing so.