Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

by AMMSimmer
Reply

Original Post

Accepted Solution

Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

★★★★★ Novice

Hi all,

 

I’ve done an internet search and tried some fixes but I’m not very confident in what I’ve done so far.
I’m using a Mac (21.5inch, mid-2011, using macOS High Sierra). When I try and play The Sims 3 (I’ve literally just bought and downloaded it) an Unknown error occurred message pops up and I’m not sure why.

I have Late Night and High Loft along with it and I know Late Night has some problems but I don’t know what to do. I haven’t even been able to play it yet and I feel like I’ve wasted my money. Can anyone help?

Message 1 of 12 (656 Views)

Accepted Solution

Re: Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

@AMMSimmer  Technically, you should be able to double-click on the base game icon to open the game, or the icon for any pack, in Applications\The Sims 3, and the launcher should open.  In practice, using the icons for a couple of early packs doesn't always work, but the base game and the newest pack by release date should always work.  Regardless, you don't need to play through Origin at all, or even have it open—just launch the game from Applications.  If you do want to have Origin open, then yes, you should be able to click Play on the main Sims 3 page.

 

When the game launches, all installed packs will load automatically.  So if you install HELS, its content will be present no matter how you open the game.

 

If you buy an expansion that's newer than Late Night, you'll need to copy a folder from Late Night into the folder for that newer pack.  (This happens automatically for most packs, including HELS, just not the four affected ones.)  The video in this link shows how to do it:

 

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

 

So if you buy, for example, Seasons and University Life, the folder for LN would go into the folder for University Life, because it's newer than Seasons.  If you then bought, say, Ambitions, you'd need to create an alias for Ambitions and also copy its folder into UL's folder.  You would not however have to do the paul.dll workaround again, and a clean uninstall shouldn't be necessary either.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.

View in thread

Message 12 of 12 (676 Views)

All Replies

Re: Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

@AMMSimmer  Please start by running the Super Patch (digital download version).  Although it won't fix the issue, it's a good idea in general—the launcher doesn't always do a thorough job of patching on its own.

 

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

 

Then create an alias (icon) for Late Night in Applications\The Sims 3, alongside the alias for the base game.  )High-End Loft Stuff should already have one.)

 

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

 

As long as you don't own any other packs besides those two, this should be the only fix required.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 2 of 12 (646 Views)

Re: Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

★★★★★ Novice

Hi,

 

I uninstalled The Sims 3 to try and do this cleanly and just downloaded base game again. I just ran the super patch but it's still saying there's an error. Is it because of the 64-bit thing? I don't think my computer is compatible with 64-bit because I can only run legacy Sims 4 on this computer. Is there anything else i can try? Thank you for your help!

Message 3 of 12 (617 Views)

Re: Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

@AMMSimmer  Is the Super Patch throwing an error, or are you getting the unknown error from the base game?  To run the Super Patch, you need to manually select the Sims 3 base game icon in Applications.

 

If you did a regular uninstall of Sims 3, there are still hidden library files on your computer that can cause the unknown error on their own.  Please do a clean uninstall, if you haven't already:

 

https://bluebellflora.com/how-to-do-a-clean-uninstall-and-reinstall-on-a-mac/

 

Then install the base game only, run the Super Patch, and test.  If you get another unknown error, please post the full specs of your Mac, as described here:

 

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

 

If you get a server error instead, just install Late Night and create an alias for it in Applications, as I mentioned before.  Test again, and if that works too, install High-End Loft stuff, and test.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 4 of 12 (610 Views)

Re: Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

★★★★★ Novice
@puzzlezaddict It was the game throwing up the error, so I'm going to try the clean uninstall and super patch fix now. I was wondering if it could be because I'm on High Sierra and need to wait for the 64-bit patch? Either way, I'll let you know how installing and patching base game goes.
Message 5 of 12 (562 Views)

Re: Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

@AMMSimmer  Sims 3 runs just fine in High Sierra, at least most of the time.  There's no need to wait for the update.  If you get an unknown error with the patched base game, please let me know, and list the full specs of your Mac, as described here:

 

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

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 6 of 12 (540 Views)

Re: Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

★★★★★ Novice
@puzzlezaddict So, I can now open the patched base game (no expansions etc.) BUT it's now throwing up a connection to a server error when I try and load it just from the installer and when I try and load it through Origin. I want to install Late Night and High-End Loft stuff but haven't yet. Thank you for all your help so far, any ideas what's causing that issue?
Message 7 of 12 (527 Views)

Re: Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

@AMMSimmer  Yes, that's the server error I mentioned before.  The issue is a file meant to connect to EA servers and validate your ownership of the game.  The oldest version of this file is no longer recognized by that server, but it can be replaced with a slightly newer version that still works; the newer version is also within the game's installed files.

 

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/Sims-3-quot-Important-Message-There-is-a-problem-conn...

 

Or, you can skip this whole process and just install Late Night (and apply the workaround).  LN uses a new enough version of the paul.dll file to work.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 8 of 12 (510 Views)

Re: Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

★★★★★ Novice

What's the Late Night workaround? May as well try that if I'm going to need to do it anyway when I want to install it haha. Again, so much thanks!

Message 9 of 12 (500 Views)

Re: Unknown Error Occured The Sims 3 in High Sierra

@AMMSimmer  Sorry, it's this one:

 

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

 

I linked it before, but I probably should have clarified.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 10 of 12 (491 Views)