Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

by MaxisJoe
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Original Post

Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

[ Edited ]
★★★ Apprentice

Very anxious and exited. Usually I don’t get impatient but I’m on the verge because it’s just so close yet so far😂

Message 651 of 4,043 (2,236 Views)

Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

★ Novice

Hi, I was wondering when I can play the Sims 3 64-bit metal. It is in my origin library but I can’t play it yet. Does anyone know when we can play it again?

Message 652 of 4,043 (2,227 Views)

Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

[ Edited ]
EA Staff

Since I promised I'd try to address questions that come up (with two exceptions), here's a quick hit of what I picked up over the last few pages. Thank you to all the AHQ heroes and Guides for also answering these questions before I have!

 

Q: What is "Apple ARM CPU?"

tl;dr: This is the chip that makes your computer be a computer. Apple announced a fundamental change to it earlier this year, but hasn't begun shipping new hardware based on the change yet.

 

A: Forgive me if this gets too basic (OR too far in the weeds), but I want to make sure there's no confusion here. The "CPU" is the main powerhouse of what makes your computer a computer. The acronym stands for "Central Processing Unit" and it's the thing that, as the name implies, does the bulk of the processing on your computer. The "architecture" and/or "instruction set" (the terms are often used pretty interchangeably, though they're actually different things) of the CPU will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and intended use to intended use (though it's also possible for one architecture to be licensed to other manufacturers, and then all of them will adhere to that standard as a common standard). There's a WHOLE lot more to this topic, so I'll just leave that part alone. Search the Internet for "CPU architecture" if you want to know more.

 

Today there are several pretty mainstream CPU architectures that are used by manufacturers, and they all have advantages and disadvantages. PowerPC used to be used by Apple for Macintosh hardware until they moved to Intel chips (PowerPC is a RISC chipset that is still widely used in industrial applications but not often seen in places where the end user would notice them. Lot of automation/robotic controller, lot of automotive "compute unit" to control how your engine runs). Intel's x86/x86-64 instruction set is a venerable standard that's been around for many decades and is probably what's in use in your Macintosh or Windows PC (or Linux server, etc). x86/x86-64 is a CISC based architecture that is widely used nearly everywhere and is manufactured by several companies (Intel, AMD, etc). Apple adopted this CPU family over PowerPC in 2005 and, for about three years, provided an emulation layer so that software optimized to run on PowerPC would still be able to run on x86 CPUs (and as with all emulation software, this had mixed levels of success). This emulation layer was called "Rosetta."

 

During their developer's conference in summer of 2020 Apple announced that they would be transitioning to an internally developed CPU based on the ARM CPU architecture (a RISC based CPU that is widely used in low-electrical-power applications like phones, tablets, system-on-a-chip computers like the RaspberryPi, etc). They will be attempting to ease migration for application developers from the x86 CPUs to the ARM CPUs via an emulation layer called "Rosetta 2." Apple have not yet announced when the first consumer-facing Macintoshes based on this new CPU will ship, but they have continued to launch new Macintosh models designed around the Intel x86 CPU. It is very likely that the Macintosh hardware ecosystem will be a mix of x86 and ARM CPUs for several years (not least of which because there are millions of Macs in the wild today that are built around x86).

 

Q: What about error 12?

A: From what I can gather Error 12 is due to the world held in the game's memory being too complex to write to disk. The mitigations I see described are various tactics to reduce the amount of memory needed to construct the save files (note - I have learned this through 3 minutes of Internet searching so I may be 100% wrong about it). If the root cause really is not having enough memory available to the game to be able to construct the save files in memory before flushing to disk then yes, this update should help with that. The move to 64-bit architecture means that the game will no longer be constrained to 4 Gigs of RAM total, so if it needs to burst to 6 or 8 gigs while it constructs these files then it should not have a problem (though if your Mac doesn't actually have more than 4 or 8 gigs of RAM you might notice things get really slow while this work happens due to the use of a technique called "swap" or "virtual memory" that involves using your hard drive as extra, very slow, RAM). But never say never. I'm positive someone will find a way to stress this system again.

 

Q: Will custom content work?

A: I don't see why not.

 

Q: MaxisJoe mentioned Christmas

A: Nope. I mentioned Festivus.

 

Did I miss any questions/statements?

--
I am an employee of EA.

Please do not send me private messages unless I ask you to. I promise that you will get help faster in the public forum. Thank you.
Message 653 of 4,043 (3,129 Views)

Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

★ Guide

Thank you @MaxisJoe and the rest of the Sims team for updating a game you didn’t have to update! We are all really appreciative. 

Stay excited simmers, we’re almost there! Standard smile 

Message 654 of 4,043 (3,073 Views)

Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

★ Apprentice

Q: What about error 12?

A: From what I can gather Error 12 is due to the world held in the game's memory being too complex to write to disk. The mitigations I see described are various tactics to reduce the amount of memory needed to construct the save files (note - I have learned this through 3 minutes of Internet searching so I may be 100% wrong about it). If the root cause really is not having enough memory available to the game to be able to construct the save files in memory before flushing to disk then yes, this update should help with that. The move to 64-bit architecture means that the game will no longer be constrained to 4 Gigs of RAM total, so if it needs to burst to 6 or 8 gigs while it constructs these files then it should not have a problem (though if your Mac doesn't actually have more than 4 or 8 gigs of RAM you might notice things get really slow while this work happens due to the use of a technique called "swap" or "virtual memory" that involves using your hard drive as extra, very slow, RAM). But never say never. I'm positive someone will find a way to stress this system again.

 

 

Thank you for your answer.

 

Well, if this 64-bit update designed for Mac users can potentially fix the Error 12 for good, then this is why Windows users wish to have a similar update as well.

 

 

I mean Windows users are well aware that The Sims 3 works on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows. 

But right now, all they can do is play the game until their save file gets corrupted, then start over and over again because of the reasons that you listed above.

So they would like to get an update that fixes this Error code 12 for good, and enjoy playing The Sims 3 at long last.

Message 655 of 4,043 (2,796 Views)

Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

★★ Novice
@MaxisJoe Hi, sorry, I am not able to download Sims 3 64 bits, the game is already registered in www.thesims3.com, how can I find the new version? thanks a lot!!
Message 656 of 4,043 (2,720 Views)

Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

@realfabiomello

Aww, thanks Standard smile @puzzlezaddict is the real Sims 3 Hero. I have to admit to not playing Sims 3 much at all anymore but I do still like testing and trying to fix things.

I am so looking forward to this updated version though! It’s almost like the last 11 years of us Mac users pulling together and managing to get the dreadful Cider version working was all worth it Standard smile

The Sims 3 Mac Forum - | - The Sims 4 Mac Forum -
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Message 657 of 4,043 (2,673 Views)

Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

@Andparraro  The 64-bit version hasn't been released yet.  Please see this comment for more information:

 

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/the-sims-3-64-bit-amp-metal-release/m-p/9636676#M8522

 

@Darrlia  Error 12 is annoying in Windows, but it doesn't mean people can't play long-running saves.  And while a corrupt save can cause Error 12s while saving, and overrunning the game's memory limit can corrupt a save, the two issues aren't the same.  I know people who've played the same single save for years without having to abandon it (in Windows), without any significant Error 12 issues and without corrupted saves.

 

Having a 64-bit version of Sims 3 won't do much for save corruption, since most causes have nothing to do with memory use.  The game still has plenty of issues on any platform, most of which are unrelated to RAM.

 

For Error 12, there are ways to try to prevent it; if you'd like help with this, please post in the Sims 3 PC tech section.  For corrupt saves, there are mod-related approaches that help a lot; please post in the PC tech section or ask on the NRaas website.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 658 of 4,043 (2,674 Views)

Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

[ Edited ]
★ Apprentice

Why was my answer to your post turned into a thread?

 

Anyway, I look forward to testing this Mac 64-bit update in Isla Paradiso and see if error 12 occurs.

Message 659 of 4,043 (2,486 Views)

Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

@Darrlia  I'd love to know the results of your testing Isla Paradiso on your Mac, preferably both the unedited and the fixed versions.  Please let me know what you find out.

 

This is the Mac section, and this particular thread is on a very specific, and Mac-specific topic.  It's always helpful to the participants of any thread to stay on-topic, especially in such a busy and widely-read thread as this one.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 660 of 4,043 (2,464 Views)