June 2020 - last edited June 2020
OK so I'm rather fed up and exhausted so forgive me if I miss some details.
A couple weeks ago I got all the DLC that I didn't have before, cuz I wanted to complete the game as it were. I have around half EPs before. I also got loads of store content cuz why not.
After installing these I played the game and (with some tuning mods) shockingly the game ran not slower, but better than it ever has for me on this laptop. Completely smooth gameplay, started to have issues after 5 hours of playing tho where it just froze n that so I decided yeah probably should go to sleep now anyway. All is well.
I go to play it last week, I open the launcher. All in order. Check DLC, check installs, OK all good let's play! I generally have task manager open so I can see if sims 3 is on the right graphics, it's not gonna kill my laptop, etc. As ts3 launcher closes, I notice a new background process has begun, it was near the top so it caught my eye, 'ActivationUI.exe' and I can tell it's EA due to that bright green logo. I wait for it to go away and for my game to start but this doesn't happen.
I begin looking online for solutions, seeing other people have had similar things happen. Tried ending task, didn't work. Tried removing the file, didn't work. Don't have razer synapse, etc etc. Basically tried all that jazz, could not find a working solution online anywhere. Also read something that said compatibility settings are rubbish so removed those even though I had been using them fine before but whatever. Checked for bad CC, had a lot of 'conflicts' but they were all in CAS items; read that conflicts only matter in terms of mods. Have very few mods that I installed recently to help the game, such as NRaas' Saver, which I found incredibly useful lol.
Not sure if this is relevant
Everything is up to date, even did some really obscure updates like adobe AIR and internet explorer, no luck.
Any help? IDK what could even be the issue.
June 2020
@Rgeddis29 It may well be that the install location of the new packs caused the initial problem, but moving them certainly didn't help. You might get lucky and be able to fix this by repairing the game in Origin: open your game library, right-click on the Sims 3 icon, and select Repair. This may allow Origin to verify the program files and add the appropriate pointers.
If that doesn't work, try downloading the affected packs from Origin. When the download starts, it should find the files already in place and verify them instead of redownloading everything. This usually works on newer games, but I have no idea whether it would help with Sims 3.
If the above approaches don't help, you may need to uninstall and reinstall all your Sims 3 packs. Moving program files as you did can break them, or more specifically the registry entries and other associated files don't change to reflect the new location, leading to a game that won't launch, or an Origin that blocks the launch.
Before reinstalling the game, you'll need to clean your computer's registry of TS3-related entries. You can do so manually or with a tool like Piriform's CCleaner (the free version is fine). Then clear Origin's cache for good measure:
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/
Download the base game and see whether it works. If it does, you can add your packs.
June 2020
June 2020
@Rgeddis29 Origin might have decided to temporarily be difficult? I don't really know. Moving the files back to their original location meant the registry entries matched again, as well as anything else that mattered. Origin is also supposed to be able to manage a mix of disc and digital installs. Why it doesn't work sometimes, we've never really figured out, but it's possible that the associated issues are transient at least some of the time.
It's a good idea to register the product keys from your discs in Origin though, just in case you need them later.