Question: Is internet connection necessary for game play?

[Jennifer4Sims]

Hi. I'm trying to track down the reasons why I have so many issues with playing TS4. Twice in the past two days TS4 has crashed during game play and I had also lost my internet connection. Is that a possible reason for TS4 to crash?

Thanks,

Jennifer.

[DarkAmaranth1966]

@Jennifer4Sims I moved this over to the general Sims 4 forum since this isn't a bug.

First, if you have CC or mods, remove them and see if the game still crashes. It should not crash simply because you lost internet connectivity.

If that doesn't help, we will need to see your DXDIAG report to see if there is something else causing the game to crash.

[Jennifer4Sims]

@DarkAmaranth1966, thank you. I have no mods or CCs. It may just be coincidence that I crashed and the internet happened to be down. I tried starting a fresh new game and I didn't have any issues until I hit the 24-hour play mark, then it began crashing whenever I tried to travel. From what I tracked on the previous game, it just gets worse from there until it crashes as soon as I open the game. I thought it might have something to do with aging up my Sims, but I haven't aged up any Sims in this game. I will attach my DxDiag, but I've noticed that even though I have upgraded my graphics card and drivers, they are listed on the DxDiag as last being updated in 2013. It might have something to do with the fact that the original video card is built-in, but I contacted Dell and got the information that if I upgraded the video card with a plug-in, the computer uses the new video card. I upgraded to a NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 730 (1024 MB DDR3). Not sure what all of that means, but it's what was suggested at the store.

I really like the game and I am very frustrated that I can't play my children Sims into adulthood, or play the adult Sims to old age. Just when I get really attached to a family and feel proud of their accomplishments, the game starts crashing and I can't play them anymore. Any suggestions or help you could offer would be welcome.

Thanks,

Jennifer.

PS- Looking again at the DxDiag, it shows that the dedicated memory is 64 and I know it should be at least 128. I am now wondering if the video card is not installed correctly. Or if they sold me one that isn't right to override a built-in card. I wish I knew more about computers. Darn you, Dell and Best Buy!!!

[DarkAmaranth1966]

@Jennifer4Sims

Computers can be tricky but, maybe we can get the game to stop crashing for you.

First, your Intel Drivers (the 2013 ones) from Dell shouldn't matter if the game is using your Nvidia card. There may be an update over at Dell for them but, that isn't a big deal right now.

What is important is having the most up to date drivers for that Nvidia card. You can use Geforce Experience, which will auto update them as needed for you or, you can go to The Nividia Driver Search Page enter the information there and, it will find your driver. I would recommend  getting GeForce Experience because not only does it keep your drivers up to date, it can optimize most games for your graphics card. It does a lot of other stuff too, depending on your graphics card but, those are two best things it does.

Once those drivers are up to date, make 100% certain the game is actually using the Nvidia card, these instruction apply to any computer with switchable graphics cards, like yours. Using Nvidia Switchable Graphics.

See if that helps keep your game running.

[Jennifer4Sims]

@DarkAmaranth1966, you are my hero today. That answers so many questions. When I upgraded the video card, I installed the GEForce Experience, so I'm using it right now to upgrade any outdated drivers. If I launch a game through the GeForce Experience, does it use the NVIDIA card by default? I am such a total noob, but I can only learn from asking.

I am stuck at step 2. My NVIDIA Control Panel message reads "NVIDIA Display settings are not available. You are not currently using a display attached to an NVIDIA GPU."  Can you refer me to anything that would help me at this step?

Thanks (many, many thanks!),

Jennifer.

[roberta591]

@Jennifer4Sims Is the monitor cable plugged into the new video card or the old built in video port?

[Jennifer4Sims]

@roberta591, believe it or not, I just figured that out. It's been bugging me that nothing plugged into the video card port. I don't think that was the only thing I was doing wrong, but it might just be the biggest thing. I am a total noob. It just doesn't list it anywhere on the instructions, if you can believe that. I'm in the process of rerunning my DxDiag and a bunch of other things to make sure it is all right.

I also disabled the built-in video chip. Is that bad?

Thanks,

Jennifer. (feeling like a tool)

[Jennifer4Sims]

Still crashing, but I have a new DxDiag.

Thanks,

Jennifer.

[Phantomlover1717]

@Jennifer4Sims could you please keep to one post? 

http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/Sims-4-crashes-every-10-minutes-or-so/m-p/5501404#U5501404

I'm locking this one so it's not becoming a too big mess. 

[roberta591]

@Jennifer4Sims Has the crash changed at all? Is the game crashing with a new game? When the game crashes does it crash to desktop or lock the computer up, or reboot?