Re: Sims 3 game crashes after adjusting options/saving/10min gameplay

by CottonEyes123
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Original Post

Sims 3 game crashes after adjusting options/saving/10min gameplay

★★ Novice

I recently ran into the issue of crashes in my game. It occurs when I go to adjust my options, when I save the game, or after 10min of gameplay. I've tried several things: 

- reinstalling the game

- disabling CC or mods 

- recognizing my graphics card

- being up to date 

- lowering graphic settings 

- using the crash log analyzer 

- using the dashboard tool 

- using ParkControl - CPU Parking and Frequency Scaling (set to Bitsum Highest Performance) 

- Origin Repair Game 

 

When I used The Sims 3 Crash Log Analyzer it said: "Insufficient Graphics Capability - Update graphic drivers, upgrade your graphics card, and/or get it checked out for instability." I checked for any graphic driver/card updates and everything is up to date. My Graphic card also seems to be recognized as I changed the GraphicCard.sgr and now it states [Found: 1, Matched: 1] in the DeviceConfig.log

 

I currently play in the Appaloosa Plains world and that seems to be where the issues are. 

Here's a bunch of my laptop details. I wasn't sure what is necessary so to help...so it's just a bunch of stuff compiled. 

 

Device Specifications

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-7660U CPU @ 2.50GHz 2.50 GHz 

Installed RAM: 16.0 GB 

System Type: 64-bit operating system , x64-based processor 

Edition: Windows 10 Pro 64-bit 

Version: 1903 

 

EP/SPs installed: 

- Island Paradise 

- Late Night 

- Pets 

- Seasons 

- Supernatural 

- University Life

- Adventures 

 

Version: 1.69.43.024017

 

Message 1 of 6 (976 Views)

Re: Sims 3 game crashes after adjusting options/saving/10min gameplay

@CottonEyes123  Please run a dxdiag and attach the results to a post.  This will provide information about a range of issues all at once.

 

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

 

The likelihood though is that your hardware isn't strong enough to run Pets and Seasons, the two most demanding expansion packs, and perhaps Island Paradise as well.  You didn't list a graphics card, but given your laptop's other specs, you probably only have the card that's integrated into the processor.  An Intel 640 isn't strong enough to handle the most stressful expansions.  And the processor is borderline as well.  Although its base frequency is high, it only has two cores, which have to split the load between TS3 and Windows, as well as anything else you're running alongside.

 

On that note, please undo any CPU parking settings.  It's largely unnecessary in Windows 10, and your dual-core processor is already going to be running in high-performance mode.

 

If you want to see how much your laptop is capable of handling, you can test the game in a clean folder, with no added content.  Pull your entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop.  When you launch the game again, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  Start a new save in Sunset Valley and see how it runs.  If you want to change any graphics settings, do so from the Main Menu, and then quit to desktop before trying to play.  (The exceptions are screen resolution and fullscreen vs. windowed mode.)  Be sure not to run anything besides Origin while you test.

 

After testing with all packs active, try disabling Pets, then Pets and Seasons, then Pets, Seasons, and IP.  And be sure to let your laptop cool between tests.  Let me know how it runs, and we can go from there.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 2 of 6 (956 Views)

Re: Sims 3 game crashes after adjusting options/saving/10min gameplay

★★ Novice

Hello @puzzlezaddict thank you for taking the time to help me. 

 

I attached the dxdiag below. 

 

That sucks. I was gifted this new computer and was so excited to try the game out with the assumption that Windows 10 should be fine. 

I undid the CPU parking app completely. According to the techs and specs on Microsoft website this surface laptop (gen1) graphic cards is Intel® Iris™ Plus Graphics 640 (i7). Which specs do you recommend I run? 

 

I tested the game: 

 

Disabling Pets expansion was still active for some reason? Anyways I went into Sunset Valley and everything was fine, no crashing or anything...went into options and everything was fine as well. All the other worlds seem to be fine aswell no crashing.

 

Though when I disabled Seasons and Pets it was noticeably laggier in Sunset Valley, out of curiosity I checked out AppaloosaP and it didn't crash and wasn't as laggy as Sunset.

 

With either Pets or Seasons disabled there was no difference.

 

When I disabled IP it was also very laggy when moving the camera around, though the program stopped working when I tried to exit to the desktop and back into the game.

 

Just out of curiosity I went back into the game with all expansions on and it worked fine in AP though laggy after going into options (and not adjusting anything) 

 

So I'm guessing the issue lies with CC/mods? I don't understand. 

 

Thank you for your time @puzzlezaddict 

Message 3 of 6 (941 Views)

Re: Sims 3 game crashes after adjusting options/saving/10min gameplay

@CottonEyes123  This isn't a bad laptop overall by any stretch.  It's just that Sims 3's most demanding packs don't generally run well on medium-strength hardware.  Even Sims 4 would do fine on your laptop, although not on ultra graphics settings.

 

To clarify though, if you're seeing Appaloosa Plains as an option, then the Pets EP isn't disabled.  The world comes installed with Pets, so no EP means no world.  What I was suggesting was to disable the pack entirely via the launcher's Expansions and Stuff tab.  The same goes for the Seasons EP.

 

To get an idea of how the game runs, please use a clean game folder for each test.  You can delete each one afterwards, since you won't be using any of your existing content.  The goal is just to see how Sunset Valley runs, as it's the best-made EA world that comes pre-installed.  If you can get to the point where the game runs smoothly, you can start adding back features until you notice lag or get a crash.

 

With your hardware, it's difficult to say exactly how many features you'd need to disable to keep the game running well.  For example, you might find that having the Seasons EP is fine, but you need to turn off rain, snow, and hail; or that short-haired pets are fine, but long-haired ones and horses need to go.

 

Mods and cc can compound the issue, depending on what you're using.  Some mods actually help by cleaning up extraneous game data, while others are poorly made enough to cause additional problems.  NRaas StoryProgression is very well made but adds a lot to overhead because of how active it is.  Some cc is neutral in its impact, but high-poly cc can significantly tax your graphics card.  So again, you may need to experiment to see how much your laptop can take.

 

And please do make sure your system is staying cool while you test.  A Surface doesn't have terrible cooling, but it also doesn't cool itself like a gaming laptop.

 

Your dxdiag showed a lot of Sims 3 crashes, most of which point to DirectX 9.  It's likely that this is just because the game uses DX9, but you can reinstall it just in case there's something more to the errors than an overworked graphics card.  And yes, this runs just fine in Windows 10.

 

https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=8109

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 4 of 6 (928 Views)

Re: Sims 3 game crashes after adjusting options/saving/10min gameplay

★★ Novice

@puzzlezaddict IT WORKED! 

Well, I'm not entirely sure what worked...BUT it worked. I ran all the tests again (this time with them actually disabled silly me) and the game didn't crash in between any of the disabled or enabled packs just some lag when I disabled IP. I also went ahead and downloaded the DX9 like you said I should. 

And yes I do use mods...the master control one, I also had story progression at one point but it was way too much for my laptop. I also ended up throwing all my cc out again and downloading the same CC again... I just did that because I was paranoid that the CC might've been corrupted and adding to the issue. I also completely uninstalled High Loft stuff (it was disabled all this time anyways but just to make sure). 

I'm not sure how you fixed it @puzzlezaddict lol but you did. Thank you so much...also I'm not entirely sure it's completely fixed because the game worked fine on my computer for the first month or so and then this weird thing happened...so I'm guessing it's like taking a break or something and WILL come back to haunt me soon again, but thank you for helping me in the meantime. 

Message 5 of 6 (885 Views)

Re: Sims 3 game crashes after adjusting options/saving/10min gameplay

@CottonEyes123  I'm glad to hear things are working, at least for now.  It may be that playing in a different world helps, as some are better-made than others.  (For example, Isla Paradiso will lag on even the strongest computers, unless you download a fixed copy or edit if yourself.)  Maybe reinstalling your custom content helped, or just using a clean game folder.

 

It's also likely, and normal, that your more progressed worlds run somewhat worse than new saves, since there's a lot more sim data to keep track of once you've played the same world for a while.  There are plenty of ways to keep things running more smoothly, like adding NRaas ErrorTrap and Overwatch to clean up bad data.  They both handle their business in the background, without any need for the player to tweak their settings.  MasterController is also great for its ability to reset pretty much anything, up to and including the whole town.  It's a good idea to run a town reset every six in-game weeks or so, or sooner if you're starting to notice lag.  (Click on City Hall and select NRaas > MC > Town Options > Reset Everything.  Be sure to exclude your active lot—the option is in MC settings—if you don't want your own sims reset.)

 

Other steps you can take include turning off memories entirely, in game options, and turning down water and high-detail lots.  These two are the most demanding graphics options; I keep them on "mirrors only" and 2, respectively.  You can find more tips on getting the best game performance possible here:

 

https://www.nraas.net/community/TIPS-FOR-BETTER-GAME-PERFORMANCE

 

If you see more issues down the line, please feel free to post back with details.  Any patterns you notice would be helpful, as well as general details like what town you're playing in, how many sims are in the active household, how long you've been playing this save, etc.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 6 of 6 (881 Views)