Sims 3 no longer working on PC [ Edited ]

[speedyturtles]

I've recently reinstalled TS3 on a PC that I've previously had it on for years with no issues and it is now randomly closing to desktop when I play it. There's no crash/error message. Its the sims 3 + all expansion packs bar Into The Future, installed from discs. I've uninstalled and reinstalled, installed Origin and updated through that, updated the graphics card drivers, turned off wi-fi, removed CC, turned down graphics settings, no dice. I don't get why it isn't working when I've had this PC for years and always been able to play sims 3 on it with no issue, even with 1000s of CC items, mods etc. I've attached the DxDiag. Thanks.

[puzzlezaddict]

@speedyturtles  Thanks for the dxdiag; it has some useful information.

First of all, your graphics card is somewhat weak to run TS3 and all its packs.  While it technically meets recommendations, it would likely struggle with Pets, Seasons, ITF, and IP, especially as it ages.  Its performance isn't going to be as good as it was when you bought this computer, and you may be seeing the card start to fail.

More immediately relevant, though, is that you only have 6 GB of RAM.  TS3 can only use ~3.7 GB itself, but Windows 10 might take another 1.5 GB just on startup.  So even a single browser window or a music player could make your system run out of memory, especially if you're playing a longer-running save (which will take up more resources than a new one).  Your error reports (at the bottom of your dxdiag) list a number of TS3 crashes, at least some of which look like they were forced by your OS when you came too close to your system's RAM limit.

When you decide to play, you really should reboot your computer first and then not run anything else alongside the game.  Turning off wifi is also a good idea—even if you don't login at the launcher or Main Menu, TS3 will communicate with EA's servers and take a bit more memory to run otherwise.  You can also turn off memories and the hidden object interactive loading screens, both of which will lessen the memory load.  Cutting down cc will help a bit, but there's no reason you'd need to get rid of it entirely, as long as you're taking other steps to keep RAM use down.

Turning down graphics settings will help protect your card, but most of them won't do much to lower the game's RAM use.  The exceptions are water and high-detail lots, which are demanding on both graphics cards and overall memory.  I keep these at "mirror only" and 2, respectively.

By the way, Origin will take up resources too, although not very much.  If you can reinstall entirely via disc and avoid the Origin tie-in, that would probably also help your game.  When uninstalling, make sure to clean the registry before reinstalling, either manually or with a tool like Piriform's CCleaner (the free version is fine).  And then run the Super Patch to patch the game to 1.67—the launcher can't handle that much data on its own.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/the-sims/the-sims-3/manually-uninstalling-the-sims-3/

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/175477/official-ea-download-link-for-the-sims-3-cumulati...

If you still have crashes, please post back describing what steps you've taken so far, and if there's any pattern you can discern.

[speedyturtles]

Thanks! So I've reinstalled completely without origin, using the super patch, and used the ccleaner in between. It's lasted a bit longer, maybe an hour before it closes, but still shuts down to desktop with no warning. 

[puzzlezaddict]

@speedyturtles  Hopefully, you're not running anything alongside TS3 while you play.  With only 6 GB of RAM, you don't really have any wiggle room, running out of memory could certainly cause your crashes.  But it could also be that your hardware is getting older and can't handle the stress of the game anymore, especially with Pets, Seasons, and IP in the mix.

On the other hand, @roberta591 may be able to offer some more insight on this issue, when he has a chance.

[roberta591]

@speedyturtles   Did you have the game running under Windows 8.1 before? I do not recommend a AIO (all-in-one) computers for playing graphical games. After reviewing the dxdiag I don't see any obvious issues. AIO computers frequently are manufactured with non standard parts and this makes troubleshooting and replacement of parts sometimes hard to impossible if the manufacturer discontinues  making the parts. Sims 3 is a 32 bit application so the game will use about 2Gb of memory before paging to virtual memory. The page page file may be a bit small especially if you are running other applications at the same time as TS3. I normally prefer to have memory configured in banks of 4 Gbs rather then unequal memory modules but being an AIO I would have to refer to the manufacturer's maintenance manuals to see understand the construction. This is because an AIO in like a laptop that is crammed into a monitor. Have you tried any other graphical games? I recommend downloading a program like 3dmark and running it over and over at least as long as the game runs until crash and see if the computer crashes. Can you think of any other changes in the computer since you had the game running?

[speedyturtles]

The only thing I can think of is windows updates. I really don't use this computer for much, so it doesn't have much else installed on it apart from whatever comes with windows and a few old games. But previously it could run very large, multi generation save files all day with no issue.