Sims 3 won't open: Alder Lake (Intel 12th-gen) CPU

[LBonne24]

I got referred to this thread from my thread but I don't really know what Power Shell, or if I have Alder Lake thing. I just got a new Razer laptop a few weeks back, and found that I couldn't play the Sims Medieval, or Sims 3. Windows 11. You seem to be the person to ask. But this is a large thread, and I'm not sure where to go. The part I was linked to was about putting commands somewhere. Do you have advice?

[puzzlezaddict]

@LBonne24  Before doing anything else, let's check whether you do in fact have an affected processor.  Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post

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

[OhCrapItsTBGP]

@LBonne24 Alder Lake is any new intel processors so if you have intel that is most likely the problem but As long as you have windows my method should work, I will repost the method here:

Task Manager Method:

Turn on The Sims 3 Launcher along with the task manager
before clicking play, go to details on the Task Manger and
scroll down and look for "Sims3Launcher.exe" when you find it,
left click it and click "Set affinity" once that window pops up
unselect the "All processers" box then check the box that says
"CPU 1".

After doing that, click OK and minimize the task manager and click play.

Once the game loads up, go back to the task manager and check the
"All processers" box and turn off the task manager then enjoy your game!

You'll have to do this every time you wanna play the game which sucks
but we just blame EA for that one.

Repeat these steps with The Sims Medieval but instead of using the task manager method on the launcher you have to use it on Origin.exe instead since TSM does not use a launcher.

If you can't quite understand it in text then I made a video, I'll link that as well.

https://youtu.be/MpUUZUJNGXM

This works fine for me and i hope it helps for you too (❁´◡`❁)

[LBonne24]

This is the dxdiag, and okay I'm going to try the steps you listed @OhCrapItsTBGP 

[ZoeLauren96]

So recently got a new pc. Was excited to play sims 3 again but it wont actually run it. Just keeps quitting to origins. Super annoying, after some research saw it potentially has something to do with windows 11 and new gen cpu which indeed i have. Just wondering is there any fix for this? Attached my DxDiag too.

[puzzlezaddict]

@ZoeLauren96  Normally I'd want to see the entire dxdiag, not a screenshot of the first section.  But in this case, that's enough to see your issue: you have a 12th-gen Intel processor, and Sims 3 doesn't start correctly on these CPUs.  So I've merged your post with the master thread.

The workaround is to limit the game to one CPU core while it's loading.  You can accomplish this with a patch Lazy Duchess made:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11...

Or if you prefer, you can try the other steps discussed in that thread starting on page five.

[demomos]

@LazyDuchess Thank you very much, it works for me

[demomos]

@OhCrapItsTBGPThanks very much, it works for me too :-) and it runs even faster than @LazyDuchess's patch 

[LBonne24]

@OhCrapItsTBGP  You are absolutely everything, and the video helped too. I saved in YouTube so I can find it if I forget. Thanks so much.

[MamaBear460]

Ok so I know this question has come up before but I believe my issue is a bit different. I just bought the Sims 3 online. I decided to go this way since my youngest  just got a brand new Alienware laptop. I have had the Sims 3 loaded on my sons gaming desk top and I tried to play it with the disc on my old laptop but the graphics are crappy. Since the gaming laptop does not have a cd drive I decided to buy and load it on the gaming laptop. The issue is when the launcher opens and I hit play it send me to Origin and when I press play in Origin it sends me to the launcher. I have removed it and redownloaded both the game and origin. I am stumped as to why this game is not running. My son has been playing all his games with no issues and to be honest with the specs on this laptop I can't figure out why it won't open.  I am not a technical person but will give it my best shot to understand what I can do to fix this.