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

[PermaFrost358]

@MadyLmao Hi MadyLmao, 

Try this combination, it's the only one that has allowed me to actually play the game. Thanks to @puzzlezaddict for the original troubleshooting suggestions. 

Go to your Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 folder. Open your Options.ini file. Ctrl+F and search for "Fullscreen" without the quotes, and edit the value from 1 to 0. 

Next, open your Nvidia Control Panel. Under "3D settings", select "Manage 3D Settings". Select "Program Settings" from the area to the right that opens. Find the "TS3.exe" program from the dropdown list, or if it's not present, you can manually add it to the List. Next, scroll down until you see "Threaded Optimization"; use the dropdown menu and select "Off". Scroll a bit further down and select "Vsync" and "Triple Buffering"; turn these both "On". Scroll back up the list until you see Max Framerate: select the the item and, in the drop down menu, use the slider to set the max framerate of the game to 60 fps. At the bottom right, select "Apply". 

Now, open up your Origin game library and open the Sims 3 Launcher from here. Before you select "Play" from the Launcher, open up your Task Manager. Select "More Details" and then from the window that expands, select the "Details" tab. Scroll down until you see "Sims3Launcher.exe"; right click this process. Then select "Set Affinity". From the window that pops up, deselect "<All Processors>", and then only check the box which says "CPU 1". Click Ok. Now, click Play from the Sims3Launcher and you should be able to load to the menu and be able to play the game with no issues. 

Your Nvidia Control Panel settings will remain what you set them too for the Sims 3 until you change it again. However, you will need to go back into Task Manager and follow the steps outlined above each time you open the Sims 3 Launcher before you start the game. 

I hope this helps! 

[puzzlezaddict]

@MadyLmao  Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

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

Please also let me know whether you've done anything to manually limit your in-game framerates.  It's simple to do if you haven't and also essential for the long-term health of your graphics card.

[MadyLmao]

Thank you @PermaFrost358, this seems to have worked! I was running my game for about 20 minutes and it didn't crash once. However, my game is extremely laggy and I'm wondering if you or anybody has any suggestions on how I can help my game be not-so laggy. I have already installed NRAAS ErrorTrap, MasterController, and Overwatch from my previous PC to help with the normal TS3 lag, but my game is still very laggy when using the combination that PermaFrost358 suggested to me.

[MadyLmao]

I attached a dxdiag to this post @puzzlezaddict. I manually limited my TS3 frames just as of now after using the combination that Permafrost358 suggested to me, but my other games are not limited and I will look into it. Thanks!

[puzzlezaddict]

@MadyLmao  Your dxdiag lists a few Sims 3 crashes that aren't related to the 12th-gen Intel processor issue, so those may be relevant here.  However, this might be even simpler.  I can see from your dxdiag that you have one monitor plugged into your motherboard, meaning it's running off the integrated graphics rather than your much faster dedicated card.  Is this the monitor that displays Sims 3?  For reference, the ultrawide (2560x1080) is plugged into the GPU and the other into the motherboard.

If you're displaying Sims 3 on the second monitor, please also plug that monitor into the graphics card and restart your computer.  Or run Sims 3 on the ultrawide monitor instead; it's your choice.  The point is, the game needs to be displayed on a monitor that's plugged into the GPU and not the motherboard.

If that doesn't help, please let me know what world(s) you're playing in.

Other games don't necessarily need an outside tool to limit fps.  Newer ones tend to have a built-in limiter, and you can always check by setting the game launcher or another overlay to display in-game framerates.

[MadyLmao]

@puzzlezaddict Is there a way I can see the dates of the Sims 3 crashes that aren't related to the 12th-gen Intel processor issue? Or is it just all of the crashes that have happened on this new PC, rather than what crashes are listed in my sims 3 documents. Some of the crashes that are in my sims 3 documents might be from when I was playing the game on my old PC, and that the crash files just copied over onto this PC. 

For the monitor, my main monitor is the ultrawide (2560x1080) and that is what I use to run TS3. However, I did just recently switch this monitor into the GPU when originally it was plugged into the motherboard. I mention this because I was using my ultrawide (2560x1080) monitor to run TS3 while it was plugged into my motherboard when I was trying Miaa's powershell script, and I'm wondering if I should try the powershell script method again since now my main monitor is plugged into the GPU? That was the only method I tried while my monitor was plugged into my motherboard, and the other methods (LazyDuchess's fix, the taskmanager trick, and what PermaFrost358 recommended) I tried after my monitor was plugged into my GPU.

I do also want to mention that when playing on my main monitor (the ultrawide 2560x1080), I change the resolution of the game to 1920x1080 so that the game runs better.

The world I am playing on in TS3 is Sunlit Tides. The save is a pretty old save, with a lot of old files and I'm wondering if I should just try to fresh install TS3 (save my old files somewhere else), and start a new save with no store content and see if that runs any better? And if I fresh install the game, should I reinstall the three NRAAS mods I listed previously to help with performance or should I discard them?

[puzzlezaddict]

@MadyLmao  You can find a summary of each error, along with a timestamp, in the Reliability Monitor.  Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart listing errors and updates with a column for each day.  If you right-click on an error name and select "View technical details," you'll get some more info, most of which is not particularly useful, but it at least helps distinguish among different types of errors.  And as long as you remember when you ran the Smooth Patch, you'll be able to compare errors from before and after.

The issue with Sims 3 and Alder Lake CPUs is only due to the processor itself, not the graphics card, so I doubt very much that it would matter how you'd plugged in your monitors.  But you can certainly try all the usual interventions again.  Personally, I'd plug both monitors into the GPU, for various reasons; if this doesn't work out, you can reverse it later.

I hope that when you changed the resolution of Sims 3, you also switched to windowed mode, since the stretching of trying to run the game in fullscreen on an ultrawide would be pretty terrible.

And yes, I think it's a good idea to test with a fresh set of user files.  You don't need to uninstall anything; just move the existing Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and the game will create a clean folder with no content.  This addresses saves, mods and custom content, and store stuff all at once.

I'd suggest testing in Sunset Valley or Twinbrook, which ware the most stable of any worlds you don't need to install separately.  (Riverview is similarly well-made, but no point in adding store content yet.)  You can reinstall your NRaas mods, although please download new copies if your current ones are more than a couple years old or you're not sure when you got them, but don't add any other content.  And if you use NRaas StoryProgression, skip that one as well, at least for now.  Among NRaas mods, it's the only one that adds overhead to the game, so better to test without it.

[SimHallgerd]

@PermaFrost358   thank you very much! I bought a new computer with Intel 12th generation and Windows 11 processor and I was devastated because Sims 3 would not start. This method worked. (if anyone else knows the magic trick to run Photoshop CS3, yes I know this is not the forum)

[TheBoyXP]

I currently have the same problem. I've reinstalled DirectX9, Origin and the game itself but nothing seems to work. When i click play, the launcher opens and when i click that big button to start the game, Origin disappears for a second and come back again. That's it. The game itself isn't starting.

[puzzlezaddict]

@TheBoyXP  Does your computer have a 12th-gen Intel processor?  If so, that's the issue: Sims 3 doesn't start correctly on these CPUs.  You can try the patch Lazy Duchess created a few weeks ago:

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

If you don't have one of the affected processors (or you're not sure), or the patch doesn't help, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

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