The Sims 3 Problem

[C_gal5]

Hi! 
I just got the sims 3 and every time I try to open up the game it says: 
"There is a problem connecting to the server. Please ensure your internet connection is active. If the problem persists try again later." I have been trying throughout the day and I have full bars and my wifi and internet is working completely fine. Is there something I can do to fix this? I bought the sims 3 and University Life and I can't play and I would hate to have just wasted $40 on it if it isn't going to work. 

[puzzlezaddict]

@C_gal5  There's a workaround for the base game, but it's easier to just install University Life.  That should get you past the error.  UL probably won't have installed automatically; you need to tell Origin to download it separately from the base game.  Click on the Sims 3 icon in your Origin game library and select More > Expansion Packs, then scroll to where UL is listed and click the Download button.

Let me know if something doesn't work.

[C_gal5]

@puzzlezaddict Hi! Thank you for the help! I downloaded it and then I go into my sims 3 folder and try to click on university life rather than the sims 3 to play it and it just said "unknown error occurred." Last night I was able to click on high end loft stuff and play from there but the game crashed while I was in CAS. 

[puzzlezaddict]

@C_gal5  I didn't realize that you had other packs as well as University Life.  Which ones do you currently have installed?  Which ones were installed when you played with High-End Loft Stuff?  It would also help to know the specs of your Mac, as described in this post:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting...

[C_gal5]

@puzzlezaddict I have University Life, High End Loft Stuff, and Late Night because late night and high end loft stuff came with the base game of the sims 3 when I got it from Origin. 

My mac is a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013) with Intel Iris 1536 MB graphics. 

[puzzlezaddict]

@C_gal5  Okay, when you played with High-End Loft Stuff, I'm guessing you hadn't installed Late Night yet.  The pack doesn't install properly, and you'll need to apply two workarounds to get rid of the unknown error.  The first is simple: create an alias (icon) for LN in Applications\The Sims 3, alongside the alias for the base game.

https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed/

The second workaround is to copy a folder from LN into a folder for University Life, which is your newest pack by the date EA released it.  This video shows you exactly how to do it:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-3-Unknown-Error-in-El-Capitan-and-...

If these steps don't help, I really do need the full specs of your Mac, as described in the earlier link.