sims 3 crashes on load screen when using the EA APP

[DestinysEcho]

Hello! I am writing because of an issue I am having with the EA APP. 

I keep trying to get my sims 3 to load using the app. The game starts up and then crashes on the load screen. It never gets to the saves screen.  I have deleted my cache files. I have tried with no mods. I have even made a new sims 3 folder.  I have even hit repair. It starts up, the game starts to load, and then crashes each time. 

I am having no issues loading it with Origin.  The game loads and plays fine.

I read that we had to switch over to the EA app soon and that origin would stop working soon. But now I am very worried. The sims 3 is my favorite game. I can't get it to work with the EA APP.

[puzzlezaddict]

@DestinysEcho  If you put the EA App in offline mode before launching Sims 3, does the game still crash?

Please also run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

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

And let me know what antivirus you use as well.

[hillyhale]

The same thing is happening to me since we went over to the EA App.

I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling it about six times now, and I've tried running it on Steam instead.

But the same thing keeps happening:

1) I open a New Game, make a Sim and move them into a lot. Maybe I build a little house. I don't do anything major; it's just a test run.

2) I save the game, give the save file names in various formats (so it's nothing to do with what I'm calling the file), and carry on for a bit.

3) I try to save the game again before I quit, and get a message along the lines of "could not save your game (Error Code 16)."

4) I have to quit without saving. I close TS3 entirely and go back to my desktop.

5) I open up TS3 again and try to open the save file I made.

5a) If the file's there at all, it won't open. The interactive loading screen comes up, but flashes past in a second. I get the "serious error loading <save file name>. It is recommended that you restart the application" message.

5b) Sometimes the file isn't there at all.

6) I try to open another New Game, and the interactive loading screen flashes past in a second. I get the "serious error loading <world>. It is recommended that you restart the application" message. This happens no matter what world I try to open.

I've tried to contact EA Support but they just suggest clearing the cache, or uninstalling the game and reinstalling it. Neither has worked.

TS3 is my favourite game, too, and I just can't get it to work. I've put hours into trying to fix it at this point, and nothing is taking.

I wish I could help you, OP, but all I can tell you is that you're not alone. I'm just not sure it's something to do with the EA App, because it's been happening via Steam as well.

One thing that strikes me might be a problem is that I sync my Documents folder to Google Drive, and that's where the "Electronic Arts" folder is. (But I don't have similar problems with TS4.)

Additional context: I'm on an HP Pavilion Gaming Laptop 15-dk1xxx and I use Windows 10. TS3 is installed on the 476GB C-drive, which has 173GB free.

So, it doesn't seem to be a lack of storage space, which is usually the cause of Error Code 16, apparently, and it's not like I'm using an ancient laptop with a tiny hard drive. I bought this computer specifically to run TS3 with high-end graphics, and it always worked until December 2022, which is when I found this problem. It's completely wrecked the game for me. 

[DestinysEcho]

Hello and thanks for the reply.  I am a windows 10 user by the way. 

I use webroot for an antivirus.  I even disabled it while running the EA APP. 

The Sims 3 runs and loads fine on origin. Yet it will not load with the EA app. It starts and crashes to desktop each time. 

Here is my dxdiag. 

There is a slightly newer video card driver, but it was causing problems with a few other games. So a lot of us rolled it back until the newest update fixes it. 

[puzzlezaddict]

@DestinysEcho  There's no evidence your graphics driver is the issue here, so I don't think you need to update it.  That's certainly something you can try down the line if my other suggestions don't work though.  Even if you can't use that driver for other reasons, you could try to find one that worked for Sims 3 and your other games.  Nvidia hosts a few recent drivers here:

https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/drivers/

The more obvious current issue is that the Alienware Command Center is crashing repeatedly.  So I'd suggest uninstalling it before doing anything else.

The Sims 3 errors in your dxdiag are just access violations, unfortunately too generic to be useful, especially since you've already tried a clean user folder (I think; if you added content to the new Sims 3 folder before testing, please test with none of your existing content at all).  So my next suggestion would be to clear the EA App's cache:

https://help.ea.com/en/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

and repair again, specifically through the App.

[puzzlezaddict]

@hillyhale  Error 16 is a more generic "can't save file" issue, and it can happen for a variety of reasons, anything from the save itself being larger than 4 GB to unsupported characters in the save name to an inability to write to the user folder at all.  The last one would be my first guess here since most of the other causes don't appear to apply.

Just as a test, please pause Google Drive's syncing.  If this helps, you might need to pause it while you play or change how often it syncs.

If that doesn't help, please create a new admin Windows account and try playing in that.  Make it a local account, as in, don't sign into Microsoft, and don't sync with any other services you normally use, Google Drive or otherwise.  You won't need to reinstall Sims 3 or the EA App, but your user content won't be available.  That's fine for this test; please just start a new save in Sunset Valley and see whether you can save (several times) and whether it loads properly after you restart your computer.

[HillyHale26]

Thank you so much, I think you've fixed it!

Pausing the Google Drive sync didn't change anything, so I set up a new / extra admin account like you suggested, and it now seems to work absolutely fine!

It may or may not be coincidence that the new admin account has no connection with my Google Drive, but honestly I can't express how happy and grateful I am.

I've attached a picture of my Sim riding her horse as a thankyou <3

[DestinysEcho]

Thanks for trying to help. I greatly appreciate it.

I updated the to the latest version of the Alienware command center. I read it is supposed to help stop the crashing.  I didn't even realize it was crashing.  So thanks for pointing that out.

I already did clear the cache. But I did try it again. I repaired again too.

The game still crashes when being loaded through the EA APP.

When I load it up through origin, It loads completely fine and plays wonderfully.  I actually played for about 2 hours this morning with no issues. 

I just can't figure out what is going on with the EA APP and sims 3.  My sims 4 seems to be just fine. 

Anyway, Thanks again Puzzleaddict!  ( Happy New Year as well )

[puzzlezaddict]

@DestinysEcho  Please launch Sims 3 and let it crash again, then create an error report within the EA App, as described here:

https://help.ea.com/za/help/ea/ea-app/run-ea-error-report/

Post the report ID you get in this thread, and I'll send it on.  I don't know whether anything will come of it, but given that the App and Sims 3 aren't fully compatible, it's possible that your particular issue, whatever it is, could get fixed along with everything else.

[DestinysEcho]

Is there any update on this?  I still can't get my sims 3 to load.  I can't use origin since the EA APP uninstalled it.

I want to play my game.  I spent thousands of dollars and I can't get my game to load or even open.