Running TS3 just launches Origin?! [ Edited ]

[Egerno]

Hello there

Just thought I'd fire up The Sims 3 after a few years not playing. Still using the same PC, the only change is an upgrade to Windows 10. Installed Origin, downloaded The Sims 3, installed it, launched from Origin. The Sims 3 launcher runs fine, but when I try to launch The Sims 3, nothing happens for a bit then Origin opens/reopens. Weird.

I've tried:

Running the executables in compatibility mode (Win XP/7/8)

Running the launcher in compatibility mode.

Running Origin, TS3 launcher and .exe files as administrator.

All of the above give the same result; Origin opens. No Sims 3 executable open in Task Manager.

Game is updated according to Origin.

Graphics drivers updated.

Windows 10 ver. 1809

Any ideas?

Cheers

[puzzlezaddict]

@Egerno  Do you have any antivirus/firewall that could be blocking TS3?  To test, try launching while your computer is completely offline.  Sign into Origin, put it in offline mode, then turn off wifi and/or pull the ethernet cable.  If the game works, you just need to set exceptions for both TS3 and Origin.

If this doesn't work, please run a dxdiag and attach the results to a post here.

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

P.S.  Compatibility mode isn't necessary—the game runs just fine in Windows 10.

[Egerno]

Thanks for the reply

Just running Windows Defender, no other AV/malware detection software; I tried going offline anyway (clutching at straws now ), but no dice there either.

I've attached my dxdiag output.

[puzzlezaddict]

@Egerno  Your computer is under the recommendations to run TS3, although the game itself should still launch.  But you don't have enough RAM to run anything else alongside it, not even a browser.  Try launching the game only after restarting your computer, with nothing else running.  If it still closes, you can go into Settings > Apps > Startup and turn off any nonessential apps, so they won't be running in the background, then restart your computer and try again.

If this doesn't work either, you may need to uninstall TS3 and then clean your computer's registry before reinstalling.  If you're not comfortable cleaning the registry (deleting the wrong file can cause your computer to stop working entirely), you can use a cleaner app like Piriform's CCleaner (free download).  Then install only the base game and see if it runs.

[Egerno]

Hmm, I'm quite sure my PC is well over the system requirements. It played TS3 perfectly on near-max detail settings a few years back, it's only after EA's insistence on using cruddy Origin it's been playing up. No matter, thanks for your suggestions. I regularly run CCleaner and keep my system in good shape generally. 

[puzzlezaddict]

@Egerno  EA's posted requirements haven't been revised since TS3 was released, and they're miles away from the recommendations to run some of the more demanding packs.  The reqs also don't take into account Windows 10, or anything else that's changed since 2009.  Still, like I said, you should be able to run the game.

The reason I suggested that you uninstall and clean the registry is because the path of TS3's registry entries changed when the Origin-controlled install was introduced.  A typical cleanup wouldn't delete these entries, or at least it shouldn't, since you wouldn't have wanted to uninstall the game each time you ran the app.  Not knowing when you last played, or how you originally installed, I thought it might help to remove everything and start fresh.  I can ask around if anyone sees something in your dxdiag that jumps out, but otherwise, I don't know what else to suggest.

[Egerno]

Ah, I see what you mean now There are no remnants of my previous install as I’ve done a clean Windows install in my “new” SSD. It’s certainly a strange problem. 

Many thanks for your ideas, if I come across a solution I’ll be sure to post it here

[puzzlezaddict]

@Egerno  Crinrict saw a string of code in your error reports that may indicate an issue with your graphics drivers.  You can try doing a clean uninstall and reinstall of your current drivers.  Here's how:

https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/02/clean-re-install-of-graphics-drivers-with-display-driver-uninstall...

[roberta591]

@Egerno If you are going to run games that are expandable like Sims3 I would recommend a system device larger then 240Gb. As you should have noticed after a drive is partitioned and formatted it is less then then rated size and you lose space when you need every byte you can get. When you install Windows a page file is created based on the size of the system device. This is for your virtual memory which now is not enough for this game. you probably need to increase the size of the page file which will decrease the nfree n space on your system device. you need a data drive but installing programs to the data device you will not have the benefit of the ssd for the game program. the other issue is the game requires a video system with 128mb of DEDICATED video memory. Your computer only has 64mb dedicated video memory. With limited free space on the system device this will cause issues for this game. If you are a casual Windows user that does not understand Windows memory management I recommend getting a larger system device and this MAY help but the dedicated video memory could still  be an issue.

[Egerno]

Thanks for the reply I have 89GB unused space on my SSD so that’s not the problem, and TS3 is set to use the Nvidia GPU, 1GB dedicated RAM plus 2 gig shared; details a little further down in the data-dump from dxdiag. I’m only trying to install the main game, no expansions.

I’m not a casual Windows user, by the way, quite the opposite in fact The reason for my post here was to enquire if any others have experienced this and how they might have solved it; the game worked perfectly on the same pc running Windows 7, so I can only assume it’s Windows 10 causing the problem.

Un- and reinstalling the graphics drivers didn’t do the trick either...

No Sims 3 for me, it seems, but I’ll survive 😀 Thanks for the suggestions guys.