Does Sims 3 work on macOS High Sierra? [ Edited ]

[jamiesmile321]

@puzzlezaddict Ok, cool. The packs that I'll probably be using will be Supernatural, and possibly Showtime. I used to use IP a lot, but if Isla Paradiso is unplayable I won't. Will that work on a Windows, though, along with Pets or Seasons? I might be able to do that if I do really want to use those packs eventually, because my brother has installed Windows on the computer I'm using for TS3.

Thanks,

Jamiesmile321

[puzzlezaddict]

@jamiesmile321  Isla Paradiso is a special case.  The EA-provided world is too much of a mess to run on any system, but you can edit out most of the issues, or download a fixed version that another player made instead.  You can also add the features that came with the pack to any world where there's space, or download a custom world that has dive lots and resorts and everything else you'd want.  Playing with Island Paradise will add significantly to your RAM use, though, no matter where your sims live.

The only potential problem I see with Showtime is the overspawning of homeless street performers.  You might be fine, but if it becomes an issue, feel free to ask for help in keeping them under control.  Supernatural is moderately demanding but doesn't have any real issues of its own.

Your computer is more than powerful enough to run every expansion and stuff pack on high graphics settings; the only issue is the memory use cap in mac OS.  So if you were willing to partition your hard drive and install Windows 10 on one side, you could play with as many packs as you wanted.  The RAM limit on the Windows side is ~3.7 GB, so you'd have much more breathing room, although it should be noted that some players still manage to use all of that in long-running saves.  Or, I suppose, you could buy a new PC instead, but you'd need to spend $700-800 minimum on a desktop, or a bit more on a laptop, to get a system capable of running every pack on high settings.  With Bootcamp, on the other hand, the only cost is $120 or so for a license to run Windows 10, and the 300-350 GB storage you'd need to set aside for the partition.

Edit:  I didn't see your edit until just now.  If your brother already partitioned your hard drive, the question is whether there's enough space for TS3.  You could also undo and redo the partition, but I'm not sure how he'd feel about having to redo everything.  Still, there's no reason it couldn't work.

[jamiesmile321]

Hey @puzzlezaddict, sorry it's taken me so long to respond. i've been crazy all over the place with school and other activities, but I do still have a few questions. Yes, my brother partitioned our hard drive to play a game of his own, and I think there should be enough storage for TS3. I'm just not sure how much I need, but the Mac originally had quite a lot of storage, and I just figured the memory would help, but let me know how much is needed. Also, just wanted to ask, if I ran the game on Windows on my hard drive, would I still have to go through the same lengthy process I had to go through to get the game to work on the Mac part? Doing all that setup was hard, but if I have to do it again for a better experience, it's fine by me. I just figured I might have to because even though we have Windows, the hard drive is still a Mac

[puzzlezaddict]

@jamiesmile321  Don't worry about the time delay; people are often busy (and it's much better to get a reply late than never).  The issues that I mentioned about Isla Paradiso are equally relevant in Windows—the game engine can't handle gigantic mess of a world no matter what your OS is.  But again, this can be addressed by using an edited version of IP, fixing it yourself, or using the pack's features in a different world.

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/811253/removing-ip-lag/p1

The install issues that we've covered in this thread are limited to mac OS; you wouldn't see any of them on the Windows side.  You'd still have an unrecognized graphics card, but there's no reason you couldn't still play.  If you did get the card recognized, it would slightly improve the graphics, although you might not notice the difference.  But if you've already edited the .sgr files, you could just transfer them to the Windows side via iCloud or another file storage service.

The issues of certain packs not installing correctly is also confined to mac OS.  There are no hoops to jump through for Ambitions or Late Night.  You can also run all of your packs at the same time, since the game will have about 3.5 GB RAM to work with instead of only 2 GB.

As for storage, the base game is about 6 GB, the expansions around 2.5 GB each, and the stuff packs about 1 GB each.  You'll also want to give yourself another 5-10 GB for your game folder, once you accumulate saves and other content; the high end is if you have a lot of custom content.  Additionally, Windows 10 needs a minimum of 35-40 GB free storage at all times to function properly; 7 and 8.1 need a bit less.  So if you don't have that much free storage on the Windows side, perhaps you could ask your brother if he'd be willing to repartition the hard drive.

The other alternative is to move some files to external storage.  Your games' program files need to be on the internal drive, but other files like extra saves that you're not currently using can be easily transferred to an external device and back again.  These drives are getting cheaper all the time—I bought a 4 TB (4,096 GB) drive for $110 a few months ago.

Some players do run into a bit of trouble getting the game to launch in Windows, but those issues would be about Windows, not the fact that you're playing on an iMac.  If you do run into trouble, you're welcome to post in the TS3 section, which is for everything related to running the game in Windows.

[jamiesmile321]

@puzzlezaddict Ok, thanks for all the help. I will come back here if I need to ask you anything else. I think it might be best to stay away from IP right now, as fixing everything seems quite complicated. I'll probably install other packs first, and then come back if I need any more help.

Thanks for everything,

Jamiesmile321

Edit: one more question, sorry I forgot about it. Do I still have to worry about the stray animals, homeless celebrities, and weather issues in  Windows?

[puzzlezaddict]

@jamiesmile321  With your specs, you should be able to run all expansion packs at high graphics settings.  The issues I described drive up the game's RAM use, but now you'll have much more room to work with.  Stray baby animals can still get stuck, and the game will still spawn entirely too many homeless street performers, and rain and snow will take resources to render, but in Windows those are usually more nuisance issues than the game breakers they would be in mac OS.  Alternately, you could use mods to help control things, but there's no reason to go that route unless you start seeing performance issues in-game.

I didn't mean to say that you needed to fix Isla Paradiso yourself.  In the thread I linked, ciane has provided her own work for download to anyone who wants it.  She also described the fixes necessary to make the game playable, but most of us just use her save instead.  Or you could use the features of IP the pack in another town; they work just fine, as long as your world has room for them.

[jamiesmile321]

@puzzlezaddictOops, I think I totally came off in the wrong way! I didn't mean that I would have to fix the game myself, but I did mean that it seems like a lot of things I would have to download in order to run the world. In the past when I've played on Isla Paradiso, it hasn't been that bad, but I don't want to run into any issues, so I'm going to take the advice. But I've never seen the features being used in another world. I know you mentioned that you could put in features like resorts and dive lots into other worlds. How exactly does this work? It would be amazing if I could figure it out

[puzzlezaddict]

@jamiesmile321  If you want to used ciane's fixed version of IP, there isn't much to download.  What she provides is just a save, with the world itself fixed but the sims not progressed at all.  It contains the same five or so files as any other save in your game folder.  You just download, unzip, place it inside your Saves folder, and play the world forward like any other.  Many players have done this and are very happy with the results.

If you'd rather make your own dive lots instead, this tutorial comes highly recommended:

https://simsvip.com/sims-3-island-paradise-guide/creating-dive-lots/

For other IP-related activities, a player named karritz has put together a number of useful videos.  Here are her youtube playlists:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuW44b3uCMtCSaq4gwC8EZg/playlists

[jamiesmile321]

@puzzlezaddict Got it! I understand now. Sorry again that this took such a long time. If I haven't responded back in a while, it's usually because I've been busy with school. Just saying that because I feel repetitive every time I take a long time to respond and apologize for it! I still have a few questions though. I see that there isn't much to download, however there are a lot of other edits ciane suggests making to remove lag. Once I have downloaded her save, will I also need to take those steps, or will I be fine? Also, she gives a special version for if you have packs and own the store, which I'm not sure applies to me. Could you help me clear that up?

Again, sorry for the delay,

jamiesmile321

[puzzlezaddict]

@jamiesmile321  Don't worry about the delay; people can be busy and don't have time to troubleshoot.  You can come back whenever you get a chance, and I'll be here.

When ciane made her version of IP available, she also listed the necessary edits so that those who would rather fix the world themselves could do so.  But if you download her work, you don't have to do anything else.  She also provided a version of IP without content from the store any other packs so that people who didn't own everything would still get a complete world.  It's not a big deal if you download the version for people who "own the store"; all missing items will be replaced.  But sometimes the replacements don't make a whole lot of sense, hence the need for a "vanilla" world as well.

You could always download both versions and see if you like the fully loaded one better.  You'd probably have to do some editing of lots, but it might be fun if you're into that kind of thing.