Does Sims 3 work on macOS High Sierra?

[puzzlezaddict]

@elleskyheart  I'm sure Bluebellflora would be happy to help you when she has a chance, but she'll want a bit more information about your computer first.  Specifically, she needs the device ID of your graphics card—the ID needs to go into the .sgr files for the game.  The link below describes exactly what she's looking for and how to find it; you can post your mac's complete specs either here or there.

https://bluebellflora.com/2018/07/24/sims-3-mac-players-i-need-your-help/#Information

[elleskyheart]

Okay, thanks so much puzzleaddict. I'll repost here and on the other thread. I'm not sure where is best to get in contact. Hope she'll be okay with that. 

macOS High Sierra 

Version 10.13.1

Mac Book Pro (Retina, 15-inch, mid 2015)

processor 2.2 GHz Intel Core i7

memory 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics Intel Iris Pro 1536 MB

 Device ID: 0x0d26

[Bluebellflora]

@elleskyheart

Thanks for posting the info. I replied to you on my site where the relevant files are ready for you to download. Please also bear in mind that there are other steps to follow to try and get the game to work. I've posted them here - https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p/749...

[jamiesmile321]

@Bluebellflora Sorry this has taken me so long, but I had a few more updates and questions about the game working on my Mac. I posted it on your website in the page that we've been talking under. I noticed you're more active here than over there, but I needed to make sure that I am not screwing up my Mac before moving forward with the game.

Here's the comment I left on your site:

BluebellFlora, thank you so much!! It’s finally working!! Just two more questions. When I open the game I get a notification that I have an unrecognized video card and that my graphics have been set as high as possible, but I may wish to reduce them if I’m experiencing poor performance. Do I need to worry about this? Also, can I install my packs as normal now? Just wanted to check before I screw up my game accidentally!

This isn't super urgent or anything, but let me know what I should do if you can. 

Thanks so much for all the help you've been,

Jamiesmile321

[puzzlezaddict]

@jamiesmile321  I'm glad to hear that your game is working now.  The "unrecognized video card" message means that either you didn't edit the .sgr files, or the edits didn't work, and the game still doesn't know what to make of your card.  But it's not really an issue if you can play.  The graphics will look a bit better in certain situations (like over the water), but your game will otherwise run just fine on high settings.

If you're curious about the difference a recognized card makes, here are a few screenshots I posted a couple of months ago, after Bluebellflora helped me get my own card recognized:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/946069/better-graphics-and-screenshots-for-newer-cards

You can certainly install all of your packs now.  The only trouble you'll have is if you own any of Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane, or Outdoor Living—these four don't install properly and need a bit of extra help.  Please see steps 4 and 5 of Bluebellflora's guide to installing TS3 in mac OS for the relatively simple workarounds.  And be sure to run the Super Patch again after you're finished installing; there's an embedded link in step one.

https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p/698...

[jamiesmile321]

Hey @puzzlezaddict , thanks for your help! I think BluebellFlora gave me the sir files on her website when I had the game set up on another account. It didn't do anything to solve the Unknown Error message, but will it work now? I can use those same files. I also do own Late Night and Ambitions, but I can certainly take the extra steps to install them. Are there any packs I shouldn't install, and what is the max number of packs I should install on my iMac? It has quite a bit of space, but I don't want to screw it up.

Thanks,

Jamiesmile321

[puzzlezaddict]

@jamiesmile321  You can certainly swap out the .sgr files that Bluebellflora gave you; in fact, it would be very much appreciated if you tried them out and let us know if they worked.  You'll know that the game recognized your card when you open your deviceconfig and see a [Found: 1, Matched: 1] after your card's name, about 30 lines down.

There aren't any packs you shouldn't install per se, and none of them take up too much storage, but you'll run into RAM issues trying to run all or most of the packs at the same time.  Unlike in Windows, TS3 for mac OS can only use 2 GB of RAM at a time, no matter how much your computer has installed.  The earlier expansion packs don't add much to overhead, and the stuff packs' effects are negligible, but Pets and Seasons in particular can increase memory use significantly.  (Weather is very demanding, as are all those stray animals wandering around town.)

Depending on your playstyle—how big your worlds and active families are, how long you stay in one town, etc.—you may be fine playing with most packs, or you may not be able to run the game for very long before bumping up against the RAM limit.  In your position, I'd install a couple of older EPs and monitor RAM use during gameplay to see how much wiggle room I have.  Then I'd decide whether I wanted to add more packs.  You can see the game's memory use in the Activity Monitor and occasionally purge RAM through Terminal command.

https://bluebellflora.com/resetting-ram-during-gameplay/

Other things that help are playing while offline, or at least not logging in at either the launcher or Main Menu; turning off memories and the hidden object loading screens; keeping your active family small and its house uncluttered; and playing in smaller worlds, both in terms of population and physical size.  Some players find that these techniques are enough to let them play in mac OS with all or most packs.

Then there are those like me who constantly bump up against the RAM limit, leading us to throw up our hands and Bootcamp our macs so we can play in Windows instead.  But that's purely theoretical until and unless you decide the memory issues are hampering your ability to enjoy the game.  If you do ever get to that point, feel free to ask about Bootcamp.  But if playing in mac OS works for you, then there's no reason to pursue it.

[jamiesmile321]

Ok, thanks @puzzlezaddict! I will try this out and let you know how it goes

[jamiesmile321]

@puzzlezaddict Sorry, just one more question. Where exactly would you draw the line for old packs? Most of the packs I'm interested in were released in the middle, not the oldest ones, but I can install an old one to test how it works. Let me know what you think.

Thanks,

Jamiesmile321

[puzzlezaddict]

@jamiesmile321  There isn't really a line between old and new packs.  We tend to think of EPs in terms of the demands they place on hardware: Pets is the most stressful on a graphics card, followed by Seasons, then ITF and IP.  Older packs like Ambitions and Generations are very easy to run, even for older systems—my 2010 macbook pro, with an Nvidia 330, never had any issues with Ambitions.  Packs like Supernatural and University Life are somewhere in the middle.

For you, the graphics card isn't an issue; an AMD 570 is more than powerful enough to handle everything TS3 can throw at it.  The question is how many packs you can install before the game's RAM use rises too high.  But that's a question of your playstyle as well as how many packs you have installed (and which ones).  Smaller worlds, and better made ones like Sunset Valley or Riverview, will also need less memory than larger ones.

Still, some broad generalizations can be made.  Pets and Seasons will demand a lot of RAM, Ambitions and Generations relatively little.  World Adventures and Late Night are mostly okay but can cause spikes in memory use during the travel transition (WA) and when the elevators malfunction or NPCs get stuck (in Bridgeport specifically) and the game tries to fix the errors.  IP the pack is pretty demanding on RAM, but Isla Paradiso the world is utterly unplayable no matter what system you have.

This really does come down though to installing an EP or two and seeing how much memory the game needs.  Keep in mind that as you play a world forward, it will become more complicated and require more RAM.  There's really no way for you to know how TS3 will run, how much memory it will need, and whether you'll be happy with what you get, unless you try.  With my playstyle—big families for a few generations—I realized that I'd never be able to add more than a few packs to my game and get any kind of satisfactory experience, hence my decision to partition my hard drive and install Windows 10.  But it may be very different for you.

All of this is really the long way of saying there's no good answer except to experiment a bit and see how it goes.  And if you run into trouble, you can always post back and ask for more help.