The Sims 3 freezes my PC

by Guest Fri 20 Nov 2015, 10:12

Hello,
Recently I installed The Sims 3 plus all EPs and SPs (from G4TW's Complete Collection), the game works fine for the first 10 minutes or so, until the game freezes completely. I found out it doesn't just freeze the game but it freezes my PC as well, so I am forced to reboot my PC which is something I shouldn't do regularly.

I tried running the game in compatibility mode (playing on Windows 10), updating my drivers and playing in windowed mode, but none of those fixed my issue.

I would really appreciate any help.

EDIT: To add, a message pops up saying "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" before my PC freezes.

by **The_gh0stm4n** Sun 22 Nov 2015, 05:26

12:51 wrote:Hello,
Recently I installed The Sims 3 plus all EPs and SPs (from G4TW's Complete Collection), the game works fine for the first 10 minutes or so, until the game freezes completely. I found out it doesn't just freeze the game but it freezes my PC as well, so I am forced to reboot my PC which is something I shouldn't do regularly.

I tried running the game in compatibility mode (playing on Windows 10), updating my drivers and playing in windowed mode, but none of those fixed my issue.

I would really appreciate any help.

EDIT: To add, a message pops up saying "Display driver stopped responding and has recovered" before my PC freezes.

//MOVED

Hello,

Now have another look at this other topic here and re-do all steps: https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t857-the-sims-3-crashes-freezes-to-desktop-fix-updated-on-7-01-2014

If your Windows is a 64-bit version AND if your computer has 4 GB of RAM or more, then focus on step #3 in particular. Download the "4 GB patch" from here.

After downloading, double-click on that 4 GB patch and in the next prompt, choose the TS3W.exe in your base game location. Usually, that's C:\Program files(x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin. Wait for the message "executable successfully patched" and close the 4 GB patch.

Note that this method will not work if your Windows is a 32-bit version and/or if your computer has fewer than 4 GB of RAM.

Have you also tried lowering some of the graphics settings ? That error message could also be a hint that there is a hardware issue with your graphics card, though. Do you get similar messages in other games ?

by Guest Sun 22 Nov 2015, 14:42

Hi,
Thanks for replying. I have already tried adding the EXE's to DEP, that caused more issues for me (game crashes shortly after loading instead of 5-10 mins into gameplay) so I marked that off the list.

And no, it only happens with The Sims 3. I can run games like GTA V with no problems.

~~I have applied the 4 GB patch and I'll update this post as soon as I get results.~~

EDIT: Unfortunately that didn't work, setting my graphics to low didn't work as well.

by **Sim Architect** Sun 22 Nov 2015, 21:14

Hi! Which world are you playing with? Using CC? Store content?

Did you watch my video? I would recomend you to install the intermediate updates, besides the "full update", then install the full update again, then the fix on top of it again.

CC Magic can help with Custom Content / Store Content.

Some Worlds, like Island Paradise, have routing issues that may freeze the game.

You can use the NRAAS (not sure if that's how you pronounce it, sorry) mod to fix some things "real time" in game, there are tutorials here at the forum and out on the web about it.

Having your Documents folder on an SSD (as well your game) helps a LOT with Sims 3 too (trust me, I've been there, done that). The number of lots that are visible in detail and the shaders interfere more with performance than the texture detail, specially if you have a nice graphics card.

Also, try "Save As..." instead of "Save", every five minutes or so, to protect your progress, have levels of backup (you can delete them later) and also make the game running faster. ALWAYS Save As before you travel, before you come back, before you go to university etc.

You do not need to run with compatibility mode (it's actually not interesting at all, from my experience). But, you could do the 4 GB patch that Carlos mentions above (I did not see advantage of the DEP thingy myself, but I did not have problems with the complete collection and the stuff I use on my video, and that stuff only + my world which I will release before Christmas very likely incomplete), but run as administrator, please (I use the launcher through the "into the future shortcut", you can use the game directly, take your preferred taste)!

Keep your video drivers up to date and be sure you are running your game with the dedicated video and not the on board one (you can right click the game link and select "run with NVidia" or "run with ATI" NOT "run with Intel").

Let us know if anything changes or if you come up with new ideas. I am on a 10 years old PC right now, I got the game installed, but I crashed the two times I tried it, so I gave up since I had other stuff to do, I will try again eventually, but ended up having fun with MineCraft instead Very Happy

Keep us posted!!

by Guest Mon 23 Nov 2015, 13:42

I might have figured out what's causing my drivers to crash but I'm not 100% sure it's the reason.

I looked at The Sims 3's FPS and found out it was at 200-300+, when I play other games it's only about 30-40.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

by **Sim Architect** Mon 23 Nov 2015, 16:42

12:51 wrote:I might have figured out what's causing my drivers to crash but I'm not 100% sure it's the reason.

I looked at The Sims 3's FPS and found out it was at 200-300+, when I play other games it's only about 30-40.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

Not sure it's fixable, sorry. It seems to be "bad code" from the game. For some reason, it seems they made the entire Sims series designed to not use high quality hardware very well Sad

It gets even worse with Sims 4, which feels more like one of those Facebook games than a real game for what I tried so far, but it's ok, as long people are enjoying it.

I've been doing Minecraft lately, but I still like Sims 3 a lot and I will play/build with it sooner than later, hopefully Smile

So, no ideas besides what I posted before, sorry.

Tea 5

by **The_gh0stm4n** Wed 25 Nov 2015, 02:28

12:51 wrote:I might have figured out what's causing my drivers to crash but I'm not 100% sure it's the reason.

I looked at The Sims 3's FPS and found out it was at 200-300+, when I play other games it's only about 30-40.

Any ideas on how to fix this?

For some reason there is no option is Sims 3 to turn on V-Sync. Try playing in "windowed mode" and see if that makes any difference.

You can also try activating V-Sync for specific applications via the NVIDIA Control Panel, if you have an NVIDIA graphics card. I'm guessing that other graphics cards will have similar options.

Not sure though if a third-party frame-limiter can help in Sims 3, but yes...

//EDIT

I also made a post about it now, see here:
https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t21716-an-introduction-about-fps-in-the-sims-3-updated-on-25-11-2015

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