Game Failed to Load. Error Code: 3 [SOLVED]

@Tarac Any ideas?

KidDude wrote:Have you tried entering TS4.exe instead of TS4_x64.exe or vice versa?

I have only used TS4_x64.exe so far. I just tried TSR.exe with no difference.

anyluckystarx wrote:

KidDude wrote:Have you tried entering TS4.exe instead of TS4_x64.exe or vice versa?

I have only used TS4_x64.exe so far. I just tried TSR.exe with no difference.

I have a solution but it can be a bit of odd (May not work).
And it is ZLorigin.
First of all, keep a backup of your game somewhere.
To install ZLOrigin, you need to:
1-Download this rar here.
2-Excract it, install ZLOrigin. BUT DON'T ENTER IT.
3-Make an account here.
4-Enter zclient, then log-in with your account that you have made.
5-Now it'll download some stuff, leave it until it says "auth.accepted as (Name of your account)"
6-Enter ZLorigin.
7-Go to library, find the sims 4.
8-*AGAIN REMEMBER TO BACKUP*
9-Now you have two choices, a-Re-download the whole thing but it will work with no probs
                                           b-Do some risky steps that i'm not 100% sure if they will work, SO BACKUP YOUR GAME AND SAVES.
I won't tell you the risky steps until you show me a picture of your library, and Sims 4 downloads. I need to see something in there...

Credits for @Tarac for these steps from his tutorial here.

Done?

I have my entire 'C:\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4' saved on my desktop. Is there a different way to 'backup' the game? Right now I'm just trying to get ANY game working. Even if it's a new start. What location do you need pictures of?

anyluckystarx wrote:I have my entire 'C:\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4' saved on my desktop. Is there a different way to 'backup' the game? Right now I'm just trying to get ANY game working. Even if it's a new start. What location do you need pictures of?

Backup your HOLE game somewhere away in your computer.
Send me pictures of The Sims 4 tab in Zlorigin, and the downloads tab too.

this okay?

and when you say my whole game do you mean this folder ?

anyluckystarx wrote:
this okay?

This came out when you tried to install ZLOrigin or entered ZClient?
I think yes. (as long as you downloaded the correct files from the link i gave you)
And yeah this hole folder.

The WHOLE The Sims 4 folder

or this folder?

The folder called "The Sims 4". Back it up.

Both. The folder in documents and the folder where the game is set-upped.

okay doing it now

It's still transferring the files to backup my game. I am going to go out to eat and when I return, I will finish. Thank you sooo much for all your time and help.

anyluckystarx wrote:It's still transferring the files to backup my game. I am going to go out to eat and when I return, I will finish. Thank you sooo much for all your time and help.

It's ok. I have so much free time xD

KidDude wrote:

anyluckystarx wrote:

KidDude wrote:Have you tried entering TS4.exe instead of TS4_x64.exe or vice versa?

I have only used TS4_x64.exe so far. I just tried TSR.exe with no difference.

I have a solution but it can be a bit of odd (May not work).
And it is ZLorigin.
First of all, keep a backup of your game somewhere.
To install ZLOrigin, you need to:
1-Download this rar here.
2-Excract it, install ZLOrigin. BUT DON'T ENTER IT.
3-Make an account here.
4-Enter zclient, then log-in with your account that you have made.
5-Now it'll download some stuff, leave it until it says "auth.accepted as (Name of your account)"
6-Enter ZLorigin.
7-Go to library, find the sims 4.
8-*AGAIN REMEMBER TO BACKUP*
9-Now you have two choices, a-Re-download the whole thing but it will work with no probs
                                           b-Do some risky steps that i'm not 100% sure if they will work, SO BACKUP YOUR GAME AND SAVES.
I won't tell you the risky steps until you show me a picture of your library, and Sims 4 downloads. I need to see something in there...

Credits for @Tarac for these steps from his tutorial here.

for #7, what do you mean by library?

And for the photo what location do you mean by 'library' and the 'sims 4 downloads' ?

anyluckystarx wrote:

KidDude wrote:

anyluckystarx wrote:

KidDude wrote:Have you tried entering TS4.exe instead of TS4_x64.exe or vice versa?

I have only used TS4_x64.exe so far. I just tried TSR.exe with no difference.

I have a solution but it can be a bit of odd (May not work).
And it is ZLorigin.
First of all, keep a backup of your game somewhere.
To install ZLOrigin, you need to:
1-Download this rar here.
2-Excract it, install ZLOrigin. BUT DON'T ENTER IT.
3-Make an account here.
4-Enter zclient, then log-in with your account that you have made.
5-Now it'll download some stuff, leave it until it says "auth.accepted as (Name of your account)"
6-Enter ZLorigin.
7-Go to library, find the sims 4.
8-*AGAIN REMEMBER TO BACKUP*
9-Now you have two choices, a-Re-download the whole thing but it will work with no probs
                                           b-Do some risky steps that i'm not 100% sure if they will work, SO BACKUP YOUR GAME AND SAVES.
I won't tell you the risky steps until you show me a picture of your library, and Sims 4 downloads. I need to see something in there...

Credits for @Tarac for these steps from his tutorial here.

for #7, what do you mean by library?

And for the photo what location do you mean by 'library' and the 'sims 4 downloads' ?

In Zlorigin. It looks the same as origin. The library is the games library in ZLorigin.
so show me a picture of the game library by right clicking the box art and properties in your games library.
and sims 4 downloads is a picture of the stuff downloading in Origin.

I gotta go now, will come back after some hours. Hope someone else can come in the meanwhile and solve your problem without ZLOrigin.
Bye Cya

Looks like there are no other suggestions. Will I still be able to update my game in the future if I go through ZLOrigin?

//EDIT

Having a hard time finding where to "enter ZLOrigin" or find the library. This is what happens when I log in to ZClient. 

Thats it. there should be an Icon calles zlOrigin. click on that one. it will take you to a screen where you have the option to choose my games. click that. now scroll down a bit and you will find the sims 4. Click on that and download. Takes time because it installs every single pack and I think its 23 by this stage. Good luck

Am I able to play my game on ZLOrigin if I find myself somewhere with no internet?

//EDIT

anyluckystarx wrote:

This may be a silly question, but could it be causing a problem that I downloaded and extracted all the game updates to a folder on my desktop before I started installing them? Notice the bottom left corner where I have the folder 'THE SIMS 4 STUFF' with the "fix folders" underneath.


//EDIT


I logged into ZLOrigin but I think its in my actual origin account...


//EDIT


I think I have to give up...I have been trying to fix this since Sunday. I've deleted, downloaded, uninstalled and reinstalled so many times. I tried ZLOrigin but I'm not sure what to do. I used to be able to get everything up to Toddlers to work and now it won't get past Get Together without giving me the error code 3. I admit defeat.

Hello,

I cannot help with zlOrigin; while I believe it fills an important gap insofar as it provides a way to play games for free without the usual hassle of dealing with cracked games the old-fashioned way, I personally don't care much about it, also because I don't really want to "log into" a custom game client to play those games, regardless of whether I have internet at any given moment or not.

Are you still dealing with the cracked/offline TS4, or the ZlOrigin? If you are still trying to get the cracked/offline version work, did you use WinRAR for extracting the items? It's very important that you use WinRAR for extracting the G4TW stuff.

The other thing is, it normally doesn't matter if you extract the stuff to the desktop prior to actually applying/installing them. What could be an issue is that security software like Windows Defender or similar programs tamper with your stuff. And yes, the stuff could have been "contaminated" the moment you extracted on the desktop. Therefore it is essential you add the Desktop (and in fact even the Downloads-folder) to your exclusions in the security software.

If you are using ZlOrigin, does it give you the option to "repair game" if you right-click on games in the game library? I know of cases from legit game owners who managed to overcome the error code 3, by repairing the game. As for the cracked offline versions, you can functionally achieve the same by doing the above-mentioned things (making sure to extract with WinRAR, adding the anti-virus exclusions beforehand, maybe re-copying/re-pasting the DLC over again).

I know this is difficult, but maybe it's also an idea if you step back for a moment. If you try for too long without succeeding you just get worn out, and you may lose interest completely. Do something else for a day or two, then get back to the TS4 again if you like.

I am not using WinRAR, I'm using WinZip. So I will try this again with WinRAR after I download it. I have my Windows Defender turned off and actually (sad to say) my anti virus ran out and I've yet to replace it with any other security software... 

I didn't do too much more with ZLOrigin because I used the same email and password as my ACTUAL origin account and when I logged in, I could see my Sims 3 game. I just got out of it for fear of messing everything up completely.

Thanks so much for your pep talk!! I've definitely stepped away a few times to keep myself from doing irreparable damage to my laptop. 

Hi, im back !
first of all do what @The_gh0stm4an said, if the problem still persists, immediately use ZLOrigin.
Zlorigin wills start, verifying all game files, and then downloading any update (if needed) and after that you are ready to roll. But for your issue  you must right click and choose repair game.
The thing which I wanted to take a picture of, is, will Zlorigin recognize the game or we have to move it to origin games? that's it.
And yeah TS3 and all its DLCs are available via ZLorigin (TS2 complete collection is there as well)

Ive extracted all the files via winRAR and am  trying to install Sims Base Game and this popped up.

Welcome back and thanks for returning to my problem! I need all the help I can get!