Artifacts on screen, missing text etc

I hate to make my first post one complaining about the game not working as I'm sure you get plenty to deal with daily but I could probably use some more experienced help with this.

Previously had all the Sims 3 expansions, stuff packs and custom content installed on a HDD but migrated over to an SSD. As you know, due to the registry changes, I can't just move over the expansions so I lost all of them and had to go through the process of re-downloading all of them. I didn't choose any particular host to download them from, some were RELOADED, others Fairlight, others G4TW. Anyway, it all finally finished downloading and I went about installing all the expansion packs, then all the stuff packs. Applied the crack with Supernatural as per usual and got the "Unofficial Modification Error" to which I googled, found myself here and downloaded the fix. I then started up the game and got a loading screen that looks like this: When I actually got in the game, there was text missing in places (Which I haven't got a screenshot of I'm afraid, but I'm sure you can picture the welcome screen with text missing).

So I googled frantically but found nothing helpful that seemed to describe my problem and the solutions I did try, didn't work for me. My next step was to uninstall each expansion, starting from the most recent and testing the game every step of the way. It's only when I uninstalled World Adventures and only had the base game that it worked. So I figured World Adventures might be the problem. Nope, installed Supernatural and got the loading screen from the screenshot above and the missing text at the welcome screen (Keep in mind this is from one session, I hadn't restarted my computer so that could be part of the problem).

I think my next step is to uninstall everything (which I have done), restart computer and install the base Sims game. (My base download comes with an update. Not sure if I should avoid this and just use your manual patch to 1.39 instead - usually I use the update and then use the launcher which updates me straight to 1.39). I'll then try installing just Supernatural and applying the fix from your Sims_3_fix.rar. I'll test the game afterwards and if that doesn't work, I'm out of ideas.

System specs: Radeon HD 6870, i3 540, 8GB RAM etc. Definitely not a performance problem. I have all the latest video card drivers, I made sure of it.

Also, might be noteworthy that due to the 50GB+ file size, I install all my files to my HDD on D: instead of my SSD on C:. My Documents is also in the D: so it won't be looking for CC on a different drive.

Sorry for the lengthy post, tried to cram in as much information as possible that you might ask for. If you need anything else, I'm happy to provide.

With downloading from different hosts, you may actually get a modified installer, so watch out for that.

Actually, your idea of restarting before you reinstall is a good one, so do try that, then let us know how that works.

Okay so I finally have it working. I'll post my solution for anyone who stumbles across this with a similar problem so they won't be as stuck as I was.

This is a fix for you if:
- You have all expansion and stuff packs up to and including SUPERNATURAL (Although will also work for any expansion between Supernatural and Generations)
- Loading screen appears grey, artifacts on screen, text not appearing, crashing upon loading or after loading neighborhood etc.
- You're absolutely sure it's not a performance issue (Crap graphics card, out of date graphics drivers, not enough RAM etc)

What you'll need:
- G4TW Manual Patch
- G4TW Ultimate Fix

How to fix:
1. Make sure you have all your iso's/disc image files, fixes and patches before you start. If you've uninstalled your expansion packs or base game, restart your computer. If you've got all this, carry on to step 2.

2. Install The Sims 3 Base Game. You don't need to but if you want to test that the base game works after the installation, do it now but DO NOT update if the launcher asks you to. Also, don't move your cracked TS3W or TSLHost.dll.

3. Install The Sims 3 Supernatural. The game should ask you to update during setup and you need to let it. After the update (Hoping it doesn't fail as I know World Adventures setup update tends to fail a lot), continue with the installation and wait for it to complete.

4. Open up your G4TW Ultimate Fix and copy TS3W and TSLHost.dll to Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\ from the "Supernatural & Diesel Stuff & Katy Perry... etc" folder. I think this step is negligible due to the way I did it, but may as well do it this way.

5. Run the G4TW Manual Patch and wait for it to complete.

6. Go back to your G4TW Ultimate Fix and copy TS3W and TSLHost.dll from '# Crack' to Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\.
NOTE: This is the last time you need to do this. This fix will persist through all the other expansion installations.

7. TEST THE GAME. If you don't get a grey loading screen anymore, YAY. Stick it through to the welcome screen just to make sure everything is working. If yes, CREATE A SYSTEM RESTORE POINT. You don't know when things might go wrong, so it's helpful to have one. I think Windows makes one by default when you install or uninstall Sims, but may as well make one personally so you're aware of it.

8. Install all your other expansion packs. Can be in any order, doesn't matter. I tend to leave World Adventures until last though because it seems to be the most argumentative of the expansion packs.

9. TEST THE GAME AGAIN. If it works, CONGRATULATIONS. That should be it. Play the game and enjoy. If you have CC, install it now - I personally recommend using package files over .Sims3Pack due to the fact that the launcher can be a bit of a pain. Package files can increase load times but there are ways to get around that if you Google how.

I sincerely hope this was helpful to anyone who's stuck with it. It should persist to be the best and most fool-proof way to install The Sims 3 and all its expansions up to Supernatural. Hopefully when Seasons comes out it'll be a simple case of updating and swapping around the TS3W and TSLHost.dll.

If anyone else has problems, I'll try to help from my experience - either respond here (mods may lock it due to it being fixed) or PM me and I'll try to get back to you.

Congrats to figuring it out, hope you enjoy the game.