Re: The Sims 3 on mac taking up around 120gb on hard disk

@puzzlezaddictWhen I go into resources, transgaming is 7.84GB.
AddOns is 10.95GB

Thank you so much for helping me, I really appreciate it 🙂

@kelboe123  Okay, then it's AddOns that's the issue.  It really sounds like there's an extra copy of the base game in there somewhere: the 11 GB total is exactly the combined size of the base game and World Adventures.

However, it's not necessarily a bit deal if there's just one extra copy of the base game—7 GB isn't a lot in the grand scheme of things.  The problem will be if the info keeps duplicating.  So please install one more pack (not Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane, or Outdoor Living, but any other), go back to AddOns, check the total size, and then list the size of each item inside AddOns.  Please check transgaming too, just to be thorough, but if it stays at 7.84 GB, you can ignore it.

@kelboe123  In the transgaming\...\Electronic Arts folder, there should be a Sims 3 folder with an arrow in the lower left corner of the icon, as in, the system is telling you it's a shortcut.  But there shouldn't be a full folder.  Here's what mine looks like:

The size of the Sims 3 folder is 4 KB, because it's just a shortcut.  The World Adventures folder is 3.69 GB.  Let me know what size yours are.

You can fix the unknown error issues related to the four packs I listed.  But for the moment, let's deal with one issue at a time.  Fixing the unknown error involves copying around exactly the folders we're talking about, so it would be easier to leave those packs out of the picture for now.

@kelboe123  Which packs do you have installed?

@kelboe123  Create an alias for Ambitions in Applications\The Sims 3, alongside the aliases for the base game and WA.  Here's how:

https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed/

If it doesn't work, stop here and let me know.

Otherwise, are you planning to install all your expansions?  If so, it's probably easier to install Into the Future (your newest pack by the date EA released it) next, and then copy a folder from Ambitions into the folder for ITF.  This way, you'll only have to do this workaround once rather than every time you install a new pack.  The video in this post describes what to do.  You'll recognize the folders involved.

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-3-Unknown-Error-in-El-Capitan-and-later-OS/m-p/5725514#M4852

If the game still works with ITF installed, you can install Late Night, repeat the two workarounds above, and test.  The other expansions don't need any extra help.

If you don't want to install ITF right now, just install the newest pack by release date among those you'd like to use.  Then copy the folder from Ambitions into that pack's folder instead.

@kelboe123  The folders you're pasting aren't that large in the grand scheme of things: 2.62 GB for Ambitions, I think a little less for Late Night.  All the other packs' folders will create shortcuts to the originals, but that doesn't work for Ambitions or LN.  So they have to be copied and pasted manually, or you'll keep getting an unknown error message.

@kelboe123  Okay, did you also create an alias for each one in Applications\The Sims 3?

@kelboe123  Did you ever launch Sims 3 with just the base game and WA installed?  Let me know if you did, and whether it worked.

If it never worked, or you didn't test, please list the full specs of your Mac, as described here:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p/4756624#M2878

Please also go into Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3, open the file labeled deviceconfig.log, copy the information between "Graphics device info" (about 25 lines down) and 'Options" (about 40 lines down), and paste it here.  If deviceconfig is blank, just let me know.

I never launched, even though I did launch the launcher. I also can't find the file you mentioned "deviceconfig.log".

Forgot this

@kelboe123  If the launcher opened, that's good enough—the unknown error always happens before that.  Just checking, but you currently have only the base game, WA, Ambitions, Into the Future, and possibly Late Night installed, right?  Usually once you've gotten past the unknown error that happens with only the base game, and you apply the two workarounds for Ambitions and LN, you don't get another one.

Still, your graphics card isn't in the game's database, and it may help to add it.  Instructions for your Intel HD 6000 chip are here, along with the text you'd need to add to the two .sgr files.

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

Let me know if you need help with this process.

@kelboe123  The Super Patch will undo any .sgr edits you've made, so if you ran it after doing the edits, you'll need to do them again.

Please right-click on the base game and select Show Package contents, then open

Contents > Resources > AddOns > Into the Future [Show Package Contents] > Contents > Resources > transgaming > c_drive > Program Files > Electronic Arts

and take a screenshot of everything in that folder.

Please also take a screenshot of the contents of Applications\The Sims 3.

@kelboe123  Great, so is the game working now?

That's also useful information to have.  WA works fine for me with an alias, and usually for others, but it might explain why some people get an unknown error instead.

@kelboe123  That's perfect, thanks so much for sharing.

And yeah, the game won't run beautifully on a Mac, any Mac really, due to the way it's programmed.  (We hope that will change with the new 64-bit-compatible version when it arrives, but we have no idea.)  You can help it by doing things like disabling memories, shop mode, and interactive loading screens.  More useful tips are here:

https://www.nraas.net/community/TIPS-FOR-BETTER-GAME-PERFORMANCE