@ohjosiekthere's a bunch of us that are having a similar issue. we are assuming that it's because of 12th gen cpus. https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11104241#M248741
@ohjosiek Do you in fact have a 12th-gen Intel processor? Did the game work on this computer before you installed Windows 11? Either way, it would be helpful to see a dxdiag on this computer. You can attach one to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
This is the dxdiag of my computer. I'm not really the most tech-savvy so I thank you for providing links on how to do these sort of things @puzzlezaddict
@ohjosiek You don't have an Alder Lake processor—yours is 8th-gen Intel—and the errors in your dxdiag are completely different as well. So at least you don't need to worry about that particular issue. Instead, try uninstalling and reinstalling VC++ 2005, a component of which is throwing errors.
Hit Windows key-i, select Apps, scroll down to the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables, click on the 2005 version, and select Uninstall. (Don't touch the versions from any other year.) Then download and install a new copy directly from Microsoft.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26347
You only need the x86 version, not the other two. Restart your computer after installing and before trying to play.
That's the first step because the errors in your dxdiag are clear. However, I think the issue is more likely your graphics driver, which is significantly older than Windows 11 and is probably not fully compatible with your OS. So try installing the newest driver available for your processor from Intel. Go here:
Click on "Drivers and Software," and download the DCH drivers dated November 11 (the regular one, not the newer beta version). Restart after installing and before trying to play.
@ohjosiek If you've installed the new driver and restarted your computer—a real restart, not sleep/wake—there's no reason to wait any longer.
@ohjosiek Just to be clear, you do not have the issue that EA is investigating. That is completely separate: it only impacts one family of very new Intel processors that have a new architecture that Sims 3 or Origin might not be accounting for. Your processor should run the game without any trouble, and EA is definitely not looking into any other Sims 3 issues, much less ones that only impact a subset of the many players with similar hardware.
Anyway, try playing while your computer is offline. You can sign into Origin and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or disconnect the ethernet cable before pressing Play. If htat doesn't help, please post a new dxdiag so I can look for new errors and make sure the new graphics driver is working correctly.
I know it's been a while since I've responded to this thread. But I just tried to run the game again with your suggestion of playing offline. It did not work and I ran Dxdiag again to show you
Make sure this is installed: Download .NET Framework 3.5 SP1 | Free official downloads (microsoft.com) and install this as that is VC++ crash: Release v0.60.0 · abbodi1406/vcredist (github.com)
This will update all VC++ runtimes and remove old and broken version. Make sure you run it 4 times as admin because windows can break the installs.
@ohjosiek The Sims 3 crashes in your dxdiag reference a component of the VC++ 2005 runtime, the same errors you had when you first posted, but you said you already reinstalled the runtime. Did you ever try a clean user folder? As in, move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and let the game spawn a new folder. Even if you tried this before, please do so again now just to be thorough: it's best to troubleshoot with a clean folder in place just to keep things simple.
Please also make sure that no service (for example OneDrive) is syncing your Sims 3 folder. Specifically, after you move the folder, but before you try to launch the game, check in Documents\Electronic Arts to make sure that the Sims 3 folder and its contents haven't reappeared or been duplicated.
december 2022 and just got the sims 3 game back on my old origin. still an going going issue a whole year later smfh
@KellsxDnO Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
Lazy dutchess was able to help fix the issue
Mit Adler Like komme ich nicht zurecht finde meine sims3 exe auch nirgends
@Melli36nrw You're looking for TS3.exe (EA App install) or TS3W.exe (disc or Steam install), not sims3.exe.
If you need more help, please either post here in English, or create a new thread in the German-language forum.
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Andere-Die-Sims-Spiele/bd-p/Die-Sims-3
Either way, please run a dxdiag and attach it to your post.
https://help.ea.com/de/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
