Re: Sims 3 crashes randomly

I'll send you the link of the page that showed how to make the game use more ram, I did exactly how they instructed. But I've already changed it back to normal. 

https://simmetrydesign.forumotion.com/t95-want-sims-3-to-use-more-ram-you-can

@lilaaaaaaaaaaali  Right, that guide is completely wrong on multiple counts, starting with what that value does.  And in the screenshot, you can count the zeroes and see there are seven of them, making the value 20,000,000.  At any rate, the important thing is you've undone the change.

Please attach a dxdiag to a post in this thread whenever you're ready.

The DxDiag

@lilaaaaaaaaaaali  Your dxdiag lists a number of failed Windows updates, in fact so many that any possible Sims 3 errors have been crowded out.  These might impact the game if your computer is trying to process the update while you're playing, but even if not, it's still best to lcean them up.

• Hit Windows key-X
• Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
• Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes, and enter
• The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here
• After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again
• Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator)”
• Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes, and enter
• Post the message you receive here

Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates.  If any install, restart again afterwards.

Next, please download the newest driver for your Nvidia graphics card:

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/199991/en-us/

Run the installer as an admin: right-click the download and select "Run as administrator."  Choose the Custom (not Express) install type and check the box to perform a clean install, and restart your computer when it's finished.

You can try again to play, and if you get another crash, please look for any new errors in the Reliability Monitor. Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart of errors and updates with a column for each day.  Look for any errors that mention Sims 3, or any that happened at exactly the time of the crash.  If you find one, double-click it, copy the info you see, and paste it here.  Keep in mind that the Reliability Monitor doesn't always update right away, so you may need to check back in an hour or so.

Finally, please list the world you're currently playing in and the expansions you have installed.  (Stuff packs don't matter for the purposes of this discussion.)  If you have Seasons installed, let me know what kind of weather you're seeing in-game.

• Post the message you receive here: 

  "A Proteção de Recursos do Windows não encontrou nenhuma violação de integridade.

  PS C:\WINDOWS\system32>" - It's saying that the windows resource protection didn't find any integrity violation. 

I have all expansions and I'm currently playing in Aurora Skies, it's summer. 

@lilaaaaaaaaaaali  Alright, the next time the game crashes, please get me the relevant info from the Reliability Monitor.  It may be that Sims 3 is just demanding too many resources from your computer, especially given that you're running the game with all expansions present.  But I'd like to rule out other causes as well, and even if there aren't any, there are things you can do to improve performance that may help enough to at least reduce the rate of crashing.

Thank you, I already did everything you told me to do in the other post. I'll play test it now, if it crashes again I'll let you know.

Source
sims 3

Summary
Stopped working

Date
‎06/‎03/‎2023 14:57

status
Report sent

Description
Faulting Application Path: C:\Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe

Problem signature
Problem Event Name: APPCRASH
Application Name: TS3W.exe
Application Version: 0.0.0.32
Application Timestamp: 52dec247
Fault Module Name: d3d9.dll
Fault Module Version: 10.0.19041.2311
Fault Module Timestamp: 28d34277
Exception Code: c0000005
Exception Offset: 00135186
Operating system version: 10.0.19045.2.0.0.768.100
Location Identification: 1046
Additional Information 1: a89c
Additional Information 2: a89cbad0343d4637e5843732a061706b
Additional Information 3: 317c
Additional Information 4: 317c5e048f31f7e118ae1a2e1c38c695

Additional information about the issue
Memory Enclosure ID: e62074b3f1c507132da7b10de6bb2028 (2136871221474304040)

@puzzlezaddict It crashed again so I'm sending you the report of the problem. I had to translate it since my computer is in portuguese, sorry if there's any mistakes.

@lilaaaaaaaaaaali  The translation is fine, but you don't need to do that in the future—I've seen enough of these errors to know what they mean in any language.  This error report says that Sims 3 crashed because of a component of DirectX 9 (d3d9.dll), and the type of crash was an access violation.  This is, unfortunately, quite generic, with possible causes ranging from bad custom content to an outdated graphics driver (you hopefully addressed that already) to another system issue.

It's also possible that running Pets is more than your laptop can handle.  Pets is the most demanding expansion by far, with Seasons being second but depending heavily on the weather.  Rain, snow, and sleet are much heavier than sunny days, which is why I asked about the weather.  As an example, I've seen Sims 3 crash on lower-end systems only when it snows, with the game otherwise being mostly stable.

Anyway, please try playing with no custom content at all, and no mods other than those from NRaas.  You don't need to save your progress, or you can use "save as" to rename the save so the original remains intact under its old name.  If you get another crash, turn off all inclement weather and test again.

Please also list the mods you're currently using.

BrntWafflesBigQEyesn24DEFAULT
ccmerged
NRaas_MasterController
[pixelswirl] Orchard Default
NRaas_StoryProgression
NRaas_StoryProgressionCareer
NRaas_StoryProgressionExtra
NRaas_StoryProgressionLovers
NRaas_StoryProgressionMoney
NRaas_StoryProgressionOthers
NRaas_StoryProgressionPopulation
NRaas_StoryProgressionRelationship
NRaas_StoryProgressionSkill
StoreFix_Decrap_Fixes
StoreFix_Fixes
StoreITEMS_part1
StoreITEMS_part2
StoreITEMS_part3
StoreITEMS_part4
StoreITEMS_part5
NRaas_Dreamer
NRaas_ErrorTrap
NRaas_Overwatch
NRaas_SleepFreedom
NRaas_Woohooer
cmar_tfMaternitySuperPack

@puzzlezaddict All my mods and CC. I've already cleaned the mods folder before, that's why there's not that much.

@lilaaaaaaaaaaali  Please test without NRaas StoryProgression.  Although it's a well-made mod that won't introduce corruption or other in-game issues, it is pretty heavy, and it could be taxing your system past what it can handle.  I'm not saying you can't play with it, but if the game runs better without it, you may be able to add SP back and simply slow its overall pace and/or remove some of the modules.

The others probably aren't the issue, although I'd test without the store stuff too in case there's a problem with how those items were decrapped.  In particular, a crash could happen when a sim interacted with a premium content object, "premium" meaning an object that adds new interactions rather than one that's just a reskin of a base game object.  (The basketball hoop is premium content; a new chess table is not.)  I can't help with decrapped content at all, but it would be useful to at least do some testing.

@puzzlezaddict I've tried without any of the NRaas SP mods and the store items and it still crashed. 

@lilaaaaaaaaaaali  Is there any difference in the frequency of the crashes?  What's the weather like in-game right now, and does your active houshold include any pets?

I'm starting to think this may just be a limitation of your computer's hardware.  That wouldn't be surprising, but there are still a few intermediate steps you can take that might improve performance enough to make the game playable.

@puzzlezaddict It's still summer in the game and the crashes always happens a few minutes after my dog grows up.

@lilaaaaaaaaaaali  Does the dog have short or long hair?  If long, does it help to change the coat to short?  You can take the dog into CAS, or Create a Pet, through mods or cheats.  After doing so, use "save as" to rename the save, quit to desktop, delete the cache files, and reload before aging up the dog.

I ask because long-haired dogs are known to be more demanding to render than short-haired ones, and as mentioned, your computer doesn't have the graphics power to run all packs smoothly.  This would be an example of how to possibly lower the stress on the GPU.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you, what do you reckon would be the best computer configurations to run the sims 3 smoothly? I'm thinking of buying a new one.

@lilaaaaaaaaaaali  For Sims 3, any new-ish computer with a dedicated graphics card that doesn't have MX in its name would be more than fine.  These have processors that can more than keep up with Sims 3, and at least 8 GB RAM and 256 GB storage, which are sufficient here.  (You might want 500 GB storage if you're planning on installing other games, for example Sims 4.)  The current entry-level graphics card, the Nvidia RTX 3050, is more than fast enough for ultra graphics settings in either its desktop or laptop iteration, and the last-gen GTX 1650 is too.

Even the tier below that, computers with the fastest integrated graphics chips currently available, are usually good enough for high settings if not ultra.  One example is the Intel i5-1135G7, but if you're going this route and are considering different processors, please ask about the specific models.  Intel has made its better graphics chips optional in some processors, so you don't know what you're getting unless you read the specs carefully.

For any computer you're considering, desktop or laptop, feel free to link it and ask for a second opinion.  You could also post a budget and country and ask for help picking something out, although based on the language you're using for Windows, I'm guessing I'd also need a list of stores to check out.  (I only have lists of online stores for a few countries.)  Point is, just ask for whatever kind of help you'd like, and we can figure something out.