And asking myself every second why in the world I ever left it. :D When I was playing Sims 3, I hadn't collected all the packs (at least not the little ones), and I have to say I probably didn't even do half of the stuff available in this game. When Sims 4 came out I just jumped to it, not realizing at all that it was going to be so...different. But with my new laptop, it's so easy to play Sims 3 on the highest settings, and now that it's not lagging, I'm seeing how (to me) that this game is so much better. Open Worlds, real personality, almost endless customization, so much stuff to do and explore, I feel like it's a game I can play for hours and not get bored. Don't get me wrong, I'm totally attached to my Sims 4 characters and the story I've made for them, but I'm currently only playing with one sim in sims 3 and it's so much fun, and I feel like I have so much stuff to do. It's almost overwhelming, but in a really good way. I don't even need mods, they're just minor enhancements. I wonder, is there anyone else recently coming back to sims 3 and are loving it?

Welcome back, @AnnaLoo91 - There have been a few people coming back to Sims 3. Most of us here haven't left Sims 3. I started playing Sims 3 in 2017 and have never stopped playing Sims 3.

Yay, welcome back to Sims 3!Some mods are more than minor enhancements. Like the NRaas Overwatch and ErrorTrap. They will take care of some bugs in the game that could cause lag over time, fix stuck sims and more. :smile:

Welcome back @AnnaLoo91 :) As @Cororon says, the mods she mentions are essential to a healthy game :)

Don't forget Nraas's Traveler mod, too! It's a big help with World Adventures, Uni, and Into The Future!

i literally came back to sims 3 a few days ago and i'm loving it

Recently gone back to sims 3... | EA Forums

Serdovia
5 years ago
I returned last week to playing TS3 and feel the same way. It's by far the superior game.
comicsforever
5 years ago
"sketches;c-17670746" wrote:
"Nikkei_Simmer;c-17669818" wrote:
Welcome back, @sketches; glad you're having so much fun again. It's a great game when you can get it stable and not prone to Error 12s.

I haven't encountered Error 12 yet. Or any error, for that matter. Yay. :) Should I be saving my game often, in case?

yes always save often
comicsforever
5 years ago
sims 3 is such a great game would recommend to everyone that likes any sims game
NikkeiSimmer
Seasoned Adventurer
5 years ago
@sketches - "Save As" and give your save file a unique name. Make it a habit. TS3 doesn't do Error12 if your game is new, but as you play and progress...your save file gets bigger; starts eating up more RAM and you really need to stay on top of it. Others know how to "clean" a save file...so that it reduces its size...and hopefully they can help you in making sure that your save is playable. Sometimes you have to pack up your sim family and restart in a clean save using NRAAS to make your sims skills as to what it was before you ported them over into a new save. Believe me, it's worth the effort. And that's what's fun about Sims 3 (the wide open sandbox that you get to play in).
Sharooonia
New Spectator
5 years ago
I don't know if I will be able to return to the Sims 4 now after playing the Sims 3. It's honestly so wonderful to see things function properly in a sims game. My sims 3 sims don't play silly high chair games with their toddlers, they sit on chairs to eat and watch TV, they don't randomly teleport around the house and the animations and interactions between sims are just so lovely to experience and I enjoy the opportunities a lot. It just seems like a much better fulfilling experience to play the Sims 3.
NikkeiSimmer
Seasoned Adventurer
5 years ago
So glad you're enjoying it, @Sharonia.
karritz
Seasoned Rookie
5 years ago
"sketches;c-17670746" wrote:
"Nikkei_Simmer;c-17669818" wrote:
Welcome back, @sketches; glad you're having so much fun again. It's a great game when you can get it stable and not prone to Error 12s.

I haven't encountered Error 12 yet. Or any error, for that matter. Yay. :) Should I be saving my game often, in case?

Error 12 is an out of memory error. It happens during saving if the memory required by the game to complete the save nudges above the almost 4GB it can use. There are ways to get around it that work sometimes and not other times. Such as move to an area in the world with nothing much in it and going down close to the ground. That's the only way I can save sometimes. When a game gets really big you start to notice when you need to shut down and reload. For examples in some of my larger games I can save twice before I need to quit the game to free up memory and then reload. It's all about being aware of memory usage. If you never get Error 12 then that's good. I don't get it often.
HillyPlays
5 years ago
I play off and on between both Sims 3 and Sims 4. I love both equally as there are things in Sims 3 that aren't in Sims 4 and the other way around.
timurjr96
5 years ago
"sketches;c-17670746" wrote:
"Nikkei_Simmer;c-17669818" wrote:
Welcome back, @sketches; glad you're having so much fun again. It's a great game when you can get it stable and not prone to Error 12s.

I haven't encountered Error 12 yet. Or any error, for that matter. Yay. :) Should I be saving my game often, in case?

System more prone of getting Error code 12 is usually the one with barely capable resources to run The Sims 3, prolonged gameplay session without saving make it worse, installing Nraas Overwatch and Error Trap decreased the chance of getting that error, but yes I would say just to be safe save often and use save as, last time I got error code 12 was back in late 2011 and was running the game without Mod, on 32bit system, with 4gb ram only.
GwastenMica
New Spectator
5 years ago
I launched my Sims 3 the other day and after I remembered how to do everything I had a great time. The launch screen asked me which EPs I wanted and suggested just a couple, not all. Do any of you play with all the EPs at once?