The ole Error Code 12 has come to visit me again! I've deleted the .bad folder and moved everything that was in my current game folder. I'm about to make a complete back up of my Sims 3 folder because it's been awhile; however, I went into my Saves folder and I have 199 items in there (a years' worth of saves). If I move/delete the ones that I'm not currently using, will this free up some space and make my game run a little bit smoother?

1. You have 199 game folders in Saves? The game chooser screen can only read a limited number of those, after about 50 (seems to be around 70 for some players) it just ignores the rest. Moving all but a small number out of the live game folder will cause the startup procedure to use less resources yes, but only a little.2. Removing the contents of DCBackup is fine (not the entire folder). If you do not leave one small file in there, it's ccmerged.package, then none of your EA Store premium content items will work. The rest of it is there so that if you export sims or lots out of your game to upload or for others to use, and if you had CC on them, the CC would "stick" to the exports. If you never do this, then the folder can stay empty except for that one required file.3. Error 12 is an out of resources condition. Usually it's memory (RAM), but it can be video memory as well. We covered this just recently and you found that your one ongoing game at the time was fine on RAM usage, well below 3 GB (the danger zone is up around 3.5 GB) both at startup and after many hours of play, but then concluded that there was a lot you were designing that was just too much or too much all at once for the game to handle.http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/931820/game-crashing-error-12-codeSo same routine, how much RAM is the game using on startup, how much after some play has happened, does this happen in all worlds or just one ongoing save in particular? And note that I listed out many ways to reduce stress on the game in that same post.

Some people have issues with saved games not showing up in the save game chooser screen when they have too many saves in the Save folder. Over 50 is commonly when people have trouble, but some can go much higher. I'm surprised you aren't having trouble with 199 save folders. Moving or deleting some of those saves may avoid issues with the save game chooser screen, but it won't affect game play. I don't know if it would affect EC 12. If you don't have much free space on your hard drive then moving those save folders could be helpful.Your DCBackup folder houses CC files which (AFAIK) are used to include CC in lots which you export and upload to the Exchange. It's also where your ccmerged.package file lives which holds resources critical for Store premium objects. If you don't have any Store content then you probably don't have a ccmerged.package file so moving the folder shouldn't be a problem. I think the game will recreate it if it needs to. But if you do have a ccmerged.package file there you should replace the folder. You can delete or move the other files in that folder if you want, but I don't think that's going to do much for EC 12 or game performance.EC 12 occurs when the game runs out of resources (including but not limited to RAM). I've run into EC 12 quite a bit over the years and sometimes I just have to abandon a save. Sometimes though I can work around it. Here are some suggestions that have worked for me in my current game which has been plagued with EC 12 for the past few months:1. If you are playing with a large overstuffed household (over 20 sims) try playing with less sims.2. Move the household to a smaller and/or less populated world.3. In the game's graphics options panel reduce Texture Detail to Medium (if you have it currently set to High). This has made a big difference in my current game.4. Regularly save, quit to desktop, and relaunch to continue playing. In my current save I do this once a sim day (at night).5. Monitor RAM usage with Task Manager (if you play on Windows). If RAM usage gets much above 3.0 GB it's time to save, quit to desktop, and relaunch. I also monitor 'commit size' in the Task Manager's Detail tab (you have to add that column manually). I find this is a better predictor of when I'm at risk of running into EC 12. Once the 'commit size' (which I think has to do with RAM requested but not necessarily used by the game) gets much above 3.0 GB then I save ASAP, quit to desktop, and relaunch the game to continue playing.Once you do get EC 12 you can try a few things to get the game to save:1. Go into map view which reduces the RAM the game uses, wait a few seconds for RAM usage to settle down, and try to save.2. Point the camera to a bland patch of ground in the world (so the game has almost nothing to render) and try to save.Both of those methods occasionally will work for me. But more often they fail and either I'll get repeated EC 12 messages or the game will crash. If they do work then I quit to desktop and relaunch the game to continue playing.To keep my game 'clean and healthy' I use NRaas Overwatch, ErrorTrap, and I reset everything in town every 2-4 sim weeks with MasterController. I'm not sure any of that will help EC 12 though.

"aricarai;c-16387990" wrote:...I do have a file folder on the no beards option. Is that bad?I have that too. And the same icon is on all the 'no body hair' options as well. I never really noticed it before. I do have some CC body hair, but no CC beards. I also have that icon on all of my package based clothing CC. I have no idea what it means.

Just catching up here, but yes I am intimately familiar with that dreadful Arezzo counter. In all the years I've played TS3 and fooled around with CC, it's the one and only "bad" CC that I ever got. It came attached to a sim provided directly by a fellow NRaas member, not from the Exchange or some other source. She should have known better to share it that way (didn't realize her own game was affected by it at the time) and I should have known better than to add a custom sim like that without checking the file in Custard first. The impact for me was, besides the bogus facial hair thumbnail, that stupid 2-part counter was listed in just about every Build/Buy category and although not impacting my game in any way, was slowly driving me insane. It took me ages to get rid of it (Method by Mell below), but was a good learning exercise at the time.https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/tutorial-how-to-get-rid-of-unwanted-custom-content.htmlIt was 2am years ago when I finally isolated the critter and I am sure my neighbors are still wondering why they heard screams of, "Aha, I finally gotcha! Now get out of my life forever!" coming from my apartment that night. They must have thought I caught a mouse or something.But the item didn't cause undue RAM usage or Error12s, it was just an annoyance. The really sad thing is that the "real" Arezzo 2-part counter is a very nice CC object. I later ended up with it as part of a residential lot download from TSR, after verifying that this wasn't the damaged one again, and I do use it occasionally in other houses.

Okay, you are clearly doing a good job managing RAM usage then. Let's concentrate on the fps issue. If it's not the sole cause, it could at least be a heavy contributor. Your graphics card is powerful enough to run wild on the fps rates just as you have described and TS3, unlike newer games, has no built-in fps limiter.Back a couple of months ago you successfully got vertical sync to lock in and used Nvidia Inspector to keep your frame rates under 60 fps. Somehow this has become undone or is no longer effective. I would suggest starting with Inspector to see if the settings you had applied prior are still there.If they are and you are on Win 10, it is possible you are suffering from side-effects of the somewhat recent Win 10 Creators Update. Here is how to undo those effects.http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/15902876/#Comment_15902876

Saves Folder + Error Code 12 | EA Forums

29 Replies

plumdot
8 years ago
"igazor;c-16388966" wrote:
Nvidia Inspector does not come pre-installed. I gave you the link to download it, a visual of how to set it up, and a description of an important setting (the actual Frame Rate Limiter) that the visual did not include here. I didn't realize that you never installed it.
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16225122/#Comment_16225122

OMG! @igazor - do you want to kill me yet? I feel like I need to get my brain checked because it seems that I have a memory like a fish. I suspect what happened last time is that I was doing all the checks in full screened mode and when I initially got this computer, I wasn't recording anything so I would have been playing in full screened mode. Now that I record, it's windowed mode or the screen goes very very dark with OBS.

Let me go follow your instructions to a T!

I'm so sorry that I'm technologically challenged! Thank you so much for all your help AND your patience, though I suspect you may be shaking your fist at the screen at me! :lol: :confounded: :mrgreen:

Edit: @igazor - how's that look?

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/783/39069566620_4931284eb8_o.png
igazor
8 years ago
That looks right. I don't know why the Frame Rate Limiter needs to be 60.7 instead of just plain 60 or what the funny looking symbols are just before the number though. I can't speak from experience because I don't even have an Nvidia card, mine is AMD so I have to use different tools on it. Try it and see what happens to the fps rate in-game, while in windowed mode?
plumdot
8 years ago
"igazor;c-16389017" wrote:
That looks right. I don't know why the Frame Rate Limiter needs to be 60.7 instead of just plain 60 or what the funny looking symbols are just before the number though. I can't speak from experience because I don't even have an Nvidia card, mine is AMD so I have to use different tools on it. Try it and see what happens to the fps rate in-game, while in windowed mode?

And we are limited! I haven't hit over 59 since moving around for a bit! Thank you so much @igazor, you legend! :heart: :mrgreen:
igazor
8 years ago
Glad to hear it. Now let's see if the Error12s and the crashing thing go away (hopefully).
plumdot
8 years ago
Different save file. Just decorating and boom crash when I went back into live mode to save @igazor! I love this game but man it can be frustrating!
igazor
8 years ago
Well, we did have to fix that fps issue because that could have been a heavy contributor to the crashes and could also over time have burned out your graphics card. With that ruled out, now it sounds like we are back to suspecting CC and RAM usage (unless you were checking on RAM while decorating already).

This only happens in Edit Town? Are you placing/editing many lots within the same game session and can you not do any of this in Live Mode using testingcheats shift-clicks to enter Build/Buy?
plumdot
8 years ago
"igazor;c-16389214" wrote:
Well, we did have to fix that fps issue because that could have been a heavy contributor to the crashes and could also over time have burned out your graphics card. With that ruled out, now it sounds like we are back to suspecting CC and RAM usage (unless you were checking on RAM while decorating already).

This only happens in Edit Town? Are you placing/editing many lots within the same game session and can you not do any of this in Live Mode using testingcheats shift-clicks to enter Build/Buy?

I was decorating on a lot with Sims on it so I was just build/buy mode and then when I went to go back to live mode to save, it crashed.

I turned off my computer and I'm back in the save. It's the only lot that I have in Riverview that is active - so no switching between households. I've been able to save a few times so perhaps my computer was just having a fuss after changing settings and what not @igazor? I'll monitor RAM but it could just be a CC issue although I don't have heaps and heaps of it and you'd think my computer could handle it.
igazor
8 years ago
I think we know your computer is capable of running what you are throwing at it. The game is fragile. It certainly runs better on suitable hardware, but I'm afraid it never was a perfect product. That's why we keep stressing to do saves and save as so often.
TreyNutz2
8 years ago
"aricarai;c-16389001" wrote:

Edit: @igazor - how's that look?

https://farm1.staticflickr.com/783/39069566620_4931284eb8_o.png

If you scroll further down in the Frame Rate Limiter drop down list you should find even fps settings including a "60fps ( Frame Rate Limiter V2 )" option. I haven't noticed any difference between that setting and the fractional settings that are higher up on the list.

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Saves Folder + Error Code 12

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