There is Something Wrong With my Sims 3 Launcher.

You might have some bad cc, maybe attached to one of the lots you downloaded. Or there's something else in your Sims 3 user data folder that's preventing the new content from installing properly. Or the new content you're installing could be corrupt, either bad content or a bad download.

The easiest test is to pull your entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, open the launcher to create a new folder, then install the new content you've been trying to add. If it works—it installs, it shows up in-game, there's no extra content you didn't expect listed in the launcher's Installed content tab, and opening that tab doesn't crash the launcher—then the issue is something in your old user data folder, and you'll need to test to find out what.

How much custom content do you have installed through the launcher? With the lots you've been downloading, do you want to keep the cc, if any, that came with them? Would it be a pain to reinstall your existing cc? There are a few different approaches you can try, depending on whether you're willing to start from scratch and/or delete some content.

"puzzlezaddict;c-17506766" wrote:
You might have some bad cc, maybe attached to one of the lots you downloaded. Or there's something else in your Sims 3 user data folder that's preventing the new content from installing properly. Or the new content you're installing could be corrupt, either bad content or a bad download.

I don't see any bad .package files or anything that shows that it hasn't been installed properly. The lots that I just installed claimed to be CC free on the official site and the residential lots I previously had are working (those that couldn't be installed were deleted because I didn't have said requirement).

The easiest test is to pull your entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, open the launcher to create a new folder, then install the new content you've been trying to add. If it works—it installs, it shows up in-game, there's no extra content you didn't expect listed in the launcher's Installed content tab, and opening that tab doesn't crash the launcher—then the issue is something in your old user data folder, and you'll need to test to find out what.

Everything worked up until I had to reinstall my old folder. Well, I think it might've been something to do with those other files (ex: Options.ini, LoadOption.ini, bin, logs, etc). I don't know, the Installer wouldn't popup like it did before once I repasted everything.

How much custom content do you have installed through the launcher?

I have mainly .package files vs .sims3packs and they're in my Mods folder. There's quite enough stuff stored inside. Although, I don't know the total size for that folder. Before testing, I had installed Sims, Households, and other custom content, which was fairly lengthy in "Downloads" and "Installed Content". Now, it's pretty little for some reason.

With the lots you've been downloading, do you want to keep the cc, if any, that came with them?

Yes, I plan to.

Would it be a pain to reinstall your existing cc? There are a few different approaches you can try, depending on whether you're willing to start from scratch and/or delete some content.

Yes, of course, but if there's a way to play the game effectively and help me install content quickly and smoothly, then I'm up for it.

Bad custom content doesn't always identify itself, and it doesn't always cause problems right away. The cumulative effect of a lot of content can also prevent the launcher from working correctly. So it often takes some work to pinpoint the issue.

There are two main approaches to a problem like this. One is to sort through the content in your user data folder a bit at a time, adding something and testing to see whether the launcher still works. If it doesn't, you know that whatever you've just added is the problem, or at least part of it. By the way, options.ini and the log files don't need to be added back. Most of the files in the user data folder will be recreated right away, and it's often helpful to force the game to spawn new ones.

If you don't want to disturb your existing installed custom content, what you can do is create a clean Sims 3 folder, then copy (not drag and drop, copy and paste) your content into the clean folder in batches and test. Since you're copying the files, the originals will still be intact, so you can mess with the copies all you want without worrying. Or, if you find that you've copied all the important content (saves, custom content, store stuff, Library entries) into the new folder and new cc still installs fine, you can just go ahead and play in that new folder.

Here's a list of everything you'll find in your user data folder, with explanations of what you'd want to preserve:

https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/faq-user-files.html

The other approach is to install your new custom content into a clean folder and then move it to your existing Sims 3 folder afterwards. The launcher still won't work when your existing folder is in place, but you can easily swap to a clean folder when you want to install something. The only trick to this is that you'll need to renumber the newly created .dbc files (bundled custom content) so they don't have the same name as your existing ones. For example, if you have dcdb0.dbc through dcdb4.dbc in your existing Sims 3 folder, when you create a new folder and install content into that folder, the new .dbc file in DCCache will also be labeled dcdb0. Renumber it to dcdb5.dbc before moving it over, and everything should work together. The entries in the Library folder can just be moved over without doing anything special.

How best to approach this depends in part on your personal preferences. If I were in this position, I'd just install everything into a clean user data folder, but then again I don't have a lot of stuff to install. Otherwise, I'd test in batches and get rid of any files that caused problems with the launcher. But if you don't care about the launcher not working normally, it's fine to go the other route. It's not going to affect the game's program files, and as long as you've backed up your saves and anything else critical, there's no harm in experimenting a bit or playing with possibly borked content.

@puzzlezaddict So far I found a tedious way, which is to select and open the sims3pack file and wait for my items to load. I'll be testing to see if the issue can be resolved on a later date and whether or not if it's just this computer. I'm not too sure about the dbc files.

@puzzlezaddict Now that I figured my way around that, the launcher now won't play. I changed the compatibility to Windows 8 and for it be run through admin, but whenever I press play, it'll be stuck in mid-launch (pre-loading screen).

Sorry, I didn't see your edit until now. Sims 3 doesn't require any compatibility mode, and using one often causes more problems than it solves. Please undo the setting and let me know whether the game launches. If it doesn't, please move your entire Sims 3 user data folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and let the game spawn another clean folder, at least for now. There might be a corrupt file preventing the game from launching, or it might be something else, and this is the fastest way to find out.

If the game still doesn't launch properly, please run a dxdiag. Hit Windows key-R, enter "dxdiag" without quotes, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the dxdiag to your desktop. Upload it to a filesharing site (the free version of pastebin.com is fine), and link it here.

@puzzlezaddict Okay, so when I moved over the folder, it worked. I later tried using delphy's dashboard if that would help in some way. I think it might've, but it wasn't recognizable. Here's the link: https://pastebin.com/5yu56ets

If you moved the user data folder and now the game works, that means there's something wrong with the user data folder. You can try to sort through the content, or reinstall from scratch, whichever is easier and less frustrating.

If you do want to sort through your existing content, you can add it back in batches, testing each time to see whether the game still works. This can be tedious, but it's more effective than relying on Delphy's Dashboard to flag bad cc. "Method by Mell," described in Crinrict's guide to getting rid of bad cc, is useful for both testing .dbc bundles individually and for uninstalling an item when the launcher isn't cooperating reliably.

https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/tutorial-how-to-get-rid-of-unwanted-custom-content.html

I do want to point out though that there are a number of system errors in your dxdiag. Your GPU driver is crashing, the USB 3.0 driver is crashing, and a component of the 2005 VC++ runtime (which Sims 3 uses) is crashing the game. Let me know if you want to troubleshoot any of these issues, and I'll write out instructions.

@puzzlezaddict Yeah, I'd like help with the troubleshoots.

Okay, but please run and link a new dxdiag, so I can see the current state of your drivers and other info. Please also let me know whether Sims 3 runs well without crashing when you're testing in a clean folder. I'm not saying you need to play that way normally, but it's useful information to have.

By the way, I happened to open this thread today just by coincidence, but if I hadn't, I wouldn't have noticed you edited your reply to ask for help. If I don't respond to a similar edit in the future, please post again and tag me so I see it.

@puzzlezaddict I was rambling about Delphy's mod, but I already found the problem, so I just retracted. Now, as far as my launcher goes, I managed to get pass the errors I was facing (grayed buttons, black screen, unresponsiveness). I think once I didn't include the .backup folders from the Saves folder, that it was able to work correctly. I'm still on the fence since I haven't even copy & pasted my mods folder, yet.

https://pastebin.com/f32vN0gi

I tried finding out how to update my drivers and whatnot of the requirements, but my drivers are claimed to be updated. Unless, I'm overlooking it. *shrug*