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.

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.

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.

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.

Sorry about the late reply. Interestingly, some of the installed Intel drivers for your motherboard are actually older than the ones you had before. This isn't a problem, it just reflects that the default drivers for Windows 10 build 19041, which you've installed since you ran the first dxdiag, are older than the newest ones for build 1909.

Your newest dxdiag doesn't have most of the errors of the previous one, just a pile of Sims 3 crashes related to the 2005 VC++ runtime that the game uses. These might be the crashes you've been having while sorting through the content in your user data folder—cc-related crashes often look like that. But there's no harm in uninstalling and reinstalling the runtime, in case it is in fact an issue.

Hit Windows key-i, select Apps, scroll down to the Microsoft Visual C++ 2005 Redistributable x86, click on it, and select Uninstall. Don't touch the x64 version, if you happen to have it, or any of the other years' versions. Then download a new one from Microsoft. You only need to install the x86, since that's the one Sims 3 uses.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26347

Restart your computer before playing again.

If you have more crashing issues, please look for related entries in the Reliability Monitor. Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes. You'll see a chart of entries for each day; today is all the way on the right. For any entry that corresponds with a Sims 3 crash, please click "View technical details," copy the information, and paste it into a reply here. The crashes can take an hour or two to be listed in the Reliability Monitor, and their timestamps in the initial chart can be similarly inaccurate, although the timestamps in the technical details are usually correct. If you see something like this:

Fault bucket 1786816379135142758, type 1
Event Name: APPCRASH
Response: Not available
Cab Id: 0

Problem signature:
P1: TS3.exe
P2: 0.2.0.32
P3: 568d4bac
P4: MSVCR80.dll
P5: 8.0.50727.9672
P6: 5db2b1b8
P7: c0000005
P8: 0001500a
P9:
P10:

you can ignore it, at least if you've already uninstalled and reinstalled the 2005 VC++ runtime, which would have addressed any issues with MSVCR80.dll (as opposed to the game not using it correctly). The RADAR_PRE_LEAK errors are also typical and not particularly problematic. Any other Sims 3 or Origin errors, I'd like to see, as well as any errors that happen while you're playing, regardless of whether they mention the game.

An access violation is when a program attempts to access a specific memory address in a way that's not allowed, for example reading from a location that was not designated to store data for that program. Windows then detects the violation and shuts down the program.

The issue is in trying to figure out the cause of that violation. It's not Sims 3 itself, unless the install is corrupted, since the game runs well, or well enough, on most systems. Normally, the next places to look would be the libraries that Sims 3 uses, so VC++ 2005 (you reinstalled it already), .NET Framework 3.5, and DirectX 9. But the fact that the game runs fine vanilla makes it less likely that any of those are the issue, or for that matter the driver for your graphics card.

There's still a possibility that the content you're adding to your user data folder is corrupt and causing the issue. If you haven't already, please try downloading a fresh copy of one file and installing it into an otherwise clean folder. If you still can't play, disable any antivirus/firewall you have running and try the same thing. If that doesn't work either, take your computer completely offline and try again. You can sign into Origin and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or pull the ethernet cable.

If none of this helps, please create a new admin user account on your computer, and try the same thing in that account. (You can skip right to the step where you play offline.) That's the fastest way to test for permissions issues and other problems with the specific user account.

While testing, it's always a good idea to run Origin and Sims 3 as an admin: right-click on the .exe or a shortcut, select "Run as administrator." At the very least, it won't do any harm.

"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.

@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).

@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

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