We require 64-bit binaries

FordGT90Concept wrote:
I know what memory leaks are and if you can't attach a debugger with the source code to isolate where the "leak" supposedly is, there's no way to qualify any memory usage as being a leak. Even if they "fix" all the leaks you believe are in the game, The Sims 3 (thanks to expansions) has grown so much that the game is constantly knocking on the 4 GiB door for a lot of players. Leak or not, 64-bit binaries would be beneficial to those with computers equipped to go there.

This thread is not about memory leaks, how The Sims 3 is programmed, or anything of the sort. This thread is to draw EA's attention to the issue so they at least look into the possibility.

Well, for one thing, sources (note the plural) of memory leaks have been identified:

http://nraas.wikispaces.com/General+Issues+FAQ

Read the entire bit about the Error 12 issue. Then note that if your claim of this game approaching 4 gig for a lot players had any truth to it, they wouldn't be able to play it because it would be crashing at startup every time they tried it, since the game wouldn't be stable or would quickly become unstable.

Oh, and I love how you try to dismiss issues that are relevant to the stability of the game as though they're not important, when those issues would have this game eating up all of your computer's virtual memory as it got even bigger.

As for the rest, a picture is worth a thousand words:
http://img.techpowerup.org/130320/cpp_x64.png
That's all it takes to change to 64-bit. Of course, doing so is liable to create errors (e.g. linking a 32-bit library) but once you clean up all the errors, your program will be running on 64-bit binaries.

The Launcher is most likely coded using a .NET Framework language (probably C#.NET). The game is coded in C++. They have separate code bases but function as one unit.


This is what assembly/machine code looks like:
http://img.techpowerup.org/130320/ASM_Code.png

This is what C# code looks like (very similar to C++):
http://img.techpowerup.org/130320/C%23_code.png

Programmers rarely deal with assembly; those that reverse engineer do.

I would hope they would at least have used one of the programming languages developed from C++. Ah, well.

And, nice snapshot.

Now, here's the problem you're not thinking of: It's not just the game files. Simport itself is also 32-bit and intended to work with 32-bit... and the servers on EA's end that support the Sims 3 online features, including patch distribution, are generally 32-bit. They would need to add on a lot of 64-bit support to their existing network architecture in order to support a 64-bit Sims 3; otherwise, players like you would be cut off from things like the Exchange, automatic patches, downloading games, the Store to a degree, Simport...

See where I'm going with this? It's not as simple as just modifying the game code, which is something you should have taken into consideration. Likely, they'll have to bring in and configure extra servers with the new game code, and that's probably going to take months at the very least. Plus, they have to put all expansion pack projects on hold while they do this. And even then, they might never make back the investment in the servers; it might just be cheaper to wait until Sims 4 to do that, but even then they'll probably just stick with 32-bit so they can create a compatibility between Sims 4 and SimCity.

Oh, and even then, there's still the extra errors you mentioned (which will probably take a couple months of debugging to tell them apart from the errors that were already there), some of which EA will miss when doing testing of the game, which you'll have to put up with just because you wanted a 64-bit game... in addition to the memory leak that will now be capable of crashing your computer, rather than just the program itself. And, yes, Sims 3 has been known to crash 32-bit machines from time to time.