Forum Discussion

2 years ago

Solved

A few expansion packs are causing my Sims 3 game to not load.

A few expansion packs are causing my Sims 3 game to not load. I've trued loading each one individually and some load but some don't. I don't know how to fix this issue. I've even tried reinstalling my games. Does anyone have an idea of what might be wrong?

technical issues

puzzlezaddict
2 years ago
@ladamititi Your dxdiag doesn't show anything obvious, just a bunch of AppHangs from Sims 3 and a few failed Windows updates. To clean up the latter, please run a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:

Hit Windows key-X

Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator),” whichever option is offered

Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes, and enter

The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here

After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again

Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator)”

Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes, and enter

Post the message you receive here

Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates. If any install, restart again afterwards.

Seasons can cause some problems in certain contexts, but there's no reason WA should prevent a save from loading. Just to clarify though, does the black screen happen after clicking Play in the launcher, or after selecting a save (new or existing) and clicking the check mark at the Main Menu? Let me know either way.

For now, to cover a few bases, please clear the EA App's cache:

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

and repair the game (again, if you have already): open your game library, click Sims 3, and select Manage > Repair.

Move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop. If you get an error, or the folder copies instead of moving, stop here and let me know. Otherwise, a new folder will spawn when you open the launcher. Try again to play with WA and Seasons, and let me know what happens.

If you get the same error, restart your computer, go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3, open options.ini, search for fullscreen , and set it to 0 (zero). Then try again.

4 Replies

puzzlezaddict
Hero+
2 years ago
@ladamititi When you say the packs are causing your game not to load, do you mean that enabling the packs in the launcher prevents the game from loading? Which packs are causing the issue, and of those, which ones can you load individually? When does the game stop loading?

Additionally, are you trying to load an existing save or a new one? Please try a new save if you haven't already, for comparison's sake.

Please also run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
ladamititi
2 years ago
Ok so I've been running some tests and the packs that I can run successfully now are Ambitions, Generations, Into the Future, Island Paradise, Late Night, Outdoor Living Stuff, Pets, Supernatural, Town Life Stuff, and University. When I select either Seasons or World Adventures it gets stuck on a black loading screen .i.e I click the play button then a black screen pops up and just doesn't leave.
Previously I wasn't loading with a save file but today I playing with the packs I can, then tried to add seasons and world adventures after I had a save file but it's still the same problem. It might be something wrong with those 2 expansion packs but I don't know what.
Sims 3 DxDiag file.txt94 KB
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
2 years ago
@ladamititi Your dxdiag doesn't show anything obvious, just a bunch of AppHangs from Sims 3 and a few failed Windows updates. To clean up the latter, please run a couple of basic checks of your Windows system files:

Hit Windows key-X

Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator),” whichever option is offered

Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes, and enter

The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here

After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again

Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator)”

Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes, and enter

Post the message you receive here

Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates. If any install, restart again afterwards.

Seasons can cause some problems in certain contexts, but there's no reason WA should prevent a save from loading. Just to clarify though, does the black screen happen after clicking Play in the launcher, or after selecting a save (new or existing) and clicking the check mark at the Main Menu? Let me know either way.

For now, to cover a few bases, please clear the EA App's cache:

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

and repair the game (again, if you have already): open your game library, click Sims 3, and select Manage > Repair.

Move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop. If you get an error, or the folder copies instead of moving, stop here and let me know. Otherwise, a new folder will spawn when you open the launcher. Try again to play with WA and Seasons, and let me know what happens.

If you get the same error, restart your computer, go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3, open options.ini, search for fullscreen , and set it to 0 (zero). Then try again.
ladamititi
2 years ago
Thank You So Much!! I followed the steps up to moving the sims 3 folder and it worked but then all my downloads and cc was gone so I just carefully inserted them back into their respective folders. I didn't put in the downloads just the installations. Now everything is working great, I even turned the it off and on 3 times in a row to make sure.
The problem was that the black screen came up after clicking play in the launcher.
Thanks Again!!