So basically, I've been playings Sims 3 for just over a year and i have never really had any real problems with it, but for the last month or so i have been getting a black screen everytime i press play on the Sims 3 launcher. I have tried many troubleshooting steps given to me by EA advisors. I am using a Mac, therefore making everything a lot more complicated and frustrating than it needs to be. These are all the troubleshooting steps i have tried: - Repairing disk permissions. - Using Activity Monitor to end every process other than the Dock, Finder, Acvitivty Monitor and loginwindow. - Using the manual Patch. - Deleting the cache files located in the Sims 3 folder. - Logging out of Origin then logging back in. - Deleted custom content from the Downloads folder in the Sims 3 folder. - Running the game without custom content. I have been told a number of times to uninstall or repair the game via Origin, but i do not have the option to uninstall or repair when i right click on the game in Origin. I would just uninstall The Sims 3 but as I am using a Mac, everything is so complicated and im not sure how to actually uninstall it. I would appreciate any help or advice on how to fix this, I would just love to be able to play my Sims again! If anyone has any questions about my issue just ask and I will try my best to answer them! Thanks!

HiWhen I start the game I also get a black screen for a while - this is normal - but after a few minutes the company logos appear and then the introduction sequence starts. What are you doing when the black screen is there - do you force quit to get out of it? If so, try waiting a while. You may find that the game will start. If the black screen remains for more than 4-5 minutes then something may indeed be wrong.Also check the tips below, particularly purging RAM is important if trying to play on Mac.CaspinTips for Mac simmersUnfortunately a lot of TS3 players encounter problems when playing the game on their Mac. These can include crashing and freezing. A lot of these issues can be avoided or at least improved by the following measures.Firstly, manually reset your RAM while playing. See BluebellFlora's guide on how to do this: http://bluebellflora.com/the-sims-3-on-a-mac/resetting-ram-during-gameplay/I restart my computer before I play TS3. Close down other things that are running in the background. The memory used as seen in Activity Monitor is at about 3GB after the restart. If I open the Launcher it goes up to around 11 GB (that's all I've done - just opened the Launcher!). At this point I reset the RAM. Then I hit play and get through the opening sequence. I then press cmd-return to put the game in windowed mode from time to time while playing (and always before saving or using CAS). That way I can keep an eye on the memory and reset RAM if necessary. Being in windowed mode also allows you to close the game using force quit if it freezes up - it's better to crash the game than your whole computer.Second tip is to save frequently. I save at least once per sim day. Use the option to Save or Save As, rather than the combined Save and Quit.Make sure you are patched up to date. The 1.63 patch included fixes for Mac simmers that did actually improve the stability of the game on our operating systems, so it is well worth updating to at least that level. The current patch is 1.67.The game runs better if you switch off the memories system and disable the in-game Store and social features.For general advice, information and tips on how to play TS3 on a Mac, read BluebellFlora's guide here: http://bluebellflora.com/how-to-play-the-sims-3-on-a-mac/

@caspinwall wrote:HiWhen I start the game I also get a black screen for a while - this is normal - but after a few minutes the company logos appear and then the introduction sequence starts. What are you doing when the black screen is there - do you force quit to get out of it? If so, try waiting a while. You may find that the game will start. If the black screen remains for more than 4-5 minutes then something may indeed be wrong.Also check the tips below, particularly purging RAM is important if trying to play on Mac.CaspinTips for Mac simmersUnfortunately a lot of TS3 players encounter problems when playing the game on their Mac. These can include crashing and freezing. A lot of these issues can be avoided or at least improved by the following measures.Firstly, manually reset your RAM while playing. See BluebellFlora's guide on how to do this: http://bluebellflora.com/the-sims-3-on-a-mac/resetting-ram-during-gameplay/I restart my computer before I play TS3. Close down other things that are running in the background. The memory used as seen in Activity Monitor is at about 3GB after the restart. If I open the Launcher it goes up to around 11 GB (that's all I've done - just opened the Launcher!). At this point I reset the RAM. Then I hit play and get through the opening sequence. I then press cmd-return to put the game in windowed mode from time to time while playing (and always before saving or using CAS). That way I can keep an eye on the memory and reset RAM if necessary. Being in windowed mode also allows you to close the game using force quit if it freezes up - it's better to crash the game than your whole computer.Second tip is to save frequently. I save at least once per sim day. Use the option to Save or Save As, rather than the combined Save and Quit.Make sure you are patched up to date. The 1.63 patch included fixes for Mac simmers that did actually improve the stability of the game on our operating systems, so it is well worth updating to at least that level. The current patch is 1.67.The game runs better if you switch off the memories system and disable the in-game Store and social features.For general advice, information and tips on how to play TS3 on a Mac, read BluebellFlora's guide here: http://bluebellflora.com/how-to-play-the-sims-3-on-a-mac/I tried waiting 5-10 minutes but there was still no sign of anything productive coming from the black screen. I tried resetting the RAM as you suggested but still nothing.However, I saved the Sims 3 folder to a USB and deleted it off of my mac, i then restarted the game through origin and it came up saying there was a new patch update and asked me if I would like to update it, I clicked update and it didnt do anything but a couple of seconds later it came up saying that my launcher was now up to date. I ran the game and it worked perfectly. I quit when i reached the menu screen and I put my saves back in from my USB to the Saves folder in the Sims 3 folder on my mac. I then attempted to run the game again and it was still working fine. I then tried to put in my custom content back in the downloads folder and i reinstalled them on the sims 3 launcher. After the installation was complete I tried to run the game again and thats when i was faced with the black screen again. I'm sure that the problem is the custom content and not anything to do with my RAM or whatever. I would really like the custom content to work because i find that the Sims gets very boring without them. If you think you know what the problem might be then I would love to hear your thoughts. Any advice on what to do would be great!

@YourCreepyDad wrote:However, I saved the Sims 3 folder to a USB and deleted it off of my mac, i then restarted the game through origin and it came up saying there was a new patch update and asked me if I would like to update it, I clicked update and it didnt do anything but a couple of seconds later it came up saying that my launcher was now up to date. I ran the game and it worked perfectly. I quit when i reached the menu screen and I put my saves back in from my USB to the Saves folder in the Sims 3 folder on my mac. I then attempted to run the game again and it was still working fine. I then tried to put in my custom content back in the downloads folder and i reinstalled them on the sims 3 launcher. After the installation was complete I tried to run the game again and thats when i was faced with the black screen again. I'm sure that the problem is the custom content and not anything to do with my RAM or whatever. I would really like the custom content to work because i find that the Sims gets very boring without them. If you think you know what the problem might be then I would love to hear your thoughts. Any advice on what to do would be great!HiIt does sound possible that the CC is either preventing your game from starting up properly, or is slowing it down to a ridiculous extent. After the game prompted you to update, what patch level did you reach? - check the lower left hand corner of your launcher. It should be 1.67 if it has completely updated. If it is a lower number then you should download and appy the manual update. If it is already at 1.67 then that's fine.There are two things you could try to keep your CC (or at least most of it). The first is to check with the CC creators to ensure that you have versions of that content that are compatible with your patch level (hopefully 1.67) as well as compatible with each other. The second thing would be to repeat the experiment that you did - removing the TS3 folder from Documents in order to quickly uninstall the CC, but this time add it back in a little at a time, testing occasionally to see if the game works. It is possible that there is some rogue item that is causing problems and that if you could identify it you could keep the rest.Caspin

I tried putting the custom content back in small chunks as you suggested. I managed to put 420 back and the sims worked fine, i have about 1,306 overall. Anything i was adding after was preventing the sims from launching. I have spent all day trying to figure out which custom contgent was preventing my sims from launching. In the end i have just given up with Sims completely on my mac, I will have to try and buy a new computer or something because I really enjoy playing the Sims but this is just rediculous. Macs suck at the end of he day and i don't recommend them to anyone. Thanks for your help, i guess this is just one of those problems with no solutions. If by any chance you are confident on how to reslove this issue feel free to comment i will definitley love to hear them still!

@YourCreepyDad wrote:I tried putting the custom content back in small chunks as you suggested. I managed to put 420 back and the sims worked fine, i have about 1,306 overall. Anything i was adding after was preventing the sims from launching. I have spent all day trying to figure out which custom contgent was preventing my sims from launching. In the end i have just given up with Sims completely on my mac, I will have to try and buy a new computer or something because I really enjoy playing the Sims but this is just rediculous. Macs suck at the end of he day and i don't recommend them to anyone. Thanks for your help, i guess this is just one of those problems with no solutions. If by any chance you are confident on how to reslove this issue feel free to comment i will definitley love to hear them still!Hi againSorry to hear you are still having trouble. Obviously I cannot agree with you about Macs - I love my Mac and have no problem running TS3 on it. However I think the difference is that I have only a tiny amount of CC.The problem that you may face is that if among your CC is there is a dodgy item causing the game to stall then this could happen even on a PC. It may not be a Mac-specific issue. If you have a copy of Windows you could consider using Bootcamp to partition your Mac's harddrive and install Windows on it. You can then install the game there and play it (and test your CC) without buying a whole new computer. There is a bit more information here:http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/Guide-Running-Windows-on-your-Mac/m-p/3247679#U3247679Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope that eventually you get your game working!Caspin

Black Screen When Starting Sims 3[Mac]

14 Replies

Anonymous
11 years ago
Hi
When I start the game I also get a black screen for a while - this is normal - but after a few minutes the company logos appear and then the introduction sequence starts. What are you doing when the black screen is there - do you force quit to get out of it? If so, try waiting a while. You may find that the game will start. If the black screen remains for more than 4-5 minutes then something may indeed be wrong.
Also check the tips below, particularly purging RAM is important if trying to play on Mac.
Caspin
Tips for Mac simmers

Unfortunately a lot of TS3 players encounter problems when playing the game on their Mac. These can include crashing and freezing. A lot of these issues can be avoided or at least improved by the following measures.

Firstly, manually reset your RAM while playing. See BluebellFlora's guide on how to do this: http://bluebellflora.com/the-sims-3-on-a-mac/resetting-ram-during-gameplay/

I restart my computer before I play TS3. Close down other things that are running in the background. The memory used as seen in Activity Monitor is at about 3GB after the restart. If I open the Launcher it goes up to around 11 GB (that's all I've done - just opened the Launcher!). At this point I reset the RAM. Then I hit play and get through the opening sequence. I then press cmd-return to put the game in windowed mode from time to time while playing (and always before saving or using CAS). That way I can keep an eye on the memory and reset RAM if necessary. Being in windowed mode also allows you to close the game using force quit if it freezes up - it's better to crash the game than your whole computer.

Second tip is to save frequently. I save at least once per sim day. Use the option to Save or Save As, rather than the combined Save and Quit.

Make sure you are patched up to date. The 1.63 patch included fixes for Mac simmers that did actually improve the stability of the game on our operating systems, so it is well worth updating to at least that level. The current patch is 1.67.

The game runs better if you switch off the memories system and disable the in-game Store and social features.

For general advice, information and tips on how to play TS3 on a Mac, read BluebellFlora's guide here: http://bluebellflora.com/how-to-play-the-sims-3-on-a-mac/
YourCreepyDad
11 years ago
@caspinwall wrote:
Hi
When I start the game I also get a black screen for a while - this is normal - but after a few minutes the company logos appear and then the introduction sequence starts. What are you doing when the black screen is there - do you force quit to get out of it? If so, try waiting a while. You may find that the game will start. If the black screen remains for more than 4-5 minutes then something may indeed be wrong.
Also check the tips below, particularly purging RAM is important if trying to play on Mac.
Caspin
Tips for Mac simmers

Unfortunately a lot of TS3 players encounter problems when playing the game on their Mac. These can include crashing and freezing. A lot of these issues can be avoided or at least improved by the following measures.

Firstly, manually reset your RAM while playing. See BluebellFlora's guide on how to do this: http://bluebellflora.com/the-sims-3-on-a-mac/resetting-ram-during-gameplay/

I restart my computer before I play TS3. Close down other things that are running in the background. The memory used as seen in Activity Monitor is at about 3GB after the restart. If I open the Launcher it goes up to around 11 GB (that's all I've done - just opened the Launcher!). At this point I reset the RAM. Then I hit play and get through the opening sequence. I then press cmd-return to put the game in windowed mode from time to time while playing (and always before saving or using CAS). That way I can keep an eye on the memory and reset RAM if necessary. Being in windowed mode also allows you to close the game using force quit if it freezes up - it's better to crash the game than your whole computer.

Second tip is to save frequently. I save at least once per sim day. Use the option to Save or Save As, rather than the combined Save and Quit.

Make sure you are patched up to date. The 1.63 patch included fixes for Mac simmers that did actually improve the stability of the game on our operating systems, so it is well worth updating to at least that level. The current patch is 1.67.

The game runs better if you switch off the memories system and disable the in-game Store and social features.

For general advice, information and tips on how to play TS3 on a Mac, read BluebellFlora's guide here: http://bluebellflora.com/how-to-play-the-sims-3-on-a-mac/

I tried waiting 5-10 minutes but there was still no sign of anything productive coming from the black screen. I tried resetting the RAM as you suggested but still nothing.
However, I saved the Sims 3 folder to a USB and deleted it off of my mac, i then restarted the game through origin and it came up saying there was a new patch update and asked me if I would like to update it, I clicked update and it didnt do anything but a couple of seconds later it came up saying that my launcher was now up to date. I ran the game and it worked perfectly. I quit when i reached the menu screen and I put my saves back in from my USB to the Saves folder in the Sims 3 folder on my mac. I then attempted to run the game again and it was still working fine. I then tried to put in my custom content back in the downloads folder and i reinstalled them on the sims 3 launcher. After the installation was complete I tried to run the game again and thats when i was faced with the black screen again. I'm sure that the problem is the custom content and not anything to do with my RAM or whatever. I would really like the custom content to work because i find that the Sims gets very boring without them. If you think you know what the problem might be then I would love to hear your thoughts. Any advice on what to do would be great!
Anonymous
11 years ago
@YourCreepyDad wrote:
However, I saved the Sims 3 folder to a USB and deleted it off of my mac, i then restarted the game through origin and it came up saying there was a new patch update and asked me if I would like to update it, I clicked update and it didnt do anything but a couple of seconds later it came up saying that my launcher was now up to date. I ran the game and it worked perfectly. I quit when i reached the menu screen and I put my saves back in from my USB to the Saves folder in the Sims 3 folder on my mac. I then attempted to run the game again and it was still working fine. I then tried to put in my custom content back in the downloads folder and i reinstalled them on the sims 3 launcher. After the installation was complete I tried to run the game again and thats when i was faced with the black screen again. I'm sure that the problem is the custom content and not anything to do with my RAM or whatever. I would really like the custom content to work because i find that the Sims gets very boring without them. If you think you know what the problem might be then I would love to hear your thoughts. Any advice on what to do would be great!
Hi
It does sound possible that the CC is either preventing your game from starting up properly, or is slowing it down to a ridiculous extent. After the game prompted you to update, what patch level did you reach? - check the lower left hand corner of your launcher. It should be 1.67 if it has completely updated. If it is a lower number then you should download and appy the manual update. If it is already at 1.67 then that's fine.
There are two things you could try to keep your CC (or at least most of it). The first is to check with the CC creators to ensure that you have versions of that content that are compatible with your patch level (hopefully 1.67) as well as compatible with each other. The second thing would be to repeat the experiment that you did - removing the TS3 folder from Documents in order to quickly uninstall the CC, but this time add it back in a little at a time, testing occasionally to see if the game works. It is possible that there is some rogue item that is causing problems and that if you could identify it you could keep the rest.
Caspin
YourCreepyDad
11 years ago
I tried putting the custom content back in small chunks as you suggested. I managed to put 420 back and the sims worked fine, i have about 1,306 overall. Anything i was adding after was preventing the sims from launching. I have spent all day trying to figure out which custom contgent was preventing my sims from launching. In the end i have just given up with Sims completely on my mac, I will have to try and buy a new computer or something because I really enjoy playing the Sims but this is just rediculous. Macs suck at the end of he day and i don't recommend them to anyone. Thanks for your help, i guess this is just one of those problems with no solutions. If by any chance you are confident on how to reslove this issue feel free to comment i will definitley love to hear them still!
Anonymous
11 years ago
@YourCreepyDad wrote:
I tried putting the custom content back in small chunks as you suggested. I managed to put 420 back and the sims worked fine, i have about 1,306 overall. Anything i was adding after was preventing the sims from launching. I have spent all day trying to figure out which custom contgent was preventing my sims from launching. In the end i have just given up with Sims completely on my mac, I will have to try and buy a new computer or something because I really enjoy playing the Sims but this is just rediculous. Macs suck at the end of he day and i don't recommend them to anyone. Thanks for your help, i guess this is just one of those problems with no solutions. If by any chance you are confident on how to reslove this issue feel free to comment i will definitley love to hear them still!
Hi again
Sorry to hear you are still having trouble. Obviously I cannot agree with you about Macs - I love my Mac and have no problem running TS3 on it. However I think the difference is that I have only a tiny amount of CC.
The problem that you may face is that if among your CC is there is a dodgy item causing the game to stall then this could happen even on a PC. It may not be a Mac-specific issue. If you have a copy of Windows you could consider using Bootcamp to partition your Mac's harddrive and install Windows on it. You can then install the game there and play it (and test your CC) without buying a whole new computer. There is a bit more information here:
http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/Guide-Running-Windows-on-your-Mac/m-p/3247679#U3247679
Good luck with whatever you decide. I hope that eventually you get your game working!
Caspin
Anonymous
10 years ago
Anonymous
10 years ago
I need help with deleting custom contents.I deleted a few and my sims 3 game is not loading right.Its when you click the arrow button the loading screen turns black.I don't wanna delete sims because i have all these rare and amazing custom contents.So i don't know what to do?I also dont think its a good idea to delete all of the other custom contents.
chloeshereesmit
10 years ago
I've had the same problem! Just recently got a Mac.
Yet the black screen came up, yet again, and I started googling how to fix it. While I was reading it just started to work. I'm not sure if it's because I left it for a while of what. But maybe the same thing would work for you too.
Isabel5821
8 years ago
Hello I have a problem and I hope you can help me well when I click play it loads and turns black then I stay stuck on home screen can't click anything and I just hear the sound i have to restart my computer and I try and try and it would not work I contact many ea helpers but they do not now the problem I updated my iTunes just incase that was the problem but it's not help me please

From: winter
Bluebellflora
Hero+
8 years ago
@Isabel5821

iTunes is in no way linked to the game at all. Can you go into Documents > Electronic Arts and move the Sims 3 folder to you desktop, then try and load the game again. What happens?