@daydreamqt This was just a compatibility update: something to make the game run in operating systems that don't support 32-bit apps. The game is supposed to be as buggy as it ever was, although your issues are beyond the normal problems in either version of the game.
Please post a screenshot of your in-game settings. When in-game, click cmd-enter to switch to windowed mode. Click the three dots in the lower left corner of the game window, select Options, and take a screenshot of the settings in the first tab. To take a screenshot, click cmd-shift-4 and drag your cursor over the section of screen you want to capture. The screenshot will land on your desktop, and you can embed it within or attach it to a post.
Ah okay, that makes sense. Anyway, I attached the screenshot. For whatever reason, the game forces my whole screen into a 4:3 aspect ratio and changing the settings just makes all the UI super tiny in-game and doesn't actually change the ratio of the screen... That's something that is inconvenient but manageable. The freezing every few minutes is my main issue ☹️ But anyway, those were the default settings. I didn't change them except for the "Enable Animation Smoothing" (when I played the game I enabled it).
@daydreamqt For the screen resolution, try deleting options.ini (in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3) and letting the game spawn a new one. Switch to windowed mode (cmd-enter) and apply the change, then switch to another resolution.
When you change any settings other than those two, be sure to do so at the Main Menu and then quit the game before loading a save.
As a test, please change all your settings to low and see whether the same issues occur. I'm not saying you need to play on low settings going forward, but I am wondering whether a particular setting is a problem.
Thank you for the tip about the screen resolution! It looks a lot better now lol. Anyway, I made all the settings to the very lowest. I think that's what the issue was! I was able to have time fast forward with no problems and have my sim travel from one lot to another with no freezing. What should I do so that I don't have to play with all the graphics at the lowest setting though?
@daydreamqt The fast-forwarding may be an issue going forward—it's often a problem even in Windows on computers that can otherwise handle all packs on ultra settings. For the other issue, try raising one or two settings at a time and see how it goes. Your graphics chip is above the minimum requirement for this new version of Sims 3, but not by a large margin, so performance may always be less than ideal.
I'd be interested to know whether certain settings, and certain levels within those settings, tend to cause more issues than others, so please let me know what you find. The point is though to figure out how you can play with good enough graphics and no crashes, so if you find some combination that works for you, stick with it.
