ProblemWhile saving I get the error message: Error 12 (or 13 or 15 or 16). Please see Read-Me for more information.Meaning of the ErrorsError 12: World file save failure. Mostly Memory relatedError 13: Post-save callback failure. Unclear what that means. They fixed an error that was causing this and it seems to not occur as often.Error 15: Open failure. You probably don't have enough rights to write in the folder.Error 16: Loose file copy failure. The file cannot be (over)written.Avoidance & limitation of possible loss Since Error 12 seems to be caused by memory issues, a 64-bit operating system and at least 4 GB of RAM might help avoiding this error. EA altered the executable file with Patch 1.17/etc so that the game can allocate 4 GB of RAM. It helps to upgrade your system.Make sure your Computer fulfills the minimum requirements (EAs minimum requirements are a little low, especially with all EPs)Save often and in cycles (5-10 savegames with different namesRegularly make a backup of your user files in documents.Check the folder CurrentGame.sims3 in documents before starting the game. It should be empty. It only contains data during gameplay. If your game crashed, this folder might still contain something. Move or delete it's content.Make sure your saves Folder in documents doesn't contain any saves with the extension .bad. Delete those, they are unusable.Increase your virtual memoryStart your game in compatibility mode and/or as administratorIf you are running Direct 10 or 11 (Windows Key - R, then type dxdiag), try installing DirectX 9 as wellMake sure you have enough room on your hard driveDefrag your SystemDon't play long game sessions. Quit and restart the game in between.If the error occurs regularly in one game but not so much in others, move your sims to a new town. This will loose you all relationships to other Sims but you can keep your family with all their progress.Custom Content and Mods can cause all kinds of Error.The memory system introduced with Patch 1.21/1.22 bloats your save game enormously. This can become heavy on your RAM. Delete memories for your active/inactive Sims that you don't need.SuggestionsYou can try the following suggestions while the game is running and then try saving again. As soon as you get the error, the save is written to a folder with the extension .bad. You'll find it in your saves folder. Delete that folder before continuing.Error 12 & Error 13 Use save as and a new name instead of saveTry saving in Edit Town mode as well as live modeTry saving your game paused and unpaused and at different speed levels.Move your saves folder to the desktopNever use save & quit. Always save your game first and then quit the game without saving.Don't use spaces or special chars in your save game names.If you have lots of stuff in your inventory, reduce it.If all fails, quit your game without saving and restore a backup.Error 15Error 15 occurs when you don't have enough rights to access the saves folder. Make sure you have full access to the folder your saves folder is in and it's not hidden. If nothing helps, start your game as an administrator.Error 16Error 16 occurs because of a file system failure which can occur if you try to overwrite a file in use or that is corrupt. Saving as with a new name should solve the issue. ------------------------------------Did this FAQ help you with your issue ? If so, please consider pressing the XP button

no legacy file. cant fix code error 16,12,14. game wont save

No, I can't garantuee you anything.Do you have a 32 bit operating system or a 64 bit one and how much RAM do you have ?

If your game is running, no, don't delete them. If it's not, yes, delete them.How much RAM do you have and what is your operating system ? 32 bit or 64 bit ?

@dolphinlover wrote:I was wondering 'why' on some of these:Use save as and a new name instead of save < I will try this, thoTry saving in Edit Town mode as well as live modeTry saving your game paused and unpaused and at different speed levels.Move your saves folder to the desktop< I do have a back up folder on my desk top, learned the hard way to do that.Never use save & quit. Always save your game first and then quit the game without saving. <Ihave most always done this, and am curious why I shouldnt, but if it helps I will try it.Don't use spaces or special chars in your save game names.If you have lots of stuff in your inventory, reduce it. < do you mean personal inventory (back pack) or shared home inventory or both?This is mainly for Error 16 which is a problem with the file not writeable any more. If you use save as a new file is createdThe two don't use the same amount of memory so you might get lucky and be able to saveThat was a tip I read somewhere. Don't ask me whySame reasons as 1 really. It will help you create a fresh file, especially if you have folders .bad in that folderThe game needs quite a while to save and to quit. If you seperate the two, you cut down on time and reduce the possibilty of something going wrong. Also it seems it just doens't work very well.Should be self-explanatoryboth. The game is very inefficiently programmed and if it needs to go through a lot of stuff, it can time-out.

This topic is a sticky. 😕mileylol: Thanks everyone!

Forum Discussion

crinrict

Hero+

13 years ago

[FAQ] Save Errors (Error 12, 13, 15, 16)

Problem

While saving I get the error message: Error 12 (or 13 or 15 or 16). Please see Read-Me for more information.

Meaning of the Errors

Error 12: World file save failure. Mostly Memory related

Error 13: Post-save callback failure. Unclear what that means. They fixed an error that was causing this and it seems to not occur as often.

Error 15: Open failure. You probably don't have enough rights to write in the folder.

Error 16: Loose file copy failure. The file cannot be (over)written.

Avoidance & limitation of possible loss

Since Error 12 seems to be caused by memory issues, a 64-bit operating system and at least 4 GB of RAM might help avoiding this error. EA altered the executable file with Patch 1.17/etc so that the game can allocate 4 GB of RAM. It helps to upgrade your system.
Make sure your Computer fulfills the minimum requirements (EAs minimum requirements are a little low, especially with all EPs)
Save often and in cycles (5-10 savegames with different names
Regularly make a backup of your user files in documents.
Check the folder CurrentGame.sims3 in documents before starting the game. It should be empty. It only contains data during gameplay. If your game crashed, this folder might still contain something. Move or delete it's content.
Make sure your saves Folder in documents doesn't contain any saves with the extension .bad. Delete those, they are unusable.
Increase your virtual memory
Start your game in compatibility mode and/or as administrator
If you are running Direct 10 or 11 (Windows Key - R, then type dxdiag), try installing DirectX 9 as well
Make sure you have enough room on your hard drive
Defrag your System
Don't play long game sessions. Quit and restart the game in between.
If the error occurs regularly in one game but not so much in others, move your sims to a new town. This will loose you all relationships to other Sims but you can keep your family with all their progress.
Custom Content and Mods can cause all kinds of Error.
The memory system introduced with Patch 1.21/1.22 bloats your save game enormously. This can become heavy on your RAM. Delete memories for your active/inactive Sims that you don't need.

Suggestions

You can try the following suggestions while the game is running and then try saving again. As soon as you get the error, the save is written to a folder with the extension .bad. You'll find it in your saves folder. Delete that folder before continuing.

Error 12 & Error 13

Use save as and a new name instead of save
Try saving in Edit Town mode as well as live mode
Try saving your game paused and unpaused and at different speed levels.
Move your saves folder to the desktop
Never use save & quit. Always save your game first and then quit the game without saving.
Don't use spaces or special chars in your save game names.
If you have lots of stuff in your inventory, reduce it.
If all fails, quit your game without saving and restore a backup.

Error 15

Error 15 occurs when you don't have enough rights to access the saves folder. Make sure you have full access to the folder your saves folder is in and it's not hidden. If nothing helps, start your game as an administrator.

Error 16

Error 16 occurs because of a file system failure which can occur if you try to overwrite a file in use or that is corrupt. Saving as with a new name should solve the issue.

------------------------------------

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technical issues

89 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion

Anonymous
7 years ago
Thank you, I fixed error 16 by saving with another name
MBruberry
7 years ago
Had error 12 many times first i deleted some things to open up some more space then i tried 'Try saving your game paused and unpaused and at different speed levels.'. It worked but i don't know cause of which one but thanks for your help!
Atila_DIY23
Seasoned Newcomer
7 years ago
I have windows 10 - 16GB ram, 1TB hard drive, intelcore i7 and nvidia geforce gtx 950M - the game still gives me error 12, lags and randomly crashes.
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
7 years ago
@Atila_DIY23 The information in the original post is still relevant: TS3 is a 32-bit app, and can only use ~3.7 GB RAM (4 GB minus some overhead) at a time before it gets unstable and in danger of crashing. It doesn't matter that you have 16 GB installed; the game won't be able to take advantage of it.

One thing you should check is your in-game frame rates. High rates or large fluctuations could account for some of the lagging and crashing. Your fps should never go above the refresh rate of your monitor, which is likely 60 Hz. To see your fps in-game, bring up the cheats console (crtl-shift-c) and enter "fps on" without quotes. A number will show up in the upper right corner of your screen. ("fps off" makes it go away.)

Since TS3 has no working fps limiter of its own, you'd need to use an outside tool to control your frame rates. For Nvidia cards, the first choice is the built-in Nvidia Control Panel. But if it doesn't work (and it never works in windowed mode), you can try Nvidia Inspector (free download). Here are screenshots of the setups for both tools, under the spoilers:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16540301/#Comment_16540301

Keep in mind that for an Origin install, you'd need to use TS3.exe, but for a Steam or disc install, you'd use TS3w.exe, with the "w."

The other question is which world(s) you're currently playing. Some are built better than others, and a few custom worlds are simply too large for the game engine to handle.
elskamo_ron
Seasoned Novice
6 years ago
I got an error 16 and resaved my game with a new name, this worked fine but when I went to save before quitting that file then got an error 16 and I've had to create yet another new name file. Will I have to keep doing this over and over to avoid error 16 or is there anything else I can do? I'm also unable to delete the old saves both on the main menu and within the actual computer files.
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
6 years ago
@zaptrollwen When you try to remove the save files from within a File Explorer window, what happens? Do you get an error message, do the saves just show up again, etc.? It sounds like your Documents folder might be synced with cloud storage; try disabling that to test. I'm not sure whether it would help with the Error 16s, but it's worth trying.
DonroaAkashu
Seasoned Ace
6 years ago
@zaptrollwen In addition to the above response: I always use the option Save As, when I save my game. It just feels safer and better that way. I have never had a error 16 though. When the saves in the save folder reaches the number of ca 10-15; I cut all but the last one out and put them on my other drive for safe keeping. It it completely harmless to make Save As copies, instead of just Save; and it also makes it possible for some organization, by way of naming the saves.
OreoKjeks
6 years ago
I have gotten error 16 on my sims 3, but it dont work saving in a different name. Even though i can see the saves on my sims 3 file on my computer. But when i try to save it says bad after the save file. What do i do... I have tried and tried and tried.. I'm so done
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
6 years ago
@OreoKjeks Try loading and renaming the save in a clean folder. This is just for testing, so don't worry about any missing objects warning. Move your entire Sims 3 folder out of Doocuments\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, then launch the game, which will create a new folder, and quit from the Main Menu. Go into Saves inside the save folder you moved, copy (don't just drag and drop) the folder with your save name on it, and paste it inside Saves in your new Sims 3 folder. Load the save and try to use "save as" to rename the save.

If that doesn't work, please open the folder for that save file, take a screenshot of its contents, and attach it to a post.