Game Freezes After A Few Minutes Of Gameplay

Angeline1398​  What world(s) are you playing in, and does the game run better in a new save in Sunset Valley?  Please try if you haven't already and let me know.

For reference, please also provide a dxdiag.  Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop.  From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons.

I'm playing in Moonlight Falls. I tried Twinbrook in a new save to see if that was the problem and it froze then, too.

I just tried and Sunset Valley froze, too.

Angeline1398​  The graphics driver you have installed is somewhat old, and Intel offers a newer version for your graphics chip.  So please install it and test again.  The driver is at the end of this page:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/products/81497/graphics/processor-graphics/intel-hd-graphics-family/intel-hd-graphics-4400.html

Run the installer as an admin: right-click the download and select "Run as administrator."  Restart afterwards and before trying to play.

Having said that, your iGPU is weak for Sims 3, especially if you have more than a few expansions installed.  Pets and Seasons are particularly hard on this class of graphics chip, and Island Paradise and Into the Future can be too, but even moderately-demanding packs like Supernatural don't always run well.  So if you don't absolutely need pets in your game, I would strongly recommend disabling the pack.  If you DO want to play with pets at least some of the time, there are mod-related ways to lower the impact somewhat; let me know if you're interested.

Aside from that, try playing on the lowest graphics settings, including disabling Advanced Rendering and enabling Object Hiding.  Change the settings at the Main Menu, then quit to desktop before loading a save.  If the game runs better, you can increase one setting at a time until it becomes unstable again.  Keep in mind that Water and High-Detail Lots are the most demanding settings, so I would leave Water on the lowest option and High-Detail Lots on 2.

It did freeze again, so yes, I'm interested in the mods. Thank you.

Angeline1398​  The first question is whether the game runs better without the Pets expansion installed, or with it deactivated in the launcher.  If that's enough to solve the issues, then it's worth tinkering with specific mods to keep most animals out of your saves even when Pets is enabled.  But if that's not enough, then it would be best to look for other ways to get the game running better first.

That's not to say that you wouldn't benefit from having a few mods installed, only that I think it would be a waste of your time to tinker with various pet-related settings before the game is stable overall.  So I'd suggest just installing a few mods that help on their own, without user input, and coming back to the idea of fine-tuning their settings later.

On that note, I'd recommend NRaas ErrorTrap, Overwatch, MasterController, Register, and Traffic, plus Traveler if your sims are going to be doing any travel at all.  MC does nothing until you use it to run a command; the others have some user-side settings but also help just by being present.  You can find more information on these mods here:

Sims 3 - Common Game Fixing Mods - Hero Approved | EA Forums - 8291748

Let me know how a new save runs in SV without the Pets expansion loading.  If it's still a problem, remove or disable Seasons as well, as a test, in another new save.  Don't add any other mods yet, or any custom content, so we can see how the game runs in as close to an ideal state as possible.

I took Pets and Seasons out of the equation and I played in SV and it still froze. And yes, I have those mods.

Angeline1398​  Okay, please remove ALL packs and play with only the base game.  I'm not saying you need to stop using your packs, only that I'd like to know whether the game works with minimal content present.  Please try a new save in a clean user folder other than having the listed NRaas mods present.  As in, move the existing Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, open the launcher to spawn a clean folder, copy over only those NRaas mods and the mods framework required, start another save, and see how it runs.

If this save freezes, please try again, except in a clean boot.  Here's how to do it:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd

The one service to leave enabled is the EABackgroundService, which the EA App needs in order to run.  Disable the rest as described.

When you reboot your computer, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down any service that doesn't absolutely need to be running, for example anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software might still be enabled.  If you accidentally kill a critical process and it doesn't restart on its own, just reboot your computer again.

Don't open anything other than Sims 3 and the EA App while testing, not even a browser window.

If this helps, you can selectively reenable services until you find the culprit, then either leave that disabled or (if it belongs to an app you want to keep using) let me know what it is so we can try to fix the underlying issue.

If this doesn't help, please try again, except with your computer offline.  You can sign into the EA App and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or disconnect the ethernet cable before pressing Play.

If you do find the problem and the game is stable again, you can start adding back your DLC.  Stuff packs are fine, and the first three expansions (World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night) probably are too.  After that, add any of Generations, Showtime, Supernatural, and University Life one at a time, and keep testing.  If all those are fine, you can add Island Paradise or Into the Future, then the other, then Seasons, then Pets.

Please don't add any other mods or custom content yet, and don't test your old saves.  The idea is to get the game to a stable point, then add back content until it stops working again (if that happens), then back off just a bit from that point, and figure out what we can do from there.  I know it's al ot of testing, but at least you can find out somewhat quickly whether there's a problem.

I made a new, clean Sims 3 folder and gradually added packs and eventually even cc. It hasn't frozen. I'm even playing with the old save that the freezing started on. I'm very confused as I did this before and it didn't work then.

Regardless, I want to thank you for your service and technical support. I appreciate it immensely 💗

Angeline1398​  I'm glad to hear that, but if you run into more trouble, let me know.