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LadyBAlexa's avatar
LadyBAlexa
2 months ago
Solved

Never get past the main menu

So I'm SO close to just give up EA for life at this point, but I wanna try one final time. 

Sorry for the long read and poor grammar, I'm Norwegian!

I installed the game, and everything worked out great until I actually launched. 

Firstly, NONE of the worlds are loading. So I tried what the glorious people here told me to and made a copy of the game. 

Tried to play it, and then the settings kept resetting, but I could at least open a world! So I tried to set settings again, and then the worlds wouldn't open - again. 

I have tried the following;

- Match the graphics of the game with my laptop (found a youtube video that had me step by step and matched it perfectly, included nvidia, ram storage (plenty), Ran a DxDiag diagnostic matched the gpu...)

- Uninstalled and re-installed (and the steps as mentioned above) 

- Clear the cache and repair any number of times (seriously, take your pick between 1 and 1000 times)

- Manually denied access to change for the system in files so only I could change settings, downloads, etc. 

- Had a bunch of exchange items, uninstalled and re-installed without them 

This laptop, up until yesterday, had no past connection with TS3 - none. It handles Sims 4 and Baldur's Gate with ease (only BG3 is installed but there's still plenty of space) 

I have no mods or CC

So bottom line, I can play the game on settings based on crap, or I can enjoy the main menu in decent settings. Either way, I lose! 

If I can't get any help here, I'm never playing sims again due to the magnitude of tech-problems, so I am BEGGING for help (and please use small words, I am not technical/IT-proficient)

pc
technical issues
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    2 months ago

    @LadyBAlexa  If you change the settings now, while at the Main Menu, then quit to desktop and reload the game, can you play, and do the settings stick?

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  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 months ago

    @LadyBAlexa  If you have an Nvidia graphics card and have GeForce Experience installed, please make sure it's not trying to "optimize" your Sims 3 settings.  That's one reason your settings might get reverted over and over.

    Aside from that, the most common culprit is OneDrive, so if it's running on your computer (whether you use it or not), please pause syncing.  To see the option, right-click the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen, or perhaps hidden in the Tray (^ icon).

    Please also repair the game again, and move or rename the Sims 3 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts, just so you're starting with a clean slate.  This will undo the edits you've made to get your GPU recognized as well as any other changes to the program files, but that can be addressed later.  For now, let's try to get the game working in its default state.

    Let me know what happens, and we'll go from there.

  • LadyBAlexa's avatar
    LadyBAlexa
    2 months ago
    @puzzlezaddict Heya and thanks for the reply!

    I've made sure that nothing is optimizing the game, and OneDrive is as good as shut down for good measure.

    I've renamed the game (settings are back to default) with no settings or in-system changes are made.

    Just like before, the game kind'a worked, but it's still so crappy that it looks like it came out in the 90s!
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 months ago

    @LadyBAlexa  If you change the settings now, while at the Main Menu, then quit to desktop and reload the game, can you play, and do the settings stick?

  • LadyBAlexa's avatar
    LadyBAlexa
    2 months ago
    @puzzlezaddict I need to send you some flowers!

    I think it's because I don't optimize nor save in OneDrive before uninstalling and then re-did everything, because now it works! I never would have thought of the optimization-thing on my own so thank you, thank you, thank you!
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 months ago

    @LadyBAlexa  Great to hear, and thanks for confirming it helped.  Feedback is always appreciated, especially for the more rare or strange issues.

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