Re: Serious error message when trying to load a saved game

Hi thanks for your reply I'm not sure if I've attached the DXDIAG file correctly. One drive has not been set up on this machine, the game folder is definitely closed on launch and once I receive the serious error message even starting a new game just gives the same message. Also the extra town that came in the expansion pack is missing from the list of choices. Another odd thing is when I quit out of the game it doesn't fully shut down but remains on in the back ground not responding until I end task in the task manager.

@MsV0912  You can uninstall through Origin or using Windows tools, but either way, you need to use a tool like Piriform's CCleaner (free download) to clean your registry afterwards.  Neither typical method of uninstalling will reach these registry entries.

Just so you know, you need to download expansion and stuff packs separately from the base game.  If you didn't see Late Night or High-End Loft Stuff in the Origin download queue, then neither would be in your game, and Bridgeport wouldn't be available to load as a new town.

However, neither of these points has anything to do with the main issue, namely that your computer isn't really strong enough to run TS3.  Your graphics card isn't even in the database, your processor is weaker than the usual recommendation, and you only have 4 GB RAM.  Whether this hardware would run even the base game is kind of a tossup.

If you want to try, though, install the base game only, then restart your computer, login to Origin, put it in offline mode, take your computer completely offline before launching the game.  Don't open any other apps, not even a browser window, so that your computer has as much memory available as possible.  You may need to turn your graphics options down to low; if it works, you can try turning a couple up to medium, but always keep water and high detail lots on low.  Also turn off memories and the hidden object interactive loading screens.

If none of this works, then unfortunately, there's probably not anything else you can do to get TS3 to run on this computer.  The game just does not adapt well to underpowered hardware.

@MsV0912  When a town doesn't load, that means the pack isn't loading, but it was clearly installed correctly the first itme around.  The most obvious culprit would be the pack selector in the launcher (the tab is called "extra content" or something like that).  Packs can frequently uncheck themselves when you're not looking, and sometimes they look like they're checked but still don't load properly.  Some players have taken to unchecking and rechecking all the boxes each time they load the game, just to make sure everything loads.

The specs EA lists for TS3 haven't changed since the game was released, which means they're the specs to run the unpatched base game.  Even without packs, the base game has many more features than it did in 2009.  When recommending a computer to run all packs on high settings, we recommend these specs:

2.4 GHz processor, i7 for a laptop (i5 is fine for a desktop), or AMD equivalent.  Not U- or Y-series.

6 GB RAM, though 8 GB is better

Nvidia 950 or 1050 in a desktop, or 960m or 1050 ti in a laptop, or AMD equivalent

hard drive with at lesat 512 GB total storage, to hold program files, saved games, and custom content

If you're only going to run Late Night (and High-End Loft Stuff. which adds almost nothing to the game's demands), you wouldn't need such strong components.  I'd expect a 2.0 GHz processor, again not U- or Y-series, to be fine.  4 GB memory might be as well, although it would be tight; you'd want to close all other apps and play while offline.  A weaker dedicated graphics card would struggle very much with Pets, Seasons, Into the Future, and Island Paradise, but Late Night wouldn't present any issues.  Integrated cards may or may not handle LN, depending on their strength.

As for storage, the key is that you can keep at least 35-40 GB free at all times.  The game's program files will take about 10 GB, but the size of your game folder, with your saves and installed content, could be much larger.  Still, it's the easiest issue to manage, since you could store other data on an external drive if you really needed to.

You could always post a dxdiag on the other available computer if you want an idea of how TS3 would run.  And you can install on as many computers as you want, without uninstalling on this one.  Since you run the game through Origin, you can only play on one at a time, but Origin doesn't care how many installs you have.

This is an app 9 yo laptop specs

@MsV0912  Okay, I booted into Windows and took a look.  Here's the option to put Origin into offline mode:

You don't want to sign out of Origin or close it, just put it in offline mode and then take your computer completely offline, as in, pull the plug.  That way, you'll prevent the game from using resources to communicate with EA servers and load various extraneous options into your game.  And you never need to sign into the launcher or the Main Menu, both of which would of course require an internet connection anyway.