Re: sims 3 64 bit & metal keeps crashing?

Hey,

I do have pets installed and have a cat and a dog in the household I'm trying to move in.

Currently, have all my CC taken out but still have the nraas mod installed which I haven't had any trouble with before.

Thanks!

@idacombley  NRaas mods should be perfectly fine.  Moving in a household that contains pets is apparently not for a lot of players.  So if you can't do so, try creating a household with only human sims and then adopting a pet.  Keep a backup copy of your save, in case the new pet causes more crashes.  You can use "save as" to rename the save just before the adoption, which will create a new save under the new name and leave the older one intact.

I uninstalled origin and redownloaded through Safari and that seemed to be a temporary bandaid, but now its crashing again.

I don't think having a pet is an issue because after the Safari download it played fine for a few hours.

Can you think of anything else which would be an issue?

Thanks so much for your help

@idacombley  The Safari download is a coincidence: it doesn't matter how you download Origin as long as you get the correct installer.  What may have helped was uninstalling and reinstalling Origin, although that may be a coincidence too.  Try putting Origin in offline mode before you launch the game—that should prevent most of what Origin does behind the scenes.  You can also use the Origin reset tool for macOS to clear its cache and remove certain other files:

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/how-to-reset-origin-on-mac/

But be sure to repair the game afterwards to restore the files that allow your store content to work; these are stored within a folder that the reset tool deletes.

And out of curiosity, were you playing the same save that kept crashing, except this time it didn't?  That would be an interesting development.

Hey.

Yes I saw playing the same save and it started working for a while but now is crashing again. Resetting origin now and will see if that makes a difference.

Thanks!

Update: did not make a difference ☹️

@idacombley  Does it help to play while Origin is in offline mode?  What about while your computer is completely offline, as in, disable wifi before opening Sims 3?

Also, what world are you playing in, and do you have any non-NRaas mods installed at the moment, or any custom content?  How long can you play before the game crashes; does it crash at the same time, either sim-time or after you've played for a certain length of time; and is there anything special happening within the game at the time of the crashing?

I also noticed you updated to Big Sur since you first posted.  Unfortunately, Sims 3 seems a bit less stable in Big Sur than in Catalina, although that's more anecdotal than proven at this point.

Origin won't let me play any of my games in offline mode, unfortunately. Currently playing in Moonlight Falls and CC is out with no other mods. Can play the game for a minute (I timed it haha) when I stay on the home lot when but I try to go to town view it crashes almost instantly. Nothing special at all going on with the game.

Today I tried completely uninstalling everything and then redownloading and that did nothing, I've clear my current game files and deleted all the Cache files you should when you're having issues. 

Thank you so much for all your help I really appreciate it!

Update: now it has started crashing sooner, around 20 seconds

@idacombley  What happens when you try to launch Sims 3 while offline?  If you're getting a separate error, that might be worth addressing.

Hello, I have exactly the same problem with crashing. I tried playing the new version of sims a few times on my Mac, but from the very first time it started crashing. I tried different accounts and computers and that was not the problem, because the crashing continued every time. It normally starts either straight away after I open the town map or after about 5 minutes of playing. The process of crashing is always the same- it freezes, then starts glitching and the screen starts flickering . At this point I can hear everything in the game and move the mouse, but I can’t do anything, even open the menu. It really upsets me as the computer is new, and if there is anything that could help me I would be very grateful. 

@alkuch  Even playing on different computers, you might see the same issue with the same root cause if those computers had similar enough hardware.  I'm not saying this is definitely true, just that it's possible.  So please attach a deviceconfig.log from each computer to a post; the file is in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3.  (You'll need to manually open the folders; the file won't show up in a search.)  You can delete your user and computer names, about 25 lines down, but there's nothing else in that file that can identify you.

Please also list the packs you currently have installed, and the world(s) in which you've seen the problem.

=== Application info ===
Name: Sims3
Version:
Build: Release
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 3 GPU Memory: 5 CPU: 4 RAM: 5 CPU Speed: 2400 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 4080 RAM: 8192 Adjusted RAM: 7680 Cores: 4
Card Found in DB: 0
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Mac OS X Версия 10.16 (Выпуск 20C69)
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 10
OS minor ver: 16
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1
CPU: MacBookPro15,2
Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8279U CPU @ 2.40GHz
Family: 8
Model: 7
Cores: 4
HT: 1
x64: 1
Memory: 8192MB
Free memory: 36MB
User: macbook
Computer: MacBook-Pro
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655
Name (database): Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 [Found: 0, Matched: 1]
Vendor: Intel
Chipset: Vendor: 8086, Device: 3ea5, Board: 00000178, Chipset: 0001
Driver: macOS Metal driver, Version: 0.0.0.0
Driver version: 0
Monitor: 00000000
Texture memory: 1536MB
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 0

About the Packs, I have quite a lot, but last time I tried to play just with the Base game and Late night with minimal graphics settings, but it still crashed.

@alkuch  The deviceconfig is reporting you had almost no free memory when you opened Sims 3.  This could be a reporting error, but if it's accurate, it would explain the crashing: with your OS constantly swapping memory, the game might not be particularly stable.  So try playing immediately after restarting your computer, with nothing else running other than Origin.

If you get another crash, restart your computer and try again, this time opening the Activity Monitor first.  (It's in Applications > Utilities.)  Click the Memory tab, and let me know how much memory is being used before you open Origin, after you open Origin and before you launch the game, and after a save loads.  Switch the game to windowed mode (cmd-return) so you can see the AM in the background.

Hey! I tried it again with no wifi and it lasted a bit longer, maybe just under a minute. 

I also loaded up another save with a different family and world and it worked completely fine, nothing happened at all, so I think its got something to do with the Moonlight falls family.

Is there anything else I can do to fix it or do you need any more info? I really appreciate all your help 

@idacombley  Since you're comfortable with NRaas mods, add ErrorTrap, Overwatch, and MasterController, if you haven't already.  If you have StoryProgression, pull that one out for now—it can be quite heavy, especially in worlds with a large population.  Open the save, let the game clock run for a sim-minute, pause, then run a town reset: click on City Hall and select NRaas > MasterController > Town Options > Reset Everything.  This might take a few minutes to run, depending on how developed the world is.

When it's finished, use "save as" to rename the save, quit (without saving), delete the five cache files in your Sims 3 user folder, reload, and see whether you can play.  For reference, the cache files are:

• CASPartCache.package
• compositorCache,package
• scriptCache.package
• simCompositorCache.package
• socialCache.package

@alkuch  Okay, so free memory isn't the issue.  1.22 GB is about what my game uses when I load a new save, or one that I haven't played much yet, so that's normal.

Sims 3 has always had a problem releasing memory when exiting to the Main Menu: some of the data from the save that was just closed remains in memory, and it can be superimposed on the next save you load.  This can cause all kinds of weird glitches, so it's never a good idea to switch saves at the Main Menu unless you don't intend to save your progress.

At this point, it's a good idea to start from scratch, at least for now, and see if we can get the game stable enough to play.  Move your entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop; when you open the launcher, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  Don't add anything to the folder at this point.  Load the game to the Main Menu, cmd-return to switch to windowed mode, turn all the graphics down to the minimum settings, and quit to desktop.  Restart your computer, reload the game, start a new save in Sunset Valley, and let me know how it runs.

Please also let me know which packs you currently have installed on this computer, since I know you've tried playing with only a few.

@alkuch  What specifically did the game do when it started glitching?  How long did you initially get to play, and what happened just before the game stopped working?  It would be helpful to know exactly what triggered the change, in as much detail as you remember.

Please also let me know whether your computer feels hot on the bottom of the case or on the strip between the keyboard and screen.

@puzzlezaddictTo be honest, I can’t really explain what happened. I just continued playing, and from time to time the screen continued to flicker, but it was playable. And then at one point it just froze, it looked like it was loading, but this happens every time it crashes. After that it just froze completely, nothing new or special happened. Maybe, I was able to play for that long because I started a completely new game, I don’t know.

It does get hot after some time, and if it started crashing, it actually gets hotter quicker.

I might try deleting everything and downloading it again. I feel like the fact that I managed to save a broken game once, and after that I played normally could have helped, I want to check that.

@alkuch  Before you go to all the trouble of uninstalling and reinstalling, you may want to check your computer's internal temperatures.  Among the causes of what you describe is overheating, and trying to play when the computer is already hot, like, say, immediately after a crash, will only give the heat issue a head start.

One comprehensive tool you can try is iStat, developed by Bjango.  While it's a paid app, it does offer a 14-day free trial.  Another useful tool is Macs Fan Control, by CrystalIDEA, which has a free version; although it doesn't read as many sensors as iStat, it should be sufficient for this purpose.

@alkuch  What temperature reading is that?  I'm interested in CPU temps: the individual cores, the iGPU, the die, the package, anything like that.  A proximity sensor might give a significantly lower reading, and the temps of other components are probably not relevant.

Hey,

I don't have story progression downloaded, just the other ones you've mentioned. My cache is clear too.

It was working fine for a bit but today this started happening and I'm not sure why.

Thanks!

(turns out I can't upload videos but the screen was flickering severely)

@idacombley  Is this a new save you're playing, and if so, does it have a pet in it?  Do you still have the Pets expansion installed?  Your third screenshot looks like Bridgeport, not Moonlight Falls as before.

The reason I ask is because some people just can't get the game to run properly with Pets installed no matter what else they do.  It's unfortunate, and we can always hope that EA addresses the problems, but until and unless that happens, there might not be a good solution.

I'm not sure I mentioned it specifically to you, but one other cause of the graphics glitch in your second screenshot is changing the graphics settings while you have a save loaded, or changing them at the Main Menu and then loading a save.  The usual fix is deleting options.ini from Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3, which will force the game to create a new one with default settings.

If you haven't tried it already (there are so many crashing posts, it's hard to keep them straight), you can try playing a new save in a clean user folder, just for comparison.  Move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and let the game spawn a new one, don't add any content to it, and see how things go.  It's best to play in Sunset Valley or Twinbrook, the most stable EA-made worlds, to establish a baseline for performance, then go from there.

Finally, please make sure your laptop can cool itself properly while you play.  Elevate the laptop to let air circulate underneath, use a laptop tray, or use a cooling pad or fan.  Overheating leads to thermal throttling, which can and will make any performance issues worse.