I followed your instructions, whole folder moved to desktop. Glitch is still present. Not surprised.
Next thing I did was launching dxdiag. Followed every step, now attaching results.
I'm really, really clueless. This is just simply weird and makes no sense at all. My computer is hardly 2 years old, completly only used for gaming.
@ashleena123 There's nothing that stands out in your dxdiag, and your computer is perfectly capable of running TS3, as you probably already know. It's still possible that there's an issue with the game's program files, even though a reinstall should have fixed it (and even though sound issues are almost always due to a problem with the user game folder).
You can try repairing the game in Steam, just to see if it helps. In your Steam library, right-click on the Sims 3 listing on the left, and select Properties. Under the Local Files tab, click "verify integrity of files." Make sure that your existing game folder, the one you moved to test on a clean folder, is still somewhere else on your computer, not in Documents\EA, so the repair can't affect it.
One other thing you can try is a clean boot. Here's how:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows
Open only TS3, not even Steam, and see if if makes a difference, again in a clean folder.
I could follow up to the point where you said to open only the Sims 3 without Steam. How can I do that? I tried searching for a launcher file but found none. Sorry for the trouble, I guess I need more explaining. Sigh.
(I got to admit I'm pretty upset at this point. Like it just doesn't want to work at all.)
@ashleena123 You can launch TS3 directly by double-clicking TS3W.exe (with the "W") in the game's program files, or you can create a desktop shortcut to the file and use that to launch TS3. Here's where to find the file:
Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\game\bin
Right-click on the file and select "create shortcut" if you want a desktop shortcut. From now on, you won't need to open Steam at all, unless you reinstall the game or download another pack.
Wow, I don't have anything like that. So that's why I couldn't find it.
Mine looks like this:
Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Steamworks Shared\_CommonRedist - from here, there are 2 folders. One is called "DirectX" while the other is called "vcredist". These folders contain more files but none of them seems to be related to Sims3.
I attached a quick screenshot compilation to make it more clear. That's odd...
@ashleena123 That's strange, the location I wrote out is exactly where my Steam install is located. (I double-checked.) Did you pick a custom location to install TS3? Or maybe a custom location for Steam games overall? There absolutely has to be a TS3W.exe somewhere on your computer, or the game wouldn't run at all.
If it's not showing up when you search for "TS3W" in File Explorer, maybe you can find it through a shortcut. In your Steam library, right-click on "Sims 3" and select "create desktop shortcut," if you don't have one already. Then right-cllick on the shortcut and select "open file location." That should show you where TS3's program files are landing.
If this doesn't work though, you can try the clean boot with Steam and TS3 only. It's always better to eliminate as many sources of potential interference as possible, and that includes Steam. But it's still a useful test; if the problem is gone, you'll know some other app is causing the problem. If it's still there, maybe Steam is the problem, and then you can work on bypassing it entirely.
Sorry for the mix-up, it slipped my mind that I installed my Steam on my drive D instead of C... my apologies.
I did find the app I needed. I launched the game from there, no changes, glitch still present.
However just as I did a clean boot, my computer lost the sound function and I had to reverse it to get it back. Since I need the sound function, now I don't know which program I should disable and which I shouldn't.
(Got to admit, I'm feeling more and more embarassed at this point.)
I may do a few more tries but not sure about the outcome. I may not be able to figure it out what to disable and what I should not, I'll see.
I finally was able to record how the problem looks like.
I don't know if I'm allowed to post the link directly here but I uploaded it on Youtube.
@ashleena123 You can absolutely link to a youtube video of the problem; the only disallowed videos are those that have content that breaks AHQ rules or might be harmful (mod use that raises the game's rating, workarounds that might break your computer, that kind of thing). I take it you haven't had any luck reenabling sound alone, without all the other background apps? You might try plugging in a simple pair of headphones instead, again just for testing.
And there's no reason to be embarrassed about any of this. Rummaging around in the program files is a bit disorienting the first couple of times, especially when you don't know how things are supposed to look. Besides, I've asked for a consult on this one too, since I found myself out of ideas. (The "consultant" said the sound driver is probably not the issue and suggested the repair and clean boot.) Anyway, we'll keep on this, and in the meantime, if you can get sound while still clean booting, or close enough, let me know how it goes.
Thank you so much. It really means a lot to me that someone is willing to try and help me. I could never solve this all by myself and would hate the idea of giving up playing this game just because of a dumb glitch.
Here it goes. Sorry about the quality, I mainly focused on the glitch itself rather than the pixels.
So this is how it goes with absolutely every sim, in every save, no matter if it's mine or pre-made. (This one is a pre-made sim to demonstrate it occurs even in a "clean" game.)
And yes, the worst thing is I'm not the best at knowing what exactly I should do in order to fix the issue or where to search, etc. It makes me feel even worse; not being able to solve something that's important to me makes me really sad and upset.
I'm still somewhat struggling with figuring out what application should run and which should be closed to get the wanted results. I'm going to keep tinkering, hope I can make it.
Edit: The YouTube link is not working. Do you maybe have the settings for this video on Private?
If so set it to "Public" or "Unlisted"
For the Clean Boot, because this is important.
(Step by step guide)
If the problem is gone in clean boot mode, please don't reverse the process without informing @puzzlezaddict or me.
To reverse the process just do everything in reversed order, just choose "Activate" in the Task Manager, and "Enable" in the System Configuration App.
And don't forget to restart the PC at the end.
Thank you very much for the detailed answer! I'm going to try it out as soon as possible then report back with the results.
Hmm, maybe this link will work then? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzaHYou4C0c
I hope my next post is going to be slightly brighter then the previous ones. Thank you again!
Okay, so I followed all the instructions. It was no problem, I could do it without problems. After restart however, my computer didn't have sound (again). This happened before after a clean boot, have no idea why. I use a sound enhancer called Razer Synapse which I attempted to activate thinking it'll work like that. Then I restarted my pc again, still no sound. The problem is, I don't have much running programs and I don't know why enabling Razer wasn't enough.
Basically, I'm stuck again. I genuinely feel embarassed at this point because of my lack of luck (?) / proper knowledge.
Don't worry, nobody knows everything. đ
Did you make sure that all non Microsoft services and all Auto Start Programs are activated again?
Can you list your Sound hardware?
Most of It I can see from the DXDiag, but there might be stuff.(Headphones, Speakers) that is not in the DxDiag.
After an unsuccessful attempt, I automatically switched back to "normal". (quit from clean boot)
So yep, after reversing, I always get my sound back. đ (I'm saying this because I did a few clean boots before and after restarting my pc as "normal'', all my sounds came back)
Well um. I only have a headphone plugged in. It's listed as "High Definition Audio" tool. No mics or anything.
I wonder if I missed listing something this time...
Ok, I misunderstood you before.
You did hide all Microsoft services before you deactivated the other services?
The headphone is a USB device?
You verified the Steam game cache?
Could you post a screenshot of the services that remain after the hiding of the Microsoft services?
Yes, I hid all those mentioned.
My headphone is a plug type one, not USB.
Verified multiple times, lost count...
I made the screenshot of those services. (I did as instructed, some text is non-English as it's not my native language.)
Also, it may be kind of worth mentioning, today I gathered my "courage" to do some testing. Managed to deactivate the right services to have sound but then Steam had issues with startup... Then Sims3 refused to launch, it said something like it needs reinstalling... I ended up restoring the system to normal, exiting from clean boot. After that, Steam had no issues with starting just as Sims3. I used a clean world as usual and a pre-made sim. This time I added a dishwasher as well and told the sim to clean up a dish first, just out of curiosity. The dishwasher had no glitches at all. Next was the dreaded trash compactor... it's easy to guess how it turned out... âšī¸ Glitch is still there alright.
Another failed attemp to figure it all out. If I didn't like the game so much, I'd probably give up (at least for a while) but I love it and it's horrible it's still there even with so much help from other people. âšī¸
You wroth "I use a sound enhancer called Razer Synapse which I attempted to activate"
Does that mean that you activated the "Razor Surround Audio Service" in the "Services" dialogue or the Program in the Auto-start section?
If the later, you need to activate the "Razor Surround Audio Service" under "Services" and then restart the machine.
If you still have the glitch in clean boot or no sound at all, crate a new Windows user account (Administrator). (don't use local Special characters, use only Characters from the ASCII table.)
Reboot > Login to the new account > Test.
Thank you very much for all the nice, useful advices. However I feel like it's all for nothing as no matter how hard I'm trying and following all instructions carefully, nothing works at all. I genuinely did them all, even made a new administrator account, ran the game from there - nothing. Nothing has changed, the glitch is just there the same way it was, the same way as in the video I recorded and uploaded on Youtube. I don't know what else can be done if anything can be done at all. I guess I just have to accept that I won't be able to play it, that I'm the "lucky" one who got a glitch that no one knows how to fix. I wish I was joking, that this was fake but it's not. At this point I'm unsure if it can even be fixed at all. Maybe it's broken to the extent it's just... won't work for some reason. I've never seen anything like this and I'm truly disappointed. So disappointed that no matter how many nice, generous people offered their selfless help, it's all for nothing.
Anyways... I'm genuinely grateful for everybody that did their best to help me out, even if my game is still glitched.
I don't think it's going to get solved, at least anytime soon. So thank you very much for taking the time and patience. I'm glad I didn't have to do this alone.
@ashleena123 I'm sorry we haven't been able to figure this out. Hopefully, the issue is contained to the trash compactors, so you can still use a regular trash can? I know it's still annoying, but it shouldn't be game breaking, at least.
If I ever hear anything else on the subject, I'll post back, but this glitch really does seem to be rare, or even unique.
Thank you. I really appreciate all the help you and the others provided.
I could use a simple trash can but I wouldn't feel comfortable with the thought lingering around that there is this annoying glitch in my game somewhere, unsolved. It's just not the same.
I'd be also really grateful if people could spread the word about this, if possible. Not just for me only; if it happened to me, it may happen to others as well. Maybe if it could reach to more people, someone could figure something out.
If this would be a general Bug we ( @puzzlezaddict ) đ probably would have heard about it.
It is of course your decision, (from the Windows side we did what we could) but there are other options we could try.
