Forum Discussion

puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 years ago

Re: Sims 3 Won’t Open- Minimized in taskbar

@Vargasboda  Please undo any compatibility mod you currently have; Sims 3 runs just fine in Windows 10, most of the time.  If you've added any mods or custom content, please move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts, and the game will generate a new one when the launcher opens.  Don't add anything to the new folder; just see whether you can get far enough to start a new save.

If that doesn't help or you haven't added mods or cc yet, please try disabling Origin in-game: hover over your username, select Application Settings, then the Origin in-game header, and disable the option at the top.

If that doesn't help either, try launching the game in windowed mode.  In Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3, open options.ini, find this line:

fullscreen = 1

and change the 1 to a 0.  The options file should show up even if you haven't gotten past the black screen, but please let me know if it doesn't.

If none of that helps, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

2 Replies

  • Vargasboda's avatar
    Vargasboda
    4 years ago

    Tried all of the above. The only one that worked is Windows mode using full screen =0

    But I’m curious if this means I cannot ever play it full screen? The window is really small now! And I cannot drag it to make it grow 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    4 years ago

    @Vargasboda  It more likely means you have some other program that conflicts with Sims 3 in fullscreen mode.  Common culprits are the Discord and Steam overlays; even if you don't open the apps yourself, they could be set to start with Windows, so check the Task Manager, including the background processes list.  You can also try disabling Game Mode and Game Bar, both under Windows Settings > Gaming.  And if your laptop came with any gaming optimization software, as most do, try disabling that as well.

    If that doesn't help, try playing in a clean boot:

    https://www.windowscentral.com/how-clean-boot-windows-10

    When you reboot, again go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down anything that doesn't absolutely need to be running.  If you accidentally kill something critical, it should restart itself, but if not, another reboot will do so.

    As for the game window's size, increasing the resolution within the graphics settings fixes it.  If you in fact cannot play in fullscreen mode, you could also use Windowed Borderless Gaming (free download) to get the fullscreen size with the functionality of windowed mode.

About The Sims 3 Technical Issues

Get help with issues in The Sims 3 from fellow Simmers.83,274 PostsLatest Activity: 4 hours ago