Re: Sims 3 won't open: Alder Lake (Intel 12th-gen) CPU

@Akhna Hi!

You don't actually need to extract the zip to the Bin folder, you can extract it anywhere. By patcher I mean the "AlderLakePatch.exe" executable inside of the .zip.

When you execute it it will ask you to "Locate the executable you wish to patch", from that window you have to look for your TS3.exe/TS3W.exe.

Once that's done you can get rid of the patcher if you want, the game should then work fine on its own.

I love you!!!!! @LazyDuchess  you made my game work at a time I needed it the most 😭😭

@LazyDuchess the patch doesnt do anything for me unfortunately...

ok i have finally got it to launch with process lasso. will update if anything happens

@hgeary15 @chez5551 @wiry961 (sorry for yet another tag, but this is actual news) and anyone else reading along, @LazyDuchess has created a patch that's fixed this issue for a couple other players.  If you'd like to try it, please read this post:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-won-t-open-Alder-Lake-Intel-12th-gen-CPU/m-p/11524785#M250970

In case anyone's wondering, you can extract the .zip file wherever you want, then launch it and apply it to either TS3.exe (if you're on patch 1.69, i.e. an Origin install) or TS3W.exe (with the W, patch 1.67/disc or Steam install).

More feedback is always appreciated.

@puzzlezaddict I will definitely try the patch and figure out where to upload the script for TSM just as soon as I’ve got the time. Might be a few days but I’ll get back to you about each of them at some point lol no problem about the tags, I don’t mind!

while i am here, does anyone know the name of the .exe that launches when you install cc as a sims3.pack? 

when i launch those they crash as well so i think i need to process lasso that .exe as well

@8203bd0fa1da6e890f64cc5ae0405ff1  The actual install process is run by TS3.exe in an Origin install or TS3W.exe (with the W) in a disc or Steam install.  The launcher itself is Sims3Launcher.exe (Origin) or Sims3LauncherW.exe (disc/Steam), but that's clearly unaffected by this issue since people with affected processors can still open the launcher.

LazyDuchess You're the best ever! I haven't played TS3 in quite some time and am on 12th gen and was trying to launch. I can't believe it's been months without an official solution from EA. Alder Lake CPU gamers shouldn't have to rely on the kindness of strangers to play their games. Thank you once more.

Hello, I recently got a new PC with Intel and I've tried everything but nothing worked so I figured out a way to play the game without downloading anything, I call it The Task Manager Method.

This is how you do it;

Turn on The Sims 3 Launcher along with the task manager
before clicking play, go to details on the Task Manger and
scroll down and look for "Sims3Launcher.exe" when you find it,
left click it and click "Set affinity" once that window pops up
unselect the "All processers" box then check the box that says
"CPU 1".

After doing that, click OK and minimize the task manager and click play.

Once the game loads up, go back to the task manager and check the
"All processers" box and turn off the task manager then enjoy your game!

This works with all launchers and with TSM, but with TSM you'll have to do this with origin.exe instead.

You'll have to do this every time you wanna play the game which sucks
but we just blame EA for that one.

I hope this helped 😊

I don't think I've ever posted on here in the over a decade I've had Origin- you deserve everything you want out of life. lol I was ready to throw my desktop out of the window. I just updated my CPU and GPU and figured one of the two was the issue. Thank you!

@xllo3ollx  Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

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

Please also let me know whether you've done anything to cap your in-game framerates.  If you haven't, that would be the place to start; I can help with that if you want.

Hey guys....... so I built this PC a couple weeks ago and I was unaware of the sims 3 issue with 12th gen processors until it was too late. I have tried LazyDuchess's fix, it still didn't launch. I did Miaa's powershell script, and that worked for a few minutes (5-10) and then it crashed with no error message. I did the Task Manager trick and that helped it launch, but once I loaded into a save, the game would crash a minute after with no error message.

Any suggestions on what experiment I should try next? I really don't want to play TS4. 

I have an i5-12600K, 32 GB of memory (DDR4), 750 watt PSU, and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti. My game is installed on my external SSD. 

@MadyLmao Hi MadyLmao, 

Try this combination, it's the only one that has allowed me to actually play the game. Thanks to @puzzlezaddict for the original troubleshooting suggestions. 

Go to your Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 folder. Open your Options.ini file. Ctrl+F and search for "Fullscreen" without the quotes, and edit the value from 1 to 0. 

Next, open your Nvidia Control Panel. Under "3D settings", select "Manage 3D Settings". Select "Program Settings" from the area to the right that opens. Find the "TS3.exe" program from the dropdown list, or if it's not present, you can manually add it to the List. Next, scroll down until you see "Threaded Optimization"; use the dropdown menu and select "Off". Scroll a bit further down and select "Vsync" and "Triple Buffering"; turn these both "On". Scroll back up the list until you see Max Framerate: select the the item and, in the drop down menu, use the slider to set the max framerate of the game to 60 fps. At the bottom right, select "Apply". 

Now, open up your Origin game library and open the Sims 3 Launcher from here. Before you select "Play" from the Launcher, open up your Task Manager. Select "More Details" and then from the window that expands, select the "Details" tab. Scroll down until you see "Sims3Launcher.exe"; right click this process. Then select "Set Affinity". From the window that pops up, deselect "<All Processors>", and then only check the box which says "CPU 1". Click Ok. Now, click Play from the Sims3Launcher and you should be able to load to the menu and be able to play the game with no issues. 

Your Nvidia Control Panel settings will remain what you set them too for the Sims 3 until you change it again. However, you will need to go back into Task Manager and follow the steps outlined above each time you open the Sims 3 Launcher before you start the game. 

I hope this helps! 

@MadyLmao  Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

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

Please also let me know whether you've done anything to manually limit your in-game framerates.  It's simple to do if you haven't and also essential for the long-term health of your graphics card.

Thank you @PermaFrost358, this seems to have worked! I was running my game for about 20 minutes and it didn't crash once. However, my game is extremely laggy and I'm wondering if you or anybody has any suggestions on how I can help my game be not-so laggy. I have already installed NRAAS ErrorTrap, MasterController, and Overwatch from my previous PC to help with the normal TS3 lag, but my game is still very laggy when using the combination that PermaFrost358 suggested to me.

I attached a dxdiag to this post @puzzlezaddict. I manually limited my TS3 frames just as of now after using the combination that Permafrost358 suggested to me, but my other games are not limited and I will look into it. Thanks!

@MadyLmao  Your dxdiag lists a few Sims 3 crashes that aren't related to the 12th-gen Intel processor issue, so those may be relevant here.  However, this might be even simpler.  I can see from your dxdiag that you have one monitor plugged into your motherboard, meaning it's running off the integrated graphics rather than your much faster dedicated card.  Is this the monitor that displays Sims 3?  For reference, the ultrawide (2560x1080) is plugged into the GPU and the other into the motherboard.

If you're displaying Sims 3 on the second monitor, please also plug that monitor into the graphics card and restart your computer.  Or run Sims 3 on the ultrawide monitor instead; it's your choice.  The point is, the game needs to be displayed on a monitor that's plugged into the GPU and not the motherboard.

If that doesn't help, please let me know what world(s) you're playing in.

Other games don't necessarily need an outside tool to limit fps.  Newer ones tend to have a built-in limiter, and you can always check by setting the game launcher or another overlay to display in-game framerates.