Re: the sims 3 (64-bit & metal) release

Since I promised I'd try to address questions that come up (with two exceptions), here's a quick hit of what I picked up over the last few pages. Thank you to all the AHQ heroes and Guides for also answering these questions before I have!

Q: What is "Apple ARM CPU?"

tl;dr: This is the chip that makes your computer be a computer. Apple announced a fundamental change to it earlier this year, but hasn't begun shipping new hardware based on the change yet.

A: Forgive me if this gets too basic (OR too far in the weeds), but I want to make sure there's no confusion here. The "CPU" is the main powerhouse of what makes your computer a computer. The acronym stands for "Central Processing Unit" and it's the thing that, as the name implies, does the bulk of the processing on your computer. The "architecture" and/or "instruction set" (the terms are often used pretty interchangeably, though they're actually different things) of the CPU will vary from manufacturer to manufacturer, and intended use to intended use (though it's also possible for one architecture to be licensed to other manufacturers, and then all of them will adhere to that standard as a common standard). There's a WHOLE lot more to this topic, so I'll just leave that part alone. Search the Internet for "CPU architecture" if you want to know more.

Today there are several pretty mainstream CPU architectures that are used by manufacturers, and they all have advantages and disadvantages. PowerPC used to be used by Apple for Macintosh hardware until they moved to Intel chips (PowerPC is a RISC chipset that is still widely used in industrial applications but not often seen in places where the end user would notice them. Lot of automation/robotic controller, lot of automotive "compute unit" to control how your engine runs). Intel's x86/x86-64 instruction set is a venerable standard that's been around for many decades and is probably what's in use in your Macintosh or Windows PC (or Linux server, etc). x86/x86-64 is a CISC based architecture that is widely used nearly everywhere and is manufactured by several companies (Intel, AMD, etc). Apple adopted this CPU family over PowerPC in 2005 and, for about three years, provided an emulation layer so that software optimized to run on PowerPC would still be able to run on x86 CPUs (and as with all emulation software, this had mixed levels of success). This emulation layer was called "Rosetta."

During their developer's conference in summer of 2020 Apple announced that they would be transitioning to an internally developed CPU based on the ARM CPU architecture (a RISC based CPU that is widely used in low-electrical-power applications like phones, tablets, system-on-a-chip computers like the RaspberryPi, etc). They will be attempting to ease migration for application developers from the x86 CPUs to the ARM CPUs via an emulation layer called "Rosetta 2." Apple have not yet announced when the first consumer-facing Macintoshes based on this new CPU will ship, but they have continued to launch new Macintosh models designed around the Intel x86 CPU. It is very likely that the Macintosh hardware ecosystem will be a mix of x86 and ARM CPUs for several years (not least of which because there are millions of Macs in the wild today that are built around x86).

Q: What about error 12?

A: From what I can gather Error 12 is due to the world held in the game's memory being too complex to write to disk. The mitigations I see described are various tactics to reduce the amount of memory needed to construct the save files (note - I have learned this through 3 minutes of Internet searching so I may be 100% wrong about it). If the root cause really is not having enough memory available to the game to be able to construct the save files in memory before flushing to disk then yes, this update should help with that. The move to 64-bit architecture means that the game will no longer be constrained to 4 Gigs of RAM total, so if it needs to burst to 6 or 8 gigs while it constructs these files then it should not have a problem (though if your Mac doesn't actually have more than 4 or 8 gigs of RAM you might notice things get really slow while this work happens due to the use of a technique called "swap" or "virtual memory" that involves using your hard drive as extra, very slow, RAM). But never say never. I'm positive someone will find a way to stress this system again.

Q: Will custom content work?

A: I don't see why not.

Q: MaxisJoe mentioned Christmas

A: Nope. I mentioned Festivus.

Did I miss any questions/statements?

Thank you @MaxisJoe and the rest of the Sims team for updating a game you didn’t have to update! We are all really appreciative. 

Stay excited simmers, we’re almost there! 🙂 

Q: What about error 12?

A: From what I can gather Error 12 is due to the world held in the game's memory being too complex to write to disk. The mitigations I see described are various tactics to reduce the amount of memory needed to construct the save files (note - I have learned this through 3 minutes of Internet searching so I may be 100% wrong about it). If the root cause really is not having enough memory available to the game to be able to construct the save files in memory before flushing to disk then yes, this update should help with that. The move to 64-bit architecture means that the game will no longer be constrained to 4 Gigs of RAM total, so if it needs to burst to 6 or 8 gigs while it constructs these files then it should not have a problem (though if your Mac doesn't actually have more than 4 or 8 gigs of RAM you might notice things get really slow while this work happens due to the use of a technique called "swap" or "virtual memory" that involves using your hard drive as extra, very slow, RAM). But never say never. I'm positive someone will find a way to stress this system again.

Thank you for your answer.

Well, if this 64-bit update designed for Mac users can potentially fix the Error 12 for good, then this is why Windows users wish to have a similar update as well.

I mean Windows users are well aware that The Sims 3 works on both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows. 

But right now, all they can do is play the game until their save file gets corrupted, then start over and over again because of the reasons that you listed above.

So they would like to get an update that fixes this Error code 12 for good, and enjoy playing The Sims 3 at long last.

@Andparraro  The 64-bit version hasn't been released yet.  Please see this comment for more information:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/the-sims-3-64-bit-amp-metal-release/m-p/9636676#M8522

@Darrlia  Error 12 is annoying in Windows, but it doesn't mean people can't play long-running saves.  And while a corrupt save can cause Error 12s while saving, and overrunning the game's memory limit can corrupt a save, the two issues aren't the same.  I know people who've played the same single save for years without having to abandon it (in Windows), without any significant Error 12 issues and without corrupted saves.

Having a 64-bit version of Sims 3 won't do much for save corruption, since most causes have nothing to do with memory use.  The game still has plenty of issues on any platform, most of which are unrelated to RAM.

For Error 12, there are ways to try to prevent it; if you'd like help with this, please post in the Sims 3 PC tech section.  For corrupt saves, there are mod-related approaches that help a lot; please post in the PC tech section or ask on the NRaas website.

Why was my answer to your post turned into a thread?

Anyway, I look forward to testing this Mac 64-bit update in Isla Paradiso and see if error 12 occurs.

@Darrlia  I'd love to know the results of your testing Isla Paradiso on your Mac, preferably both the unedited and the fixed versions.  Please let me know what you find out.

This is the Mac section, and this particular thread is on a very specific, and Mac-specific topic.  It's always helpful to the participants of any thread to stay on-topic, especially in such a busy and widely-read thread as this one.

I really hope I get to see the new version on my Origin account soon!
My friend already sees it in her game library and is constantly updating me on which EPs/SPs are being added, while I still only see the old version on my account.

No idea why, only difference between her and my game is that she bought the game directly through Origin while I bought the disc versions and added them to my thesims3.com/Origin account. I have read the posts from some of the more reliable/informed members here, that the game is still rolling out in batches, but there remains a tiny bit of "fear" that I might have somehow missed out on getting the update. Wouldn‘t be the first time that happens to me... 😳

Also I’d like to just take a moment and thank @MaxisJoe and the entire team who worked on this update! Having to work on an update for a beloved game like Sims 3 while also dealing with our current global situation, and the entitlement of some of the users here, probably wasn‘t an easy task, but for someone like me, who absolutely loved Sims 3 since he‘s been a teen and has waited 11 years for a native macOS version to be released, you guys are my heroes! Seriously I know EA get‘s a lot of... „comments“ about it‘s business practices but to publish a free update for a game that came out 11 years ago, and never was properly ported to the Mac, is just beyond my wildest dreams. Thank you from the bottom of my heart ❤️

Hi

probably a stupid question but I’ll put it out there anyways. What about store content and more specifically store worlds? I’m guessing they’re pretty much like CC but maybe I’m wrong. 

very happy that all this effort is being put into our beloved sims game. Thank you. 

This might be a bad time to ask but any chance we can get Create-A-World tool for Mac while this overhaul is happening?

The sims 64-bit isn't showing up in my Origin library, has anyone else not had it showing up yet, i've not played the sims 3 since 2013, I got a new Macbook a few months ago and am super excited at the prospect of playing it agin and cant wait to get some of the expansion packs that were not even released when I last played. 

Woo I love this idea. But I guess it's too much to ask I mean the tool is still in beta on Windows.

@markarid Great question!!!

You guys do realise that Sims 3 is not in development anymore right? And that it hasn't been for several years now? And that this updated version of TS3 is a compatiblilty update? That means it is an update to a pre-existing game to make it compatible with something else, in this instance advances in Apple's technology built into hardware and software and lack of compatibility for older architecture.

It seems like people are expecting miracles and additional content with this update. If that's the case I fear you will be very disappointed.

You’re absolutely correct of course. But considering how excited we all are for this update on this no longer in development game can you blame us for wishing they’d throw in a little something extra. 

@ranhoze1 We all want updates and extras! Hell, I’d want the create-a-world and other features too hahaha. But we also have to remember that they didn’t even have to do this update in the first place. They could have ignored us or told us to deal with it 🤷🏻‍♀️ let’s be thankful that they didn’t! 

I’m most eager for the ram usage. 
I wasn’t even expecting that much. 
if I made it seem like I was expecting them to completely overhaul the game or that I’m not grateful that they’re even bothering to do this for us, that wasn’t my intention. 

I’m just not surprised that there are people who wish there could be more. Just as I’m not surprised that the windows users wish they could get a 64 bit version. 

this is a very loved game. 

Will the ram usage increase the quality of the gameplay like will it run better than before?

@MarianneSimard76  It should run better, up to a point.  The 2 GB RAM hard cap of the current version of Sims 3 for macOS is the limiting factor for the way most people play, and lifting that will remove a major source of crashes and save corruption.

However, this update doesn't have bug fixes or any other attempts to improve other sources of instability.  For example, playing in an unedited Isla Paradiso will still likely go badly, although the game might struggle and run poorly for longer before crashing.  So whatever steps you've been implementing to keep your saves intact and playable, it's a good idea to do the same in the 64-bit version as well.

What about Sims 3 Store content and the Exchange? Will they be playable? 

I’m so excited! I can’t wait for this new version to be out. I have been following he this for so long and I’ve been missing TS3 so badly! Hopefully it will be soon :D 

and also, thank you very much to all of you guys at EA who made this possible!!!