Re: The Sims 3 64 Bit Keeps Freezing

@puzzlezaddict thank you!! Here’s the file. I have been playing in Sunset Valley and in Bridgeport but they’re both about the same. I haven’t tried windowed mode, so I’ll give that a go and report back 😌

I don’t think the file attached so here it is, copy and pasted

=== Application info ===

Name:            Sims3

Version:         

Build:           Release

=== Rating info ===

GPU: 3 GPU Memory: 5 CPU: 1 RAM: 5 CPU Speed: 1400 Threading: 3

Adjusted CPU: 2380 RAM: 8192 Adjusted RAM: 7680 Cores: 4

Card Found in DB: 0

=== Machine info ===

OS version:      Mac OS X Version 10.15.7 (Build 19H2)

OS prod type:    0

OS major ver:    10

OS minor ver:    15

OS SP major ver: 0

OS SP minor ver: 0

OS is 64Bit: 1

CPU:             MacBookPro15,4

    Brand:       Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8257U CPU @ 1.40GHz

    Family:      8

    Model:       7

    Cores:       4

    HT:          1

    x64:         1

Memory:          8192MB

Free memory:     212MB

User:            carlee

Computer:        Carlees-MacBook-Pro

=== Graphics device info ===

Number:          0

Name (driver):   Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645

Name (database): Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 [Found: 0, Matched: 1]

Vendor:          Intel

Chipset:         Vendor: 8086, Device: 3ea6, 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

=== Options ===

AnimationSmoothing 0

LightingQuality 2

GeneralReflections 1

TextureQuality 2

VisualEffects 2

TerrainQuality 1

EdgeSmoothing 0

ObjectHiding 1

AspectRatio 0

ForceSquarePixels 1

SimQuality 2

TreeQuality 1

DrawDistance 2

MaxActiveLots 1

NumMaxActiveLotOptions 6

AdvancedRendering 1

AudioQuality 1

Audi🤭utputMode 1

VoiceLevel 255

SoundFXLevel 255

MusicLevel 255

AmbientLevel 255

FocusMute 1

VoiceMute 0

SoundFXMute 0

MusicMute 0

AmbientMute 0

EdgeScrolling 1

EdgeScrollingWarning 0

SupressOpportunityDialogs 0

SuppressOpportunityDialogsWarningProducts 131109

SimWhileMinimized 0

TwelveHourClock 1

ShowPlacementGrid 0

AutonomyLevel 2

DisableAutonomyForSelectedSim 0

PetAutonomyLevel 2

AgingInterval 2

EnableAging 1

EnableTutorial 1

EnableIntroTutorial 0

EnableTombResets 1

EnableInGameStore 1

EnableTelemetry 1

EnableMemories 1

AgingStageLengthBaby 3

AgingStageLengthToddler 7

AgingStageLengthChild 7

AgingStageLengthTeen 14

AgingStageLengthYoungAdult 21

AgingStageLengthAdult 21

AgingStageLengthElder 17

EnableInteractiveLoading 1

AgingStageLengthPuppy 0

AgingStageLengthDogAdult 0

AgingStageLengthDogElder 0

AgingStageLengthKitten 0

AgingStageLengthCatAdult 0

AgingStageLengthCatElder 0

AgingStageLengthFoal 0

AgingStageLengthHorseAdult 0

AgingStageLengthHorseElder 0

LunarCycleLength 3

LunarPhaseLength 0

EnableLunarCycle 1

EnableLunarPhase 0

EnableStoryProgression 1

EnableVampires 1

EnableWerewolves 1

EnablePets 1

EnableCelebrities 1

EnableFairies 1

EnableWitches 1

EnableHorses 1

EnableOptOutCeleb 0

ReceiveConnectTNS 1

ReceivedDevGift 0

PostFilterFlags 0

RequireLoginBeforeLoad 0

SummerLength 7

FallLength 7

WinterLength 7

SpringLength 7

SummerEnabled 1

FallEnabled 1

WinterEnabled 1

SpringEnabled 1

IsCelcius 0

FogEnabled 1

RainEnabled 1

SnowEnabled 1

HailEnabled 1

InvertHorizontalRotation 0

InvertVerticalRotation 0

VideoCaptureSize 1

VideoCaptureQuality 2

VideoCaptureSound 0

VideoCaptureTime 60

VideoCaptureHideUI 1

=== Default Options ===

AnimationSmoothing 0

LightingQuality 2

GeneralReflections 1

TextureQuality 2

VisualEffects 2

TerrainQuality 1

EdgeSmoothing 0

ObjectHiding 1

AspectRatio 0

ForceSquarePixels 1

SimQuality 2

TreeQuality 1

DrawDistance 2

MaxActiveLots 1

NumMaxActiveLotOptions 6

AdvancedRendering 1

AudioQuality 1

Audi🤭utputMode 1

VoiceLevel 255

SoundFXLevel 255

MusicLevel 255

AmbientLevel 255

FocusMute 1

VoiceMute 0

SoundFXMute 0

MusicMute 0

AmbientMute 0

EdgeScrolling 0

EdgeScrollingWarning 1

SupressOpportunityDialogs 0

SuppressOpportunityDialogsWarningProducts 0

SimWhileMinimized 0

TwelveHourClock 1

ShowPlacementGrid 0

AutonomyLevel 2

DisableAutonomyForSelectedSim 0

PetAutonomyLevel 2

AgingInterval 2

EnableAging 1

EnableTutorial 1

EnableIntroTutorial 1

EnableTombResets 1

EnableInGameStore 1

EnableTelemetry 1

EnableMemories 1

AgingStageLengthBaby 3

AgingStageLengthToddler 7

AgingStageLengthChild 7

AgingStageLengthTeen 14

AgingStageLengthYoungAdult 21

AgingStageLengthAdult 21

AgingStageLengthElder 17

EnableInteractiveLoading 1

AgingStageLengthPuppy 0

AgingStageLengthDogAdult 0

AgingStageLengthDogElder 0

AgingStageLengthKitten 0

AgingStageLengthCatAdult 0

AgingStageLengthCatElder 0

AgingStageLengthFoal 0

AgingStageLengthHorseAdult 0

AgingStageLengthHorseElder 0

LunarCycleLength 3

LunarPhaseLength 0

EnableLunarCycle 1

EnableLunarPhase 0

EnableStoryProgression 1

EnableVampires 1

EnableWerewolves 1

EnablePets 1

EnableCelebrities 1

EnableFairies 1

EnableWitches 1

EnableHorses 1

EnableOptOutCeleb 0

ReceiveConnectTNS 1

ReceivedDevGift 0

PostFilterFlags 0

RequireLoginBeforeLoad 0

SummerLength 7

FallLength 7

WinterLength 7

SpringLength 7

SummerEnabled 1

FallEnabled 1

WinterEnabled 1

SpringEnabled 1

IsCelcius 0

FogEnabled 1

RainEnabled 1

SnowEnabled 1

HailEnabled 1

InvertHorizontalRotation 0

InvertVerticalRotation 0

VideoCaptureSize 1

VideoCaptureQuality 2

VideoCaptureSound 0

VideoCaptureTime 60

VideoCaptureHideUI 1

@resinator11  What world(s) are you playing in?  Does the freezing still happen in Sunset Valley?  If you play with pets, does it help to not have any?

I don't know whether this issue will be fixed, sorry.

Having Lighting on Low and trees on low solves this issue for me. Unfortunately the lighting on low is so bad its prevented me from playing the game. I have high framerates regardless of the setting, but the freezing every 30 second issue rears it head when i turn those settings up. I really hope it gets fixed.

@Atheist_Monk  That's interesting, thanks.  Could you provide your deviceconfig?  It would be useful to know what hardware you have that isn't handling higher lighting settings.  The deviceconfig 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.

@Atheist_Monk  Thanks for the info.  It's especially useful because a number of other players have the same processor and graphics chip as you do.  A few more questions, if you don't mind?

• Has the game ever crashed on you, and before or after you lowered the lighting and tree detail settings?
• Does it make a difference to play in windowed mode?
• Which packs do you have installed?
• Which world(s) have you been playing in?
• If you use mods and/or custom content, can you reproduce the same effect without that content?

@Atheist_Monk  Great, thanks so much for the info.

@Atheist_Monk  I have no idea whether this issue will get addressed, but I do know that EA is keeping an eye on the issues reported here.  The question will be whether the problem has a simple enough fix.  If it took reworking the graphics engine, that would probably be too much work, but perhaps there's an easier intervention.

I understand why you might not want to keep working on this, but if you felt like experimenting, you could try editing some of the values tied to the lighting setting in graphicsrules.sgr.  It may be that one particular value is the issue, and you could set it to low while leaving the others as is.  To be honest, I'm not totally sure editing graphicsrules has an effect anymore; it seems like something else in the game is overriding at least some of the settings.  At any rate, it doesn't hurt to try.

To access graphicsrules, find the Sims 3.app wherever you installed it.  (The default is the user Applications folder.)  If you see a Sims 3 Pack folder but not the base game .app, hit cmd-shift-. (period) to show hidden files and folders.  Right-click on the .app and select Show Package Contents, and from there open:

Contents > Resources > The Sims 3 [right-click, Show Package Contents] > Contents > Resources

Make a copy of graphicsrules.sgr for safekeeping, then open it and cmd-F to search for "lighting" without quotes.  You'll land here:

option LightingQuality
    setting $Low
        prop $ConfigGroup ShadowMapSize 1024
        prop $ConfigGroup RenderShadowsEnabled false
		prop $ConfigGroup InteriorLightProbeCount 3
		prop $ConfigGroup LowDetailLightmaps true
		prop $ConfigGroup ShadowColorFormatWorkaround $intelShadowColorFix
		prop $ConfigGroup HighRezTranslucency false
    setting $Medium
        prop $ConfigGroup ShadowMapSize 1024
        prop $ConfigGroup RenderShadowsEnabled true
		prop $ConfigGroup InteriorLightProbeCount 8
		prop $ConfigGroup LowDetailLightmaps false
		prop $ConfigGroup ShadowColorFormatWorkaround $intelShadowColorFix
		prop $ConfigGroup HighRezTranslucency false
    setting $High
        prop $ConfigGroup ShadowMapSize 2048
        prop $ConfigGroup RenderShadowsEnabled true
		prop $ConfigGroup InteriorLightProbeCount 20
		prop $ConfigGroup LowDetailLightmaps false
		prop $ConfigGroup ShadowColorFormatWorkaround $intelShadowColorFix
		prop $ConfigGroup HighRezTranslucency true

You can change the settings under High one at a time to see whether anything makes a difference.  Like I said though, I'm not sure it will; it's just worth trying.  I'd do it myself, but so far, I haven't had this issue.

Hi so I turned my game into window mode and turned down all of my settings, and it totally worked. I am wondering if I can exit window mode or to keep it from freezing it has to stay in the window mode. Thank you!

@toyotacamri98  You can certainly try playing in fullscreen mode again.  It's best to use an aspect ratio that matches your screen, e.g. if its resolution is 2880x1800, use an in-game resolution with a 16:10 aspect ratio.  You'll also get better performance with a lower resolution overall.  Feel free to experiment a bit.

Im having a similar problem where I load a game and I play for around 5-10 minutes then my game will freeze. My games volume will continue( like the clicking sounds and world surrounding noises) to play but, my screen will be frozen and my mouse will have a spinning rainbow. I waited around 5 minutes to see what would happen and it was still frozen. I entered window mode and my world started glitching back and forth from the frozen screen and the unfrozen screen 

@Qissaucegod and @AngelSingz  Please post the full specs of your Macs: everything under About This Mac except for the serial number.  Please also list the packs you've installed.