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blooobagooo's avatar
blooobagooo
4 years ago
Solved

Sim frozen, sim panels won't open, and more

So my sim recently got back from a vacation to Al Simhara, and has been at her home in Bridgeport for a few days. I played the game last night and everything was running smoothly, but this morning th...
pc
technical issues
  • blooobagooo's avatar
    blooobagooo
    4 years ago

    My computer does have a 12th gen Intel processor, so I think that could be influencing why Sims won't open now? 

    I repaired my game within Origin again, and tried to launch it to no avail. I then downloaded the AlderLake patch and followed the instructions, patching TS3.exe, and the game finally launched for me. None of my saves are there, but since I haven't been playing it for long on this laptop, that doesn't bother me too much. However, would it be a good idea to just begin using the new admin account I created since the Documents folder is located in C:? That way, I can download the mods you provided for my game, which I'm not sure how to do on my original account. 

puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 years ago

@blooobagooo  Your user folder shouldn't be in OneDrive under normal circumstances, and that can interfere with Sims 3 in a variety of ways.  It's probably not causing this particular error, but it might be complicating the issue if you're deleting files from the "wrong" folder, as in, not the one the game is reading.

Please open C:\Users\your username\Documents etc. without OneDrive in the file path; you can get there by clicking This PC in the left panel of a File Explorer window.  If you find a Sims 3 folder, delete the cache files there too, and also compare the modified date on deviceconfig.log with the modified date of the same file in the OneDrive folder.  If the two have different timestamps, let me know which one corresponds to the last time you launched the game, as in, exactly when it started to load.  That's the Sims 3 folder the game is reading and the one you want to work with.

For mods, I'd recommend adding at least NRaas ErrorTrap, Overwatch, and MasterController.  Others can be very useful too, but these are the ones needed to address your current issue.  ET and OW clean up stray data and corruption and work on their own, with no user input needed; MC doesn't do anything unless you issue it a command.  You can find more info and a link explaining how to install mods here:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-Common-Game-Fixing-Mods-Hero-Approved/m-p/9838855#M244208

Work with your oldest save, in this case the backup you restored but not the modified version where you evicted your sim and moved her to a new apartment.  Load the save and let the game clock run for a few sim-minutes, then click on City Hall and select:

NRaas > MasterController > Town Options > Reset Everything

This can take a few minutes to run depending on the speed of your hardware.  When it's done, it'll tell you, and from there, let the game clock run for a few more sim-minutes, then "save as" to rename the save, quit, delete the cache files, reload, and see how things are.

blooobagooo's avatar
blooobagooo
4 years ago

So for some reason, when I go to Documents from my Users folder in C:, it's completely empty. I believe I tried getting to it from there before, but went through OneDrive because nothing appeared. 

I'm planning on installing the mods and seeing if they help at all, and I'm following the explanation linked in the thread you sent on modthesims, which directs me to a "Mods" folder that I don't have. I went to This PC/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 since nothing is showing in my Documents folder when I try to access it from C:, so that may be the issue, because I remember seeing a Mods folder in the past when using my old laptop. I'm not sure if there's a way to get around this, because it says that step is necessary to enable mods to run on TS3. 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    4 years ago

    @blooobagooo  Alright, your system is using the OneDrive folder as the default location for Documents.  This is not ideal, but it's manageable, and it's also not relevant to this problem.  You'll just need to check your cloud storage (the OneDrive folder that's online rather than on your computer) periodically to make sure it's not full and clean out old files as necessary.  If you don't, Microsoft may one day tell you you're out of space and strongly suggest that you sign up for a subscription service for more.  That's not necessary either (and frankly kind of rude); just clean out the online storage and you'll be fine.

    For the mods themselves, just add them to the Sims 3 folder you've been working with, since that's the one the game is obviously using.  You'll know whether the mods are working right away: either you see a notification at the Main Menu or you don't.

    • blooobagooo's avatar
      blooobagooo
      4 years ago

      Thank you very much, I'll take note of your advice about my laptop's storage. 

      I just followed the instructions listed here, and when I tried to launch the Sims to see if the .package files were working so that I could install mods, it came up with an error message saying "Unable to start game, Service initialization failed (0x0175d824)." I then deleted the FrameworkSetup folder and file from my Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 folder, and I'm still getting this message. I had this problem about a week ago (which you helped me with, and it began working), but never pinpointed a specific solution to this error message. 

      • puzzlezaddict's avatar
        puzzlezaddict
        Hero+
        4 years ago

        @blooobagooo  Do you use a third-party antivirus, and if so, which one?  I'm wondering whether it sees certain changes to the Documents folder, or in this case the Sims 3 folder inside, as potentially dangerous, and its response is to block access to the folder or some other kind of overreaction.

        If you don't use a separate antivirus, please add Sims 3 as an exception within Windows 10's Controlled Folder Access.  Add both TS3.exe and TS3W.exe as well as Origin.exe, just to be thorough.

        https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/03/windows-10-defender-controlled-folder-access.html

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