Hey, so I downloaded The Sims 3 recently and I cannot play it. Download went perfect and everything but whenever I try to open the actual game, I get a notification saying "Important Message! There is a problem connecting to the server. Please ensure your internet connection is active. If the problem persists try again later." I have checked my internet connection but still my game is not opening up. Please help!
@bnqntm Did you run the digital download version of the Super Patch, or one of the regional disc ones? If you're not sure, you can run it again, and then reapply the license server fix. If you own any packs, it might help to install them, although four of them (Ambitions, Late Night, Fast Lane, and Outdoor Living) require a different workaround.
Let me know if none of this applies, and I'll get back to you when I can find the right EA person to respond—a lot of them aren't around right now for the holidays.
I have the same problem. My base game (The Sims 3) worked fine but when I installed high-end loft stuff the problem occured. I followed the instructions on the first page, downloaded the super patch etc. and it still doesn't work. Any ideas how to fix this problem?? I play the game through origin. @puzzlezaddict
@sofiaanttikoski High-End Loft Stuff is affected by the same issue, and the same file swap works, except that you'd need to paste the working paul.dll file into the SP01 folder in the same location as the other folders you found.
Or, if you own another pack, you could just install that; only HELS and World Adventures are affected by this error. If you happen to own Late Night (I know the Starter Pack offered in Origin includes LN and HELS), all you'd need to do would be to install it and then apply this workaround:
https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-packs-not-showing-as-installed/
If you own a number of packs, more workarounds may be necessary. Please list them here—it's easier to describe the steps when I can reference specific packs.
Sadly I am getting the same error after following these steps ☹️
I only have the base game and a macbook air from 2015
@dimitrom Did you specifically copy the paul.dll file from the EP03 (Late Night) folder into the base game folder? Did you happen to run the Super Patch afterwards, or let the launcher update the game? Either one would undo the change you made. If you did, or you're not sure, run the Super Patch again (to make sure all original files are in their proper place), and then copy over the paul.dll file again.
Yes, I copied the paul.dll file into the base game folder. What exactly do you mean by "run" the super patch?
edit: i did everything as per your post and then clicked on the Sims 3 plumbob. Is that what you mean by running the patch?
@dimitrom If you haven't already, download the Super Patch (digital download version) from here:
https://bluebellflora.com/sims-3-manual-super-patch-for-mac-1-67/
Open it, point it at the Sims 3 plumbob icon in Applications\The Sims 3, let it run (this will take a few minutes), and then repeat the paul.dll fix.
Replacing the paul. the second time worked!! Thank you so, so much for the thorough instructions.
One this I noticed that I want to call out, when I opened the Super Patch, the default location it tried to have me update was for The Sims 3.app file located in the Users folder and not the one directly located in the Applications folder. I kept banging my head against the wall with this until I noticed that and updated the location for the super patch from the default to the root of the Applications folder (Applications\The Sims 3 as opposed to the one in Users folder).
Just passing this along in case this is causing issues for other people too. Not sure what the difference is between the root Applications folder Sims 3 and the one in Users>(UserName)>Applications.
Not sure if I screwed something up on my initial Origin to create that Users folder if that gets created by default but just wanted to share in case any other people are having similar challenges with this fix.
(Sorry if this is all newb stuff I'm super new to Macs)
