New admin account created, The Sims 3.app copied from the original /Users/accountname/Applications folder to the one for the new account since the 64-bit version is user-specific, and then I launched Origin, pressed play, updated when prompted, quit the launcher and then ran repair to validate the game. Then I tried to play.
Alas, I still get the same crash and the same error message.
@msarrowette Are you using a standalone monitor for your laptop, or just the built-in screen? Do you have any third-party software at all that's installed on both systems? I have to admit, I'm struggling to come up with more ideas here, especially since this is happening on two different computers. I'm not saying I'd give up, just that I'm grasping at straws here.
I can also ask if other people have suggestions, but it might take a day for someone to get back to you.
Just the built in screen for the laptop. Keeping it simple.
The iMac normally has a second monitor attached, but I powered that off/unplugged to make sure it wasn't causing the problem. Not sure whether the coding is there to handle multiple monitors or not in the 64-bit version, since I can't get far enough to check; the 32-bit version will launch and play quite happily in full screen mode with a second monitor powered on, but only so far as presenting it as a permanent blank screen. Aspyr's Sims 2 Super Collection handles that better, in that it leaves the screen usable - even though you're going to want to have edge scrolling turned off if you ever click over there, or you fall off the edge of the hood. :-)
As I have a workaround of playing on the 32-bit version, provided I don't go overboard with EPs, I'm in no desperate hurry. Though I'd definitely like to get it working before such time as I'm forced to go to Catalina/Big Sur/next year's macOS. Of course it's possible that Mojave is a factor, though the system requirements state that High Sierra and above are supported.
Sadly there's quite a lot of non-Apple software in common between the two machines, though the majority of that is installed via the Mac App Store, so is sandboxed. The main things that aren't are probably Dropbox, Carbon Copy Cloner and VMware Fusion. And they obviously don't stop the 32-bit version from running.
Thank you for at least trying to grasp at straws on my behalf.
@msarrowette Someone else had the suggestion to try disabling Origin in-game: hover over your username, select Application Settings, then the Origin in-game header, and disable the option at the top.
You can also try temporarily disabling System Integrity Protection (and I do mean temporarily), just to see whether it makes a difference. This is obviously not a fix, but it would be interesting to see the results.
@puzzlezaddict - I was already attempting to start the game with Origin In Game disabled. I've now tried it with SIP turned off, and it makes no difference - same crash as before, so SIP has gone back on again.
I had to update Origin to version 10.5.95, and since then the game seems to be in an even worse state in my original account than it was before. Okay, so there's not much worse you can get than "does not even start" but when I trashed my Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 folder in documents one more time, it did not recreate all the files when the launcher started up. The folder structure seems to be there, but the only files created under The Sims 3 are Sims3LauncherLogFile.log (zero bytes, never updated) and tslus.bin (created when I attempt to launch the game). I no longer get a DeviceConfig.log or an Options.ini. The only files that change timestamp after I press play on the launcher are tslus.bin and Downloads/wl.bin. I don't even get the crash report - the launcher seems to terminate without handing off to the game, and returns me to Origin.
SIP testing was therefore done with the dedicated admin account I created, where I haven't touched the existing Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 folder, and that behaves exactly as it did before. Same crash report as always.
