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.
@msarrowette It's occurred to me that there might be an issue with your account, or rather the status of Sims 3 on your account. The 32-bit version uses a different authentication method, so the fact that it runs isn't confirmation that everything is fine. Given everything else you've eliminated, it's worth checking.
Please contact EA customer support, and this time, ask about the status of your Sims 3 product key, not just whether it's on your account but whether it's active, as opposed to disabled or blocked. A support rep should be able to check, but please make sure they do, and don't let them tell you that this isn't possible because I have piles of Windows threads that say it is.
https://help.ea.com/en/contact-us/
If you don't get anywhere with support, please post the case number here.
I currently have a disk related fault with my iMac’s internal SSD which has prompted me to do a clean install of Mojave on an external SSD as part of troubleshooting. Since I had the opportunity to install the 64-bit version of Sims 3 when I had nothing on the system whatsoever except macOS, I tried it. So, while I still don’t know the exact conditions that trigger the instant crash after pressing Play, I can confirm that the game does in fact launch successfully with my hardware (2017 iMac 27” 5K, with Radeon Pro 580 GPU). Under certain conditions. So there’s no problem with my Origin account or Sims 3 game status/product key.
The current plan is to try relaunching it between reinstalling other pieces of software, and see if I can identify a conflict. If so, I’ll report back/report it to EA, especially as @Gegahex‘s issue sounds pretty much identical.
Sadly, in addition to the various known issues with the 64-bit version, most of which I could live with apart from the missing open water interactions, I’m not sure if I’ll stick with it after all that effort. Graphically, I’m seeing a screen refresh issue which rolls down the game window whenever I move the camera around, and it’s very seasick inducing. This is with the exact same graphics settings as I used on 32-bit, where the problem didn’t arise. So, I might yet end up going back to the 32-bit version.
@msarrowette Another option to consider would be to install Windows on an external drive and boot into that to play Sims 3. I first Bootcamped my Mac three years ago, and it was surprisingly easy to set up Windows and Sims 3 the way I wanted. A Radeon Pro 580 should handle ultra graphics settings with no trouble at all at 1080p and probably at 1440p, and the graphics have always been better in Windows.
Installing Windows on an external drive through Bootcamp is a bit complicated: it's not strictly supported, although the OS and drivers will work fine. There are plenty of guides on the internet, or you could try installing Windows internally first and then installing it a second time on the external. Or if you get the internal SSD issue addressed, Windows would be fine there too, provided you have enough storage for both OSs.
@puzzlezaddict - I played Sims 2 in Bootcamp for years until Aspyr did their 2014 rebuild, but found that I’d go long periods without playing at all because of the need to reboot to play and then reboot to get back to everything else. So Windows is definitely an option, and I have at least one licence knocking around that I could use, but I like the convenience of playing natively where I can.
I’ve just been reading through the Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches thread again, and will try some of the suggestions about adjusting settings and resolutions to see if I can get rid of the rippling effect. I haven’t checked FPS yet either, so must do that. The Radeon Pro 580 is pretty capable - I used to play Sims 2 in 5K resolution at one point.
Anyway, Time to go and reinstall a couple more things and see if they break Sims 3…
