@ErinvanWyk Are you on a mac or PC? It would be helpful if you could post your specs here, or (Windows only) run a dxdiag and attach the results to a post.
https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-3/HOW-TO-DxDiag-PC-Only/m-p/1049584/thread-id/47181
Please list the packs you've installed as well.
I am on PC, windows and I have now discovered that it doesnt even work without the expansions
I have Pets and Supernatural installed
@ErinvanWyk The specs of your computer matter here, which is why I asked if you could run a dxdiag. That will contain the relevant information without your having to hunt it down.
If you've uninstalled one or more packs, you need to clean the registry before trying to run the game again. If you didn't do this, it's probably why you can't launch even the base game. At this point, it might be best to completely uninstall before proceeding. You can clean the registry manually (see below) or with a tool like Piriform's CCleaner.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/the-sims/the-sims-3/manually-uninstalling-the-sims-3/
how do i unistall expansion packs
