Sims 3 Crashes & Error Code 12
Can someone please help me, my game will only play for so long before I get the Error code 12 when Saving and sometimes it crashes, I have done the Data Prevention, but no luck, my PC is well over th...
Forum Discussion
@MsSaintsAngel You're right that your computer can handle everything TS3 could throw at it without breaking a sweat. The problem though is the game itself. TS3 is 32-bit, meaning it can only use ~3.7 GB RAM before crashing or throwing an Error 12. There's no way to make the game use more memory, so you'll have to manage RAM use yourself to try to stay under the limit.
First though, you should confirm that the game is indeed bumping up against the memory limit. It's easy enough to check the Task Manager; if memory is showing in percentages, right-click the header to switch to absolute values. Error 12 is an out of resources condition, usually caused by memory but not always. A long session in Build/Buy or CAS can also trigger the error, as loading all those catalogs can max out other resources, like VRAM.
If this is indeed a memory issue, it may be that the world you're playing in is too large or complicated, either physically or in terms of population, and can't be run without going over the RAM limit. Are you using a custom world? Some beautiful ones just cannot be played for any length of time without seeing crashes. One way to check would be to start a new save in the same world and check memory use. If that world is already using over 3 GB RAM when you've barely started, then it's a good bet you're not going to be able to play.
One other thing you really should do is take steps to limit your in-game frame rates. You can see them by bringing up the cheats console (crtl-shift-c) and entering "fps on" without quotes. A number will appear in the upper right corner of your screen, and it should never go above the refresh rate of your monitor. ("fps off" makes the number go away.) An Nvidia 1080 ti can throw rates into the thousands if left uncapped.
Since TS3's in-game fps limiter doesn't work, you'll need to use an outside tool. For Nvidia cards, the first one to try is the built-in Control Panel. But it doesn't always work, and never works in windowed mode, so Nvidia Inspector (free download) may also be necessary. Or, if you have another tool already in place (like MSI Afterburner or RivaTuner Statistics Server), you can try that one first. Here are screenshots of the settings for CP and Inspector, under the spoilers:
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/16540301/#Comment_16540301
Sometimes troubleshooting a persistent Error 12 can take some time, as the cause needs to be narrowed down from a surprisingly long list of potential issues. If this does turn out to be a RAM issue, there are steps you can take to bring down the game's memory use. If it's something else, we can change direction. Just let me know what you see.
Hello, Thank-you so much for your help and replying, sorry I didn’t reply back sooner, I hadn’t been on.
I think I figured out my issue, I didn’t realize it wasn’t registering my graphics card, it showed found 0 matched 0, so I got it to find and match it and it seems to run better now, as for the Error 12, think it had something to do with my memories, I cleared them out and have been lucky not to get it again.
Thanks again for your help I really appreciate it!
@MsSaintsAngel I'm glad to hear your game is running better. Memories do indeed eat up plenty of RAM, particularly when you have a neighborhood full of sims accumulating them over a long period of time. Here are a few other stops you can take to lower the game's mamory use:
- Turn off the in-game shopping experience and the hidden object interactive loading screens
- Play offline, without signing in at either the launcher or Main Menu
- Avoid playing in excessively large worlds, either by absolute size or population
- Turn down the graphics setting for water and high-detail lots; I keep these at mirrors only and 2, respectively
- Keep your home lot relatively free of clutter, and your sims' personal inventories as well
- Keep the active household small, although the vanilla game's 8 sim limit should be fine
- Regularly delete the five cache files (CASPartCache, compositorCache, scriptCache, simCompositorCache, and socialCache) in your TS3 game folder in Documents
- Delete everything in FeaturedItems—these are ads from the store and will appear even if in-game shopping is disabled
It's certainly not necessary to take all of these steps; you can choose which ones won't interfere with your preferred playstyle. For example, I use mods that allow me as many sims in the active household as I want, so some families can have 20 sims or more. Those games need more interventions than the ones where the main family has five or six members.
Finally, I'm glad you got your card recognized as well, although that wouldn't have been causing the Error 12s. Since you're comfortable editing the .sgr files though, you may also want to fix the texture memory override that you're almost certainly seeing, unless you've addressed it already. (This will be in deviceconfig, a couple of lines below the Found: 1, Matched: 1 you're seeing for your card.) The relevant lines are in graphicsrules.sgr, 8-10 lines down. This:
if ($textureMemory == 0)
seti textureMemory 32
setb textureMemorySizeOK falseshould be changed to this:
if ($textureMemory == 0)
seti textureMemory 1024
# setb textureMemorySizeOK falseSo you're changing the 32 to a 1024, and adding a hashtag and space immediately in front of setb. Your card of course has much more than 1024 MB VRAM, but TS3 can only use 800 MB. The effect on the graphics is subtle but noticeable, especially when you're looking at the water.
If you do run into more issues with Error 12s or crashes down the line, there are also several mods that can help. If you're ever interested, I can recommend a few that are very well made and reliable.
@puzzlezaddict Thank-You so much again for your help! I appreciate it! I did go in and change the texture memory override when I added my graphic card, but I didn’t have the hash tag in front of the setb so thank-you for letting me know about that! lol 😊
Thank-you for the tips! I now have been deleting my caches before I play, and reset my graphics to default, I did go in and change my virtual memory in advanced system settings to see if that helps. I also got some Nraas mods, Master controller, Overwatch, Error Trap and Saver, to help the game. I have been playing on Aurora Skies an old save and I did edited the world to have more lots in it, so that might have been an issue too, I removed the lots I added after getting error code 12 again yesterday, I hope that helps! I also tried to move my family to a new world but it seems to get stuck once the loading bar is about complete, I am thinking I may have to move them manually. Hopefully moving them to a new world also helps.
Yes please, I am definitely interested on the mods you know to help with the error code and crashing!
Thanks again for all your help and time! 😊
