Hi there, I have a new PC and Sims 3 crashes all the time now. That wasn't an issue with my old one. I'm still using Windows 10 like with my old PC. The game runs super smooth but crashes from time to time. Sometimes I can play hours without a crash, sometimes only minutes. The crash log blames an Access Violation on d3d9.dll. Apparently that's a known issue but I tried everything to fix that with no success. I attached the last 2 crash logs and the DxDiag file. Thanks.
@Dungeony-Splatty Thanks for the info. The d3d9.dll file is a component of DirectX 9, which can't be missing or entirely unusable, as the game wouldn't even start. But it's worth reinstalling DX9 anyway. You don't need to uninstall anything; just run the installer over the top and restart, like this:
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-launcher-won-t-open/m-p/10711778#M247861
If that does't help, have you taken steps to manually limit your in-game framerates? If not, try doing so now. Right-click the Nvidia Control Panel, select Manage 3D Settings > Program settings, find ts3.exe on the list, and set a Max Frame Rate of 180, to match your primary monitor.
If that doesn't help either, or you've already done it, please try playing with your computer offline. You can sign into the EA App and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or disconnect the ethernet cable before pressing Play. The two most recent crashes in your dxdiag point to a component of Windows that allows third-party apps to access the internet, and rather than tinkering with various Sims 3-specific settings, playing offline is a quick and helpful test.
Thank you for your answer. I tried everything you suggested but it still crashes ☹️
And I just noticed the reason for the crash changed somehow as you can see in the crash log
@Dungeony-Splatty The mention of the "visual C++ compiler" in your new crash logs may or may not mean anything. If the 2005 VC++ runtime, which Sims 3 uses, were missing entirely, the game wouldn't start at all. It's more likely that something else is using the runtime incorrectly.
Do you use any mods or custom content, and if so, does the game run better without it? You don't need to save your progress, but it's important to test.
If that doesn't help, or you don't use mods or cc, please test a new save in Sunset Valley and let me know how it runs.
By the way, did you confirm that your in-game framerates are in fact limited now? To find out, bring up the cheats console (ctrl-shift-C) and enter fps on . An fps counter will appear in the upper-right corner of the screen.
@Dungeony-Splatty Any mods from NRaas are fine, but please remove other mods and any custom content you use.
If that doesn't help, did you make any other changes, for example adding the Smooth Patch or editing the .sgr files or installing ReShade? If so, please remove the added files and repair the game, then test again. It doesn't matter if your graphics card is unrecognized, although if you want to fix that (again, or for the first time), I can help with the process.
Now that I write that, I have seen one or two players say that getting their GPU recognized fixed some performance issues. That shouldn't be the case, but still, if you'd like to try and want my help, let me know. If you want to try and don't need my help, please don't make any other changes, to the .sgr files or in general, after repairing.
@Dungeony-Splatty Right, so please remove the Smooth Patch and repair the game. The patch is generally fine, but it's important to test as close to vanilla as possible, and only add in extra content when things are stable again. If you have the Smooth Patch's .package file though, the one you'd put in Mods, remove that first.
@Dungeony-Splatty Please try playing in a clean boot:
The one service to leave enabled is the EABackgroundService, which the EA App needs in order to run. Disable the rest as described.
When you reboot your computer, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down any service that doesn't absolutely need to be running, for example anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software might still be enabled. If you accidentally kill a critical process and it doesn't restart on its own, just reboot your computer again.
Don't open anything other than Sims 4 and the EA App while testing, not even a browser window.
If that doesn't help, try playing in a clean boot but with your computer offline, as in, the combination of the two.
If you still get a crash, please test a new save, with no mods other than those from NRaas.
