Sims 3 crashes randomly
Hi guys, my game has been crashing out of nowhere and I have no idea why. At first it only crashed when I put on open world, but since it seemed to be an issue with only one save I just deleted it, b...
Forum Discussion
@lilaaaaaaaaaaali First of all, please undo the change you made to try to force the game to use more RAM. This is actually useless advice based on bad information and a misunderstanding of the value it references. Sims 3 has been Large Address Aware since 2010, meaning it can use about 3.7 GB RAM (4 minus some overhead) already. The value people are told to change is actually the size of the game's script heap, and it's 20 GB, not 2. (Count the zeroes.) Point is, please reverse the change.
For the crashing, have you tested in a clean user folder yet? If not, please do so now: move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and when you launch the game, a new folder will spawn with no content. Don't add anything to it yet; just start a new save and see whether the game crashes. If you want, you can just build; you can transfer a partial or complete build to your main user folder later if you'd like, so this doesn't have to be a waste of time.
If the game crashes in the new folder, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
I'll send you the link of the page that showed how to make the game use more ram, I did exactly how they instructed. But I've already changed it back to normal.
https://simmetrydesign.forumotion.com/t95-want-sims-3-to-use-more-ram-you-can
@lilaaaaaaaaaaali Right, that guide is completely wrong on multiple counts, starting with what that value does. And in the screenshot, you can count the zeroes and see there are seven of them, making the value 20,000,000. At any rate, the important thing is you've undone the change.
Please attach a dxdiag to a post in this thread whenever you're ready.
The DxDiag
@lilaaaaaaaaaaali Your dxdiag lists a number of failed Windows updates, in fact so many that any possible Sims 3 errors have been crowded out. These might impact the game if your computer is trying to process the update while you're playing, but even if not, it's still best to lcean them up.
- Hit Windows key-X
- Choose either “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator),” whichever option is offered
- Inside the window that appears, copy and paste “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” without quotes, and enter
- The system will start validating soon. If it throws an error, please list it here
- After it reaches 100%, hit Windows key-X again
- Again, choose “PowerShell (Administrator)” or “Windows Terminal (Administrator)”
- Inside the window, copy and paste “sfc /scannow” without quotes, and enter
- Post the message you receive here
Restart your computer, hit Windows key-i, select Update & Security, and click the box to check for updates. If any install, restart again afterwards.
Next, please download the newest driver for your Nvidia graphics card:
https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/199991/en-us/
Run the installer as an admin: right-click the download and select "Run as administrator." Choose the Custom (not Express) install type and check the box to perform a clean install, and restart your computer when it's finished.
You can try again to play, and if you get another crash, please look for any new errors in the Reliability Monitor. Hit Windows key-R and enter "perfmon /rel" without quotes, and you'll see a chart of errors and updates with a column for each day. Look for any errors that mention Sims 3, or any that happened at exactly the time of the crash. If you find one, double-click it, copy the info you see, and paste it here. Keep in mind that the Reliability Monitor doesn't always update right away, so you may need to check back in an hour or so.
Finally, please list the world you're currently playing in and the expansions you have installed. (Stuff packs don't matter for the purposes of this discussion.) If you have Seasons installed, let me know what kind of weather you're seeing in-game.
