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AMorbidVisionar's avatar
AMorbidVisionar
3 years ago
Solved

Sims 3 Crashing/Closing At Startup

Hello! I recently upgraded my RAM to 16gb and added an extra SSD of 1TB to store all my games on my laptop. After the RAM upgrade I started having some issues with The Sims 3 completely exiting out on startup, generally right as I get to the loading screen toward the Main Menu. The music starts to sound wonky and the game just crashes. On occasion the game minimizes beforehand and when I maximize it the game seems normal but then crashes on the loading screen toward the Main Menu.

I've attached my DxDiag and the xcpt file. I also used the dashboard tool to test my CC and deleted corrupted files. I even tested with just Smooth Patch and the package files it requires and the crash still occurs. I will note that this is not the first time I have launched the game since moving from Origin to the EA Desktop App. Oh, and I also followed the game guide on Steam to optimize the game.

pc
technical issues
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    3 years ago

    @AMorbidVisionary  Please test in a clean user folder: move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and when you launch the game, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  Don't add anything to the folder yet; just start a new save, load it a few times, and see whether you get another crash.

    Please also list the exact product number of the RAM you added, or link the product page.  And let me know whether you've taken steps to limit the in-game framerates as well.  This wouldn't be related to any issues with the RAM upgrade, but it is a good idea in general.

4 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @AMorbidVisionary  Please test in a clean user folder: move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and when you launch the game, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  Don't add anything to the folder yet; just start a new save, load it a few times, and see whether you get another crash.

    Please also list the exact product number of the RAM you added, or link the product page.  And let me know whether you've taken steps to limit the in-game framerates as well.  This wouldn't be related to any issues with the RAM upgrade, but it is a good idea in general.

  • AMorbidVisionar's avatar
    AMorbidVisionar
    3 years ago
    @puzzlezaddict That seemed to work! I limited the framerates as well. I bought the RAM in an electronics store, so I don't know what the product number is. When I mentioned my laptop model (ASUS TUF Gaming F15) the employee got the RAM for me.
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @AMorbidVisionary  I'm glad to hear the clean folder worked.  You can now start moving your content from the old Sims 3 folder to the new one and testing.  Where the game has created new files or folders, it's best to use those rather than recycling your old ones, for example leave the new Saves and Library folders where they are and just add the contents of the old ones.  And don't move over anything that's been recreated.  Here's a description of all the files in your user folder so you know what you might want to keep:

    https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/faq-user-files.html

    Make sure to test everything you move over so you know immediately if you're reintroducing the problem.  You can do so in batches, especially with content that's unlikely to be the issue, like your saves.  But be careful with mods and custom content—the tools to detect bad cc and outdated mods are useful but somewhat limited, so you'll still need to test yourself.

    The store that upgraded your laptop should have found compatible RAM, so don't worry about that for now.

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