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Zionspartaan's avatar
Zionspartaan
Seasoned Newcomer
6 months ago

Sims 3 doesn't launch after update

Hi,

I've reinstalled the Sims 3 during the pandemic and played for a bit, but I stopped and since then I haven't thought about it until recently, so I tried to launch it, and I was prompted to switch to EA App otherwise I couldn't launch the game. 

Once I did, the game started fine but the EA client had trouble detecting the extensions, also I couldn't launch a new game or replay my old save files because every time I tried to go into any city, I was prompted the same message another player has posted about : 

 Unfortunately, at the time I thought my game was too old and I'd rather reinstall it again to avoid any issue, so I deinstalled the old version and reinstalled it with the EA app, and now this pop up is showing constantly when trying to launch the game :

I've tried repairing the game multiple times, clearing the EA app cache, installing and using the Alder Lake patch fix created by the community, reinstalling the game twice, restarting my PC, nothing works. I don't know where the Log mentioned in the error message is, so I'm out of ideas. 

Hopefully someone can maybe help me here. I was excited to play again, but seeing how many people are having issues with the new EA app, it doesn't look good. I've attached my DxDiag in case it's helpful for debugging. Thanks

5 Replies

  • I also have this issue! I have tried every recommendation online and nothing is working. I got the game to work once and then after that, this happened. 

  • Zionspartaan  The "serious error" issue has its own master thread here:

    [Current Issue] Sims 3 "serious error" when loading save | EA Forums - 8322938

    But the second issue should be addressed first, with a clean uninstall and reinstall of Sims 3.  However, since your dxdiag lists a couple of BlueScreens and some other Windows errors, please start with some basic checks of your Windows system files:

    • 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.

    If sfc says it found corrupt files and was unable to repair some of them, or if DISM or sfc can't run to completion, stop here and let me know.  Otherwise, here's how to clean-uninstall Sims 3:

    [Read First] Running Sims 3 in Windows | EA Forums - 8323446

    It is especially helpful to reinstall the game into a new folder, one created specifically for this purpose and that's on the root level of the drive, so please don't overlook this part of the process.

    If you use a third-party antivirus, I would recommend disabling it before you create the new folder, and not reenabling it until you've tried to open the game once.  As long as you don't do anything else at the same time, your computer should be safe.

    If you can get past the "error during startup" message, try to play without any other changes.  Let me know what happens.  If you run into the "serious error" again, please see the first post of the master thread.

    escampbell2  If you're seeing the "serious error" message too, please see that thread.  Otherwise, let me know what happens when you try to play.

  • Zionspartaan's avatar
    Zionspartaan
    Seasoned Newcomer
    6 months ago

    Thank you for your reply,

    No error when executing the “DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth” command.

    Here's the message from sfc /scannow :

    Starting system scan. This may take some time. Starting the verification phase of the system scan. The verification is 100% complete. Windows Resource Protection found no integrity violations.

    I installed every optional Windows update pending, and restarted my PC.

    Did the clean uninstall of the Sims and EA App, reinstalled them again while disabling OneDrive synchronisation. I reinstalled it in the D:\Games folder, so the complete path is D:\Games\The Sims 3. 

    As for the antivirus, I'm using Windows Defender, no third party software. I added the exception of protected  to the TS3.exe application like instructed in the serious error thread, but I'm still getting the same launcher error.

    Should I completely delete OneDrive? I ran the registry query mentioned in the main thread to see if the Documents folder is somewhere else, but it returns this format =>  C:\Users\[username]\Documents , so it seems that it's not under a OneDrive folder. I repaired the game once more, didn't change anything.

  • Zionspartaan  OneDrive can't touch your user data if your user folder isn't inside OneDrive, which you've confirmed it's not.  And it doesn't trigger the launcher error.

    I wonder if the Sims-related registry entries aren't getting created properly, or you have leftover ones that Revo didn't find.  Please search the entire registry for sims and list the locations of the entries that show up.  To open the registry editor, click Windows key-R and enter regedit in the run box.

    Don't delete anything you find, at least not yet; just list the results.  And don't list the values, some of which are specific to your computer; I'm only interested in locations, for example something like this:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Electronic Arts\Sims(Steam)
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Sims(Steam)

    These are for a Steam install, obviously, but you get the idea.  Please list both the locations and the entries there, e.g. one for your base game and one for each installed pack.

  • Zionspartaan's avatar
    Zionspartaan
    Seasoned Newcomer
    6 months ago

    I've found the locations for the Sims registry entries, there is one registry for the base game and one for each extension at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Electronic Arts\Sims, in each folder there is a sub-registry named \ergc , with one entry , which has a default name :

     

     

     

     

    For the extensions, those are the registries and the entries, I didn't include the first default one : 

     

     

    I also found this one : HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Sims 

     

     

     

    and inside The Sims 3 registry there are these entries : 

     

     

     

     

    Inside the extensions folder, those are the entries : 

     

     

    I don't know which ones are part of the old installation, and which ones have been created when I reinstalled it via the EA app

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