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christine800133's avatar
christine800133
4 years ago
Solved

Sims 3 Game Crashes randomly

Hiya fellow simmers, I semi-recently got a new PC recommended by an amazing hero simmer on this page but I’m running into a problem. My sims game crashes randomly during gameplay. It’s usually betwee...
pc
technical issues
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    4 years ago

    @christine800133  The first thing to do if you haven't already is to manually limit your in-game framerates.  I believe the latest version of the Smooth Patch has an fps limiter, but I don't know how well it works.  Otherwise, you can limit fps with the built-in Nvidia Control Panel.

    Right-click on the desktop, select the CP, open Manage 3D settings > Program settings, choose TS3.exe (Origin install) or TS3W.exe (with the W, disc or Steam install), scroll down the Max frame rate, and set it to the refresh rate of your monitor.  Then scroll down to vertical sync and set it to On, and set Triple buffering to On as well.  The max frame rate setting should work in any mode; the other two give better overall graphics performance in fullscreen mode.

    Whether you've limited fps already or only do it now, please check in-game to make sure the settings are being honored.  Open the cheats console (crtl-shift-C) and enter "fps on" without quotes, and a number will appear in the upper-right corner.  It should never go above the max you've set; if it does, let me know.

    If you still get crashes, then yes, the next step is to test with no mods or custom content.  The best way to do that is to move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, allowing the game to create a new folder with no content at all.  (Your existing content will be intact in the folder you've moved, and you can restore it later.)  Don't add anything to the new folder; just start a new save in Sunset Valley or Twinbrook and see how it runs.

    The Smooth Patch should be fine overall, with the only obvious potential issue being that if your computer's CPU cooling is inadequate, the Smooth Patch can exacerbate the problem.  If the other steps above don't help, we can look into that next.

puzzlezaddict's avatar
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 years ago

@christine800133  The first thing to do if you haven't already is to manually limit your in-game framerates.  I believe the latest version of the Smooth Patch has an fps limiter, but I don't know how well it works.  Otherwise, you can limit fps with the built-in Nvidia Control Panel.

Right-click on the desktop, select the CP, open Manage 3D settings > Program settings, choose TS3.exe (Origin install) or TS3W.exe (with the W, disc or Steam install), scroll down the Max frame rate, and set it to the refresh rate of your monitor.  Then scroll down to vertical sync and set it to On, and set Triple buffering to On as well.  The max frame rate setting should work in any mode; the other two give better overall graphics performance in fullscreen mode.

Whether you've limited fps already or only do it now, please check in-game to make sure the settings are being honored.  Open the cheats console (crtl-shift-C) and enter "fps on" without quotes, and a number will appear in the upper-right corner.  It should never go above the max you've set; if it does, let me know.

If you still get crashes, then yes, the next step is to test with no mods or custom content.  The best way to do that is to move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, allowing the game to create a new folder with no content at all.  (Your existing content will be intact in the folder you've moved, and you can restore it later.)  Don't add anything to the new folder; just start a new save in Sunset Valley or Twinbrook and see how it runs.

The Smooth Patch should be fine overall, with the only obvious potential issue being that if your computer's CPU cooling is inadequate, the Smooth Patch can exacerbate the problem.  If the other steps above don't help, we can look into that next.

christine800133's avatar
christine800133
4 years ago
@puzzlezaddict That seemed to the do the trick! Thanks, any tips on how to manage getting the Error 12 message when saving? I have no background apps running while playing.
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    4 years ago

    @christine800133  Error 12 is an out of resources condition, usually but not always tied to excessive memory use.  This has nothing to do with your computer's hardware, at least above a certain minimum level which your system easily surpasses.  Sims 3 is a 32-bit program and can only use ~3.7 GB RAM before crashing, and saving causes a spike, so if your save is running close to the limit already, the act of saving can push it over the edge.

    It's worth checking to see whether this is in fact your issue before proceeding.  Load your save and let the game clock run for a few sim-minutes, put the game in windowed mode, bring up the Task Manager, and see how much memory Sims 3 itself is using.  Then play for at least 20 minutes and check again.  If you're starting out above 3 GB RAM use, or the number rises quickly, then this is likely the cause of the Error 12s.

    If your current save uses over 3 GB RAM just when it's loaded, please quit to desktop, load a new save in the same world, and see how much memory it uses.  Some worlds are too large or too complicated to stay under the memory limit for long, but I don't think Storybook County is among them.  It's also possible that something in your save is eating extra resources, and that may be fixable.  And of course if you're getting an Error 12 despite much lower memory use, we need to look elsewhere.

    Please let me know about RAM use, and we'll go from there.

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