so a few days ago I bought the sims 3 and when I went home and installed it I then went into the game to check it out and it was fine so I exited and I installed the sims 3 late night it looked fine at first but when I went into my game the maps of both Bridgeport and Sunset valley were all grey, I want to know if anyone can help me with this

Hi @rubysunn, The version number from the image is a good couple of years out of date which is odd. 🤔The super patcher should have worked but there's another option we can try here though to get that launcher up to the current patch. Let's get this registered to your Origin/EA account with the game code that comes with the disc. 🙂 Once you've redeemed the game code on Origin, it should fix the issue with the out of date launcher. To redeem a game code on Origin, please check out this EA Help article for the steps: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/origin-code-redemption-faq/ Please let us know how you get on with this. - EA_Lanna

Hi @rubysunn,It sounds like the code was redeemed by the original owner before you bought the disc. This means you won't be able to download the digital version of the game.We're limited in the support we can offer for disc games unfortunately but I'd like to try uninstalling the game and Late Night and then in this order, reinstalling The Sims 3 base game, running the Super Patcher once more and then adding Late Night. I'm hoping the order of the installations will help. - EA_Lanna

@rubysunn There are a couple of reasons this happens. One is insufficient hardware for the game; another is changing the wrong graphics setting and loading a save without quitting first, or changing while a save is already loaded. (Sometimes this just happens for no apparent reason at all.) Move your entire Sims 4 game folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop. Launch the game, which will create a clean folder with no content. Don't change any of the graphics settings, just load a couple of new saves, and look at each map. If they're fine now, you can go back to the Main Menu and change some settings, but quit to desktop afterwards, and then test. If the new folder doesn't help, please go into Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3, open the file labeled deviceconfig.log, copy the information between "graphics device info" (about 25 lines down) and "options" (about 40 lines down), and paste it here.

@puzzlezaddict I cant seem to find it ,I did find something called deviceconfig but there is nothing in it

@rubysunn It's unusual that the deviceconfig would be blank, but not unheard of. Please try loading the game a couple more times to see whether the file will generate the proper info—it's written to at the beginning of each play session. If that doesn't help, you can look for deviceconfig inside your old game folder and copy the info from there, if it exists. Please also let me know whether your computer runs Windows or macOS. If Windows, list what kind of install this is (Origin, Steam, disc, some other source), and run a dxdiag and attach it to a post: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/ If you have a Mac, please post its full specs, as described here: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p/4756624#M2878

sims 3 grey map glitch | EA Forums

20 Replies

rubysunn
6 years ago
Here
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
6 years ago
@rubysunn I thought this install probably wasn't patched, and it's not. Did you buy the Sims 3 Complete Collection or something similar via disc? That would be why the Super Patcher didn't work.
rubysunn
6 years ago
@puzzlezaddict I bought it via disc
EA_Lanna
Community Manager
6 years ago
Hi @rubysunn,

The version number from the image is a good couple of years out of date which is odd. 🤔The super patcher should have worked but there's another option we can try here though to get that launcher up to the current patch.

Let's get this registered to your Origin/EA account with the game code that comes with the disc. 🙂 Once you've redeemed the game code on Origin, it should fix the issue with the out of date launcher. To redeem a game code on Origin, please check out this EA Help article for the steps: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/origin-code-redemption-faq/

Please let us know how you get on with this.

- EA_Lanna
rubysunn
6 years ago
@EA_Lanna I tried to register it to my origin but it said that it was already redeemed
EA_Lanna
Community Manager
6 years ago
Hi @rubysunn,

It sounds like the code was redeemed by the original owner before you bought the disc. This means you won't be able to download the digital version of the game.

We're limited in the support we can offer for disc games unfortunately but I'd like to try uninstalling the game and Late Night and then in this order, reinstalling The Sims 3 base game, running the Super Patcher once more and then adding Late Night. I'm hoping the order of the installations will help.

- EA_Lanna
rubysunn
6 years ago
@EA_Lanna I tried that but it didnt work
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
6 years ago
@rubysunn What happened when you tried to run the Super Patch? If you got any error, it would be helpful to see a screenshot.
rubysunn
6 years ago
@puzzlezaddict it wouldn't even start
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
6 years ago
@rubysunn The Super Patch wouldn't start, or the game? If it's the Super Patch, please double-check that you downloaded the correct one, and that it's its full size, which should be around 1.8 GB. The download that you want on this page:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/175477/official-ea-download-link-for-the-sims-3-cumulative-manual-update

is immediately under Cumulative Base Game 1.67 Super Patcher. It might also help to download it with a different browser.

If the game itself won't start after running the Super Patch, please run it again, and let it go to completion, which can take a few minutes depending on the speed of your hard drive.

Forum Discussion

sims 3 grey map glitch

20 Replies

About The Sims 3 Technical Issues

Recent Discussions

Sims 3 starter pack

Sims 3 Supernatural Werewolf and Terrified Moodlet Problem

Scammed by a supporter?

[Current Issue] Sims 3 "serious error" when loading save

Launcher crashes when I open the downloads tab in Sims 3