The Sims 3 (1.69) does not launch at all on Windows 11 – TS3.exe won’t start

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for help because I can’t get The Sims 3 (version 1.69, EA App) to start at all.

My setup:
Windows 11
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER

Issue:
The game does not launch at all.
TS3W.exe does nothing (no error, no window).

Often it redirects back to the EA App.
The launcher also won’t open.

What I already tried:
Repairing and reinstalling the game in EA App.
Running TS3W.exe and TS3Launcher.exe as administrator.
Compatibility mode (Windows 7 / 8).
Installing DirectX 9.0c.
Installing Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables (x86).
Testing with a clean Documents folder (no mods).

Alder Lake patch:
I tried the Alder Lake patch, but it didn’t help.
Later I found out it’s only for Intel 12th+ gen CPUs.
I’m using AMD Ryzen, so the patch was removed.
The game still won’t launch.

At this point, The Sims 3 1.69 is completely unplayable on my system.
Has anyone managed to make version 1.69 work on Windows 11 with AMD and RTX 40-series GPUs, or is switching to version 1.67 (DVD or Origin) the only reliable solution?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thank you.

puzzlezaddict
4 months ago
Florfisims Sims 3 definitely works in general on your class of hardware, with patch 1.69 or otherwise. Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling (or just installing, if it's not present) .NET Framework 3.5? When it's not installed properly, the Sims 3 launcher won't even open.

To install .NET 3.5, click Windows key-R, enter appwiz.cpl in the run box, click "Turn Windows features on or off," and you'll see the .NET runtimes near the top of the list. Click the filled-in box to uninstall .NET 3.5, then restart your computer. Repeat the process, clicking the now-empty box to reinstall, and restart again. If the box is empty, simply install and restart.

If that doesn't help, please provide a dxdiag. Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop. From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons.

By the way, for an EA App install, the relevant executables are Sims3Launcher.exe and TS3.exe, both without the W. The versions with a W in them are only used with patches 1.67 and below.

6 Replies

puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 months ago
Florfisims Sims 3 definitely works in general on your class of hardware, with patch 1.69 or otherwise. Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling (or just installing, if it's not present) .NET Framework 3.5? When it's not installed properly, the Sims 3 launcher won't even open.

To install .NET 3.5, click Windows key-R, enter appwiz.cpl in the run box, click "Turn Windows features on or off," and you'll see the .NET runtimes near the top of the list. Click the filled-in box to uninstall .NET 3.5, then restart your computer. Repeat the process, clicking the now-empty box to reinstall, and restart again. If the box is empty, simply install and restart.

If that doesn't help, please provide a dxdiag. Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop. From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons.

By the way, for an EA App install, the relevant executables are Sims3Launcher.exe and TS3.exe, both without the W. The versions with a W in them are only used with patches 1.67 and below.
Florfisims
New Novice
4 months ago
Oh thankss!!! its work! but i have another question what smooth patch is suitable for game version 1.69? Do you know?
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
4 months ago
Florfisims The Smooth Patch was built to work on 1.69 as well as 1.67. Lazy Duchess posted a few months that the patch doesn't seem to be working at all, but I'm not sure what broke it: a Windows update or an EA App update or something else. Still, you can always try it. If it doesn't do anything, remove it and repair the game, and you'll be back where you started.

The tell is that objects will spin a lot faster in Build/Buy modes with the patch working.

And I'm glad to hear it worked.
ChrisMarrie
Seasoned Newcomer
24 days ago
OMG! This was amazing!!!!! And so simple! I have been trying to get my sims 3 to work for over 2 weeks now.
I just bought a new setup which sounds pretty similar to Florfisims 's setup and was so stoked to play on a new faster system. My old laptop that I first played on is so buggy it wasn't worth trying anymore. But then when I finally got it setup It wouldn't get past picking the world screen. It kept saying that there was something seriously wrong with the world and to restart. It wouldn't even work with the base game world. I uninstalled and re-installed I don't know how many times. I tried turning off downloaded content and removing all the add-ons. Nothing was working! And then first try after doing this uninstall and install it worked perfectly! Thank you so much! I'm just glad I found a link to this thread. I wish there was a way to make this more common knowledge for anyone else still struggling with theirs.
ChrisMarrie
Seasoned Newcomer
24 days ago
So, puzzlezaddict got any other suggestions? I finished installing the rest of my add-on's and redownloaded my content, and now I am having the same problem again. I tried doing this again, where I uninstalled and then reinstalled the .NET 3.5. But unfortunately that didn't help this time.
So, I get to the load screen where you make sure you're logged in and then pick a world. It is then supposed to load the character creation if you're starting a new game, like I am. But instead it says that there is something seriously wrong with "world name" [which I tried the one I wanted and then tried the one that comes with the base game, and neither worked] and to restart the game. Should I try that Alder Lake path thing or is there something else that will work. I included the dxdiag you recommended.
DxDiag_Chrismarrie.txt99 KB
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
24 days ago
ChrisMarrie I'm glad the initial steps helped. The "serious error" when loading a world is almost always OneDrive-related, so please disable it completely, as described in the first post of this master thread:

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

It's not enough to simply uninstall OneDrive; you need to use the outlined steps to move your computer's Documents directory out of the OneDrive folder, then get rid of OneDrive if you want.