The Sims 3 save file won't load and crashes on loading screen

@yankikkie  I can help you get your graphics card recognized if you want, but it's unlikely that has anything to do with your save not loading.  All it would do is tell the game what default profile to use for your card.  If you want to try anyway, please post the section of deviceconfig between "Graphics device info" (about 25 lines down) and "Options" (about 40 lines down).  I'll write out the lines you need to add.

What's more likely to help is trying to load the save in a clean user data folder.  Move your 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.  Please try starting a new save, just to make sure it works; if it does, you don't need to play it, just quit and then copy over the backup version of your existing save, nothing else.  Let me know whether it loads.

While having a dedicated graphics card is generally better than not, an Intel UHD 630 is actually something like 500% faster than an Nvidia GT 210.  The 210 is over a decade old and was never all that fast to begin with, and while a UHD 630 isn't going to run the game on anything resembling ultra settings, it does run it.  If you did want to add a dedicated card to this computer, which may be but is not certainly possible, it would be better to get something resembling a modern card, but of course that would cost money, maybe $150 U.S. (or a bit higher in other countries) for an entry-level gaming card.

It would be nice to know the defaults, I'll leave them at the end of this reply. And the backup file won't load again even if I try the method you said...

Also I thought so too, using the old one is not a good idea comparing to the new one even if it's onboard, but I just worried because of the things i read there. Then, I'll continue to use UHD 630 for now.

=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630
Name (database): Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630 [Found: 0, Matched: 1]
Vendor: Intel
Chipset: Vendor: 8086, Device: 3e91, Board: 317617aa, Chipset: 0000
Driver: igdumdim32.dll, Version: 26.20.100.6860, GUID: D7B78E66-7DD1-11CF-D66E-1211BBC2D735
Driver version: 6860
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 32MB <<OVERRIDE>>
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1

=== Options ===
AnimationSmoothing 1
LightingQuality 1
GeneralReflections 0
TextureQuality 1
VisualEffects 1
TerrainQuality 1
EdgeSmoothing 0
ObjectHiding 1
AspectRatio 0
ForceSquarePixels 1
SimQuality 1
TreeQuality 1
DrawDistance 1
MaxActiveLots 1
NumMaxActiveLotOptions 6
AdvancedRendering 0
AudioQuality 3
Audi🤭utputMode 1
VoiceLevel 255
SoundFXLevel 255
MusicLevel 255
AmbientLevel 255
FocusMute 1
VoiceMute 0
SoundFXMute 0
MusicMute 0
AmbientMute 0
EdgeScrolling 1
EdgeScrollingWarning 0
SupressOpportunityDialogs 0
SuppressOpportunityDialogsWarningProducts 51753
SimWhileMinimized 0
TwelveHourClock 1
ShowPlacementGrid 0
AutonomyLevel 2
DisableAutonomyForSelectedSim 0
PetAutonomyLevel 2
AgingInterval 2
EnableAging 1
EnableTutorial 1
EnableIntroTutorial 0
EnableTombResets 1
EnableInGameStore 1
EnableTelemetry 1
EnableMemories 1
AgingStageLengthBaby 3
AgingStageLengthToddler 7
AgingStageLengthChild 7
AgingStageLengthTeen 14
AgingStageLengthYoungAdult 21
AgingStageLengthAdult 21
AgingStageLengthElder 17
EnableInteractiveLoading 1
AgingStageLengthPuppy 0
AgingStageLengthDogAdult 0
AgingStageLengthDogElder 0
AgingStageLengthKitten 0
AgingStageLengthCatAdult 0
AgingStageLengthCatElder 0
AgingStageLengthFoal 0
AgingStageLengthHorseAdult 0
AgingStageLengthHorseElder 0
LunarCycleLength 3
LunarPhaseLength 0
EnableLunarCycle 1
EnableLunarPhase 0
EnableStoryProgression 1
EnableVampires 1
EnableWerewolves 1
EnablePets 1
EnableCelebrities 1
EnableFairies 1
EnableWitches 1
EnableHorses 1
EnableOptOutCeleb 0
ReceiveConnectTNS 1
ReceivedDevGift 0
PostFilterFlags 0
RequireLoginBeforeLoad 1
SummerLength 7
FallLength 7
WinterLength 7
SpringLength 7
SummerEnabled 1
FallEnabled 1
WinterEnabled 1
SpringEnabled 1
IsCelcius 0
FogEnabled 1
RainEnabled 1
SnowEnabled 1
HailEnabled 1
InvertHorizontalRotation 0
InvertVerticalRotation 0
VideoCaptureSize 1
VideoCaptureQuality 2
VideoCaptureSound 0
VideoCaptureTime 60
VideoCaptureHideUI 1

@yankikkie  Here's how to get your graphics card recognized, if you want:

Note:  These instructions only apply to and will only work for the original poster's graphics card.  If you'd like help getting your own card recognized, please post the same information from deviceconfig and ask for help.

    card 0x3e91 "Intel UHD Graphics 630"

    elseif (match("${cardName}", "*UHD Graphics 630*"))
seti cardLevel $cardLevelMedium
seti isCardMatched true

For the save itself, it might not be possible to recover the save at this point.  What you can try though is mixing and matching files from the old save and the new one.  Again in the clean folder, start a new save in the same world where your current one takes place.  You don't have to play for long: just let it run a few minutes in live mode, with any family, then save your progress and quit.

Inside the folder for any save, you'll see several files, including an .nhd file for each world you've played in while in that save.  Make a backup of each save folder, both the borked long-term save and the new one.  Now delete the .nhd file from the new test save, and replace it with a copy of the .nhd file of the homeworld in your borked save.  Before trying to load the test save, make sure to delete the five cache files in your Sims 3 folder as well:

• CASPartCache.package
• compositorCache.package
• scriptCache.package
• simCompositorCache.package
• socialCache.package

If the save does load, it should load your main household, with all or most data intact.

If there are vacation worlds involved, things can be more complicated, but this is the first step to try.

Thank you, now deviceconfig recognized the card as "Found: 1"! But still, texture memory says "32 MB <<override>>". Will it cause problems or not? In case the informations are required; our card has 128MB VRAM and total 8266MB memory.

And save won't load again... I guess there's really no way to load it.

@yankikkie  Sorry, I forgot to put the texture memory edit in too.  It doesn't necessarily cause any problems, but you can fix it regardless.

At the top of graphicsrules, and look for this, 8-10 lines down:

if ($textureMemory == 0)
seti textureMemory 32
setb textureMemorySizeOK false

change the 32 to 128 if you have 6 GB memory or less, or 1024 if you have more, and add a # and a space in front of setb.  Your graphics chip reserves 128 GB memory for its own use by default, but it can borrow up to 8 GB, which is the other value.  For best performance, if you have 6 GB RAM or under, it's better to allow the system to keep all the RAM it can use: about 2 GB for Windows, and the rest for Sims 3.  With more than that, your system can spare some for the graphics chip, that is if you don't run anything else alongside the game.

If the save won't load, then there may not be anything you can do.  Almost all the relevant data is contained within the .nhd file(s), not the others, so even if you could get some other combination of files from the borked save and a new one to load, there wouldn't be much point.  However, if you want me to try, you're welcome to upload the save somewhere and PM me the link.  Please also list the packs you own.

Sorry for reviving this thread again, but i have the same problem again. 

I couldn't fix the save file i mentioned in this thread, so i just found an old version of that save from the files in my old pc. So I continued to play the old one again for a while.

I tried to do the same things i lost: playing for some sim days, then moving to the Bridgeport, have some singer gigs and make friends, and form a band. After playing in Bridgeport for a few sim days, the save file is corrupted again and when i try to load it, it crashes to desktop without a warning.

I saved as different files from time to time in case i lose my progress again, so i tried to load my previous file before the latest, it doesn't crash but the progress bar isn't filling. It just makes me wait for a very long time and doesn't open. But the save i created yesterday (which is after i moved to Bridgeport from Appaloosa Plains) works well.

I wonder, maybe it's a problem in Bridgeport but if it was like that i think i couldn't open my save from yesterday. Only after spending more sim days there, it came to this situation. The same situation with what happened 4 weeks ago.

I used to play with Ambitions, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, Pets in my old pc and had no problem like this. While transferring to the new one, i also installed Late Night in addition to others.

I hope we can understand the problem, if needed i can give more details what i did in the game or what informations needed etc. I hope someone can help me, because losing my sim and his life story makes me sad ☹️

@yankikkie  You have no reason to apologize; we're always happy to keep troubleshooting for however long it takes.

How did you move the sim to Bridgeport?  The in-game option (over the phone) is problematic in that it can transfer data from the old town to the new one, potentially introducing corruption as well.  Depending on what you want out of the transition, there are two much more reliable ways to move a sim.

If you just want to start your sim in a new world with no connection to the old one—skills, career, etc. intact but no relationships with the sims left behind—then the best way is to save the sim to the bin, start a save in the new world, and place the sim there.  It's crucial to quit to desktop and delete the cache files after saving the sim and before starting the new save, because another way to corrupt a save is to switch to it from a different save at the Main Menu.  This tends to impose data from the first town onto the second, regardless of what else you're doing.

If you'd like your sim to "remember" the sims in Appaloosa Plains and don't mind using mods, you could use NRaas Traveler, along with ErrorTrap and Overwatch (for stability and data cleanup), to vacation in Bridgeport and then switch hometowns.  This process is more complicated and may not be necessary for what you want to do, but it's worth mentioning.  If you're interested in reading about it, start here:

https://www.nraas.net/community/Traveler-FAQ#Is-it-possible-to-switch-homeworlds-permanently

Even if you don't want to go through the hassle, adding a few NRaas mods could help make your saves more stable and less likely to corrupt.  Specifically, ErrorTrap, Overwatch, MasterController, Register, and Traffic would all be useful with your collection of expansions.  Let me know if you're interested and would like more information.

Yeah I moved him in-game, I didn't know that one was problematic :o And I understood that the problem must be really with moving in-game and not with Bridgeport, because I started a new game with new household in that town and I've been playing with them for a while and thanks God, the save is not corrupted!

Also I have no problems with using mods and was already using NRaas Master Controller and Error Trap, might use the others you recommended too. So I will try moving him with that mod when I can get my old save.

Thanks a lot for your help!

The problem I'm having is the Sims 3 keeps crashing every time I try to load my saved game file from hours ago of actually playing the game I'd had plenty of memory storage to install the game but now for whatever reason this game is not loading up my saved game file without crashing and constantly telling me I need to restart the entire game and try again which I have tried doing many many times already of course Brian Noland

@Doom12345678926  Try clearing out the contents of CurrentGame, in Doccuments\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3.  This folder should always be empty unless you're actually playing and have a save loaded.  Delete the five cache files in the Sims 3 folder as well:

• CASPartCache.package
• compositorCache.package
• scriptCache.package
• simCompositorCache.package
• socialCache.package

If that doesn't help, try loading a backup save.  Even if you never created one, the game keeps the files from the second-to-last time you saved.  Open ...\The Sims 3\Saves, and you'll see a folder with your save name and another folder for the backup, in your case Doom.sims3 and Doom.sims3.backup.  Change the name and delete the .backup extension (e.g. Doom 1.sims3), and you'll be able to select it at the Main Menu.