Thread for new members to post their Sims 3 game issues (2020-22 version!)

hello, my cc will no longer appear in my game, i cleared the cache, checked deviceconfig, but the only cc that shows up is store content. i recently installed and uninstalled ccmagic so i am unsure if that is related.

Cannot click on sim for self-interaction when at home

Can’t click on his phone ethier he works perfectly fine outside of the home lot. And it seems to only effect him. This is a long term save file about 4 generation in but I save as regularly, I’ve tried resting him the town, moving house but nothing has works so far

Hello, I have been here before. I am a big fan of Sims 3 and have been playing it on my laptop for about a year and a half now. It has not been without issues, but I've managed to make it work (until now). For background, in addition to the base game I play Pets, University, Seasons, Late Night, Island Paradise, Generations, and have one stuff pack. I also use mods and a bit of CC.

I know my computer is not the best to run the game (its a Lenovo IdeaPad 330S) but it what I have to work with at the moment. My problem is that while I am playing, my game will just stop and the screen will become all static. If I put my computer to sleep and then wake it up again, I'll be kicked back to my desktop screen. I play in windowed mode, so I can open the game window and get back to it. It's just a big interruption, and it happens every 3-5 minutes during game play. I want to figure out how to fix this. I've included (what I think is) my dxdiag. Please let me know if you see anything that is causing my problems with game play, or if you have a suggestion for me to try. Thanks!

dxdiag:

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 6/29/2020, 17:00:06
Machine name: LAPTOP-A8OU1SER
Machine Id: {624C414E-5B1E-4C28-9FB0-96E201CD9CD0}
Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 18362) (18362.19h1_release.190318-1202)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: LENOVO
System Model: 81FB
BIOS: 7WCN37WW (type: UEFI)
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 2500U with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx (8 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 7058MB RAM
Page File: 3636MB used, 4573MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 12
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 120 DPI (125 percent)
System DPI Setting: 120 DPI (125 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: UnKnown
Miracast: Available, with HDCP
Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported
DirectX Database Version: Unknown
DxDiag Version: 10.00.18362.0387 64bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: AMD Radeon(TM) Vega 8 Mobile Graphics
Manufacturer: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
Chip type: AMD Radeon Graphics Processor (0x15DD)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Type: Full Device (POST)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_15DD&SUBSYS_380117AA&REV_C4
Device Status: 0180200A
Device Problem Code: No Problem
Driver Problem Code: Unknown
Display Memory: 4538 MB
Dedicated Memory: 1009 MB
Shared Memory: 3529 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
HDR Support: Not Supported
Display Topology: Internal
Display Color Space: DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Color Primaries: Red(0.584961,0.363281), Green(0.349609,0.579102), Blue(0.162109,0.142578), White Point(0.312500,0.328125)
Display Luminance: Min Luminance = 0.500000, Max Luminance = 270.000000, MaxFullFrameLuminance = 270.000000
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: unknown
Monitor Id: BOE0700
Native Mode: 1920 x 1080(p) (60.027Hz)
Output Type: Internal
Monitor Capabilities: HDR Not Supported
Display Pixel Format: DISPLAYCONFIG_PIXELFORMAT_32BPP
Advanced Color: Not Supported
Driver Name: C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\u0327981.inf_amd64_436272295b4cee3f\B326924\aticfx64.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\u0327981.inf_amd64_436272295b4cee3f\B326924\aticfx64.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\u0327981.inf_amd64_436272295b4cee3f\B326924\aticfx64.dll,C:\WINDOWS\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\u0327981.inf_amd64_436272295b4cee3f\B326924\amdxc64.dll
Driver File Version: 23.20.0822.2304 (English)
Driver Version: 23.20.822.2304
DDI Version: 12
Feature Levels: 12_1,12_0,11_1,11_0,10_1,10_0,9_3,9_2,9_1
Driver Model: WDDM 2.3
Graphics Preemption: DMA
Compute Preemption: DMA
Miracast: Not Supported by Graphics driver
Detachable GPU: No
Hybrid Graphics GPU: Not Supported
Power P-states: Not Supported
Virtualization: Not Supported
Block List: No Blocks
Catalog Attributes: Universal:False Declarative:False
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 4/10/2018 7:00:00 PM, 1958256 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: Unknown
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-569D-11CF-1A7D-371B7FC2DA35}
Vendor ID: 0x1002
Device ID: 0x15DD
SubSys ID: 0x380117AA
Revision ID: 0x00C4
Driver Strong Name: oem10.inf:cb0ae414bd67b00a:ati2mtag_RavenDS:23.20.822.2304:pci\ven_1002&dev_15dd&subsys_380117aa&rev_c4
Rank Of Driver: 00CF0000
Video Accel: Unknown
DXVA2 Modes: DXVA2_ModeMPEG2_VLD DXVA2_ModeMPEG2_IDCT DXVA2_ModeH264_VLD_NoFGT DXVA2_ModeHEVC_VLD_Main DXVA2_ModeH264_VLD_Stereo_Progressive_NoFGT DXVA2_ModeH264_VLD_Stereo_NoFGT DXVA2_ModeVC1_VLD DXVA2_ModeMPEG4pt2_VLD_AdvSimple_NoGMC DXVA2_ModeHEVC_VLD_Main10 DXVA2_ModeVP9_VLD_Profile0 DXVA2_ModeVP9_VLD_10bit_Profile2
Deinterlace Caps: n/a
D3D9 Overlay: Not Supported
DXVA-HD: Not Supported
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
MPO MaxPlanes: 2
MPO Caps: ROTATION,VERTICAL_FLIP,HORIZONTAL_FLIP,YUV,BILINEAR,STRETCH_YUV,HDR (MPO3)
MPO Stretch: 16.000X - 0.250X
MPO Media Hints: rotation, resizing, colorspace Conversion
MPO Formats: NV12,420_OPAQUE
PanelFitter Caps: ROTATION,VERTICAL_FLIP,HORIZONTAL_FLIP,YUV,BILINEAR,STRETCH_YUV,HDR (MPO3)
PanelFitter Stretch: 16.000X - 0.250X



Name: AMD USB 3.10 eXtensible Host Controller - 1.10 (Microsoft)
Device ID: PCI\VEN_1022&DEV_15E1&SUBSYS_15E11022&REV_00\4&26C23DB9&0&0441
Driver: C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\USBXHCI.SYS, 10.00.18362.0900 (English), 6/18/2020 23:52:30, 531768 bytes
Driver: C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\UMDF\UsbXhciCompanion.dll, 10.00.18362.0900 (English), 6/18/2020 23:52:30, 132256 bytes

Name: AMD Radeon(TM) Vega 8 Mobile Graphics
Device ID: PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_15DD&SUBSYS_380117AA&REV_C4\4&26C23DB9&0&0041

@magrgu16 - As per our last conversation about this system.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/17121920/#Comment_17121920

You are welcome and should be encouraged to seek a second opinion. For example, I can see that the drivers for your integrated graphics chip are a couple of years out of date. But while that should be tended to by seeking updated drivers through the manufacturer's site if available (Lenovo), I really don't think that's going to solve your game's performance issues especially with the heaviest of the EPs in play.

A good place to seek an informed second opinion would be EA's Answers.HQ board. Note that there are no New Member restrictions for posting tech questions there.
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/bd-p/the-sims-3

Hi, new to the forum but not to Sims 3, though there is still much to learn. I have been having this issue: I create a single male and give him strong romance abilities. He starts having children out of wedlock, a lot of them. I decide to see how many kids he can have, give him fertility. They start dying. A lot. I get a message that they died, usually from fire or electrocution (even infants or toddlers), and occasionally starvation or drowning.

I start going to all their houses and fire proofing the stoves and removing the BBQ grills. Fire deaths reduce but electrocution deaths rise. What's going on here? The town still has room for population growth. Sometimes after my character has spent a lot of time with a child, before he even gets home the child dies a tragic death. Now the world he is in is modded, and I am using mods as well in the game. I have had this happen before, but not to this extent. A character could have, say, ten kids and one dies. Ok, that is a statistic. Now, a character has maybe 16 kids and over half of them die before reaching teen.

Also, the aging doesn't always work right. One child can be born and stays a toddler and all the younger brothers and sisters grow into children and teens before this one ages up. I mean it is weird enough that twins don't always have the same birthday.

Why are the progeny of these characters dying so frequently? At some point, I wanted to see how many generations I could get with a variety of cousins, and see how the genetics of this one guy can influence a town.

Thanks all.

Thanks, @igazor

I am looking at purchasing this laptop to play Sims 3 on instead. Would you mind taking a look at it for me and giving me your opinion?

https://www.amazon.com/i5-9300H-GeForce-MaxxAudio-retroiluminado-AN515-54-5812/dp/B086KJBKDW/ref=pd_ybh_a_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=9PS54YPPA6AD060EVF2S

@magrgu16 - That laptop would be much stronger on the components across the board than what you have now, I mean like night and day differences, and kudos for finding one that strong at that price level that is even showing as in stock these days. But it only has a 256 GB drive and no secondary one (which is to be expected at that price point). It's a Solid State Drive (SSD), which is also great for TS3, but many players would find they have to constantly struggle to maintain enough free space on it over time. Larger SSDs will drive the price tag up, though it would be better if you can find a similar system with at least a 512 GB drive.

What would be the upper limit on your budget, currently?

Paging a shopping expert, sorry we're all out of catnip here.
@puzzlezaddict

@PumaShadow - I would have to say that you experiencing a couple of different unfortunate things there.

Under EA standard, we aren't necessarily meant to be all that concerned with how inactive household around the ones we are playing age and progress as they pretty much exist for the comfort, convenience, and amusement of our one active household. Babies and toddlers in particular will sometimes just be pushed to age up for no apparent reasons. But it's also the case that bringing sims of any age into CAS or any of its subsets will randomize their ages within their current age stage once you are finished, hence twins not being the same age after a while even in actively played households and even if things like life fruit and soy milk are not in play.

Aside from that, or in addition, often under EA standard with or without story progression active worlds will get stuck in some sort of over-populated or out of balance mode and culling (removal of sims then showing as having died or just no longer present in the world) will happen as a totally unnecessary emergency step to keep the population down or more even by age stage. More so than uneven aging, that can ruin games for players who are watching over their worlds closely and possibly playing more than one household in turns/rotations. It doesn't matter if there is still room on the map for more households, the upper limit for world populations differ the EA way and it's never really clear if the calculations that take place include homeless NPCs or not because whatever it's doing, after a couple of generations usually, is too distressing to the player to work with.

You mentioned mod usage, but do you have any NRaas mods in play? The MasterController version of CAS does not allow randomization of existing sims' ages. NRaas StoryProgression does not allow culling or emigration of sims out of our worlds unless we switch its emigration feature on ourselves, which is actually quite difficult to arrange so it cannot really be done by accident. Under SP, sims need to have really died by old age or some unfortunate accident viewable as acted out if we had been watching them rather than by calculation. Also under SP, when a world reaches its adjustable population cap then no more sims are immigrated in nor do pregnancies/adoptions happen except by player command, but resident sims already present are not pushed into dying or leaving. SP also provides us with tools to leverage rotational play properly, for those interested, so that major life-changing forms of progression do not happen to "our" households while we are busy playing a different one.

Another alternative is AwesomeMod, which has a different way of handling many of the above items. But Awesome is a single Core Mod and not nearly as customizable as the NRaas solutions.

That's okay, I don't really need catnip right now, I have this whole pile of crash dumps and... never mind.

@magrgu16 I answered you on the AHQ site, but in case you haven't seen that yet, you've found an excellent computer for the price. The same laptop from Best Buy is almost $100 more, and in the last few months or so, I haven't seen any other models with an Nvidia 1650 on sale for less than about $650, at least not new. So this one would be a very good option.

It does have only a small hard drive, which should be fine if the laptop is only for Sims 3 and apps that don't take much storage, e.g. browsers and music players. If you want more storage than that though, the Acer is still probably the best option—you could buy a second hard drive separately and still save money over the available laptops with more storage. Acer makes it relatively easy to add memory or a second hard drive too; it shouldn't take more than a few minutes.

Depending on your preferences, you could get a 500 GB SATA solid state drive for $50, a 500 GB NVMe SSD (3-6 times faster) for $60, or a 2.5" 1 TB HDD (mechanical drive) for $45. Surprisingly, the Acer has both a free M.2 slot and an empty 2.5" drive bay; any hard drive of the appropriate form factor would fit. For example:

2.5" SATA SSD: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07PGC3JKQ
M.2 NVMe SSD: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07J2WBKXF
2.5" HDD (5400 RPM): https://www.adorama.com/sest1000lm48.html

Sims 3 (and pretty much any other game out there) won't benefit from being installed on an NVMe SSD rather than a SATA SSD, although it will load much faster on an SSD than an HDD. So if your goal is to install games on the secondary drive, it's better to get some kind of SSD. But you don't have to upgrade right away; you can wait until you're running low on storage, when you have a better idea of what the purpose of the second drive would be.

Thank you very much @igazor and @puzzlezaddict !! I took the money I saved from my canceled vacation this spring and went ahead and bought the new Nitro 5. It should be here tomorrow. I can't wait ti play. Thanks again to both of your for your computer advice.