What does LAA mean?
Also, I've got lagging in TS3 that I didn't have on my old PC - meaning 12 years old running VISTA and so on. Moving to a new Acer Predator and I've got lagging. Not so much when I play live but when I edit, especially CAS, it will literally come to a standstill. If I can wait it out and click live, then go back, I can get a bit more life out of it. I don't know if this is what she's talking about.
@columbia93 LAA stands for large-address aware, meaning a 32-bit app can address (use) up to 4 GB memory, instead of the 2 GB that non-LAA apps can use. Since Sims 3 has been LAA since a patch in 2010, this is unlikely to have anything to do with your issue. The only way your install wouldn't be LAA is you installed only the base game and maybe the first couple expansions from disc and never patched it.
For the lag, what do your in-game framerates look like? Bring up the cheats console (crtl-shift-C) and enter "fps on" without quotes, and a number will appear in the upper right corner of the screen. ("fps off" amkes it go away.) This number should never go above the refresh rate of your monitor, maybe 60 Hz but perhaps 144, which is common in the Predator line. If it's too high or fluctuates wildly, there are ways to manually cap it.
Please also test CAS in a clean user data folder. Move your entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop. When you launch the game, a clean folder will spawn with no content. Don't add anything to this folder yet; just start a new save adn see how CAS behaves. If it's better, you can start moving your content to the new folder from the old one and testing. Test your custom content first—even one bad cc item can cause exactly the problems you've described.
If CAS lags even in a clean folder, and your in-game framerates aren't the issue, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
Edit: I've merged your other post into this thread. To answer the question posed here, the game itself can't be the source of the update, as it hasn't received any updates in four years. I think the "updates" are really Origin checking for bad product keys and blocking people's access to the game or certain packs if it finds any tied to bad keys.
Normally, I'd say just run the update, I'm sure it's fine as long as you got your content from legitimate sources: Origin itself, sealed disc copies, or authorized third-party vendors. However, a number of people have had their content disappear for no discernible reason. At least some of them did own legit copies of the game, but Origin has blocked access nonetheless. It can often be sorted out by a call to EA customer support, but why deal with that headache when you can avoid it?
If you want to find out whether your codes are okay, you can try installing the game on a different computer, at least temporarily. Launch it and make sure your packs are all working, restart the computer, see if Origin tries to repair or update the game, and test again, just to be thorough. If your content is still intact, then you should be fine running the update on your main computer.
I don't think my questions should be merged. They are two totally unrelated issues, regardless the same game.
The issue with "upgrading" on Sims 3 is something I've only experienced since either an update months ago that made it impossible to just open the launcher without going through Origin, or when I installed on the new PC using only Origin. I honestly don't recall when the issue started but I do know it's been a few months. As I said, clicking on the update portion completely ruins everything so not sure why you're suggesting I do something I've already tried and which causes problems.. So it seems I have to keep clicking to play without upgrading. I know the game hasn't been updated in forever - that is my point. I should not be seeing this. I do not have a bad key code because I've been installing, uninstalling and installing TS3 since the day it came out. The only thing I do on this PC is have the game installed completely through Origin. Before, I had disks until about halfway through when I started just buying them through Origin. Maybe I should uninstall and reinstall with at least one game installed from the disk. I don't know....
As for the other issue, I had no problems with CAS on the old PC and, when I moved to the Win 10 PC, I started having the issues, even though the files were the same. I've done the new folder thing multiple times. I've moved out some, moved in some.... I'll see about doing the fps thing. Ugh.
And yesterday I did a hard uninstall on Origin because the latest update screwed up everything, as usual. I go back on today and I get a message that Update yet again. WTH is going on over there? It's gotten completely out of hand. And this isn't the TS3 thing - this is for Origin. But daily updates? Especially when they don't work and you end up having to mess with your registry? Sorry. Venting. But dang, this is beyond ridiculous.
@columbia93 Patch 1.69, which requires the game to be launched through Origin, was released in November 2015. I figured if you were playing through Origin, you already had that patch. Updating further wouldn't make a difference, and it certainly wouldn't "ruin" everything, unless you somehow managed to avoid patch 1.69 for all this time. If you have, then you don't need me to tell you not to update.
Having a partial disc install wouldn't change anything. As long as at least one pack is downloaded through Origin, you get the same result, including the same fake updates, as a fully digital install.
I didn't say you had bad codes, I said the Sims 3 "update" might be looking for bad codes, and as long as you didn't have any, you were probably okay. And you're not the only one who's been asked ot update Origin recently. I have no idea what's going on behind the scenes; I don't have inside information. I only see the results.
I don't know why your Origin keeps updating. Mine updates around once every two weeks, maybe a bit less.
You still don't get it. I know what I'm doing. Did you even look at the picture I attached? I've been playing The Sims since the beginning and I know how the games work. I also have worked enough with Origin to know how it works. I also have built a PC AND have an ivy-league degree. I'm not stupid. I'm able to retain information and build from that, as well as reason and identify.
I bought a new PC in September. Everything I installed with regards to Origin items were installed via Origin. Everything worked fine. Then a couple of months ago, one of the patches "broke" the way Origin interfaces with The Sims 3 (as well as others).
1. Prior to this, I was able to open Sims 3 via my GeForce app, where several of my apps can be accessed. I liked using GeForce because I could insure that the
settings were maintained easily after updates AND I can access games on both Origin & Steam from the same place. Now I get a blank screen
and nothing more for TS3.
a. Additionally, most of the older Origin games I try to access through GeForce will open Origin but I get that same screen - Play without Updating.
b. The Sims 4 returns a message of "Unidentified Game".
c. The Steam games on GeForce still open fine. Obviously this is an Origin issue. Origin has been updated several times since this happened initially, and I've even
done a couple of hard/manual uninstall/reinstalls.
2. When I open Origin and choose the games from there, TS4 will open without any additional messages but most of the other older games bring up this
"Play without updating" message.
a. Older games that I redownload seem to start working without error messages. However, there is an additional problem.
1. Bejeweled - came up with that same message of "Play without Updating". I clicked "Repair" and now I can play without that
message but it seems to have erased all my progress, requiring me to choose a Screen Name.
2. Dead in Bermuda - for some reason, I had to "download" it. I've played it many times but it's been awhile and now, first I've noticed but who knows if it's just
today or a couple of weeks, it says I have to Download. I did. Again, I've lost all progress.
2. I NOW see that several of my games that I've been playing have an "Update Available" link on their icon but I also now know that, if I do, I will lose all progress.
With Origin, it is literally one step forward and two steps back EVERY SINGLE TIME. I guess I can see If I can find and save those files before I update.
A. FYI, there is NO Update link on the icon for TS3. Since EA doesn't bother with the Forums, instead using unpaid players who don't always seem
to grasp the situation and is of no use to most of us with issues outside the norm, it seems I'll have to uninstall and reinstall TS3
and see if that fixes this problem.
It also needs to be stated again that combining the two issues of TS3 lagging badly on Windows 10/Acer AND this other OBVIOUSLY ORIGIN ISSUE, is ridiculous and should NEVER HAVE HAPPENED.
