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Anonymous's avatar
Anonymous
12 years ago

TS3W.exe runs, but game doesn't start

I have tried everything I can think of & I'm hoping the experts here can see something I overlooked.

I can run the base game by itself without a problem, but as soon as I install World Adventures, the launcher updates the game to 1.67 and it won't run anymore.

Pressing the start button makes the launcher minimize to the tasktray.  Process explorer reveals that TS3W.EXE is running, and TS3.EXE runs for a few seconds and then disappears.  Nothing else happens and I eventually have to kill the TS3W.exe process manually.

Things I have already tried:

Skipping the launcher by running TS3W.exe and/or TS3.exe from the game directory

Running in compatibility mode for all flavors of XP and Vista.

Checking the box for "run as admin" even though my UAC is turned off and I'm an admin.

Turned off all startup items via msconfig.  Then tried turning off services.

Tried starting up in safe mode and running it there.

Tried installing into a non-default location.

Used CCleaner to clean up previous install attempts, manually deleted game folder.

I have no store items, no custom content or mods, and l am only trying to run the game with just the first expansion.

I have deleted the sims 3 folder in my Documents folder and let the game rebuild it.

I have updated my catalyst drivers to the latest release.

Tried setting affinity for TS3W.exe to just core 0 & 1.

Other relevant information:

I am installing the base game and expansion from retail DVD media

DEP is set at default (essential progs and services).

I am thinking there's something about my system that the newer patches don't support (I have a 3-panel eyefinity display) or something else is running that is causing a conflict (hence my attempts to disable stuff with msconfig).  I have many games installed (mostly Steam), but this is the only one that just refuses to run.  With 16 GB of RAM, a Sapphire HD 6950 video card and an i7-3930K CPU, I should have more than enough horsepower to meet minimum specs.

In a following post I will list the DXDIG report....

30 Replies

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    yes the newer EP's and some worlds do need the 1.67 patch. but there maybe a way around it if you patch manually??!!

    order of release are found on wiki

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sims_3

    list of patches

    http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/The_Sims_3/Patch

    and this from EA

    How do I get my content up to date? What patches do I need?

    As of base game update 1.22.9 or later, players no longer need to update their expansions and stuff packs. All updates will now be applied only to the base game. This should make the patching process easier and prevent base game incompatibility errors. Also note that separate game updates for expansions and stuff packs are no longer being released, since these are now incorporated into the base game update.

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    Yeah, looked at the order of release, that's why I was sticking to using the World Adventures EP.  It was first and I wanted to keep things simple.

    I'm downloading the base and WA from Origin now, I'll report back if it made any difference....

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    Its also possible the game just did not patch correctly and that is your problem rather than the 1.67 is not compatible with something in your computer. Some people use the manual superpatcher instead of the launcher patch update. WA is a fun EP

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    I tried using the manual "super patch" and then I tried letting the launcher install it automatically, so I don't think that's it.

    So far I have downloaded & installed the base from Origin, and that installed and ran fine.  Now I'm 30% through WA....

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    Let us know what happens with WA without patching

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    I attempted to install WA right after downloading it:

    "Please use The Sims 3 Launcher and update your version of the Sims 3 before installing this product."

    When I start the base version from the Origin screen, and select  "Game Updates" from the launcher, I get "Unable to connect to EA Download Manager"

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    did you log into origin from desktop and turn off the automatic update? and maybe try manually going to a patch lower than 1.22. As of base game update 1.22.9 or later, players no longer need to update their expansions and stuff packs.

    http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/The_Sims_3/Patch

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    Thanks BGH22 for sticking with me this far.  I do sincerely appreciate your efforts.

    I rebooted the system, and now when I log into Origin and try to install WA, I get the error "you must be logged in as an administrator to continue."  If anyone googles that error, they will see a lot of people complaining about this.

    Of course I am already logged in as admin, and have UAC turned off.  I have tried right-clicking Origin and starting it as admin, and also tried selecting the checkbox in compatibility settings, no difference.

    I think at this stage I am done.  I have wasted so many hours on this, and if by chance I got lucky and made it work I doubt I would want to play now.

    Origin at first sounded like a convenience- I wouldn't have to worry about keeping track of my discs anymore (but God help me if I lost my Origin login password), but actually it's a buggy mess; it's really just DRM in disguise.

    I do tech support for a living.  If i'm having this much difficulty installing and running an inane game, I pity the casual user that has problems.

  • Anonymous's avatar
    Anonymous
    12 years ago

    Your welcome. I just dont understand why it is giving you such trouble. I can post in the helpers corner for you and there are some helpers that are a lot more tec savy than I am when it comes to resolving issues with this game. I can post to them and maybe they know other things you can check.

  • Haven't read the whole thread since I'm a bit short on time right now but 

    Could you post this info: 

    1. Click on Start and then type the following into the search prompt at the bottom: perfmon /rel
    2. Press Enter to proceed.
    3. A window will open and in there you can click on the red circles with a white X.
    4. After clicking the X, the info on the bottom will update. Choose the Sims 3 Critical Event one and right click on it and choose "View Technical Details"
    5. Now on the next window, choose Copy to clipboard at the very bottom and post this into a reply to us here.

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