Cannot Play or Save Game Due to In-game Windows not Opening
Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.108.349.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Discover University, Dine Out, Desert Luxe Kit, Cottage Living, Cool Kitchen Stuff, City Living, Cats and Dogs, Bowling Night SP, Blooming Rooms Kit, Backyard Stuff, Werewolves GP, Vintage Glamour Stuff, Vampires, Toddler Stuff, Tiny Living, StrangerVille, Spa Day, Snowy Escape, Seasons, Romantic Garden Stuff, Realm of Magic, Perfect Patio Stuff, Parenthood, Paranormal SP, Outdoor Retreat, Nifty Knitting SP, My First Pet Stuff, Movie Hangout Stuff, Moschino SP, Luxury Party Stuff, Laundry Day Stuff, Kids Room Stuff, Jungle Adventure, Island Living, Horse Ranch EP, Home Chef Hustle SP, Holiday Celebration, High School Years, Growing Together, Get Together, Get To Work, Get Famous, Fitness Stuff, Eco Lifestyle, For Rent EP, Dream Home Decorator GP, Street Eats, Outdoor Playtime, Vibing Streamer, Rockin' Rancher, BC, Gnome on the Go
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? I'm not sure. If I uninstall or reinstall the game, it occurs every time after about 2-3 hours of playtime.
What happens when the bug occurs? First, I know its happening when I try to navigate the shelf menus (Inventory, Relationships, Bio, Organizations, etc). These windows start to not pop up or there is a delay in the window opening. Then, nothing I click on in or out of live mode reacts. Finally, if I try to save, the pause menu never opens and the game freezes. It also would turn into a white screen when trying to travel off the lot and then I couldn't save there as well, as the white screen would lead to the game being unresponsive. However, that appears to have been fixed after the Lovestruck hotfix. If I uninstall the game or repair it (through the EA app), it happens again and again. I cannot save. I cannot comfortably play the game at all because I don't know when the crash will happen.
What do you expect to see? A functioning game.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Yes
Please describe the patch or change you made. After Lovestruck was released and the free base game update installed. I did not buy the pack.
I have not been able to play the game "safely" since the Lovestruck hotfix. I cannot save and I do not know when it is going to happen, as it works fine until it doesn't. I spent too much money on this game for it to not work.
@yumekumo Just to be sure, you've tested new saves with no mods or custom content present? And are you playing in fullscreen, windowed mode, or both? If you've been using fullscreen mode, I'd try windowed before doing anything else.
If that doesn't help, please try playing in a clean boot:
The one service to leave enabled is the EABackgroundService, which the EA App needs in order to run. Disable the rest as described.
When you reboot your computer, go through the Task Manager's background processes list shutting down any service that doesn't absolutely need to be running, for example anything from MSI Afterburner to RGB software might still be enabled. If you accidentally kill a critical process and it doesn't restart on its own, just reboot your computer again.
Don't open anything other than Sims 4 and the EA App while testing, not even a browser window. I realize you may not want to play like this going forward, but it's a helpful test.
