My game will not launch no matter what I do. I have tried restarting my PC, uninstalling and resinstalling the Sims 4, using the -dx11 command, and the -dx9 command, and so far nothing is working. I have Windows 10, the base game and Island Living, no CC or mods, and for some reason I cannot get the game to open.
@Foxley828 Can you load a different household within the same older save? Use Load Game rather than Resume, and please test a couple different households, preferably at least one you've never played.
@deblake60 It sounds like your antivirus has blocked any element of Sims 4. So please check its settings and exempt/whitelist/trust/etc. anything that looks Sims 4-related, and EADesktop.exe as well.
@exome5135 Please post a screenshot or two of what the game looks like in DX11 mode, or photos if the screenshots look normal. Please also run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
@rileewadsworth As a test, please try playing in a clean user folder. Move the entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and when you launch the game, if it launches, a clean folder will spawn with no content. (Your saves and other content will be intact in the folder you moved but temporarily not read by the game.) Don't add anything to the new folder yet; just let me know whether you can get far enough to start a new save and play in live mode for a bit.
If that doesn't help, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
It is whitelisted in my AV, as well as with MS Defender. I even made sure that it had access to the Internet. Like I said before, everything worked great before the update today.
@deblake60 Just to be thorough, please disable your antivirus (temporarily), repair the game, and try again. A few AVs are especially stubborn these days.
If that doesn't help, please post a screenshot of the error, for reference.
I disabled the AV and I open the launcher. Tried to launch Sims 4, but got the same error.
@deblake60 With your antivirus disabled, does it help to repair Sims 4 and run the EA App and the game as an admin? Right-click the App's desktop shortcut to see the option. For Sims 4, you'll want to specifically find TS4_x64.exe in [install location]\The Sims 4\Game\Bin.
If this doesn't help, are you signed into an admin Windows account? And what antivirus do you use? (There are a few players with the same error; I'd like to know if there's a common factor among you.) I'd also like to see a dxdiag; you can attach one to a reply here.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
I am logged in as Admin on my PC.
I use AVG and MS Defender (well, Defender is pretty well forced on me). I uninstalled AVG thinking that may help.
I rebooted about a hundred times.
As for the TS4_X64.exe it is already on my desktop from a suggestion someone else had provided. I did make sure that I had full access and even Admin Rights.
I ran the dxdiag as you requested.
I even made sure all my drivers were up to date.
This is very troubling and frustrating.
I do appreciate all that you are doing for me.
@deblake60 Please disable Game Mode and Game Bar, under Windows Settings > Gaming. A component of one of these crashed at least once, so it's worth trying.
Please also uninstall the EA App with Revo Uninstaller (the free version is fine), and restart your computer before reinstalling the App. Choose the Intensive scanning mode if Revo asks. Use a fresh copy of the App installer.
And just because it's simple to do, try forcing the game to open in windowed mode. Open Options.ini, in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4, search for fullscreen , and set it to 0 (zero).
Please try both with and without the -dx9 command line argument.
If none of this helps, please create a new admin Windows account and try playing there. Make it local, as in, don't link it to your Microsoft account. You'll be able to (try to) launch Sims 4 without reinstalling anything.
The next step would be to clean-uninstall Sims 4 with Revo as well. Be sure to rename the Sims 4 user folder, in your main Windows account, so Revo doesn't nuke it as well, that is if you'd like to preserve your saves and other user data. When reinstalling the game, create a new folder on the root level of the drive of your choice, for example C:\Games is fine, but not C:\Program Files\Games, and install Sims 4 there.
It will be hard to see from the photos: With DirectX 9 toggled (man smiling) the graphics are sharper. With Dx11 (man frowning) the graphics are a little out of focus. There is a yellow hue over the entire screen. It takes forever to load when using DX11. I had the same issue when DX11 was introduced earlier this year and had to turn it off. Hope this helps.
The DirectX 11 still is not as smooth as DirectX 9, when we move the camera around like rotating it, or Zoom In/Out, the game is not as smooth as DirectX9. Hopefully they will make it as smooth as DirectX9, on 240Hz screen is very noticeable that is not as smooth. It's the same as 30-40s FPS feeling whenever we rotate, Zoom In/Out the camera in DirectX 11.
I thought they said that the game is smoother in their patch notes with DirectX 11, but nope... it is not. Still a lot of work left.
@puzzlezaddict wrote:@Foxley828 Can you load a different household within the same older save? Use Load Game rather than Resume, and please test a couple different households, preferably at least one you've never played.
Hi and thanks for trying to help.
I did as you suggested tried a different - previously unplayed household from the same save game I can't access. I managed to play that new household fine. The game didn't hang on that one just the old save that I can't access.
I used 'load game' and not resume.
@puzzlezaddict wrote:@Foxley828 Can you load a different household within the same older save? Use Load Game rather than Resume, and please test a couple different households, preferably at least one you've never played.
Update: After doing as you suggested I managed to access my old save as well. It now plays fine loading from the 'load game' button. Thank you! Happy Simmer here!
New Update: I spoke too soon! Not happy any more because when I tried to load the new game I made last night that wouldn't load stuck on loading screen and only way to shut down the game was via taskmanager. I could get to the map and click on the play button for the family but then the game hung on the loading screen. However, I'm not sure if I have solved the issue myself because:
I tried moving the family off the lot (Sulani - the shipwreck lot.) That worked I could move them successfulyl to another lot and I could then play the family. (Relief at least they are not lost).
This made me wonder if it is a problem with the lot itself and not the actual family in the game. So I bulldozed the lot they'd been living in from managed worlds then moved them back to the lot. This worked and I can now play them on the now empty lot.
Query: I had downloaded a lot from the gallery for that lot and have for all my saved games so wondering if that might the problem with this one. The previous save I managed to access this morning (different game) has a downloaded lot from the gallery as well but I can now access that one ok so perhaps my problem is more downloaded gallery issues rather than the actual game itself.
However, now extremely paranoid about playing, wondering which game I can play and which one I won't be able to access. I really hope this is the end of my troubles now.
Things still not working.
Deleted the new game started again. Thought all was well but game won't load not on 'resume' or 'load game'.
Going back to DX9 until this is sorted, hopefully soon, spent too much time now messing about trying to fix the unfixable.
@Foxley828 I would suggest posting in the Game Issues forum for help with this particular save.
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Game-Issues/bd-p/the-sims-4-game-issues-en
And yes, certain Gallery lots are broken and have been since the For Rent patch; others may have broken more recently.
I still get the require elevation. I had done everything that was suggested. Even did a new Admin (which just about caused me to get locked out of my own PC). Uninstalled/reinstated the App, disabled the game features as suggested, uninstalled and reinstalled the game to the default drive (smaller than my gaming drive) and I still get the require elevation popup error. Adding -dx9 did not work and I have no clue if there are other advanced options I could try besides the -dx9. I am so beyond frustrated.
@deblake60 Were you able to test a new local admin account at all, or did you have to revert to your old one? That would be the next-best troubleshooting step here.
@emiliadelrey Please provide the entire dxdiag, saved as a text file.
I did test and I still received the required elevation. I left it on my PC. Right now, I am logged in as my normal Admin.
@puzzlezaddict When I moved the Sims 4 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts, it allowed me to open the game and play in live mode no problem. I would like to not lose my saves, so if there is a way I can add them back in that would be amazing.
@puzzlezaddict wrote:@Foxley828 I would suggest posting in the Game Issues forum for help with this particular save.
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Game-Issues/bd-p/the-sims-4-game-issues-en
And yes, certain Gallery lots are broken and have been since the For Rent patch; others may have broken more recently.
Thank you that's important to know. However, even starting a new game now hasn't fixed my problem with that lot. It's in Sulani but I don't seem to have the problem anywhere else.
I can play in windowed mode but not in fullscreen, on any saved Sims game. Saves just won't load in fullscreen anymore.
That's interesting as I saw another player say it only works in fullscreen for them.
I did the -dx11 line to put it back to dx9 but it's stil the same, that didn't help at all but at least I can play in some form.
Thank you for the help.
@Foxley828 Does the lot have the Off the Grid trait? That's a Known Issue:
In that case, please go right to the bug report.
Are you saying that you can only play this lot in windowed mode, or that you can only play Sims 4 in general in windowed mode? If the latter, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
I would also add that removing the -dx11 command line argument only reverts the game to DX9 mode if you have an Intel GPU or you've specifically selected DirectX 9 in the graphics options. DirectX 11 is the default for Nvidia and AMD GPUs now.
This Is my DxDiag file I hope this is helpful info
Platform: PC (Windows 10 with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060)
Which language are you playing the game in? French
How often does the bug occur? Everytime
What is your current game version number? 1.109.185.1030
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All of them
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Launch the game, enter live mode with any household via manage worlds, go back to manage worlds and enter CAS to edit any household, exit CAS and go back to live mode with any household. Might take one or two tries
What happens when the bug occurs? The game simply crashes and i'm back at desktop. No lastException
What do you expect to see? My game to not crash everytime I try to play
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I removed them, cleared my caches, and repaired the game
@Myschkaillyanova and @AIT3ANN Do you have any files in ConfigOverride, in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4? If so, please remove them.
@Myschkaillyanova Does it help to revert to DirectX 9 mode? It's a check box in the graphics settings, to the right of post processing.
@AIT3ANN Please update your graphics driver, which is a year old, and try DX11 mode again. You can get the newest driver here:
@puzzlezaddictit crashed too with dx9, but i had mods then, so i removed them entirely, cleared my caches and repaired the game. Haven't tried with dx9 and no mods yet, testing right now. Also, i don't have any files in my ConfigOverride folder.
Edit : after testing with dx9 and no mods on my old save, game seems to be fine. Sort of. I noticed my CPU is heating and struggling way more than usual. And mind you, before the update my game was running fine and no overheating with GShade and 200Go (yes, 200 gigabytes) worth of mods and CCs. It's concerning, to say the least
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