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Re: Sims 4 will not load past the plumbob loading screen.

@Minegamer612  I understand you've refreshed your user folder, but please try playing in a completely clean folder, with nothing added back.  Move the entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, let the game create a new folder when you launch it, and try playing a new save.  Let me know whether it works.

If the game still crashes, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

13 Replies

  • Minegamer612's avatar
    Minegamer612
    5 years ago

    Sorry I don't know why I didn't say this?? Buy I actually have done this before and the game does not crash. 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @Minegamer612  If the game works in a clean folder, then the issue is almost certainly one or more files in your existing Sims 4 folder.  You can try adding back your content a little at a time and testing; if and when the game stops working again, you'll know that something in the last batch you added is a problem, and you'll have to split and retest until you figure out what.  Start with mods and cutsom content, and leave your saves for last.

  • Minegamer612's avatar
    Minegamer612
    5 years ago

    @puzzlezaddictI have done that too xd. Like I said it feels like I have tried everything and nothing will work. The live chat has not been available so I have not been able to give them the dxdiag file yet. 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @Minegamer612  I'm not understanding how exactly this problem works.  Does the game load correctly when you use a clean Sims 4 folder?  If so, what do you add back that makes it stop working?

    The dxdiag is for me, not EA customer support.  The point is to attach it to a post in this thread, so I or anyone else trying to help on this site can read it.  If the game works in a clean folder, it's probably a moot point, but feel free to provide it anyway.

  • Minegamer612's avatar
    Minegamer612
    5 years ago

    Sorry here is the dxdiag. And what I mean is that when I play on a clean folder nothing I add back breaks the game. On a clean folder I can play it once and then maybe a few hours later the game starts crashing. So no matter what I add back the game will work for one session then break again. It's a really really weird bug. 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @Minegamer612  Weird, but not unheard-of.  This kind of problem can happen when there's something trying to sync the user folder, for example OneDrive, or when an antivirus program blocks the game's access to the Documents directory.  So each possibility is worth testing.

    First though, to be thorough, it's a good idea to uninstall and reinstall the 2015-2019 VC++ runtimes.  While it doesn't sound like this is your issue from your description, all the errors in your dxdiag reference a component of the runtimes, so it's worth doing, and simple enough.

    Click Windows key-i, select Apps, and scroll down to the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables.  Click on the 2015 (or 2017, or 2015-2019) versions, both x86 and x64, and Uninstall.  (Don't touch the versions from any other year.)  Then download and install new versions directly from Microsoft:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/2977003/the-latest-supported-visual-c-downloads

    You need both the x86 and x64 versions, but you can skip the ARM version, which is for a different class of device.  Restart your computer before trying to play.

    If this doesn't help, please make sure OneDrive isn't set to automatically sync the contents of Documents.  And if you have a third-party antivirus, disable it when you play.  As long as you don't run anything other than Origin and Sims 4, your computer should be safe.

  • Minegamer612's avatar
    Minegamer612
    5 years ago

    This still did not work lol. Man I am getting kinda scared that I a running out of options. I feel like it is just something I won't be able to fix. 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @Minegamer612  This issue shouldn't be unfixable, especially since you're able to play the first time in a clean user folder.  Try playing in a new Windows user account.  Make it an admin account, and don't sync it with OneDrive or bring over any settings from your current one.  You'll be able to login to your existing Origin account and run Sims 4 without downloading anything.  Don't move over your saves or other content yet; just see whether you can keep playing in that account without constantly refreshing the user folder.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    5 years ago

    @Minegamer612  Yes, you could, but performance would be somewhere between bad and unbearable.  Most VMs don't have direct (or "direct") access to hardware or their own graphics drivers, so the game would be rendered in software mode only.  To give you an idea, I tried this once to see what would happen, and I averaged about one frame per second.

  • Minegamer612's avatar
    Minegamer612
    5 years ago

    Yea I knew that was going to happen xd. If I just can't stand it I will try it on another account. Nvm. I will just create another account. I thought it was going to be harder but it wasn't

  • Minegamer612's avatar
    Minegamer612
    5 years ago

    So I think my game is fixed! So I had to different sims 4 folders in my documents. So I deleted the one I don't need ad my game is loading fine now! 

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