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Anonymous's avatar
Anonymous
8 years ago
Solved

Sims Medieval Won't Launch on Mac

I bought the sims medieval on origin several months ago and after installing it, it hasn't been able to launch successfully. The game crashes and pops up with a message saying:

Unable to start game

Service initialization failed (0x039e8474)

Not sure what this means? Can anyone help?

  • I was reinstalling it on a new system and yes it was the identical code. I was finally able to fix it with the following steps (I basically spent 12 hours on the boards her until I found a fix).

    I was able to fix it by first installing everything, then repairing origin, and then installing the base game alone (which gave me a different error code frequently mentioned on the boards here). After that I repaired origin again, launched the game to get the error code, disabled origin in-game while the error code window was opened, closed the error window, repaired origin a third time, downloaded Pirates and Nobles to get the original "Unable to start game Service initialization failed (0x039e8474)" error code, repaired origin a 4th time, cleared the cache one last time, and launched the game successfully. 

    It still crashes ever 2-3 hours but is other wise playable I just have to remember to save every 15 minutes or so to prevent losing game play, annoying but workable. Y'all should really work on your Mac support and the crashing issues. I have a PC but I like my MacBook for potability and seamless syncing with my mobile devices. Plus I am pretty much required to use iOS for certain job related software. 

25 Replies

  • Tremayne4260's avatar
    Tremayne4260
    Hero
    6 years ago

    @iedgeworth1 , here are the steps to get Sims Medieval to run on your Mac. This is copied from another post I wrote on a similar subject. I would uninstall Sims Medieval and reset Origin before trying these steps. Make sure to do a manual uninstall like Sims 3 as both games share a similar architecture. https://bluebellflora.com/how-to-do-a-clean-uninstall-and-reinstall-on-a-mac/

    "You wanted to know the steps that @tygereyes812 took to fix their game. I have copied their response from their post and will break it out into steps for you.

    "I was able to fix it by first installing everything, then repairing origin, and then installing the base game alone (which gave me a different error code frequently mentioned on the boards here). After that I repaired origin again, launched the game to get the error code, disabled origin in-game while the error code window was opened, closed the error window, repaired origin a third time, downloaded Pirates and Nobles to get the original "Unable to start game Service initialization failed (0x039e8474)" error code, repaired origin a 4th time, cleared the cache one last time, and launched the game successfully. "

    1) Install the game.

    2) Repair Origin. https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/how-to-reset-origin-on-mac/

    3) Install Base game alone.

    4) Repair Origin again.

    5) Launch game, disable Origin In Game while Error code window is open and then close the Error code window. Also clear cache files from Documents > Electronic Arts > Sims Medieval.

    6) Repair Origin for a third time.

    7) Download and install Pirates and Nobles.

    8) Repair Origin for a fourth time and clear the cache files one more time.

    Note: Files to clear all end in "cache" and there should be three of them. 

    Please advise if this works for you or not. We may need your computer specs found under the Apple Logo in the upper left hand corner labeled "About This Mac". DO NOT include your serial number.

  • Em-J17's avatar
    Em-J17
    6 years ago

    Still not able to access the game and done this about 3 times now. has anyone had any trouble recently who can help? Otherwise im going to ask for a refund

  • EA_Arrenai's avatar
    EA_Arrenai
    Icon for EA Staff (Retired) rankEA Staff (Retired)
    6 years ago

    Sul sul, @Em-J17.

    That's no good. Do you get any specific error messages when you try to load it up?

    Arrenai 🐱


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  • Since the codes are such a problem, why doesn't EA just make new ones to give out to there online customers? That sounds like it could help a lot.

  • Tremayne4260's avatar
    Tremayne4260
    Hero
    5 years ago

    @Kurisutenu , that could be an option, but Sims Medieval will not run on Catalina or higher since it is a 32 bit game. You would have to contact EA Customer Support if you want a new code which I believe they can still supply at this time.

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