[Current Issue] Sims 3 "serious error" when loading save
Overview "A serious error has occurred while loading [world name]. It is strongly recommended that you restart the application." This error happens when the game is unable to load the save. There are three known causes, the first more common than the others. The game can't write to the user folder The world the save takes place in isn't installed properly The save is too corrupt to load properly To distinguish among these types of errors, try to load a new save in the same world as the save that threw the error. If it works, you likely have the third issue. If the new save doesn't load, try starting a new save in Sunset Valley. If it works, you likely have the second issue. If it doesn't work, you likely have the first issue. The short version At the moment, this error is usually OneDrive-related, and pausing syncing doesn't help most players. So you may need to stop OneDrive from touching your files at all. Please see this section of the guide for further information, under the spoiler: How to get rid of OneDrive Workarounds 1. The game can't write to the user folder jump to: OneDrive-related issues jump to: antivirus-related issues jump to: other causes When loading a save, the game needs to copy the save data into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > CurrentGame. If it cannot, it typically throws the "serious error." Common causes of this block are OneDrive, an overly protective antivirus, and other assorted permissions issues. OneDrive Currently, the most common cause of the "serious error" is OneDrive blocking access to Documents and therefore preventing Sims 3 from writing to the user folder inside. This is only possible if your Windows account's Documents directory is inside the OneDrive folder. (Your computer will have several Documents folders, but only one is the directory.) To find the location, search in Windows for Command Prompt, open it, and enter this command: reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "Personal" If the file path includes OneDrive, that may be the problem. (Otherwise, see the Antivirus and Other sections below.) For possible OneDrive issues, try pausing syncing. This is not a proper fix, but it's a useful test and interim workaround. To see the option, right-click the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen, or it may be hidden in the Tray (^ icon). If this doesn't help, or you'd like a permanent fix, you may need to move your Documents folder out of OneDrive. If you don't want to do this, or you'd rather test first, an alternative is to create a new admin Windows account and try playing there. Make it local—don't link it to your Microsoft account or any email address—and OneDrive will not be in the picture. If you can load a new save in the new account, it's fine to keep playing there. Or you can get rid of OneDrive entirely: If getting rid of OneDrive doesn't help, please create a new admin Windows account and try playing there, as described immediately above the spoiler. Antivirus An overly protective antivirus can block a program's access to Documents and everything inside. To find out whether this is the cause of the error, try disabling the antivirus, temporarily of course. If it fixes the issue, set an exception for TS3.exe (for an EA App install) or TS3W.exe (with the W, for a Steam install or a disc install that doesn't require the EA App). You may not see the .exe extension, but that's fine, it's the same file. The default location is one of these, depending on the install type: C:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin If you don't know how to set an exception, google "set exception [antivirus name]" to find a guide. Or see this article for a few examples: https://crinrict.com/blog/2020/10/add-exceptions-to-anti-virus-programs.html Other Causes The Documents directory could be in an unusable location. Or permissions could be broken on the Documents directory, or a folder inside. For more information, expand the relevant spoiler below. Move Documents to a new location: Broken permissions: ↑ 2. The world the save uses isn't installed properly If you can load a new save in a different world, but not in the world in which your main save takes place, that world is probably not properly installed. For Sunset Valley or a world that comes with an expansion (e.g. Twinbrook, Bridgeport), please clear the EA App's cache: https://help.ea.com/en/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/ and repair the game: open the EA App game library, and select Sims 3 > Manage > Repair. For a Store (e.g. Riverview, Dragon Valley) or custom (player-created) world, first uninstall it through the launcher's Installed Content tab. Then open Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > InstalledWorlds and make sure the .world file for the world you removed is no longer present. If it is, delete it. Open Downloads, in the same Sims 3 folder, and delete the .Sims3Pack file for the world. You can reuse it if necessary, but installing with a new copy is more reliable. Finally, download a fresh copy of the world, install it, and try to start a new save in that world. If it works, the world is now installed correctly, and you can test your main save again. ↑ 3. The save is too corrupt to load properly If you can load a new save in the same world, but your main save throws the "serious error," that save may be too broken to use, but there are a couple of steps you can try. First, open Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Saves, and you'll see a folder with your save name plus another folder with the same name and a .backup extension. For example, you might see SunsetValley.sims3 and SunsetValley.sims3.backup. Rename the save and delete the .backup extension (e.g. SunsetValley1.sims3), and the save will be available to load from the Main Menu. If you can load the backup save, it could still be corrupt enough to be unusable later. So as soon as it loads, use "save as" to rename the save so that your backup is preserved in case you need it later. I would also strongly recommend seeking out mods, specifically NRaas ErrorTrap, Overwatch, and MasterController, to try to repair any corruption. ET and OW do their work in the background, with no need for player input; MC does nothing unless you use it to issue a command. Once the save loads, let the game clock run for a few sim-minutes, then click City Hall and select NRaas > MasterController > Town Options > Reset Everything. This may take a few minutes, depending on the speed of your computer and the complexity of the save. When it's done, wait a few more sim-minutes, then "save as," quit, reload the game, and continue playing. If you cannot load the backup save, start a new save in the same world, pick a premade household, play for a few sim-minutes, save your progress, and quit. Open the folder for your backup save, right-click the .nhd file for the world the save takes place in, and select Copy. Open the folder for the new save you just created and delete the .nhd file for that world. Right-click and Paste the .nhd file from your backup save. Then try to load the "new" save. The thumbnail at the Main Menu won't update, but if you can load the save, you'll see your previous save, not the new one. If your sims have traveled to other worlds in the previous save, and you would like to preserve that progress, you'll need to copy over the .nhd files from those worlds as well, and the TravelDB.package file. But please test first with only the homeworld's .nhd file. I would recommend the same mods as above in this case as well. Saves that are almost too corrupt to load won't last much longer without help. ↑ If you need further help with this issue, please post in this thread. State which of the three problems you have, from the list at the beginning of this guide, and what troubleshooting steps you've tried already. ↑[CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 Unable to Start, Already Running
Overview jump to: Workarounds This is a common error that is usually caused when Sims 4 cannot access the user folder in Documents > Electronic Arts. It can also be triggered by outdated or otherwise broken mods or custom content. This guide is only for this specific error in Windows. If you're seeing the error on a Mac, please use this dedicated Mac thread. If you have a different problem, please create your own thread in the appropriate tech (PC, Mac, Console) forum, or the Gameplay or Mods & CC forum, depending on the nature of your issue. Workarounds These workarounds are listed in order from simplest to most complicated, to avoid anyone doing more work than is necessary. If you've already tried one, or it doesn't apply to you, move on to the next step. jump to: Pause Onedrive syncing jump to: Remove mods jump to: Clean user folder jump to: Reset date and time jump to: Temporarily disable antivirus jump to: New Windows account jump to: Move/restore location of Documents jump to: Reset permissions for Documents jump to: Virus scan Pause OneDrive syncing OneDrive can lock up the Sims 4 user folder, or any folder it's automatically syncing, for various reasons. The easiest way to diagnose this is to temporarily pause syncing. Right-click the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen to see the option: If this helps, the underlying issue is OneDrive, and you may want or need to adjust your settings accordingly. You can choose which folders to sync, stop OneDrive from syncing your Sims 4 folder or all of Documents automatically, or get rid of OneDrive entirely. Please see this guide, specifically the "I don't want OneDrive to sync my files" and "I want to get rid of OneDrive" sections, for further help: [CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 saves/user content disappearing (PC) | EA Forums - 11838402 ↑ Remove mods It's as simple as that: Move the Mods folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto the desktop, and delete localthumbcache.package. If this works, something in the Mods folder is the problem. Look for updates to your mods, especially after a patch; or use the 50/50 method to sort through the files in the Mods folder. https://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Finding_Problem_Custom_Content#The_50.25_Method Keep in mind you may have more than one broken mod or cc item, so be sure to test every file at least once. ↑ Clean user folder Testing with a clean user folder, otherwise known as a factory reset, means temporarily removing all user data. This ensures that nothing from your existing folder is preventing Sims 4 from loading. Move the entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop. If it copies instead of moving, or you get an error when trying to move it, please see the OneDrive section above. Otherwise, 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 see whether you can get far enough to start a new save. If this works, you can start moving your content from the old Sims 4 folder to the new one, testing each time to make sure the game still loads. In each case, please move the files only, not the folder they're in, for example move the individual Tray files, not the entire Tray folder. Where the game has created a new file or folder, it's best to use that rather than your old copy. For further reading about the contents of the user folder and what you might want to preserve, please see this: https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/user-files-explained/ While moving over your data, if and when you see the "already running" error again, you'll know that one of the files you just moved is the problem, and you can split and retest that batch until you find out which one. For mods and custom content, the 50/50 method can make the process much more efficient. A single file or folder that prevents the game from launching is not recoverable; you'll need to delete it, or in the case of mods or cc, find an updated, compatible version. ↑ Reset your computer's date and time An occasional cause of this error is your computer having the wrong time and date. So try changing it to something else, then telling the system to use internet time again. ↑ Disable antivirus (TEMPORARILY) An overzealous third-party antivirus or even Windows Defender can block Sims 4's access to its user folder. To test this theory, temporarily disable any third-party antivirus, just long enough to try to open Sims 4. As long as you're not doing anything else at the same time, your computer should be safe. If this helps, set exceptions for TS4_DX9_x64.exe (if using DirectX 9) and/or TS4_x64.exe (if using DX11) as well as EADesktop.exe. You can find a more detailed guide for your specific antivirus in the online documentation provided by the publisher of the software. For Windows Defender, the only potential problem is with Controlled Folder Access. Please see this post for instructions on changing its settings or disabling the feature entirely: https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/03/windows-10-defender-controlled-folder-access.html ↑ New admin Windows account It's possible that the problem is caused by a setting or broken permissions in your main Windows account, and the fastest way to test this theory is to create a new account. It must have admin rights (not a standard user account), and it must be local, as in, not connected to your Microsoft account. To create a new account, open Windows Settings > Accounts > Family & other users, click "Add someone else to this PC" (under Other users, not Your family), click "I don't have this person's sign-in information," then "Add a user without a Microsoft account." Choose the username and password, answer some security questions, and you'll see the new account. Click it and select "Change account type" to make it an Administrator account if it's not already. It should say "Administrator - Local account" when you're done: Click ctrl-alt-delete, select Switch user, and sign into the new account. Then open the EA App (and Steam or the Epic launcher if applicable) and try to launch Sims 4. You shouldn't need to reinstall anything. Your saves and other user data won't be available, but that's fine for the purpose of this test. If Sims 4 works in the new account, it means the problem is contained to your old account. You can simply continue playing in the new account if you want. For any saves or other user data you'd like to transfer to the new account, sign into the old account again and copy the relevant files to C:\Users\Public. This folder is accessible from all user accounts; you can grab the files from there once you're in the new account. If you'd like to try to fix your old account, please see the next two sections. ↑ Move or restore location of Documents If Windows has placed the location of Documents somewhere Sims 4 can't access properly, you may need to move the folder. To find the current location, search in Windows for Command Prompt, open it, and enter this command: reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "Personal" This will return the full file path to Documents. Unless you've chosen a custom location, it should be one of these, depending on whether OneDrive is involved: C:\Users\[username]\Documents C:\Users\[username]\OneDrive\Documents If you see a different location, one you didn't intend to use, changing it may help. If Documents is in OneDrive and you don't want it there, the best course of action is to tell OneDrive to stop syncing your files, as described here: [CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 saves/user content disappearing (PC) | EA Forums - 11838402 If this doesn't successfully change the location, or your Documents directory is in a different unintended location, you can change it by editing your computer's registry. Be very careful when editing the registry—an error can cause problems up to and including preventing your computer from working at all. So please follow these instructions exactly, and don't touch anything other than the Personal value: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/operation-to-change-a-personal-folder-location-fails-in-windows-ffb95139-6dbb-821d-27ec-62c9aaccd720 Important: This process is only for moving Documents to another location on an internal drive. DO NOT move Documents to an external drive. If you would like to store your Sims 4 user folder externally, please use this guide instead. Important: Please also keep in mind that when you change the location of Documents, you also change the location where Sims 4 looks for its user folder. You will therefore need to move your saves and other user files to the new location. ↑ Reset permissions on Documents folder When Sims 4 works in a new Windows account but not your existing one, the problem may be broken permissions in the old account. You can use the takeown command to reset the permissions on the Documents folder if necessary. First, move the Electronic Arts folder out of Documents, or delete it if it's empty. Search in Windows for "Command Prompt," open it, and enter this command: reg query "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Shell Folders" /v "Personal" The location you see is what you'll use for the command. The command itself is this: takeown /F "[file path to Documents folder]" So it will probably be one of these, but double-check anyway: takeown /F "C:\Users\username\Documents" or takeown /F "C:\Users\username\OneDrive\Documents" Write your actual username for this Windows account (your main one) instead of username. Since the syntax needs to be exactly right, please copy this command to a Notepad file, substitute in your username, and then copy that string when you're ready to use it. Hit Windows key-X and choose either "PowerShell (Administrator)" or "Windows Terminal (Administrator)," whichever option is offered, paste the command into the window, and enter. Then restart your computer and try again to play. If that doesn't help, please see the accepted solution of this thread for further troubleshooting: "A problem occured while saving the game. No game session data was preserved." | EA Forums - 9150501 You'll of course apply these steps to the Documents folder your account is using, wherever Command Prompt told you that was. ↑ Virus scan If none of the other troubleshooting steps help, or one of them helps temporarily but Sims 4 stops working again, before you've added back any content or made any other changes that would account for this, your computer may have a virus or other malware. So it's worth running a virus scan. Download Malwarebytes (the free trial is fine) from here: https://www.malwarebytes.com/mwb-download Open it, click Scan > Custom Scan > Configure Scan, check all the boxes both for all scan types and for all your drives, and let it do its job. This could take anywhere from a few minutes to several hours, depending on the amount of data and whether the scan finds anything, so you may want to set it to run while you're doing something else. The Malwarebytes report is simple to understand if it doesn't find anything, but if you'd like me to take a look, feel free to reply to this post and attach the report. ↑ If none of this makes a difference, please post in this thread asking for further help. Let me know whether you can play in the new admin Windows account or not: this is important diagnostic information.
Memory Boost Technical Issues and Feedback Thread
Sul Sul Simmers! With today's base game update, we've announced a new feature called Memory Boost on an opt-in basis for PC/Windows players that will be available starting September 23rd. If you're interested in enabling this feature, please see the patch notes here for instructions. If you're reporting a bug or technical issue you believe is related to Memory Boost, please use the following template: Platform: Which language are you playing the game in? How often does the bug occur? What is your current game version number? What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? What happens when the bug occurs? What do you expect to see? Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? To help us better understand the technical aspects of the issues, we would also appreciate if you could provide additional information to us as well: Press the Windows key and type "Dxdiag" into the search bar. Click on "Dxdiag.exe" or press enter. When the DirectX Diagnostic Tool opens, click on "Save All Information". Save the .txt file to your desktop for easy access. Attach to your post here. And finally, any screenshots, video footage, or save files (please send the link to TheSimsDirect, additional instructions here: [INFORMATION] How to Send User Files to The Sims 4 Team) you can share of issues occurring are of great value to us as well. We look forward to your feedback and working together to enhance your Simming experience![CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 Unable to Start, Initialization Error
Overview This error is almost always related to permissions: the game cannot access or create the Sims 4 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts. This, in turn, is typically due to an overprotective antivirus. This guide is only for this specific error in Windows. Workarounds jump to: Change antivirus settings jump to: New Windows account jump to: Other suggestions Change antivirus settings The first step to try is to set exceptions/exclusions for Sims 4 and the EA App in your antivirus. Do so for all of these executables, or for the Bin folder that contains the Sims 4 .exe files: TS4_x64.exe TS4_DX9_x64.exe [only necessary if you want to use the DirectX 9 version] TS4_x64_fpb.exe [for the Memory Boost version] TS4_Launcher_x64.exe EADesktop.exe This guide covers setting exceptions for Windows Defender, Avast/AVG, and Sophos: https://crinrict.com/blog/2020/10/add-exceptions-to-anti-virus-programs.html Other antivirus programs may work similarly, but if you're not sure how to set the exceptions, consult the online documentation from the publisher. Most offer instructions for this subject. Once you've set the exceptions, clear the EA App's cache and repair the game (EA App > Sims 4 > Manage > Repair OR Steam > Sims 4 > Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of the game files). Then try again to play. If this doesn't help, disable your antivirus, temporarily of course; as long as you don't do anything else while it's disabled, your computer should be safe. Repair the game again, and try to play. If this works, you've confirmed that the AV is the issue, and you'll need to dig further into its settings to find what's blocking the game. If you can't play even with the AV disabled, please see below. Either way, be sure to reenable your antivirus when you're done testing. ↑ New admin Windows account It's possible that the problem is caused by a setting or broken permissions in your main Windows account, and the fastest way to test this theory is to create a new account. It must have admin rights (not a standard user account), and it must be local, as in, not connected to your Microsoft account. To create a new account, open Windows Settings > Accounts > Family & other users, click "Add someone else to this PC" (under Other users, not Your family), click "I don't have this person's sign-in information," then "Add a user without a Microsoft account." Choose the username and password, answer some security questions, and you'll see the new account. Click it and select "Change account type" to make it an Administrator account if it's not already. It should say "Administrator - Local account" when you're done: Click ctrl-alt-delete, select Switch user, and sign into the new account. Then open the EA App (and Steam or the Epic launcher if applicable) and try to launch Sims 4. You shouldn't need to reinstall anything. Your saves and other user data won't be available, but that's fine for the purpose of this test. If Sims 4 works in the new account, it means the problem is contained to your old account. You can simply continue playing in the new account if you want. For any saves or other user data you'd like to transfer to the new account, sign into the old account again and copy the relevant files to C:\Users\Public. This folder is accessible from all user accounts; you can grab the files from there once you're in the new account. If you'd like to fix your old account, please try the suggestions in this thread after the "new Windows account" section: [CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 Unable to Start, Already Running | EA Forums - 11818313 ↑ Other suggestions If the above suggestions didn't help, please try everything else in this thread, which is for a distinct but related error: [CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 Unable to Start, Already Running | EA Forums - 11818313 If those don't help either, please post in this thread asking for further help. Let me know whether you can play in the new admin Windows account or not: this is important diagnostic information. ↑
DX11 PRECOMP Decoded Shaders + VFX/SWARM Pipeline Research
I’ve published a new set of technical resources from the ongoing development of TS4 Animation Browser. The work documents the modern Shaders_DX11.precomp format, including the path from PRECOMP records to Snappy-compressed DXBC shaders, as well as the VFX chain from game resources and SWARM effects through runtime processing, renderer families, shaders and D3D11 draw calls. The documentation also includes binary templates for 010 Editor and ImHex, validated VFX resource topology, authored effect families, renderer layouts, and tested VFX fixtures used during the research. GitHub: https://github.com/Demeterio/TS4-Animation-Browser/tree/main/modding-resources GitHub ZIP: https://github.com/Demeterio/TS4-Animation-Browser/tree/main/modding-resources/archives Sim File Share ZIP (mirror): http://simfileshare.net/folder/274361/
[CURRENT ISSUE] Anti-Virus blocking User Folder (Screenshots/Gallery/Mods..)
There's currently an issue where some virus programs (namely AVG and AVAST) are blocking the user folder. There are several symptoms currently for this issue Taking Screenshots and Videos doesn't work as the game is unable to write them to the screenshot/recorded video folder Mods/CC and other changes in the options stay how they currently are cause the game is unable to write the changes to the file Gallery has red X showing instead of pictures. I assume that's the same problem as the game is unable to download the thumbnail pictures to the cache folder GameVersion.txt shows the wrong game version To solve this you need to add the following files as an exception to your Antivirus Program (see instructions for your particular program on how to do this). C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\EA Desktop\EA Desktop\EADesktop.exe C:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin\TS4_x64.exe For DX9: C:\Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin\TS4_DX9_x64.exe Paths may vary depending on your installation. Both Avast/AVG have sections for Ransomware. You need to add it there. Please see instructions here: Add Exceptions to Anti Virus Programs If you are using Windows Defender, the Ransomware settings have similar effects. Details on how to solve this here: Windows 10 Defender – Controlled Folder Access If this doesn't help, try deleting your cache files: Delete Cache Files and move options.ini to the desktop. If you have further issues, please state which program your using in your post. Further suggestions https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Anti-Virus-blocking-User-Folder-Screenshots/m-p/9587339#M191200 https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Can-t-activate-my-mods-after-new-update/m-p/9560797#M190495
