[CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 Failed to Launch Game
Overview Failed to launch game An error on our end caused the launch to fail. Try again a little later. Please ONLY use this thread if your game actually fails to launch. If the game does open, no matter how briefly, and then crashes, and only then do you see the "failed to launch game" error, please create your own thread. Provide a dxdiag and a lastexception with your post. How to do so is covered in this reply: [START HERE] Crashing/Back to Map/Endless loading (Patch 117.221) | EA Forums - 12512130 This is currently something of a catch-all error, caused by a variety of issues. And the game may in fact start but crash immediately after launch. Trying to relaunch the game immediately after it's crashed can cause the error as well. While troubleshooting this issue, each time the game fails to load, make sure the EA App is closed (exit out of it; don't just X out the window), and open the Task Manager and end the EABackgroundServices entry in the background processes list. Alternately, restart your computer. Workarounds jump to: Remove mods jump to: Clean user folder jump to: Set exceptions in antivirus jump to: Change OneDrive settings jump to: Update graphics driver jump to: Perform a clean boot jump to: Uncommon causes jump to: New admin Windows account These workarounds are listed in order of how frequently they cause this issue. So to avoid wasting time on steps that are unlikely to help you, it would be best to try the suggestions in order. Before proceeding, please repair the game. If you've installed through the EA App, open the App library and click Sims 4 > Manage > Repair. For a Steam install, open your Steam library, right-click the Sims 4 tile, and select Properties > Installed files > Verify integrity of the game files. Remove mods The most common cause of this error is a broken mod, and the most efficient way to find out if that's your issue is to remove the entire Mods folder, and delete localthumbcache.package, in the same Sims 4 folder. This doesn't mean playing without mods—if it helps, you can test your mods and cc until you find the broken file or files, then restore the rest. If it doesn't help, move on to the next steps. While testing, use the new Mods folder the game created when you launched it without mods. Transfer individual files or subfolders rather than the entire Mods folder, and use the fresh Resource.cfg file rather than your old one as well. ↑ Clean user folder If removing only the Mods folder doesn't help, remove or rename (these have the same effect) the entire Sims 4 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts. If it copies instead of moving, or you get an error when trying to move it, stop here and see the OneDrive section below. 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've moved but temporarily unread 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 and play in live mode for a bit. If this works, you can start moving your content from the old Sims 4 folder to the new one. Start by testing your mods and custom content, if you have any. Use the new Mods folder and Resource.cfg file the game creates rather than your old ones. Test your mods and cc in batches, or use the 50/50 method described here if you have a lot of files to sort through: https://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Finding_Problem_Custom_Content#The_50.25_Method Once you're done with your Mods folder, you can transfer the contents of saves, Tray (saved households and builds), Screenshots and Recorded Videos if you care about those, and Options.ini if you don't want to redo all your in-game options. The rest can be discarded; the game will regenerate the files and folders as necessary. ↑ Set exceptions in your antivirus Your antivirus blocking the game from starting can cause this issue as well. Look for any recent actions involving Sims 4 or the EA App, and set exceptions/exclusions as necessary. The exceptions should be for TS4_x64, TS4_DX9_x64, and TS4_Launcher_x64, or the Bin folder they're in; set one for EADesktop.exe as well while you're there. If you use Memory Boost (still in beta and opt-in only), set an exception for TS4_x64_fpb.exe. This article has instructions for Windows Defender and a couple of common third-party programs: https://crinrict.com/blog/2020/10/add-exceptions-to-anti-virus-programs.html If your antivirus isn't covered, consult the publisher's online documentation for instructions. A search for "[antivirus name] set exception" will probably find a user manual. ↑ Change OneDrive settings If OneDrive is running on your computer, whether you use it or not, it can block Sims 4's access to Documents and cause this error. First, try pausing syncing. Right-click the cloud icon in the lower-right corner of the screen, or sometimes hidden in the Tray (^ icon), 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 ↑ Update your graphics driver Some users have fixed this issue by updating an old graphics driver. If you know how to do this on your own, go right ahead. To find the current driver version and date, click Windows key-X, select the Device Manager, expand Display adapters, right-click the name of your GPU (the dedicated card, usually Nvidia/AMD, if your computer has two), and select Properties > Driver. If you update through the Device Manager, which has an Update button in the menu, you will probably get a slightly older driver than the most current one. This is fine for testing purposes, and this driver may still fix the issue; just understand that you won't necessarily be up-to-date, and you may be told you already have the current version when you do not. To get the most current version, go to the driver downloads page hosted by the manufacturer of your GPU. If you don't know how to do this, or you'd like help or confirmation before proceeding, or trying to install the driver you've downloaded throws an error, please reply to this thread. Include a dxdiag. Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop. From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons. ↑ Clean Boot A clean boot is the process of temporarily disabling all nonessential services on your computer, including some that may start with Windows and perpetually run silently in the background. (It is NOT a clean install of Windows; I am not suggesting you erase your data.) The idea is to see whether any background process is interfering with Sims 4. Here's how to perform a clean boot: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows-da2f9573-6eec-00ad-2f8a-a97a1807f3dd 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. If this helps, you can selectively reenable services until you find the culprit, then either leave that disabled or (if it belongs to an app you want to keep using) let me know what it is so we can try to fix the underlying issue. If the game freezes or crashes in a clean boot, please try again, except with your computer offline. You can sign into the EA App and put it in offline mode, then disable wifi and/or disconnect the ethernet cable before pressing Play. Uncommon causes These have been the underlying cause for a few uses but don't appear to be major contributors. Still, if any apply to you, try the suggestions. Disable Game Mode and Game Bar: Both of these settings are under Windows Settings > Gaming. DirectX 9 mode: Sims 4 now defaults to DirectX 11 mode on most computers. To force DX9 mode in the EA App, open the App game library, click Sims 4 > Manage > View properties, add -dx9 to the box, and save. If you play through Steam, open your library, right-click Sims 4, select Properties > General, and add -dx9 to the Launch Options box. Windows insider build: For certain other EA games, a couple of updates to the Windows beta build can trigger this error. I haven't seen this apply to Sims 4 yet, but if you're running the insider build, please see the accepted solution of this thread. Conflicting software: For other games (not Sims 4 as far as I've seen), MSI Afterburner or RivaTuner Statistics Server can trigger the error. You can close all unnecessary apps in the Task Manager; be sure to check the background processes list as well. ↑ 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. The account name can only contain letters from the Roman alphabet and numbers, no special characters, accents, or anything else that isn't standard. 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 help fixing your old account, please see below. ↑ If nothing else in this guide helps or applies to you, OR if Sims 4 only works the new admin Windows account but you'd like to play in your old account, try the other steps listed in this thread, which is for a distinct but sometimes related issue: [CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 Unable to Start, Already Running | EA Forums - 11818313 If those don't help either, please reply to this thread. Let me know whether the new Windows account worked. If it did not, please provide a dxdiag. Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop. From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons. ↑Game will not progress past first loading screen and shows black (see image)
I recently downloaded the newest update, which I assume would be the marketplace and broken .package file update and the patch update combined, and my game has completely stopped loading. I have tried everything from clearing both EA and Sims 4 cache to updating my drivers to making a new, clean game file (it does load and can only handle a portion of non-script cc without breaking) to uninstalling and reinstalling the game twice, which is when the partial cc had originally began to work. I've attempted siphoning my mods in and out to see what causes the issue but I can't even get that far without the "cannot run because EA app needs to be open" error appearing. I did move my save, mods and tray files from my original game and attempted putting them back into the new one, but that also causes the black screen. The one or two times I did get it to sort of work, my save files were not there, and I worry they might be corrupted and I don't have anything backed up. In the new game file I made, it was borderline unplayable due to the sheer amount of lag it had, and previous to the update I had no lag issues. Occasionally the game will boot to a completely white window then force close with the "ea needs to be running" error. I have deleted all script cc and tried to remove all duplicate or recently downloaded cc. I have repaired the game multiple times through EA and it hasn't helped much from what I can tell. I have tried running a dxdiag but it does not even show the ability to run. I have also tried running EA as administrator to no use. I have attached my most recent UIException file. If it is of any use, I am on Windows 10.
game is corrupted?
Since updating my game I had to redownload a lot of cc (accidentally fumbled and deleted everything) and I just tried opening my game and it kept saying a bunch of cc was corrupted and wouldn't launch the game. So I kept taking things out and eventually took out folders one by one till I had no cc and then it would open so I'm just mad confused.[CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 Problem With Your Game's Setup
Overview There is a problem with your game's setup. Please reinstall your game. This error has multiple known causes and, at the time of this writing, at least one unknown cause. So if you're not covered by the known triggers, some troubleshooting is in order. jump to: Windows 7 jump to: Windows 10 or 11 N jump to: Other Windows 7 If your computer runs Windows 7, you probably need to run Sims 4 in DirectX 9 mode. The game now defaults to DirectX 11 mode on most systems, but you can force DX9 mode in the EA App or Steam. For an EA App install, open the App, click Sims 4 > Manage > View properties, add -dx9 to the Advanced launch options box, and click Save. For a Steam install, open Steam, right-click Sims 4, select Properties > General, and add -dx9 to the Launch Options box. Windows 10 or 11 N The versions of Windows with N in their names are stripped-down installs, missing some resources that Sims 4 needs in order to run. To find out if this applies to you, click Windows key-R and enter dxdiag in the run box in the lower-left corner of the screen. The dxdiag window will list your version of Windows: If you see N in the name, please install the Media Feature Pack provided by Microsoft. Information and instructions are here: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/media-feature-pack-for-windows-n-8622b390-4ce6-43c9-9b42-549e5328e407 Other So far, there have been a few reports of this issue without a definitive cause and where the above categories don't apply. If you're affected, please first confirm that you're running Windows 10 or 11 and not an N version, as described above. The first suggestion I have is to uninstall and reinstall the VC++ runtimes Sims 4 uses. Open Windows Settings > Apps, scroll down to the Microsoft Visual C++ Redistributables, and uninstall all versions from 2015 and newer. Don't touch the others. You can get new versions here: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170 You only need the 2022 x86 and x64 versions, not the older ones and not the ARM version. The 2022 runtimes replace everything from 2015 on, although the older runtimes are standalone. Restart after installing the runtimes and before trying to play. If you're using ReShade or GShade, please remove the associated files and repair the game (EA App > Sims 4 > Manage > Repair OR Steam > Sims 4 > Properties > Installed Files > Verify integrity of game files). If that doesn't help, close the EA App and kill the EABackgroundService in the Task Manager's background processes list. Delete the Bin folder in [install location]\The Sims 4\Game, then repair as described above. This will redownload the default, unaltered files in Bin, without anything extra. It's possible that the installation of Sims 4 is in fact corrupt or missing some critical files. So you can also try doing a clean uninstall and reinstall, as described here: [PC] How to Clean-uninstall Sims 4 I will add any other known fixes or workarounds here as I find or hear about them. In the interim, if you're affected and nothing in this guide helps, please reply to this thread and provide a dxdiag. Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop. From there, you can attach it to a reply using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons. ↑Not sure what kind of issue this is...
Hi! I'm not sure where to post this question. I cleaned up my mods and cc's after the update and reintroduced them all, on by one, back into my game. My game was running fine for the past ten days or so. My game was running fine yesterday. This morning, I turned my game on and a notification popped up saying "Turn Off Auto-scaling with OS Setting?". The two options to select are "Keep Current Settings" or "Turn Off Auto-Scaling (Recommended)". Now when I select "Keep Current Settings" the game wont load fully. It starts to load, and then it stops just before getting to the main menu. If I choose "Turn Off Auto-Scaling" I get a notification stating "Unrecognized Video Card". Can anyone help me figure this out? The game loads to the point of where I can see the green Sims emblem, with the info below that. Then the green emblem disappears, and only the info stays. Then the screen doesn't load past that.
Stuck at a half-loaded title screen...
I just uploaded the newest update today, and now I am stuck at the title screen, which is suddenly mostly black with icons all over the place (see image). I tried removing and then deleting the one mod I had. Then I uninstalled and reinstalling Sims 4 from my computer, then totally uninstalled the EA app and reinstalled it with just the Sims 4 base game and no additional packs - and still I can't get past a broken loading screen. I've cleared my cache in the EA app, and have no cache file to delete in my Sims 4 folder. I have reset my graphics card, and I am at a total loss as to what I should try to get the game to load fully so I can actually play. Everything looks normal until the load screen, and the music and sounds associated with selecting different areas are as normal. But nothing loads past this point. In trying to troubleshoot, I was able to resume the game I had last been playing randomly on one attempt (don't ask me what I did that time; nothing seemingly different than any other time), and while my Sims autoplayed, I couldn't control anything. Every single time, once the game loads to the point below, I can't even close it without using Task Manager. Help![CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 Unable to Start, Game Data Missing or Damaged
Overview jump to: Workarounds Unable to start: Cannot start because game data is missing or damaged. If you have Mods installed please remove them and try again. If not, please repair or reinstall the game via Origin. [de4ee14f:29f00e76:00000000:4b0d852b] [Ignore the mention of Origin; this error message has not been updated.] This error can be caused by outdated or incompatible mods or custom content, as indicated in the text. So the first and simplest step is to remove your Mods folder and try again. If this works, great, you can now sort through your mods and cc to find the source of the error. You may want to use the 50/50 method if you have a lot of content to test. You can also check out @luthienrising's current "Broken/Obsolete and Updated Sims 4 Mods" thread, pinned to the top of the Game and Mod/CC Issues forum. This error can also be caused by a corrupt install of Sims 4, or the game being blocked from accessing the user folder. If the problem is not mods or cc, some testing may be required to identify the cause. Workarounds The idea here is to first narrow down the source of the problem, then identify and fix it. Please try these workarounds in order—they're listed from least to most time-consuming. jump to: Repair the game jump to: Pause OneDrive syncing jump to: Clean user folder jump to: New admin Windows account jump to: Reinstalling the game Some of these may be not be a convenient fix given your current setup. Where applicable, these sections also list alternate approaches, for example how to try to resolve a problem in your current Windows account when Sims 4 will only work in the new account. However, it's important to test each workaround as written in order to confirm or eliminate each potential source of error. Repair the game If the game's program files become corrupted, a repair may fix the problem. First, clear the EA App's cache: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/ If you've installed through the EA App, open its game library, click Sims 4, and select Manage > Repair. For a Steam install, open your Steam library, right-click the Sims 4 tile, and select Properties > Local files > Verify the integrity of the game files. ↑ 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: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-4-saves-user-content-disappearing-PC/m-p/12475370 ↑ 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. ↑ 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 would like to continue playing in the old account, here are additional steps you can take: Confirm that the Documents directory is in the correct location Reset permissons on Documents Run a malware scan ↑ Reinstalling the game If the above workarounds don't help, a simple uninstall/reinstall may not fix the problem either. Instead, please clean-uninstall Sims 4 and the EA App. (It should not be necessary to uninstall Steam or the Epic launcher if you happen to use either one, but the EA App should be removed in any case.) You will not lose access to any DLC you own. For Sims 4: Put aside your Sims 4 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts and rename it to something that doesn't include the words "Sims 4." Download Revo Uninstaller (the free version is fine) from here. Launch Revo, select Sims 4 from the list, and click Uninstall. Cancel the system restore point; you don't need it and it occupies extra space. Once the game is uninstalled, select "Moderate" under "scanning modes," and click Scan. Review the list, in case there's something you want to save; otherwise, click Select All, and then Delete. Close Revo, and restart your computer. For the EA App: Launch Revo, select the App, and click Uninstall. Cancel the system restore point. The EA App may open a window. Click Uninstall, then in the Revo window, click Moderate under Scanning modes, and click Scan. Revo will present a list of registry entries. Click Select All, then Delete: you don't need or want to preserve these entries. For the leftover files and folders, click Select All, review the list and deselect anything you'd like to keep (this is unlikely, but it's worth checking), click Delete, and you're done. Close Revo, and restart your computer. Install the EA App, then create a new folder into which you'll install Sims 4. The folder should be on the root level of the drive of your choice, for example C:\Games is fine, but not C:\Program Files\Games. If you use a third-party antivirus, disable it before reinstalling the EA App, and don't reenable it until you've tried to launch Sims 4 at least once. As long as you don't do anything else while reinstalling, your computer should be safe. If the game works, set exceptions for TS4_DX9_x64.exe (if you've set Sims 4 to use DirectX 9) and/or TS4_x64.exe (for DX11) as well as EADesktop.exe. Test the game once before restoring any user data as well. If it works, you can slowly add back your saves and other data from the old Sims 4 folder, the one you renamed prior to uninstalling the game. If and when Sims 4 stops loading again, remove the last group of files you added, and split and test progressively smaller batches until you find the culprit. 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 content of the user folder and what you might want to preserve, please see this: https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/user-files-explained/ ↑ If none of these workarounds fixes the problem, try the suggestions in this thread for a distinct but related error: [CURRENT ISSUE] Sims 4 already running | EA Forums - 11818313 If nothing there helps either, please post in this thread asking for further help. Let me know whether Sims 4 ever ran in the new Windows account, even temporarily. Please also run a dxdiag and attach it to your post. Click Windows key-R, enter dxdiag in the run box, wait for the scan to finish, click "Save all information," and save the file to your desktop. From there, you can attach it using the paper clip (Attachment) icon included with the other formatting buttons.Stuck on plumbob screen
I was playing the game totally fine last night - no issues. I went in today and now am stuck on the loading screen. It plays the sound as if it has loaded and is going to enter the game, but instead it just stays on the loading screen. I do play with mods and CC, but was playing less than 12 hours ago without a problem. I deleted the localcache and that didn’t help. I restarted my computer and the game multiple times and this hasn’t helped. Same issue each time - unless there was some update that I didn’t see happen between last night and today I am totally lost on what could be wrong since the game loaded yesterday night without error - help!!
