"Unable to start. please reinstall base game." Please Help

[Sugarcrystal]

I haven't played the sims in over a year. Dec. 2015 i purchased over 10 dlc's to add to my collection and never got around to playing them. a few days ago i got a hankering to play only to find out my game isnt working.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled many times including only installing the base game by itself. I have been troubleshooting for hours and hours over the past few days trying every little thing (too many to list) only to have the same notice.

- I have windows 10.
- I have over the min. requirements to run the game.
- I've uninstalled and reinstalled atleast 5 times.
- I've tried editing the options fullscreen = 0 just to see if i could get the game to start.
- I've tried uninstalling, running ccleaner, cleaning registry, searching drive and then removing all related to sims and electronic arts, then reinstalling.
- I've tried using the ts3w launcher without steam after a clean install. I've also tried running that in compatibility mode with windows 7 (which is what i had before updating to windows10, when i played the game before) along with XP.
- I've tried verifying the integrity of the files, only to have steam freeze on me and shut down.
- I've tried putting tickets in with steam.

I'm sure i've tried more but those are just a few off the top of my head. I really want to play and get this figured out. It's pretty frustrating that i have paid for content i haven't been able to use it.

any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[cruinne]

First:

I know you said you already did all this so if you're 100% sure, then skip to "Second" below - but otherwise, it might be a good thing to start with.

With all that installing and such, it's likely that there are odd registry entries hanging around. For any EP or SP that you do not have currently installed, but which you previously installed, you need to remove its entries from your Windows registry.

1. Create a System Restore Point (in Windows, right-click My Computer or your version thereof; select Properties; select System Protection; click "Create").
   
   
2. In Windows, use your "Find" charm or "Run" box to run the program regedit.exe.
   
   
3. In Registry Editor, go to File > Export and save the file to somewhere you can find it easily. This is in case something goes wrong.
   
   
4. In Registry Editor, navigate to your Sims 3 registry keys. This is normally found under:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Wow6432Node > Sims(Steam)
   
   
5. There you will see a list of all EPs and SPs that you have previously installed. Right-click the EPs or SPs you no longer have installed and choose "Delete".

Second:

Try performing a reset on your user files. To do this:

1. In your computer's Documents directory, find the folder for Electronic Arts.
   
2. Inside it, locate the folder for The Sims 3.
   
3. Rename this folder to something else (for example, rename it to Old The Sims 3).
   
4. Now try to start the game and see if it runs properly.

Finally:

Remember that game support is from EA, not Steam. If the game purchased OK, and will install, then Steam has delivered its part for the most part. Steam doesn't provide any help with getting the game to work.

[Sugarcrystal]

Went through all of what you listed above just to be sure. I did find out that the video i watched for the regedit advice didn't cover it as extensively as you did. I didn't have anything installed at all so i went ahead and deleted it all. my system was completely cleared of anything electronic arts, or the sims related. did a reinstall through steam. tried it again and got a different pop up this time. =(

" Unable to start game. Service initialization failed (0x039e8474) "

the thing that bugs me the most is it worked fine the last time i played it. i stopped playing, bought a bunch more dlc's, all sat over a year, then tried to play again earlier in the week. got blocked by all this bs. the only thing that has changed from the last time i played was updating to windows 10.

thank you for all you're advice so far. have any more for me ? hehe

[marstinson]

You're going to hate my idea, but give it a try anyway because it will help with other games. If you have installed Steam under c:\program files (x86), move it. I'm fortunate enough to have a second drive that is only for my games, but creating a new folder (C:\Games or C:\Steam, for example) and reinstalling Steam to that folder removes a lot of the problems created by Windows and its various Program Files folders.

The second recommendations are pretty simple, but critical for Windows 10: make sure your video drivers are up-to-date and that you have enabled the .NET Framework for .NET 3.5 (it's not enabled by default). To do this, go into the Control Panel, click the link in the upper left for turning Windows features on and off, and .NET 3.5 should be the first checkbox - just check it and click OK to get out again). Between the two of them, they should fix most of the problems associated with that particular error. As far as general game bugginess, you're stuck (because EA).

[Sugarcrystal]

thank you marstinson, i did what you mentioned in addition to finding a patch that needed to be installed as well. steam didn't have this patch apparently. its working now.

thank you so much to the both of you that helped, i really appreciate it. no words can describe the amount of relief i have. thanks again tc <3

[marstinson]

I'm glad it's working, but worried about the patch you installed. Steam distributes patched games, even games that are still in active support by the developer are patched to the most recent version when you download them. The v.1.67 that Steam distributed to you is the version that works with Steam. The other "current" patch out there is 1.69, but that patch requires you to launch through Origin. The only other patch out there that I'm aware of is the 1.67 Superpatcher, which was intended for Origin and physical disc installations. It is kind of useless with Steam since you're already patched to that level, but it can mess up your Steam installation (it doesn't always, but it has hozed more than a few).

If it's running, great. But keep an eye on it. If the game goes south on you, you'll probably need to remove it and redownload/reinstall (without an extra patch).

[Sugarcrystal]

thanks for the heads up on that.

[.....]

i did what all you guys said and mine is still broken

[cruinne]

Hi Shadowolf28 - since you started a thread, please keep to that with your troubleshooting. If it gets spread across multiple threads, it gets very difficult for us to help you.

[[😭😭😭] Shinzo Abe's weakest warri]

Hi, i am having the same problem and did the stages above and yet the game did not work. Is there anything else i can do?

[cruinne]

So, there's a lot going on in this thread. Can you describe what problem you're having, and what you've tried to solve it?

[[😭😭😭] Shinzo Abe's weakest warri]

- I have windows 10 newest update
- I have over the min. requirements to run the game.
- I've uninstalled and reinstalled 1 times.
- I cant even get the launcher to open even when running it on admin mode
- I've tried running ccleaner
- i have tried cleaning registry (no relevent folder under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Wow6432Node)
- searching drive and then removing all related to sims and electronic arts
- i have tried to run ts3w.exe in admin mode and it gave me this error 'unable to start game,
Service initialisation failed(0x039e8474)'
- I've tried verifying the integrity of the files and steam replaced 2 files
- i have tried to apply the australian version of the super patch [Sims3_1.67.2.024002_from_1.66.2.024002.exe] from another thread, though it said it couldnt find the base game so im not sure if i got the right region

[cruinne]

The super-patch will always totally bork Sims 3 from Steam, so ... never do that. In your situation, here's what I'd do now (bear with me - I know it's a lot to do):

1. Uninstall Sims 3 from "Programs and Features" in the Win 10 Control Panel.
   
   
2. Ensure Steam is totally shut down.
   
   
3. Open Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common, and if The Sims 3 is still there, delete it.
   
   
4. Open Documents > Electronic Arts, and if there is a folder there named The Sims 3, delete it.
   
   
5. Download CCleander, go into its Registry Clean mode, and let it do its thing.
   
   
6. Restart the computer.
   
   
7. In Steam, install the base game only (before installing, right-click the game in your Library and under "DLC" untick everything but the game itself).
   
   
8. Wait until it is fully downloaded (Steam > Library > Downloads to monitor it).
   
   
9. In Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common > The Sims 3 > Game > bin, right-click Sims3LauncherW.exe and TS3W.exe, and for both, choose Properties > Compatibility > Run this program as an administrator and "Apply".
   
   
10. In Program Files (x86) > Steam > steamapps > common. The Sims 3 > install, open each folder, and right-click > "Run as administrator" each of the following four programs: DXSETUP.exe, dotnetfx.exe, vcredist_x86.exe, and vp6install.exe.
    
    
11. Press Windows Logo + R on the keyboard and in the run box type: appwiz.cpl. When you run it, in the Programs and Features window, click the link for "Turn Windows features on or off". There, check that the ".Net framework 3.5 (includes .Net 2.0 and 3.0) option" is available; if it is, Enable it and click OK.
    
    
12. Restart your computer <- don't skip this part.
    
    
13. Start Steam, and in your Library, right-click > Play the game and see what happens...

[[😭😭😭] Shinzo Abe's weakest warri]

ok yep did all of that and .... still did not work. Starting the game through steam gives unable to start please reinstall the base game errror while starting from admin launch ts3w.exe gives the same error as last time

though for step 10, though i clicked on all of them to run in admin mode. only directX gave a finish install screen, vcredist only started and didnt show it finishing (though it shouldnt be a problem as i have played civ 6 and l4d2 and other games on this comp without a problem) and dot net and vp6 asked for admin permissions and then nothing else.

so yeah, what now?

[cruinne]

If you're still getting that error, then your Windows Registry hasn't been properly cleaned of all Sims 3 registry entries. You might need to manually hunt through and remove them.

As for the secondary installers showing nothing, that also seems like a problem. I'd at least expect to see an "installing..." screen. Is there anything on your computer that could be interfering? Adware? Overclocking software? Virus?

[[😭😭😭] Shinzo Abe's weakest warri]

ok, registry cleaning eh? i have searched through everything with control - f sims

as for the interference, i have no antivirus or overclocking software and i ran malwarebytes without any malware detected.

is there a way to check if the package is installed?