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To clarify a bit on ZaggRukk's recommendations (they are all good ones):
Overwatch's purpose is to deal with some of the general bugginess that never got patched and which may tend to accumulate during a game session. For example, stuck Sims are automatically reset, Sims with more than one Homework item in their inventory get pared back to one item, stereos get switched off, excess cars get removed, and that kind of thing. By taking care of these issues, the mod clears up many issues where the developers did not provide a route to a graceful fail. In general, it makes your gaming session run more smoothly by clearing up a lot of the background nonsense.
ErrorTrap's purpose is to protect your saved game from becoming corrupted. It is not the be-all-end-all in this regard, but does a pretty good job when some care on your part is tossed in to the mix. ErrorTrap is what is known as a "Core Mod," so generally cannot be run at the same time as others, like AwesomeMod. Like Highlander, "there can be only one." Aside from that, mods can be mixed and matched without too much problem.
With regard to saved games, the "Save" function takes whatever changes are currently stored in memory and appends them to the end of the current saved game file. So, when loading a game done through the "Save" function, it loads the base save, then starts incorporating all of the changes that were appended, pretty much in the order in which they were saved. This results in larger file sizes (bloat), so longer loading times as the price for somewhat shorter saving times (remember, it's only saving changes). The "Save As" function takes everything in memory and writes it to a new saved game file. The cost is somewhat longer save times, but the benefit is less chance for file corruption to sneak in (especially with ErrorTrap installed) and your ability to revert to an earlier point if it does. It also is a trade-off, but much better than having to scrap an entire game and start from scratch. As for "Save and Quit," just don't.
Master Controller provides a menu-driven method of doing what usually requires console commands. It is probably the most flexible of the NRaas mods (IMO) and incorporates a major chunk of the more common console functions. I typically recommend including the "Cheats" add-on as it incorporates a lot of other functions, although they are admittedly weighted on the cheat-y side. The "Integration" add-on uses Master Controller's functions for Create-a-Sim and Edit town. I find these to be better than the built-in ones, but it's personal taste.
Other NRaas mods that are/might be useful:
Story Progression: replaces EA's progression functions with ones that work a bit better. It can populate an empty player-made world for you, so is excpetionally handy if you plan on going outside the "official" worlds, which are all pre-populated. If you install Story Progression and also use Master Controller, consider adding the "Progression" add-on to keep the two from conflicting. Do keep in mind that the active household is always exempted from Story Progression.
Traveler: if you have World Adventures, University Life, Island Paradise, and/or Into the Future, install this mod. The game sometimes has issues with glitchiness upon returning from travels and Traveler will help you smooth out most of those issues. If you are interested in using player-made worlds, Traveler will let you visit them from your home neighborhood (requires World Adventures, minimum) so you can at least see the layout before you jump in for a full game.
Relativity: controls the flow of time in the game. The game's default is about 37 "ticks" per game minute, so a 45-minute shower is actually 1,665 "ticks." Relativity lets you cut that down to something more realistic. Most people who use it set the time to somewhere in the teens. So at 18 or 19, that 45-Sim-minute shower becomes a 23-Sim-minute shower. Time and animations are handled by different clocks, so Relativity will have no effect on the animations; just the amount of in-game time that passes while the animation is executing.
Tempest (requires Seasons): allows more customized weather patterns for each town.
Regarding mods in general, those which add functions to the game generally require a particular patch level or higher or may require particular EPs to be installed. Mods that only add custom meshes and textures will typically work with any version. For the stuff that is out there today, unless it was specifically written for 1.69, you're likely good to go unless it requires a particular EP (read the mod's description to see what the requirements are).
When two mods conflict, the one to load last will win that conflict and TS3 loads mods alphabetically. So if you want a particular mod to win a conflict, rename it.
If your game is having issues starting up try:
I have two folllow up points/questions that you guys know a better answer to.
First: I've been using the "Save As" function since I first saw mention of the "bloating/slow-downs" that were happening to others. My question is: Should I be renaming my "save as" file to something other than the current file that I am in? I've just been overwriting the current file that I had previously "Saved As". Yes. I know that is stupid. I know the consequinces of that, if something were to go wrong. This is not an excuse. But, I am one those people that doesn't like 50 million save files that I have to sort through (FO4 kinda broke me of that habit). Is there a limit on how many saves files that you can have? Sorry, that wasn't my second point/question. . . .
Second: About the EP's (Expansion Packs, for those of you wondering). I've seen on here that too many can cause problems (mainly on systems that are either slightly outdated or might not meet the minimun hardware specs). There are people that like to have them all. Nothing wrong with that : ) So, the issue that I've seen on here is, again, system slowdowns and a greater chance at file corruption due to broken or unpolished coding. Specifically with IP (Island Paradise). I know that the pathing for sims is either incomplete or just plain confusing for the game and it causes issues when the game tries to correct that issue. Is there anything else as far as the EP's are concerned that others might need to keep in mind before they add them or get too far into things? I haven't done any research into any EP's that I don't already have or am planning to get. I have 5 now, and I think I will stop with one or two more. Before I get them, I will look into any additional problems that I might incounter. With the EP's that I do have, I have tried to minimize any potential errors with the various mods stated here earlier. Is there anything else that people should be aware of?
Thank you in advance. Your knowledge is invaluable!
I'm blushing (kind of hard to see through the glare of the monitor, I know), but you're welcome.
Technically? No more than 18 Exabytes' worth if you are using GPT (GUID partitioning table) on 64-bit Windows 10, but no more than 2TB if you are using MBR. Practically? Whatever your hard drive can handle. There is no set number of save slots like older games tended to use.
As to the Save As part, it should be overwriting the extisting file rather than appending change data, but you really should be using different file names. All you're doing is saving yourself a few keystrokes, but potentially creating a headache down the line by putting all your eggs in one basket. Save when you first gain control in a new game (put 00 or 01 on the end of the filename) and then increment each time you save. I tend to keep the first save and the most recent two. The rest get deleted when I feel like doing some drive cleaning. Did the same thing in FO4 and Skyrim - no biggie.
It's not the EPs so much as some of the demands that they place on the hardware (systems with sub-par graphics cards and minimal RAM, most notably). If you're getting good performance with FO4, you should be fine with any/all EPs.
As far as Isla Paradiso, it's just a cruddily-designed map rather than major problems with the EP itself. EllaCharmed's map fixes https://ellacharmed.wordpress.com/category/world-fixes-2/ clear up most of that. She fixed a few other worlds, but Isla Paradiso is the one with the biggest problems.
For other advice, the only thing I can think of is to keep in mind that the game is buggy and all that mods, work-arounds, and good advice do is minimize headaches, not eliminate them. For example, I was having a good time playing last night, when out of nowhere "Sims 3 has stopped working."
Most new players: WTF?!? Piece of doggie-doo game! EA messed me over! I want my money back! No! I want EA to kiss my tushy and then give me my money back, with a written apology signed by the CEO, and a free sundae with a cherry on it! Wah!
Me: Huh? Figures. Oh well. it's bedtime and I saved about 20 minutes earlier (one of my Sims aged up to Young Adult - that's always a save point for me), so no biggie. I'll just load the save, sit through graduation again, and move on.
No idea why it crashed, no idea when it will happen again, and yes, EA released a buggy game. But I did everything I should have, so minimal disruption (rather than flawless gaming) is what I expect and that's pretty much what I get.
My personal preference is for switching between three names - like Twinbrook1, Twinbrook2, Twinbrook3, then back to Twinbrook1. I do this so that I have back ups if the latest save becomes corrupt. So, I'd suggest at least swapping between two, or you can go the marstinson route and use a fresh number each time. I think marstinson covered everything else, tho.
As marstinson said, the "worst" to add is Island Paradise due to the no good, bad, terrible, awful pathing in it. But as also mentioned, ellaCharmed's fixes will deal with that with just a bit of installation time.
The other EPs a lot of people seem to have issues with are Pets and Seasons, which is a shame because they're two of the most popular. Pets and Seasons are pretty demanding on the video card, so if you're someone that's barely able to run the game now due to creaky onboard video or an ancient card, keep that in mind. Pets also puts extra stress on the system by creating all those other Sim beings - dogs, cats, raccoons
And speaking of the command console. What is it? It's how you enter codes and cheats. Pressing ctrl+shift+c will open the menu. From there, there are a few helpfull codes that you can enter for simple things, especially in build mode. Some are harder to use than others. And some are almost a necessity. The first code will be the enabler, literally. Typing testingcheatsenabled on(true), will activate it. Off or False deactivates it. This code allows other codes to be turned on. I haven't played around with too many of them. Just the ones that I needed. And going back to the lots, you will need to activate this code in order to delete objects in the world that are not on lots. Another code that goes hand in hand with this in Town Edit buy mode is: buydebug. This will open up a special box in buy mode that you can access objects that you normally can't buy or build, like buildings and background objects. It will also show spawn markers in the world, like bug/fish/rock spawners. Why is this important and worth mentioning in build mode? If you like lots and lots of lots that might have any of these spawners on them. You need to be aware of their bugs as well. Sometimes rotating buildings with spawn markers, when you place them on a lot, will not remove the previous spawners. Thus, after you rotate the building, you will have twice as many markers. That's not all bad, depending on what they are, and how many. You might want more. But, the more you have, the longer it take the game to load those objects/spawners. The buydebug code will allow you to delete those markers, helping to clean up the unnecessary clutter. I just ran into this one with a cemetary that had over 18 of them. I rotated the lot, and had 36. It took a good 15 minutes to load the lot just to edit it!
Rule of thumb when in Town Edit: Try not to delete the lots that came with the city! Even if the land is flat and clear for a ways around it, the map could still have placing issues. If you want to find out if it's possible to put bigger lots soemwhere, SAVE BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING!
Another code that I use a lot is "moveobjects on". This is a place anywhere code. Is serves many purposes. In normal gameplay, objects will snap to the floor and not allow certain objects to clip through them. For instance, it's not always possible to place a table against a wall. Use this code, and bingo! Tables against walls. And another use to this I found was moving a premade building in Riverview that has a pathing issue that gets sims stuck behind it. I am of course talking about the Diner next to the bussiness building and across the street from the military career/base. For some reason, sims will enter the front door, but exit throught the back. And due to the buildings placement, there isn't enought room for sims to move to the sidewalk. So, I moved the building one block away from that border. I haven't tested this option to see if it fixed it. But, I have a good feeling about it!
And of course, combining some of these codes will allow you to do some pretty cool things. Like, making a room sized shark tank/aquarium! Google it to see what I'm talking about.
Also check out the other codes, for anything from cheating codes like adding money, to editting codes that open up a whole new world to building!
And as far as corrupted cc is concerned. Sometimes it will come with other files that aren't corrupted. Like if you download a sim that has clothing already attached to the file. A google search will help to identify some of these items. But, here's a link to where I found my culprit to messed up children wearing the wrong clothing:
http://findingbadccsims3.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/sims-3-bad-cc-codes-to-remove.html
My issue was the "hooker" boots. They were attatched to a sim I downloaded off of the Exchange. That site also tells you what causes the problems, how to find them, and how to remove them. Sometimes the process can be a bit long. Luckily for me, all I had to do was remove the 3 or pieces of clothing to colve the issue. But, I had to physically remove those articles of clothing off of the sims affected first.
And finially, if you see something that looks cool and you download it and it won't work. Check to make sure it's not a reskin of content that comes with certain EP/SP's. If you don't have the EP/SP's, then the files won't work. The download page in the launcher will normally let you know. And if you need to get rid of anything, use the launcher. You might have to switch categories to find it, since the downloaded sections only shows the last 200(?) items loaded. Switching to objects or sims will change the list and show additional items. And if you can't find the item there, you're going to need to hunt it down in your downloads file. . . . hence the separating I mentioned earlier.
Delphy's dashboard link:
https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/03/tutorial-delphys-dashboard.html
Question: when I have downloaded this and installed am I supposed to see something or is this all behind the scenes? I did the download of the ErrorTrap and extracted the files. I opened the game and loaded and saved all like normal. I see nothing indicating I have this mod. So I'm thinking I did something wrong, or it's not a mod that visually shows us it's working.
I'm not very good at explaining these things. But, you need to have a Mods folder setup with a subfolder of "Packages". You will need to move a cfg file also (explained in the directions). The link will guide you on how to create it. So, what I do (assuming that I have the files set up correctly), is I download the mod and extract it to the Sims3/Mods folder. Once it's there, I open up the file (in your case Error Trap folder), and I move the PAK file (package file) and place it in the Mods/Package file (it's a sub folder of the mods file. You just move the pak files on these mods. If it's installed correctly, a new window will pop up before you can choose your game save that you want to play. This new window will list all of the mods that are active.
Sorry if that doesn't make sense. Please refer to the link. It has step by step instructions. The link goes directly to the faq page.
Also make sure that you downloaded the correct version. 1,67 is for us on steam, while the 1.69 is for origin only.
ErrorTrap and Overwatch are "behind the scenes" mods. Aside from a notice at the main menu that they have loaded, you won't see anything in-game that indicates they are there except for occasional notifications that they have done something. If you haven't changed any of the settings, you'll get something about 3am from Overwatch that says xx vehicles removed, yy stereos turned off, and that kind of thing. ErrorTrap gives notices as needed, which sometimes isn't often.
Any ideas?
There is something that you can look up however. You said that it used to run, correct? But, now it doesn't, or it crashes. The only thing I can think of right off hand is that your drivers have been updated in between it working and not working. This game does have issues with newer hardware and software that came out after the game was released.
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Sims_3_Crashing_Checklist
I just looked this up. It has some steps that you might want to try. I've seen a few mentions on these forums about drivers causing a crash. Half of the time the game will throw up a crash error message stating what caused it, and it recovered (after teh game crashed and close the application). Do you get anything like that? A couple of the solutions are to change the game to windowed mode and to reduce your graphical settings. Another fix requires you to manually change a file that no longer recognizes your graphics card or drivers. The link above has a page about how to do that.
I'm not familiar with crashes that I haven't caused myself (through cc/mods or old machine getting overtaxed, but not overheating). But a few other things mentioned in the link suggest turning off Shop Mode (thats the online ads in game, not the buy/build mode), turning off and disable memories, turn off online notifications, and turn off tutorials and the interactive load screen. You can help things after loading mods (its actually suggested by some mods) is to delete the chache files in the main Sims 3 file. Those are listed with instruction in the below link. There are a few of them and in different locations. . . .so another link:
http://modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Sims_3_Delete_Cache_Files
Hopefully one fo those canhelp you narrow down the problem or give you a solution. There is simple too much that I haven't encountered to be of any simpler help.
Marstinson and Cruinne might be able to show you a quick-er fix. But, in the meantime, read up on those links to see if anything from there applies to your situation.