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EA have no interest in fixing what has been a long-standing problem.
There are many possible workarounds around, some of which might actually work, although not necessarily on Windows 10 - and having decided to decline Microsoft's new Operating Service, I'm sticking with Windows 7.
I did have the DVD for the Sims 3 but, as usual, it developed 'cracks' rendering it unplayable, but even when it was (barely playable) I was forever installing and uninstalling it due this problem to little avail.
Since buying the base game on Steam (patched to 1.67 rather than 1.69) I haven't had any problems - so far. The only change I made after installing was to follow the advice given regarding using D.E.P. to help resolve the problem.
So, bearing in mind that EA have no profitable interest in getting the Sims 3 to run as it should, and it may or may not run on W10, you could keep trying to find a possible solution - some of which have been posted in other threads - or try for a refund as suggested.
It is strange. My friend have much less powerfull PC and Sims 3 works perfectly fine there.
Sims 4 is much smaller (which make no sense, since it should be larger. Everyone always want larger cities), so I decided for 3, which was best in series. Pity.
New computers can act up, due to fine adjustments needed for memory timing, cpu timing and multiplier tweeks.. or slightly increasing the voltage for memory chips and/or CPU.
Sounds like you have an awesome computer.
A little googling around and you can find most of the tweaks this game need to run great.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=215653558
Scroll down to Nraas mods
Minimally Id suggest mastercontroller,overwatch and errortrap mods.
So... the problem might be the computer is "too good" for the game. Sims 3 has no in-built control over framerate. A machine with a good graphic card then has a good chance of overheating due to out-of-control framerate, and when that happens it'll just shut down with no warning or error message.
(You can also monitor your video card and CPU temperature using a program like Piriform's Speccy[www.piriform.com].)
The first thing to do is to turn vsync on for the game - open the NVidia control panel and under 3-D settings, find Sims 3 (and if it isn't there, add it), then scroll to the bottom of the settings and enable vertical sync for the game.
Beyond that, as someone above suggested, the NRaas Overwatch mod is always a good idea to keep the game in check so that it doesn't do crazy things and overburden the machine. No matter how good the machine is, Sims 3 is a 32-bit game and it can only use a fraction of your RAM, which is another issue - it can cause crashes by getting too many SIms stuck and the available CPU and RAM it has access too can't keep up. (Overwatch helps prevent that.)
Most of my expertise is with computer hardware and a long history as a PC Gamer.
I see some of you are very helpful, knowledgeable and "specialised in Sim 3" issues which has been a big help to me at times.
@shadowkitten0516 I'd suggest following some of the troubleshooting guides these kind people have posted in many recent threads. My first thoughts would be video settings-driver issues, or game installation and update issues.
Search that name in the Sims 3 forums .. In his posts he has links to a troubleShooting guide he made. It's very well done.
In the guide, there is tons of information and learning to be done.
If the info is too overwhelming, I have a quick easier fix to try that might fix most problems. I believe if you uninstall All Sims 3 games and content, then delete all Sims 3 folders and files, then reInstall all your Sims 3 back .. that will fix most problems.
Be sure to make a copy of your savegames in a safe location before you uninstall everything.
The other guy in the Sims 3 forums named "marstinson" is also awesome. Search the Sims 3 forums for his name, he also seems to be an expert getting Sims 3 to run properly.
Read the posts in Sims 3 Steam forums these guys make.
It's very difficult to help everyone individually, especially since the big Sims 3 SALE .. there's tons of gamers suddenly needing help.
Are we past the times when companies cared about their products quality and about their customers satisfaction?
Thank you for tips. But when I buy game, I expect it to run smoothly, not to install mods, change BIOS, computer settings, run additional programms to make it work. Easy installations of games, patches, updates, DLC´s was main advantage of Steam itself.
If there is just small switching in some options, or downloading concret mod for TES so it looks endurable (Bethesda didn´t bother with how their games looks, they let it on fans. But at least their games works), it is OK. But to be amateur programmer for running a game - no thank you.
What will be in about 10 years, on Windows 15: NSA special edition? With many newer, better looking games not so many people are interested in really old games (old like Doom, Duken Nukem, Popoulous, etc). But there are many great games which still looks great from last 10, or 15 years. Will we have steam libraries full of unplayable games?
Or if some companies banrkupt and their games will be unplayable, since their servers (like uplay, or origin) wouldn´t work anymore?
I know that Steam doesn´t have to care about this. But maybe they should have some means to change it, or modifie games, at least the most playable and most selling, like Sims, KOTOR, etc.
@shadowkittin0516 I will link my troubleshooting guide below. It's really long, I know, but that's because the game is freakin' huge and so many things can go wrong with it. If you start at the beginning, it will explain some things that are useful to know. It can be worth it to take it slow and don't get too freaked out if you don't understand something.
You may need to update your graphics drivers, so pay attention to section 3.1 It may help you to run in "windowed mode" while in Create-a-Sim as this is less stressful to your computer - see section 3.5. And finally, it may help just to go into options and turn reflections off since those often cause crashes.
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=279488894
@Epero It's hard to argue with you on the idea that the game companies should, at minimim, fix long outstanding bugs in their game. But EA is likely the company best known for not doing that, and it's been widely known for a good 7 years now that Sims 3 has these problems. Nearly any research (or looking at this forum) before buying the game would show this.
Really, I have been PC gaming since my first PC, way back in the late 80s, and it has been extremely rare that I haven't had to tweak something or apply odd patches to get any game going. It's not good, and it shouldn't be that way, but it is what it is. But I know that when I buy an absolutely massive game like Sims 3, I might have to do some wrangling to get it to work and that's just the way it works.
Part of this is the fault of the game companies for chasing profit and the "next big title" instead of quality and customer service. Part of this is right in the laps of us fans and users since we will continue to buy things from them despite their shoddy offerings and we don't simply demand better - or file class action suits when a major release is so broken that we all spend hours of our time trying to get something like the game we were promised out of it.
And a part of it is the problem that games like this are out there trying to run on countless hardware and software configurations and no game company can really be expected to test every single one of them, especially with so many companies out there selling cheap, but wholly inadequate, hardware and laptops. Oh, and a surprisingly large part of those "countless configurations" involve an army users who don't really know how to properly use their computers, who do no maintenance to keep their machines running, who install a bunch of crapware and bloatware, who pirate games and movies like crazy, and who don't use proper precautions and so have machines that are also full of malware and viruses.
So, TL;DR: It is what it is. If you want the game to work, you'll need to take a few troubleshooting steps like I outlined in my post to you, above. It's up to you.
Sad is that we can´t do anything about it. Of course we will love CD Project for their approach to customers with Witcher (so far), but we will still buy also games from other companies. And people will never be so united to boycott some company. Gamers aren´t NRA.
Good reputation isn´t very important, as far as they make lots of money. Same as tv networks don´t care that fans are angry because they canceled another show with cliffhanger.
Of course it couldn´t be possible to test games on every possible configuration. But at least major things like graphic cards (AMD, GeForce), system (Windows 7, 8, 10, etc), main processors, and so on. But mostly I think problem is only with systmes and graphic cards. They change things most. And since microsoft wouldn´t make their windows compatible with games, it is on game developers to updated their games.
Or adjust them for newer parameters. Like in Sims 3 was also with high resolutin Status bar so small that text was almost unreadable.
People still buy some old games. So if they knew that they ar working and will be playable on new windows, they still buy it. It isn´t as great money as for example new GTA 5, but it is still money.