The Sims 3 won't work on my computer (windows 8.1)

[susannakoljonen]

I just bought the Sims 3 and tried to play it but it won't work. Earlier I bought it from Origin and the same thing happened. All I see is just blank and after that I don't know what happens. The game doesn't even ask the serial number I was given by Steam. It's very difficult to explain this so I made a video.

I hope someone can help me with this because The Sims 3 isn't cheap and I'm very disappointed if I can't make it work. Especially because refunds are not given and it feels like I've wasted my money.

Here's a link to my video. Don't mind the music, I just had to make this fast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dq7RNdvwR5s

[Trilla]

System Specs?

[susannakoljonen]

I'm not sure did you mean these, I'm a noob with computers. x( But please ask if you need more information.

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-3120M CPU @ 2.50 GHz 2.50 GHz
Installed memory (RAM): 8,00 Gt
System type: 64-bit Operating system, x64 based processor

In addition I have Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000 video card.

[Trilla]

Oh boy... well that video is in a different language. Hmm... Your system doesn't seem to be the problem. I've seen the sims run on much less.

Did you try running the .exe as admin? My laptop does the same thing where it will minimize the sims window to the task bar, and all you should have to do is just click on it. Just give it a few seconds for the game to actually start running, and then click on the little icon in the taskbar, and it should run.

I noticed that you were just automatically closing the program with the task manager, don't do that. The sims is pretty resource intensive and it'll take a few for it to actually start.

[cruinne]

Question 1:
I see that as soon as you start up there's an error, but the video is so blurry I can't tell what it says. So when that big grey box comes up, and you click through, what's it say? What are you clicking?

Question 2:
Have you tried ensuring all the "helper programs" that TS3 needs are installed and up to date on your system? These are:

• Internet Explorer (even if you have another browser as default, TS3 needs IE and it needs it to be up to date).
  
• Adobe Air
  http://get.adobe.com/air/
  
• Adobe Flash
  http://get.adobe.com/flashplayer/
  
• Java
  https://www.java.com/en
  
• Microsoft C++ redistributable
  if your Windows is 32-bit: http://www.microsoft.com/en-sg/download/details.aspx?id=5555
  if your Windows is 64-bit: http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=14632

Question 3:
Have you tried forcing it to start up in Windowed mode? How to do this:

1. Completely shut down The Sims 3 and make sure you've killed all its processes in your Task Manager.
   
2. Inside your computer's Documents directory, look for the Electronic Arts folder and, inside it, the The Sims 3 folder. There you will have a file named Options.ini.
   
3. Right-click the Options file, and choose Edit.
   
4. Inside the file, find the line that reads fullscreen = 1 and change the one to a zero.
   
5. Save the file and close it.

Once you get the game started, you can use the in-game options to adjust the display settings to best suit your computer. Caveat: If you have never gotten The Sims 3 running, you might not have any of these files, because it generates them the first time it runs.

Question 4:
Have you tried running The Sims 3 in compatibility mode? To do this:

1. Start the Sims up like you usually do.
   
2. When you enter Task Manager to kill it (because it failed, but didn't shut down), before doing that, right-click it and choose Properties.
3. Click the "Compatibility" tab.
4. There, tick the box for "Run this program in Compatibility Mode for:" then choose "Windows 7". Apply it.
   
5. End the process, as usual, then try to start the game again.

[Vectorgraph]

Speaking from lots of experience with the game on different machines:

The short answer appears to be that the video is ONLY 2 minutes long and shows repeated attempts to restart the game. You must wait... The game normally takes several minutes to start, especially the first time on a minimal machine.

So basically you need to allow the game several minutes to load. It is an ENORMOUS game if you go on to get the rest of the expansions and custom content.

=========
Now for details-
The Launcher shown in the video at 26 seconds shows a pop up error in an overlay window and the error is about the game not being connected to Origin. This does not break the game however. Killing the Origin error window, then clicking the arrow on the blue TS3 window launches the game. And then... you have to wait.

Right now, you have no custom content. The rectangular buttons on the left panel, below the arrow that starts the game... shows your game is quite mint.
Also, the patch number at the bottom left of the blue box, shows that your game has been updated with important patches. You can check for more updates by clicking the bottom rectangle before the game starts.

Initial starting up -- Some machines may take five minutes or more. Faster machines only a few moments before the loading screen begins in its own window, its own shell.

and finally...
As the game starts in default mode...
Generally the whole screen goes black for several seconds (on better machines), or several minutes on slow systems--all the while, the game is compiling data for the first run.

If you prefer a windowed mode rather than whole screen, after the game runs the first time, the options can be set for windowed mode. It can also be windowed by using -w in the command line of the short cut.

I generally never use the launcher. I make and use a TS3W.exe shortcut to start the game.

On a slow running machine, extra windows processes also chomp up resources and slow down the game. Many players disconnect from the internet so that they can turn off antivirus and other process hogs. The game was written in a time of primarily 32 bit resources, and so at the end of the game's life, everyone who owns the game and more of the add ons, has had to face slow loading times and work out ways to deal with it.

It's a great game. I hope you get it running. In the end, everyone who wants to keep playing this game usually make some massive upgrades. As your game grows, the database of customizations, animations, saved games and so on, have to be loaded every time the game is played.

[Tuna loves Devvo]

its cos you have win 8. its a ♥♥♥♥♥ OS and wants you to upgrade to either win 7 or win xp.

[Vectorgraph]

My game with all EPs and SPs, runs well on Windows 8.1, but I have a gaming machine, dedicated graphics, etc.. and hardware makes a whole lot of difference.

But having only the base game, it should be possible to run on the machine that the OP reports having.
If the OP's machine is upgraded to 8.1 and not stuck at windows 8, Running the base game has been done by other Simmers with low end hardware on Win 8.1 OS machines.

[Hinsonator]

Seems like the Xbox One deal isn't the only one they've signed with Microsoft.

[MFASP]

hi ikve seen this post an wanted to know if anyone could help tell me if my pc would run this my specs are as follows

Processor
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-4150 CPU @ 3.50GHz
Manufacturer Intel
Speed 3.5 GHz
Number of Cores 2
CPU ID BFEBFBFF000306C3
Family 06
Model 3C
Stepping 3
Revision

Memory
RAM 8.0 GB

Video Card
Video Card NVIDIA GeForce GT 610
Manufacturer NVIDIA
Chipset GeForce GT 610
Dedicated Memory 973 MB
Total Memory 4.0 GB
Pixel Shader Version 5.0
Vertex Shader Version 5.0
Hardware T & L Yes
Vendor ID 10DE
Device 104A
Plug and Play ID VEN_10DE&DEV_104A&SUBSYS_522219DA&REV_A1
Driver Version 10.18.13.5560

Operating System
Operating System Microsoft Windows 8.1 (build 9600), 64-bit
Service Pack 0
Size 64-bit
Edition
Version 6.3.9600
Locale 0809

BIOS
BIOS
Version American Megatrends Inc. 2105
Manufacturer
Date
Sound

Audio 1
Sound Device Realtek High Definition Audio
Driver 6.0.1.7071

Audio 2
Sound Device NVIDIA Virtual Audio Device (Wave Extensible) (WDM)

Driver
Audio 3
Sound Device NVIDIA High Definition Audio
Driver 1.3.34.3
Drives
DVD ATAPI iHAS124 E
CD ATAPI iHAS124 E
Size 931.0 GB
Free Memory 618.4 GB
Software
Internet Explorer 11.0.9600.18427
Chrome 52.0.2743.116
Firefox
Safari
Java 8.0.770.3
Flash 22.0.0.209
DirectX 11.0
.NET 3.5.30729.4926
QuickTime
Adobe PDF Reader

[cruinne]

Please start your own thread and in it, explain what's not working for you (and you can cut your specs down to OS, RAM, CPU, and video card - that's all we need). But it's hard to help you troubleshoot when you never say where you're having trouble.

[MFASP]

sorry bit new to this basically i just wanted to see if it would work on my pc before i brought it as im quite new to the whole pc gaming lark being primarily a console gamer and would rather not spend money on a game i cant play if that makes sense.

[wim1234]

game shoudl work, MFASP
your specs are about ok, but dont get too many addons