"There was an error during startup...

[Spoony]

Please see the Log for more details." This is the message I see pasted over the launcher every time I try to play.

Up until the recent deal on Sims 3 + Pets, I played the Sims on a friend's account on the same computer. They had the Sims 3 Supernatural, Showtime, and Deisel Stuff, with which there were no problems. I switched over to my account, bought the Sims 3 + Pets and Supernatural, let it update, launched, and got this error. I uninstalled, reinstalled; no change. Frustrated, I looked online for answers and found nothing that helped. I tried verifying the game cache, including that of the DLC, and on both Pets and Supernatural it found one file that it had to recover, but this changed nothing. I moved my Documents>Electronic Arts>Sims 3 folder to the desktop. I uninstalled, reinstalled. Nothing. Verified the caches again. I'm not sure what the problem is or how to find out.

Please help! I just want a friggin' pet unicorn already.

[hellcat]

i have the same problem

[ZeroPresence]

Hey, this is the guy from The Sims 3 official forum and you posted the link to get here. Hopefully this gets some attention and yep, it looks like we've both tried all the same things... if I make any breakthroughs while toying with it I'll come here and post it.

[Bungung]

Is this expansion problem common? I can't play Supernatural even though I got it during the sale.

[Motoki]

Originally posted by OneWingedMoogle:

Is this expansion problem common? I can't play Supernatural even though I got it during the sale.

Well first off submit a support ticket about that. I did but am having a tough time getting it to someone who understands the problem and is willing to contact someone who can do something about it.

Having said that, there is a fix. Copy the quoted text for the ones you need, paste them into notepad but instead of saving the file with a .txt extention, save it with a .reg extension then just double click on the file and those entries should automatically be added to your registry.


Supernatural

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Sims(Steam)\The Sims 3 Supernatural]
"ContentID"="sims3_ep07_sku7"
"country"="US"
"DisplayName"="The Sims 3 Supernatural"
"ErgcRegPath"="Electronic Arts\\\\Sims(Steam)\\\\The Sims 3 Supernatural\\\\ergc"
"ExePath"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\The Sims 3\\EP7\\Game\\Bin\\TS3EP07.exe"
"Install Dir"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Steam\\steamapps\\common\\The Sims 3\\EP7"
"Locale"="en-US"
"ProductID"=dword:0000000f
"sku"=dword:00000007
"Telemetry"=dword:00000000

That should fix the issue with the game not detecting Supernatural.

I'm not sure what the issue with Pets is. AFAIK the registry entries for that weren't touched with the recent update. I don't know if that is a problem with the launcher or what.

[-Fields-]

Im wondering you mentioned that you were using a friends account which had more packs THAN you actually got then switched to your account, Im wondering if steam and SIMS game is throwing a wobble because you were using 2 different accounts with different packs and therefore is somehow conflicting the 2 installs?

[Spoony]

Should that matter if I've uninstalled all the Sims packs from both accounts? I only reinstalled the packs that I had so I'm not sure how there would still be a conflict. :/

[Mayumi June]

Originally posted by Fields:

Im wondering you mentioned that you were using a friends account which had more packs THAN you actually got then switched to your account, Im wondering if steam and SIMS game is throwing a wobble because you were using 2 different accounts with different packs and therefore is somehow conflicting the 2 installs?

I think he has a point here.
I've been dealing with this problem for weeks and I finally got to resolve it.

Maybe you won't read this, but it might help someone else with the same problem.

I installed Sims 3 + Seasons in a PC where there is another Steam account who has more packs than me.

Uninstalling is not sufficient, this error is related to registry leftovers.

So, first do the usual steps:
1. uninstall from your library in Steam
2. install it again
3. verify cache

Then, proceed this way:

Backup the registry:
Hold down the Windows key and press R.
At the Run command, type in "regedit" (minus the quotes) and select OK.
Click on File and then Export...
Choose a location and name for the file; this will be your backup registry file.
Click Save.


Expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder.
Expand the SOFTWARE folder.
For 64-bit systems, expand Wow6432Node
Expand the Sims(Steam) folder.

ATTENTION: this is the "Sims" folder, NOT the Electronic Arts > Sims(Steam) one. Leave that one as it is.

Now, if you see MORE packs than the ones you actually have, right click and DELETE THEM.

This worked for me. :)

[Spoony]

Mayumi, I love you. I had given up on The Sims and forgotten completely about this thread until today. I tried your solution and it seems to be working! Granted, I have only opened the launcher, but there is no error message and I've managed to update the game. Thank you very much for sharing! It's been a while so you may not read this, but thank you.

[Mayumi June]

Originally posted by Sanny:

Mayumi, I love you. I had given up on The Sims and forgotten completely about this thread until today. I tried your solution and it seems to be working! Granted, I have only opened the launcher, but there is no error message and I've managed to update the game. Thank you very much for sharing! It's been a while so you may not read this, but thank you.

I've just read your comment! I'm really happy it worked for you!!! ^_^ I'm going to try to have this solution posted in popular Sims related site, so to help more people! :)

[Hekateras]

Mayumi, thank you so much. It's a year later and I just ran into this problem and am so glad I found this thread and that you detailed the solution just in case someone like me happened by. Don't know what I would have done without you.

[Mayumi June]

Originally posted by Hekateras:

Mayumi, thank you so much. It's a year later and I just ran into this problem and am so glad I found this thread and that you detailed the solution just in case someone like me happened by. Don't know what I would have done without you.

You are VERY welcome! :D

[Spider-Man Sway]

Thanks Mayumi

[Mayumi June]

Originally posted by gabrieljrosario:

Thanks Mayumi

:D

[Obvious]

This error occurred for us after uninstalling DLC, and reinstalling stuff in a new directory. It seems the uninstall process did not remove info about Sims 3 expansion packs from the registry. Look here: [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Sims(Steam)\
and make sure it only has entries for the expansions you actually still have installed.

[☙tae❧]

Two years later, I am having this problem. Has someone found a fix yet? I tried everything.