Help! my sims 3 keeps crashing!

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stellasaurus

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Aug 1, 2013
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When I play Sims 3 every now and then a box pops up with the message: Sims 3 has stopped working. A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available.

There is literally nothing I can do after that but click close program.
I have windows 8 and it's happened five times in one day. This has never happened before.

HELP!
 
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Hi, sorry i'm late joining the thread but I recently started to play sims 3 again. I too was getting an hour maximum game play before I would get "sims has stopped working" message. Along with having the dreaded saving error code 12.

Tried all fixes/solutions I could find. Some sites analysed others error reports and concluded it seems to be a memory issue.

I was on 32 bit windows 7, but as my pc was 64 bit capable, I done a clean install of windows 7 64 bit instead and since then *touch wood* I havent had even an error message and the game has been running fantastically. If this is an option for anyone out there, it may be worthwhile considering.
 
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Hey im also late but want to say thanks for that info I will try it if I cannot fix it without uninstalling the sims game as my sis has 8 expansions or more. it will take really long but may be worth it.

there is only 3GB memory in her pc so 64 bit is not advisable but may be the reason sims don't work. probably a problem with EA not supporting 32 Bit. it all started when they made you connect to sims 3 online when in game. im going to try offline mode and see if that works.

 
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Hi as I said above Memory is the problem and I would recommend trying to get at least 6GB because even 3GB is not enough. here would be an ideal requirement:
Running Windows XP:
At Least 4GB

Running Windows 7:
At Least 6GB
 
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It's the expansions. I had this issue on Win 7 and Win 8. To test, I uninstalled everything and started with the base game. For two months now, not a single crash in windows 7 or 8. I installed an expansion pack, world adventures, and now I get the crash several times per day. My conclusion is that if you play without the expansions, you'll be fine, but who wants to do that?

Unfortunately its a problem in the coding of the software and there is no solution. EA has made it clear to me that I should run Just the base game if I want to avoid problems.

Sorry Folks.

For the record, my current set up is far beyond minimum requirements.
i5 4670k @4.1 GHz
Radeon R9 280x
16 GB RAM (no mem test errors)
250 SSD + 1TB HDD
650 Watt PSU

It has done this without the GPU as well, so I have also eliminated that as an issue.

 
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I Just Bought Sims 3 Pets Today. I Have Windows 8, And Looking At The Comments A Lot Of People Are Saying Windows 8 Isn't A Good Thing To Have For Sims. I Haven't Tested Out Any Of The Solutions But I Just Wanted To Add My Problem?
So Basically I Get Home And Install Pets. I Create A Family Which Works Fine But My Game Was Running A Lot Slower Then Normal, So I Saved the Game And Quit. I Then Went Back On And Deleted Most Of My Custom Content As It Was Already Causing Lag Before Pets. I Then Went Back On To Play, But Made A New Family. I Spent 2 Whole Hours Making It, I Get To Choosing The House, Click It And BOOM! It Then Says The Game Has Stopped Working And Blah. I Tried To Make The Family Again But It Did The Same Thing, And Honestly I Feel Like Rage Quitting. I Have Had Problems With Sims Before, But Un-installing Worked, But I Don't Want To In-install Everything And Loose All My Sims (Especially After Hearing That Un-installing Doesn't Work) I Just Find It Strange How It Can Work The First Time And Not The Next... Oh, And To The People Wanting EA To Fix It, They Wont. They Are Too Busy Making Stupid Sims 4 (Which Looked Good Until They Took A Lot Away) They Don't Help, They Just Want Money So They Make More And More And Leave People With Problems Alone. They Just Use Simmers For Money. But Hey, If A Lot More People Start Having The Same Problems And EA Doesn't Fix It, They'll Get Less Money Cause Simmers Will Stop Buying. I Wish EA The Best Of Luck. They Care For Money, Not For People.
(Sorry For The Rampage I've Been Up All Night Looking For Problems And I'm Pi**ed Off)
 
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I have the same problem and tried that too... But it just delays the crash... For a couple of minutes or so.
Anythin' else to propose?
 
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I have played hundreds of hours on several different computers, and the game is simply not working. The main problem reason is that I install the complete game with all extra discs and the entire shop content. It works better when I only have the base game, and maby one or two extra discs. The computer specs are miles above the requirements, and the game which could be so cool is just annoying. You FAIL EA-games!!!
 
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hi i am having the exact same problem as you at the moment. I have not found a solution to it . But I do no that if you delete cache files such as scrip.cache. and stuff like that will help. But after a while those bad files will keep regenerating which is a problem for a lot of people. A few people are saying the people who made the sims 3 game should have tested it before releasing it and making sure everything works fine. Also delete files you already have installed in your game this won't remove it from your game it is just a basic clean up. But every time those
Package Files / Sims File
Once you identified them, you can simply delete (or move) the file you want to get rid of. Make sure to delete your cache files afterwards. If you are using Scripting Mods (like the ones by Twallan, Buzzler or treeag) make sure that you read the description of the mods. There are certain mods that need some extra steps before uninstalling them.

Sims3Pack Files
Those file need to be uninstalled from your launcher. Make sure, you check your Installed Content and not Downloads. Also make sure that you have the tab with the Infinity Symbol to see all your installed stuff. Some of these unwanted files do not have a categorization and therefor can’t be found if you filter f.e. by Clothing. Do not try to uninstall while the game is running. Close it.
Find the Launcher Pic/ text you have identified before.
Select the checkbox next to it
Click on Uninstall
Start your game to check if the unwanted CC is now really gone. If not, try deleting your cache files.
To rid your computer of clutter, you should also delete the corresponding package-file in your DCBackup folder. You’ll find the numbers in my blog if the CC is listed there. This step is NOT necessary and has nothing to do whether they show up in your game or not. To read up on what those files are actually for, read this: User Files.
What to do if this does not work
Make sure WHAT type of CC it is by identifying the icon in CAS (see above).

Sims3Pack
If uninstalling an item from the Launcher does remove the CC from your game. Unfortunately the launcher doesn’t seem to be able to display all CC if you have a lot of it so that’s why sometimes you can’t seem to find stuff.

Everything installed in your Launcher can be found in the files in the folder DCCache. There are three types of files in there:

*.ebc: All Store Items
*.dbc: All third party Items
missingdeps.idx: Some cache file that gets recreated when deleted
First you can try this

Method by Mell
Make a backup of your DCCache folder (if anything doesn't go as expected)
Move all files *.dbc to your desktop
Move dcdb0.dbc back to your DCCache folder
Start the Launcher
Go to Installed Content and uninstall everything you don't want anymore
Close the Launcher
Remove the dcdb0.dbc file from the DCCache and store it in a safe place.
Move the dcdb1.dbc in the DCCache and rename it to dcdb0.dbc.
Start the launcher and proceed with step 5 and 6 again.
Rename dcdb0.dbc back to dcdb1.dbc and store it also at that safe place
Do this for every DBC file in the DCCache Folder. Make sure to rename the files to their original name.
Once your done, move the cleaned files back to your DCCache folder and you're done.
Please not that if you want to do the same for Store Content, you need to do the same for the *.ebc files
You can then try deleting the missingdeps.idx if that does not work, you will need to remove all files *.dbc. Move the files to your desktop (don’t delete). This will remove everything except Store Items, Houses/Households and Sims. Check your game if the CC is now gone.

Package files
Move your SavedSims folder to the desktop and delete your cache files.
Check if the CC is gone –> If yes, you’re done
Move your Mods folder to the desktop and delete your cache files.
Check if the CC is gone –> If yes, you’re done
If not, please post here: Bad CC thread in the official Sims 3 forum.
But if you or anyone else has found a solution to this problem and can explain to me in a very simple way please let me know. my email address is k.koukoutas@gmail.com
thankyou
Krystal
 
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That happening with my sims 3, I have windows 8, It was working fine before I downloaded the sims 3 pets and one day I was just playing the sims 3 andall of a sudden it said the Sims 3 has stopped working..........PLEASE HELP.🙁
 
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Try saving the game every 15-20 min. Set a timer to keep track.
I think that the reason (at least the reason that my game crashes) is because I play for long periods of time (1-2 hours) without saving and the game has a hard time keeping up without a save/back up. Then, the game finally crashes.
It's not because I have a crap computer to run it on or anything like involving video cards or ram or anything. I just bought a new custom build, too. My game usually lags a lot when I first start to play, but it eventually is good. I have tons of custom content and mods, but I recently went through my cc and sorted it out, deleting the stuff that I don't like or never use. This helped ALOT with lag.

Hope this helps,
*someone*

 
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i Think its the update too, however the memory that the game uses is ridiculous so its also because of that. I used to just have my sims, and sims pets installed and it didnt crash but the second i decided to install my sims supernatural and outdoor living stuff pack it crashed almost every time i scrolled through the plots or map. Thats really my theory but im way too lazy to get myself more memory crap for this.
 
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I have the same problem happening too it's only begun just recently. I had Night Life, Pets, and three other expansions and my game ran fine. I even have windows 8. After Christmas I got more expansions and installed them, they being Seasons, Into the Future, and Island Paradise. After beginning to play for about an hour it shut down, I restarted the game and lasted another hour. Now as soon as I actually begin a save game it crashes with a few seconds. I believe it has something to do with EA seeing as how I had no problems like it before.
 
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I have Windows 7, and the same problem.
If I play about 2 hours he runs and I get a message saying that there is a problem. Then I can find a solution online or, the game shut down.
It is probably not to Windows but to the game.
A while back I was on a site, no idea which, when I saw that you could download something that your game no longer crashed. But I did not bother and just went to find where I was working on. Unfortunately, I really don't remember what for site that was 🙁.
I am looking for a while now but it has no result. If I have it I will found it in another comment :)
 
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Hi,

I tried everything, nothing worked at all and my game kept crashing after about 20 mins. THEN I ran it as an administrator (right click the Sims 3 icon and select "run as administrator") and it stopped crashing! Well I mean I played for hours and hours and it didn't crash. Sounds stupidly simple but it seems to have worked for me. :)
 
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I can help fix your game watch my video to see what I do. its DEP if you want to know.[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY3pnjxvbhg"][/video]

It helpd fix my game with the same after I installed Ambitions after a few days it started.
 
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Guess what I found. Before you update your game go to Documents, My Documents, Electronic Arts, Sims 3, and then Content Patch. I found the file Don'tBugMeUntilNextPatch. Suspicious much???:no: Dx
 
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I have windows 10. my sims 3 crashed 10 times within 2 days. I lost a great amount of saves.
 
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I've found a different solution if you already tried DEP as my game was still crashing. But this seemed to work for me, if you have a GTX 700 series or above, there is an issue with the graphics. If you go into Device Config, you will see something like Nivida Geforce GTX 1080, let's say for example, then it will say in brackets (found 0, matched 0)

both of them should be 1 so that means that will have to edit your graphics rule. First copy the hex key under chipset, device and there should be 4 numbers. Copy them as we will need them. As well while your there, make sure what vendar your Graphics card is as you will need to know that for next thing as well.

Next go to the drive you have your game installed on, for example C; which is your C drive, Program Files x86, Origin Games or Electronic Arts, depends if you bought your game on DVD or on the Origin Store or of course you redeemed your product key from your DVD version of the game, The Sims 3, game, and bin. When your there, the first file you want to edit is Graphics cards.sgr. Remember earlier that we copied the hex key of your device and you checked what type of card you have, well this is where you will have to put this info in. What you have to do is this. Note I'm going to use a Nivida card for example but your AMD, the place you have to edit this is the upper half of the sgr file. But for you all Nivida Users, the place you will have to put this info in is over half way down so you will have to scroll down a bit. But anyway when your at the place of your cards vendars list of supported cards, you will need to put in the info you can see from the file. If you don't know what I'm talking about, I will guide you through. So let's say you have a Nivida GPU, you will scroll down until you see vendar Nivida. When your there you want to scroll down until you see Nivida GT 555M or something like that. Then put in card 0x then paste in the hex key that you copied earlier and then name of your card in quotation marks like this "GeForce GTX 1080* for example. Then save the file. Just make sure you have admin permission so you can save it as it dosen't save for you. Then open up your game and close it again.

Now check out the Device config, it should say (found 1, matched 0) So now we have to deal with the matched 0. Go back to the same file drive and go to the same location that we edited the other file. Just to remind you Program Files x86, Origin Games or Electronic Arts, depends if you bought your game on DVD or on the Origin Store or of course you redeemed your product key from your DVD version of the game, The Sims 3, game, and bin. When there you want to edit Graphics Rules .sgr. This file is a little confusing but I will lead you through it what you need to do. this time it is the other way around so Nivida is nearer to the top but you will have to scroll down a bit. AMD should be a bit further down but it is pretty much it is the same methord. Scroll down to if (match("${cardVendor}", "NVIDIA")) or if (match("${cardVendor}", "AMD")) When there, you should see a few lines of code. You want to edit the end of the second row of code. It should be like this.
ardName}", "*GTX 6??*")) Now you can see that the Geforce 10 series isn't supported. So what you want to do is get rid of second bracket as we will be putting it back in after you put in this code so your card will work with Your Sims 3 Game. Then put in this or match("${cardName}", "*GTX 10??*")) and just make sure before you save it to put in the second bracket at the end then save. Go and launch your game, if it doesn't launch, you messed up when editing that Graphic.sgr but that is easy to fix, just make sure you didn't put in any wrong charators but your game launches, It means it owrked. Just to make sure close your game and go back to deviceConfig and now you should see (found 1, matched 1) Now your game shouldn't crash. I've tried to explain the best from my Knowledge, sorry for the spelling mistakes but I'm not a great speller but I hope this does work for you.

Just note that I used the latest Nivida Card series as it is started to get popular but if you have a 900 or 700 series, make sure you put in the first number like 7 for 700 series or 9 for 900 series. I jsut used 1000 series as you won't get confused if you own one of them types of cards. I'm not too sure for AMD cards what you will have to put in on that line but someone here on this fourms will know that question as I don't have AMD card but someone will know.

I hope this works for you and Happy Simming.
 
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if you have a Low end gaming or mid range gaming rig. you might need to closed some of the program runing in the background. and focus on the Sims 3 game.
Check this website
check this website
https://www.errorsolutions.tech/error/sims-3-error-code-12/
 
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