Pets still crashing, nothing seems to help.

[Frey]

This is the third time I get this issue and I'm out of ideas right now. At first, changing the DEP settings and doing a factory reset seemed to fix it, but after a week of perfect simming the game started to crash again. I did another factory reset, which didn't work, so I did a complete uninstall/reinstall of the game, and changed DEP settings again. That worked for another week, and last night my game started crashing... yet again.

I use no mods, no cc, no store content.  I'm patched to the latest version and clean my CompositorCache, SimCompositorCache, etc. weekly. My computer is not the best in the world, but it has all the requirements to run the game and has never had any major troubles with it, except for some of EA's bugs. It is a Compaq though, and as most Compaq laptops it tends to overheat... but I use a laptop cooler all the time.

I would appreciate any help that you can give me, please! This is getting really annoying. Really.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I'm actually having the exact same problem, and have tried everything you've tried but with no results. Hope you and I find a solution.

[MoonsAreBlue]

I'm not the most techy person, but I've done a lot of different things to fix my crashing. First, which town are you playing in? All of my crashing was in Hidden Springs and Appaloosa Plains, but Riverview and Twinbrook were fine.

Also, are either of you using a laptop with a graphics card other than Intel?

[Frey]

I'm actually having the exact same problem, and have tried everything you've tried but with no results. Hope you and I find a solution.

Please let me know if anything works for you! And I'll do the same, obviously.

I'm not the most techy person, but I've done a loooooot of different things to fix my crashing. First, which town are you playing in? All of my crashing was in Hidden Springs and Appaloosa Plains, but Riverview and Twinbrook were fine.

Also, are either of you using a laptop with a graphics card other than Intel?

Really? I hadn't thought about that... I don't have Hidden Springs, but I've been playing in Appaloosa. I'll check with Sunset Valley or Twinbrook... I haven't reinstalled Riverview after my last reinstall. My graphics card is actually an Intel, but it should work perfectly fine with The Sims 3. Actually I bought this laptop because it was the only affordable one that had a compatible graphics card... and it has never given me any trouble before. Of course I can't run the game with the highest graphic settings, but that's ok with me.

I just thought... maybe updating my Direct X would help. I will try and come back.

[MoonsAreBlue]

Updating Direct X certainly won't hurt. If you are playing in Appaloosa Plains, I found a super easy way to fix the crashing... delete public parking lots. It solved my problem when all the complicated stuff didn't!

The thing about the non-Intel graphics is that on most computers, they run on a program called Optimus (or something similar). For example, I had a Nvidia card and an Intel card, but when I played Sims, it wouldn't use the higher performing Nvidia card. I had to go and manually tell the laptop to use the Nvidia card when I played Sims. This helped a HUGE amount.

[Frey]

It's definitely an Appaloosa issue! I updated my Direct X, restarted my computer, launched the game and instead of choosing Appaloosa, I created a new town in Sunset Valley. I played around for about an hour with no trouble at all. Then I switched to Appaloosa to see what happened, and it crashed almost immediately.

I'm playing my Immortal Dynasty there  I guess I will have to start over in Sunset Valley or Riverview. I will ask Metro if I can use Edit Town to delete parking lots and see what happens though.

Thanks Moons, you've been so helpful! 
Shame on EA though! They'd better release a patch to fix this soon!

[xFezIsAFreakx]

Aww, I'm playing in Sunset Valley. My graphics card is Intel, but it is an integrated chipset and didn't work well with Pets - which is why I've uninstalled it. I'll try updating this Direct X thingy too and see if that helps.

And yes, I know I shouldn't be playing with this chipset but it's really all we can afford right now. Mum and I have had a look at some good second-hand desktop computers that meet the requirements for the Sims 3 on eBay (some are even far higher than the requirements but still at a good price!) but my mum has her eyes set on other priorities money-wise right now, so it'll be a while before there's a possibility of anything new for me.

[Frey]

I'm also playing with an integrated chipset, are you sure yours doesn't meet the requirements? The Sims does support some integrated graphics cards, you should check that out. You can't play with the highest graphic settings, but you can still play... and they are way cheaper than an Nvidia or an ATI card. That's why I bought this laptop actually.

If you want to update your Direct X, Pam posted a long while ago a thread with the link to download it. It's stickied on the Technical Help board  . Good luck!

[MoonsAreBlue]

@Frey

I wouldn't quit on your Appaloosa dynasty yet. Get permission from Metro to delete public parking lots (I can't think of a reason for him to say no), and try playing again. You should be able to get away with just leaving one on each lot, but you could delete all of them to be extra sure.

[Saltypaws]

I really have not had too much problem with Pets, but from what I can tell from reading members posts, unfortunately, it boils down to graphic cards and some laptops.  It is so hard to upgrade a laptop and the more EP's that come out, the more problems people are going to have.  I have always wanted a laptop, but I think I would have one built, but is quite costly.  Not too many people can afford to keep upgrading their computers, as more games come out.  However, in most towns I start in, I usually delete all of the extra parking spaces and it does help quite a bit.  At first when Pets came out, I did have some crashing issues, but turned down my graphics and updated my graphics card.  It has played good since then.  Good luck in solving your issues.

[Frey]

@Frey

I wouldn't quit on your Appaloosa dynasty yet. Get permission from Metro to delete public parking lots (I can't think of a reason for him to say no), and try playing again. You should be able to get away with just leaving one on each lot, but you could delete all of them to be extra sure.

Yeah... I will. That dynasty wasn't going very well though so it's not that bad anyway. I do hate the fact that I have one more extra baby to raise, though. Oh gosh, how I hate Sims 3 babies.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I'm also playing with an integrated chipset, are you sure yours doesn't meet the requirements? The Sims does support some integrated graphics cards, you should check that out. You can't play with the highest graphic settings, but you can still play... and they are way cheaper than an Nvidia or an ATI card. That's why I bought this laptop actually.

If you want to update your Direct X, Pam posted a long while ago a thread with the link to download it. It's stickied on the Technical Help board  . Good luck!

Mine does meet the requirements. Only just, but they do. They don't anymore since Pets was installed but that's why I uninstalled it. I am going to try this Direct X thing and I also didn't know about deleting the parking lots, either, so I'll do that too.

[xFezIsAFreakx]

Sorry for the double post, I'm just re-posting here instead of in my post above so that the thread is bumped and people can see.

I updated the Direct X and it doesn't make the slightest difference. I tried to delete the parking spaces but the laptop actually crashed before I could click on the Edit Town button. This is happening in every file, including brand new files, so the problem is not my huge legacy file as expected - it's the game itself. I'm pretty sure it's not my chipset graphics because this has only happened since I installed Pets and the latest patch. Things were working fine before then. As mentioned in above posts, I did uninstall Pets but it's not making a difference. The problem isn't overheating either, because I have a brand new fan that worked brilliantly up until this.

I'm so worried, I've tried literally everything suggested on the forum that I can find. It looks like this is the end of my simming.. and two sim days before the end of my first challenge.

[Frey]

I don't think it's your graphics card. I'm not a computer whiz myself, but once I tried to run Sims 3 in my old computer, which clearly didn't meet the graphic requirements, and it didn't even load at all. The game would start launching but the screen would go black after a few seconds, and then it crashed to desktop. Plus, if so many people are having this issue (and they are, just google around a little and you will find loads of people trying to fix it) I doubt that it's just a graphics thing. And, for most people, it only happens in Appaloosa... if it were a graphics thing, the game would crash in all of the worlds available. I really, really think this is a bug or a compatibility issue or whatever. I honestly think this expansion pack has been the worst yet. I mean, I love it, it's a lot of fun... but it's all messed up, with lots of bugs and technical issues.

I've been searching around in the official forums and some other unmentionable sites as well, and it's amazing how many people are experiencing this. The other amazing thing is that nobody seems to really understand what the problem is or why it happens! I've read about people contacting EA for help several times and always getting different answers. Weird.

Fez, this is kind of a last resource because I'm out of ideas, but have you tried closing every other process before running the game? I mean these processes that start themselves automatically when you start the computer. I've read there's a chance that the game crashes if the antivirus and firewall are running, for instance. Try with Control+Alt+Delete and when the tasks administrator thingy opens, go to processes and close as much as you can. Be careful not to close anything you don't know what it is though. I say this because in my case, running the game with the antivirus working causes terrible lagging, so maybe this can help  .

[xFezIsAFreakx]

I do need a last resource as I have tried everything. I'm not going to try anymore today because I've gotten so stressed out with it all and I have to revise anyway, but I will definitely try that tomorrow. I never run anything else while running the Sims 3, but I haven't a clue about the background stuff, so I will check it out. Thanks Frey.