Post by Ashleigh825 on Aug 1, 2010 10:31:14 GMT -5
Introduction
Well, since the last patch, a lot of Simmers have been complaining about their game crashing to the desktop every five seconds. There are two possible reasons for this, along with two possible solutions. I recommend using both of these solutions, since they both help improve gameplay drastically.
What You Will Need
Basic computer skills
Administrator privileges on your computer
An Internet connection
About twenty minutes of spare time
Some patience
Game Crashing: Reason #1
On Windows Vista and Windows XP with service pack 2, you have something called a DEP. This stands for Data Execution Prevention. The DEP exists to help protect your computer from viruses or malicious software by scanning the coding of any programs (including games) you use and determining whether or not the program is using your computer's memory safely. This is to prevent programs from spreading viruses throughout your entire computer when they are opened. It doesn't prevent viruses from getting in to your computer, but it does help keep them from spreading and doing more damage.
If the DEP determines that the program you're using is a threat to your computer, it will immediately shut the program down, resulting in a CTD (Crash To Desktop).
Now, while the DEP is a very good thing to have to help protect your computer, it is also a very paranoid feature. It tends to panic and shut down programs that are perfectly safe, such as your Sims 3 game.
Game Crashing: Solution #1
There is a way to stop the DEP from crashing your game without disabling the DEP itself. You can tell the DEP to exclude certain programs from its scan.
I'll show you how to do this. Keep in mind I'm using Windows Vista. Navigating to the DEP may be slightly different for XP users who have the service pack 2.
Once you have added both the base game and your most recent expansion/stuff pack, click Apply, then click OK. You will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Your game should stop crashing randomly now that you have told the DEP to leave it alone, but if it doesn't, continue on to the next part of this tutorial. Even if it does, I recommend doing the next part of this tutorial, anyway, because it protects your video card and improves gameplay.
Game Crashing: Reason #2
The second most common reason for random CTDs is your video card overheating. Many people blame their disk or their laptop/desktop. In truth, it is your video card that is getting too hot and making your disc and laptop/desktop hot as well.
Before you go through with the rest of the tutorial, it's important to make sure your video card driver is completely up-to-date. Outdated video card software can lead to gaming problems. I'll show you how to do that, first.
NOTE: For those of you who have a Nvidia video card, the latest software update for their video cards is incompatible with The Sims 3. If you have a Nvidia video card, do not update, otherwise you will not be able to run The Sims 3 at all anymore. For more details about which update is incompatible with the game and which update you'll need to revert to in order to play, see this thread on The Sims 3 official forums here. Thanks to Sian for this information.
Game Crashing: Solution #2
Assuming that your video card is now up-to-date, your video card overheating is most likely due to the game demanding a high FPS from it. FPS stands for Frames Per Second. Remember all those cartoons you watched as a kid? Remember being awed by the fact that your favourite cartoon was actually made up of thousands of still pictures that moved really fast to create a smooth animation? Well, your video card works exactly the same way. It takes a bunch of still images (or frames as they're properly called) and displays them really fast to create a smooth animation; however, when your game is telling your video card to display more frames per second than it can handle, it becomes overwhelmed and overheats.
Your video card overheating is very serious. Not only can it crash and damage your game, but it can melt and destroy your entire computer.
There is a program called the FPS Limiter that stops your video card from going over a certain amount of frames per second and therefore, stops it from getting too hot and damaging either your game or computer.
I'll walk you through how to download and use the FPS Limiter in your game.
Conclusion
So now you know the two main causes of CTDs when playing The Sims 3 and how to prevent them. Your game should not crash anymore, at least not because of these two causes, which are the biggest and most common causes.
As always, post any questions, comments or feedback about the tutorial here.
Happy Simming!
Well, since the last patch, a lot of Simmers have been complaining about their game crashing to the desktop every five seconds. There are two possible reasons for this, along with two possible solutions. I recommend using both of these solutions, since they both help improve gameplay drastically.
What You Will Need
Basic computer skills
Administrator privileges on your computer
An Internet connection
About twenty minutes of spare time
Some patience
Game Crashing: Reason #1
On Windows Vista and Windows XP with service pack 2, you have something called a DEP. This stands for Data Execution Prevention. The DEP exists to help protect your computer from viruses or malicious software by scanning the coding of any programs (including games) you use and determining whether or not the program is using your computer's memory safely. This is to prevent programs from spreading viruses throughout your entire computer when they are opened. It doesn't prevent viruses from getting in to your computer, but it does help keep them from spreading and doing more damage.
If the DEP determines that the program you're using is a threat to your computer, it will immediately shut the program down, resulting in a CTD (Crash To Desktop).
Now, while the DEP is a very good thing to have to help protect your computer, it is also a very paranoid feature. It tends to panic and shut down programs that are perfectly safe, such as your Sims 3 game.
Game Crashing: Solution #1
There is a way to stop the DEP from crashing your game without disabling the DEP itself. You can tell the DEP to exclude certain programs from its scan.
I'll show you how to do this. Keep in mind I'm using Windows Vista. Navigating to the DEP may be slightly different for XP users who have the service pack 2.
- Go to your Start menu and go to Control Panel.
- Choose Classic View from the sidebar, then select System from all the options.
- You'll be shown your computer's system specs on this page, but those aren't important for our purposes right now; however, you may want to take a look at them to make sure your system specs meet the minimum requirements to play TS3. It's also just useful knowledge to have, in general.
- Go to Advanced System Settings in your sidebar. A small popup will appear.
- Under the Advanced tab, in the Performance section, click Settings. Another popup will appear.
- Click the Data Execution Prevention tab at the top, then select the option "Turn on DEP for all programs and services except those I select."
- There's a small window where you can see all the programs exempt from the DEP along with Add and Remove options at the bottom. Click Add.
- Navigate to your TS3.exe file. For most users, it should be in Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin.
- Select your TS3.exe file and click Open. You'll see the program added into the little window in that popup.
- If you have expansions or stuff packs, do the same thing for your most recent expansion or stuff pack. Not the one you most recently installed. The one EA most recently released that you have installed. The file names for each expansion and stuff pack to date are:
The Sims 3 - TS3.exe
World Adventures - TS3EP01.exe
High-End Loft Stuff - TS3SP01.exe
Ambitions - TS3EP02.exe
Once you have added both the base game and your most recent expansion/stuff pack, click Apply, then click OK. You will need to restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
Your game should stop crashing randomly now that you have told the DEP to leave it alone, but if it doesn't, continue on to the next part of this tutorial. Even if it does, I recommend doing the next part of this tutorial, anyway, because it protects your video card and improves gameplay.
Game Crashing: Reason #2
The second most common reason for random CTDs is your video card overheating. Many people blame their disk or their laptop/desktop. In truth, it is your video card that is getting too hot and making your disc and laptop/desktop hot as well.
Before you go through with the rest of the tutorial, it's important to make sure your video card driver is completely up-to-date. Outdated video card software can lead to gaming problems. I'll show you how to do that, first.
NOTE: For those of you who have a Nvidia video card, the latest software update for their video cards is incompatible with The Sims 3. If you have a Nvidia video card, do not update, otherwise you will not be able to run The Sims 3 at all anymore. For more details about which update is incompatible with the game and which update you'll need to revert to in order to play, see this thread on The Sims 3 official forums here. Thanks to Sian for this information.
- Go to your Start menu and go to Control Panel.
- Choose Classic View from the sidebar and navigate to Device Manager. Give it a moment to load.
- Somewhere near the top, there will be something that says Display Adapters. Double-click that and you'll be shown your video card software. Take note of what kind of video card you have. It's useful information to know about your computer.
- Double-click your video card driver and a pop-up will appear. Navigate to the Driver tab at the top and select Update Driver.
- Windows Vista will ask you if you want to search automatically or find the software yourself on your computer. Select "Search automatically for updated driver software."
- Let Windows search as long as it needs to. It can take quite a while sometimes. Eventually, you'll either be told your video card driver needs an update or that your video card is up-to-date.
- If it's already up-to-date, you're good to go ahead with the rest of the tutorial. If it needs an update, update your video card following the prompts and instructions Windows gives you. Reboot your computer when the update is finished installing, then move on to the rest of this tutorial.
Game Crashing: Solution #2
Assuming that your video card is now up-to-date, your video card overheating is most likely due to the game demanding a high FPS from it. FPS stands for Frames Per Second. Remember all those cartoons you watched as a kid? Remember being awed by the fact that your favourite cartoon was actually made up of thousands of still pictures that moved really fast to create a smooth animation? Well, your video card works exactly the same way. It takes a bunch of still images (or frames as they're properly called) and displays them really fast to create a smooth animation; however, when your game is telling your video card to display more frames per second than it can handle, it becomes overwhelmed and overheats.
Your video card overheating is very serious. Not only can it crash and damage your game, but it can melt and destroy your entire computer.
There is a program called the FPS Limiter that stops your video card from going over a certain amount of frames per second and therefore, stops it from getting too hot and damaging either your game or computer.
I'll walk you through how to download and use the FPS Limiter in your game.
- Download the FPS Limiter program from here.
- Unpack it using WinRAR for Windows or Stuffit for Mac. WinRAR is free, but it does nag at you to buy their full version every time you open the program. I believe you need to pay for Stuffit, but I think it offers a 30 day free trial.
- You'll end up with a bunch of files. Copy and paste all of them into a folder called FPS Limiter and put that folder somewhere on your computer where you can easily find it. Don't put it in Program Files. It doesn't like being put there for some reason. I have mine in my Documents folder.
- Double-click the file called FPS_Limiter_GUI.jar and a popup will open with some options. You'll need Javascript to open the file. Most computers already have Javacript, but if it pesters you, download it here.
- Most of the options on this popup are things you don't really need to worry about, but the two things you do need to worry about are the Search Executable options and the Maximum FPS field. The Maximum FPS field is the maximum frames per second you want the FPS Limiter to limit your video card to. The default is 30, which is a good amount, I find.
- Click Search Executables and navigate to your TS3.exe file OR the file for your most recent expansion or stuff pack. This is where most users should be able to find their files:
The Sims 3 - Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin. The file you want in that folder is TS3.exe
World Adventures - Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 World Adventures\Game\Bin. The file you want in that folder is TS3EP01.exe
High-End Loft Stuff - Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 High-End Loft Stuff\Game\Bin. The file you want in that folder is TS3SP01.exe
Ambitions - Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Ambitions\Game\Bin. The file you want in that folder is TS3EP02.exe - Once you've selected the appropriate file, select Create Bat in the Javascript popup. It'll look like nothing happened, but don't worry. It created a .bat file of your .exe file in the FPS Limiter folder you created earlier.
- Navigate to your FPS Limiter folder and look for the file that says something along the lines of TS3.exe.limited.bat. Obviously, depending on which most recent expansion or stuff pack you have, the TS3.exe part will look slightly different.
- Right-click that file and select Create Shortcut, then move that shortcut to your desktop. You can rename the shortcut and change the icon of the shortcut, but DON'T touch the original file in the FPS Limiter folder!
- The next time you start your game, click that shortcut rather than the original game's shortcut. It will completely bypass the launcher and start up the game, while making sure your video card never goes above 30 FPS while you're playing. This will stop your video card from overheating while you're playing and prevent crashes caused by video card overheating.
- From now on, ALWAYS use that shortcut you created to play your game. Only run the launcher to patch your game or upload/download things to and from the Exchange or buy things from the Store.
Conclusion
So now you know the two main causes of CTDs when playing The Sims 3 and how to prevent them. Your game should not crash anymore, at least not because of these two causes, which are the biggest and most common causes.
As always, post any questions, comments or feedback about the tutorial here.
Happy Simming!