Sims 3 Problems

Question

Level 1

8 points

Sims 3 Problems

I am posting this in hopes that someone out there can actually help me with my Sims 3 gameplay problem. I understand that this is an Apple forum and Sims 3 is NOT an Apple product, but I have exhausted my options through EA games. No one with their technical support teams seems to know how to help me or about Macs at all. I kept getting troubleshooting instructions for PC use!

So, my problem is that the Sims 3 game works perfectly fine, but when I go to save the game, it doesn't do anything. The game doesn't freeze per-say, but it does not save and I have to force restart my computer. When I reopen the game, my attempted saved game is listed but will not open. I am using an Intel-based iMac and I meet all of the system requirements (I actually bought a 1 GB RAM chip and installed it myself to make sure I met the requirements, I have invested some money into this process!)

If anyone could help me or point me in the right direction, I would really, really appreciate it. Thanks!!

iMac Intel, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on Jun 14, 2009 2:11 PM

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Answer 1

Jun 14, 2009 2:18 PM in response to mestein

Have you installed the game properly? By that, I mean, is it running off the Mac's hard drive?

Did you do the usual general trouble-shooting procedures...?

Run Disk Utility and use the +Repair Disk Permissions+ routine (on the +First Aid+ tab) on your startup disk.

Reset PRAM

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379

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Answer 2

Jun 14, 2009 8:49 PM in response to mestein

As a test, I would create a new admin user account in System Preferences Accounts pane

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.5/en/8235.html

Log out and log in to the new account. This account will be using fresh and default user preference files. Try running that game while logged into this account, and note if the same problem occurs or not.

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Answer 3

mestein Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 14, 2009 7:36 PM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Thanks for posting back! I did install the game onto the hard drive. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the game twice as well in the same manner. I ran Disk Utility and Reset the PRAM, but it still doesn't work! I don't understand why I seem to be the only Sims 3 customer (mac AND pc) that seems to be having this saving problem. Could it be a flaw in the disc or a flaw with my computer? Any more insights would be greatly appreciated.

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Answer 4

Jun 14, 2009 8:37 PM in response to mestein

I know something had to be wrong when I heard it was coming out for Mac and PC at the same time, LOL! Have you in the past played Sims 1 or 2? Is the interface different? I have not spring for Sims 3 yet, myself, and it's irritating that I can't make a backup of the game disk like I could for Sims 1. When you have to insert the disk every time you play, I figure there could be wear and tear on it.

I wonder if some other application you have on your hard drive is having a conflict with your Sims?

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Answer 5

mestein Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 15, 2009 6:03 AM in response to Kenichi Watanabe

Unfortunately, the same problem did occur even with the new account! 😟

What was interesting, though, was that when I initially attempted to run the game with the new account, I got a "Disk Authorization Error" and had to restart my computer for the disk to get recognized as a legit sims 3 game.

Also, is all of this force shutting down my computer going to hurt it in any way?

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Answer 6

Jun 17, 2009 3:55 AM in response to mestein

Yes I think it's a bug, I really cannot think of anything else to try, and it does effectively make the game useless, I also have the same problem on an iMac.

The only thing I can add to stop you have to turn the complete machine off which isn't good, but entr Alt CmdPower button briefly and it should to a forced quit, which will enable you to stop the machine in an organised way, however even that doesn't seem to kill the sims application all the time. But you can at least close anything else that may be running.

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Answer 7

mestein Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 20, 2009 11:15 AM in response to antonio3427

Haven't figured anything out yet. I have a back and forth going with the "more advanced" technical support people at EA games after yelling at an idiot on the phone, who repeatedly attempted to give me trouble shooting tips for PC. Regardless, these technical support people seem clueless. Must be a bug in the software only affecting Macs. Very upsetting.

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Answer 8

mestein Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 20, 2009 11:16 AM in response to antonio3427

Haven't figured anything out yet. I have a back and forth going with the "more advanced" technical support people at EA games after yelling at an idiot on the phone, who repeatedly attempted to give me trouble shooting tips for PC. Regardless, these technical support people seem clueless. Must be a bug in the software only affecting Macs. Very upsetting.

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Answer 9

mestein Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 20, 2009 12:33 PM in response to harryp_888

Jealous!

I did install the patch right away so that can't be the problem. I'm certainly curious why it works on your Intel-based Imac and not the rest of us. Is there anything unique about your computer?

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Answer 10

Jun 20, 2009 1:13 PM in response to mestein

Just a standard imac 2.93 ghz with 4 gb memory. i have an external HD for time machine back-ups but thats it - as it came out of the box.

i must admit when you do a save it doesn't seem very slick if you can understand that - like it might 'hang' but it always saves fine.

Tell me how do you launch your sims 3....

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Answer 11

Jun 21, 2009 12:32 PM in response to harryp_888

Mine isn't having the problem you are, but instead, it isn't saving the data. When I re-open the game, my town doesn't show in the list--however, the save file is there in the Saves folder (as is the backup file). But using the backup instead of the actual save makes no difference.

Think this is a related problem? Thoughts?

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Answer 12

Jun 22, 2009 1:44 PM in response to mestein

Well I guess there is no other way......its just i have placed a sims 3 icon on the dock and launch by clicking it - if you do something different it may be worth trying that method - anything is worth trying?

If I do a save and quit on mine I get the spinning symbols and the game seems to quit before the save is done...but then the save finishes and I get returned to the desktop - not overly slick so can understand why some might have problems.

Maybe it is the Gb issue - do the other people with problems have 2 or 4 Gb?

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Answer 13

Jun 26, 2009 2:37 AM in response to mestein

I have had the exact same problem! If I wait about an hour, it finally does save, but it's not worth wasting hours of my time just to save things. I called EA tech support and was also annoyed by the technicians' sorry lack of Mac-awareness. After several days of communication with them via e-mail and phone, they finally claimed it was a faulty disk. But I told them it couldn't be; I was so desperate I purchased a second copy of Sims 3, and it responded the exact same way, with the saving bug.

Would the Genius Bar be willing to address this problem even though the game's issued by EA?

I wonder if (like someone said before) The Sims 3 is conflicting with another program. On my Mac, I have Rosetta Stone, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, Microsoft Office, Skype, and ProtectMac AntiVirus. Does anyone else who's having this problem have any of these programs installed? Maybe we can find a common thread...?

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Answer 14

h3rby

Level 1

0 points

Jun 30, 2009 3:27 PM in response to mestein

I have precisely the same issue with the PC version of the game. It's not an OS issue, though it does interest me to see that you are running an Intel-based MAC.

I haven't been able to find an answer for this either. This only happens intermittently for me, but when it does, I either lose the whole save file and have to retreat to a backup, or I lose everything that happened since the last successful save.

I'm 100% sure that this is an issue with the Sims 3 Software and not an issue with our hardware, but good luck convincing them of this.

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Answer 15

sheren

Level 1

8 points

Jul 1, 2009 7:26 AM in response to mestein

hi,
i'm having the same problem recently...though before i could save the game without any problem but after a week or so of playing, the forever saving started and i dunno whats wrong so i uninstalled and installed the game again....but then nothing happens...the forever saving is still there and i have to restart my again macbook 😟

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