Thursday 30 September 2010

How To Stop Your Game Crashing (Hopefully)

Error code 12, crash to desktop... do these horrors sound familiar to you? You thought it would be easy- just buy a sexy Sims game, shove it on your PC, and play- but oh no. It's not always that simple.

If you're suffering from the dreaded CTD, there are things you can do to prevent it. Now this is not a cure-all fix; I can't guarantee it'll solve your woes, but it's worked for me so hopefully it'll work for you.


1. Download and install the CFF Explorer.

2. Go to C:/Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Game/Bin and look for a file named TS3.exe. This is the base game file however, so if you have an expansion you need to find the file for that EP instead, e.g.- for Ambitions it can be found in C:/Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 Ambitions/Game/Bin, and it's called TS3EP02.exe. 
Once you've found the file you require, first make a copy of it in case things go all tits-up, then right-click and select 'Open with CFF Explorer'.


3. Once the file is open look on the left hand side for a section called 'File Header' and click that, then click the blue box on the right where it says 'Click here', as shown in the picture:


4. Another window will open. Click in the box next to where it says 'App can handle > 2gb address space' and click 'Ok'.


5. Save your modified file and overwrite when it asks you to.
Now, this should be simple, but I encountered problems. I'm the admin of my computer, yet it wouldn't let me overwrite the file- it kept saying I didn't have permish or some shit. If you find yourself having this problem as well there is a way around it, which is to start again with the file, but before you modify it drag it out of the Sims folder to the desktop or summat, then follow steps 3-4, save it, and move it back.


And that should be it! Hopefully this will help stop your crashing issues- it's definitely worked for me. Just remember to repeat this method every time you patch your game or install an expansion pack.


Ta-rah!

10 comments:

  1. Hey, you got it working!

    I have the permissions issue, too. Before you use the CFF fix, the thing to do is right-click the exe file in Windows explorer and then go to properties >security >edit and grant yourself (I have to do it for both my 'admin' and my username, even though mine is the only username, as the CFF thing seems to recognise me as my username rather than as admin) all permissions to modify the file and so on. It should then work OK.

    You should only need to do it for your most recent EP/SP, not every single one, btw (so my most recent one is TS3SP02.exe)

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  2. Furypoo, there is also an even easier way of doing this for peeps who don't quite get the hang of this little number:
    http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:4GB_Patch

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  3. Hey, Fury? Can I say something? (Yes, go for it.)
    YOU KICK ASS!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Have I told you how much I adore you lately?? No? Well I ADORE YOU!! Thank you thank you thank you!!!!

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  4. This works too. :)
    http://nene.modthesims.info/download.php?t=410418

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  5. Butbutbut it's all for pc):
    what about us mac users?

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  6. You can all die in a fire... Lol just kidding :P Erm I don't really know about Macs- I don't like Macs and therefore know naff all about them. I think Mac users are quite neglected when it comes to Sims though- I hear things like getting custom content is difficult too. Hopefully you can find a solution somewhere, sorry I can't be more help.

    :)

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  7. One question that's off topic- If you click 'Run without CC' will that delete all of your Custom Content?

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  8. Nah, as far as I know it just disables it.

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  9. All my permissions were set and it still does it :| Bummer.. I can't play live mode at all. I can build, but as soon as I go to live, it crashes to desktop.

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