CRASH TO DESKTOP - Possible Solution

I have that issue too, I guess you cant play the game on highest settings to get max enjoyment out of graphics then...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 02/07/10 01:47 PM

Well im about done with this game....after fixing one problem...(getting the patch to work) ....another problem is occuring all the time now crashing! If it is not crashing it is not being able to save with the error 12 and 13 or just a big crash when saving. The Launcher is a joke it hardly ever works. The website is full of problems as well. The game is unplayable.

Someone said a few years ago that the Sims games are coded very badly, at that time i was trying to play sims 2 and the game was crashing all the time as well. All i can say or ask is what is going on with this company? There is hardly any communication about the problems that are going on. They seem to think we will buy anything they put out....if the game is unplayable or crashing why buy the expansion packs? Soon people will stop buying anything from ea because of all the problems. Don't get me wrong i love the sims but don't see the point of wasting time and money trying to get a game to work.

ps oh and my computer is top of the line there is no excuse for all these problems

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 02/07/10 01:45 PM

Well i see my message came up 3 times. See what i mean.

Well im about done with this game....after fixing one problem...(getting the patch to work) ....another problem is occuring all the time now crashing! If it is not crashing it is not being able to save with the error 12 and 13 or just a big crash when saving. The Launcher is a joke it hardly ever works. The website is full of problems as well. The game is unplayable.

Someone said a few years ago that the Sims games are coded very badly, at that time i was trying to play sims 2 and the game was crashing all the time as well. All i can say or ask is what is going on with this company? There is hardly any communication about the problems that are going on. They seem to think we will buy anything they but out....if the game is unplayable or crashing why buy the expansion packs? Soon people will stop buying anything from ea because of all the problems. Don't get me wrong i love the sims but don't see the point of wasting time and money trying to get a game to work.

ps oh and my computer is top of the line there is no excuse for all these problems

I used to have the crashing to desktop issue a few months ago and then one of the patches sorted it, however the patch also seemed to trigger error code 12 messages instead, now the last patch has fixed the error code messages and I am back to crashing to desktop....

I have tried reducing the graphics settings, deleting the cache files, not using cheat codes, I know my pc has the correct specs and the only content i have downloaded is from the store. I'm sure there is a whole range of other things I could do but hey, why should I? I have time to play a game not to spend hours trying to fix it and getting frustrated.

I was prety patient when the game first came out and understood that new games have some teething issues but this is now beyond the joke. EA staff don't respond to my emails, there seems to be relatively few statements from them about the technical issues, in fact i've not been able to access their website the last day or so to find out what's going on - just about sums it up.

I do hope they sort the game out and all of you who stick with it (and are having issues) finally get to enjoy your game. I won't waste any more time or money on this mess and I'm sure I'm not alone.

Take note EA (but I doubt you care)

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 02/11/10 03:10 AM

Hello everyone,

I'm new to the Sims. I'm not sure why but it never appealed to me before, but then I played it at a friend's house and I got pretty much hooked instantly so I went and bought the digital downloads of the Sims 3, World Adventures & High Tech from the EA store.

I recently rebuilt my computer and have an i7 920 with 6GB of RAM and I have the Sims installed on an SSD along with my OS Windows 7 64bit. The main game, WA and HT are all updated to version 3.1.7.004017

I really wish I had done some research before splashing out on all 3 because I got the crash to desktop on day 1, but at the time thought it was just a one-off occurrence and then started looking at forums and discovered this is a common thing for many people. It's so frustrating!

I'm going to try the tips from this thread and hope it will help solve the problem because so far I've had the crash to desktop, the error code 13 and the crash while speeding up time problems.

Anyway just wanted to vent! I really love playing this game, but there is no autosave and even though I mean to keep saving as often as possible, I shouldn't have to worry about losing hours of progress or whether the next save is going to crash

**Edit**
I made the changes as per the OP and I've been playing for a good few hours and saving every so often and it seems to be OK!

Just hope I'm not tempting fate by writing this

**Edit 2**
Played loads yesterday and last night and it's working perfectly! Thanks so much to the OP

I know what you mean. I've been playing the game with minor bugs since it came out and suddenly today I'm getting error 12 on saving.

MarkAmy, what is the OP you're referring too? I too am having consistant crashes and would like to know what changes you made so that I can try them too. Thanks.

OP = original post or original poster

Those changes worked for me and I'm still going strong.....playing way too much!!

Hope they work out well for you too!

My problems started after installing World Adventures. Thinking of uninstalling WA and I am not buying any more content be it little or addons until the CTD error is fixed.

Love this game but getting tired of the anxiety I feel every time I select save or save as. I never suffer crashes any other time except when I save. Every 4th save or so it hangs up and crashes to desktop OR I get the error code 13.

I've been learning ways to circumvent Error 13 when it happens though. It's not 100%. Somewhere in the forums someone mentioned going to Edit Neighborhood when it happens without saving, make a change (I install or remove previously installed swimming pools in empty lots, LOL), then click return to game and save. I hold my breath and it works most of the time.

If Error 13 persists I then select a Sim in my family and send them on a trip to China or elsewhere. Usually I can save as soon as they arrive with no problems.

My detailed lots are set at 3, despite being a store bought game I can't run it without the EADM installed. I deleted all my caches many times. I know my computer is tweaked out for optimum resources but not overclocked. Game still crashes on save.

Is EA ever going to address this? I'd feel better if one of the devs would even acknowledge this is going on. At least I'd know they are working on it.

sidfu wrote:
1) Download and install CFF Explorer(http://www.ntcore.com/exsuite.php)
...
4) Tick "App can handle >2GB address space

5) Ok that and save by clicking the disk icon or going to FILE >> SAVE. Overwrite the file when it asks you to.

like i said with ep was crashin every 2-3 sim days also crashing after more than 1 save so ffar ive saved 5 times and went for 2 weeks so seems to work but till tested longer not 100% sure yet but it wont hurt nothing to try.

I'm the one whose game crashed when selecting an adventuring sim and at other random times.

I did everything you mentioned, but when it asked me to overwrite the file it said, "Cannot overwrite original file. Save with another name?" Do you know a way to fix this?

ilvny wrote:
I did everything you mentioned, but when it asked me to overwrite the file it said, "Cannot overwrite original file. Save with another name?" Do you know a way to fix this?

If ever you can't overwrite a file just save it to desktop or somewhere else and then just copy and paste the new file over the old one

Ive never had this happen before, but WOW was it annoying when it did! I have had a lot of issues with WA but never the crash before. I have no CC so I'm super extra frustrated... this is the game alone as far as I know. I have a fairly new computer so maybe it's Vista? I dunno.