I have a recent macbook. its a 2.3 GHz with 4 gb memory. My game is constantly crashing especially when i'm in CAS. It seems like every time my laptop overheats and can't take it anymore and just shuts down the game. I'm not a big computer person and I was just wondering if this happens to other people too ad if so, how can I solve this problem?

I'm not a big computer person either, but I know what you mean - the only way I've found to reduce the chances of crashing are:

- set as many settings in your game options to as low as you will accept - the graphics demand seems to be a big factor. So set your distance drawing to medium etc.
- Save regularly so that if you do crash you don't lose much.
- When designing, keep things as simple as possible. Try to use as much stuff straight from the catalogue, or if you design stuff, make sure you save it. I'm guessing that a computer having to remember unsaved custom patterns is going to have a hard time.
- Don't overload your lots with too much stuff - the more stuff, and particularly the bigger the family, including animals, the slower things seem to go.

I can't remember much more than that for now, but hopefully someone will come along with some more useful information than I have!

Upgrade your RAM to 8GB.

I still have to run in low settings, but it doesn't crash in CAS anymore. I couldn't do anything in CAS before I upgraded. My MacBookPro still gets hot, but to keep it a bit cooler either use Digital Downloads, or run it without the disc. That actually helps a lot. But the higher memory is really the important part.

Set all your settings to medium, and download the FreeMemory app from the Mac App Store. Before the game starts, boot up the FreeMemory app, hover over the numbers that state your free RAM (For example, 2.03 GB Free) , click on it and select the option "Free Memory". Wait for it to free the memory, then quit the application and play the game