Game won't load

[beardeux]

Hi all,  I had a problem with trying to move some sims into a house.  They continually got stuck on the clipboard.  I restarted the game several times without saving, but the problem still continued.  On my last restart there was an update for the game so I did that successfully, seemingly.  However, after several attempts to start the game, no go.  I have 4 mods installed and I get the message telling me I've installed unofficial software (this message is not new and appears every time I start the game) I click continue and the message "Sims 3 has stopped working"  & "close program" appears.  With each crash I get 2 files in my documents folder - 1) xcpt Ltrs & no's & 2) xcpt Ltrs & no's.mdmp.  I've shut down and restarted several times to no avail.  Can anyone help me get up and running again.
thanks in advance, Bear

[thesweetestpea]

Whose mods do you have installed, and have you checked them for updates? It's very possible that the mods themselves are causing the crash. If they belong to twallan's suite, then updates are frequent and you can install the new version.

[Pam]

Hi Bear.

I would also suggest you try removing all the mods and see if your game will load.  Also, when was the last time you did a clean re-install?

[beardeux]

Hi Sweetest Pea,  Thanks for responding so quickly.  I have twallan's mod's - Error Trap, Overwatch, Porter & Once Read.  They are new, maybe a month ago.  My son installed them (the computer whiz) and I don't even know where to find them in the files.  If it is a mod problem, I may have to wait for him to help me with this.  Do you know if twallan's updates are just download exe files which will automatically replace the old file.

[thesweetestpea]

Hi Sweetest Pea,  Thanks for responding so quickly.  I have twallan's mod's - Error Trap, Overwatch, Porter & Once Read.  They are new, maybe a month ago.  My son installed them (the computer whiz) and I don't even know where to find them in the files.  If it is a mod problem, I may have to wait for him to help me with this.  Do you know if twallan's updates are just download exe files which will automatically replace the old file.

You need the updated version for the 1.36 patch. I don't know which one is causing the crash because I haven't done the update to 1.36 yet, but my guess is that's the problem.

To find the mod, you need to go to your Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 folder. There should be a folder called Mods there, which will have Packages, maybe some other folders, and a file called Resource.cfg in it. Resource.cfg should not be touched if you don't know what you're doing, because it can disable the mods at best and break your whole game at worst. The packages folder should have the four mods in it. To replace them, you'll need to download the new versions from NRaas Industries. They come in .zip files, so just open the zip, copy the .package file inside and plonk it in the Mods/Packages folder after you delete the old ones. If you want a quick fix so you can play, just delete the .package files and don't replace them. That will remove the mods.

[beardeux]

I checked my patch level and it is 1.36.  After reading your post, I've deleted the packages files (for now) but left everything else in case I reload them in the future.  I may get my son to help me on that front.  I can't say I noticed a big difference to game play with the mods.  Deleting the vehicles was kind of nice, but it seemed to me that they just regenerated every day, which without the mods would just have stayed their daily.  I'm not sure it made a difference.  I usually go through each new neighbourhood and delete the clunkers and most of the parking spots.  That seemed to help also.

I've now started the game and it's playing just fine.  Also, I was able to move my sims into a house.  Odd, because that was my problem before the update.  Oh well.  I won't look a gift horse in the mouth.  This game is relentless with it's challenges.

Pam, it's been a long time since I did a re-install and that didn't go well at all.  It was also when I joined this forum and I needed help for the re-install.  It was a real problem.  But there have been no serious issues that couldn't be resolved with the help from this forum since.  I really despise re-installs.

I appreciate all the help and thanks so much.