Difference between revisions of "The Sims 3"
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===Increase how much RAM the game can use (Windows only)=== | ===Increase how much RAM the game can use (Windows only)=== | ||
{{ii}} By default, the game limits itself to 2 GB of RAM. On 64-bit installations of Windows, it is possible to make it use 3 or 4 GB RAM instead. | {{ii}} By default, the game limits itself to 2 GB of RAM. On 64-bit installations of Windows, it is possible to make it use 3 or 4 GB RAM instead. | ||
+ | {{ii}} Note that even with a 4 GB RAM limit, the game can give the <i>Error 12</i> error when saving during less RAM use than that.<ref>{{Refcheck|user=Dandelion Sprout|date=31 January 2022|comment=I got that error while at 2,750 MiB RAM use.}}</ref> | ||
{{Fixbox|description=Edit <code>Sims3.ini</code><ref name="Steam guide">https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1131162350</ref><ref name="Dandelion Sprout 31Oct2021">{{Refcheck|user=Dandelion Sprout|date=2021-10-31}}</ref>|fix= | {{Fixbox|description=Edit <code>Sims3.ini</code><ref name="Steam guide">https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1131162350</ref><ref name="Dandelion Sprout 31Oct2021">{{Refcheck|user=Dandelion Sprout|date=2021-10-31}}</ref>|fix= | ||
# Open <code>{{p|game}}\Game\Bin\Sims3.ini</code> in a text editor. | # Open <code>{{p|game}}\Game\Bin\Sims3.ini</code> in a text editor. |
Revision as of 18:25, 31 January 2022
Developers | |
---|---|
The Sims Studio | |
Expansions | EA Salt Lake |
macOS (OS X) | TransGaming Inc. |
Publishers | |
Electronic Arts | |
Engines | |
The Sims 3 Engine | |
Release dates | |
Windows | June 2, 2009 |
macOS (OS X) (Cider) | June 2, 2009 |
Reception | |
Metacritic | 86 |
IGDB | 83 |
Taxonomy | |
Monetization | Sponsored, DLC, Expansion pack |
Microtransactions | Currency, Cosmetic, Finite spend |
Modes | Singleplayer |
Pacing | Real-time |
Perspectives | Free-roaming camera, Bird's-eye view |
Controls | Point and select, Multiple select |
Genres | Life sim, Sandbox, Building |
Sports | Fishing, American football, Water sports, Horse, Table tennis, Football (Soccer) |
Vehicles | Robot |
Art styles | Stylized |
Series | The Sims |
The Sims | |
---|---|
Subseries of Sim | |
The Sims | 2000 |
The Sims Online | 2002 |
The Sims 2 | 2004 |
The Sims Stories (series) | |
MySims | 2008 |
The Sims 3 | 2009 |
The Sims Medieval | 2011 |
The Sims 4 | 2014 |
The Sims 3 is a life simulator game, with aspects of town management and adventure. It is noteworthy for having the other households age alongside the active household, the high ability to interact with the entire neighborhood without loading screens, and the extensive character trait and Create-a-Style systems.
After a pre-release beta was leaked in May 2009,[1] the game was released in June 2009, after which it received expansion packs and frequent fix patches until 2014. Afterwards only functionality-critical patches have been released, such as one for adding Origin support in 2015, and a 64-bit macOS update in 2020.
The game has few or no compatibility issues on Windows 11 as of November 2021,[2] and the modding scene remains active.
Key points
- Strong modding community
- Lacks native V-sync functionality. It is advised to force vertical sync via the graphics control panel to lessen the strain on the GPU.
General information
- The Sims 3 Official Forums
- Answer HQ for The Sims 3 at EA.com
- Answer HQ for The Sims series at EA.com (OS X)
- Steam Community Discussions
Availability
Source | DRM | Notes | Keys | OS |
---|---|---|---|---|
Retail | SecuROM 7 and SecuROM PA DRM, unknown machine limit. A De-Authorization Tool is available. Dropped starting with patch 1.2.7. Later expansions add Origin DRM. |
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Origin | Included with EA Play. | |||
Steam | Included with EA Play (Steam). |
Version differences
- List of all different versions and regions can be found on Wikipedia.
DLC and expansion packs
Name | Notes | |
---|---|---|
World Adventures | Expansion 1 | |
Ambitions | Expansion 2 | |
Late Night | Expansion 3. Included with EA Play. | |
Generations | Expansion4 | |
Pets | Expansion 5 | |
Showtime | Expansion 6 | |
Supernatural | Expansion 7 | |
Seasons | Expansion 8 | |
University Life | Expansion 9 | |
Island Paradise | Expansion 10 | |
Into the Future | Expansion 11 | |
High-End Loft Stuff | Stuff pack 1. Also known as Design and Hi-Tech Stuff in Europe Included with EA Play. |
|
Fast Lane Stuff | Stuff pack 2 | |
Outdoor Living Stuff | Stuff pack 3 | |
Town Life Stuff | Stuff pack 4 | |
Master Suite Stuff | Stuff pack 5 | |
Katy Perry's Sweet Treats | Stuff pack 6 | |
Diesel Stuff | Stuff pack 7 | |
70s, 80s, & 90s Stuff | Stuff pack 8 | |
Movie Stuff | Stuff pack 9 |
Microtransactions
Type | Notes |
---|---|
Cosmetic | SimPoints are spent on additional clothing and furniture. |
Currency | Real money is exchanged for SimPoints which are spent in the Sims 3 Store. SimPoints are not available to be earned in-game. |
Finite spend | Once all Sims 3 Store items have been bought, the limit has been reached. |
Unlock | Stuff Packs are sold which consist of additional clothing and furniture. Additionally, other maps and gameplay elements are sold piecemeal on the Sims 3 store. |
Essential improvements
Patches
- Patch 1.67.2 is the latest patch available for the DVD and Steam game versions.
- Patch 1.69.43 is the latest patch available for the Origin game version (Windows and macOS 32-bit).
- Patch 1.70.305 is the latest patch available for the Origin game version (macOS 64-bit).
- The patch notes can be found here here.
Skip intro videos
Skip intro videos[3] |
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Download and install this mod. |
SMAA injector
- Universal fix for most D3D9 and later games. Should provide better anti-aliasing especially with objects that use alpha effects e.g. hair and foliage; the default FSAA implementation unfortunately does not cover such effects.
Bypassing the launcher
Rename the executable[4] |
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Launch the game from TS3W.exe |
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Increase how much RAM the game can use (Windows only)
- By default, the game limits itself to 2 GB of RAM. On 64-bit installations of Windows, it is possible to make it use 3 or 4 GB RAM instead.
- Note that even with a 4 GB RAM limit, the game can give the Error 12 error when saving during less RAM use than that.[5]
Edit Sims3.ini [6][7]
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Increase how much VRAM the game can use
- By default, the game limits itself to 2 GB of VRAM. It is possible to make it use the full amount of VRAM the graphics card has.
Edit GraphicsRules.srg [6][7]
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Increase how much CPU power the game will actively use
Edit GraphicsRules.srg [6][7]
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NRaas Overwatch[7]
- Contains bugfixes for Sims that have walked into spots without outside path routing, empty cars that stand still in the road, superfluous/corrupt caches, NPCs stuck in-between life ages, and a bug involving a police station mission that can't be won, among other things.
- Replaces Sims 3 Seasons' moon cycle with a more detailed one.
- The mod will show in-game notifications when it has taken action to resolve the tasks above.
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | <path-to-game>\Game\Bin\Sims3.ini[Note 1] <path-to-game>\Game\Bin\GraphicsRules.srg[Note 1] <path-to-game>\Game\Bin\Default.ini[Note 1] |
macOS (OS X) | |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/47890/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game data location
System | Location |
---|---|
Windows | %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves |
macOS (OS X) | ~/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Saves |
Steam Play (Linux) | <SteamLibrary-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/47890/pfx/[Note 2] |
Save game cloud syncing
System | Native | Notes |
---|---|---|
Origin | ||
OneDrive | Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers. | |
Steam Cloud |
Video
Graphics feature | State | WSGF | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Widescreen resolution | |||
Multi-monitor | Use The Sims 3 FOV tool. HUD Position Affects Gameplay. | ||
Ultra-widescreen | Vert- scaling.[8] | ||
4K Ultra HD | UI does not scale with resolution and is extremely small in 4K. | ||
Field of view (FOV) | Use The Sims 3 FOV tool. | ||
Windowed | |||
Borderless fullscreen windowed | The Sims 3 Smooth Patch gives the option to enable borderless windowed mode. | ||
Anisotropic filtering (AF) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
Anti-aliasing (AA) | |||
Vertical sync (Vsync) | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | ||
60 FPS and 120+ FPS | Some physics effects are tied to the monitor's hertz setting. On ≥120 Hz monitors, elevator shafts are harder to snap in place, item previews spin faster (Compare [9] at 60 Hz, to [10] at 160 Hz), and Buy/Build Mode scrolling may be janky.[7] | ||
High dynamic range display (HDR) | See the glossary page for potential alternatives. | ||
Ray tracing (RT) |
Input
Keyboard and mouse | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Remapping | See the glossary page for potential workarounds. | |
Mouse acceleration | No mouse acceleration. | |
Mouse sensitivity | ||
Mouse input in menus | ||
Mouse Y-axis inversion | ||
Touchscreen optimised | Moving the camera around in the neighborhood, would require either mouse cursor emulation, or right mouseclick emulation. Entering cheat codes requires a keyboard. | |
Controller | ||
Controller support |
Controller types |
---|
Audio
Audio feature | State | Notes |
---|---|---|
Separate volume controls | Voices, Sound effects, Music, Background noises, Sound quality | |
Surround sound | 4.0 and 5.1 can be chosen for when zoomed in. Tries to force sound through individual speakers that have been set in the Windows sound settings as being non-present.[11] | |
Subtitles | No intelligible dialog. All in-game dialog uses the fictional Simlish language. | |
Closed captions | Sound effects accompanied by visual effects. | |
Mute on focus lost | Can be turned off |
Localizations
- After the initial installation, further language changes must be done in the Windows registry at
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Sims\The Sims 3
→ Locale (On 32-bit Windows installations it's atHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Sims\The Sims 3
). The process is explained at Crinrict's Sims 3 Help Blog, although its listing ofen-GB
is not a valid code.[12]
Language | UI | Audio | Sub | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
English | ||||
Czech | ||||
Traditional Chinese | ||||
Danish | ||||
Dutch | ||||
Finnish | ||||
French | ||||
German | ||||
Greek | ||||
Hebrew | ||||
Hungarian | ||||
Italian | ||||
Japanese | ||||
Korean | ||||
Norwegian | ||||
Polish | ||||
Portuguese | ||||
Brazilian Portuguese | ||||
Russian | ||||
Spanish | ||||
Swedish | ||||
Thai |
Issues fixed
- Various fixes can be found in this Steam Community Guide.
- Many performance issues can be fixed with mods. These include Overwatch, ErrorTrap, Traveler, Mastercontroller and DebugEnabler
Poor performance
Turn off online functionality |
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|
World Adventures Region Error
- Incorrect Region Codes can be fixed with a simple registry tweak.
World Adventures Region Error[citation needed] |
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Region Codes
|
Issues unresolved
Screenshots taken with PrintScreen in fullscreen mode, have much darker color saturation than what they're supposed to have.[2] |
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Other information
API
Technical specs | Supported | Notes |
---|---|---|
Direct3D | 9 | |
DirectDraw | A ddraw.dll file is present in the game's folders. |
|
Metal support | Requires macOS 10.13 (High Sierra). | |
Shader Model support | 2.0 |
Executable | 32-bit | 64-bit | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Windows | |||
macOS (OS X) |
Mods
- The Sims 3 attracts a large modding community, allowing further customization features. Unfortunately, even properly designed mods could increase the chances of crashes and errors in the game. Mods have a major impact on loading time and stability, and should be used with discretion if you are having issues with the game.
- AwesomeMod - A large compilation of mods and small tweaks. More information can be found at The Sims Wikia and Matywikka (archived)
Mod resources
- The Sims 3 Exchange - The official website for sharing user-made content (sims, households, clothing, etc.). The website uses the Sims 3 launcher to download and install custom content. Both the exchange and Sims 3 launcher require the same account.
- Mod The Sims - Also hosts mods for The Sims 2 and The Sims 4.
Tools
Official
- These tools were created by EA and are hosted on the games official website.
- Create a World (Beta)
Unofficial
- More tools can be found on ModTheSims.
Better performance
System requirements
Windows | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 7 | 10 |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz AMD Athlon XP 2400+ | |
System memory (RAM) | 1.5 GB | |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 7.1 GB | 32 GB (with all DLC) |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce FX 5900 series ATI Radeon 9500 series Intel GMA 3000 series 128 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 2.0 support |
- For computers using built-in graphics the game requires an Intel Pentium D 805 2.66 GHz or a Core 2 Duo 1.8 GHz CPU, and 2 GB RAM.
- VRAM requirements do not apply to integrated GPUs.
- GeForce 6100 and 7100 cards are not supported.
macOS (OS X) | ||
---|---|---|
Minimum | Recommended | |
Operating system (OS) | 10.5.7 (Leopard) | 10.13 (High Sierra) |
Processor (CPU) | Intel Core Duo | Intel Core i5 |
System memory (RAM) | 2 GB | 8 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) | 7.1 GB | 18 GB |
Video card (GPU) | Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT ATI Radeon X1600 Pro Intel GMA X3100 128 MB of VRAM | Nvidia GeForce GTX 680 AMD Radeon RX 560 Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 |
- VRAM requirements do not apply to integrated GPUs.
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below
%PROGRAMFILES%
,%PROGRAMDATA%
, or%WINDIR%
might be redirected to%LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore
on Windows Vista and later (more details). - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Notes regarding Steam Play (Linux) data:
- File/folder structure within this directory reflects the path(s) listed for Windows and/or Steam game data.
- Use Wine's registry editor to access any Windows registry paths.
- The app ID (47890) may differ in some cases.
- Treat backslashes as forward slashes.
- See the glossary page for details on Windows data paths.
References
- ↑ Sims 3 leaked to torrent sites weeks before retail release - last accessed on 2021-11-15
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Verified by User:Dandelion Sprout on 2021-11-15
- ↑ Verified by User:Aaronth07 on 2019-10-10
- ↑ https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1697342394
- ↑ Verified by User:Dandelion Sprout on 31 January 2022
- I got that error while at 2,750 MiB RAM use.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1131162350
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 Verified by User:Dandelion Sprout on 2021-10-31
- ↑ Anyone here playing Sims 3 on 3440x1440 ? - last accessed on 2020-05-30
- ↑ Sims 3 2021 11 15 20 51 14 01 - last accessed on 2021-11-16
- ↑ Sims 3 160Hz monitor item spin - last accessed on 2021-11-16
- ↑ Verified by User:Dandelion Sprout on 2021-11-13
- Tested by using the AUX twin-pair speaker guide I added to Glossary:Surround sound#Discrete surround sound.
- ↑ Verified by User:Dandelion Sprout on 2021-11-14
- Windows
- OS X
- Sponsored
- DLC
- Expansion pack
- Currency
- Cosmetic
- Finite spend
- Singleplayer
- Real-time
- Free-roaming camera
- Bird's-eye view
- Point and select
- Multiple select
- Life sim
- Sandbox
- Building
- Fishing
- American football
- Water sports
- Horse
- Table tennis
- Football (Soccer)
- Robot
- Stylized
- Games
- Pages needing references
- Invalid template usage (API)
- Missing section (Monetization)