Technical problems with THE HORROR: downloading, installing, and running it

[TashaYarrr]

I'm actually more of the usenet binaries persuasion than torrenting (the first rule of fight club...), but thank you for the information.

If I wasn't sitting in a cabin with dialup speeds I'd have it going now.

[mistyk]

TashaFaun is correct about the wait time, I canceled my download from TPB, after about 15 hours I was still only at 42%, I am now downloading from seedgames, and after only 2 1/2 hours I am at 60%

*Shakes fist at your better net connection* TPB one was at 42% after 48 hours and I'm on 60% from seedgames after 6 hours. BOO! 

Sorry, but shake fists at my mom, she lives next door and I tap into her net connection. Why pay for my own when I can use hers..lol

[Solowren]

It looks like my game is hanging again--this time during moving two just-married Sims in with each other. It has been "processing" for at least 5 minutes... I doubt it is supposed to take that long.

Lame. I have not saved in a while. Learned my lesson the hard way.

[snowluv]

Well, I trotted over to Mininova and someone pulled the torrent I had downloaded, along with all the comments associated with it.  Or they have hidden it and I can't find it. But the newest torrents listed all have a May 21, 2009 posting date. Sooo, it looks as if EA yanked it.  I am going to find a different one to download and hopefully it will be more in line with the ones all of you have, and the installation won't be quite so confusing.  Well, I can hope, can't I? 

You said everything went to My Documents.  What did that stuff look like?  It sounds like you might have everything you need and just need to install.

There are no ISO files anywhere that has a  big arrow pointed to it. Everything that is in there are dat files.  I have started a new download from seedgames that is in WinRAR form and says it has a separate ISO file as well as the crack file. I think this one will be easier for me to understand. I want to do this right so I will learn from this experience. I am anxious to play the game but knowing how to do this has become my biggest priority. Kinda like a game, you know? I have learned quite a bit from this little adventure. Thanks for checking in. I'll be back as soon as the download is finished. 

[morriganrant]

I had a similar problem as Solowren. The neighborhood cache file would not install and I had to press ignore. However the issue was not that it wouldn't transfer, the issue that it was reporting was that the file was not the same as the file in the Data.cab files. I don't suppose someone can upload that file for me so that I can be sure that I have a working one? I'd hate to have to go find another torrent or re-torrent the one I did find. I thought everything was fine, but after making a sim and sticking her on the most expensive lot, every attempt I make at putting down a foundation crashes the game. It seems to only be that lot. Has anyone tried building on the most expensive lot yet?

Ah, and if anyone has weird graphics issues with the trees, that they look pixelated but everything else is fine, try changing the resolution. Apparently only two of them work on my machine.

[Candice]

The game randomly freezes in live mode on my system:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+
2x NVidia GeForce 8800 GT
4GB RAM
Windows XP

According to Everest Ultimate Edition, all temperatures are normal.
The Sims 2 and other 3d games, for example Far Cry 2, run fine.

I tried to solve the problem with the Dual Core optimizer (version 1.1.4) that was mentioned in post #12. I never used that tool before so perhaps nOOb-me did something wrong: I started the game up to the neighbourhood view, went back to windows, unchecked one core for the TS3.exe process in windows task manager and went back to the game. It froze even faster than it used to while running at two cores.
Disabling SLI mode didn't change anything either.

Can either of you provide any suggestions what to try next?

[smallvillerocks]

Hey, ok it doesn't work at all for me, I'm on Vista, I meet the requirements but all I get is a black screen then I'm kicked back to desktop, I've tried everything to get it to work, cos the iso is a big file I can't put it on my C drive, so it's all on my D drive, not sure if that causes a problem or not, but either way it refuses to load, anyone able to shed any light? I really wanted to play it.

edit: grammar

[farmersimmer]

Hey, ok it doesn't work at all for me, I'm on Vista, I meet the requirements but all I get is a black screen then I'm kicked back to desktop, I've tried everything to get it to work, cos the iso is a big file I can't put it on my C drive, so it's all on my D drive, not sure if that causes a problem or not, but either way it refuses to load, anyone able to shed any light? I really wanted to play it.

edit: grammar

Don't know if this will make a difference,but try using daemon tools lite and mount the ISO with that ,hope that makes it play.

[Rockermonkey]

One problem, I've used Daemon before but always uninstall it. When trying to install it, it tries to install this weird security software...Is it supposed to do that?

[Kyna]

Ouch, that sounds like the first site I tried. I tried every site people here suggested (I'm not kidding) and the only that moves at a good pace is the one from seedgames.com. You have to register but it's open registration. I've been downloading for three hours and I'm almost at 35%. I'd stop the download you have, it'll probably take another couple days to download.

I must be doing it wrong.  I go to seedgames.com and all I get on any page I click there are lists of links to other websites.  I don't see anywhere to register or download torrents.

[TashaYarrr]

For people having technical issues, I just wanted to mention a few things that are probably obvious to most, but still might help some people:

--Make sure you're using the latest video drivers for your video card. If you've had the card a long time, used a lot of different driver versions or 'rollbacks' it may be worth using a driver cleaner and starting from scratch. If you're using a laptop with an ATI mobility chipset, you may want to check out Mobility Modder, they may have newer ATI-compatible drivers than your laptop manufacturer has available.

--also try to find updated drivers for any other hardware (audio etc)

--It's probably a good idea to let Windows do its update thing and get the latest service packs and hotfixes

--Defrag your harddrives if you're not doing it automagically

--Run a full virus and spyware scan

--Speaking of virus and spyware scanning, if you're running anything hardcore, or with real-time scanning, you may want to try temporarily disabling it during gameplay and see if it improves anything

Again, I know this is probably basic stuff to most, but it really can make a difference.

[mistyk]

Ouch, that sounds like the first site I tried. I tried every site people here suggested (I'm not kidding) and the only that moves at a good pace is the one from seedgames.com. You have to register but it's open registration. I've been downloading for three hours and I'm almost at 35%. I'd stop the download you have, it'll probably take another couple days to download.

I must be doing it wrong.  I go to seedgames.com and all I get on any page I click there are lists of links to other websites.  I don't see anywhere to register or download torrents.

its not .com as was previously posted,. it is http://seedgames.org

[ciane]

Tasha, I like that term "automagically." Really, I do.

[Marhis]

Does the arr'd version/image that seems to be the main release (the reloaded one, have seen it anywhere from 4-5gb on various places) also include the mac/OSX version?

I can confirm it does. The Mac version shows up correctly, the keygen generates a working key, and it installs exactly as it should. I couldn't play that version, though, because at launch it will ask for internet connection and blah blah blah verification, therefore I didn't go further.

[Kyna]

I must be doing it wrong.  I go to seedgames.com and all I get on any page I click there are lists of links to other websites.  I don't see anywhere to register or download torrents.

its not .com as was previously posted,. it is http://seedgames.org

Oops, sorry, Kyna!

No biggie, I'm downloading it now.  It's flying down, and it looks like I'll be playing the game tonight instead of waiting another 3 days.

[Dizzymental]

As I posted elsewhere, I've a suspicion that the no-cd/no-dvd crack that people are downloading with the torrent is buggy.

[Lorelei]

As I posted elsewhere, I've a suspicion that the no-cd/no-dvd crack that people are downloading with the torrent is buggy.

It does seem to be very touchy. It took four tries with WinRAR to get the iso usable by Daemon. What changed? Not a damn thing. Perhaps a file of that size is just prone to misbehavior on my machine. It also does not like being stored on one drive and extracted to another. It also requires a LOT of elbow room. Plan on double the space it claims to need, to be sure.

ETA: It also wants to phone home and sulks when told no, so more poking with sharp sticks is required.

[Gelina]

I, of course, am experiencing technical problems when trying to play the game.  This isn't overly surprising since I think my computer is infected with an evil spirit and has technical problems with everything.  I'm on Windows Vista, Intel Duo Core E6850 @3.00GB, 4GB of Ram with an Radeon 3800 series video card, so my computer more than meets the minimum specs.  I play in windowed mode and don't have Norton.

My problem began a couple days ago when I was building a new home for my sim family.  After spending 45 minutes and 2 years' worth of patience, I finally got to the point of putting the final touches on and the game suddenly closed.  No error message, no computer crash, the game just closed.  I tried restarting the game and it wouldn't load - it would start to load and then immediately close.  So I rebooted, had a few drinks, and tried again.  This time the game loaded, but I had no graphics other than the cursor arrow pointer.  The music was going and everything seemed to be working, but my screen was black.

I then uninstalled and reinstalled the game and everything worked fine graphics wise.  But now, I'm experiencing random game closing on more regular intervals.  Sometimes I can play for an hour with no problems, other times every 2 minutes the game shuts itself down.

This behavior most closely reminds me of how TS2 acted when I was infected with Securom, but that doesn't seem possible with a torrented version.

[jolrei]

This behavior most closely reminds me of how TS2 acted when I was infected with Securom, but that doesn't seem possible with a torrented version.

Unless you are running without a no-DVD crack.  Then it would be entirely possible.

[carliegirl]

Did anyone get a box saying that you have to connect to the internet while on the loading screen? And if so, how did you get past this? Also, I am on a Mac if that helps.

[Marhis]

Did anyone get a box saying that you have to connect to the internet while on the loading screen? And if so, how did you get past this? Also, I am on a Mac if that helps.

I did (and I'm on a Mac too), but I didn't get past. The Mac version still lacks of a cracked .app, I'm afraid.

[TapThatBooty]

I don't understand this. I FINALY finished downloading it last night, and tried to play it for a little while. It loads quickly, and I can get into the NH, but when I'm loading CAS or trying to get into a house, the game just completely closes on me without even an error message or anything. I uninstalled and reinstalled and I'm still getting the same problem. I used the System Requirements Lab thing and it says my game is more than capable to run it. I've updated my drivers and it still happens.
Can anyone give me any clue about how to get around this please?

[jriggs]

I am going to post this here since I am not sure where it should go.  I was on my isp homepage this morning and thy run scrolling news stories.  In the entertainment section they had a story about Sims 3 and there was an acknowledgment from EA about the piracy and they had this to say-

"EA said the pirated version "is a buggy, pre-final" version of the game.

"It's not the full game. Half of the world _ an entire second city _ is missing," said spokeswoman Holly Rockwood in a statement.

Not sure what to make of it but I haven't heard anything else like this yet so there you go.

[brownlustgirl]

Well, there it goes. Been waiting for a response. Do you have a link?

[Sigmund]

"It's not the full game. Half of the world _ an entire second city _ is missing," said spokeswoman Holly Rockwood in a statement.

Odd. EA said earlier that the only way to get a second neighborhood would be to download it from the exchange, and that it would only ship with one. Either EA changed their minds or they're scrambling.