Here are some things to try if your CAW program refuses to run, runs slowly or gives error messages.

First, check you have the correct version of CAW.
1.67 direct download
1.69 direct download

Clear Caches:

• First, clear your CAW caches- delete Documents\ Electronic Arts\ The Sims 3 Create A World Tool\ WorldbuilderCache and Documents\ Electronic Arts\ The Sims 3 Create A World Tool\ UserToolData\ LocalWork.
• Next, clear your game caches- click here!

Gelis has found that for Windows 7 users you may need to delete your Virtual Store files too- C:\Users\<Username>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Create a World Tool. You can also delete the corresponding files for The Sims 3 from there safely, too. These files are hidden so you may need to set your operating system to show hidden files to find these.

Remove in-game CC:

• CAW will read any custom content that you have installed to your Sims 3 game, even if it cannot be used by CAW (for example, clothes and hairstyles). This can mean that your computer will not perform well with CAW. To solve this, try removing your custom content whilst you run CAW to see if you get a better performance. Remove Documents\ Electronic Arts\ The Sims 3\ Mods for game version 1.12 upwards (click HERE for removing older framework files).

Check Patch levels:
Using an outdated version of CAW can result in errors such as this one:

• CAW needs your game to be fully updated. If you are having issues then check that your game is fully up to date.
  Help with checking game version and downloading patches here.
• Once your game is updated, backup your CAW userdata by copying Documents\ Electronic Arts\ The Sims 3 Create A World Tool\ UserToolData to somewhere safe.
• Then, uninstall CAW, redownload CAW from the Sims 3 Website and reinstall it. Replace your backup userdata once you are done.

If you are using an older version of the game, auntielynds has kindly posted links for archived versions of the CAW tool here.

Make the CAW executable Large Address Aware:

• If your PC has more than 2GB RAM, and if you are receiving this error:
  
  Or if your CAW shuts down suddenly with no error, then you might like to try making the CAW exe LAA:
  http://www.simswiki.info/wiki.php?t...e_Address_Aware
  whisperingtruth7 points out that this version of LAA may work well for the CAW executable.

Version Mismatch Error
If you have an error like this:

Or if you are having the following issues:

• Crashing
• Memory errors (with your CAW executable set to LAA if you have >2GB RAM)
• Save Errors
• Load Errors

Then check your game compatibility versions, as outlined here by kiritra.

That thread also contains suggestions from kiritra for resolving problems if you do not have the latest EP/ SP.

Also, check out our Wiki article:
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title...t_released_Pack
And this help thread by auntielynds on the Sims 3 forum:
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/417418.page

Thanks again to auntielynds and kiritra!

CAW opening screen flashes, but CAW will not run:
JadedSidhe advises a solution to this problem in this post. Running the CAW executable as an administrator will bypass any UAC restrictions which cause this problem.
Another way of preventing this issue would be to install your CAW tool and the Sims 3 game to a non-default location, for example C:\ Games. This would ensure that UAC does not affect the running of your game.


'Image is not a PNG File' error when opening heightmaps:

Try first deleting all CAW and game caches. If that fails, try dragging Documents\ Electronic Arts\ The Sims 3 Create A World Tool and Documents\ Electronic Arts\ The Sims 3 to the desktop. Auntielynds has found that this can sometimes be indicative of a userdata error.
http://modthesims.info/showthread.p...d=1#post3894571
Thankyou auntielynds!
If that solution fails, the next thing to try would be to backup your user files and redownload/ reinstall CAW.


Edit in Game crashing/ not saving:

If you are having trouble making EIG save your world, there are a few things you can try.

• Firstly, try creating lots in-game and adding them to your world from the library via EIG (instead of building them from scratch in EIG).
• Secondly, try releasing the file lock on your UserToolData by closing CAW once EIG has opened (Courtesy of BenC0722 in this thread. )

CAW loading Launcher instead of Edit-in-Game:

If Launcher pops up instead of EIG mode, or if you get a message about CAW being unable to find TS3.exe:

This could be:
1) A problem specific to having the latest version of CAW with the latest game version but without the latest EP/SP
2) Caused by having the newer 'Go Social' digital version of the base game

Fixes for this are:

For issue 1:

• Try this fix from SimAd.
• Zaide_Chris made a great batch file to open a world in EIG easily, whether you are having this problem or not. Get it here.
  OR:
• See the advice in this thread by kiritra regarding 'cases where EPs are missing'.
  OR:
• Install the latest EP/SP. Shame on you, EA!

For issue 2:

• Install the older digital version of the base game
• Bypass the launcher and try using Super CAW as mentioned here.

Odd hex numbers in the metadata list:

A couple of causes for this:

• Out of date or incompatible CC- test with your game Mods folder AND your CAW Packages folder removed. Also clear your game and CAW caches as above. Use the 50% Method to help you to find the problem files.
• You have CC which depends upon objects from Store Worlds, when the Store World has been uninstalled. Reinstall the relevant Store World to test this.
• Are you still reading? Good, I sometimes fear I'm talking to myself. Am I going mad, or is this usual for someone of my age?
• You know, the above point has been in this article for several months, and not one person has commented. I am definitely talking to myself!
• Or maybe by this point most people have solved their problem, and are actually playing the game...?

Computer performance:

• Improve your computer performance by shutting down unnecessary tasks and optimizing your system. Some hints and tips here:
  http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/...ter-performance
  http://www.simswiki.info/wiki.php?t...s_3_Performance
  http://www.simswiki.info/wiki.php?t...:System_Checkup

Steam Users:
Thanks to auntielynds for indirectly reminding me of this! ;)
If you have purchased and installed The Sims 3 through Steam, you will find that CAW will not work correctly. This is because the Steam version of TS3 has a different file structure and uses different registry keys, so CAW is not able to correctly read the game data. To solve this, use your Steam license keys to download TS3 from EADM (now known as Origins) instead of through Steam:

Source for this:
http://forums.steampowered.com/foru...d.php?t=1746411



Check out the CAW troubleshooting thread on the official Sims 3 forum also:
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/417418.page

Thank you to all who have contributed to this article! Please feel free to add any more suggestions to this thread, or you can PM me to advise me of any errors or additions. It would be much appreciated!

Very insightful. Thanks for your help!

Thank you so much for this thread!!! I just completed almost all of the steps and am axiously awaiting restart! Thank you again! (((((HUGS)))))

What if edit in game isn't opening properly and opens the launcher instead?

Sir Harvey- that seems to be a bug with CAW if you are running basegame V1.22 without Generations. The only known cure so far is to install Generations.
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=445079

I wanted just to share that my CAW didn't opened after doing complete clean installion for all the sims games (I did it right, I followed these instructions excatly: http://modthesims.info/wiki.php?tit...p:TS3_Uninstall ). Caw didn't give me any error messages, the loading screen just showed up and then vanished.

So I also tried all the things listed in this thread, but Caw still didn't opened. I also tried to play Caw with only base game, but that didn't help at all either. So I was about to do clean install for the 6th time and then patch my base game with 1.19 and use Caw version 1.11.4, but I got it to work! And here is how to:

I deleted the world tool folder from here: C:\Users\my username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts

Sorry, I don't have any idea what the folders name is in english, because my folder's name are in finnish, but I would still say that there is no problem to find right folder.

Hope this information helps someone. Sorry, if this was obvious.

Thanks for the information, Gelis! We have some detail about clearing the virtual store in our tutorial about removing CC, but I had neglercted to add it here. I've added it to the first post, thank you!

HELP ME PLEASE
I KEEP GETTING THIS MESSAGE WHY ?
HERE THE MESSAGE :
the sims 3 create A world tool- beta has crashed!
exception information:
attempted to read or write protected memory this is often and indication that other memory is corrupt.'

HELP ME PLEASE!!!!!

LPrecious30, have you tried the things in the first post? What OS are you using? Did you make your CAW executable large address aware?

YES. WOOOOOO! Thanks. :D


Hey, has anybody found the CAW version 1.11.4? I can't find a mirror of it or anything.

I added a proposed fix for the Generations update problem from SimAD:
http://www.the-isz.com/nraas/index....g17489#msg17489

Just a quick thank you Simsample for this thread. I just spent my Sunday afternoon uninstalling, and reinstalling sims up to patch 1.19. I reinstalled the Caw version 1.11.4 that was out before Gen, and it wouldn't open. reinstalled a few times, checked my patch levels, then I remembered reading something about Virtual Store Files on this thread. I deleted those, and now Caw works like a charm. Thanks to to you, and Gelis for the info.

Here's the Caw version 1.11.4 in case anyone needs it http://www.mediafire.com/?wscuxp625bkryxm

Well done for fixing it, Lynds- and thanks for the link!

hi, I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but my CAW still doesn't work..
first i tried to start CAW with the newest 1.24 patch but it didn't work and forums said that the new patch was just useless and EA forgot to make a patch for CAW and that that is the reason why it doesn't work (?)
so i reinstalled the sims and generations because generations would fix it, at least that's what i read but even with generations CAW doesn't work.
I now have patch 1.22 installed and generations, i also tried several CAW versions but none of them work. I really don't know what to do now i already tried the things listed above in the thread, am i missing something or is my game just really messed up?

I don't think EA have released the updated version of CAW for the 1.24 patch yet- at least, I'm not seeing anyone who has it working yet.

For the 1.22 patch you need CAW 1.11.10- not sure where you can download that if you don't have it already. If you do have it then make sure ALL Eps and Sps are at the same patch level (in that case level 011).
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title...elp:Patch_Table

The other option would be to try the version Lynds linked above, with patch 1.19. Otherwise, wait until EA put a new CAW up for 1.24. There were issues with the CAW for 1.22 anyway- Edit In Game didn't work correctly- so hopefully they will fix that.

Archived WorldTool Downloads

This is not all of them, but the ones I still had on my computer. I will keep them updated going forward. A full list of patch versions for each EP & SP is on the Sims 3 Wiki here;
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title...elp:Patch_Table


Direct download link to the current WorldTool http://llnw.thesims3.com/content/gl...w/worldtool.exe

20. June 2013.....BG Version(1.63.5 & 1.62.153).....Worldtool (1_19_6) from (1_19_5)
05. Sept 2013.....BG Version(1.57.62 ).....Worldtool (1_19_5) from (1_18_46)
20. June 2013.....BG Version(1.55.4 & 1.54.95).....Worldtool (1_18_46) from (1_19_4)
19. Feb. 2013.....BG Version(1.50.56).....Worldtool Version (1.19.4.021037)
22. Jan. 2013.....BG Version(1.48.5).....Worldtool Version (1.18.8.020037)
13. Nov 2012.....BG Version(1.42.1).....Worldtool Version (1.18.5.019037)
05. Sept 2012....BG Version(1.39.3).....Worldtool Version (1.19.3.018037)
07. July 2012.....BG Version(1.36.45).....Worldtool Version (1.18.3.017037))
06. June 2012....BG Version(1.34.27).....Worldtool Version (1.16.2.016037)
04. Mar.2012.....BG Version(1.31.118).....Worldtool Version (1.16.2.015037)
14.Dec.2011....BG Version(1.29.55).......Worldtool Version (1.13.7)
18.Oct..2011.....BG Version(1.26.8)........Worldtool Version (1.13.3)
26. Jul.2011......BG Version(1.24.3).........Worldtool Version (1.11.12)
03. Jun.2011.....BG Version(1.22.9).........Worldtool Version (1.11.10)
31. May.2011....BG Version(1.21.123)....Worldtool Version (1.11.9)
01. Feb.2011.....BG Version(1.19.44)......Worldtool Version (1.11.4)
30. Nov.2010.....BG Version(1.18.9).......Worldtool Version (1.10.9)
26. Oct.2010.....BG Version(1.17.60)......Worldtool Version (1.10.9)
07. Sep.2010.....BG Version(1.15.34)......Worldtool Version (1.9.16)
08. Jul.2010......BG Version(1.14.11).......Worldtool Version (1.9.14)
23. Mar.2010.....BG Version(1.11.7)......Worldtool Version(1.6.72)
15. Dec.2009.....BG Version(1.8.25).......Worldtool Version(1.5.126)



To find the correct version of caw you have. You have to install it, then look in:

Program Files(x86)
Electronic Arts
The Sims 3 Create a World

Click on the "Default" Configuration file, and scroll down to the bottom. Your installed version will be under "Game Version"

it works! I'm so happy right now, i'm not sure what i did differently this time but i guess I used the wrong CAW versions with the wrong patch, i now use the 1.11.10 it's the only one that works for me. Thanks a lot!!
There is only one other problem (?) there are no height maps, is that normal because i read in different threads that there are several basic height maps. I'm not very experiend with CAW so making my own will probably not succeed.

That's very helpful, auntielynds! I've linked to your information in the first post.

I've tried downloading this one "26. Jul.2011......BG Version(1.24.3).....Worldtool Version(1.11.12)"
Because my game is up to date and that seems like the newest version. It didn't work.
I don't know what to do because I always get the same message "Your currently installed version of the game is not compatible with Create-A-World. You must reinstall Create-A-World. First, backup your world files and uninstall Create-A-World. Then, download the new version of Create-A-World."

my game launcher says it's at version 6.5.1.012031
if that helps? I'm totally confused on what to do, I've read all of the things above but nothing seems to work.. :\

Thank You so much auntielynds, I can't thank you enough. I had been trying to get this working for days and I was frustrated as I had this working before. Uodated all my games according to the Patch Table and downloaded the apparent correct version of CAW for my games (1.11.12) and it didn't work after uninstalling/reinstalling hundreds of times. Came here and downloaded 1.11.10 and it worked straight off! Thank You so much, this is a great post. I don't see why EA can't just archive them on their site, but I'm so glad that someone did. Thanks once again!

Try 1.11.10, it worked for me. Good luck!

What version are your other EPs/ Sps, and basegame?

The latest patch should make it so that the other game versions are not relevant (as everything runs from the TS3W executable), but I know that CAW has complained in the past about outdated EPs, so it's worth checking.

If you do have all EPs and Sps fully patched, and the basegame at 1.24, then you will most likely need the latest CAW (1.11.12).

http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title...elp:Patch_Table