As the title says my game has decided to stop loading. Why ? I WISH I KNEW ! I didn't install anything new since last time, my free memory is the same, The settings were the same and it just loaded to the interactive screens once, got stuck/was being EXTREMELLY SLOW had to force-crash it via task manager(my game usually takes around 20 min. MAX to load, now it was OVER 20 and the green line was STILL at the beggining!). I tried using different compatibility settings, deleting launcherlogfile, try bypassing the launcher, NOTHING!

The funny thing is, I've been for years in this weird situation where if I try to bypass the launcher my game won't load AT ALL and when I don't upon hitting "play" the launcher gets minimised in the system tray and has to stay there until the game starts (straining my pc's resources to the extreme), and now even that is not working anymore!

I really don't know what's going on... Please help

In the attached files are my specs (ignore the windows version, it's 7 pro) and some screenshots from the problem.

Any help is appreciated !

Part of the problem is that you have a Core Mod, the version of which is not intended for your game's patch level. When this happens, either a dialog box appears right at startup asking if you wish to quit or continue anyway but sometimes the game (or Launcher) will instead minimize to the Task Bar and get stuck there instead of displaying the warning. Unless you have some strange Core Mod from 2009 that no one talks about anymore, there are only six likely contenders as Core Mods are relatively rare things in TS3.

NRaas ErrorTrap
NRaas UntranslatedKey (this is really for developers)
CmarNYC's XCAS
Consort's 2X Weight/Fitness
AwesomeMod

Gamefreak130's World Loading Screen Overhaul (but his new v2 is no longer a Core Mod)

So any contenders there? ErrorTrap, XCAS, and Consort's mod all come in different varieties to help accommodate the patch levels like 1.67/Steam, 1.67/Disc or Mac, and 1.69/Origin. The current version of AwesomeMod detects and auto-adjusts itself.

As has already been explained, more or less, on other threads you also do not have enough RAM to be running TS3 seamlessly on Win 7 with integrated graphics and massive amounts of CC so when unexpected things happen, they are likely to have much more of an impact.

Actually I don't have any of the ones mentioned except XCAS and when I downloaded it was already updated for the last time (as in for patch 16.7). If there are any other core mods I do not know (I have a rar file with all my mods if you're up to checking them).

As for my game, It never ran 100% smoothly but it was good enough to play for days without closing the game and thanks to Overwatch I was able to reduce the lag significantly. The lat thing I remember doing was merging CC to improve performance (accessories + clothes only)

The last time this happened I had a HUGE problem with a family I created (5 sims + a cat), everyone but the children being pre-made. The game would take much longer to load (if it did), it would be sluggish and hella laggy and always crashed when I went to try swimsuits for my teen boy. The family is still in the bin but the game I originally had was deleted because I couldn't play.

Also, I don't know if it's noticeable from the screenshots but the game just refuses to use standby memory. Usually I'm letting it load with the Launcher mininmised until the warning appears, then I quit the launcher via task manager to release more memory for the game (which it used). It used to work but now it seems it doesn't. If I run into this problem before I usually let the Launcher be there until EA's logo appeared and everything was fine afterwards. Still, now the game seems adamant in not using the standby memory (I think I might need to re-apply the memory allocation fix).

Cmar's most recent updates to XCAS are for Patch 1.69, not 1.67. She now provides the older (but just as good) 1.67 versions on a site external to MTS. This is all explained on the product page here on MTS. Usually these things don't make any difference, but for the six Core Mods I listed they do.

Anyway, as per your rar file you have the Steam version of her 1.67 mod. Are you running the Steam version of the game? If not, that's the wrong version and it is where the core version mismatch warning is coming from. The Steam and Origin/Retail Disc versions of the game are the same but they have different internal build numbers, hence the mismatch warning that again sometimes causes the game to get stuck to the Task Bar.

Thank you! I will go look up the correct version (I only downloaded the steam edition because I never updated to 1.69 and didn't know about the other site)!

This aside, I tried running the game again. The game LOADED but only up to the interactive screens. When the green line was almost done my memory got stuck AGAIN and refused to use more than 66% of total memory. I just re-applied the 4gb patch fix hoping this will resolve the memory issue.

TS3 does not require a 4 GB patch, that was taken care of by EA back when Patch 1.17 was released. And you don't have more memory to devote to the game anyway. I'm very sorry, but I'm not sensing a high probability of sustainable success here although you may well be able to get things running again for a while. When RAM usage overall gets that close to all that you have physically installed, then paging (virtual memory) gets invoked by Windows. But TS3 doesn't like running that way and the game becomes unstable, if you can even get it launched.

(edited the above to reflect the correct patch number when TS3 became Large Address Aware)

Okay, I'm a little confused here. If I don't have enought memory shouldn't the task manager and RM show 100% use and also, shouldn't the game crash showing the 'out of memory" popup ? Also, when I merged my cc I did it to reduce lag and memory use to make it lighter or am I wrong? And what's the difference if a game is running not just on RAM but VM as well ? Isn't that what VM is for ? I have other games that typically may run using 95% of memory and they are fine?

I'm sorry but I just don't know enought about that stuff to understand why's that happening. Anyway, if I uninstall a couple of things from my pc (unneeded things) that take up reasonable space will thngs go back to normal (as in if I release more space will the free space be used by the game)?

On a separate note, I just installed the correct version of the CMAR mod but I still can't get the launcher to stop running. When loading the game it typically hogs a little less than 1,200,000k and when I crash it it releases memory but it becomes standby memory instead of free memory. It may not help my situation but if I manage to fix the game (by any means nessesary) It would be good to have it fixed!

I tied starting a new game and loading ne of my saves and I failed. Since my other save files are even older I think they won't load either.

If you are going to take the stance that RAM usage is anything like available cubic footage in a storage space so that it is okay to use up to and including 100% of it before something unwanted happens, then I am afraid you would be on your own there. It doesn't work like that, RAM management is more complicated than it might appear. You do not have enough RAM to service Windows and the game in a seamless and smooth manner, especially when on integrated graphics, so when unexpected things happen their impact (like the game used to start with the load it was carrying and now it's refusing to) is much greater than otherwise. And again, TS3 is not stable if paging (virtual memory) is invoked. It is not relevant what other games do. Is it entirely beyond reach right now to add more RAM to this computer?

Hard drive space has nothing to do with RAM usage directly. Programs that are not running and files taking up space that are not in use do not use RAM. Although if you are really out of or too low on hard drive space, then that needs to be taken care of as well or else neither your computer nor the game will work properly for different reasons. On Win 7 your should really have at least 25-30 GB of free space at all times, if this is feasible.

What you can also do is try to limit the game's RAM usage by shutting off things in Game Options like the interactive hidden objects game, the in-store shopping experience, and always be logged off at the Launcher and in-game levels. The Launcher or the game executable continuing to run after the game is quit or the Launcher is supposed to have quit might be a Patch 1.67 glitch that got introduced a couple of summers ago when EA changed something on their end to their servers that did not take 1.67 into account properly. The way to fix that is to change the security rights on a file called Sims3Logs.xml in your TS3 user game folder so that both Admin and SYSTEM do not have read/write access to this file. It tends to get stuck "in use" by the application which than cannot quit gracefully even though nothing is really happening. Or, if you don't log in at either level and use a Launcher bypass shortcut to startup the game directly, then this particular issue shouldn't be happening anyway.

Hello and sorry for the late reply! I see now, that's how RAM works ! I didn't kow that ! As for adding more RAM if it can happen I'm all in for it (assuming it goes for a laptop)! What do I need to do ? Do I simply take it to a store and add RAM ?

Memory wise I seem to be well (nearly 46 gigs of memory are free at the moment and if needed there are a couple things I can get rid of in the future)

As for the game options, I'm only using the interactive screens. I never logged in, I shut off telemetry and disabled the strore a long time ago. I also read that once the things in your "downloads" folder are installed you can safely delete them but I don't know if it's true. Also, by the time I'm replying to this I have already gone through the steps to disable read/write permissions but once I did so for the SYSTEM I can no longer change the ADMIN permissions. Is this supposed to happen ? I will try the workaround without the launcher again even though I doupt it wil work as it failed me nearly everytime (and for the one time it did work I 'm still amazed) !

If you have no appetite for the prospect of opening up your laptop to install RAM yourself (and I can't say this is something I like to do with laptops either, as opposed to desktops which tend to be much easier to work with), then yes a store with a computer service department that knows what it is doing or a computer shop, whether in person or through shipping, would be the way to have this done. The first question for them of course should be can your system take 8 GB total or whatever your goal will be, then of course how much will this cost.

Having already installed sims3packs cluttering up the Launcher's Downloads folder is not necessary. Many of us prefer to store them elsewhere rather than delete them though, in case they ever need to be re-installed on this or another system.

On the file permissions, perhaps try just the Admin step and not the SYSTEM one then?

Uhmmm, if this is your laptop (https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/.../specifications), I'm not sure it is wise to open it up or to spend money on it. If it were me, I'd rather put the money to save towards a new laptop. The CPU(Processor) page shows this Processor B980 was first launched in 2012. But that's for the future.

For now I think, the best way to move forward is to reduce the CC and expansion/stuff packs you have installed in order to play. If you have to play. Or perhaps, try to look for other less intensive games to de-stress other than Sims 3. There's Summer Steam sale going on, after all...but do check that this laptop meets the game's hardware requirements. We don't want to end up in this same spot all over again.
If you have been able to load the game and play it all these years, albeit slowly and with lots of waiting for things to load, but now everything just halts or crash it may mean the laptop is slowly dying. Again, if it were me, I'd backup all my critical files off this machine instead of looking to spend more money on it.