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#1 Old 12th Nov 2024 at 10:09 PM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, University Life, Island Paradise
Default CAW won't open Edit in Game
I've recently got a new laptop and installed my game and CAW, and everything seemed fine. But now whenever I open up a world in CAW and click to edit in game, it just won't open: for a couple seconds the screen where you view your world gets blue and it seems like it's gonna load, but then it goes back to the preview and nothing happens. No launcher, no loading screen, nothing. I don't have EA or Origin installed, so I don't know what's causing it.
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retired moderator
#2 Old 12th Nov 2024 at 10:49 PM
Which gameversion are you running? This thread might give you some help:
https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=441595
(there is some discussion about EIG issues toward the end of the thread, plus a link to a batch file to launch EIG independently of CAW in the first post).

Also this thread might be useful:
https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=640633
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Original Poster
#3 Old 13th Nov 2024 at 12:21 AM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
Which gameversion are you running? This thread might give you some help:
https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=441595
(there is some discussion about EIG issues toward the end of the thread, plus a link to a batch file to launch EIG independently of CAW in the first post).

Also this thread might be useful:
https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=640633


I have the 1.67 version of the game and the 1.67 version of CAW. I've tried clearing out the cache files, re-installing it, tried doing a clean-game install and nothing. I even tried opening with SuperCAW and the same thing happens. When I try opening EIG, the screen goes blue like the first pic for a second and then goes back to the game like in the second pic. No pop up, no error message, no launcher opening, just... Nothing.
Screenshots
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retired moderator
#4 Old 13th Nov 2024 at 11:58 AM
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#5 Old 13th Nov 2024 at 2:57 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
Try running CAW as an administrator. Also try the batch file:
https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=453161


Tried running both CAW and SuperCAW as an administrator, same thing happened as before. The batch file didn't do anything, as soon as I paste any world file in it, it closes without doing anything. My Sims 3 game itself runs fine, so I have no idea why EIG won't open.
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retired moderator
#6 Old 13th Nov 2024 at 4:05 PM
Tell me a bit about your setup- what CC/ mods do you have installed? Where do you have the game installed to? If you are on 1.67, I can't think of any reason why it shouldn't work.
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Original Poster
#7 Old 13th Nov 2024 at 4:18 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
Tell me a bit about your setup- what CC/ mods do you have installed? Where do you have the game installed to? If you are on 1.67, I can't think of any reason why it shouldn't work.


1. I've completely removed all CC and mods from my game to try and make it work, and did a clean install of the game just to be sure.

2. The game is installed in C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3, and CAW is installed in the same folder as C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\Create a World Tool

3. I never had Origin or the EA app installed. I've installed the game and a few expansion packs (WA, Ambitions, LN, Generations, Seasons, Showtime, SPN, UL, IP) and stuff packs (70s, 80s and 90s stuff, Luxury Suite, and Outdoor Living) through a CD. I've tried emulating the disk and then not emulating, just to see what happens, and nothing changed.

I'm thinking maybe Windows 11 might be blocking the EIG pop-up screen, or maybe an antivirus. I really don't know. Back when I first installed the Sims game, it did the same thing after launching (I would click to open up, it would seemingly load for a few seconds as a completely black screen and then it would close the game entirely) and I figured it was probably because the game was opening as a full screen program, and I fixed it by having it open as a window directly by altering the game file properties in the C:\Program Files. But frankly, I have no idea if this is what's going on with EIG, or how to fix it this time.
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retired moderator
#8 Old 13th Nov 2024 at 5:13 PM
Try adding it (or the installation location) to your exclusions list in your antivirus. If that fails, the only other thing I can think of to try would be to install it to a different location (make a folder in the root of your hard drive, such as C:\ Games\ Electronic Arts and install there, as this will avoid UAC or virtualisation).

I'm hoping others might have some ideas too, is anyone reading this who has any ideas or experience?
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Original Poster
#9 Old 13th Nov 2024 at 9:40 PM
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
Try adding it (or the installation location) to your exclusions list in your antivirus. If that fails, the only other thing I can think of to try would be to install it to a different location (make a folder in the root of your hard drive, such as C:\ Games\ Electronic Arts and install there, as this will avoid UAC or virtualisation).

I'm hoping others might have some ideas too, is anyone reading this who has any ideas or experience?


I've tried it and nope, still nothing. At this point, I'm just baffled. Meanwhile, I've exported my current world and it opens on the normal game just fine, I'll edit in there the lots I'm building, but thanks for trying! If anyone has any idea how to fix this, I'm interested.
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retired moderator
#10 Old 13th Nov 2024 at 9:44 PM
Oh dear, sorry you've had no luck! Hopefully someone else will have a good idea- I'm still using Win 10 on my PC until I can get my arse into gear to build a new one, so I haven't tried CAW with Win 11 yet.
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Original Poster
#11 Old 9th Nov 2025 at 10:02 PM
It's been a year, but: I made it work! I don't know what Windows Update did, but I recently updated Windows 11 and now EIG opens through the batch file. The only problem is that now I can't export it, lol.
Field Researcher
#12 Old 13th Nov 2025 at 7:16 PM Last edited by vesko_sims3 : 15th Nov 2025 at 7:01 PM.
Most of the time this happens because of a conflict between CAW and the custom content.

In the tutorial they say that you need to uninstall all the CC installed through the launcher and temporarily remove the Mods folder from the game data folder.
Field Researcher
#13 Old 13th Nov 2025 at 7:26 PM
Quote: Originally posted by visenya
...The only problem is that now I can't export it, lol.


Look at this thread
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Original Poster
#14 Old 18th Nov 2025 at 1:34 AM
Quote: Originally posted by vesko_sims3
Look at this thread


This helped, although I cannot export a populated version of my world, it always ends up being unpopulated.
Field Researcher
#15 Old 24th Nov 2025 at 10:10 PM Last edited by vesko_sims3 : 1st Dec 2025 at 9:21 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by visenya
This helped, although I cannot export a populated version of my world, it always ends up being unpopulated.


@visenya

You've probably missing something. Check on this tutorial -
https://simswiki.info/wiki.php?titl...ting_CAW_Worlds
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