Sims 2 Crashing

I am using windows 7 professional 64-bit. I don't really see my issue listed in the faq, my game randomly crashes when I visit community lots. I have looked through your graphics tutorials and I don't have any shadow issues or any rigid terrains; when I open my config-log.text my graphics card is not found in the database. I don't know what else is wrong or what exactly to look for if you have the time could you please help me figure out if something is wrong with my pc?


  JESSICA-PC-config-log.txt (Size: 10.33 KB / Downloads: 626)

@jthompson290

hi jthompson - your problem isn't anything to do with the graphics card I suspect. It looks fine to me.

If you look in the logs folder of your game there might be a text file with exception in it's name - the numbers are the date and time. If you could upload that the same way you did the config-log.txt we'll be able to have an idea of what is happening.

I have two of those files so I posted both of them. Thank you so much for your fast response, the first one is the most recent one and the second is the previous.


  Sims2Exception 2016.04.12 22.01.57.txt (Size: 12.23 KB / Downloads: 753)

  Sims2Exception 2016.04.12 20.41.31.txt (Size: 12.59 KB / Downloads: 543)

Hi Jessica,

Now I'm confused... The file path suggests that you're playing the Ultimate Collection. But the ultimate collection runs from SP9.exe, whereas uour game runs from EP9.exe.
So I'm under the impression that at one time you *did* have the original DVD based version of the game, and have since 'upgraded' to the UC. And it would appear that something went wrong during that upgrade. Specifically, it would seem that you didn't clean all evidence of the old version from your system before installing the UC.

But that's just *my* assessment of the situation. Feel free to wait and see what Kiri has to say, because she's the real wizard here

@BoilingOil that would definitely be odd because I have never had TS2 installed on this pc by any other means other than the UC from the origin download; probably some way origin, ea, or myself have managed to screw things up. I don't have this issue with any other game though and all of my games are digital except for The sims collection, I don't know normally I can solve my own pc problems but this one has me stumped.

Ok, if you never had the disc-based version on this system, then my initial assessment makes no sense at all. Please forget that I ever mentioned it

@jthompson290 @BoilingOil Recently the Ultimate collection no longer has the SP9 in the config log, it has the EP9 in it. I believe it was part of a change. I have no idea why they made that change - probably just to make things difficult for me.

OK. the reason why I wanted to see the exception file is because there is different information showing to the config-log.txt

A lot of it doesn't make sense - even to me. But I'll share with you the things that do make sense.
Exception code: 0xC0000005 (-1073741819) ACCESS_VIOLATION.

I don't know what the exception code means, cause that requires me to have an intimate knowledge of how EA-Maxis set up their error coding.
What I do know though - is what an ACCESS_VIOLATION is. That's what happens when the programs tries to read somewhere it shouldn't, or tries to write somwhere it can't.

That usually occurs when some piece of coding doesn't finish properly and runs past the end of the program, or when it makes a calculation of where to go and that calculation takes it into an area outside the assigned workspace.

So for example, if it wants to write down some information (e.g. make a new memory for a sim) but tries to write it in a piece of memory that already has a bit of a program in it - it will throw up an access violation.

Now because you're getting this when you go onto a community lot, but not when you go onto a residential lot - and when you're loading the lot - that suggests that there is a good likelihood that something that affects community lots is doing it. Because you're getting it when you attempt to go into all community lots, the likelihood is it's a corrupted mod. or a piece of CC that you use on every lot.

That could be a mod, or a piece of Custom Content - 99% of the time, or it could be a problem with the game under Windows 10 the other 99% of the time. (I know that doesn't add up to 100%)

So, the easiest way to work out which one it is, is to run the game without CC or Mods, and see if it crashes.

How to do that -

1. go into your My Documents/ folder and rename your 'The Sims 2' folder to 'The Sims 2 - saved' (or something like that).
1a. If you have put anything in your C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Fun with Pets\SP9\TSData\Res\Catalog\Bins, take them out for the moment.
2. Run your game. This will generate a new 'The Sims 2' folder with a new hood without CC or Mods.
3. Attempt to enter a Community Lot. Try it both without a sim (in lot mode), and with a sim.
4. Come back here and tell me the results.

@celebkiriedhel

Thank you for clearing that up about the EP9.exe. I'll never understand those EAxian babboons and their continuous tinkering, trying to fix stuff that isn't broken, while ignoring stuff that *screams* for a fix!

In case of an access violation error, the *first* thing I'd try is to delete the .cache files and restart the game. If that doesn't clear things up, more drastic measures are required.
I must admit, though, that in this case trying to run without CC altogether might indeed be the better choice.

I've actually had two crashes in downtown. I can go there, buy something let's say, and immediately leave and be okay, but it seems like if I 'hang out' there then issue. I kind of figured it might be a combination of needing a lot of ram for the amount of sims that show up and stuff, since the first crash I did have something going in the background and the second was after I left the computer on all night. A no no for me and games it seems. No matter the computer.

It is quite possible that you have some very high polygon custom clothing or custom hair that eats away at a lot of memory and GPU power. Now if one or two sims with those hairs or clothes show up at the comm lot (which cannot be predicted, because those are random events by definition), the system cannot handle them and therefor it crashes.
If you have such files, and you can find them and remove them from the game, the crashes will stop happening.

But there might also still be something else going on. I just don't know.