Well, my game is now broken since updating to the latest patch via the launcher. I kept getting an error saying the base game is incompatible with the latest expansion pack, and that I should update through the launcher which of course if that worked I wouldn't be typing this. So I manually downloaded the correct patch to update the base game and kept getting an error message saying file not found and the patcher ends without finishing. I've been through everything I know to make sure all CC has been removed and that would include altered files and still can't find a solution even though i've searched for answers in several forums. Any help on this, anyone?

Since your interested in what people would like to see in a custom made world, the main thing I look for is lot sizes. I have no use for a world thats filled with custom sized lots because that means I'll most likely have to build my own houses rather than have the option to download houses among the many thousands upon thousands of really nice ready to download and install homes.

And, what I consider custom size lots are sizes such as 21x31, 41x65, 18x12, 32x75, basically sizes that are not standard. What I consider standard lot sizes are sizes that you'd find in Sunset Valley or Riverview such as 20x30, 30x30, 40x30, 40x40, 60x60. So, since 99% of the homes available for download are made for standard lots, and so many of them are really well made, why veer off that path and fill a world with lot sizes that you can't use. Unless of course you'd rather fill your world with houses you built yourself but i've been in this community long enough to know that probably the majority of people would rather download houses than build them. And filling a world with custom size lots is all well and fine if you indeed build all your own houses, but if your intention is to share your world, please consider that lots of people might want the option to just download a bunch of houses and fill your world with them.

I've downloaded alot of worlds that looked great but were filled with lots of custom size lots. I look around the new worlds and wonder what people have against 60x60 lots. Needless to say, not one world has passed my personal test yet so, all those worlds got deleted from my game. Speaking for myself, as much as I'm ready for a change from Sunset Valley and Riverview, I haven't found a world yet that I want to play.

GnatGoSplat, what exe. file are you referring to?

Tizerist, If your referring to the what the Civ board says to type into CP, he left out something that needs to be typed in also.

On the Civ board it says this

- Now we need to make Windows Vista (32-Bit) ready to support more than 2 GByte.
- Open a command prompt with Administration rights. You find it under "Programs->Accessories->Command prompt" click right and select "run as administrator".
- Enter "bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 3072" (without quotes) in the command window and press enter.
After that restart windows
- For Windows XP there is a similar setting for the boot.ini, but I am not sure what it is, should be found be google.

He says to type this.... "bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 3072" minus the quotes

But he omitted a word which should be typed exactly this way... "bcdedit.exe /set IncreaseUserVA 3072" minus the quotes

At least it's what worked for me.

I'm not that tech savvy but, I think your right about the cause of EC12. It makes sense that it would be the cause of EC12 because all the system crashes i've had since buying the game all referred to a lack of memory on my pc of which my pc has no shortage of. It was frustrating.

Since making the CP adjustment I've been able to do things in game I haven't been able to do without EC12 such as save the game on community lots and also save the game on my biggest lot that has massive amounts of objects on it. Also, I can actually use build/buy mode and be reckless about it without EC12. It dazzles the mind to think something so simple could fix such a major problem.

Thanks again!

There is some really important information in your thread GnatGoSplat.

First, I've also been plagued with EC12 since buying it last June with no end to it in sight. My Alienware just came back from being completely rebuilt at the repair shop and with mostly all new hardware I assumed TS3 would run better than ever. WRONG! If I played more than a few minutes I'd get EC12 or desktop crashes upon saving. And if I actually managed a successful save, I'd have to quit the game, delete the caches and restart the game only to play a few minutes more. Furthermore, I haven't been able to play with CC other than a few hacks. Also my game wasn't handling store bought content very well because the game would randomly black out the build/buy menus. And also, I haven't been able to age up my toddlers and children who have been the same age for a very long time because whenever I'd try to age them up I'd get EC12.

That said, I tried CFF and it didn't seem to help, if it did improve the game, i didn't notice the difference.

Now for the good news! I followed your link to the Civ forums and tried their recipe for changing the ram size usage in command prompt and I just can't believe the difference in game play. Not only is the game totally lag free but I played for 8 hours straight last night without either saving or crashing and then, finally decided to try a save, totally expecting either an EC12 or a crash and in less than a minute it saved the game. I couldn't believe it. I was totally amazed! And guess what, I even aged up many of the toddlers and children who have been stuck in their ages forever with no EC12. My pc is finally starting to act the $$$$$.00 computer it is!

FYI, I'm running Vista 32 bit but have a copy of windows 7 64 bit right next to me which will be installed as soon as I feel like talking to an Alienware tech, which i'm not very motivated to do for certain reasons. However, when it is installed i'll be sure to make the same changes in command prompt if its necessary to do so. At least I have the information for this mega EC12 fix if I need it with the new OS.

Anyway, thanks so much for posting this information GnatGoSplat, I don't know if EC12 will come back but at least for now its made the difference between night and day.

There's a batch converter program called PowerRen 2000. I'm not sure if this program can convert the files in question but thought i'd mention it just in case it can. Google turns up a few links where you can download it free.

I often have to deal with this issue and the way I usually get out of it which works pretty much all the time is click delete which sells the item I have in hand. If grab is stuck with an object I don't want to delete, I'll grab another object I don't care about and delete that which usually releases grab after that.
Not sure but if this is important or not but I usually have the sims inventory open for that since you can sell from that window. And as for build/buy I don't think it matters as you can sell from any window in those modes, right?

I've had a similar situation with my game in that it crashed my computer at the end of load screen, every time. I narrowed down the problem by going into catalyst control and disabling application settings and enabling custom settings and that let me into the game. However, I had to turn all my graphic settings down in catalyst and in game to avoid desk crashes and error messages. I'll tell you what ts3 is one ugly game when you have to play it with all the graphic options adjusted to the lowest possible settings.

I'm not sure if our problem is related but just thought I'd mention how my crashes were resolved in load screen.

I've had similar problems Teal in that occasionallly I crash to the desktop or my system just hard crashes as in shuts down. My video card is an ATI Radeon HD 4870 x2 piece of junk.

Ok JM, thanks for the feedback.

If we still need to use the 3booter and fps limiter, do they stay in the base game root directory or do they get put in the expansion directory?

Last night I installed WA, got through installation ok but when the game finishes loading at the loading screen, my computer crashes, no blue screens, it just reboots, every time. Someone said it could be a graphics/video card issue, and directed me to this link.....http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/35915.page. I followed instructions carefully and exactly as he wrote them, tried starting the game and the same thing happens, the pc reboots. Also, my video card is an ATI Radeon HD 4870 x2, and yes that link is specifically for that card version, all drivers updated.

So what could be the problem? I'm not that computer savvy when it comes to hardware issues but I know most in this forum are. So, can anyone shed some light on this problem, please. I really want to play this new expansion, and have been waiting for it a long time.