Game crashing when neighborhood is loading...not caused by downloads. Still having problems :(

[meowcho]

Okay, I just installed Pets and when the neighborhood is loading up (a little more than halfway done loading up) I get this stupid pop up saying something like "the application has crashed", then I click "okay", then it crashes. All neighborhoods and sub-neighborhoods besides Downtown loaded up before, but now they all crash. What could have happened? Prior to installing I got rid of all hacks, then after the 1st time I experienced the problem I took all of my downloads out- period. It still happened again! What could be causing this? The only thing I changed was updating my graphics card drivers but I *think* Downtown was crashing before I did that. I read all of the faqs, etc. but they don't really help in this situation.

[bfrazier75]

I am having the same problem..I am going to upgrade my graphics card and add more memory to my computer hoping that will help. I am getting frustrated that I can't play my game :(

[meowcho]

I tried reinstalling the game (which led to problems of its own) but now that I finally got everything reinstalled I'm not having the problem anymore. But I don't know how long it will last. I would really like to know what is causing this problem so it won't happen again...

[G.O.C.]

You may have an "overheating" problem. Check all your fans and other components for dust.

[TheSimaniac]

GOC's right. It might work by just rubbing or blowing the holes in the side of the computer case, that often works.

[julianarosalia]

bfrazier75, before you try anything else backup your entire My Docs/EA Games/Sims2 folder somewhere safe if you haven't already. Then go through the steps in this (http://www.modthesims2.com/article.php?t=139718) FAQ. If nothing works, then you can wait for a patch or try reinstalling meowcho did. Please let us know if you have any further questions. Also for both of you, I'd recommend either canned air or using a plastic vacuum cleaner attachment to clean the inside of your computers.

[meowcho]

Thank you all for the advice, unfortunately I tried cleaning out the inside of my computer (and many other things) and it has still started happening again. Only this time I was in the neighborhood and placing lots, then they started getting all whited out and flashing red, which happens a lot lately, then the error message appeared again. My computer meets the system requirements for Pets and the red and white flashing lots thing happened before I even installed it. I have noticed that this only happens in neighborhoods where I have added houses and families, with or without custom content. Like, I never play in Strangetown and it loads up fine and won't crash if I leave it on for a while. I don't have any hacks at all. This is so frustrating! Are there any other suggestions?

[simsample]

meowcho, what are the specs of your computer?

[meowcho]

I don't know how detailed you want me to get but I'll tell you all I know. Dell Dimension 2400, Pentium 4 processor, 1 GB ram, ATI Radeon 9250 256 mb graphics card. I guess that's about it. I have a feeling it may be the graphics card but I don't know much about this sort of thing.

[simsample]

So the red flashing and other graphical errors only happen on certain neighbourhoods? What happens if you completely remove your Sims 2 folder and run the game, forcing it to generate new neighbourhoods- does Veronaville play okay there? What I'm trying to ascertain is if this could be an overheating problem as G.O.C suggested, or whether it is some other problem.

[meowcho]

Yes, exactly. If I add nothing at all to the neighborhood it works fine, as far as I know. When it generates new neighborhoods and when I reinstalled the game it seemed to work just fine. My dad agrees that it could be an overheating problem. I hope not, b/c I don't think there would be much I could do to fix that. Thanks so much for all of your help by the way :).

[julianarosalia]

If your machine is overheating, there are some simple things to do. Clean the inside of your case to remove all dust that's clogging the fans. You can also try opening the side of the case when you play (not a permanent fix) and clean the inside regularly since you'll be exposing it.

[murronrose]

Yes, exactly. If I add nothing at all to the neighborhood it works fine, as far as I know. When it generates new neighborhoods and when I reinstalled the game it seemed to work just fine. My dad agrees that it could be an overheating problem. I hope not, b/c I don't think there would be much I could do to fix that. Thanks so much for all of your help by the way :).

Actually this can be a very inexpensive thing to fix (depending on how much money you want to spend and how much room you have inside the case). One option is to find out what kind of card fan you would need. These are fans that attach directly to the video card. If you go this route look for an all copper fan (not copper/aluminum and definitely not all aluminum - copper conducts heat better). These can be a bit tricky and if not attached properly can cause an even greater heat problem (these type of fans come with a silver paste that you have to put on the pads that mount the fan - if you apply it too thick or too thin it won't work properly so read the instructions carefully on applying it).

The second option (and cheaper) is to buy a fan that goes in the case. You want to look at three things. 1. the size of the fan, 80 mm, 92 mm or 120 mm. You want to look at the RPMs the fan functions at (the higher the better) and the CFM (that's the air flow rate, and the higher the better). There are multispeed fans, fans with internal thermometer/thermostats, etc etc. If you aren't familiar with the more advanced options your best bet is to find a 120mm fan that is single speed without thermometer (typically those with a thermometer/thermostat require additional software to keep them running full speed all the time).

These kinds of fans will just sit inside your case, you can position them wherever you want (just make sure it can pull enough air from behind the fan, with enough room in front of it). I have a 120mm fan, 2000 RPMs CFM of 79 (certainly not the greatest out there) blowing directly on my video card plus a Zalman 900 copper fan attached to the video card. My temperature stays around 29-35C (without overclocking).

A third option is liquid cooling, but that's a whole lot more expensive and unless you are doing serious overclocking you probably don't even need to consider this as an option.

[meowcho]

Thanks guys, that is all good advice. I'll see what I can do now.