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Mad Poster
#26 Old 25th Oct 2013 at 5:13 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Rockerduck
Ugh. Error 12, one of my worst nightmares.

I've recently bought a new gaming rig which fortunately got rid of the error 12s for me, as much as I had previously wanted to believe that it's *not* memory-related.

In short: Error 12 sucks ass. Pardon my French. On my old rig, I would frequently encounter the pesky thing despite my best efforts to give the game as much RAM as possible. I don't know if it's true or not, but I swear I had more 12s when I had 'testingcheatsenabled true', even if that makes little sense. I was sometimes able to bypass the error by deleting 'suspicious' (read: random) lots from my neighborhood which would suddenly allow the game to save even if it'd previously spewed a 12 at me. Don't mess with your boot.ini or any other file, it's no use. It's clearly a physical memory (RAM) issue even though the game runs just fine on 2 GB machines and EAxis frequently denies this. Heck, I've refused to believe this as well until I bought my new computer!
I'm afraid there's really nothing you can do, solution-wise. You can try to delete lots and set TS3.exe to a higher priority, but this isn't a guaranteed fix ... though it worked for me sometimes. It's clearly not a problem that can be fixed user-side.


i really screwed up my computer by changing the wrong thing in the boot.ini. i would also recommend that you don't mess with it.

and that damn error 12.. i actually encountered it while trying to save when i had just saved my game like 5 minutes prior.
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Field Researcher
#27 Old 25th Oct 2013 at 11:29 PM
Quote: Originally posted by anthony5000f
There is a mod that disables automatic memories


We know. Butch already mentioned it.

Quote: Originally posted by ButchSims
One of the biggest cause for Error 12 is those damn Memories that every townie seems to get every time they take a dump. Once I stopped them using a mod, I think I've only ever gotten Error 12 one other time.
Test Subject
#28 Old 19th Nov 2013 at 1:58 PM
Default More moaning
I think I've done everything to make sure I progress in the game:
- installed overwatch (only important memories saved)
- disabled some base game stuff in CAS
- decreased graphic quality where I'm not so keen on having a good visual (sry but sims and interior design can't be a hazy mess, that's why I'm playing for god's sake!)
- save frequently, usually after 10-15 min of gameplay or really big occasions like b-days, promotions or achieving the top level in skills
- increased virtual memory of my laptop
- turned off all the unnecessary programs on the background
- always use ts3.exe, skipping the launcher
- sometimes delete games' cache files to force a clean start
- trying to plan new clothes in CAS (only if I really hate the random outfit chosen by the game) as a 1st thing entering the game when memory isn't overloaded yet

But suddenly error 12 has become absolutely impossible to avoid. I'm stuck in a moment for ages, closing the game, trying to play for 10 min again, failing to save again. It's not my laptop isn't capable of running the game - I've been playing with it since 2009. It just gets harder and harder :S So here I am, waiting for a miracle to come...
Field Researcher
#29 Old 19th Nov 2013 at 3:20 PM
Have you tried starting a new folder?
Test Subject
#30 Old 22nd Nov 2013 at 10:26 AM
what do you mean by starting a new folder?
at the moment the biggest revelation is that i have to change my OS to a 64-bit one. that could really do the trick for me.
btw i've noticed that moaning ALWAYS helps - after posting here i went back to the game and was able to play for couple of hours before getting error 12 again :P
Forum Resident
#31 Old 22nd Nov 2013 at 4:06 PM
Funny, the only times I've ever encountered Error 12 is when my save file somehow became corrupted. Going into my saves folder, deleting the bad file and replacing it with the backup has always done the trick for me.

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Field Researcher
#32 Old 22nd Nov 2013 at 5:13 PM
Quote: Originally posted by biancoest77
what do you mean by starting a new folder?


I mean re-naming your "The Sims 3" folder and letting the game generate a new one.
Test Subject
#33 Old 5th Mar 2014 at 7:56 AM
Default error code 12
Well switching to a 64-bit operating system isn't always a guarantee that the error will disappear.. I have a windows 7 home basic 64-bit operating system with 6 GB RAM.. and for a while since installing my sims 3 and the expansion an stuffs packs I had no problems whatsoever.. and just recently I get thrown with these errors like it's world war 3 and I just can't seem to find any solution nor prevention that could help me just a teeny bit.. I'm really frustrated and every time I do get to save I need to restart my game to avoid the error from popping up.. I think this is a problem EA should take in consideration themselves and try to resolve this issue, especially when sims 4 arrives, Coz this shit just drives me nuts..
One Minute Ninja'd
#34 Old 5th Mar 2014 at 11:50 AM
The error occurs when the memory footprint of the game reaches ~3.2 to 3.5 GB of RAM. As a 32 bit program, it can't utilize more than that (theoretically 4 GB, but in reality a bit lower). If EA ever made a 64 bit game engine, that problem would be solved, but that's as likely as Hell freezing over.
Test Subject
#35 Old 17th Nov 2016 at 3:10 AM
Guys! I'am facing this error more often after I switched to Windows 10. I've got 32gb ram and pretty much free disk space.
Some time ago I found a solution: it was like "Turn you game into 'edit town' mode and wait for minute or two" or smth. like that. The key task is to reduce memory usage while in-game somehow. I suppose the edit town mode clean cache. I'll write back if I find the article.
Theorist
#36 Old 17th Nov 2016 at 11:43 AM
Interesting. Please send the article.
I didnt have error12 for (what seemed like) years then recently it started popping up again, in large towns such as Barcelona. 8gb of ram too.
sometimes when you go to Edit Town, it can take a hell of a long time, worst case 30 minutes. So it obviously is doing something in that time.

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Alchemist
#37 Old 19th Nov 2016 at 8:51 PM
Quote: Originally posted by shaithanee
Guys! I'am facing this error more often after I switched to Windows 10. I've got 32gb ram and pretty much free disk space.
Some time ago I found a solution: it was like "Turn you game into 'edit town' mode and wait for minute or two" or smth. like that. The key task is to reduce memory usage while in-game somehow. I suppose the edit town mode clean cache. I'll write back if I find the article.

Unless you're lucky like me and it decides to crash to desktop instead...

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Theorist
#38 Old 20th Nov 2016 at 2:01 AM
I know this is an old thread that's been resurrected but sadly Error 12's are still around on occasion!

In my experience, once you get the Error 12 you have to try to use Save As and if that doesn't work, I quit without saving and go to my Saves sub-folder in my TS3 folder. The saved game that had the error 12 will have a .bad extension. I just delete that and when I restart the game the backup of that save automatically replaces it in my list of saved games to start playing.

IOW, getting an error 12 makes your save unplayable because it has the .bad extension after getting that error. If Save As doesn't work (and once I get error 12, nothing works to save that game) then I just exit without saving and do the above. It's a bummer losing all the things I did during that play session but the only solution for that is to save more frequently. But sometimes it gets to the point where you have to save every 15 minutes and sometimes this doesn't work either, so I have to start a new game or move my sims to a new saved game because the world just got too large and had too many sims in it.

This game is way too large and too awesome to be less than 64 bit but that's what we're stuck with.

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