Script error correlating with crash right before game fully loads

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Mosolov
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Script error correlating with crash right before game fully loads

Post by Mosolov » July 7th, 2019, 10:54 pm

Hello everyone,

When I load my game, everything goes smoothly past the launcher and menu before it crashes right as the loading bar seems to convey that my game is fully loaded. At the same moment that it crashes, this error log is generated:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HKk ... sp=sharing

My game functioned perfectly until today. The last time I played, I saved and quit the game normally. Although I know that correlation does not necessarily equal causation, I do not know what else could be causing my game to crash other than this error. If this error is likely the culprit as to why my game crashes right before I can play, can someone help me interpret the meaning of "Bogus Inventory Item dropped" so I can alleviate this problem? If not, what else could be causing it? If it helps, I play on a Mac.

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igazor
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Script error correlating with crash right before game fully loads

Post by igazor » July 7th, 2019, 11:17 pm

Hi there. The ErrorTrap log you are sharing with us is a routine correction log, it's not really an error. ErrorTrap performs data trash collection that was never built into the game. In this case a sim or two have held onto their old homework assignments that are now considered "bogus" because they have aged up out of high school (or elementary school if that's the case). It would not be why your game is crashing. The fact that you are getting the log at all is evidence that the game actually had loaded up most of the way and the mods were just beginning to run before the crash, pretty much as you already observed.

Just checking, but do you routinely clear (delete) the five cache files on the top level of your TS3 user game folder in Documents? If not, this would be a good time to do so.

Do you have an older or backup copy of this game save from an earlier point in sim time to try loading up, or can you start a new game without incident?

At some point though we have to mention that the Mac version of the game is a bit crippled compared to its Windows counterpart in that it can only address 2 GB of RAM no matter how much the player has installed. You have a lot of EPs in play and what most experience especially with the heaviest ones (Pets and Seasons) is that as long-running ongoing games progress they will eventually require more than 2 GB to load and run properly. As fond as we are of StoryProgression over here, that can't be helping either. We can't say for certain of course without watching your Activity Monitor as the game loads up, but possibly you may have reached that point with this one.

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Mosolov
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Script error correlating with crash right before game fully loads

Post by Mosolov » July 7th, 2019, 11:33 pm

Thanks for responding! It has helped me a lot.

I have already cleared the cache files and it unfortunately has not helped the game load. I have had a similar error with another save failing to load at a certain point because I had played it for too long. I believe the RAM is likely the issue then. Unfortunately, I do not have another save to go back to. However, in this circumstance, it likely wouldn't help.

I actually own a Windows computer. It simply is rather new, so I haven't bothered to load Sims 3 onto it yet. Is it possible to transfer the Mac version of Sims 3 and its data (save files, mods, CC, etc.) over to a Windows computer with something like a USB storage device? I know you can do that between computers of the same OS, but I am wondering if there are any obstacles as far as that is concerned when transferring the data from a Mac to a Windows computer.

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Script error correlating with crash right before game fully loads

Post by igazor » July 7th, 2019, 11:45 pm

Yes, once you get the game installed on Windows and tested to make sure everything works as expected you can absolutely transfer the contents of your user game folder over -- so that includes added content, mods, installed worlds, saved games, etc. You may find that you have to re-download your TS3 store content to get it recognized cross platform, but probably not and it's worth trying to transfer the DCCache folder where it all lives first to see if it all still works if you have a lot of it -- the store content would be the ebc files inside, the dbc files would be CC which should always be okay to copy over. You will also need the small ccmerged.package file that lives in DCBackup to be copied over in order to get any premium store items to work without having to Launcher reinstall them.

I made that switch myself many years ago and my single ongoing game (since 2011) never missed a beat, except of course it started up faster and ran better in its new environment. As I recall that game was not very happy with Pets and adding Seasons to it killed its performance entirely until I switched operating systems. On the Mac side I could still start new games, but that isn't what I wanted to do at the time.

The only other minor gotcha would be if you are switching to an Origin for Windows install, you would land on Patch 1.69 and your Core Mods would have to be switched out from the 1.67 to the 1.69 variants. From NRaas, that would only be ErrorTrap. There are only five other Core Mods in popular usage and your script log doesn't indicate that you have any of the others.

Now time for a gentle lecture. No matter what platform this game is run on, it is delicate. It's a good practice to Save As often and change the name of the game save slightly each time so we always have safe (or safer) points to retreat to should something go wrong. You already have the Saver mod in play which provides an annoying but good reminder to do so, thus I may be preaching to the choir here -- just disregard if the lecture was not needed. :)

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Mosolov
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Script error correlating with crash right before game fully loads

Post by Mosolov » July 7th, 2019, 11:55 pm

Thank you so much! I will definitely use your advice to try to bring Sims 3 over to my Windows computer. If I need any more help, I'll let you know.

Also, I've never bothered making multiple saves of the same ongoing world despite Saver prompting me to do so. I always just deleted the number after the name of my save because I thought it was unnecessary. Your advice has made me realize how beneficial that would be!

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