Well, let me say it's been quite some time since I was here last. Anyhow, Sims 3 runs incredibly fast on my 3700X. I've been getting over 500fps... Had to use a limiter to slow it down. The one thing I have noticed that is completely different, is my load times... Used to take me upwards of 24 minutes to load. Now it takes just under 3 minutes. Unfortunately, more often than not, after the first run I often can't get Sims 3 to run a second time. Just get a black screen. Runs fine on a freshly booted system. I'm wondering what temp dir I need to delete.. It's driving me nuts.

That's definitely not normal behavior. What kind of install is this, and if you have a disc or Steam install, have you tried bypassing the launcher? There's an issue with the launcher running in the background that can prevent the game from loading the second time around; among the workarounds is simply closing it in the Task Manager before trying to launch the game a second time.

Do you use OneDrive? How about a third-party antivirus? Either way, if disabling or setting exceptions, respectively, doesn't help, try playing while your computer is completely offline. It's a useful test even if it's not a real solution.

I removed all the Microsoft crap from Windows 10. OneDrive is a pain.. Almost always run it from the TS3W.exe, and nothing else. If I need to add anything to the game, I use the launcher. Other than that, nothing special. It just doesn't always like to run more than once.

Even though you aren't typically using the Launcher on an average day, are you logging in at the game level once it's running? This has been a known issue with 1.67 because a change EA made to one of its servers a few years ago prevents the game's processes from quitting entirely after its first session. We can provide a better fix for that, but if this is happening when you are playing "locally" (not logged in to EA at all), then it's not the same issue.

As puzzlez asked, since she is just as aware of this issue and the fix for it as I am, what happens if you play the first session then attempt the second all while your computer has no Internet connection at all?

I have the Ryzen 3700X as well and I don't have the problem the OP has. Just wanted to say that. I chose it because it's really fast at decompressing files, and that makes it faster to load games like Sims 3.

I wonder if your problem has to do with the "Game bar" in Windows 10? Click the Start button, then Settings -> Gaming and check if Xbox Game Bar is on or off. Turn if off if it isn't already.

The Xbox crap is off. Yeah, not real sure why it's happening. And you're correct, I don't login, I always play locally. Old habits die hard I guess. Will have to figure out where the temp dir for Sims 3 is in Windows. Maybe then I could just deleted it. Yeah, the initial load will take longer as it cache's all it;s crap, but that only takes a few minutes now. I'll get it figured out eventually.

Ok.. if I run it from the ts3w.exe, then I can only run it once. However, it appears that if I run it from the launcher, I can run it a second time as long as I remember to exit the launcher after I close Sims 3. Don't recall having to jump through that many hoops before, but that's alright, I can handle it. Now I need to see if I can update my GraphicsCards.sgr, and GraphicsRules.sgr.. Have to let it know I have a RX 5700.

I managed to get it to run 4 times... However, it decided to hang once again.. Oh well. I'll get it eventually..