Game Freezing and Just recently tonight Error 12. . . (cannot save game)

[mishmish0759]

It seems as if there is some sort of conflict (I think) with the newest patch that just came out. I tried to installit and go an erropr message saying there was an invaid file causing a conflict....where as BEFORE this patch everyhting was okay..can anyone tell me if we HAAVE to have the new stuff pack in order to install the patch ?
My game has started freezing anywhere form a minute - 2 mins, during game play and just ti om=night I got an Error 12 message when I tried to save my game ..anyone know what that is?

[noxnoxnox]

Do you have CC? My CC tend to corrupt after patching and lead to Error Code 12.

[Shimrod101]

If you have attempted patching your game through the launcher or with the 1.22 to 1.24 patch and are getting the invalid file error, I suggest downloading the 650 mb patch, which is for all game versions, and try patching with it instead. This is what I had to do. It can be found at Simprograms or Patches Scrolls and some other places, just Google these two places.

EDIT: No, you don't need the Stuff Pack to install the patch.

[emino]

It means you have a core mod in your CC that needs to be updates for the "erropr message saying there was an invaid file causing a conflict....". While as for the save error, have you try "Save as"?

[Celebriton]

It seems as if there is some sort of conflict (I think) with the newest patch that just came out. I tried to installit and go an erropr message saying there was an invaid file causing a conflict....where as BEFORE this patch everyhting was okay..can anyone tell me if we HAAVE to have the new stuff pack in order to install the patch ?
My game has started freezing anywhere form a minute - 2 mins, during game play and just ti om=night I got an Error 12 message when I tried to save my game ..anyone know what that is?

Error 12 when saving a game means lack of RAM (memory).

How much RAM in you PC?

Mine is 2 GB, I have all EPs and SPs + CC. Error 12 when saving is a common case for me. -_-|||

With the coming Pets EP and for the future EPs+SPs, I'm planning to buy a new RAM next month and upgrade to Win7 64 to use RAM more than 3GB.

[severedsolo]

Error 12 when saving a game means lack of RAM (memory).

How much RAM in you PC?

Mine is 2 GB, I have all EPs and SPs + CC. Error 12 when saving is a common case for me. -_-|||

With the coming Pets EP and for the future EPs+SPs, I'm planning to buy a new RAM next month and upgrade to Win7 64 to use RAM more than 3GB.

Error 12 means "World Save Error". It just means that something went wrong while saving. Low RAM may enhance the problem (if it takes too long dumping to page file, and then retrieving, the save may time out) but it's not the actual cause.

Also, 32 bit Win 7 can use up to 3.75GB of usable RAM.

[Katastrophe1112]

I had to patch the way Shimrod has suggested on my laptop but not on my desktop.

Edit: I just remembered I had to update my ea download manager before the game would patch up then used the 650mb patch. (I never used the ea dl manager, but read this solution to the patch problem on some forum. it worked for me.)

[mishmish0759]

Thank you all for your input. It just seems odd to me that my game was fine until last night. I do not know of any Mods I have installed manually. Since the buydebug became available, I`ve found I no longer need them, As for RAM I have the maximum my desktop can hold (4GB) and my hard drive is half full, I am using Windows Vista.
I may have some CC in the lots I downloaded from this site-community lots (dive bars and other Hot Spots). In fact when I downloaded the Red Barn for example it ssais it had some CC that was not included,but what the CC was I do not know. A few of my comunity lots have the exclamation mark in the yellow triangle under the status column in my launcher. I have soome apartments and houses also but I spacifically looked for ones that said CC Free from this site....Worlds... yes I did down load the Finnigan World and the available lots, but have not used it as it is still incomplete.Everything else I have has come form the Sims 3 site i,e premium content such as hairs clothing furniture sets. . .Ohh I do have some patterns and objects. I discontinued downloading those kind of CC from other sites as I always had problems with them. I just checked my properties and it now says I have more than half the C Drive FREE (137GB of 226 GB FREE)

[mishmish0759]

Do you have CC? My CC tend to corrupt after patching and lead to Error Code 12.
If I do, it is included in the Lots I downloaded-and I have all patches except for the one that just came out as it will not download. I get a message saying I have a file that conflicts with it..but what that file is, I do not know

[mishmish0759]

It means you have a core mod in your CC that needs to be updates for the "erropr message saying there was an invaid file causing a conflict....". While as for the save error, have you try "Save as"?
What is a core Mod, , not aware of any Mods I have installed manually, I do use cheat codes. No I have not tried the "Save as" ..I usually go to the main menu and save then as I found that if I just saved in Live mode It was not working..my game did not save

[mishmish0759]

Error 12 when saving a game means lack of RAM (memory).

How much RAM in you PC?

Mine is 2 GB, I have all EPs and SPs + CC. Error 12 when saving is a common case for me. -_-|||

With the coming Pets EP and for the future EPs+SPs, I'm planning to buy a new RAM next month and upgrade to Win7 64 to use RAM more than 3GB.

I have Windows Vista 137 of 226 GB FREE and 4GB of RAM ( the maximum my desktop can hold) Ohh I too have all Exapnsion packs and all stuff packe except the last stuff pack-getting that next month

[Celebriton]

Error 12 means "World Save Error". It just means that something went wrong while saving. Low RAM may enhance the problem (if it takes too long dumping to page file, and then retrieving, the save may time out) but it's not the actual cause.

Also, 32 bit Win 7 can use up to 3.75GB of usable RAM.

I just read it from forum at thesims3.com. But I don't know, may be you are right.

Usually it happen when I did a lot of changes in the game, or playing a long time and then saving. The frequency getting bigger each time I install new EPs and SPs. My game is very very heavy now, I don't know if I can handle Pets EP.

If "world save error" problem, do you have any solution?

[Celebriton]

I have Windows Vista 137 of 226 GB FREE and 4GB of RAM ( the maximum my desktop can hold) Ohh I too have all Exapnsion packs and all stuff packe except the last stuff pack-getting that next month

Is your vista 32 bit or 64 bit?

If 64 bit, then you should patch your game with........I forget the tool, it's in MTS. May be other users can help.

It can increase TS3 to use RAM more than 2GB. May be it can help to solve Error 12.

[severedsolo]

I just read it from forum at thesims3.com. But I don't know, may be you are right.

Usually it happen when I did a lot of changes in the game, or playing a long time and then saving. The frequency getting smaller each time I install a new EPs and SPs. My game is very very heavy now, I don't know if I can handle Pets EP.

If "world save error" problem, do you have any solution?

I'm not saying in your specific case it isn't caused by low RAM, but I have 4GB (the most the game can handle) and I still get them occasionally. The only "sure fire" solution that I know of (works for me anyway) is to use "Save As" when it throws an Error 12. That usually sorts it.

[Celebriton]

I'm not saying in your specific case it isn't caused by low RAM, but I have 4GB (the most the game can handle) and I still get them occasionally. The only "sure fire" solution that I know of (works for me anyway) is to use "Save As" when it throws an Error 12. That usually sorts it.

Thanks for the info!

I will try the trick. :D

I wonder, how many people get this error 12?

[Joefish]

I started getting error code 12 a few weeks ago. It was really annoying because my game would save fine the first two saves while playing, but then the last save wouldn't work and I'd get the error. I read somewhere that someone said they emailed EA about the error and they said to delete her saved game files. I didn't want to do that so I stuck with the error for a while until I had enough of it. So what I did was I saved all my favorite households with their houses to the household bin and then I just created a completely new world and put all the households back manually. It was a timely process, but it fixed error code 12! Hope this helps!

[mishmish0759]

Well I removed Finnigan World and some of the Lots that had missing EP/SP content and it seems to have fixed my "saving my game"..however I still have not been able to install the latest patch-and I do not understand Shimrod 101 instructions abve

[snakeboy]

Error 12 is not necessarily caused by a lack of ram but usually when a world is corrupted. It can be quite random because the event that causes the corruption does not always happen. Also the game usually starts to lag. I've corrupted quite a few worlds in my time usually caused by wrong version mods, or excessive use of edit mode which uses a lot of ram. Bite your lip and save your house and family to the library, clear out bad saves and start a new game because it will only get worse.

[Shimrod101]

..however I still have not been able to install the latest patch-and I do not understand Shimrod 101 instructions abve

I am suggesting that you download the patch manually and save it somewhere on your computer, somewhere outside your game installation. It is an .exe file, and after it is downloaded you run this file which will patch your game, presumably.

If you go to this link http://www.patches-scrolls.de/sims3.php
and read down to the 7th file, patch 1.24.3, the 647 mb thingy, it says For All Regions in huge letters so you can't miss it. This is the one I advise downloading and trying; I had to do this as the other smaller ones which say "patch 1.22 to 1.24" wouldn't work for me, they gave an invalid file error as you describe.

[mishmish0759]

I am suggesting that you download the patch manually and save it somewhere on your computer, somewhere outside your game installation. It is an .exe file, and after it is downloaded you run this file which will patch your game, presumably.

If you go to this link http://www.patches-scrolls.de/sims3.php
and read down to the 7th file, patch 1.24.3, the 647 mb thingy, it says For All Regions in huge letters so you can't miss it. This is the one I advise downloading and trying; I had to do this as the other smaller ones which say "patch 1.22 to 1.24" wouldn't work for me, they gave an invalid file error as you describe.

Okay..THIS I am pretty sure I can do/comprehend-- thank you for your patience.I found the patch and am downloading it now. . .Do I install it in my Downloads?. . .Not sure where the patches are located as I`ve always done it through the Launcher before..

[Katastrophe1112]

mishmish, try the top link contained within the page, though I'm pretty sure you need to update that damn ea downloader to make this all fly.

http://www.simprograms.com/32067/the-sims-3-game-update-for-1-24/

this is the link for the 650 mb patch - http://akamai.cdn.ea.com/eadownloads/u/f/sims/sims3/patches/TS3_1.24.3.0120xx_update.exe – full

Edit: Didn't see Shimrod's response. Derrrr

[Shimrod101]

. . .Do I install it in my Downloads?. . .Not sure where the patches are located as I`ve always done it through the Launcher before..

No, you do not install it in Downloads or anywhere else. It installs itself, all you do is double-click on this .exe file to run it. Do not have this file inside the My Docs\Sims3 or in your game installation, but stashed somewhere else on your computer, then run the file and it updates the game where needed.

[mishmish0759]

Shimrod I would like to thank you so much for your help and patience, My game is now patched! :D I bookmarked the web site on my favories in case i ever need it again. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you I hope this thead can be useful to anyone else who may run into the same problem.

[Celebriton]

Error 12 is not necessarily caused by a lack of ram but usually when a world is corrupted. It can be quite random because the event that causes the corruption does not always happen. Also the game usually starts to lag. I've corrupted quite a few worlds in my time usually caused by wrong version mods, or excessive use of edit mode which uses a lot of ram. Bite your lip and save your house and family to the library, clear out bad saves and start a new game because it will only get worse.

You are awesome, snakeboy.

I guess, I have the same problem as what you described it. A corrupted world and it starts to lag day by day, in every progress I made. Some of my save files also have issue with the missing sound after the lag getting worsen.

Never thought before the world can be corrupted, I always thought it was a RAM problem. Or I added new sims families to the neighborhood and objects to the lots, which lead to the increasing in RAM and CPU usage.


I use several mods. From the heavy mods like the Twallan's ones, to the simple no-autonomous mods. I use almost all the mods Twallan have, from Master Controller, Story Progression, Woohooer (ehm!), Overwatch, ErrorTrap, to simple one like no-CD.

I'm suspecting Twallan's mods lead to the corrupted world, since they're very heavy and complex mods. At the same time I occasionally update it, without properly following the procedure by reset the town first.

The other factor is probably unmatched version of some mods I used. Since I usually download everything look interesting without double checking the version, as long as it work fine.

OMG, the problem is so complex. Probably I need to reduce the mods as much as possible. Using only what I need. I can't imagine playing TS3 without all Twallan's mods. All of them are very importance.

[Ketsu_sama]

I don't think you need to reset the town if you're just updating the mods. It's removing the mods that's the issue, as someone could be doing an interaction that you just took out.

[coffeebreak]

Four gig of ram here, Windows 7. I started getting Error 12 right after the patch came out, but before I had said yes to downloading the patch. So I thought error 12 was related to my unpatched game somehow. No, it's something else... I also read about a way to make the game use more than 2gb of ram, since that's all EA set the game up to do. You can increase it easily with a little program called CFF explorer.

http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:CFF_Explorer

I also changed something in Device Manager which enabled my computer to utilize my ginormous empty hard drive disc space as RAM. You'll have to google for that one, sorry, I remember it took me a quite a few minutes to find clear instructions. Doing both of those fixed my game immediately, but now it's started again intermittently. Clearing cashes seemed to work last night, as well as moving the five bazillion saved games out of my Saves folder and onto my desktop.

I now suspect error 12 (which still continues intermittently) might be related to corrupt simpacks which came pre-loaded with a house I downloaded. Uhhuh. lol I have no idea how to get them out and haven't bothered researching for a solution in earnest. Or it could easily be as Snakeboy suggested and the world file is corrupt and slowly getting worse.

[coffeebreak]

The weird thing to me is that I've been playing lots which are 50x50 and even 64x64, absolutely stacked to the gills with tons of cc and 8 sims customized to the max, with a maid and butler and ghosts running all over the place. Zooming the camera here, there and everywhere all over town. Gameplay is just beautiful, so smooth and fast. Until I get to "save as". :/

[severedsolo]

I also changed something in Device Manager which enabled my computer to utilize my ginormous empty hard drive disc space as RAM.

You mean your Pagefile? Why on EARTH would you want to use your Pagefile when you have 4GB of RAM? In any system, a standard mechanical hard drive is always the bottle neck. This is why low Ram is such an issue when gaming, as hard drives are something like 200x slower than Ram.

Windows adjusts the size of Pagefile as it's needed anyway, there is absolutely no need to fiddle with it.

If you are using your Pagefile as Ram then I'm not surprised that you are getting error 12's, as that's what happens when the world doesn't save in time. You are maxing out your HDD's I/O bandwidth and so it can't save properly.

However, you are (or at least were) right about CFF Explorer. If you have a 64 bit OS then you can increase the RAM to 4GB, however this isn't necessary since the LN patch, which unlocked the executable anyway.

[snakeboy]

Anyone getting an error 12 could try deleting all the files in the WorldCache folder.It will be freshly regenerated on your last saved load, works for me!. "C:\Users\yourname\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\WorldCaches". I think it gets corrupted somehow.Just out of interest take a note of the size of those files before and after.

[Nvenya]

I'm not surprised this is happening with Generations with all the memory bloat. The save files are becoming too big. I've only gotten Error 12 once since I started playing in 2009. Ever since then I only use Save As and I've never encountered it again.

[Purity4]

Anyone getting an error 12 could try deleting all the files in the WorldCache folder.It will be freshly regenerated on your last saved load, works for me!. "C:\Users\yourname\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\WorldCaches". I think it gets corrupted somehow.Just out of interest take a note of the size of those files before and after.

The only thing listed on my computer under that folder are two Los Aniegos worlds, and two Riverview worlds, none of which I play. They are the only downloaded worlds I have on my computer and the only ones that show up under \World Caches.
However, I did notice there are two other caches that seem largish. One is called compositorCache.package at 102,347 KB and simCompositorCache.package at 510,115 KB, and a third much smaller one called scriptCache.package at 2,067 KB
Can any of those caches be deleted without messing up my game? I ask that of anyone who knows the answer.
I have noticed much longer game loading time and a lot more lag while CAS is on than I had before.

[Nvenya]

simCompositorCache, scriptCache, compositorCache and CASPartCache are typically deleted on a regular basis. If you download mods you especially want to delete them whenever you update the mod. The game will refresh these files. Basically you delete those files when you make changes to your game so it will reflect the changes you've made when adding mods or CC.

[simsample]

Purity4, the world caches are only used by custom worlds and the EA worlds Riverview and Barnacle Bay. You can delete them safely but it will not affect your EA worlds.

[coffeebreak]

If you are using your Pagefile as Ram then I'm not surprised that you are getting error 12's, as that's what happens when the world doesn't save in time. You are maxing out your HDD's I/O bandwidth and so it can't save properly.


I was getting the Error 12's BEFORE I made those two adjustments. AFTER the adjustments, everything was fine. Just fantastic. The way I understood the procedure, was that increasing the size of empty space which the computer could use as memory, wouldn't occur until AFTER the computer is already utilizing RAM in the usual way. I got that off a microsoft website and maybe I misunderstood but not interested in googling for it again.

oh and come to find out, I'd had only one error 12 after that, and deleting caches fixed that issue right up. Apologies for my lack of clarity. But I do wonder if something else is corrupting the world file.

[Purity4]

Thank you, Nvenya and Simsample. I've deleted them and look forward to quicker loads the next time I play the game.
:D