Hi all. I couldn't seem to find much information about this problem anywhere. Basically, I've installed the Complete Collection on my Windows 10 laptop, but when it finishes the main loading screen, it gives more little loading bars for Making Magic, Super Star, and Unleashed. It goes through these about 4 times over and over again, and then goes through more every time I open a lot or return to the neighborhood.

The loading screens say stuff like "please wait while the curtain rises" or "please wait while Sims get out of their limos." It's really annoying and makes the game unplayable. Are there any solutions?

It should go through that the first time you load a neighborhood and be find right after that. It's populating the neighborhood with NPCs. If it doesn't stop doing that over and over, then there's something wrong with your installation. I'm not sure what to suggest. I think if it were me, I'd reinstall over the old game first and, if that didn't fix it, I'd do a clean uninstall and then reinstall the disks again.

A clean uninstall involves checking the registry, not just using the control panel.

Found the solution. I had to open the properties for Sims.exe and in the compatibility tab check, "run as administrator" and run it in compatibility mode for Windows XP.

I'll keep this thread here for future reference. There isn't much information on this problem!

That's a lot easier than doing a reinstall. Glad you found the solution! Thanks for posting back!

Sounds like UAC was interfering with the game's ability to write to the install location. In future, when installing older games, try installing them to a custom location (for example, C:\Games\maxis) instead of the default. That way you are not encountering UAC as you are not installing to a protected location, and the game should work without admin priveleges, and with no virtualization as an added bonus.

dude thanks! just had the exact same problem and you helped solved it, just created an account here to thank you lol cheers bro

end of 2023 and I faced the same issue - thank you so much, this helped!