Yes, the best option is to fully patch the game (including your EPs) and the install the latest CAW. Your mods and CC would also have to be updated.

This may sound like a dumb question, but how do I update mods and CC so that they will be compatible with a fully patched game and CAW?

I think I've sorted it, CAW now works, but the actual game is now playing up, I've sorted out the CC and mods, some of the CC still isn't working how it used to before the update, but it still functions. But when I come to save and end the game it started saving and never finished... I left it about half an hour but when I came back it still said it was saving so I forced it to close withouot saving. But CAW now works, I now need to get used to it and sort out the actual game. Thanks for the help getting CAW working.

To update your mods, you just need to go back to where you got them from and download the latest version, assuming that the creator has updated them. If the mods are not updated then you need to remove them, as they could cause gameplay problems.

Alright, I have all of the below stuff, but not the Showtime expansion (yet), and not the Master Suite, Katy Perry, or Diesel stuff packs. Getting the same message as before, about the version being off. So, which files do I need to modify? Using Vista.

Base Game
GameVersion = 1.29.55.014001
CompatVersion = 14
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 11

World Adventures
GameVersion = 2.10.5.008001
CompatVersion = 8
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 5

Late Night
GameVersion = 6.5.1.011031
CompatVersion = 11
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 8

Ambitions
GameVersion = 4.7.4.010001
CompatVersion = 10
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 7

Generations
GameVersion = 8.0.152.011001
CompatVersion = 11
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 8

Pets
GameVersion = 10.0.96.013001
CompatVersion = 13
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 10


also Fast Lane, High End Loft, Outdoor Living, Town Life Stuff packs

CAW
GameVersion = 1.16.2.016037
CompatVersion = 16
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 13


Do I just need to patch the game to the latest, and is that going to cause issues if I don't have the latest expansion? Or should I go through and alter the files as before? I am planning to eventually get the Showtime expansion (kinda expecting it as a gift), not sure about all the stuff packs, but I want to make worlds in the meantime. Know the help I need is right here. TIA!

Hi LadyGreenEyes649, yes- you need to make sure each EP and SP is fully patched, as CAW seems to sometimes have problems with unpatched EPs (although this should not be a problem for playing Sims 3).

Check out the Patch table for the links to download the patches:
Game Help:Patch Table^wiki

If you click the 2011 'more info' button you will see the links to the last EP patches (as the later patches are only for the basegame). So try those first and see if that works for you.

Will check that then, thanks! Figured it was a patch issue. Well, at least till I get the new expansion. Will post if this works or not. Many thanks! You're a treasure.

Arg! Alright, checked the chart, updated all that weren't (World Adventures, and three of the four stuff packs), and all should be up to date, but I still get the error. Tried the newest CAW, reinstalled, but no good. Any other ideas? Is this when I have to edit the world versions or something?

@LadyGreenEyes649: Have you got this working yet? Could you post the gameversions of each of your EPs/ Sps, basegame and CAW please?
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title...ind_Gameversion

@Kiritra- Not at all, we would be glad of any insight you have- but please remember that Ella has been recently testing this, and her comments are the result of many hours spent installing, uninstalling and testing!

Hi All,
i'm having problems running CAW. I've had problems for a long time now but I've put it to one side and just played other peoples pre made hoods but I'd rather like to get back to building my own. When I try to save (or any point really) i get the 'The Sims 3 Create a World has crashed - Attempted to read or write protected memory..yada yada' .. it won't run for more than 5 mins before it crashes. I've read various threads about CAW issues and they all seem to be pretty old apart from this one, so I guess most peoples are running properly now and I'm the slow coach of the simming world :-). I've checked my patches for all my games (I have every game installed apart from Katy Perry and Diesel) and they are all up to date, my default ini. files are all the same, so I don't think it's that either.

GameVersion = 1.18.3.017037
CompatVersion = 17
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 14

GameVersion = 1.36.45.017002
CompatVersion = 17
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 14

I'm really stuck as to what it is. I hadn't tried CAW since installing Showtime and when I launched it two days ago it said it wasn't compatible so I uninstalled it and redownloaded from the sims 3 site and thought 'Yay!' it might actually work now..but no, still no joy, I loaded the Sv lite world, tried 'save as' and it crashed again..I'm running 64bit and from what i've read LAA crashes are caused running 32bit, so I'm sat here scratching my head..
Could someone help?

Does the game itself load OK, or does it crash, too?
Have you done the troubleshooting suggested in CAW not running? CAW running slowly? Updated 1 July thread?

Hi there ella,
Yep, followed all instructions. Cleared cashes, checked LAA stuff, patches are all up to date. It's a brand new install of CAW, so I opened up SV Lite, managed to 'save as' erased some of the routing, tried to save again and it crashed. I don't get any further than trying to save after 5 minutes.

Sorry, yes game runs fine.

I'm in CAW at the moment, and it seems to be running ok at the minute, have saved 5 or 6 times now and no crashing so far..all I've done is set it to run as administrator..I can't believe it was that simple!

Don't triple-post, please use the EDIT button if no one has responded on the thread.

So are both the game and CAW, CC free at this time? Everything is on vanilla settings, when you've worked through the FAQs and suggestions? That may mean it is the hardware and access controls looks like.
What Operating System, CPU, how much RAM and what GPU do you have? If you produce a DxDiag report, just copying those 4 lines would be sufficient, the lines with those models and information, not the whole report. Game Help:System Specs^wiki
Oh, and this is the first time running CAW on this machine, ever? So, no way to compare if it had worked on earlier patch versions, I mean?

Ok, so it's crashed again...won't load and won't save new world.

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.110622-1503)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 650 @ 3.20GHz (4 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
Memory: 6144MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 6072MB RAM
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GT 320

Sorry for posting lots :-) I don't post very often.

CAW ran on this machine about 8 or 9 months ago. It was barely useable but I could use it for longer periods of time without it quitting.

And yes, no CC and tried all suggestions.

Have you tried pulling your Doc, Sims 3 Folder out, starting the game to generate a new one, then opening caw and trying again? You might try that with your Caw Folder as well. On one of my computers I started a new user account on the pc, and it solved all my caw problems, Caw still crashes on the original user account, and works .like a charm on the second user account.

Let us know if anything works.

@peachybitz1: More detail on what auntielynds was saying here:
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=441595

Thanks auntielynds!

It didn't work and I REALLY want to start on my world now, annoys me
Now what happened was that after I did everything with the compatibility and copying and pasting, it said I had to save the notefiles. so I tried to overwrite the old, uncompatible default file with the new as following the toturial. When I answered "yes" to the overwriting, a message sayin': "access denied" or such(I have an norwegian PC and a norwegian game, basically it said "ingen tilgang" which means about that). What did I do wrong? Why does it deny me access to overwrite the friggin' file? :/ Would be great with fast answers, It's getting on my nerves :/
- Layla

PS: Maybe you'll need some info about my PC to check out the problem.
The system it runs is Windows 7, it's a Toshiba Laptop.
This is the three lines in the "default" file of CAW:

GameVersion = 1.18.3.017037
CompatVersion = 17
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 14

And this is the default file lines from TS3:

GameVersion = 1.38.151.018002
CompatVersion = 18
WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion = 15

Now I edited this like it was said in toturial, but it wouldn't save, so this is the current state of the files.

- Layla

I'm getting this same problem. Which, funny enough, I'm also running on a Toshiba Laptop. Exact same specs as what the above posted. This is increasingly frustrating.

@LenaShan and Wolfbandit- the problem is that EA have not released the updated CAW for gameversion 1.38.

They usually take a few days after a patch to get a new version out, but someone on the Sims 3 forums mentioned that EA may be on vacation until Tuesday (I don't know if that's accurate or not).

So you'll just have to wait until the new version is released- there is no way to tell from the download page, but if you look on the Sims 3 site CAW forum you'll get a good idea of when it's updated by the posts there (you'll see 10001 posts complaining that CAW doesn't work until they do update!).

There is no way to make the old version of CAW work with gameversion 1.38- this trick will not work for that.

I have searched (I feel) the whole wide web for a solution to my problem - Your game is not compatible with this version of blah blah blah Create-a-World. I uninstalled, reinstalled, uninstalled, reinstalled forever, days on end, but no. (Bear in mind that I even installed Windows via Bootcamp on my NEW MacBook Pro JUST for the CAW!)

And somehow, I found info on CompatVersion and WorldBuilderCompatibilityVersion and checked. Both Diesel stuff and CAW was the same, but it still wouldn't work. But nobody had had THAT problem.. everybody else got their compatibilityproblem fixed. (sons of **). So, in friggin desperacy, I checked the default file on Sims 3 base game. And, seeing it was different from CAW and Diesel, I changed it so they'd all match.

AND IT WORKS!!!!!! I am bloody serious. I thought I was hallucinating, but it actually works.

I will now be titled the queen of CAW-fix. Or not.

But for all of those who, like me, want to send a seriously harsh letter to EA for this troubly-but-awesome-program, try it.

PS: I registered on modthesims.info just to say this. Now I'll play God.

PPS: I tried to upload a photo just to prove it, but I couldn't be bothered searching for how to prtscrn on Windows on Mac. Gah.

@LenaShan and Wolfbandit,
If you cannot save the edited Default.ini directly from withing Notepad into the Program Files path, means you're getting blocked by UAC. Save it to Desktop or elsewhere and then, move and replace the original copy (already backed up I hope) with this edited version.

This workaround still works, I was just using it the past few days, when I can't hold off patching to 1.38 anymore as I need to see the differences before I install SuperNatural.

But, by the time you read this, 1.19 is available.

Thanks for the information, livragni and ellacharmed!