Ok, so Hi Simmers!
I need your help, please?

Since I installed The Sims 3 on my (new) laptop, I have been getting the error as shown above, ("A serious error has occurred while loading '(Any town name).sims3'. It is strongly recommended that you restart the application.")

I have seen other people with the error, and I have tried the things that people recommended, like renaming games from .sims3backup to .sims3 (I think thats right ) And I don't actually have the file, I've looked everywhere people have told me to, I have the folder that says .sims3 and .sims3backup and those folders do not have the .sims3 file inside them, confused
I also un-installed and re-installed every game and the error still happens...

(Also, I used to have mods, but I took them out and it still happened)
AAAAND, I tried the test where you add a tree then save it then go back to it, and the problem still occurred.

Any help would be appreciated (muchly) because this error is really annoying me, as I'm making loads of really good families (well, I think they are) and I can't play as them after I have quit the game.

I've been having the same problem, still not sure how to fix it, having this problem with every town and every save. Tried reinstalling twice, this time I'm cleaning the registry too and defragmenting my computer because nothing seems to work D:

I will notify you if I find a solution, maybe it will work for you too.

What operating system are you running? Mine is a windows 7 64-bit, don't know if that has anything to do with it.

Keep updated and good luck! Will help if I can!!

Ok, I think I have it fixed now, I haven't re-patched my games yet and I haven't installed any cc/etc. but it seems to be working...

last time I did a full reinstall, I only installed basegame, did not patch, still had "error has occured" problems...

I uninstalled it and made a few changes in my system, it appears to be working now. I loaded my game twice and had no problem.

So what it seems to be is that something is not installing right because there may be an error in the registry. (when the microsoft .NET framework, game, etc. uninstall upon removal, this seems to happen)

I used a registry cleaner to fix it (used CCcleaner, it seems to be pretty good), defragmented my computer, then restarted...

Then I reinstalled my game the normal way.

Seems to be working fine now, I strongly recommend you try the same thing (:

Also, try searching in documents when you can, look for "resource.cfg." Delete them all except for mods in your "Electronic Arts" folder because mine was reading one outside of the folder and taking in bad mods.

Hope this helps! (:

ok, having problems again. Just trying to put this up there in case you or anyone else having the issue is having the same problems.

I have done lots of things now and I think source problem has shown face, it's something about the patch (1.29).

Do you download your games from Origin? Have been playing on the digital copy of my game on this computer and have been having problems...never had a problem with the hard copy on my old laptop...

Will try it on disk when I can get it back from my friend. Maybe the only problem is the basegame being put in an Origin folder while the patches and everything else are different (Origin/Origin games vs. Electronic Arts/The Sims 3) so maybe all that needs to be done is to use a real disk and not a digital download.

That's all I can think of for now.

So my only advice right now is do not patch your game and maybe it will work right. Though unfortunately that means no CC, no store content, etc.

I'll fill you in if I figure anything else out!! Good luck!!

okay so i had same issue, actually two of them so as lots of people (crashing&freezing).
i solved them both today, so ill post what steps i did, maybe some1 else get it fixed too
dont want someone to get hopes up too much, it wont work for those who have this problem since installation
or those who didnt made ANY modifications to game.

1st i gotta say, i was searching online last night 2hrs for solutions, none of them helped.
seems like u really gotta spare some time for it and figure it out by ur self XD

i patched the game fully (not with origin, i used MTS_Ford_ts3_patch_downloader) which i downloaded from this site.

link for download:
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=409829

i didnt remove any mods manually, scanned with sims3dashboard (also software from this site) and removed conflicted files, corrupted etc.
u can leave this step for last one, still didnt work for me after i did this

link for download:
http://www.modthesims.info/download...0&page=16&pp=25

updated all drivers and defragmented specific disks (C for windows and D where are sims installed for me)


crash fix:

if u builded house with ''moveobjects on'' cheat, u wont be able to fix the crash as long
ur trying to play that house/edit wont work either. delete it and make new house without using that cheat.
i used that cheat on already done house later and i wasnt crashing so might be related on what u used it

freeze fix:

check the glass doors if u used any inside the house, they might be bugging (pet will be able to go inside of room but not able to get out)

after i removed glass doors i was still freezing-unfreezing all the time till i remembered what i changed, i reduced sim's free will to medium.

in pets sim all the time trying to feed treat pets, so i lower it down on medium cuz pop up notification was getting
on my nerves and freezing started. not sure why is that related to performance but it did work for me, i test it several times today.
just for extra info b4 i fixed it when i went to china with my sim, i was still freezing even i wasnt at the house.

sorry for huge post, too much reading but i am not sure which one exactly fixed the game, so i am posting all steps i did.

Ah, thank you both for your posts, the answer for me was that I have McAfee virus protection and the real time scanning was interfering with my Sims game
Thanks!

Oh and I have Windows 7 64 bit. It appears to be that the problem only lies with that operating software, unfortunately

i got win7 x64 bit also, i changed compatlibility to windows vista service pack 2 and i cant switch it back since sims are 32 bit
i could change it back messing with registry, but i rather play it like this then formating windows again, in case something goes wrong.
i also tried to play it on windows xp settings, but i cant rlly say i see any difference in game between those 3 i tested.

Oh, a McAfee problem?

Huh, maybe that's a contributor to mine too. (: Wonderful that you got it resolved, I have the same virus protection and system so I'll try it on mine too and see if it helps prevent bricked save files!