I am on the edge of giving up, my game is virtually unplayable in it's current situation.

My game freezes and crashes in several ways:

-Freezes after I've played 10-50 mins in build mode to the black screen or crashes to desktop or restarts the computer or simply freezes, in game mode it takes a bit longer to happen
-Freezes, crashes or goes to black screen often while saving
-In many cases in game and build mode there starts to appear yellow flickering beams, then it crashes
-In three occasions while it has crashed while saving, my whole town became broken, and could not be played any more

I have tried removing cache files, mods and package-files, re-installing, two new video cards and adding hard drive space and tried the window-mode.

I use Awesome mod's newest versions.

The problem has been there since I bought the game. All of this occurs in all neighborhoods, old and new and empty. Also If I have re-installed my game and tried fresh.

==System==
Operating system: Microsoft Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600)

System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: HP Compaq dc7600 Convertible Minitower

Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2048MB RAM

Page File: 535mt used, 3407mt available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)

==Display==

Name: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA

Chip Type: GeForce 9600 GT

Approx. Total Memory: 512.0 MB
Main Driver: nv4_disp.dll

Version: 6.14.0011.7516 (English)

==Sound==

Name: Realtek HD Audio Output


Could the issue be in my CD? You know, could it possibly be broken? And would it be any use if I re-installed my whole Windows?


I'd really appreciate any help!

If it's causing your entire machine to restart, that's not a game problem - it's hardware. Your computer should be strong enough to run TS3, which suggests it's overheating.

Please download HWMonitor: http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php
Run it while you're using your computer normally - no games, just email, web browsing and so on, then take a screenshot of the HWMonitor window. Then do the same, but while playing TS3 - ideally I'd ask you to take the screenshot after playing for 20-30 minutes, but if TS3 crashes before then, just take the screenshot when it crashes.
Post both of the screenshots here so we can see if your problem is indeed overheating.

In normal use:

To really be useful, you need to run hwmonitor before you start the game, and leave it running while you run the game for 30 minutes or so. Your screenshot doesn't look like you did this.

After 40 mins of playing TS3 came first changes:



And after about an hour the game crashed and the whole computer restarted, this screen is taken JUST when Windows started again:

That looks like it is indeed overheating.. What could be the cause of it?

No, it doesn't. 48°C is a relative low temperature for a GPU, crashes can be expected above around 80°C.

Your tool doesn't show the CPU temperature, so maybe the CPU is getting too hot. (You could try if Speedfan or another tool can read it)

Okay, it just seemed like it was in my not-so-computer-familiar eyes..

I'll try another tool.

Just a little confusion.. You need to leave HWmonitor running WHILE you're playing the game. You must have played the game, stopped it and loaded the program. Otherwise we'd see more than 0-1 degree of temperature change. There's just no way.

Load HWmonitor FIRST. Leave it running WHILE you play the game. The program will automatically record the minimum, peak temps and current temps at time of screencap so you only need to take the pic once. You should try to play at least 20minutes, but you need to close the game before your computer crashes. If your computer crashes first you will lose the information we need and it becomes worthless. Temps after your computer has crashed, rebooted, and has had all that chance to cool are not in any way indicative of peak temps. Make more sense?

1) Open HWmontior
2) Play the game a least 20minutes
3) Make sure to close the game before your computer crashes
4) Screencap the program once

ETA: I'm guessing your crashing started after you installed that 9600GT. The reason for your crash is probably that graphics card, or more specifically an underpowered card.. Unless you replaced that power supply with something stronger along with that graphics card your computer is not capable of running it. Under powering your computer like that is extremely dangerous.

Is your computer the slim edition that lays horizontally or the common regular vertical tower?

Oh! Yeah, now I get it, that was very useful information! :D

Yes, I originally had the original card that came with the computer and I guess the problems started when I got a new card. And this means I should just buy a suitable power supply?

My computer is that vertical tower.

Still check the temps. It's good to know, but I will tell you that the usage temps you posted are EXCELLENT, so the probability of this being a heat issue is very slim. Usually idle temps are also elevated when overheating occurs, but not always so it's good to check.

Yeah, you're going to need a new power supply. I've done some research and I'm PRETTY sure it's standard ATX 24-pin. Looks that way to me. Let me recommend this power supply: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16817139003 cheap but excellent product.

You should also check in BIOS before installing the card and make sure that onboard graphics is disabled or PCI-Express slot is turned on.. something along those lines. I also recommend doing a driver cleaner. Which means, run this program: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/d...cleaner_pro.cfm Restart your computer. Install these: http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_186.18_whql.html Restart again. Also make sure you got the latest directx: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6a-9b6652cd92a3

Okay, I think I'm on the right track now!

Thanks for all the help, I wish I had searched some answers earlier, but better late than never! Thanks!

Your symptoms show graphic card problem. Although temperature shows it runs stable, it can be indeed what others said: not enough power. However, I got another thought. Maybe if you did not install the video card correctly?

One time I got a very oddly designed ATI 4850 card with PCIe interface. Most of these cards you would expect not just plugging in the right slot, but also the extra 6 pin power cord plugs directly into the video card from motherboard. In my case, there was *another* 6 pin slot at the bottom of the card that I was not aware of. Therefore I had been running with just *one* power line plugged in, when it should have been 2.

So while you are at it, check to see if you forget to connect anything else into your video card. I am not sure if 9600 cards require 6pin power adapter connected, but it does not hurt to check. Sometimes you can overlook little things.

Good point, but I've checked that before many times. I'll try a more suitable power supply as soon as possible, and hope that will do the trick..

Brand-name minitowers are notoriously underpowered. They are not really intended to be upgraded and are not equipped with brawny power supplies as a result, so this would be why your computer is blinking out at random. If you look at the wattage, it's probably something really pathetic, like a sub-400. A modern computer really shouldn't be running on anything less than a 600W, and that is pretty much bare-minimum for running decent, but not bleeding edge.

Because I am insane, my main station uses a 4KW supply.

That's what I had been wondering, that it should be really ridiculously low powered, since the first graphics card I tried wasn't even near of the word Powerful.

And that 4KW does sound pretty insane!! :D

tomomi1922, 9600GT requires a single 6-pin connector, but regardless of whether or not it is installed correctly, it is being underpowered. The power supply that came with that tower is not equipped to handle the card. This has to be addressed regardless of anything else and the OP should not continue to use the card in the computer until this is done or they risk frying components.

Pescado, I hope you're not serious about most computers needing at least 600W.. Even overclocked quad core systems running cards like the 4870 won't use that much. 4kW is well beyond insane and actually isn't a good idea. It's a bad idea to overpower your system too, at least past a certain degree varying depending on the individual model. The reason is that most power supplies lose their efficiency when they drop below a certain usage and you can actually run into issues much in the same way you can by underpowering. It's kind of a moot point for most people because it's rare to see someone insanely overpower their computers to the kind of degree that could cause this, but with a 4Kw PSU you could very well apply.

Arisuka, I highly recommend removing the card or not using the computer anymore until you replace the power supply. Underpowering your computer can cause the power supply to fry and if it fries it can cause a cascading effect that takes the rest of your computer with it. At the very LEAST do not play games or do anything graphically demanding but if you want to be totally safe remove the card or don't use the PC.

The frying-part sounds quite bad, I'm glad my whole PC hasn't blown up, since I've been using it with my current card for 2 months with heavy gaming!! Luckily I haven't played for a while 'cause I realized the possible seriousness of the issue..

Thanks for the info, I'll be careful until I get the more appropriate power supply!

I changed the power supply, made no difference, the game crashes as usual.

I bought Antec's Earthwatts, 500 watt.

What on earth should I do next..?

Did you do the rest of what was suggested in post #9 about running the driver cleaner and checking BIOS to see if the onboard graphics can be disabled? If onboard graphics need to be disabled and you don't do so it could cause the crash. Also if you had other graphics cards installed previously and you didn't properly clean up all the drivers before swapping cards it can also cause the crash. So you need to do everything in post #9. You also still haven't checked temps the way we asked and at this point it would be worth checking.

If the power supply was not the only thing wrong, it could also be due to the installation of the card or that the card itself is defective. If the problem only started after you installed the card then it's logically likely related to that. If all that still doesn't work then try pulling out the card and reinstalling the original onboard drivers. Play and see if you still get the same crashes. You may still get a to desktop crash because the original graphics aren't really up for playing the game but the black screen crashes and computer restarts should stop if it's related to the 9600gt card.

Oh I'm so sorry, I completely forgot all the other advice in that post! I'll go through it and then report again!

Sorry to be an idiot, but I got no idea what I should remove with that driver cleaner...?

I don't think the problem is related with my current video card, since the crashing occured with the first previous card also, that I had installed after the original card of the computer.

I now did the following:

1. removed all drivers with that driver cleaner program (I hope I did it right, I didn't understand anything of the instructions, I just removed any program on the list that said "graphic")
2. restarted
3. then downloaded the driver for my current card
4. I got also the newest directX

I think I did something wrong, since the game now barely starts, it either crashes immidiately when I start it or after 1 min in game. So I don't know if it's any use to check temps in this state...?

You mentioned "checking BIOS to see if the onboard graphics can be disabled", I don't quite understand what that means, my language barrier is kinda blurring that all..

I'm really doing the best I can to understand.

I recommend next time you have questions to wait until they are answered instead of just clicking things you don't understand. I've never seen anything listed with the words "graphics" in it so I'm not sure where you go that from and I'm not sure what you've deleted now. On a plus side, drivers are easy enough to fix and deleting the wrong ones causes no permanent damage.


1) First, go to add/remove programs. Look for any instance of ATI anything, Nvidia anything or Intel graphics or intel extreme series (something along those lines). Uninstall all of these.
2) Restart your computer.
3) Install the following drivers:
http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...&PFid=24&Conn=3
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsuppor...Item=ir-57823-1
http://www.nvidia.com/object/winxp_186.18_whql.html
4) Restart your computer again

If it still doesn't work I'll be more specific on what you need to delete using the driver cleaner.