Ahh, The Sims 3. Despite your popularity, you’re really the lost generation of The Sims now that The Sims 1 & 2 Legacy Edition has dropped.
It’s no real surprise that The Sims 3 was so popular. Much like its predecessor, The Sims 2, it totally transformed what it meant to be a Sims game. It really felt like the future was here on launch day back in 2009 when Sims could suddenly roam around an open-world map.
It’s still set apart from other generations of The Sims due to the fact that it hasn’t been re-released. It seems like a missed opportunity, really – I know that personally I missed out on a bunch of gameplay features from The Sims 3 by virtue of being, well, a child, that I’d love to try out now.
Is it possible to do so on modern hardware, though?
If you’re lucky, yes. But in my experience, no, not really. There are a few different things you can keep in mind to try and improve your luck, though.
Running The Sims 3 on modern computers is challenging
The Sims 3 is technically still available to buy through both Steam and the EA App. You can even play it via the EA Play, a subscription service that gives you access to a bunch of different titles.
However, if you’re anything like me – or a lot of other Simmers – you might have a tough time getting it to work on your current set-up.
A lot of users report problems trying to get the game to run, from graphics to crashes and much beyond. I know that when I tried to play it, I could use Create-a-Sim with relative ease, only to move a Sim into a lot and have the whole game give up the ghost on me. It was disheartening to say the least.
Your mileage may vary, though, as some users seem to run the title just fine. Others have also suggested trying to try and run just the Base Game as a standalone title, without getting any Expansions, Stuff Packs, or other DLC to try to give your PC a fighting chance. If you run into any other problems, you might also have some luck if you try out the steps in the official troubleshooting guide shared by EA.
There are also a few mods that can help The Sims 3 run more smoothly for some users. LazyDuchess’ Smooth Patch changes the speed of the game’s processor, which can help it run more efficiently on some hardware. Nraas also has a series of mods for The Sims 3 that are super well-regarded, including ErrorTrap and Overwatch. Be sure to check these out if you’re having issues running it.
What are the tech specs for running The Sims 3?
Before you try and wade into running The Sims 3, you should make absolutely sure your setup matches the minimum technical specifications. As you might expect, they vary a little depending on whether you’re running on Windows or playing on Mac.
Suggested specifications for Windows
The minimum specs mostly apply to fairly old hardware and operating systems. Like, it tells you how to run it on XP, for instance. Which, if you are, godspeed… And you might actually have more luck than those of us running Windows 10 or 11.
But, for brevity’s sake – and to check it against the newest machines possible – here are the suggested specs for running The Sims 3 according to EA:
- OS: 64 Bit Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10
- Processor: Intel Core i5 or faster, AMD Athlon X4
- Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 650 or better
- Memory: 4 GB RAM (If you’ve got more available, you can do some clever tricks to allocate more RAM to the game)
- Hard Drive: 18 GB of Hard Drive space
For a more detailed breakdown, I’d suggest checking out the product pages themselves before you buy.
Suggested specifications for Mac
The Sims 3 for Mac only runs on macOS versions that support 32-bit applications. As well as that, EA has also outlined both minimum and recommended specs.
The recommended specs are:
- OS: macOS® X 10.13 or later
- Processor: Intel Core i5 or better
- Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680, AMD Radeon RX 560, Intel Iris Plus Graphics 640 or better
- Memory: 8GB RAM
- Hard Drive: 18 GB of Hard Drive space
How about console?
Well, if you grab an old PS3, 360, or Wii and a copy of The Sims 3 on console, then it’ll run totally fine. As well as it ever worked, that is – the games are actually pretty infamous for their jank.
It’s a fairly different game compared to the one on PC and Mac, of course, but it could be the easiest way of getting a taste of the older title without getting a degree in computer science.
Xbox gamers beware, though: The Sims 3 for Xbox 360 isn’t backwards compatible with the Xbox One. In fact, none of the older Sims console games are.
Ask me how I know.
