Tag: The Sims 4 on Mac

No more Sims 4 Legacy Edition but a native Apple silicon version finally. The April 2023 patch brings big updates.

Published on by BluebellFlora3 Comments

EA released a big patch for The Sims 4 today, 18 April 2023, patch no. 1.97.42.1230. Not big in size (around 500MB) but big on impact.

The Sims 4 Legacy Edition – It was announced back in November 2022 that the Legacy Edition (LE) of the game would be sunset. As of 12 December 2022 the LE was no longer available to download although users could still play it if it was already installed on their machine. From today the LE version of the game will no longer run, even if installed. The game will now only run on Metal supported Macs (2012 models or later, or earlier upgradeable Mac Pros).

Apple silicon equipped Macs (M1, M2 etc.) – The game is now natively supported, no need for Rosetta 2 to translate the Intel version.

Repairing Sims 4 packs in Origin

Published on by BluebellFlora2 Comments

Update 15/05/21 – Origin version 10.5.99.47918 has now fixed this issue and Packs are being included in the Repair process.

EA updated the Sim 4 back in April to comply with Apple’s notarisation policy. This resulted in all DLC (Expansion, Game and Stuff Packs) being installed outside of the Sims 4 app and in a standalone folder called The Sim 4 Packs in the same location as the game app is installed to, by default the User Applications folder, Users > User > Applications.

If you open the Sims 4 Packs folder you can see the game files for each pack. This is the contents of the Eco Lifestyle folder:

Since this update, repairing the game only repairs the base game and ignores all DLC.

This shouldn’t normally present an issue but removing or altering files within this folder, or if any files become corrupted, can impact your game and cause error messages. The Game Data Incomplete error message is triggered by the SimulationFullBuild0.package file and the ResourceSimulation.cfg file missing or corrupted.

The Pack Download in Progress error message is triggered by the ResourceClient.cfg file missing or corrupted.

A missing or corrupted thumbnails.package causes the llama missing icons error:

Simply repairing the game in Origin will not fix this. You need to trigger a re-download of the pack to replace the files causing the error. The easiest and quickest way to do this is to trash the relevant pack folder (see earlier screenshot above). This will prompt Origin to notify you of a pack available for download.

Download the pack and you should once again see the folder in the Sims 4 Packs folder with all relevant files present and hopefully not encounter anymore errors.

If you’re unsure which pack number your affected pack is you can check in the System Requirements page here for each pack – https://bluebellflora.com/system-requirements/

If you are still having problems with incomplete/corrupted game files after trying the above steps, you may need to completely uninstall the game and reinstall. If you’re REALLY unlucky (like me) you may have to uninstall the game and Origin and then re-download everything to get a proper functioning game again. More info here.

Sims 4 showing as Finalizing in Origin

Published on by BluebellFlora2 Comments

The Sims 4 received a major update for Mac users in April. Not in terms of game content but changes to the way it is installed to comply with Apple’s notarisation terms for Catalina, enhancing the security of your system. As a by-product of the notarisation you may now see a greyed out Finalizing option under the game in your Origin games library when you install content, install a patch, or repair the game:

This is normal and is the OS checking that the download in Origin is all safe and ok to run. It can show as finalizing for any length of time, depending on your Mac hardware. The more powerful your CPU, the quicker it will complete the checks. You may notice the fans ramping up in your Mac during this process, that is normal as it is using a significant amount of CPU so is in need of sufficient cooling during the process. Occasionally the button doesn’t change and seems stuck on finalizing. Don’t panic if this is the case! Try the following to fix it:

  • Quit Origin and reload it. It may now say Play.
  • Click on the white cog that says Settings when you hover your cursor over it and choose repair:
  • Load your game by double clicking on the Sims 4 app in your Applications folder, as you would normally load any other app. This will automatically launch Origin and then the game. Remember you have two Applications folders, the system one and your user account one. By default Origin currently installs the game to your user Applications folder unless you have changed the setting. The locations can be found here:
    • Macintosh HD > Applications (your internal drive may have a different name but by default it is Macintosh HD)
    • Macintosh HD > Users > [Your User Account] > Applications