Table of Contents
About Sims 3 black screen after launcher, the graphic driver is usually at fault, so you should check it out. Additionally, you should consider modifying the Options.ini file, deleting the Sims 3 folder, and taking a look at system specifications. You have a hard time carrying out the solutions on your own? Then you should find this article useful.
What Must Be Done
Check Out The Graphics Driver
If you cannot recall the last time you updated the driver of your GPU, there is a good chance that the driver is obsolete. To get the most out of Sims 3, you must update the graphics driver.
- Step 1: Go to the Search bar, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter to open Device Manager.
- Step 2: Expand Display adapters, right-click your graphics card and pick Update driver.
- Step 3: Follow onscreen instructions.
- Step 4: Restart your computer as soon as the update completes.
- Step 5: When the screen comes back on, launch Sims 3 and determine whether the issue persists.
You recently updated the graphics driver? Then it’s highly likely that the new driver is the root of the trouble, and you should roll back to the previous driver.
- Step 1: Go to Search bar, type devmgmt.msc and press Enter to open Device Manager.
- Step 2: Expand Display adapters, right-click your graphics card and pick Properties.
- Step 3: Go to the Driver tab, hit Roll Back Driver and follow onscreen instructions.
- Step 4: The moment the process wraps up, restart your computer.
- Step 5: See how things turn out as you launch Sims 3.
Modify The Options.INI File
- Step 1: Press Windows E to open File Explorer, go to Documents and open the Electronic Arts folder.
- Step 2: Locate the Sims 3 folder, then open it.
- Step 3: Look for the Options.ini file, right-click it and pick Open with Notepad.
- Step 4: Locate the line Fullscreen = then change the value from 1 to 0.
- Step 5: Save the change, close the file and launch Sims 3.
Delete Sims 3 Folder
If you suspect your Sims 3 Black Screen After Launcher error is caused by a corrupt game file problem, you’ll have to delete one of your Sims 3 game folders to fix the error. To do this, simply open your Documents folder and locate the Sims 3 folder. (ambien) (americanstarbuzz.com) Delete it once you’ve found it. Note that you don’t have to worry about your game ending up with missing folders because once you launch your Sims 3 game again, another folder will be automatically created.
- Step 1: Press Windows E to open File Explorer, go to Documents and open the Electronic Arts folder.
- Step 2: Locate the Sims 3 folder, make a copy of it and move the copy to the desktop.
- Step 3: Delete the Sims 3 folder in the Electronic Arts folder, then launch Sims 3. Assuming that things proceed smoothly, a new Sims 3 folder should be created, and the game is going to launch as usual. At that point, you could move data (saves, configuration, etc.) from the desktop copy to the newly created Sims 3 folder. After you finish, feel free to play the game to your heart’s content.
Take A Look At System Specifications
The minimum system requirements of Sims 3 include the following:
- OS: Windows XP (Service Pack 2)/Windows Vista (Service Pack 1) or later.
- Processor: (XP) 2.0 GHz P4 processor or equivalent/(Vista) 2.4 GHz P4 processor or equivalent.
- Memory: (XP) 1 GB; (Vista) 1.5 GB.
- Graphics: 128 MB Video Card with support for Pixel Shader 2.0
- Hard Drive: At least 6.5 GB of hard drive space with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content.
- Built-in Graphics: Intel Integrated Chipset, GMA X3000 or above/2.6 GHz Pentium D CPU/1.8 GHz Core 2 Duo or equivalents.
- Supported Video Cards:Nvidia GeForce series: FX5900 or greater, G100, GT 120, GT 130, GTS 150, GTS 250, GTX 260, GTX 275, GTX 280, GTX 285, GTX 295; ATI Radeon™ series: ATI Radeon 9500 series of greater, X300, X600, X700, X800, X850, X1300, X1600, X1800, X1900, X1950, 2400, 2600, 2900, 3450, 3650, 3850, 3870, 4850, 4870 series or later; Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA): GMA 3-Series, GMA 4-Series.
Note: GeForce 6100 and 7100 cards don’t support Sims 3.
The Usual Suspects
Driver
In case you don’t know, the drivers of graphics cards get updated from time to time. If you keep the driver of your GPU up-to-date, there is nothing to worry about in most cases. On the other hand, if you neglect updates for your graphics card driver, it’s only a matter of time before display issues surface. Therefore, once it comes to Sims 3 black screen after launcher, you must take the driver of your graphics card into account.
Corruption
It’s not uncommon for data on Windows computers to become corrupted out of the blue. If corruption exists in the game files of Sims 3, it’s only natural that it won’t work as expected.
Configuration
Overall, the default configuration of Sims 3 suits a wide range of setups, but it remains far from perfect. You run into a black screen every time you launch Sims 3? In that case, it’s a good idea to add configuration to the list of suspects. (lowpricebud)
Specifications
Generally speaking, Sims 3 is an old game, so you don’t need a monster gaming rig to play it. That being said, to run the game, your PC still needs to meet a couple of requirements. Hence, you should give specifications some thought if the performance of Sims 3 is not to your liking.
Chris started playing PC games in the 1980s, started writing about them in the early 2000s, and (finally) started getting paid to write about them in the late 2000s.
Following a few years as a regular freelancer, PC Gamer hired him in 2014, probably so he’d stop emailing them asking for more work. Since 2019, he started providing game reviews & tips for Grateful Dead Game. Chris has a love-hate relationship with survival games and an unhealthy fascination with the inner lives of NPCs. He’s also a fan of offbeat simulation games, mods, and ignoring storylines in RPGs so he can make up his own.