Error Code 12

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Error Code 12

Post by DSLady »

In all my years simming I have never encountered this error. I have to leave for work in five minutes and my game won't save. If I can't fit it I'll leave my PC running (I'm 'only' on for five hours), but I'm having something of a meltdown here!
I tried the 'cut your saves and paste elsewhere then try saving again' method and that didn't work for me. I have the three saves files; the main one, the .backup and the .bad.

Help!?

EDIT: Adding the Save Cleaner folders up here for anybody else with this same issue in the future;
Save Cleaner V1.1
Save Cleaner V2.1
Last edited by DSLady on June 12th, 2017, 6:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by Cororon »

I've had this error. It happened when the game used more than 3.something GB RAM.

How much RAM do you gave?

How big is the Save file? (Not the .bad one).

For how long have you played that save?

There is a trick you can do to make the save smaller, but I kinda want to know for how long you have played that save before explaining the trick. If it's a pretty new game, then it won't help. :)
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by Cororon »

Meh, I'll post the tip anyway. It's especially good if your save is over 300-400 MB in size.

It's almost always the last tens or hundreds of Megabytes in the RAM that makes the game impossible to save, and you get the Error 12. :fisty: And it's usually the big worlds with lots of sims.

The game generates thumbnails of all the sims, for the portrait panel and the household pics. And the game generates new ones everytime there's a new sim in the household, after a birthday, a birth, and everytime you do the even tinest of change in CAS, like changing clothes or hairstyle. The game doesn't delete the old pics (called SNAP files, which are PNG images), so the save file grows bigger and bigger over time.

When I had the Error 12 problem I got help from the NRaas people, and used Kuree's Save Cleaner. It deleted about 400MB of these SNAP files! My save shrunk with over 80% in size. :mrgreen: And the Error 12 problem was gone. :)

Read the info first, before you try it:
http://nraas.wikispaces.com/Kuree's+Save+Cleaner

If you use the Save Cleaner, the next time you start the game you won't see any portrait pics of the sims for a couple of minutes. The game has to generate new ones.
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by DSLady »

You know, I saw AngelSam recommend this to somebody else the other day and I though, 'Huh, I should probably do that. I bet my save is probably massive by this point.' And then, in typical me fashion, I completely forgot about it
:duh:
I'm on Generation Seven of my legacy, I have 8GB of RAM & my save file is about 2GB. Inside it though, are package files for Sunset Valley, Isla Paradiso, Sims University, Oasis Landing, and China. That probably has a lot to do with it, too. My issue with saving actually only started when I took another trip to the future, which would make a lot of sense, really.

But thank you for reminding me about this, and I will finally get on and actually do it! Let's just hope it works!
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by Cororon »

DSLady wrote:I'm on Generation Seven of my legacy, I have 8GB of RAM & my save file is about 2GB. Inside it though, are package files for Sunset Valley, Isla Paradiso, Sims University, Oasis Landing, and China. That probably has a lot to do with it, too. My issue with saving actually only started when I took another trip to the future, which would make a lot of sense, really.
The 2 GB one must be your save folder. It can be big, because the different save files are inside it. Check how big the save that gave you the Error 12 is.

8 GB RAM should be enough. :) The game can only use about 3,5 GB RAM, but the rest of the computer uses RAM too, so it's good to have at least 6 GB RAM.

Take note of how big the save file (not folder) is before and after you've used Save Cleaner! It's very interesting to know how much junk it got rid of! :))
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by DSLady »

Isla Paradiso (Gens 1-4) is 116,475 KB & Sunset Valley (Gen 5 +) is 227,898 KB... Plus China, OL, & Uni. Whoops!

My only issue is now... is how the heck do I actually clean the file???
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by Cororon »

Hm, those files aren't too big. The one I play is ~400 MB. :hmm:

To use Save Cleaner you just install it, start it and choose the save you wish to clean and click "Clean". :thup:

Back up your saves first!
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by DSLady »

I'm not getting that option? I get an error message, and then I just get the options to 'clean', 'clear memory' or 'backup save'. Nowhere to actually open the save file I want to clean...
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by Cororon »

Hm, that's odd. Are you on a MAC or Windows 10? It works fine for me and I'm on Windows 7.

Maybe you should join NRaas and ask in their Chatterbox? They are experts and very helpful.

SNAP files can be deleted by using another method too, but I'm not sure that you need to shrink those saves, because they aren't that big to begin with. :hmm:


A good idea is checking how much RAM the game uses when it's on. Check the processes in the Task Manager by clicking Ctrl+Alt+Delete and the processes tab. The longer the game is on the more RAM it will use.
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by DSLady »

Windows 10! And the files might only be small because they're the size before I tried travelling again. I don't know... I'm not really big on forums and asking stuff, it's kind of terrifying XD
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by Cororon »

The NRaas people are awesome. Sooo friendly and helpful! That's why they are there, to help us simmers! :D

Oh, do you have lots of CC?
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by DSLady »

I have so much CC. I've deleted a load of stuff from the launcher, but I don't know if that deletes its core files. But, at the same time, I don't want to go and start deleting things in case I delete something I really love...
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by Cororon »

I searched on Error 12 on NRaas and someone mentioned that Kuree's Save Cleaner doesn't work if you are on patch 1.69. I'm on 1.67 so it works fine for me.

SNAP files can be deleted manually, but your saves aren't that big so I don't think it will help much. But here's how to do it: http://nraas.wikispaces.com/Deleting+SNAP+resources+FAQ (ALWAYS back up your saves before trying this)

Maybe it was the trip to the future that made the RAM use go up too much. The game first loads the home world into RAM and then the travel world.

Experts say that Sims 3 has bad memory leaks, so instead of freeing up RAM space when certain data isn't needed it just keeps on filling up. Somone on NRaas mentioned a RAM cleaner software, but I don't know enough about that to recommend it.
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by DSLady »

I found a 1.1 version of the save cleaner, and it worked! It took my Sunset Valley save down from 227,898 KB to 18,281 KB. I mean, I haven't actually opened the game yet so everything could be destroyed, but this is why we make backups! I guess there's only one way to find out... *fingers crossed*
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by Cororon »

227,898 KB to 18,281 KB
You mean 118 or 218, not 18, right? Must be. :shifty:

:thup: I cross my fingers and toes.
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by DSLady »

Whoops, that was the package file! I don't know what it went down to because I've just been playing a bunch, but it's currently at 91,408 KB!

EDIT: Everything is playing fine, but I'm not trusting the future again :rotfl:
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Re: Error Code 12

Post by Cororon »

Ok! :mrgreen: and yay! :applause:

And it's a good idea to look in the Task Manager from time to time, especially if you play for hours, so you know how much RAM the game uses. ^^
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