Note: August 6, 2012, This has become the second most popular article on Zylblog.
Is it possible to run The Sims 3 under Ubuntu Linux? (or any version of Linux, really)
In order to play, you must meet system hardware requirements
Yes, it is. In fact, it’s not as complicated as you might think it would be.
Just a pre-note: This is not a refined article. Information might be written incorrectly, or entirely missing. Do let us know by commenting, or emailing. Thank you.
Preparation:
Be sure to enable your 3d graphics drivers. Click System> Administration> “Hardware Drivers”.
This can take a moment to open.
Look for your video driver. If you see multiple drivers, select the one with “Recommended” next to it. If you do not see “Recommended” next to anything, just select the newest version. Click the driver and then click the “Activate” button. This requires Internet access, and can take a while for the installation to complete.
Now you need to install PlayOnLinux. I recommend installing from their website using the DEB installer, or by using the provided commands. Select your distribution for installation instructions: http://www.playonlinux.com/en/download.html
The Installation
Open PlayOnLinux under Applications> Games> “Play On Linux”
On the first run of Play On Linux, you will have to install a few things before it will actually work. The program will walk you through this, you will need Internet to install these additions. They are critical to the proper operation of PlayOnLinux.
Once PlayOnLinux is done doing it’s own setup, click the “Install” button. At this time, if you have not already, you should insert your legal Sims 3 disc. A mounted ISO will most likely not work, you need the actual DVD.
Select your drive. Normally, it will start with cdrom, or cdrom0. Try all that are listed if neither of these exist or they do not work.
Fun Fact! When I use things such as bold italic underlined text to point out important things, it makes it easier for the reader to keep track of where they are and makes the blog visually look better.
Installing a No-CD Patch for The Sims 3
In order to run The Sims 3 under Linux, you must install a No-CD patch. These are often heavily debated patches, and some people consider them program cracks as well. An important point to make:
1. No one has legally declared No-CD Patches to be “Illegal”.
2. Yes, many of the patches of these types will contain viruses. Don’t worry, I know of a few valid ones.
3. Don’t feel bad. You already bought the software, there is no reason why you should have to keep the CD.
4. Using drive virtualization software will not work for this program in particular in Linux.
Okay? Feel morally able to do it now? Great!
Go to http://m0008.gamecopyworld.com/games/pc_the_sims_3.shtml
(I warn you, I have seen some pretty inappropriate ads on this website… not complete nudity but pretty darn close. Still, I haven’t had virus problems with this website)
and scroll down to:
| The Sims 3 v1.2.7 [MULTI] No-DVD/Fixed EXE | 26-06-2009 |
| Razor 1911 |
| File Archive [3.7 MB] – Removes DVD-Checks Only! |
And click the floppy-disk icon next to it. (I don’t agree with direct links, despite how much easier it would make it for you)
Select a random mirror. It’s not a large file, don’t worry about getting the “slow” server.
Right click the downloaded file, and click “Extract To… Here” (do this in a folder where you can extract and be able to get back to it…)
Two files will be located within. TS3.exe, and TSLHost.dll.
Before copying the game patch over, run the game once without the patch through PlayOnLinux.
Copying the CD Patch
Open your home folder. Press CTRL+H to view hidden files, and navigate to a folder called:
.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/TheSims3/drive_c/program files/electronic arts/the sims 3/game/bin
Copy the files in this folder called TS3.exe and TSLHost.dll so as to make a backup. Just copy them to your desktop for now, until you know if it works or not. Once you have those backed up, delete them from the game folder, then go ahead and copy the no-cd versions that you downloaded and extracted earlier to the game folder.
That’s all. Start up the game and see how it all went.
Important Notes
Do not go to the Sims 3 website and install their patches. PlayOnLinux will patch your system for you.
Legal notice:
I am not responsible for any damage.
The information in this article is no provided for illegal use, it is assumed that you legally own the game; furthermore, you must abide by your terms of service.
The following was added August 6th, 2012:
Need assistance?
While you are welcome to comment asking others for help, I (the author) really do not have much that I can provide in assistance. If you run across an issue, try the PlayOnLinux forums:
http://www.playonlinux.com/en/forums.html
To report and debug issues with WINE specifically, check out their forums or Bugzilla (but please search their database for the same issue first, they are short-tempered when it comes to repeated requests).
http://www.winehq.org/
Issues with the game can be resolved at The Sims 3 official website forum, here:
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/
ok so i am stuck to i find this file i back up and delete the other files and replace them with these ones and now it will not run what do i do
Hello,
In my article I recommended backing up the TS3.exe, and TSLHost.dll files in case it did not work.
Try restoring these files first (by deleting the new files from the bin folder, and putting the original files back in place).
See if the game works then.
If it does, try downloading the replacement files TS3.exe, and TSLHost.dll again and running the game. If it still does not work, I really am not sure what to tell you — except delete and try reinstalling again.
Just thought I’d let you know–A few days ago, I broke my 20 yo daughters Vista installation with a necessary hardware upgrade that caused Vista to refuse to re-activate. I’d been dual booting with Ubuntu for a while on my PC, and since a new copy of Windows was not in the budget for her computer, I got her to (reluctantly) try Mint.
She was able to play some flash based games that she’d been playing, then after I showed her the software manager, she found a few games she liked.
But the real achievement was when, thanks to this particular blog post, (I’d seen others–yours filled in a blank or two.) we got Sims 3 working just fine. I’m predicting that next week she’ll be shopping for a Tux tee.
Just wanted to say thanks!
Hey that\’s fantastic! I am glad you were able to get it working. It took me so long to figure it out, I felt obligated to try my best to share what I did. Thanks for commenting back, I love hearing from my readers!
I'm stuck, I could not extract the files of the patch
install 7zip and its updates if needed.
I had already installed this using playonlinux and i installed the new sims 3 file. But when i click to play it on my desktop screen, it changes the preferences of my screen size and the sims 3 screen is blacked out and only sound plays. I can hear it but i cant see it… please help.
Huh, not sure about that one. You might try the PlayOnLinux or WINE forums, they are usually slow at resolving issues but it is free and they usually get it done.
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I have ubuntu version 11.04 and when I looked for my 3d graphic drive under Additional Drivers (not sure if this is correct, but saw nothing else even close) I was told that I did not have any additional drivers, anyway I installed the game through Wine, manually added the prerequisites playonlinux does bc the program kept giving me and error message , updated it, did the patch(Thank you for the help on this one!), and now the game plays but font is unreadable and graphics are totally wonky. do i have to install a graphic driver and do you have a recommended tutoral bc it seems complicated ! thanks so much!!
Great to hear I could help a little bit! I\’m not sure about the garbled text. You should check out the WINE Forums here: http://forum.winehq.org/
Or the PlayOnLinux forums: http://www.playonlinux.com/en/forums.html
I also have the same problem. Please Help!!
I’m stuck at navigating to the right folder (.PlayOnLinux/wineprefix/TheSims3/drive_c/program files/electronic arts/the sims 3/game/bin)
I only come to program files, when I open that folder there are 2 other folders in it: Common Files (which is empty) and Internet Explorer (which contains a .exe link).
I hope you can help me out. I want to play Sims sooooo badly!
Hmm. I’m not sure what to tell you. I would suggest asking the PlayOnLinux forums:
http://www.playonlinux.com/en/forums.html
There has been some progress for The Sims 3 listed on WineHQ’s Application Database, you might check this out and see if installing under WINE and not PoL might work better:
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=version&iId=16664
Thank you so much! I just started playing the game and you can’t believe how happy I am! I had Windows before Linux Mint 16 and so I sat hours in front of my laptop wondering if I could ever play TS3! Thank you very much ♥