My sims dissapear when playing them

[SMYM214]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Often (50% - 99%)
What is your current game version number? 1.51.77.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? get famous seasons city living get together get to work strangerville jungle adventure vampires dine out spa day outdoor retreat fitness stuff bowling night stuff vintage glamour stuff backyard stuff kids room stuff romantic garden stuff movie hangout stuff spooky stuff cool kitchen stuff perfect patio stuff luxury party stuff
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? when playing a household at their home
What happens when the bug occurs? The sims disappear even though it says they are at home.
What do you expect to see? when I am playing a household they will over a sudden disappear. at the bottom it will say they are at home however you are unable to do anything like make them get food out of the fridge because they are not there.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Yes
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Yes
Please describe the patch or change you made. The recent update April 2019

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when I am playing a household they will over a sudden disappear. at the bottom it will say they are at home however you are unable to do anything like make them get food out of the fridge because they are not there.  I have tried without custom content and mods and it makes no difference.

[crinrict]

Hi @SMYM214 

sounds like the known issue I merged your post into.

Do you have a backup you could load ?

[sarahcrausch]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.51.77.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Cats & Dogs, City Living, Get Famous, Get To Work, Get Together, Seasons, Dine Out, Outdoor Retreat, Parenthood, Spa Day, Backyard Stuff, Cool Kitchen Stuff, Kids Room Stuff, Laundry Day Stuff, Perfect Patio Stuff
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Here are steps to recreate bug. 1. I have one save and have played multiple families within this save for many weeks. I did not encounter this specific issue until after the April 16th patch. 2. I can create a new household and place them in a residential lot and load the family as expected. When I play the family in their home for the first time, they behave as per usual. 3. If I exit the household or exit the game with all family members at home, and attempt to play the household again, all sims are "grayed out," as if away. They are not at work or visiting another location - their icons are simply grayed out and have the lightning bolt button with options to control the sims as if they are on another lot, even though they are all listed as being at home. This happens with travelling to other lots as well. If only some members of the household leave their house to visit another lot, and those Sims travel back to their house, the Sims that had stayed at the house will be grayed out as though on another lot.
What happens when the bug occurs? When I go to load the family at their home when they are at home (either after switching households or loading the game itself), the Sims' icons are grayed out and they are not physically present at home. They are not located on another lot - in other words, the game recognizes that the Sims are at home, but loads the family as if they are located on another lot. To resolve this, I have to go to the Manage Worlds view and visit another lot with the whole household. Then, at the other lot, I travel with the whole household back to their home and they are playable again.
What do you expect to see? When I load my game or go to play a household with a Sim or Sims at home, I except the Sim to be playable and not grayed out if they are indeed at home. Sims should only be grayed out if I am interacting with Sims on a lot that that particular Sim is not visiting. If a Sim is at home and I go to play them at their home, I expect to be able to play them as normal at home.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Never used.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Yes
Please describe the patch or change you made. I noticed this issue occurring after the April 16th patch to PC. While that patch did fix other issues I was having with the game, I encountered this issue only after the patch.

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I have screenshots and can upload my Sims 4 Folder somewhere if that helps. The image is too large to attach and I cannot attached zipped folders to this post.

[crinrict]

Hi @sarahcrausch 

this is a known issue.

Merged your post with existing thread.

[sarahcrausch]

Thank you for adding me to thread! I was having difficulty find others who had the same issue, but it looks like this is a common issue.

[RouenSims]

I am also having the problem with invisible Sims who can't do anything but are described as being at home. I recently installed numerous packs, including Strangerville, and recently completed the Strangerville aspiration and holidays. I have tried both with and without Mods. As soon as I put my original Saves folder back in the proper folder, the problem was visible.

[RouenSims]

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@sunsettsimmerr wrote:

The only fix I've found is setting the household as unplayed and then playing the family. I literally just figured that out as I was grabbing the screenshot just now.

I just tried that, and it unfortunately didn't work. 

(EDIT: I tried it on another family who were at home, and it worked for them! Thank you so much!)

I've wondered if the problem could have been due to Sims not being at home when the patch was installed. It seems like it is affecting my Sims who were elsewhere so far.

I tried changing my maximum Sim count and the number of played Sims, but it had no affect on the problem.

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[RouenSims]

More information: I was able to play a household of two by marking them as unplayed. Everything was going fine until one of the household members traveled to a club meeting. When he returned, the other member of the household was gone and grayed out.

[Sid1701d9]

Good News everyone this problem has been around for a while the cause is if the sim is currently at work during a patch in game make sure the sims are home when a patch occurs.  The patch sends them home to avoid corruption and sims not returning home.  However, the game still thinks they are at work.

Two methods.

Wait until work shift is over than take them to the community lot this will force them to leave work.  Now bring them home again, this should clear all of them that have been affected with the work icon stuck.

The Second method is when they go to work the second time they will automatically disappear and will reappear properly the second time around with the work icon gone and everything normal.

This is a work around to get your family  playable again.  The reason why I know about it is I had this problem since base game.  This is a patch related bug.  However it is so minor if you know how to break it I wish I knew to post the work around sooner. 

[RouenSims]

Unfortunately, the problem doesn't seem to be related to work. I just created a new Sim yesterday who has never once gone to work yet, and she is greyed out. Also, there is no way to get my Sims to travel. I can't use any functions with them other than "care for self."

At the same time this problem started, another problem started. Some black-and-white pets are blue part of the time.