[NEEDS SAVES] In-Season Plants revert to dirt piles (Patch 1.68) [ Edited ]

[jari121red]

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? 1.68.154.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Everything except My First Pets Stuff and Journey to Batuu. 

How can we find the bug ourselves? If you plant more than a few plants outside. 
The plants will randomly disappear back to dirt patches again. It also occurs on vertical planters for some reason. It won't happen to all plants on the lot - see attached picture - but there's no rhyme or reason as to why and it can days for them to regrow if they regrow at all. 
What do you expect to see? Plants should not spontaneously change life states just because there are too many of them. 
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? I've removed it but it's still happening. 
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Not sure. 

Do you own Seasons ?

Yes. 

Do you have large gardens ?

I have about 30 plants. 

Does it matter which plant or does it happen to all of them ?

It seems to happen indiscriminately. Some trees, some flowers, some herbs, some spliced, some rare, some common... Not all the plants are affected but there's no reason as to which will and which won't. 

Did you plant the plants before or after Nov 11th Patch ?

After. These were planted around two weeks ago in real life. 

[BlackDragon4160]

PS4 Pro   English  No Mods

My plants will not produce unless one of them gets bugs. Once sprayed they produce. Oddly, the more bugs that I have to deal with the faster they generate their harvestables. Deal is the painfully long wait for the little buggers to show up the first time so when my grown plant suddenly turns into a dirt pile, I could just scream. On the plus side, the bugs show up and the dirt pile grows back into it's full grown self very quickly.  Wish there was a cheat to get them to show up on demand. Or go away for those who are having the opposite problem.

[PoptartJuniper]

@BlackDragon4160 I've merged your post into the bug report. Please see this post in the thread https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/NEEDS-SAVES-In-Season-Plants-revert-to-dirt-piles-Patch-1-68/m... and answer the questions there if you could. You can edit your post by clicking the three dots on the upper right side of your post.

[Marinuttonen]

This is happening to me too.

As a side note

you can do a rags to riches without ever gardening. Just get creative with the rules. I did one where I only made money by items I won on spellcaster duels, or one where I could only make money by dj'ing and parties I threw. Latest one I did I could only make money by fishing & treasure hunting in Sulani.

[lindaloudel1]

I totally agree with you! EA PLEASE FIX THIS!! They could at least say they are working on and are aware of the problem. Wonder if they read this? Again, EA PLEASE FIX THIS!!

[BlackDragon4160]

I have perfect quality of every plant in the game. I shelter them on the first basement down from ground level which works best for the plants. So, though I have Seasons, their growing season does not factor in. They always produce.

1) My plants won't begin producing until I have had a chance to spray for bugs. It also seems the more bugs I have to spray, the faster they are ready for harvesting as long as I keep them fertilized, weeded and have talked to them regularly.  You don't have to talk to every single plant all the time, but you do need to talk to at least 20 times. I run at double speed when doing this. At triple speed it's as if you never talked to them at all.

2) All my plants have at one time or another turned into dirt piles. However, keeping them 4 squares apart and talking to them regularly seems to decrease how often this happens and how quickly they return to their full grown state. Also, I fertilize with perfect Money Fruit which also helps decrease how often a plant turns into a dirt pile.

3) I use the hydroponic planters which, except for a few plants, makes having to water them unnecessary. The alien plants, Strangerville plants and the Mushrooms will still have to be watered manually.

4) I have had plants disappear, but always in Build Mode when placing them or moving them around. When this happens I quickly "Undo" what I just did and try again. I suspect the game either thinks they are still there and/or moved them to a different location where they are also invisible. Important you "Undo" what you were doing when the plant disappeared or the game is likely to identify it as there and cause much trouble later.

I am playing on a PS4 Pro, but these problems seem universal across the platforms. Hope this helps.

[trapt2821]

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? 1.70.84.1020

What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All packs

Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Plant plants and wait.

What happens when the bug occurs? If planting for the first time, the plants will grow in a normal cycle, become harvestable and change back to their initially planted state. ALSO, if opening an existing save with Perfect grade plants on small and large gardens/lots, the fully grown plants that are already harvestable will revert to their initially planted state, become dry and full of weeds.

What do you expect to see? I expect to see my plants the way they have been, fully grown, in Perfect quality and able to be harvested when my Sim has a chance to harvest them.

Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Yes, but I've already tested this bug without any mods on a brand new save with a newly generated "The Sims 4" folder in my Documents on my PC.

Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Neutral/Not Sure

To answer the newly added questions to this post:

1. Do you own Seasons? Yes, I have all packs currently installed.
2. Do you have large gardens? I have large and small gardens and this bug happens to both.
3. Does it matter which plant or does it happen to all of them? It happens to all plants, no matter if it is base game or part of a pack. It also happens to plants added by mods.
4. Did you plant the plants before or after Nov 11th Patch? I have 2 separate saves, my actual save game (which originated a few years ago) and a new save I created yesterday (with no mods). I have this bug in both save games.

See the attachment for my test save. Also, if anyone wants to create their own quick test, Origin ID: egureh has created a room on their Gallery that has Perfect quality plants. You can just place that room and watch all the plants revert from fully grown Perfect plants and then grow and again then revert. This room can also be downloaded from Mod The Sims (it DOES NOT include mods) as well here: https://modthesims.info/d/553315/green-thumb-talks-perfect-gardening-update-2019-09-18.html

Slot_00000014.rar

[happygirl4321]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? Deutsch
How often does the bug occur? Often (50% - 99%)
What is your current game version number? 1.71.86.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All except Paranormal
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Do gardening
What happens when the bug occurs? Plants and trees shrink to piles of dirt although being in season and fully grown and developed before.
What do you expect to see? Plants and trees not reverting back while in season.
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? Neutral/Not Sure 

‌

My gardening is still bugged, trees and plants turn into piles of dirt (e.g. lemon trees, blackberries, sage). I have never used any mods.

[BlackDragon4160]

Mine still do that too. Last night certain plant seeds couldn't be placed in the large planters.  Game puts them "inside" the planter where you can't interact with it. Would think this is related to the disappearing plants problem. Wish I had a real fix for you and everyone, but all I got are "sometimes it works" work arounds.

[LizOver]

Still having this issue as of March 2021. Gardening is a big part of my gameplay and this is making it unsustainable.

1. Do you own Seasons ? Yes
2. Do you have large gardens ? Both large and small
3. Does it matter which plant or does it happen to all of them ? All of them, including trees
4. Did you plant the plants before or after Nov 11th Patch ? After