Photography Skill Progress Stuck/Not Appearing

[Ashley5300]

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? 1.65.70.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All except for Eco Lifestyle, Get Famous, StrangerVille, Vampires, Nifty Knitting, Moschino Stuff, and Backyard Stuff.
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Take any sim to a lot that is empty by default such as any NewCrest lot. Have them take photographs by any means.
What happens when the bug occurs? The photography skill either does not appear, or it becomes stuck at a random percentage. If you use the cheat "stats.set_skill_level Major_Photography x", then the progress is stuck at 0% at the new level and does not increase.
What do you expect to see? The photography skill should appear when a photograph is first taken, and it should continue to progress as more photographs are taken.
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 

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Resetting the sim, clearing the cache, creating a new save file, and repairing the game has no effect on this.

This bug does not discriminate between pre-made sims or townies. This bug does not occur on any lot other than those that are empty by default. This bug does not discriminate between ages of sims. 

[DonroaAkashu · Accepted solution]

I tested this:

New folder, new sim random in CAS, YA, moved in to Bargain Bend, Willow Creek, empty by default. Took Selfie and Photo with the phone, and the Barely Better Digital Camera from Buy/Build mode. Got the Photography skill, and it raised in procentual amount for each photo. Moved to Fern Park, Newcrest, empty by default, did the same; got skill gain. Travelled from there to Oak Alcove, Newcrest, empty by default, did the same; got skill gain.

Bought the In a Flash Photo Studio, as seen in OP's picture, from Buy/Build mode, took photo of random sim - no skill gain. Placed the photo studio on the home lot - no skill gain. Placed it from Manage World view on BFF Household lot, Willow Creek, travelled there, took photos - no skill gain. Placed one on Streamlet Single (Willow Creek), also with a premade house, moved there, took photos - no skill gain. Took photos with the phone and the camera - no skill gain. Reloaded the game, took photos with phone and camera. The skill gain was stuck at first, but by the second try the skill level raised. Then my sim took photos with the studio - and the skill bar got stuck where it was, no skill gain; and taking photos with phone and camera after that got stuck again, to no skill gains, I tried several times. Reloaded and replicated.

Made new folder, with two YA in CAS, moved to Streamlet Single, Willow Creek, bought the studio, took photos - neither sim learned the Photography skill. I then took photos by phone and the camera, with both sims, but they did not learn the skill. Reloaded, and started with the camera, and phone respectively; and both sims gained the Photography skill, and levelled up for each photo taken.

@Ashley5300  You could try to replicate this, to see if using the studio triggers the issue; and not the type of lot.

[crinrict]

@Ashley5300 To make sure I didn't miss a step I tested this

1. Took a Sim without the skill to an empty lot and took a selfie
2. Sim gained 10% skill
3. Took another selfie
4. Skill went up to 20%

Tested another Sim that already had the skill and tried the same. Also no problem with gaining skills. I did only test selfies but you said all means have the problem.

[Ashley5300]

@crinrict
Thank you for looking into this. I'm not sure why, but the percentage at which the skill becomes stuck seems to differ for each sim. For example, an elder sim of mine was able to get the skill up to 37%, but her teenage grandson was only able to get his skill up to 11%. The only consistency I've found so far is that the skill becomes stuck at 0% for any sim whose skill is raised using the aforementioned cheat.

Thanks again,
Ashley5300

[crinrict]

@Ashley5300 so it's a cheat issue ?

[Ashley5300]

@crinrict
I don't think it's an issue with the cheat since I'm running into this bug repeatedly without any cheats. I've just noticed that the quickest way to find the bug is with the cheat. However, when testing for the specific circumstances under which the bug occurs, I did not use cheats.

[DonroaAkashu · Accepted solution]

I tested this:

New folder, new sim random in CAS, YA, moved in to Bargain Bend, Willow Creek, empty by default. Took Selfie and Photo with the phone, and the Barely Better Digital Camera from Buy/Build mode. Got the Photography skill, and it raised in procentual amount for each photo. Moved to Fern Park, Newcrest, empty by default, did the same; got skill gain. Travelled from there to Oak Alcove, Newcrest, empty by default, did the same; got skill gain.

Bought the In a Flash Photo Studio, as seen in OP's picture, from Buy/Build mode, took photo of random sim - no skill gain. Placed the photo studio on the home lot - no skill gain. Placed it from Manage World view on BFF Household lot, Willow Creek, travelled there, took photos - no skill gain. Placed one on Streamlet Single (Willow Creek), also with a premade house, moved there, took photos - no skill gain. Took photos with the phone and the camera - no skill gain. Reloaded the game, took photos with phone and camera. The skill gain was stuck at first, but by the second try the skill level raised. Then my sim took photos with the studio - and the skill bar got stuck where it was, no skill gain; and taking photos with phone and camera after that got stuck again, to no skill gains, I tried several times. Reloaded and replicated.

Made new folder, with two YA in CAS, moved to Streamlet Single, Willow Creek, bought the studio, took photos - neither sim learned the Photography skill. I then took photos by phone and the camera, with both sims, but they did not learn the skill. Reloaded, and started with the camera, and phone respectively; and both sims gained the Photography skill, and levelled up for each photo taken.

@Ashley5300  You could try to replicate this, to see if using the studio triggers the issue; and not the type of lot.

[Ashley5300]

@DonroaAkashu You're right! It is the item that is causing the bug. I took the primary family that I was testing this with to an empty lot where I have never placed a photo studio, and the skills became unstuck and progressed to the succeeding levels. Thank you for finding this workaround!