Build Your Bundle is no longer available in game after the latest Sims 4 update

[vladnc]

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? Holiday Celebration Pack, Grim's Ghoulish Guitar
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Start the game, click on the "Build Your Bundle" button.
What happens when the bug occurs? I get a Warning: "Origin In Game has been disabled in the Origin Client. To enable Origin In Game, go to Application Settings, click on the Origin In Game menu and select the option to enable Origin In Game"
What do you expect to see? I expected to be able to create a bundle from the game UI.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
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 updated Sims 4 to the latest version.

‌

I already tried reinstalling the Origin client, disabling and re-enabling the Origin In Game option, both in the Origin Application Settings menu and the Sims 4 game properties from the Origin launcher. Nothing works.

[vladnc · Accepted solution]

So, I installed Origin and Sims 4 on the laptop. It worked fine. After a bit more troubleshooting on the desktop, I found the culprit: it was the Fraps FPS counter software:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraps

Fraps is a very lightweight and accurate FPS counter software, and a lot of people still use it, even though it hasn't been updated since 2013.

With Fraps running before starting the game (I always keep Fraps running), the Origin In-Game overlay stops working completely, for some reason. I've been using Fraps for years without issues, but after the latest Origin and Sims 4 updates it seems Fraps is no longer compatible with Origin In-Game, at least for Sims 4.

[vladnc]

How do you create a bundle from the web? I didn't find it on the web site, only the option to buy items individually.

"Build your bundle" in game is broken since the last sims 4 update, it complains origin in game is disabled, although it's enabled both in the Origin application settings and the game properties.

Later edit: Never mind, I figured it out myself. First, Google or Bing "build your bundle origin", then click on the first result.

That's because the Origin site is a mess, and you can't find anything. Logically the bundling for the game DLC should have been under the Extra Content tab, since that's where the predefined bundles are. So, of course, it's not there. It's under the Browse Games section instead, because reasons. I don't need to browse games, I already have the game, and I want to build a bundle for it, it makes not sense to go to "Browse Games" to do that. If it was named "Browse Content" it would have made sense.

[crinrict]

@vladnc Moving this to the thread of the bundle issues.

[vladnc]

I don't really like that you moved it here. Please move it back. This thread is about a different issue.

[crinrict]

@vladnc I split but it's not a sims bug. It' has to do with bundles so I'm leaving it in GD.

As said there's other issues going on with the bundles that need to be solved. We shall see how it goes after those are.

[vladnc]

Well, it seems I was right, and it was a Sims bug:

From the patch notes for 1.68.156.1020:

"This update also resolves the PC problem where attempting to purchase packs from the main menu resulted in an Origin error."

However, the patch with the fix didn't quite work, it just replaced the previous error message with a new one:

Warning: Whoops! Something went wrong. Check back soon.

Screenshot attached.

[vladnc]

In addition to re-installing Origin, I did a clean install of the game as well. The issue persists. And it's not just the bundle feature that is broken. Even adding items to the shopping basket individually doesn't work, I receive the same error message:

Warning: Whoops! Something went wrong. Check back soon.

Not sure if it's relevant, but I have the Digital Deluxe version. Also, why is this marked as solved? Should I create another bug report?

[puzzlezaddict]

@vladnc  It looks like the thread was reorganized so that your initial post, where you said you'd fixed the problem, could instead be the solution.  If you don't want it marked as solved, let me know, and I'll unmark it.  (I know you kind of said so, but I'd rather double-check before doing it.)

You don't need to make a new thread, and I don't think bug reports is the right section anyway—that's really for in-game issues, not broken features that accompany the game.

Anyway, I tested this just now, and I was able to bring up the bundle screen as long as I had Origin in-game enabled for Sims 4, whether or not it was enabled globally.  So the issue is likely either your system or your connection.  It might just be easier to buy through the Origin app or website rather than in-game, since it's not clear exactly where the problem is.  If you do want to troubleshoot though, here's how.

For a connection issue, the fastest test is to use your phone as a mobile hotspot; make sure it's using data, not your home wifi.  You don't need to use it indefinitely, just long enough to test the bundling function.

For a system issue, please clear the caches  for your default browser and for Internet Explorer.  Even if you never use IE, Origin still apparently does for some purposes.  Be sure to uncheck the box to preserve data for favorite sites.

https://kb.wisc.edu/page.php?id=15141

If that doesn't help, please clear Origin's cache and uninstall it "the hard way"; a regular uninstall leaves behind a number of hidden files.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/faq/clear-cache-to-fix-problems-with-your-games/

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/manually-uninstalling-origin/

Restart your computer, download the full installer, and run it as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator."  This is a direct download link:

http://download.dm.origin.com/origin/live/OriginSetup.exe

Restart your computer after installing and before launching Sims 4.

[vladnc]

For the time being I'm installing it on my laptop as well, in addition to my desktop, to see if the issue persists.

One thing is for sure, there is nothing wrong with my Internet connection, I have Gigabit Ethernet, and it works perfectly.

This started after the Snowy Escape game update (I don't mean the DLC). And the behavior changed after the most recent patch. So it's highly unlikely it has something to do with my system, but we'll see.

[vladnc · Accepted solution]

So, I installed Origin and Sims 4 on the laptop. It worked fine. After a bit more troubleshooting on the desktop, I found the culprit: it was the Fraps FPS counter software:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fraps

Fraps is a very lightweight and accurate FPS counter software, and a lot of people still use it, even though it hasn't been updated since 2013.

With Fraps running before starting the game (I always keep Fraps running), the Origin In-Game overlay stops working completely, for some reason. I've been using Fraps for years without issues, but after the latest Origin and Sims 4 updates it seems Fraps is no longer compatible with Origin In-Game, at least for Sims 4.