Is my save broken?

[maylinnr]

I'm playing Sims 3 with (amongst others) the university life extension. I had a sim from a large family attend university, and upon return, the household he came from won't load properly. The house is seemingly empty, I can't see doors, windows or any objects outside, and I can't see inside the house. I can't access build or buy mode, and I can't control any sims. Whaaaaat has happened?

[puzzlezaddict]

@maylinnr  It sounds like the travel transition broke, and the only thing you can do is try it again.  Hopefully you quit without saving, but even if you didn't, you can still load the backup save instead.  Go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Saves, and you'll see a folder with your save name plus another with the same name and a .backup extension.  So if your save is SunsetValley, you'll see a SunsetValley.sims3 folder and a SunsetValley.sims3.backup folder.  Rename the backup and delete the .backup extension (e.g. SunsetValley1.sims3), and you'll be able to load it from the Main Menu.

If the travel transition breaks again, you can try to fix it with or without mods.  Without mods, the goal is to reduce the stress on the game engine as much as possible:

• Empty your sims' inventories as much as possible.  A few items is fine; a hundred is not.
• Use "save as" to rename the save, then quit (without saving) immediately before you want to travel.
• Load the game just to the Main Menu.  Turn off memories, the in-game shopping experience, and the hidden object interactive loading screens.
• Lower all the graphics settings to the minimum.  (You can revert to your normal settings after the travel transition.)  Now quit the game again, without loading a save.
• Delete the five cache files in your game folder in Documents: CASPartCache, compositorCache, scriptCache, simCompositorCache, and socialCache.
• Empty out everything in FeaturedItems as well.
• Sign into Origin and put it in offline mode.  Then disconnect your computer from the internet—turn off wifi and/or pull the ethernet cord.
• Now launch your game, load the save, and send your home right away, as soon as the game clock starts moving forward.

The mod-related solution is to install NRaas Traveler, along with ErrorTrap and Overwatch.  Traveler replaces the EA travel transition with one that's much more stable; the other mods clean up corruption and other issues in general.  All three mods do their jobs without any need for player intervention.

[maylinnr]

@puzzlezaddict 

I installed the mods, but I still get the same problem. I have uploaded a photo of the problem. My last save point is still in university, shortly before travelling back home. I'll be honest, I'm not sure I'm following your other instructions, but I'll give it a go at some point.

[maylinnr]

@puzzlezaddict 

Alright, I just tried the non-mod solution, and I'm sorry to say I stil get the same result. Since I had already installed the mods, this was done with the mods also running, in case that makes any difference.

Is it time to admit defeat?

[puzzlezaddict]

@maylinnr  I wouldn't say you're out of options.  One thing you can try is playing in a clean user folder.  Move your entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, open the launcher to spawn a clean folder, copy your Saves and Mods folders from the old Sims 3 folder to the new one, and try again.  Don't add anything else to the new folder unless your sims' homeworld is a store or custom world, in which case go ahead and install that world.

If this doesn't work either, I can try to get your sim home, that is if you're comfortable sharing the save.  Just zip up the save folder, upload it to a third-party filesharing site (Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.), and either post the link here or send it to me via private message.  And let me know which packs you currently have installed, as well as any store content you own that you wouldn't want to disappear.  If I own it, I'll make sure it's installed.