Re: My Mac save files are gone?

by Leineb
Reply

Original Post

Accepted Solution

My Mac save files are gone?

★★ Novice

Hi there, I did Google around a bit for an answer but I couldn't find anything that matched my circumstances :')

 

I was playing Sims 4 yesterday, my sister and me play it quite frequently off the same Macbook. Got the latest patch yesterday. Saved and shut it down normally.

 

I switched it on today and there was no load option, just went straight to the CAS menu? I checked my save file and it's empty except for a scratch folder. I still have screenshots and videos, but the cache and save folders are completely empty. I did try going through CAS quick but it took me to the 'pick a season' and then the 'pick a neighbourhood' start up options. ln the main neighbourhood I play on, all the buildings and families my sister and me made are gone. Frown The families are somewhat in the library, but only as they were at the very beginning: so not reflecting any kids they had, their pets had, or design changes and aging. 

 

We have Seasons and Cats and Dogs and three mods installed, but we've had these for a while and the game has always ran okay. One thing I did notice, the Sims 4 folder is full of files labelled 'Last Exception'? I saw this pop-up as an error message in game yesterday, but the game kept running fine before, even when I exited it to do something else then came back on. 

 

I tried some troubleshooting myself: I don't have a second EA folder, or iCloud enabled, so it's not disappeared to either of those. There is also nothing resembling a save file in my trash bin? And my trash bin hasn't been emptied in a long time. 

 

It is really disappointing if it's deleted everything, since Origin doesn't seem to have ever backed my game up- it dates my last playing time as 2016, which I think was when I had my free trial? If someone can help me find my files I'd be ecstatic! That, or just if there's a reason why it might have deleted everything, I'd love to know to avoid it again. Thank you for any assistance!

Message 1 of 10 (4,562 Views)

Accepted Solution
Highlighted

Re: My Mac save files are gone?

[ Edited ]
★★ Novice

@Tremayne4260 @EA_Mai Thanks for your tips and advice! I did do a search in Finder for the file extension but nothing seemed to come up, so I guess the files really have just vanished completely off the Mac. Frown I also moved and started up Sims again on my desktop, it worked and saved fine. But one thing I noticed is that I started getting really basic achievements eg. the 'playing for five hours' one (that ship sailed years ago ahahah--). I think somehow the game reset itself, as it's really acting like a brand new game. Maybe something to watch out for next time I get new patches/updates Embarrassed Not sure if a bug or not?

 

I will definitely be backing up my saves from now on, thank you for the advice! Standard smile 

 

 

View in thread

Message 4 of 10 (4,475 Views)

All Replies

Re: My Mac save files are gone?

Champion

First of all, drag your entire Sims 4 folder to your Desktop. DO NOT DELETE IT! This is where your saved games are stored. Next start up the game as normal realizing that your saved games will not show up, but this is to check up to make sure that nothing else is wrong. Create a new Sim and play for about an hour or so, save the game as normal and then quit the game. Check the new Sims 4 folder that should have generated to see if the saved game you just played is there. 

 

Next check your Mods to insure they are up to date. Whenever a new patch comes out, Mods are usually updated as the patch can change things that may conflict with the Mod or render it obsolete. Add the updated Mods to your game. 

 

Go back and check your Sims 4 folder on your Desktop to see if you see any files in the Saved games folder. 

 

I alway recommend to back up your game on an external hard drive or USB thumb drive before patching to insure your Simmies are safe. 

 

Let me know what happens.

CCP Champion Banner - Blue.png

Message 2 of 10 (4,489 Views)
0

Re: My Mac save files are gone?

EA app Team
Hi @Leineb,

I'm not sure what happened, and I wish I had better news, but your save games seem to be gone for some weird reason. Frown

The exception files you see would never make the save games disappear. The game creates them every time it notices something weird going on, but that would never delete your complete saves folder.

If your can see your screenshots in the same 'The Sims 4' folder and your households are still showing up in your Game Library, it means you are looking for the save game files in the right place.

Could you try to use Finder to search by 'File extension'? The extension to look for would be 'save'. If files are somewhere in your computer, that should help us search for them.

Thanks for such a detailed post on what you have tried already!
-Mai
Message 3 of 10 (4,486 Views)
0
Highlighted

Re: My Mac save files are gone?

[ Edited ]
★★ Novice

@Tremayne4260 @EA_Mai Thanks for your tips and advice! I did do a search in Finder for the file extension but nothing seemed to come up, so I guess the files really have just vanished completely off the Mac. Frown I also moved and started up Sims again on my desktop, it worked and saved fine. But one thing I noticed is that I started getting really basic achievements eg. the 'playing for five hours' one (that ship sailed years ago ahahah--). I think somehow the game reset itself, as it's really acting like a brand new game. Maybe something to watch out for next time I get new patches/updates Embarrassed Not sure if a bug or not?

 

I will definitely be backing up my saves from now on, thank you for the advice! Standard smile 

 

 

Message 4 of 10 (4,476 Views)

Re: My Mac save files are gone?

Champion

@EA_Mai, this was a problem that was being reported on the regular Sims forums that occurred with the June patch I think, but it was right before the release of Seasons. I found the link to the original post and will paste it here. I never heard back from the OP.

 

https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/940910/my-families-are-missing-please-help#latest

CCP Champion Banner - Blue.png

Message 5 of 10 (4,461 Views)
0

Re: My Mac save files are gone?

Champion

@Leineb, I know it started occurring before Seasons was released. I posted the original discussion from the Sims forum here so EA.Mai can see it. 

 

I really do recommend regular saves of your entire Sims 4 folder on a thumb drive or external hard drive so that you don't lose all your progress with your families. I play on a Desktop iMac and have Time Machine running all the time. I've had something happen to my computer more times than I can count and it really saves me a lot of aggravation. I understand you can't always back up like this on a laptop. 

 

Advice for the future. Always back up the Sims 4 folder before updating your Mac OS, installing any new content or patching your game. Happy Simming. Standard smile

CCP Champion Banner - Blue.png

Message 6 of 10 (4,458 Views)
0

Re: My Mac save files are gone?

[ Edited ]
EA app Team

Thanks for the link, @Tremayne4260, have you seen more players reporting the same issue than in that thread?

I do believe the situation here is different as, unfortunately, @Leineb has no files on her saves folder other than the scratch folder.

@Leineb - the achievements are saved per save game. That means that if you start a new save game, you start over with them. This allows you to restart the achievements.

You mention 'Got the latest patch yesterday. Saved and shut it down normally.' - did you get to play the game normally that day after patching?

Definitely, as @Tremayne4260 suggests, making a backup of your files is always recommended. Keep in mind The Sims 4 does not save anything on Origin's cloud, so everything is saved on your computer.

Thanks,
-Mai

Message 7 of 10 (4,441 Views)
0

Re: My Mac save files are gone?

[ Edited ]
Champion

@EA_Mai Yes, there were other players reporting the same issue in other threads, but the June 2 thread was the first time it was mentioned. I wrote a thread that was sticked on the Sims Forum about what to do before patching, updating your OS version and installing new content. I copy and pasted it over here, but since I cannot sticky anything or didn't know who to contact it's probably buried on the 2nd or 3rd page. 

 

The additional conversations on the Sims Forums are probably under the Mac Bug thread and the OS threads sticked at the top of the Mac Help section.

CCP Champion Banner - Blue.png

Message 8 of 10 (4,425 Views)
0

Re: My Mac save files are gone?

★★★ Newbie

It says file extension is broken and I should throw it in the trash. What should I do?

Message 9 of 10 (2,511 Views)
0

Re: My Mac save files are gone?

@crystallwise

Please start a new thread on the forum detailing the problem you are having with a screenshot.

The Sims 3 Mac Forum - | - The Sims 4 Mac Forum -
- Clearing Origin cache - | - Mac specific TS4 issues -
AHQSigImage.png
Please do not PM me unless I ask you to, I won't reply
- I am not affiliated with EA in anyway -
Message 10 of 10 (2,469 Views)
0