My sims disappeared after coming back from college

[malanbtlr]

So my sim ended her term at college and when she came home, the world glitched and she wasn't anywhere and I didn't have a home lot to center to so I  exited my game (can't remember 100% if I saved before I exited but im pretty sure). Now I've restarted my game and the only way to get her back is to completely restart her life. Is there another way to get her back? Btw I don't have any mods or installed worlds, I have the sims 3 (64-bit & metal), university life, and high end loft stuff installed. Also (not my main issue) my game shuts down like every two hours which makes me lose my save progress anyone got answers please I'll take anything at this point!

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@malanbtlr  Try loading the backup save.  Even if you never created one, the game keeps the files from the second to last time you saved.  Go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Saves, and you'll see a folder with your save name plus a folder with the same name and a .backup extension.  (For example, if your save is SunsetValley, there will be a SunsetValley.sims3 folder and a SunsetValley.sims3.backup folder.)  Rename this folder and delete the .backup extension (e.g. SunsetValley1.sims3), and you'll be able to load the backup at the Main Menu.

When you do load the game, be sure to use "save as" right away to rename the save, so the original backup remains intact and you can experiment on the new copy.

For the travel transition itself, it's fragile and breaks easily, often leading to exactly what happened in your game.  Without mods, the best way to address it is to try to lower 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 user 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.  Now 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 sim home right away, as soon as the game clock starts moving forward.

For the crashing, please attach your deviceconfig.log, in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3, to a post.  (You'll need to manually open the folders; the file won't show up in a search.)  You can delete your user and computer names, about 25 lines down, but there's nothing else in that file that can identify you.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@malanbtlr  Try loading the backup save.  Even if you never created one, the game keeps the files from the second to last time you saved.  Go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Saves, and you'll see a folder with your save name plus a folder with the same name and a .backup extension.  (For example, if your save is SunsetValley, there will be a SunsetValley.sims3 folder and a SunsetValley.sims3.backup folder.)  Rename this folder and delete the .backup extension (e.g. SunsetValley1.sims3), and you'll be able to load the backup at the Main Menu.

When you do load the game, be sure to use "save as" right away to rename the save, so the original backup remains intact and you can experiment on the new copy.

For the travel transition itself, it's fragile and breaks easily, often leading to exactly what happened in your game.  Without mods, the best way to address it is to try to lower 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 user 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.  Now 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 sim home right away, as soon as the game clock starts moving forward.

For the crashing, please attach your deviceconfig.log, in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3, to a post.  (You'll need to manually open the folders; the file won't show up in a search.)  You can delete your user and computer names, about 25 lines down, but there's nothing else in that file that can identify you.