A World of Frozen Sims (Sims 4)

[emilianmodemusic]

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? 1.50.67.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All.
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? I'm not sure.
What happens when the bug occurs? My Sims no longer interact with fellow sims, animals, or objects.
What do you expect to see? My Sims to follow my instructions to interact with the world when I ask them to.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Yes, but they are currently all disabled and had been even before this glitch (I created a new save for no CC)
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? No

I first encountered this bug on April 1st, 2019 (but I promise this isn't a joke, it's only a coincidence). I've been building a large 'hotel' of sorts in San Myshuno, and I created a Sim and a dog to put onto the lot to test out the items and make sure everything worked properly, since I had placed some items via the 'bb.moveobjectson' cheat, as well as pulled some items from the debug menu for the apartment meant for a 'world-travelling' Sim (all items from Jungle Adventure). Upon moving the Sim into the building, all seemed normal. I had her enter her intended apartment, call her dog to her, and then tried to have her fill the dog bowl. That was when I noticed something was wrong.

The Sim in question didn't move a muscle. I shift-clicked her and reset her, and had her walk to the bowl before trying to fill it again, thinking maybe it was blocked by something. She walked to the bowl, but then stood stock still again, only occasionally shifting where she was looking. The dog, likewise, hadn't moved to explore the apartment at all, standing there and doing a stretching idle animation on loop. Outside on the streets of San Myshuno, customers stand at the food stalls awaiting food that never comes. A teen inspects the mural on the ground, but never moves to continue it. Time moves forward, but the denizens of the world are stiff, nearly unblinking, frozen in time.

I had disabled all of the CC in my game about a month ago (sometime in early to mid March 2019) in order to challenge myself to make Sims and houses without any Custom Content, and was quite enjoying myself, so I don't think that it's any custom stuff that's the issue. I have searched online for answers, and have tried a handful of solutions-- restarting the game several times, deleting the debug items, deleting doors that were blocked, resetting the Sims in the area. Nothing's worked so far, and upon booting up the game tonight, I'm very frustrated to find that the glitch hasn't just 'gone away' (which was a foolish notion, I admit, but it was about the only thing I could hope for at this point). I've spent approximately 20 hours on this build alone, and remains unfinished to this point because I can't test the objects I've placed into it.

If anyone has experienced this glitch and managed a fix for it, I would be very much appreciative to have your advice.

[thelithijabii]

I experienced this glitch a few months back. I know the pain all too well... I feel like the bb.moveobject ON/OFF is bugged in itself as it would only happen when I used that cheat. I no longer use it and just deal with placement options that I am given. While doing research, I did come across a post that noted when using the bb.moveobject cheat, invisible walls and path are probably being created around our Sims and then it glitches out. I have came to realize that while Sims is a heavy cheat code game, many of them are in-fact so bugged that they can really mess up your games installation. 

Sadly, the only thing that had worked for me had been to fully uninstall the game and clear all cache and not use that cheat. I would say that you can take your saved folder out and reinstall the game and not lose anything. However, I heavily feel that your use of the bb.moveobjects cheat probably bugged your files. 

[emilianmodemusic]

That's so strange! I've been playing The Sims 4 since about October and, though I've been using the bb.moveobjects cheat the whole time, I've only just started encountering this bug recently. It's a shame that it's such an often-used cheat that can ruin your game files like this, if that really is the case! It's a wonder that all those YouTubers who specialize in builds haven't encountered this before, or if they have, haven't commented on it.

[kreatora]

@emilianmodemusic 

I don't think the reason for this is the MOO code.

1. The most common cause is outdated mods and CC, which after some patch are not working anymore.
Simple removal of mods and CC is not enough.
You should also delete the localthumbcache.package file from the game folder and repair the game in Origin.

Origin/Library -right click on TS4 - option "Repair game"
You have to wait until Origin will fix all packs, not only the base game

2. It can be damaged "save" of the current game if it has been overwritten many times - it is better to use the "save as ..." option.
Often such problems disappear after a simple repair of the game in Origin. And certainly, disappear after the factory reset of the game folder.
http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/FAQ-Troubleshooting-Steps-amp-Known-Issues/m-p/3621199

3. The last reason can be outdated graphics card drivers or too little RAM memory left by the system to be used for the game.

I don't work for EA

[emilianmodemusic]

Thank you, Kreatora! I'll give the first option a go and get back to you. Here's hoping it fixes it!

[kitaxia]

My sims will have a requested action and either not respond or freeze in the middle of it, I also noticed my computer seems to be revving like something is affecting it? Sometimes they come back if I go into build/buy mode or travel to another place and then come back. That's the only solution I have had work but it doesn't work all the time. My poor sims, I check for exceptions too and there are none.

[kitaxia]

oh and I don't use mods or ingame mods either.

[kreatora]

@kitaxia

Could you post your Computer's DxDiag?
To gather a DxDiag on your computer, please follow the steps here: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
You can attach the text file to your post directly in option "Reply" - not Quick Reply

I don't work for EA