Sim 3 (with expansions) town stopped aging

[erinlough01]

Hi, I have this problem and I can’t uninstall the pack because my origin just doesn’t work. I’ve tried clearing the cache and googled online what to do but nothing works, it just stays blank Constantly. 

if you can think of anything I can do to help I would appreciate it. My sims’ family has 20+ members so moving to a new town would not be possible as I do not want to loose any of them

[puzzlezaddict]

@erinlough01  I've split your post into its own thread, since the other thread is originally quite old.

If the sims in your save aren't aging, there are a few things you can try to fix it.  First of all, delete the five cache files in your Sims 3 user data folder in Documents\Electronic Arts.  They should be deleted regularly anyway, as they tend to fill up with stale data; while you're troubleshooting, delete them every time you quit the game.  For reference, they are:

• CASPartCache.package
• compositorCache.package
• scriptCache.package
• simCompositorCache.package
• socialCache.package

Test your game to see whether this helps.  It probably won't fix the problem on its own, but since this is an easier fix than most of the others, it's worth checking.  From now on, when you test, load the game, let the clock run for a few sim-minutes, then use "save as" to rename the save.  That way, your original will remain as a backup.  You can trash any save where some approach didn't help and just reload the original, then "save as" again before testing something new.

The next step would be to load the game, (save as), disable aging in Options, quit, delete the cache files, reload, enable aging, save, quit, delete the cache files, and reload again to test.

If that doesn't help either, delete options.ini from the Sims 3 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts.  The game will spawn a new one with default settings; perhaps aging will work again.

Other than this, your only options may be to use mods.  You might already be using them; I'm not sure if the sim family's 20 members live in the same household or not.  But if you're interested in potential mod fixes, let me know.

[erinlough01]

Hi, thank you for your help. I have already tried to clear the caches previously and it has not worked. I figured out that it was a bug within the generations expansion pack still and on the launcher I just unselected it and it seemed to work.

thank you for your help, I appreciate it.

also if anyone does come across this problem still, as well as trying what has been suggesting I would also recommend trying to uninstall or not use the generations pack , allow them to age slightly and then go back in and turn it on again if you wish to use it 

[puzzlezaddict]

@erinlough01  I'm glad to hear that removing Generations temporarily fixed the issue.  The reason I didn't and wouldn't recommend it in general is that if sims contain critical data—anything from a trait or lifetime wish to an occult life state—from a specific pack, and then that pack is removed, it can corrupt the sims beyond repair.  But it doesn't always, and mods can help clean up the mess if it does.