Re: Sims disappear after enrolling to university

by amambonu1
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Sims disappear after enrolling to university

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Hello, I have no mods and my sims and disappeared after trying to enroll to university. I’m not able to play at all. The icons are blank and my money is at $0. What should I do?

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Accepted Solution

Re: Sims disappear after enrolling to university

[ Edited ]

@amambonu1  You can try loading the backup save instead.  In Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves, you'll see a folder with your save name plus a folder with the same name and a .backup extension, for example SunsetValley.sims3 and SunsetValley.sims3.backup.  Rename the save and delete the .backup extension (e.g. SunsetValley1.sims3), and it should be available to load from the Main Menu.

 

If the backup save is also from after the travel transition, there's another trick to getting your sims back that may or may not work; let me know if you want to try.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.

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Message 4 of 9 (1,110 Views)

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Re: Sims disappear after enrolling to university

@amambonu1  Quit without saving, and try again.

 

This is what happens when the travel transition breaks, and there's no way to fully recover from it, other than to reload the game from a point before the sims traveled.  Without mods, the transition is fragile and can break for no apparent reason.  If you don't want to use mods, the best thing to do is to lower the stress on the game engine as much as possible before your sims travel:

 

  • 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.
  • If you play through Origin, sign in and then put Origin 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 travel your sims right away, as soon as the game clock starts moving forward.

It's also a good idea, even critical, to keep a copy of your save from before the sims travel.  It's possible they won't be able to return home, that the transition will break in the way that it's broken now, and keeping a spare copy of the save means you won't lose everything.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 2 of 9 (1,139 Views)
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Re: Sims disappear after enrolling to university

★★★★ Novice
@puzzlezaddict Dang! I ended up saving it before! I might just have to start a new game!
Message 3 of 9 (1,112 Views)

Re: Sims disappear after enrolling to university

[ Edited ]

@amambonu1  You can try loading the backup save instead.  In Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves, you'll see a folder with your save name plus a folder with the same name and a .backup extension, for example SunsetValley.sims3 and SunsetValley.sims3.backup.  Rename the save and delete the .backup extension (e.g. SunsetValley1.sims3), and it should be available to load from the Main Menu.

 

If the backup save is also from after the travel transition, there's another trick to getting your sims back that may or may not work; let me know if you want to try.

——————————————————————————————————————————

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 4 of 9 (1,111 Views)

Re: Sims disappear after enrolling to university

★★★★ Novice

I'm so sorry for the late reply. thank you so much!

Message 5 of 9 (883 Views)

Re: Sims disappear after enrolling to university

@amambonu1  Did this work for you?  If so, I'm glad to hear it, and I hope you continue to enjoy your game.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 6 of 9 (864 Views)

Re: Sims disappear after enrolling to university

★★★★ Novice

yes it worked! but I had to return the laptop because it was a rental. now I'm looking for a new laptop to buy that work with sims 3 and 4

Message 7 of 9 (831 Views)

Re: Sims disappear after enrolling to university

@amambonu1  Great to hear, and we can talk about potential new laptops in your other thread.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 8 of 9 (819 Views)

Re: Sims disappear after enrolling to university

★★★★ Novice

sounds good!

Message 9 of 9 (653 Views)