Sims suddenly missing from household and town?

[bxbytrishx]

Hi, I have The Sims 3 with all expansion packs and stuff. I also have NRaas mods installed such as ErrorTrap, Overwatch, Cheats, Hybrid, MC and DebugEnabler. 

Recently, as I was changing households I found out two of my Sim's grandkids went missing. Before that, my Sim was already a young adult but as I checked the family tree, it said that she was in elementary school. Her face also doesn't show up on the portrait either, so I can't determine if she died or not. Her mother, father and her brother also don't have memories or relationship with her (it's like she's been deleted) Is there any way to bring her back? 

[puzzlezaddict]

@bxbytrishx  The game itself will sometimes cull sims from time to time, possibly even sims that you've played before, although they're supposed to be exempt.  (NRaas StoryProgression prevents this culling by default.)  It's also possible, and sounds likely from your description, that the yound adult sim is or was corrupt, although that doesn't always lead to culling, and of course it shouldn't lead to other sims being removed.  But culling often happens in stages, with not all data being removed at once, so it can be possible to recover a sim if you notice soon enough.

Since you have MasterController as well, you can try adding the missing sims to your current household; it's easy enough to place them elsewhere later.  Before you do anything though, delete the five cache files in your Sims 3 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts.  These should be deleted regularly anyway; while troubleshooting, make sure to delete them every time you quit the game.  For reference:

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

Load the save, let the clock run for a couple sim-minutes, then use "save as" and rename the save.  That way, the original will be preserved as a backup, in case you need it later.  Click on the ground or a wall of your active house and select NRaas > MC > Add Sim, then X out the filter, and see if you can find the missing sims on the list.  If so, great, add them.  Then "save as" under another new name, quit, delete the cache files, and reload.

It's a good idea to reset the sims you added a second time, just for good measure.  You can click on them directly and select NRaas > MC > Advanced > Reset Sim, or (if they're not clickable, always a bad sign) from City Hall, by choosing NRaas > MC > Sim > Advanced > Reset Sim and finding them on the list.  When a sim is corrupt enough, sometimes this kind of reset will change their appearance—MasterController doesn't have enough good data to completely reconstruct their original version.  But as long as the sim is recovered at all, you can manually change whatever you want in CAS.

[bxbytrishx]

I tried adding the Sim using MC, but I couldn’t find her anywhere on the list. I even reset the whole town (and even download NRaas StoryProgession to prevent culling lol). Still couldn’t find her

[puzzlezaddict]

@bxbytrishx  StoryProgression will only prevent culling before it starts, unfortunately.  You can try MC again, this time sorting by "relation" (using a sim related to the missing one) instead of looking at the list of sims; sometimes the categories can be a bit fickle.  Or you can try MC > Basic > Invite Over, again filtering by relation or another category you think might find this sim.

Otherwise, do you have a backup copy of this save?  If you do, even if it's really old, you could use it to save a copy of the missing sim, place her in the current save, and use MC to repair the missing relationships.  If you don't have a backup, the sim is likely gone for good, unfortunately.

[bxbytrishx]

I don't have a backup, unfortunately, I tried finding her again but she wasn't even on the list anymore. Makes me wonder why they are suddenly culled...

[puzzlezaddict]

@bxbytrishx  Sims can be culled for no apparent reason, although there may be some internal logic behind it.  For example, the game itself will start culling when it thinks a world is overpopulated.  However, it often misjudges—both the appropriate population and the actual number of sims—and it can keep culling even after the population has dropped below the target number.  So it's often difficult to figure out what's going on, and maybe not worth the effort.

I've also seen culling of individual sims, not entire households but one or two sims within them, when the house doesn't have enough beds or is over the eight-sim default limit.

Unfortunatly, it sounds like your only options are to move on or to recreate the sim and use MC to repair the relationships.  You can also assign a job and skill levels with MC, if that matters to you, and of course family funds.  And you can use the genetics of your existing sims to create the replacement.  I know it's not the same, but it might work for the purposes of your storyline.  Let me know if you'd like help with that process.