sims 3 neighbourhood problem

by jordantan05
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sims 3 neighbourhood problem

★ Apprentice

Im probably gonna sound stupid for writing this since its probably a normal thing anyways these are my sims expansion packs (pets itf island para uni life) so i went to the future and then came back when it was loading i went to the bathroom in real life to you know when i came back i got a notification where there is new pet lots available you know the pet playground i placed it and now i dont know how to go back to my household more importantly i dont know why the notification appeared and when i leave the game i didnt save now my picture is empty just some paper looking family when i loaded that save i denied it instead but i still cant go back to my household so i hope someone can help me since this is probably a normal thing and im being stupid

Message 1 of 24 (2,282 Views)

Accepted Solution

Re: sims 3 neighbourhood problem

@jordantan05  Again, I've never seen a link to a video; this sort of thing is usually just written out by whoever's trying to help.  The fact that you're on a mac doesn't make a whole lot of difference in this case, although there are other mac-related issues that you should know about (I'll get to those).

 

  • When you get to the Main Menu, you can choose to load any save that's in your game folder—pictures of each of them will appear across the bottom of the window.  You select one by clicking on it and then hitting the play button.  But it sounds like you've never created a backup of this game on your own.  So here's what you need to do:
  • Open your Documents folder, then Electronic Arts, then The Sims 3.  Inside, you'll see five cache files: CASPartCache, compositorCache, scriptCache, simCompositorCache, and socialCache.  Delete them all.
  • In the same folder, open Saves.  Here, you'll find a folder labeled with the name of your save.  This is the one that won't load.  You can remove it or leave it.
  • You'll also notice another folder with the same name as the one above, except it will have .backup tacked onto the end of its name.  So if the save above is labeled SunsetValley.sims3, this other file will be labeled SunsetValley.sims3.backup.  Delete the .backup part of the name and change the rest of the name slightly, so maybe SunsetValley1.sims3.
  • Right-click (or control-click) on this relabeled folder (SunsetValley1) and select Copy, then right-click on your desktop and select Paste.  This is your extra copy of your backup save, in case something else goes wrong.
  • Launch the game.  When you get to the Main Menu, click on the picture that's labeled SunsetValley1.  The label will be at the top of the screen after you click on the picture.  Then load that one.  If it works, you can play it forward.
  • If this backup save doesn't load properly, then unfortunately you're out of luck.  There's nothing else you can do to recover this save.

The biggest issue with playing the Sims 3 on a mac is that the game can only use 2 GB of RAM (memory) at a time.  If it goes over the limit, it could crash.  But even if it doesn't, some of the information that's been loaded into memory—the info the game is using to keep track of your sims and their world—will be lost or corrupted.  When you then save the game, even if your RAM use is back under the limit, the new save file will have incomplete data, since it will have lost some of that data when the game went over the memory limit.  When you try to load the save again, one outcome is that you can't properly load your sims' household, as you've seen.

 

There is no way to get around the RAM limit on a mac.  You can monitor memory use in the Activity Monitor, and purge RAM occasionally, but that will only help a little bit.  When your game gets to close to the 2 GB memory limit, the only thing you can do is save, quit to desktop (in two steps—never use "Save and Quit), and reload.

 

https://bluebellflora.com/resetting-ram-during-gameplay/

 

The other thing you should start doing is using "Save As" instead of "Save."  Rename your game slightly (maybe SunsetValley2, SunsetValley3, etc.) each time, so that you're not overwriting the older file, and you'll have lots of backup saves to use should anything else go wrong.  After a while, you can delete the oldest ones—either go into Saves as described above and drag the folders to the Trash, or delete them directly from the Main Menu.  I always keep 4-6 saves at any given time.  There's so much that can go wrong with this game, having backups is essential.

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

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

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Message 8 of 24 (2,184 Views)

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Re: sims 3 neighbourhood problem

@jordantan05  I'm not sure exactly what happened from your description, but it sounds like one of two things happened.  When you went to Edit Town to place the pet playground, the game might have gone over its ~3.7 GB RAM limit, in which case any save after that point would probably be corrupt.  It would be entirely expected that you couldn't load your family from a corrupt save.

 

The other possibility is that the game's attempt to travel back to present time failed, and your sims never arrived properly.  This would not be surprising—the travel transition is fragile and often breaks in this way.  There's nothing you can do when your sims don't show up except quit without saving and try to travel again.

 

It sounds like you saved after things went wrong.  Whatever happened, you'll need to trash this last save and revert to a backup.  Even if you never made one yourself, the game keeps the files from the second-to-last time you saved.  In Saves inside your game folder (the full path is Documents\EA\TS3\Saves), you'll see a folder for your save game (say, SunsetValley.sims3), and another folder with the same name but a backup extension (SunsetValley.sims3.backup).  Delete the extension and rename the folder (i.e. SunsetValley1.sims3), and that save will be avaliable to load from the Main Menu.

 

Before playing again, be sure to delete the five cache files from your game folder.  They fill up with stale data and should be cleared regularly, even in the absence of any game issues.  For reference, they are:

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

It's also a good idea to make a copy of the backup save and store it somewhere else, in case something more goes wrong.

 

If you have any other trouble, please describe exactly what happens, when it happens, the circumstances surrounding it, and what you see on the screen.

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

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 2 of 24 (2,258 Views)

Re: sims 3 neighbourhood problem

★ Apprentice

I don't think im having trouble loading my save im having trouble going back to my househould im able to edit the town select build im able to load my save but im greeted with the same notification place pet lots on neighbourhood im just asking if there is a way to go back to my household and yes im in game

Message 3 of 24 (2,244 Views)

Re: sims 3 neighbourhood problem

@jordantan05  What I'm saying is, your save is broken.  There's no point in trying to recover it—the data has been corrupted beyond repair.  That's why I recommended trying to load a backup save.

 

The broken travel transition glitches you're probably seeing are common, and have been around since World Adventures was released.  (The travel mechanic is the same no matter which worlds are involved.)  There has never been a way to repair the game after the transition failed; the only thing to do is to revert to a previous save.

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

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 4 of 24 (2,232 Views)

Re: sims 3 neighbourhood problem

★ Apprentice

i dont really understand what you mean but is there a link you can give me to show exactly what you are talking about?

Message 5 of 24 (2,220 Views)

Re: sims 3 neighbourhood problem

@jordantan05  I'm sorry, but I don't know of any sites that would explain your situation better.  Every time I see information about the broken travel transition and/or corrupted saves, it comes in the form of a comment that someone typed out.  The bottom line is, your save is corrupted.  That's the reason you can't get back into your household.  Your sims' data is corrupt or incomplete, and the game doesn't have enough left over to load the household properly.

 

This is a pretty common occurrence with saves that have been played a long time or have built up a lot of data.  Normally, a player goes to load a save that ran okay the last play session, only to find that the game loads an empty house.  The cursor shows the empty house symbol when hovering over the active lot's house, there are no sims showing on the panel on the left of the screen, and the user interface along the bottom is blank or nonexistent.  Since your issue happened while your sims were traveling back from the future, though, it sounds like the game booted you into an Edit Town session instead of loading that empty house.  But it still sounds like exactly the same issue.

 

In any event, if you can't get back into your main household, the save is ruined.  Your only option is to revert to a previous save, either one you created or the backup the game keeps automatically.  I described how to load that backup in my first reply; there's really no other option here.

 

As wonderful a game as TS3 is, it's often fragile and prone to breaking in all kinds of situations.  When it happens, all we can do is trash the bad save and go back to a healthy one.  That was the case when the game was first released, and that's still the case now.

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

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 6 of 24 (2,205 Views)

Re: sims 3 neighbourhood problem

★ Apprentice

any link to videos that can help me show how to reload a previous save? im on mac

Message 7 of 24 (2,198 Views)

Re: sims 3 neighbourhood problem

@jordantan05  Again, I've never seen a link to a video; this sort of thing is usually just written out by whoever's trying to help.  The fact that you're on a mac doesn't make a whole lot of difference in this case, although there are other mac-related issues that you should know about (I'll get to those).

 

  • When you get to the Main Menu, you can choose to load any save that's in your game folder—pictures of each of them will appear across the bottom of the window.  You select one by clicking on it and then hitting the play button.  But it sounds like you've never created a backup of this game on your own.  So here's what you need to do:
  • Open your Documents folder, then Electronic Arts, then The Sims 3.  Inside, you'll see five cache files: CASPartCache, compositorCache, scriptCache, simCompositorCache, and socialCache.  Delete them all.
  • In the same folder, open Saves.  Here, you'll find a folder labeled with the name of your save.  This is the one that won't load.  You can remove it or leave it.
  • You'll also notice another folder with the same name as the one above, except it will have .backup tacked onto the end of its name.  So if the save above is labeled SunsetValley.sims3, this other file will be labeled SunsetValley.sims3.backup.  Delete the .backup part of the name and change the rest of the name slightly, so maybe SunsetValley1.sims3.
  • Right-click (or control-click) on this relabeled folder (SunsetValley1) and select Copy, then right-click on your desktop and select Paste.  This is your extra copy of your backup save, in case something else goes wrong.
  • Launch the game.  When you get to the Main Menu, click on the picture that's labeled SunsetValley1.  The label will be at the top of the screen after you click on the picture.  Then load that one.  If it works, you can play it forward.
  • If this backup save doesn't load properly, then unfortunately you're out of luck.  There's nothing else you can do to recover this save.

The biggest issue with playing the Sims 3 on a mac is that the game can only use 2 GB of RAM (memory) at a time.  If it goes over the limit, it could crash.  But even if it doesn't, some of the information that's been loaded into memory—the info the game is using to keep track of your sims and their world—will be lost or corrupted.  When you then save the game, even if your RAM use is back under the limit, the new save file will have incomplete data, since it will have lost some of that data when the game went over the memory limit.  When you try to load the save again, one outcome is that you can't properly load your sims' household, as you've seen.

 

There is no way to get around the RAM limit on a mac.  You can monitor memory use in the Activity Monitor, and purge RAM occasionally, but that will only help a little bit.  When your game gets to close to the 2 GB memory limit, the only thing you can do is save, quit to desktop (in two steps—never use "Save and Quit), and reload.

 

https://bluebellflora.com/resetting-ram-during-gameplay/

 

The other thing you should start doing is using "Save As" instead of "Save."  Rename your game slightly (maybe SunsetValley2, SunsetValley3, etc.) each time, so that you're not overwriting the older file, and you'll have lots of backup saves to use should anything else go wrong.  After a while, you can delete the oldest ones—either go into Saves as described above and drag the folders to the Trash, or delete them directly from the Main Menu.  I always keep 4-6 saves at any given time.  There's so much that can go wrong with this game, having backups is essential.

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

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 8 of 24 (2,185 Views)

Re: sims 3 neighbourhood problem

★ Apprentice

ok i might try to do it but why does my game suddenly make me put more pet lots and theres no way to go back to your household in world editor anymore?

 

 

Message 9 of 24 (2,149 Views)

Re: sims 3 neighbourhood problem

@jordantan05  It's doing all that because it's corrupt and missing critical data.  You can't go back to your household because the game no longer has enough info on the household or its sims to offer it as a choice.  It's asking you to place lots because it "thinks" it's a new game, or a new world, or close enough, that it's sort of reverting to setup mode.

 

That's why I've been saying that this save is broken beyond repair.  The data that you're trying to recover doesn't exist anymore, so the only option is to go back to a previous file where that data is still intact.

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

I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 10 of 24 (2,135 Views)