sims disappearing and not responding

[itzzlucyy]

I’ve been playing sims for a month or so now and suddenly my sims are starting to go invisible, glitch through walls, change outfits for no reason, and then not responding. It’s so so frustrating and I have no idea what to do. My PC is brand new and is definitely a high enough spec to play sims! Also, loading screens and shutting down the game are taking far longer to load/disappear. I basically can’t play and it’s happened with two of my families. I opened a new town and made a new family but same problem but worse! I’m so stuck any help would be really really appreciated !!

(i have late night and  installed but i have turned them off and same error occurs) (sims 3)

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@itzzlucyy  If you delete the Sims 3 game folder in Documents\Electronic Arts, everything will be gone—your saves (towns), your created sims, your installed store and custom content.  Of course, you can redownload store items for free, and you can go back and find your cc if you want.  And if you'd like to keep the original sims that you created, you can—just copy over the Library folder inside your game folder before you delete it.

When you launch TS3 with no game folder present, a new one will be created, and it will be like you never played before.  No corruption, no saves, nothing.

[puzzlezaddict]

@itzzlucyy  Even though your specs are strong enough for TS3, could you still run a dxdiag and attach it to a post?  (Use the Browse button.)  There are a couple of issues with the game that might need to be addressed before anything else.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

There are a couple of other things to mention right away as well.  One is if you use the moveobjects on cheat on sims, it can mess with the sims' routing and location data.  Another is if you switch game saves at the Main Menu, data from the first save can transfer to the second, corrupting it beyond repair.  I don't know if you do either, but that would explain the issues you've described.

Of course, there are other causes of these issues as well, but we need to start somewhere with eliminating potential sources.

[itzzlucyy]

thanks for replying! i did identify a cheat which deleted a sim- if this is the cause, will it only affect households i used this cheat on?

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@puzzlezaddict wrote:

@itzzlucyy  Even though your specs are strong enough for TS3, could you still run a dxdiag and attach it to a post?  (Use the Browse button.)  There are a couple of issues with the game that might need to be addressed before anything else.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

There are a couple of other things to mention right away as well.  One is if you use the moveobjects on cheat on sims, it can mess with the sims' routing and location data.  Another is if you switch game saves at the Main Menu, data from the first save can transfer to the second, corrupting it beyond repair.  I don't know if you do either, but that would explain the issues you've described.

Of course, there are other causes of these issues as well, but we need to start somewhere with eliminating potential sources.

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[itzzlucyy]

also what’s a dxdiag? sorry i don’t understand technical terms aha

[puzzlezaddict]

@itzzlucyy  A testingcheats object-delete of a sim is a surefire way to corrupt your save.  It won't affect a new save... unless you switch from the first to the second via the Main Menu, instead of quitting to desktop between sessions.  Any save that has had a sim deleted this way is probably toast, unless you add mods and try to flush the rest of the sim's data (this doesn't always work either).  Your best bet is to save the sims you like to the bin—save the household separately if you want to keep it—and place them in a new save, again quitting to desktop in between.

A dxdiag is a report on your computer.  It doesn't contain any personal information, other than maybe the machine name at the top, but it shows your hardware, the last ten major errors, and thinks like your graphics card driver date.  Reading is is a good way to eliminate some potential global issues that could be affecting the game.  The link I posted gives instructions on how to run one, save the file, and attach it to a post.

[itzzlucyy]

So if i deleted the towns which I had used the cheat my game should be fine? Or if I deleted the family would the rest of the town be fine? Sorry for so many questions I haven’t played in years

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@puzzlezaddict wrote:

@itzzlucyy  A testingcheats object-delete of a sim is a surefire way to corrupt your save.  It won't affect a new save... unless you switch from the first to the second via the Main Menu, instead of quitting to desktop between sessions.  Any save that has had a sim deleted this way is probably toast, unless you add mods and try to flush the rest of the sim's data (this doesn't always work either).  Your best bet is to save the sims you like to the bin—save the household separately if you want to keep it—and place them in a new save, again quitting to desktop in between.

A dxdiag is a report on your computer.  It doesn't contain any personal information, other than maybe the machine name at the top, but it shows your hardware, the last ten major errors, and thinks like your graphics card driver date.  Reading is is a good way to eliminate some potential global issues that could be affecting the game.  The link I posted gives instructions on how to run one, save the file, and attach it to a post.

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[puzzlezaddict]

@itzzlucyy  The entire town, aka the save itself, is probably borked, whether you get rid of a specific family or not.  But you can save any sims you'd like to keep to the in-game bin, and then place them in a new save, and they should be fine.

The reason I keep asking for the dxdiag is because there are two things I want to check, given the symptoms you've reported.  Everything could be due to deleted sims, but the same issues could also be caused by your running low on hard drive space.  And if you haven't taken steps to cap your in-game frame rates, you may need to do so for the health of your graphics card, aside from the in-game issues that leaving it uncapped can cause.  But whether this is necessary and which tools you'd use depend on the make and model of your card.  So I'd like to see that info too; just knowing it's a strong card isn't enough.

[itzzlucyy]

how do i do the dxdiag? i have an acer laptop

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@puzzlezaddict wrote:

@itzzlucyy  The entire town, aka the save itself, is probably borked, whether you get rid of a specific family or not.  But you can save any sims you'd like to keep to the in-game bin, and then place them in a new save, and they should be fine.

The reason I keep asking for the dxdiag is because there are two things I want to check, given the symptoms you've reported.  Everything could be due to deleted sims, but the same issues could also be caused by your running low on hard drive space.  And if you haven't taken steps to cap your in-game frame rates, you may need to do so for the health of your graphics card, aside from the in-game issues that leaving it uncapped can cause.  But whether this is necessary and which tools you'd use depend on the make and model of your card.  So I'd like to see that info too; just knowing it's a strong card isn't enough.

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[puzzlezaddict]

@itzzlucyy  Here are the instructions:

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

Once you've saved the information, start a reply and click the button next to the paper clip below the text field; it says Browse for me.  Then find your saved dxdiag and attach it.

[itzzlucyy]

@puzzlezaddict i’m going to do it now i’m not sure how to upload the image as i’ve been trying to upload from my phone and it’s saying the media isn’t appropriate but i’ll try from my laptop