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Inventor
Original Poster
#1 Old 28th Jan 2019 at 1:08 AM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Seasons, University Life, Island Paradise, Into the Future
Default Custom sims not showing in bin, are in folder
They're in the Saved Sims folder just as they should be, but none of them--not individual sims and not families of sims--show up when I start a new game. Which is a bummer because I'm looking to start a new playthrough series and I kinda need all the sims at my disposal. Please help me!
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 28th Jan 2019 at 5:32 AM
SavedSims folder files are templates for creating individual sims that should show up in CAS and CAH. This has always been a bit fussy and less than reliable. Try deleting the downloadedsims.index file, it will rebuild the next time you start up.

Households/families as seen in Edit Town are Library folder entries, they have nothing to do with SavedSims. This one is reliable, if you have a Library file, then you should have a household available (the other Library files are lots) unless you are missing required content to make the household show up.

Are you certain that you don't have more than one TS3 user game folder and the one you are adding this content to is not the one being read at startup? Does the Modification Date/Time of its DeviceConfig.log exactly match the last time you started up the game or is it older/stale?
Inventor
Original Poster
#3 Old 28th Jan 2019 at 7:33 AM
Eh? Every time I've saved a sim they've saved to Saved Sims. There no such file as "downloadedsims.index", at least not there or in Library.

All the stuff in Library has file names like "ebf_0x1a070099aa5dac10.package" and all of them are just variations on the last three characters there. There's no character files at all.

I do have more than one game folder because I had to split everything up when I did all the diagnostics to find out why my frickin sims were aging when i told the game not to age them. I've moved everything back to where it should be, in my Documents/Electronic Arts/Sims 3 folder rather than Desktop/Sims 3. That's what was giving me the problem with my custom content not being found the other day, but that worked when I moved them to the correct folder.
Mad Poster
#4 Old 28th Jan 2019 at 8:16 AM
The only reason I mentioned the Library files is that you were talking about families, which to me means households. Maybe I misunderstood, but SavedSims have nothing to do with households, they are individual sim templates.

I guess someone should take over who can better explain what the SavedSims vs. Library folders are for and why the Modification Date/Time of the DeviceConfig.log file is still likely significant here. I really don't have a better way to shed light on these things to a player with as much TS3 experience as I know you already have.
Inventor
Original Poster
#5 Old 28th Jan 2019 at 8:44 AM
Look, I just play the game. People who watch TV aren't usually called upon to fix their TVs or assumed to have knowledge of it.

I assure you I'm not being dim or intentionally obtuse. I genuinely don't understand, which is why I ask. I'm not a programmer or a techie. I just play stuff.

Only pre-made households are in the bin despite there being sims placed all over town. Even the house I wanted to play is in the town, although they seem to have lost all of their custom content DESPITE that ALSO being where it should be now, and I reinstalled all the .sims3 files and I know that at least some of the .package files are showing up because it played my custom intro (where instead of "reticulating splines" and so on it gives fandom-specific lines).

Where is that file you mentioned supposed to be? And considering that the individual sims make up the households, shouldn't they be needed regardless?
Lab Assistant
#6 Old 28th Jan 2019 at 10:01 AM
The "downloadedsims.index" is what you get when you install a sim using the launcher, when you check the sim bin in game their picture will have and asterisk in the bottom corner, rather than the folder icon other custom sims get.

If the sims are from a 3rd party creator then check the file extension, many come as .package files instead of .sim files, and those can't be loaded from the SavedSims folder, you either need to stick them in the Mods folder or change the file extension.
Inventor
Original Poster
#7 Old 28th Jan 2019 at 8:47 PM
Putting them in the Library folder didn't change anything. I even restarted my computer. But the sims are still there in town, and still missing their custom content!
Site Helper
#8 Old 28th Jan 2019 at 9:41 PM
Are you talking about sims you've downloaded or sims you made yourself? (The files with names that look like alphabet soup are the kind of names that the game gives sims and lots that you made yourself. If you want actual names for the files, you need to change the file name yourself. Which most uploaders do.)

You said you had them on the them on the desktop and moved them back... Did your sims and lots go in before or after you put back the CC that they have stopped using? If you put them back before the CC, you might want to reinstall a fresh copy of them now that their CC is back.

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
Inventor
Original Poster
#10 Old 29th Jan 2019 at 7:07 AM
They're a combination of sims I've made and one I saved (the Fallout dog is in there and I never made that one).

Ok, as many details. When I loaded up the game, only pre-made sims were displayed in the menu of sims to pick from. Custom lots were in the lots to pick from category though. The game still registered that I have custom sims though since they're in the world. When I selected the household I wanted to play, they were there despite not being in the menu, but a lot of their content was gone (especially custom hair and outfits, though one character retained her custom hair).

When I say that they don't show up in the game, I mean they're not selectable from the menu where it shows the households I can pick from. My expectations were that the sims I made and saved for future use would be there as they are in other and past saves of mine (every save I've ever played has used sims I personally made). I haven't tried CAS because the game already takes about 10 minutes to load even without any actual game started, with just the world set up.

I know that sims with custom content don't usually come with that content, but I made these sims myself with custom content that I already have. And I know the game is registering custom content because, as I said, my loading screen is CC itself and that displays just fine.

There's 49 "alphabet soup" files. Does that sound like all the townies? Or do you mean that they're the sims that come pre-loaded to use?

I put the CC back before I moved the sims from SavedSims to Library.


I worry that people think I'm being intentionally dense or whatever because I've been accused of that when I don't understand something. And I know that I can't describe this very well. Would it be easier if I was to make a video showing everyone what I see? Recording this was going to be the goal of running this save anyway.
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 29th Jan 2019 at 2:24 PM
When you go into "Edit Town" mode, all those sims you see are households, you can also see empty lots and commercial lots in the other two tabs, anything in there that has a white circle with a folder icon or asterisk in the bottom right corner is custom, it's these custom items that are those "alphabet soup" file names you see in "The Sims 3/Library" folder, the rest are part of the game files.

Now if your family isn't showing up amongst the other households, then either the file is missing or it's become corrupt, as a result the only place your family exists is in that save game, so don't lose it.

The missing CC is harder to figure out as I don't know how it was added to your game, was it all done with the launcher, all in the Mods folder, a bit of both, or merged/hidden inside .sim files in your SavedSims folder.

If you can remember what CC was being used by them, then find the original files you downloaded and add them into the game and see if that makes a difference to your family.
Inventor
Original Poster
#12 Old 29th Jan 2019 at 8:06 PM
A mix of both and I re-added all the .sims3 files via the launcher as well.

I'll do a video of what I see then because it seems like the only way i could do this is to have someone sit next to me and go through things with me.
Site Helper
#13 Old 30th Jan 2019 at 3:40 PM
You were shuffling files between the desktop and the game while you tried to find out why sims were aging when they were not supposed to.
Did your sims go back into the game before the CC they were supposed to be using went in? if so, this could explain why they stopped using it, although the ones in sims3packs that were installed via the Launcher should have kept theirs. (Assuming that you put them back by installing them from the Launcher again.)


One other thing that would be helpful to know is whether or not the missing CC is showing in CAS. I know it takes forever to load CAS, but it helps if you have a small world that you can start a new game in for the sole purpose of opening CAS. (My favorite is from http://fuzzylogicdishwasher.blogspo...d-clothing.html with the version that has a 40x40 lot. It opens quickly, and you can create a family to put into the game, drop the family into the bin, rinse and repeat until you have all the families you want, and then quit without saving. ) Small, empty worlds load a lot faster than large, populated ones do.

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
Inventor
Original Poster
#14 Old 5th Feb 2019 at 3:49 AM
Ok, can someone help me compile a list of everything I need to show in this video? Also I've been making Sims for the bin and they're showing up, but still nobody I'd made before.
Instructor
#15 Old 7th Feb 2019 at 7:03 AM
There are 2 different places in your sims3 folder that sims could be saved in. The first is the sims3/savedsims folder, they are saved in this folder when you save a sim while still in CAS/CAH. They are saved there by their name. If you complete sims and exit CAS/CAH to enter the game then a copy of the whole household is saved in the Sims3/Library folder as the “alphabet soup” files, or while in edit town you can save households to the library also. You can’t use savedsim files in the library or vice verse. So I guess the question would be when did you save the sims you created? While still in CAS? Did you complete creating the households and then enter the game so they were added to the household bin? Did you save them as households while in edit town? Is it possible that if they were library files that they were accidentally deleted while folders were getting shuffled around?

The sims missing cc is most likely because the saved game was opened before you reinstalled it all, I have done it. But you should definitely open a test game and make sure it all installed properly, the game is wonky and if you used the launcher for any of it that is really wonky on its good days.
Inventor
Original Poster
#16 Old 9th Feb 2019 at 2:19 AM
I've replaced the CC and tried again and it still didn't show up. Starting a test game just means they don't show up, and I can't open it without the launcher because EA is made of butts.

When did I save them? I don't know all of them, but for the town I'm currently editing (which has sims in the bin but ONLY the ones I've made for that town) I make them for specific lots and just save them with the town. Though one time my game crashed before I could save and while all of my edits to lots were gone, the sims I had made were still there, so there must be some sort of save state happening without my knowledge during the CAS stage.

When I tried to start a game that had a household I had made before all this, they're THERE so clearly the game recognizes them, even without the CC. But they're still not in the bin and I think they're only there because I had already placed them. So why are they there but not in the bin? HOW are they there if the game doesn't know them?


Again, any advice on what I should film to show you all what's happening would be great.
Alchemist
#17 Old 9th Feb 2019 at 3:14 PM Last edited by varpunen : 9th Feb 2019 at 6:24 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by BlackjackGabbiani
When I tried to start a game that had a household I had made before all this, they're THERE so clearly the game recognizes them, even without the CC. But they're still not in the bin and I think they're only there because I had already placed them. So why are they there but not in the bin? HOW are they there if the game doesn't know them?

Again, any advice on what I should film to show you all what's happening would be great.


Those sims you had already placed into the world before are there because of that; because you had placed them and obviously saved them into the world. The world, the Family bin and the CAS bin are not dependent of each other. If sims/families get deleted or disappear from either bin, they won't disappear from the world itself, from the lot they're placed on (if game is saved even once). So yes, they can be in the world without being in either bin. I've often deleted sims/families from the Family bin after placing them into the world. Also, after you have saved sims/families into the Family bin or CAS bin, they won't disappear from either one even if the game crashes after that for whatever reason.

If you have missing sims in either family bin, CAS bin or both, then the likely cause is that something has happened to the content in the 'Saved Sims' folder or the 'Library' folder in the the Sims 3 folder. Any other reason I can think of to make simmies disappear from either bin is either bad cc or somehow corrupted .sim file, as already said before in this thread. And again, that won't affect the sims/families already in the world, not even if they're the same ones.

Sorry if this is still not helpful.

As for the video... just show step by step and clearly what the problem is. Point out the exact problems so any missunderstandings are minimized.
Inventor
Original Poster
#18 Old 10th Feb 2019 at 5:45 AM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-Syqoe_dTI
Ok I recorded what some of the issues are including the wild access to custom content that seems to be on the whims of some unknown being. I hope you can read the text in the folders because my phone isn't the best camera.
Inventor
Original Poster
#20 Old 16th Feb 2019 at 8:43 AM
Sorry about the video quality. I have some mobility issues but I also could have probably gotten someone else to hold the camera.

Anyway since the order in which I move files back to the folders seems to matter, can someone let me know the order I need to do things?
Alchemist
#21 Old 19th Feb 2019 at 2:13 PM
Quote: Originally posted by BlackjackGabbiani
Anyway since the order in which I move files back to the folders seems to matter, can someone let me know the order I need to do things?


I've done a huge amount of file transfering and factory resetting with my game, mostly because I use CAW and sometimes due to corruption/bugs. I've never had any problems with the file transfer order itself, just as long as the CC I need for either sims or houses are in the mods folder before opening the game. I've also transferred individual sim and lots files in a random order.

So, even after factory reset the most important folders to move back are: Saves, Mods, Saved Sims, Library, Installed Worlds, DCCache, DCBackup (ccmerged.package), Downloads (not absolutely necessary). I also always copy and move back the 'userPresets.package' file because new one removes your pattern alterations from Create-A-Style menu and that is big annoyance, at least for me. I've also noticed that when the game generates completely new one, patterns can be missing from objects, as well, even though those patterns are still in the game and you have to reapply them.

And as already said, delete cache files everytime cc is taken out or added into the game. You know that, of course, I'm sure.

And when you have to sort out or move files, always take a backup of the whole Sims 3 folder before doing anything, just to be safe.

Sims 3 folder contents are explained well here: https://www.nraas.net/community/Sim...er-Contents-FAQ
Site Helper
#22 Old 19th Feb 2019 at 11:20 PM
I was unable to log in for a couple of weeks because my internet was down. Sorry. But varpunen has said almost everything that I would have said, so...
All I would have added is that the "Script Error" files are probably from an NRAAS mod, since that is the format that those mods use for their reports, as well as for exporting settings, etc. A lot of those are just normal operating reports, though. You can open them in Notepad to see if they say anything interesting, and ask for help interpreting them over at NRAAS if they look relevant. (You can also try reading the mdmp and xcpt ones with notepad, but you may be on your own with those...)

I am Ghost. My husband is sidneydoj. I post, he downloads, and I wanted to keep my post count.
Group for Avatar Makers* Funny Stories *2017 Yearbook
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