Re: Can't get past CAS

Hey, so I wanted to thank you again for your help. Since this stupid origin update, I had to make a new game folder like you said, but I'm having problems getting my saves to load in my new game. Is there something I'm doing wrong. I've deleted the new saves files and the localthumbcache or whatever it is. Did the update change the way the saves work?

@cymbalchick2  Does your computer run Windows or macOS, and what version?  There have been a number of issues with Catalina (the newest macOS) relating to the game folder, but there are of course plenty of other reasons your saves might not work.  Do you get any error messages when you try to load them?  Can you see them at all when you click Load Game?

It's worth trying to create another clean game folder, then copying over the contents of your old Saves and Tray folders to the new game folder.  If this doesn't work, let me know, and please copy or take a screenshot of any errors you get.

I have Windows. I’ve tried creating multiple clean  folders and adding my mods, saves, and tray folders. Every time I launch the game it launches as if I’ve never played before. I don’t get any error messages, it’s like it just doesn’t realize that I’ve added those folders back to the game. 

@cymbalchick2  It sounds like you have more than one game folder on your computer, and TS4 is reading the wrong one, as in, not the one to which you're adding your content.  A common place to find an extra folder is OneDrive—maybe you're using it, maybe the game is.

The fastest way to figure out how many game folders you have, and which one TS4 is reading, is to search for "config" in a File Explorer window.  Each live game folder (as in, one that's been used) will have exactly one config.log file, and the last modified date will correspond to the last time the game was launched using that particular game folder.  When you search for config files, you'll be able to see the whole file path underneath the name of each one, and then you can figure out where your saves need to be in order for the game to read them.

If OneDrive is giving you issues, sometimes it's easiest to just disable it, unless you use it for other purposes.  No need to completely uninstall it though.

Hello again! OneDrive is not the issue, I’m not logged in. I didn’t find a cc sims 3 file and after I deleted that it started to work again. 

It is broken again now, and I’m installed scumbumbo’s package finder for the error I find in the last exception. The only issue is is that when I search by the numbers the last exception gave me, I can’t find them with the package searcher. This seems to be a common problem from what I’ve read. I did find one and remove it, but it has not been removed from my last exception even though I’ve deleted it and restarted the game. Another error says I don’t have a required EP, but I own all of the SP, GP and EPs. So I’m at loss here.

@cymbalchick2  Okay, it seems like there are a couple different issues here.  Please do the following:

• Remove your existing Sims 4 game folder from Documents\Electronic Arts, and start the game to create a new folder
• Copy the contents of your Saves folder (not Tray or Mods) from your old game folder to your new one
• Launch the game and see whether you can load your existing saves
• If you don't see a Load Game button, change the in-game resolution a few times and see whether it shows up
• If your saves are available, load one of them and have a look around (don't save your progress, since your cc will be gone)
• For the blue background in the first screenshot you originally posted, go to game options and turn draw distance to high

Let me know the results, ad we can go from there.

The message about missing content could be due to a pack temporarily not loading; repairing the game in Origin usually fixes this.  (Right-click on the Sims 4 icon in your game library and select Repair.)  Or it could be that you have the standard version of the base game, and the missing item is from the Digital Deluxe version.

Ok, I did the game repair and it appears nothing changed. I’m still getting the same last exception errors. I’ve created the new game folder and moved my saves there. The saves show up in my game, but won’t load. They look like the screenshot labeled “lots.” 

Another thing that I noticed is everytime this happens I lose all of my stuff that I have in the gallery. And not all of my previous save files will load. I lost a household I really liked with the update they did last week or whenever.

 I’ve also updated my mods and have been finding my broken cc and removing it but that hasn’t seemed to make a difference either.

Hey. So my game is back to not loading households and my mods folder is currently empty. I have no idea what to do. My dxdiag is clean and everything is updated. I've done multiple 50/50s and have removed broken cc. I made sure my mods were updated. My laptop is updated and I've done at least 3 game repairs. Making new save files hasn't seemed to work either. Is there anything else I can do while my mods folder is empty to try and fix this?

@cymbalchick2  Since it's been so long, please describe the issue again, as in, what happens and when.  Please also try a new save in a clean user data folder, just to see whether that makes any difference.  Don't add anything to the clean folder at all—this is a baseline to see whether there's an issue with your Sims 4 folder, or with the game or your system.

If you can't load a new save in a clean folder, please run another dxdiag and attach it to a post.

Ok! So my households won't load and when I hover over a lot there is no picture of a household just the spinning green thing and it's kind of strobing. I did a new folder and there is no issue. I believe there are screenshots from I first posted. I'm not having problems with lots like I was- just the households. This was happening everytime I opened the game after updating and removing all of my cc that was broken. The broken cc was causing my game to not open in the first place, so once I got it to open, I noticed that it wouldn't let me load anything existing families so I couln't play. But the clean folder is working normally.

@cymbalchick2  Please try manually recovering a save.  Open the Sims 4 user data folder that has the nonworking saves, go into the saves folder, and find a recent save labeled Slot_0000000x.ver0, with x being a number or letter.  Copy that file (use copy and paste, so you still have a backup if you need it) into the saves folder inside your clean folder, and delete the .ver0 at the end of it; this will make the game read the save properly.  Then try to load it.

You can do this with any save file with a .verx at the end of it.  Hopefully, each of your broken saves will have at least one viable backup you can use.  If the saves do load in the clean folder, you can start adding your cc in batches and testing.  As long as you don't actually save your progress with no cc present, you won't have to worry about replacing all the cc items later.  And of course if you do see the same error again, quit without saving, remove the batch of cc you just added, split it and test again.