Mod and CC Issues, Discussion and Support: 1.103, Dec. 5&14, 2023 Game Updates

Current Mod-Related Issues (and issues that look mod-related but aren't)

New Issues This Patch

This patch broke many, many mods. Before posting your issue, please see the Broken/Updated Mods thread and test WITHOUT your Mods folder.

Symptom: A new file has appeared in the Sims 4 folder, called houseDescription-client.package

Known Cause: Nothing is wrong! As of 1.103, the game deliberately makes a new kind of file.

Symptom: Toddler (and other Sim) faces are distorted

Known Cause: Outdated "no EA eyelashes" mods (by Cien, Escaping Potplant/epp, possibly others), some presets by Zerbu, likely other presets

Symptom: The game is really lagging/slow in Live mode.

Known Cause: Many outdated mods currently cause this. Some, like MC Command Center, have been updated; others have not yet. See Broken/Updated Mods . Other causes are typically related to what your computer can handle, especially if you have a lot of interactable stuff on a lot.

Symptom: Sims 4 won't start at all!

Known Cause: This is most likely caused right now by outdated mods. Start by updating Better Exceptions. Then see Broken/Updated Mods .

Symptom: Sims won't move in after you ask them to or after a wedding.

Known Cause: his appears to be a current game bug if the situation is merging a one-person unhoused household into a housed household. WORKAROUND: Go to Household Management to make the merge happen. 

Older Issues

The issues listed here are mostly for mods that don't yet have updates, but the list starts with some recent issues that do have fixes. Keeping mods updated will help prevent many issues. Consider catching up on mod news if you've been away from the game for a while. Some other, less common symptoms are listed with mods known to cause them in the current Outdated/Updated Mods thread.

Symptom: UI issues in Live mode at the bottom right

Known Cause for 1.102: Outdated UI Cheats Extension (weerbesu). NOTE: May need updating for the current patch.

Symptom: Can't exit CAS, can't save to Library/Gallery

Known Causes for 1.102: Outdated Color Sliders (thepancake1 and MizoreYukii) and 15 Clubs Per Sim (King Zace). NOTE: May need updating for the current patch.

Symptom: Cooking UI is empty; Sims can't prepare meals

Known Causes: Outdated versions of Color Sliders (thepancake1 and MizoreYukii), 15 Clubs Per Sim (King Zace). Updates are available. NOTE: May need updating for the current patch.

Symptom: Simple Living and grocery shopping don't work. Ingredient requirements don't work. New categories for cooking aren't available. Cooking remains possible, though.

Known Causes: various cooking mods, including Srsly's SCCO, which is not yet updated for all new features

Note: Some cooking mods require that you delete food and plates before removing the mod to prevent more serious errors.

Symptom: Aliens (and possibly other Sims) are missing their heads

Known Causes: various outdated CAS default mods, especially eyelash mods

Note: Check default CAS mods for updates and alternatives

Symptom: Horses don't appear in the relationship panel

Known Cause: No More Relationship Culling by Neia

Note: Other mods are available to replace this one

Symptom: Horse interactions not available

Known Causes: various outdated mods, including PlantSim Inheritance v1-A, Be a Little Serious

Symptom: Sims can't ride horses

Known Causes: mods for belly size, mods for pregnancy walk; some have been updated

Symptom: Sims Infants gameplay fails

Known Causes: Fixed Nyx's Enhanced Aliens, Children can live alone after all elders died

Note: There are likely other outdated mods with this symptom

Symptom: Lot fails to load for Live mode gameplay

Known Causes: noextramoneyonpromotion (Bienchen); outdated versions of Meaningful Stories, SNB-Bills

Note: This can be caused by game bugs and by outdated mods, especially complex script mods (mods that include a .ts4script file). The error message is important. Test without mods before posting a thread; include a screenshot of the error message. Note also that in some cases, that household will have become corrupted and you'll need to go back to an earlier version of the save.

Symptom: Game stuck in loading

Note: No known single cause; try a 50-50

Symptom: Sim profile (in Live mode) broken

Known Cause: AD(H)D trait by FiendMods

Note:When a custom trait is removed, Sims will lose the trait and not be automatically given a new one.

Symptom: Male Sims are invisible

Known Cause: Various sliders

Note: These mods can be removed without your Sims' shape changing. Many have replacements available.

Symptom: Sims arms and legs stretch or disappear, and other Sim glitching in Live mode

Known Cause: outdated height sliders

Symptom: Food stall and Festival vendors only sell produce

Known Causes: Custom Food stalls, playable NPC jobs

Note: Possible permanent corruption if you load a save with broken food stalls. Make sure to update any food stalls before playing or remove them before updating.

Symptom: No beds can be placed in Build/Buy mode

Known Cause: outdated CC beds

Note: Find replacements or batch-fix in Sims 4 Studio. If Maxis adds a new function to beds again, working CC will not be available until Sims 4 Studio is reupdated to include that function in a new batch fix.

Symptoms: Sims won't eat; Sims reset when doing homework

Known Cause: outdated CC, including phone mods

Common Issues at Game Updates

Some mods are especially sensitive to game updates. Most of these mods that you can temporarily play without with no harm done to your save. They are also generally quickly updated, so watch for those updates!

Symptom: Blank icons and UI glitching in the CAS, Build/Buy, or Live mode UI; Main Menu and the Gallery showing "wwwwwwwwww" instead of text; Build/Buy GUI missing

Known Causes:  Color Sliders (thepancake1 and MizoreYukii), 15 Clubs Per Sim (King Zace), UI Cheats Extension (weerbesu), Better BuildBuy (TwistedMexi), More Columns in CAS (weerbesu), CC wrench icon mods, and other mods that change the UI

Note: Playing without 15 Clubs Per Sim may result in Sims losing club memberships. UI Cheats Extension generally isn't the cause of CAS glitching.

Symptom: All color options are broken in CAS. Color does not change.

Known Cause:  More Columns in CAS (weerbesu)

Symptom: The Gallery won't load

Known Causes:  Color Sliders, 15 Clubs Per Sim

Symptom: World map has overlying text

Known Causes:  UI Cheats Extension, Better BuildBuy, and other mods that change the UI

Symptom: When trying to load a new world, only a white screen is shown

Known Cause: T.O.O.L Mod (TwistedMexi)

Symptom: X on an accessory is missing in CAS

Known Cause: More Columns in CAS; update the mod

Symptom: The mouse cursor has weird icons

Known Causes: various CAS mods

Tips and Tricks for Mod Users at Update Time

Before Sims Updates

Because some outdated ("broken") mods can actually corrupt your save file, before you let the EA App update your game, back up your Saves folder. If you aren't sure when an update might come out, you might want to get in the habit of doing this regularly.

"Backing up" a folder or file means making a copy of it in a different place. You'll find your save files in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > Saves. You can copy that whole folder to somewhere else — your desktop, say, or a different folder you make yourself, like Documents > Sims Backups. Now you'll have a pre-patch copy to fall back on in case you run into serious problems.

It can be very tempting to just set up a syncing app, like OneDrive or iCloud, to sync your Documents folder online as a way to back up your saves. Don't do this. The Sims 4 and syncing programs, especially OneDrive, hate each other. You'll run into whole new problems, including things like the app undeleting mods you deleted.

It can also be very tempting to rely on a mod manager to handle your mods folder for you. Mod managers from sources that aren't working with Maxis (CurseForge is one that does) can also cause you more problems than they fix by doing things like renaming files (so that you end up with duplicates eventually) or putting back files you deleted. The best way to manage your mods is generally to take the responsibility for it.

One way of taking that responsibility is to have an organized Mods folder. If you don't have a lot of mods, you can ignore this. But if you download mods manually or have a lot of mods, having subfolders that organize by, for example, the name of the creator can help you when you're doing a 50-50 (more below) or hunting for a mod that needs to be deleted or replaced. If you use the CurseForge app, though, don't move the mods it downloads.

After Sims Updates

Many patches change enough in the game to trigger it to turn off the Options setting that lets the game "see" your Mods folder. If you save like that, everything that those mods effect — your Sims' hair, their kitchen cupboards, their careers and aspirations, their height, etc. — will be stripped from that save and need to be put back in by you. You don't want that. But you also don't want to have that save corrupted unexpectedly by an outdated mod.

So, after the game update,

1. DON'T delete your Saves backup. You might still need it.
2. Check to see if mods you use have been reported "broken" (outdated) or obsolete (for example, a bugfix mod that's no longer needed) so you can remove those or wait for them to be updated.
3. Check to see if mods you use have been updated. Some modders will update very quickly. Others need more time for various reasons, all of which are absolutely okay — the update might be complex, they might prioritize more popular mods than what you use, they might be very busy with other responsibilities, they might be unwell. Please give them space. Too many modders have quit modding because they were tired of being asked "Are we there yet?" by impatient players.
4. If you really want to play now but mods you use aren't updated yet, consider making a new save that doesn't rely on the outdated mods. Select "New" on the Sims 4 home page. If you have multiple saves after this, you can use "Load" to pick out the one you want to play next.
5. If you do play your "old" save that relies on mods or use it to test a mod, don't save if you haven't re-enabled mods. To re-enable mods, head to your Settings, under Other. But keep that backup of your Saves folder!

When Problems Happen

If you use mods, someday problems will happen, especially if you use a lot of them. Of course, not all problems after game updates are caused by outdated mods! So this section includes a test for that.

1. Check to see if mods you use are known to be outdated or have been updated. This applied to all mods — both game mods and custom content. Yes, your Sim's eyelashes can break the whole game! Delete the old mods and replace with updated ones, after checking for new installation instructions. Delete obsolete mods. Delete outdated mods that haven't been updated. (And when you delete that content, also delete the file called localthumbcache.) Often this is enough to solve your problem. If not, keep going!
2. Check if the symptom you have is commonly mod-related for this patch or a recent patch. You'll find many common symptoms and their causes in the next post.
3. Test whether the problem was caused by mods. This is called testing "vanilla". To do this, exit the game (if you have cookbook-type mods, delete plates and food first). Go to Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4. Drag your Mods folder to your desktop. Now delete the file called localthumbcache. Restart Sims 4 and check to see if the problem is still there. If it's not, it was probably caused by outdated mods. Either way, exit without saving. (Extra tip: Sometimes deleting an outdated mod and localthumbcache isn't enough to make a problem caused by the mod go away in a save. You can test a new save as well.)
4. So, now you seem to have, somewhere in that Mods folder, an outdated mod that isn't on the "Broken/Updated" list. Isolate the outdated mod. One way to do that is to do a "50-50" of your mods folder.

How to "50-50" Your Mods Folders

To figure out which game mod or piece of custom content is causing problems, you can test mods in increasingly small batches, systematically.

1. Drag your Mods folder to your desktop, and delete the localthumbcache file from Electronic Arts > The Sims 4. Start Sims 4 then exit.
2. Make a test copy of your original Mods folder on your desktop. You'll use the test copy for the 50-50 so that you don't lose the organization of your original folder.
3. Divide your folder up into batches. You might not need to do much for this step depending on how your Mods folder is already organized.
4. Some mods depend on other mods to work. That might be a CC mesh or a mods like XML Injector or a core library mod. Make sure those dependencies are with the mods they depend on in each batch. Otherwise, a mod might seem to not work, but it could just be an installation error.
5. Start with one batch. Copy it into the new Mods folder the game made. Try it out. Is it all okay? If yes, delete it from Mods, delete localthumbcache, and drag that batch to a folder for cleared batches.
6. If a batch fails, divide it up. Somewhere in that failed batch is a problem. Separate it into smaller batches and test those separately. Remember to keep track of what's already tested and what isn't, and keep deleting localthumbcache. Test these sub-batches and keep making them smaller to narrow down the cause of the problem.

A 50-50 won't always find a mod problem. It will, for example, miss issues that aren't a result of a game patch, like duplicate files, mod conflicts, missing dependencies, having mods you don't have required packs for, and wrong mod installation. However, while you're doing the 50-50, you might notice some of these issues, and it's a great opportunity to make your Mods folder better organized for next time.

An additional note about cooking mods: Some of these have very particular instructions for removing them. Consider removing your Saves and doing any 50-50 testing on a new save or new household if you weren't able to follow those instructions before mod testing.

Still Stuck?

This thread is here to help! You can also start a new thread in this forum. But please be descriptive: To help you, we need to know what symptoms you have in your game and we need to know what steps you've taken to try to isolate the problem.

Didn't Monochaos make energy drinks for kids?

Product: The EA app
Platform:PC
Error Report ID (learn how to create an Error Report ID in the sticky post) c52a6da0-9d95-4a59-89ba-f377d0cf9dd4
Which client functionality are you experiencing this bug with? Launch Game
When did this happen? (dd.mm.yy hh:mm) 20231205
Summarize your bug Cant save my game, after the update I cant save any of my games in sims 4 and the mods not working
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? In the game, cant save it
What happens when the bug occurs? Cant save the game and play whit mods
What do you expect to see? Save my games and play with working mods again,

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Cant save my game, after the update I cant save any om my games in sims 4 and the mods not working

@AngelinBechy Many mods have been broken by this patch; please follow the Broken/Updated Mods thread . The symptom you describe could be outdated 15 Clubs Per Sim or Color Sliders from the previous patch, so update those, but those are also not yet tested for today's.

I'll check in with them on the status of this one re. the patch notes (and my notes on whose mod that is - might be MSQSims?), but they're currently on hiaitus.

My game is stuck in loading in progress, the gallery and can’t save my game. It’s greyed out and I am unable to do anything. I have tried to repair, remove mods and recover an old save and it still won’t work properly

I had the same issue and 50/50 until I discovered it was the new update of MCCC for the 12/5 patch. 

I was having issues with MCC too, been waiting for it to update 🙂 glad they did such a quick job