My sims keep saying there's something in the way?

It might be a long shot, but have you tried reset sim?

reset sim will work you need to type it in like this:
resetsim (first name) (last name)

I was having a something in the way issue a few days ago and was kind of annoyed when I finally figured out what was wrong.

My sim would be upstairs in the bedroom, or in the kitchen or out by the mailbox -- just random places -- and he'd do that something in the way animation and crossed out footsteps thought bubble. I couldn't find anything physically in his way. He'd apparently be "trapped" in places that were no problem just moments before. I'd move objects out of his way, I reset sim, I'd save and quit and restart. Sometimes he'd just walk away, as if never blocked, but other times he'd still stand there, even in an empty room, waving his hands around about being blocked.

Finally, I noticed that every time he was blocked, the action queue showed an image of the lawn sprinkler. I hadn't reckoned out just what the relationship was but suddenly the light bulb in my brain came on.

He wanted to play in the sprinkler. It was placed so it covered the entire garden, however, it was in a circle of trees, which did NOT allow room for him to get next to it to play in the spray.

Argh! :oops:

So I moved the sprinkler out into an open area of the yard. And no more blocked sim problem.

Now when my sim starts freaking out about being blocked, I first look to see what is in his action queue.

this used to happen to me from time to time, but then I realized it was at the destination that was the problem.

I wanted them to go to bed, but the stairs were blocked or the wall was too close to the shower so they wouldn't go.

It has nothing to do with what is right in front of the them. Check the entire path because something is in his way from where he is to where he wants to go.

I had a chair placed too far from a table and he was outside. I wanted him to go inside. It wasn't until I realized the obstruction was the chair - not his path of travel.

I have had this happen and i don't think reset Sim worked for this issue so i just went into buy mode to make a copy of the object then sell the "broken" object and replace it with the copy. Worked fine. By broken i mean not usable.. My issue was with a bed.

Simasaurus09 wrote:
I have had this happen and i don't think reset Sim worked for this issue so i just went into buy mode to make a copy of the object then sell the "broken" object and replace it with the copy. Worked fine. By broken i mean not usable.. My issue was with a bed.

Same here- my issue was with a dresser that was bad CC

MinDtriKz wrote:

Simasaurus09 wrote:
I have had this happen and i don't think reset Sim worked for this issue so i just went into buy mode to make a copy of the object then sell the "broken" object and replace it with the copy. Worked fine. By broken i mean not usable.. My issue was with a bed.

Same here- my issue was with a dresser that was bad CC

Strange. My bed wasn't a CC object though.

I'm having the same problem. Like there is something in front of them. They have their little thought bubble and in it is a blue pillow with footsteps saying its in the way but there is absolutely nothing there. I have tried all of the suggestions but nothing works! That area is still taboo for them, at most I have gotten them to walk around it at times.Grrr very frustrating. :hunf:

As near as I can tell, sometimes items get glitched. If that is the case, you can sell the item and replace it and it should be okay then. It happens to EA items as well as CC.

Spiral stairs are often an issue. Sometimes they can go up them but not down then, or visa versa. Pets often have issues with spiral stairs. If you put any railings around them they probably won't be able to use them (my sims have never been able to use them both ways with a railing). Sometimes it helps to sell the stairs and re-place them, especially if you downloaded the lot. Spiral stairs and elevators seem to need to be reset (replaced) often. But as someone mentioned, you can have walls or even items too close to spiral stairs that will keep them from working properly. If you use MOO, it is probably best not to use it on anything near the stairs.

Using the cheat Moveobjects on can also cause a lot of pathing errors. Something may look like it has a lot of room around it but for the game/sim it is protruding in a way it shouldn't so it prevents them from going around it or using it. It is best to not use MOO on anything that a sim can have actions with, like a chair or a stove. Even if they are not glitched in the beginning, they can become so over time. I've noticed that even some of EA's houses that use this cheat start to 'break' after awhile. MOO is a tool really best used by builders that really know what they are doing and understand the many ways it can glitch. (Which is not me so I usually only use it on plants or things that can't be selected by a sim!)

Another common thing that can cause pathing issues for sims and pets are fences, bushes, and even groupings of trees. You need to make sure there is a way out of a fenced area and any groupings. Sims and pets can, and will get stuck behind fenced off areas (like for landscaping purposes) that have no way out. If you have a horse on the lot, everything should have at least two spaces of clearance. And i have read that the V-shaped formation of trees that is used on a lot of beach lots often cause horses to get stuck.

It helps to make sure there is room for sims to move around objects properly. I had a sim in my town that wasn't going to work and wouldn't come over even though she said she would. She was home but wouldn't answer the door. I switched to her household to see what her problem was and found her stuck under a closed off stairway in the garage. As near as I can tell, there just wasn't room beside the car for her to spawn in but the staircase was there so the game out her there. I moved the staircase and the issue disappeared. I hadn't worried about clearance before that because sims always seemed to just spawn where ever when getting out of a car.

Finally, you really want to fix/remove as many pathing issues as you can. Every time a sim or animal (even the 'wild' ones and service sims & tourists) get stuck it causes errors, over time these build up and create more and more lag in your game. Eventually, they can help corrupt your save.

I didn't repeat advice already given, like reset the sim or lot. You can also try going into edit town and evicting the sim/family that way then move them back into the house. For community lots (when sims get stuck on them), I have had some success with going into edit town and moving the lot (basically, use the move to on the lot, then place it back where it was. You can also try saving the lot to the library/bin (if it isn't there already), then deleting it and place a new lot on the now empty lot.

Hope some of this helps!