@pinknails122 Cloud saving isn't supported for Sims 3: your saves aren't stored on EA servers no matter what settings you have.
I understand you're reluctant to use Terminal, but it's the fastest way to find the files you're looking for; Spotlight may not find them at all. The components of the command I wrote are as follows:
find : intructs Terminal to find
/ : search the entire hard drive
-type d : only look for entries that are "type directory," i.e. folders
-name "Saves" : find only entries named "Saves"
2>/dev/null : send all errors to the void—Terminal can't search certain protected locations, and this prevents it from listing an error for each one
I ran this command myself before posting, as I always do (it's the easiest way to check for errors in the syntax), and it reported on my main Saves folder and two other backups I have on my hard drive. I can post the results if you like. But really, I don't know of an efficient way to figure this out without Terminal, and I don't want to just tell you to start opening random folders and looking for saves.
So I got a bunch of "Permission denied", some "Operation not permitted" and 4 lines regarding Sims:
1. This was like ~150 lines from the bottom:
System/Volumes/Data/Users/USERNAME/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Saves
2.This was the 7th to last line:
/Users/USERNAME/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Saves
3.This was the 3rd to last line:
/System/Volumes/Data/Users/USERNAME/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Saves
4. This was the 2nd to last line:
/Users/USERNAME/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Saves
When I tried to find lines 2/4, there was no "documents" after clicking my username folder.
@pinknails122 Are the two usernames in the Terminal output both the same as the one you use? Terminal is only supposed to output one line for each entry it finds, so if it's reporting two separate Saves folders in what appears to be the exact same file path, something is definitely strange.
it's also strange that you wouldn't see a Documents folder, and I'm not sure why it wouldn't be present. Do you have iCloud enabled, and if so, is it set to move the contents of Documents to cloud storage? What about Google Drive: do you have it set to sync Documents or any other content?
I only have one username and account with my Mac/Apple. Maybe it looked in the same folders twice? I don't know if that is possible. I found another EA folder under my iCloud drive! It has all the folders, yay!! But its still weird because I used the search bar for anything related to EA, Sims, etc and it only found one set of EA files without the "Saves" folder.
Now, that I see "Saves" and all the game files are there, what do I do?
@pinknails122 Normally, it would be as simple as moving or copying the saves to the local version of Documents. But since that folder isn't showing up for you, you'll need to take a few more steps.
First, copy the Sims 3 folder that has your saves in it to another location that is not your desktop. I dump things in Downloads sometimes, since Downloads doesn't get synced, but it would be safer to use an external drive or USB stick. It's also a good idea to zip the folder before transferring to external storage.
Next, disable the iCloud syncing of Documents and Desktop, as described in this article:
https://bluebellflora.com/2017/02/06/sims-3-and-sims-4-not-loading-save-games/
Then open Macintosh HD > Users > your username and look for a Documents folder. If it's not there, disable iCloud Drive entirely, restart your computer, and look again. If it's still not there, let me know.
Otherwise, you can move the Sims 3 content to this version of Documents, although you may find that some files are already there. If you see your saves, you can try loading them or their backups before copying over any files, and only use the ones you found in iCloud if the ones on your hard drive don't load.
