well a game can without having to uninstall and reinstall that to me would be a last resort can be set back to factory settings with out the hassle of uninstalling give me a few to find the links to what you need to do also you can move the mods the folder and the third party CC to the desktop for safe keeping once you move those folders clear the cache files until you have your game sorted out ,brb a.s.ap.
delete the cach files go to electronic arts/the sims 3/
•CasPartCache.package
•compositorCache.package
•scriptCache.package
•simCompositorCache.package
•socialCache.package.package
it's safe to delete these files as a new ones will regenerate
edit to add link
http://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/06/tutorial-resetting-the-game-to-factory-settings-without-reinstalling.html