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justwannasim's avatar
justwannasim
6 years ago

Missing Object Warning - Not sure if anything is missing or? :(

I am so frustrated, hope someone can help me figure this out.

A week ago yesterday, I stopped by the Sims 3 Store and grabbed four free items. The items are Modern 1) HDTV by Webbsta Industries, 2) Le Cirque Esprit, Mask of Mystique, 3) Wings of Kalliopi & 4) Le Cirque Esprit- The Carnival Dancer Statue. Upon loading, my game immediately displayed 'Missing Object Warning! Some objects could not be loaded and were replaced'.

I have no CC and the only mod I was using at the time is Overwatch, which I have used without it causing any issues for years. I immediately closed out of my game and uninstalled the items but the message stayed ☹️. I haven't been able to find anything actually missing, but with 14 expansion/stuff packs and nearly 70 store items - I can't really be sure.  I am bothered because the error message means something, right?

I'm not a tech expert by any means so this whole process has been a bit flustering. I researched for a few hours and ultimately got in touch with EA via their chat help feature.  While I appreciate that they are poised to help, several contacts have not resulted in the resolution of this issue. 

Here is a list of what has been done, as requested by EA advisors:

1)  DXDIAG and MS INFO provided to EA

One tech said my game was corrupted by a bad item, then later they said it was a result of a mod?

2) Make New Sims Folder
>>Go to documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4
>>Rename The Sims 4 folder to "The Sims 4 Old"
>>Go to Origin
>>Launch the game
(This will create a new The Sims 4 folder)
>>Go to the main menu of the game. Then quit the game.
>>Go back to documents > Electronic Arts.
>>There will be 2 folders here. The Sims 4 old and The Sims 4.
>>Go to the old folder. Go to the Saves folder. Copy the Saves and paste it into "The Sims 4" folder inside the "Saves" folder.
>>Do the same for the "Tray" folder


The information was provided to me like this, with 4 instead of Sims 3 listed.  The agent said it's all the same.  I couldn't locate my 'tray folder'. When I did this, none of my expansions or store content were included.


3) Using back up save files, all displayed the error still


4) It was suggested that I clear cache, which I already do nearly daily


5) Clean Boot: per instructions at  https://help.ea.com/en-in/help/faq/how-to-clean-boot-your-pc/

6) Check to make sure Origin and the game are allowed through firewall and antivirus.

7) Run Origin as admin by right clicking on it and choose Run as administrator.

8) Test the game again by creating a test admin account on your device: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4026923/windows-10-create-a-local-user-or-administrator-account

9) Game Repair through Origin ap

10) Complete uninstall and reinstall of my game and all store content.  My launcher is moody, so I had to tediously download and install each item individually which took quite a while.

11) Removal of mod - overwatch

The error message was still displayed when all this was completed ☹️.  New games don't display the error, but it makes sense to me that a new game may not be looking for missing content the same way that an old file would?

The last agent/advisor suggested that I post here as they are out of ideas and resources.  The one before suggested that I just ignore the message and keep playing. I am so frustrated with the whole thing that while I miss my game, I'm kinda to the point where I may be done playing because no one can seem to fix this.  With the exception of Overwatch which I used to fix an issue rendering my game unplayable (and have been using so long that I forgot what that issue was), I have stuck to official EA items only and it's super frustrating that official stuff seems to have corrupted my game. Even after completing everything they suggested, something still seems broken. How do I know if something is missing or not? If nothing is missing, why is the message displaying?

Also, is there a better customer service contact? I have had multiple agents say that they have seen people compensated with simpoints or content for situations like this, and once this is resolved then they would look into it. 1) It's not being resolved & 2) Whenever I bring up simpoints I am either told they can't or am completely ignored.This whole situation has cost me hours of research, effort, frustration - and is still not resolved.

I'm not going to list all of the store items I have, but the expansion and stuff packs I have are listed below. I got all of these new/sealed and have registered them. I appreciate any help in getting this taken care of 🙂.

Ambitions

Generations

High-End Loft Stuff

Into the Future

Island Paradise

Late Night

Outdoor Living

Pets

Seasons

Showtime

Supernatural

Town Life Stuff

University Life

World Adventures

pc
technical issues

1 Reply

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    6 years ago

    @justwannasim  Wow, that's a lot to deal with.  I'm sorry you've had such a frustrating experience.

    On the off chance that it helps, did you also reinstall the free content that you received for registering your expansion packs?  Each one came with some bonus items that aren't always easy to find, even in your purchase history.  Here's a list of the sets:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/INFO-How-to-Register-The-Sims-3/m-p/1364268#M69455

    Otherwise, at this point, tedious as it may be, it's probably best to install your store content from scratch.  While 70 items is a lot, it's not as bad if you don't need to redownload them.  The original Sims3Packs should still be in Downloads inside whichever Sims 3 user data folder you were using when you reinstalled the content.

    First though, please move or rename the Sims 3 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts, so the game will create a new one when you launch it.  Start a new save somewhere, doesn't matter where; go into Buy mode, click the button used to filter items by pack, and count your packs.  If any is missing, that would explain the missing objects warning, and of course troubleshooting store content would have nothing to do with it.

    If this isn't the issue, install one store item in the new folder (again, reusing the older download is fine), load the game, and make sure it shows up.  If it does, you can install the reset in batches of around half a dozen items at a time.  The launcher doesn't handle large amounts of data very well.  Worlds should be handled separately, not in a batch with anything else.

    It's a good idea, however tedious, to check your installed content every two or three batches as well.  It will also save you a headache in the long run if you make a copy of the Sims 3 folder each time you've confirmed that all the items show up.  (The same way you filtered by pack, I think you can also filter by store stuff.)  If there's an issue, you'll find it sooner and not have to repeat your work—just trash the new folder, copy the previous one over, and pick up where you left off.

    By the way, customer support mentioned Origin, but you didn't specifically say you had an Origin install.  If you still have a disc install not connected to Origin, please see this post about missing store content patches.  It's not a problem with Origin installs, as the patches are integrated into the game's program files.

    https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/933285/launcher-no-longer-installing-store-updates

    If you get everything installed fine, you can copy over a save and test.  If you do get the missing objects warning again, make sure all your packs are still loading; sometimes the launcher "forgets" which packs you've checked off (Origin installs only).

    And of course the user data folder is structured quite differently in Sims 3 than in Sims 4, not that you didn't know that.  Saves are still in Saves, but saved households and builds are in Library, and a bunch of other folders are in different places that have no analogs in TS4.  Here's a complete guide to your user data folder:

    https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/faq-user-files.html

    If you do all this and still get a missing objects error, at least you'll know you've done everything right.

    P.S.  Overwatch wouldn't have anything to do with this mess.  You can reinstall it whenever you want, and it won't make any difference.

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