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u7fsosndm1jl's avatar
u7fsosndm1jl
Seasoned Novice
10 months ago
Solved

Re: the sims 3 - family disappeared

hi there, 

I face the same question about family disappearing after the trip, but I have already saved.

I tried to follow the steps: Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Saves, but I couldn't find the file of the town Twinbrook I was playing.

mac
technical issues
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    10 months ago

    @u7fsosndm1jl  Find one of your save folders, right-click it and select Get Info, and look at the location, under Where.  It should be exactly this:

    Macintosh HD > Users > your username > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Saves

    If the saves are in a subfolder of Saves, or a different folder altogether, that's the issue.

    If the saves are all present, try restoring one of the backups.  Rename the folder and delete the .backup extension, so it just ends in .sims3 (for example, test.sims3 would work).  Then it should be available to load at the Main Menu.

9 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    10 months ago

    @u7fsosndm1jl  I've split your post into its own thread in the Mac forum because you're playing on a Mac, unlike the other users in the original thread.

    Your screenshot lists the location of these folders as iCloud Drive.  So please check the local Documents folder, if it exists separately from iCloud.  Open a Finder window, click Macintosh HD (or whatever you've renamed your drive) in the left panel, then Users > your username > Documents etc.  Please post a screenshot of what you see if it's different than what you've already posted.

    If you still can't find your save, please open Terminal, in Applications > Utilities, and enter this command:

    find / -name "*.sims3*" 2>/dev/null

    The search will take a little while, and you'll know it's done when you see the command prompt again.  This will locate all saves and backups.  Please post a screenshot of the results, or copy and paste them, but ignore or discard the entries that start with System/Volumes.  You can black out or delete your username if you want, but please leave everything else intact.

  • u7fsosndm1jl's avatar
    u7fsosndm1jl
    Seasoned Novice
    10 months ago

    Thank you :-)  I enter the code in Utilities, but there seems nothing coming out after 1 hour. I tried at least three times ><

    Also, I checked the folder of my user name, and there is no Sims3  in the application folder. 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    10 months ago

    @u7fsosndm1jl  Terminal is an application inside Utilities.  Please open Terminal and then enter the command.

    And you wouldn't be looking in Users > your username > Applications but rather Users > your username > Documents.

  • u7fsosndm1jl's avatar
    u7fsosndm1jl
    Seasoned Novice
    10 months ago

    These are the results of entering the code.

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/CurrentGame.sims3

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/月光瀑布.sims3.backup

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/雙子溪2.sims3

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/月光瀑布.sims3

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/雙子溪2.sims3.backup

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/雙子溪.sims3.backup

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/CurrentGame.sims3

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/橋港.sims3

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/密泉.sims3.backup

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/橋港.sims3.backup

    /Users/yuan/Documents/Electronic Arts/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/密泉.sims3

    /Users/yuan/Downloads/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/CurrentGame.sims3

    /Users/yuan/Downloads/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/橋港.sims3

    /Users/yuan/Downloads/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/密泉.sims3.backup

    /Users/yuan/Downloads/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/橋港.sims3.backup

    /Users/yuan/Downloads/Electronic Arts/模擬市民3/Saves/密泉.sims3

    I found out that the sims3 folder is on the iCloud. When I click the folder in the document, it will jump to iCloud.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    10 months ago

    @u7fsosndm1jl  The issue may be iCloud Drive messing with your user folder.  Please either disable it entirely or keep it from syncing the contents of Documents.  This guide is for Sims 4, but the principle is the same:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Mac/READ-FIRST-Saves-CC-Mods-or-Library-items-disappeared-iCloud/td-p/10242133

    The good news is, it looks like your Twinbrook save is present, so you should be able to recover it or its backup once you've fixed your iCloud settings.  Let me know if you need further help getting your other saves to work.

  • u7fsosndm1jl's avatar
    u7fsosndm1jl
    Seasoned Novice
    10 months ago

    I followed the steps to uncheck the Desktop & Documents Folders stores on iCloud, and I moved it back to  Macintosh HD > Users > [User] > Documents > Electronic Arts

    I guess I made some mistakes that all the families I was playing were disappeared.😢

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    10 months ago

    @u7fsosndm1jl  Find one of your save folders, right-click it and select Get Info, and look at the location, under Where.  It should be exactly this:

    Macintosh HD > Users > your username > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Saves

    If the saves are in a subfolder of Saves, or a different folder altogether, that's the issue.

    If the saves are all present, try restoring one of the backups.  Rename the folder and delete the .backup extension, so it just ends in .sims3 (for example, test.sims3 would work).  Then it should be available to load at the Main Menu.

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