Forum Discussion

62c1a628ccbfed5d's avatar
62c1a628ccbfed5d
Rising Newcomer
19 hours ago

Sim disappearing upon returning from university

Hello,

After conducting extensive research, I'm reaching out here for help because the issue persists.

I downloaded The Sims 3 on a Mac OS with the 64-bit & Metal version. This is my first time playing with this setup.

I experienced a few bugs, particularly with eyelashes (which turned into big black chunks) and pink lines on the right and bottom of my screen, but the game remained playable. I then started a game and sent a Sim to university - everything worked fine, but when it was time to return I encountered a loading screen for the initial town (Bridgeport) and then ended up with a user interface with no Sim.

I could see the UI, time was passing, but there was no Sim. I tried with another Sim without success, and it even seems that after switching households, I lost certain functionalities in the Sim menu (such as access to the phone).

I installed three recommended Nraas mods (Traveler, Overwatch, ErrorTrap) one by one, but nothing changed.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the game, but the bug persists. It's incredibly frustrating.

Would you have any idea what could be causing the issue? Or any possible lead?

Thank you so much in advance!

bug
crashing
mac

1 Reply

Sort By
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    8 hours ago

    62c1a628ccbfed5d  Did you install the mods and revert play to when your sim was still in the University world?  It's very difficult to fix the game once the travel transition has already failed, so your best bet here is to revert to before you sent your sim home.

    Even if you've never made a backup, the game keeps the files from the second-to-last time you saved.  Inside Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Saves, you'll see a folder with your save name and another folder with the same name and a .backup extension.  Change the name and delete the .backup, and that save will be available to load from the Main Menu.  That only helps if the backup is from before your sim went home though.

    If you do have a save from the University world, I'd suggest adding NRaas MasterController and Register as well.  Once you load the save, empty your sim's inventory as much as possible—having a few items is fine, but not much more.  Let the game clock run for a few sim-minutes, then click the admin building or an in-game computer and select NRaas > MasterController > Town Options > Reset Everything.  When the reset is finished, and you'll get a notification, let the game clock run for a few more sim-minutes and then send your sim home again.

    I would also suggest turning down your graphics settings to the minimum before you attempt the travel transition again.  Do so at the Main Menu, then quit to desktop before loading the save.  You can switch back to your usual settings once your sim is home again.  Please also delete the five cache files in the Sims 3 user folder:

    • CASPartCache.package
    • compositorCache.package
    • scriptCache.package
    • simCompositorCache.package
    • socialCache.package

About The Sims 3 Technical Issues

Get help with issues in The Sims 3 from fellow Simmers.82,923 PostsLatest Activity: 29 minutes ago