Sim frozen, sim panels won't open, and more

@blooobagooo  You recovered the backup save correctly, but the issue is the backup is also affected.  That's not a surprise: the backup is just the data from the second-to-last time you saved, so in your case it's still from after you first noticed issues.

This save is well on its way to being corrupted past recovery, but there are still steps you can take to try to fix it.  Start by deleting the five cache files in your Sims 3 user folder; in fact, delete them every time you quit the game while you're troubleshooting.  For reference, they are:

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

Load your save and let the game clock run for a few sim-minutes.  Then go to Edit Town, evict your sim, and place her back in her apartment.  (She'll keep her job and relationships but lose her promised wishes and opportunities.)  Play for a few more sim-minutes, then use "save as" to rename the save so the original (the former backup) remains intact under its own name.  Then quit to desktop (without saving, as a separate step), delete the cache files again, load the new version of the save, and see how it runs.

You can also try evicting the sim and placing her in a different house or apartment, which is more drastic but also more thorough.

If this doesn't help, there are mod-related approaches as well.  Let me know whether you're interested in trying those.

I just followed your instructions, deleting those files and then evicting my sim and moving her into a new apartment. The game panels would show at this point, but my sim's head (at the bottom) was missing and I couldn't see her anywhere in the new apartment. I still had $0. After saving it under a new name, quitting, deleting the cache files again, and trying play, nothing is different. The game panels are also gone again.

I would be interested in a mod that might help with this, and also I deleted them in Users\myuser\OneDrive\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3. I believe that's the right place but I just want to be sure. Thanks!

@blooobagooo  Your user folder shouldn't be in OneDrive under normal circumstances, and that can interfere with Sims 3 in a variety of ways.  It's probably not causing this particular error, but it might be complicating the issue if you're deleting files from the "wrong" folder, as in, not the one the game is reading.

Please open C:\Users\your username\Documents etc. without OneDrive in the file path; you can get there by clicking This PC in the left panel of a File Explorer window.  If you find a Sims 3 folder, delete the cache files there too, and also compare the modified date on deviceconfig.log with the modified date of the same file in the OneDrive folder.  If the two have different timestamps, let me know which one corresponds to the last time you launched the game, as in, exactly when it started to load.  That's the Sims 3 folder the game is reading and the one you want to work with.

For mods, I'd recommend adding at least NRaas ErrorTrap, Overwatch, and MasterController.  Others can be very useful too, but these are the ones needed to address your current issue.  ET and OW clean up stray data and corruption and work on their own, with no user input needed; MC doesn't do anything unless you issue it a command.  You can find more info and a link explaining how to install mods here:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Sims-3-Common-Game-Fixing-Mods-Hero-Approved/m-p/9838855#M244208

Work with your oldest save, in this case the backup you restored but not the modified version where you evicted your sim and moved her to a new apartment.  Load the save and let the game clock run for a few sim-minutes, then click on City Hall and select:

NRaas > MasterController > Town Options > Reset Everything

This can take a few minutes to run depending on the speed of your hardware.  When it's done, it'll tell you, and from there, let the game clock run for a few more sim-minutes, then "save as" to rename the save, quit, delete the cache files, reload, and see how things are.

So for some reason, when I go to Documents from my Users folder in C:, it's completely empty. I believe I tried getting to it from there before, but went through OneDrive because nothing appeared. 

I'm planning on installing the mods and seeing if they help at all, and I'm following the explanation linked in the thread you sent on modthesims, which directs me to a "Mods" folder that I don't have. I went to This PC/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 since nothing is showing in my Documents folder when I try to access it from C:, so that may be the issue, because I remember seeing a Mods folder in the past when using my old laptop. I'm not sure if there's a way to get around this, because it says that step is necessary to enable mods to run on TS3. 

@blooobagooo  Alright, your system is using the OneDrive folder as the default location for Documents.  This is not ideal, but it's manageable, and it's also not relevant to this problem.  You'll just need to check your cloud storage (the OneDrive folder that's online rather than on your computer) periodically to make sure it's not full and clean out old files as necessary.  If you don't, Microsoft may one day tell you you're out of space and strongly suggest that you sign up for a subscription service for more.  That's not necessary either (and frankly kind of rude); just clean out the online storage and you'll be fine.

For the mods themselves, just add them to the Sims 3 folder you've been working with, since that's the one the game is obviously using.  You'll know whether the mods are working right away: either you see a notification at the Main Menu or you don't.

Thank you very much, I'll take note of your advice about my laptop's storage. 

I just followed the instructions listed here, and when I tried to launch the Sims to see if the .package files were working so that I could install mods, it came up with an error message saying "Unable to start game, Service initialization failed (0x0175d824)." I then deleted the FrameworkSetup folder and file from my Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 folder, and I'm still getting this message. I had this problem about a week ago (which you helped me with, and it began working), but never pinpointed a specific solution to this error message. 

@blooobagooo  Do you use a third-party antivirus, and if so, which one?  I'm wondering whether it sees certain changes to the Documents folder, or in this case the Sims 3 folder inside, as potentially dangerous, and its response is to block access to the folder or some other kind of overreaction.

If you don't use a separate antivirus, please add Sims 3 as an exception within Windows 10's Controlled Folder Access.  Add both TS3.exe and TS3W.exe as well as Origin.exe, just to be thorough.

https://crinrict.com/blog/2019/03/windows-10-defender-controlled-folder-access.html

No, I haven't installed any third-party antivirus applications. I just turned on Controlled Folder Access and allowed TS3.exe, TS3W.exe, Origin.exe, and also svchost.exe and Sims3Launcher.exe (these were in my recently blocked apps by Controlled Folder Access after I tried to launch the game). Still not launching and is giving me the error message. 

@blooobagooo  I wasn't actually suggesting you enable Controlled Folder Access if you hadn't already, but now that you have, please move the Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop (again if you have already), so any issues with the folder or its contents aren't carried over.  Try to launch the game, which will spawn a clean folder.  If you get the same error message, stop here and let me know.

Otherwise, open the launcher and take note of the patch number in the lower-left corner; let me know what that is.  Make sure you can get far enough to start a new save, then quit to desktop.  Download a fresh copy of the Mods Framework, add it to your Sims 3 folder, and delete scriptCache.package, then test.  If you now get the error (but didn't before), stop here.

If you can play with the Mods Framework added in, and it's not necessary to go past the Main Menu—you'll know whether NoIntro is working by watching to see if the intro movie plays—quit and add the NRaas mods we talked about, but still nothing else yet.  If those work too, copy over your save and see whether you can go through the troubleshooting steps in my earlier post.

Alright, so I moved the Sims 3 folder from Documents to Desktop and I'm still getting the error message. Also, not sure if this has any relevance but there were a couple of times in which I didn't receive that exact error message, but the Sims 3 would simply not load and my Origin window would pop up again (which happened when I had the issue a week ago).