University Travel Bug - Sims 3

@3_rolyat_3  There are a few things to cover here.  The first is that the transitions in TS3 are delicate and can go wrong in a number of ways.  By the time you arrive at the destination and your sims aren't there, the game is already borked and should be quit without saving.  Hopefully, you have a backup save of two that you can use, or at the very least the automatic backup that you can find in your saves folder.  Now would also be a good time to make copies of your existing save(s).  Preventing this kind of error going forward is certainly doable, although it's hit or miss without mods.

It takes extra resources, expecially RAM, to load a second world in addition to the one that's been active.  So the usual steps to reduce the load on the game are to only travel right after you load your save (when RAM use is lowest), and to put all of your graphics settings on low until your sims arrive.  (Then you can change them back.)  Other steps that can help are emptying out your sims' personal and family inventories as much as possible.

As far as mods go, I'm not sure where you were looking, but you shouldn't have to pay for anything.  The mods that reliably fix the travel transition are NRaas Traveler, accompanied by ErrorTrap and Overwatch.  (Nraas also hosts a mod called MasterController, which is very useful but does not directly influence travel.)  They are free, and your computer should already have the software necessary to unzip them.

Hi there. I am from NRaas and am appalled to think that anyone is being asked to pay to obtain or unzip our mods. This has never been the case and the compressed packages (zips) we provide can always be decompressed using the tools that come natively with both Windows and the Mac OS (usually by right-click once downloaded). We are, however, aware that our mods along with others are and have been hosted by third parties without our permission who may be serving up outdated versions and putting some kind of price tag on them. And there are many forms of malware and unnecessary pay for use software out there that can intercept a computer's ability to work with zipped files. That's unfortunate, but if you have issues working with zips generally perhaps this is something that should be looked at? It's a very common, I would say the most common, form of file compression out there since everyone on any system should be able to work with it without undue fuss or third party tools.

But yes, this is the place to obtain NRaas mods and the support we provide for them is also free. A Wikispaces account and NRaas membership, two steps, are required to post at NRaas and ask for assistance, but there is no charge for any of that either. There isn't even any form of advertising on our site, although unfortunately that may have to change in the future. Yes, we know that Wikispaces is shutting down but that won't affect us until October and we will have moved to our new site by then so any warnings to that effect can be dismissed.

http://nraas.wikispaces.com

And yes, the mods you really want should you wish to pursue this solution are NRaas Traveler, together with Overwatch and ErrorTrap.

Hi there. I am from NRaas and am appalled to think that anyone is being asked to pay to obtain or unzip/use our mods. This has never been the case and never will be. We are aware, however, that our mods along with others are being hosted by third parties without our permission on sites that are serving up outdated versions and may well be putting price tags on them. Afraid there is nothing we can really do about that except suggest that you come to us for the downloads and free support on our own message boards. There isn't even any advertising on our site, although that may change in the future. The mods you would want to help solve this problem, should you wish to pursue this solution, are indeed NRaas Traveler together with Overwatch and ErrorTrap.

http://nraas.wikispaces.com

(Yes, we know that Wikispaces is shutting down soon but that won't affect us until October and we will have moved to our new site by then, so it's fine to dismiss the warnings to that effect.)

There are also many forms of malware and unnecessary pay for use applications that interfere with zipped files. We use zips because the ability to decompress those is native to both Windows and Mac OS users, usually with no fuss or third party apps required as all it takes is a right-click and Decompress once downloaded. If you are having trouble working with zips generally, perhaps that is something that should be looked at. It's the most common form of file compression out there because it is effective and everyone should have the ability to work with these kinds of files seamlessly.

@puzzlezaddict 

Unfortunately, as soon as I got to university, I saved before checking to see if the game loaded right. (My game has a tendency to stop working very quickly and I didn't want to risk it.) Where can I find the automatic backup? I have copied the original game at least five times and have been doing all of my testing on those so I don't mess anything up further.

You're advice regarding RAM is very helpful for the future, as is the graphic settings. One Sim had 3 things in her inventory for travelling and the other probably had around 10. The family inventory probably had about 5. Do you think this would have caused the issue?

I was attempting to download this mod: http://nraas.wikispaces.com/MasterController%20Phase%20Twelve which is the mass controller. I was planning on using this to find my two Sims however it wanted me to pay to access. I will be posting a photo of the page asking me to pay.

@igazor

I posted the link of the mod I tried to download above. It's not your site that's asking me to pay. It's the zipping site.

Here are a couple photos of what I am shown after downloading:

^ Earlier today I did a free trial but it only last 5 minutes or so. As you can see, it's asking me to pay to access the site. ^

^ Here is the site that I am shown, but cannot access without paying. ^

If you can think of anything at all to help, that would be amazing. I figure that if the mods will work, I can get my game back on track.

Thank you both so much for all of your help! I really appreciate it. If there is anything else I can try, I will do it all.

@3_rolyat_3  In your saves folder (Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves), you should see a folder labeled [your game name].sims3, and another labeled [your game name].sims3.backup.  The one with the .backup extension is the second-most recent save file; when you saved for the last time, this file was demoted to backup.  In order for this backup save to be available for loading, you simply have to delete the .backup and rename it.  It would be a good idea to make copies of this file as well if it comes from before you attempted to travel.

I think it's unlikely that a dozen or so items in your sims' inventories would cause any issue unless one or more of them were broken.  This issue usually surfaces when the number of items numbers in the hundreds or more.

As for the mod, you're certainly on the right website, and NRaas is not involved in asking you to pay.  To my untrained eye, it looks like you downloaded a third-party app that has set itself as the default unzipper and is now preempting your computer's built-in tool.  I would try right-clicking on the file and selecting a different tool to unzip the mod, but if igazor has a better idea, I will defer to him.  He can also tell you how best to uninstall this app entirely, as there may be hidden files that you need to hunt down and delete.

@puzzlezaddict

I found the backup file and took out the .backup - I made the other file .original . I'm reloading the game right now to see if it works. I looked in the .backup file and saw no sign of university (unlike the original file) so I'm hopeful.. I will be making many copies of that file!

I didn't think that would be the issue. But it's still good to know.

Whatever happened, I would never puposely download a third-party app. I'm trying to figure out how to delete it.

Thanks again!

@3_rolyat_3  You should be able to delete the app through Control Panel > Programs and Features without issue.  Going forward, if you right-click on a zip file, you'll see some options on how to open it and can choose the tool that works for you.

If you're not familiar with mods but still want to install Traveler, ErrorTrap and Overwatch (and possibly MasterController), I suggest you look over this tutorial from MTS.  Mod support in general is best provided by the people who make the mods, as they're best equipped to explain how to use their products.

Going forward, instead of just saving, it would be a good idea to use "save as" and rename your save file slightly each time.  That way, you'll have previous save files to which you can revert if anything goes wrong.  You can delete the older ones after a while, but it's always helpful to have 4-6 or more on hand, just in case.

@puzzlezaddict

Good news and bad news...

I found the game and it's loaded up to before I travelled to university. However, I tried travelling again (low graphics on) and it still did not work.

I also deleted the zip app successfully. But I'm having issues uploading the mods still. I loaded into the game with the mod loaded (or so I thought). I couldn't get it to work. I had testingcheatenabled true on and clicked on a smartphone, Sim, and the city hall. (Both regular click and shift click.) What am I doing wrong?

The uploaded file looks like this:

I will use "save as" from now on, thanks!

@3_rolyat_3  Testingcheatsenabled commands have nothing to do with NRaas mods and can be put aside.  You'll know that your mods are installed correctly when you load up the Main Menu—you'll get a notification of script files detected and a list.  If you don't see this, the game isn't reading the mods.  Once in-game, you can click on a sim (not shift-click or right-click, just regular click), and one of the options will read "NRaas."  From there, you can select the mod whose actions you want to use.

I can't see from your screenshot, but you'll need to have the resource.cfg file inside your Mods folder for your mods to work.  The reason that MTS includes the nointro and nobuildsparkles mods in its download file is that these two sample mods are easy to spot, so you'll know right away whether the game is reading your Mods folder.  But if you'd rather not use those, you can just check the Main Menu.

Also, I understand why you might want MasterController in your game, but it's not going to do a thing on its own to fix the travel transition.  For that, you really need Traveler, ErrorTrap, and Overwatch.  MC doesn't do anything until you issue it a command.  While it certainly helps locate inactive sims around town, by the time your household has failed to arrive at university, there's not much MC can do to fix things.

@puzzlezaddict

Good to know. And I meant I left-clicked not right-clicked. But either way it didn't work. I did not get a notification so I'm going to assume it's not working.

I think I uploaded the resource.cfg file. I don't think I won't to upload those other mods just because my game has so many issues on its own.

I plan on uploading the travel mods, but at the moment I've been working with the mass controller and I just feel comfortable to work with it until I figure it out. Once I can get that mod working, I'll be sure to upload the others for safe travels!

Thank you so much for continuing to help me. I'm not exactly the most technically-advanced person so I really appreciate you sticking by me.