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ohbuggeritall's avatar
ohbuggeritall
Seasoned Newcomer
8 years ago
Solved

[ARCHIVED] Gallery screenshot is blocked by trees/objects on several lots

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? n/a
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All, the problem is with Cats and Dogs
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Still trying to work out the exact reason, by searching the gallery for "Dachshund's Creek" you'll be able to see plenty of other thumbnails that are just trees completely blocking the build
What happens when the bug occurs? I've been building on Dachshund's Creek in Brindleton Bay. When I go to save to my library or upload to the gallery the automatic screenshot is taken from too far back, behind the trees in front of the house. It's a 2 storey build with a small foundation. When I first loaded the empty lot I checked the screenshot and there was no issue
What do you expect to see? A house
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Never used.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Neutral/Not Sure 

I feel like I explained the issue in other fields, here's what I've tried

- Reloading the lot

- Reloading the game

- Clearing out the cache and reloading

- Raising and lowering the foundation

- Destroying the entire second floor

- Rebuilding the entire second floor

- Destroying the roof

- Rebuilding the roof

- Bulldozing and plopping the building down again

- Moving the lot around to various positions

- Moving the house around to various positions

- Being angry at trees

But alas, as much as I'd like to show off my lovely Dachshund's Creek build I can only show off some very nice trees

Cheers

38 Replies

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  • The problem
    In the Sims 4 Gallery, when you want to save and upload a build on a lot, nearly half the time something will be blocking the image partially, and sometimes even fully. I know I'm not the only one with this problem; everyone with the Sims 4 can encounter it, depending on the lot they choose to build on. I've tried every possible way to fix the issue on my end, but none of them work. It's a problem only EA can fix.
    The most extreme example I've encountered so far is the '2-5-2 Wakabamori'-lot in the Snowy Escapes game pack world. When saving that lot, the front image will be *entirely* blocked by off-lot items (trees, rocks, etc.) that can't be moved or fixed in any way. The lot built behind these items is entirely invisible in the image that people first see of your build. Several other lots in almost every world have the same issue, with trees, lampposts, bushes, fences and electric wires blocking the view.
    Either fix the lots this bug effects, or change the way players can make or upload Gallery Lot Images, because finding out after spending hours and hours building that it was for nothing is very frustrating; even more so because there is no solution. This bug has been around for years, and still hasn't been fixed! It's about time.

    Fix suggestions
    1. Camera angle switches: the same way Gallery Rooms work; when saving a room in the Gallery, it gives you the option to swap through all 4 angles for the first image, to best suit the room the player has built. Make this possible for lots too, to avoid the current problem. A simple click (or two, or three) on the arrow/camera icon will give the player a potentially better image.
    2. Custom gallery images: a more difficult solve, but one that will probably best suit the community's needs. It would work practically the same as regular screenshots or the regular camera mode. The player chooses the angle and zoom to best fit the item, takes a screenshot and selects it as the front image for the Gallery item. At the very least make this possible for Lot items in the Gallery, but preferrably for CAS and Rooms too.
    3. Fix the out-of-lot areas: the absolute simplest and best option by far; have a dev or two go through some worlds and check the gallery image. If anything blocks the image, move it out of view. Problem solved.
    4. World customisation: this fix is more of an altogether game-change... But it would fix this problem, too! If the player could edit the world(s), they could move the items that are blocking the gallery image right out of the way. This isn't very realistic, though, I imagine.
    Still, Fix number 3 seems like a very easy way to quickly solve this problem that's been around for years.

    I really hope that EA will listen to this, because it's a very real issue in the Sims for builders, and so easy to fix! It's not unrealistic for the community of players to want their builds to be visible. If you have experienced this problem, have screenshots of it, or have other suggestions for a fix; please reply to this thread.

  • simsplayer818's avatar
    simsplayer818
    Hero
    3 years ago
    @saltypistachio I can't get an image on that lot either. I tried everything but you can't see a thing.
    I'm now testing before I start to build any lots to see if there's anything different I can do during the building process to get a better image. With some, the image was obscured for bungalows but then if I added a second floor the obstruction vanished.
    It's a shame the recent gallery update didn't add the ability to take our own images on all platforms.
  • simsplayer818's avatar
    simsplayer818
    Hero
    3 years ago

    I absolutely agree. This is such a massive problem for me on console as a builder on Xbox Series X and before that on Xbox Series S.

    I've filed bug reports but the thread does go back a while. If the gallery continues to be under review and improvement then I hope this change will be considered.

  • saltypistachio's avatar
    saltypistachio
    3 years ago

    Here's some more screenshots of the issue and what's causing it.

  • saltypistachio's avatar
    saltypistachio
    3 years ago

    And here's some screenshots of Fix Suggestion 1: Camera angles. Swap through these images in the gallery saving screen from: front view - left side view - back view - right side view.

  • simsplayer818's avatar
    simsplayer818
    Hero
    3 years ago

    Here's another one today. I've built another house in Brindleton Bay for a cat rescue, it seems to be particularly troublesome in that world for some reason. Both of my pet rescues are affected. I rotated the lot and it made no difference unfortunately. But it's still useable at least. It's the fountain and the yacht mast in the foreground that are not part of my lot. 

  • I have this problem on several lots. The lounge lot in Brindleton as someone else mentioned (flagpole), the pool lot in Windenburg (treeplanters), but worst for me is Baia del Amore in Tartosa. You cannot see the lot at all. 

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