[ARCHIVED] [PH] Teens/Kids getting stuck in phases

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@natabeartv wrote:

Had to completely replace a child in my family (save to gallery and then readd with family relationships) because they were stuck with the bear phase and it wasn't ending. Cheats to remove weren't working, and I didn't have any options on parents to discuss it with her. She now has a clingy phase and it isn't ending either.

I'm doing a rotational play with aging off.

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That's a bit extreme, so I'm going to share the workaround I use (which safely removes the phase without negatively affecting the children).

First save the game or make a backup just in case something goes wrong and you need to revert.

1. You need TwistedMexi's cheat fix mod which restores cheats removed by the Seasons patch, specifically, the add buff cheat. Google for TwistedMexi All Cheats Fix

2. open the cheat console and activate testingcheats on

3. get the ID of your child or teen sim with sims.get_sim_id_by_name firstname lastname replacing the firstname and lastname with the name of the sim

- if entered correctly it should say something like "your sim's id is 12345678"

4. switch control to the child sim while you enter the cheat or at least make sure they are on the active lot with you

5. use the add buff cheat to reapply the phase that is stuck, which makes it restart again: sims.add_buff nameofphase yourchildsID

- depending on the phase, use either:
buff_ChildhoodPhase_Bear

buff_ChildhoodPhase_Clingy

buff_ChildhoodPhase_Distant

buff_ChildhoodPhase_Loud

buff_ChildhoodPhase_MeanStreak

buff_ChildhoodPhase_Rebellious

So the cheat would look something like sims.add_buff buff_ChildhoodPhase_Clingy 12345678

(Picky Eater is more complex because there are five different versions of it (PickyEater_B, PickyEater_C, etc). I think you need to add the exact same version they have stuck, but I don't think there's a way to tell which one they have unless you use something like Itasan2's show sim info mod. I'd recommend getting that mod, finding out which exact phase they have and then using buff_ChildhoodPhase_PickyEater_A or B or C or D or E depending on which one it is.)

You should then see the notification pop up saying that your child has entered that phase, along with the phase music sting. This should mean that the phase has been refreshed and is active - meaning your parent sims can now use "Ask About Phase" to find out what they need to do to reduce it

In cases like Bear phase, you should now be able to click on the child and spin into bear form without needing to make an outfit in CAS, and parents should be able to put on a bear costume by using the interaction under "Parenting".

You should then stay playing this family until the phase goes away - it should only take a couple of days before it expires naturally or faster if you use parenting to counter the phase e.g. wearing a bear suit as a parent, encouraging better eating habits, influencing quiet activities, having your clingy child make friends with other children etc.

I find this to be the best workaround for me. Having the game remove the phase naturally means that it also removes any hidden stuff on the character associated with the phase that the remove trait cheat might not clear (e.g. the sadness from not wearing a bear costume even after removing the trait).