It is now September 2015 and my Sims have just started to do the same. The grayed-out lightning bolt, the "care for self, socialize, tidy up" menu are the only options, and my Sims are nowhere to be seen. I thought maybe it was one of the most recent (newly created) mods I'd installed so I've removed those for now. But if you all have had this problem since last January, I suspect the problem is not mods-related. What can be done? I've done multiple computer restarts and multiple "repair game" functions in Origin. I am able to edit the houses in Build Mode, but for most of them I can't get past the loading screen. The last time I did make it to a house, I discovered that the little boy had somehow moved to another residence with another family and yet he was still showing up in the lower right hand corner area (that shows who is in the household) with his mother, proving that he hadn't moved to another household. I even visited the household he was claimed to have moved to and there was no avatar for him there. The other thing that is happening is that my game is telling me I don't have certain custom content when I do, so my Sims are losing CC clothes and other items even though they are still in my Mods folder. Ugh, everything is so messed up! Maybe this is about the September 1st update, but I think my game was functioning after the update completed. But maybe not...If anyone has any ideas, please help...This is so upsetting. I had just created the perfect Sims for Newcrest and placed the perfect houses and businesses to go with them :/ Medusafern/Hillary Hays
