Hey all,
This thread has been closed as this is currently functioning as designed by The Sims team.
If you feel this was in error, please create a new thread here with as much information as you can provide. Thank you!
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? 1.63.133.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? All of them
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Get the tripod from the moschino stuff pack, put a camera on it, click on the tripod to take picture (of/with doesn't matter) and use WASDQE to control the camera.
What happens when the bug occurs? W / S zooms in / out A / D moves the camera to the left / right Q / E moves the camera up / down
What do you expect to see? The camera keys (especially Q and E) to work like they did when the stuff pack came out, as seen in this part of the Guru livestream https://clips.twitch.tv/StylishSpinelessHedgehogPunchTrees , so that we can take more dimensional pictures again.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? Yes
Please describe the patch or change you made. Updated to the June 3rd patch (2020)
ā
The new patch promised the following: We fixed an issue in which some hotkeys in Photo Mode (particularly E and Q) were not working.
The "fix" is basically just a reassignment of controls but doesn't add what Q and E were intended to do.
I am a bit frustrated because it was my favorite feature and added so much depth to photography and now I'm back to how it was before the moschino pack came out with all my pictures just being frontal shots looking like a non-skilled sim could have taken them xD
The patch doesn't fix this? For those of you who don't know what we are talking about: Q used to elevate the camera, E lowered it, TAB allowed free camera control while taking pictures with the tripod. Please fix this Sims team! You had it working before it was broken by a patch. Please prioritize it!
This wasn't fixed at all. Not even remotely close. The Q & E keys are just panning the camera up and down, a feature that we could do even when it was broke before with just the mouse. The other bug report shouldn't have been archived as the main feature, the WASD keys allowing free camera, was still never fixed! This is insane. Why is it so difficult for them to address and fix this? It was working for a few months after the pack was released, and then broke completely when they tried to fix the issue with not being able to take pictures in basements.
For me, it makes the entire Moschino Stuff pack obsolete. I am a photographer IRL and really only bought that pack so I could make creative pictures in the game. š
There seems to be a really easy fix for this, at least it fixed it for me.
Originally I had the same issues everyone else has had with not being able to adjust the height of the camera when using the tripod. I noticed though that in the PhotoCamera.ini file (the one located at \wherever your base games files are\Game\Bin_LE\res) that at the very bottom of the text in the file, third to last line, is a setting called "TripodUseFreeCam".
I kid you not, all I did was change the value there to 1 and after that I was able to use Q and E again when taking pictures with the tripod camera. I had the previous version (1.69.59) when I did this and I currently have the most current patch, and it still works just fine.
You can edit the file with any standard text editor, like notepad or notepad++ and just save it. I used Notepad++ so I didn't have to worry about checking to be sure it remained an .ini file when I hit save, so if you're worried just do Save As and check that the file type is still .ini before you hit save.
I did this for the PhotoCamera.ini file in both the Bin and Bin_LE folders, but if you have the 64-bit version installed you can just modify the PhotoCamera.ini file in the Bin folder. That was all I did to get the buttons to work again.
I recommend deleting the cache files and a few others that could cause issues afterwards. It's good to do this from time to time anyways, I do it every time I close the game.
To do this, go into the Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4 folder and delete the Config.log file, the localthumbcache.package file, and any other log files or files with "exception" in the filename.
Also delete the spotlight_en-us.package file (depending on your language, the filename will vary slightly) inside the cachestr folder, but leave the cachestr folder.
If you also have the cache folder, delete the files in there as well, but leave the folder.
Delete the entire onlinethumbnailcache folder (not related, but never hurts to delete it to refresh things).
Beyond the exception files, the game will generate a fresh copy of all of the other files you deleted upon starting.
Some users are having issues with the A and D button functionalities inverting only while using the tripod and the bottom slider may not work, but you can replicate that functionality using WASD to move around and the mouse to direct the view. I'm not sure why it's causing that, but I'm working on figuring out the issue and I will hopefully find out the problem soon. The issue may possibly persist in the Flash Studio, but if you have Ksuihuh's AEP mod (adult film star career mod), you can choose (as the photographer) take erotic photo option on the flash studio and it will function exactly like the fixed tripod does. Or you can manually set up a photo studio with the separate components from build mode (you'll probably need to use the cheat bb.showhiddenobjects to see them).
I really hope that this fixes it for anyone else who has had issues with using the tripod.
EDIT by crinrict: Added solution banner for info
From the original post, which has incorrectly been marked as "Sovled", and edited to add additional ways that this bug has yet to be fixed:
When having sims pose for photos using the tripod, we used to be able to move the camera around using the WASD keys and Q + E to freely move the camera around the composed scene. It would work like we were moving the camera around when we press the TAB key in-game - WASD would allow us to move closer and farther away (not by zooming, by moving the camera forward and backward in the scene), and essentially see the subject in almost 360 degrees.
In addition, Q + E would bring the camera up and down, like the rising and falling of an elevator.
Now, six months after it was broken, the W + S keys are only zooming in and out, A + D pan the camera on its' stationary east-west axis, and Q + E is panning the camera on its' stationary north-south axis.
The patch released in 12/2019 completely removed the functionality of moving fully on a horizon and being able to get shots at "eye-level" regardless of where the sims are. For example, taking profile pictures of toddlers is now much more difficult (if even possible at all) as the camera can only "pan down" at them, shooting their photo from above.
The above photo was taken in the glorious few months that this feature actually worked. Using Q+E I was able to move the camera down to the eye level of the short tiny toddler and snap a picture.
Essentially, removing the features advertised in the Twitch play below.
https://clips.twitch.tv/StylishSpinelessHedgehogPunchTrees
Why am I explaining this in extra-deep detail and re-iterating points made before? Because it seems our reports in the past have gone on deafened ears for the past 6mos and I truly am at a loss for what else to do to get this fixed.
This is UNREAL. Unreal. You break an entire feature where keys arent doing what they are supposed to, so you just make the keys that do nothing, do something but still not what they are supposed to. These devs are a JOKE. Refund everyone who bought this pack, you clearly don't care to fix the entire point of the pack.
@crinrict - this thread needs to be changed from [NEEDS INPUT] to [OPEN], as the previous thread was. It doesn't need further input as the same people who were having issues with it in the [ARCHIVED] thread are, no doubt, still having issues with it. Perhaps part of the reason it is not being prioritized is that it is being unnecessarily dropped from the list of priorities!
This is either an issue with the team in charge of escalation not comprehending the issue fully, or the product manager not prioritizing feature breaking bugs in their backlog.
