HELP! Sims 4 Error [de4ee14f:29f00e76:00000000:4b0d852b] after Life and Death Up

Hello, so I’ve been a Simmer for a few years now and have never run across this error:

I recently updated my game after not playing for a month (October 16th), which I assume was part of the Life and Death patch/update. The last time I played, there were no errors nor issues, but now, the game won’t load after updating. I was able to load it to turn on my Mods/CC (since it disables them after every update), but once I restarted my game and tried to load it again, it gave me that error. I am not sure what to do. I’ve tried repairing my game twice, paused One Drive’s syncing (in case it locked my Sims 4 folder or whatever), and even deleted the two newest Mods/CC I updated.

I’m not sure what file could have possibly been corrupted, especially since the game was working fine just a month ago. Even then, Better Exceptions never gave me an error while I played. Please help! I don’t want to delete my Mods/CC and have to start from scratch, but I’m afraid that might be the only answer.

I’ve read up on the 50/50 method and it seems complicated, only because I’m unsure of which Mods/CC would be “safe” to categorize. I’m also afraid of losing any Mods/CC in the process, so I don’t know what is the safest way to go about this. In addition, I apparently have another Mods folder inside of my Mods folder which has stuff in categories (like hair, makeup, sliders, etc.,). I did not do this. It happened when I downloaded CC Sims from a site (can’t remember if it was Tumblr, Pinterest, Mods the Sims, Sims Resource, etc.,) and it put their stuff into categories. I don’t know what would happen if I moved that stuff out into my actual Mods folder, and deleted it. I’m afraid it might mess up the Sims I downloaded and also the my Sims that are using those sliders.

For some reason, I also have another Sims 4 folder on my desktop with a Mods folder and some cache, and Mods in it, as well (although they are not actually inside the Mods folder but I am pretty sure they still show up in my game). I don’t know why that is, but I’m unsure if to delete it or not because I don’t know if it would damage my game.

That being said, I have no idea if my game is confused by where the Sims 4 folder is located, but it has never had a problem before this update. I really don’t know what to do, as no YouTube video or forum has helped me with my case.

On YouTube, they suggested deleting duplicate files with “._” in the beginning, but I have none that match that description, so that suggestion was unhelpful to me. I think I also saw someone comment that there might be a “Maco” something file in the folder, but I also don’t have that.

Please help me!! I really wanted to play my game tonight, but I guess that won’t be happening for a while.

luthienrising
8 months ago
@velvetswans That's a good start, then. Next, you can work on adding your mods/CC back in batches. First, though, use Broken/Updated Mods & CC to delete known outright broken mods (see recently broken and previously broken) and mods/CC that have updates. Once you've got those in your renamed folder (delete the old ones when you update!), you can start adding batches back.

I like doing this in batches that make sense for my mod folder organization. For me, that means all my CAS CC at once, for example, because I don't have a lot. It means putting my "core" type files (XML Injector and Lot51 Core Library) in before I start on mods that might use them.

For each batch, open the game to see if you get that error.

11 Replies

luthienrising
Hero+
8 months ago
@velvetswans The folder on your desktop is probable there from some earlier testing you did. The game can't see it. It's safe to delete it. We'll be putting another backup there next, which you'll use for testing.

So, here's a workflow for you to test if the cause of your problem is from a mod or CC file, or if it's from something else:

Delete the backup Mods folder from your desktop.

Drag the Mods folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 onto your desktop. Then rename it "Old Mods Folder" so that you know what it's about.

Delete the file called localthumbcache (you'll be doing this a lot! Do it every time you delete or replace a file in Mods)

Start Sims 4. This will make the game create a new Mods folder.

Let me know if you still get an "unable to start" message or if the game starts okay. After that, we'll go to the next step depending on the answer.
velvetswans
Rising Novice
8 months ago
I haven’t done any testing before, though. The folder just appeared on my desktop, and has some CC in it (although not in the Mods folder), which appears in my game. It has also some cache and other files because it’s titled “The Sims 4” so that’s why I’m unsure about deleting it.
I’ve heard that by deleting localthumbcache it can delete your saves from your game? I don’t know how true that is, but I saw several forums on here stating that, so I don’t know if I should take the risk.
By “backup Mods folder” do you mean the one I mentioned beforehand? If not, I don’t have a backup Mods folder. I made one last night titled “Safe” because I wanted to attempt to fix it myself, but didn’t know where to start.
Here’s what’s in The Sims 4 folder on my desktop:
However, I’ll give the steps a shot, although I am not sure what you meant by backup Mods folder or if to do the localthumbcache thing or not.
Thank you!
velvetswans
Rising Novice
8 months ago
Okay, so, I didn’t delete The Sims 4 folder on my desktop because it had some things I was worried about deleting. However, I did move my Mods folder to my desktop and the game seemed to load okay. What do I do now?
If I slowly put the Mods back into my game, will it take them off my Sims? I have never done this before, and don’t want to have to redress them again... I have too many Sims.
luthienrising
Hero+
8 months ago
@velvetswans Looks like you have issues with OneDrive. Here's your start point for that, because it could be OneDrive that has caused duplicate folders: https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-4-saves-user-content-disappearing-PC/td-p/12475370 You can post there for help with getting through the OneDrive problem.

After you have OneDrive gone or unable to touch The Sims, and all your Sims stuff is where it belongs, see if you still have the error.

If you don't save your game while testing, you won't have your CC removed from Sims. But you can save a copy of your Saves folder as backup in case you forget. Just wait till you have OneDrive out of the way first.
velvetswans
Rising Novice
8 months ago
Ah, no, it isn’t OneDrive. That folder has been on my computer since 2018/19, prior to when I had OneDrive. It started syncing my files earlier this year or towards the end of 2023, and all was well up until this update.
I deleted the folder anyway, because I realized I had so many of those files in my actual Mods folder, which were more recent and up to date. I also checked to see if the game would load with that CC, and it didn’t. I also paused my syncing, so that’s not the current issue.
However, I don’t have the error anymore, as I moved my Mods folder to desktop and renamed it. What do you suggest I do next?
luthienrising
Hero+
8 months ago
@velvetswans That's a good start, then. Next, you can work on adding your mods/CC back in batches. First, though, use Broken/Updated Mods & CC to delete known outright broken mods (see recently broken and previously broken) and mods/CC that have updates. Once you've got those in your renamed folder (delete the old ones when you update!), you can start adding batches back.

I like doing this in batches that make sense for my mod folder organization. For me, that means all my CAS CC at once, for example, because I don't have a lot. It means putting my "core" type files (XML Injector and Lot51 Core Library) in before I start on mods that might use them.

For each batch, open the game to see if you get that error.
velvetswans
Rising Novice
8 months ago
Okay, thank you! I already went through the Broken/Updated Mods & CC forum yesterday, and deleted whichever files were broken. However, it still gave me the error when I tried to load the game last night, so I genuinely don’t know which Mods/CC files are corrupted.
I’ll try to add everything back in batches to see what could be causing the problem, and let you know how it goes. I add the Mods/CC back to my new Mods folder, correct?
luthienrising
Hero+
8 months ago
@velvetswans That's right! And since any list like mine relies on reports (and since there exist mods/CC that can't be named at AHQ), it's not at all uncommon to still have to test.
velvetswans
Rising Novice
8 months ago
Hi! So I finished transferring my Mods to my new folder, and it works just fine now! As I was going through them, I was able to weed out the bad apples and not include them in my folder. So thank you so much for all your help!!
I have one more question: Now that that’s done, what do I do with the old? It’s still synced to my OneDrive, and I’m worried it might start to duplicate those files into my new folder.
luthienrising
Hero+
8 months ago
@velvetswans Go ahead and delete that old folder when you're done.