I created a completely new save after reinstalling the game and turned the volume off. This build did not have any pathing issues prior to the patch. After the patch, the sims could not go beyond the 1st floor.
When I created the stairs, I created a room around the top of the stairs and removed the floor. When I remove the room at the top of the stairs so there are no rooms above the stairs, my sims could go up the stairs. The screenshots show a before and after when I complete edits.
The problem is very similar to how pools can't be built on top of each other. A room at the top of the stairs prevents them from being usable. A room next to the top of the stairs is usable as seen with the patio.
When my game crashes, I'm almost always in build mode trying to fix this, but I end up starting over repeatedly because I lose progress on anything I fix in the build.
During Talk Like a Pirate Day, my sims developed sentiments from the social interactions. The game crashed whenever they engaged in the socials that met the requirements for the holiday.
Maybe the instructions are difficult to understand because I'm posting here after reading most of the provided links.
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1yD5aoddynxKUuNLWJ3-Af3SAc3BrdHVU?usp=sharing
I hope I created the folder and shared the screenshots correctly.
If you can, you should be able to identify stuff with how it crashes in build mode. Hopefully, the screenshots make it easy to see what I was struggling with before the game either ended up with sound issues or crashed. The game would lose sound during build mode most of the time. It takes hours to change the stairs so the sims can use them because of the crashes.
As for the socials, Talk Like a Pirate Day highlights the socials I used that led to the game crashing. My sims developed sentiments after these interactions.
My played sims and townies have their paths blocked and perform the same action. The action is usually performed when I tell them to go up stairs.
Sorry about the edits, if I make grammar or spelling errors, it's because I'm getting worn out fighting with this.
Oddly, it's the stairs that are above ground level giving me most of the problems. In hindsight, the limitations with pools force me to build differently. I use the pools the way I do because my favorite life state includes merfolk and they don't have any residential lots designed for them to spend more time in their merform and do more in the water.
Pools have building restrictions that also seem to affect where I place stairs. I haven't figured out how to share a save, but I can see if I can create a save with the build that took me hours to fix. With that build, you should be able to use the sims and see what I did and how I did it. It might be easier than trying to explain things.
I'll upload the merfolk sims I'm using too.
[Admin - merged multiple posts together into one reply]
