Forum Discussion

MsMeDeadly's avatar
MsMeDeadly
Seasoned Newcomer
4 days ago

MAC; Game Refuses to Launch and folders are empty

I haven't played the Sims since April (life got a little busy). I finally had time to sit and play a game, but when I got on my computer, the EA app was uninstalled. I reinstalled it and logged in, and had to download my game again (all the folders were gone from my computer since the game was uninstalled, so I couldn't remove the mods folder before downloading the game, and it downloaded the updated version). Once the game was downloaded, everything looked different. Instead of the Electronic Arts folder I was used to, it says EA Games and has the Sims game icon and a folder full of pack information inside. There is no cache, mods, saves, or anything. When I try to launch the game, the icon bounces a couple of times before disappearing, and the EA app opens again. So far I have cleared the EA cache, repaired the game through the EA app, cleared up space in my ICloud and made sure downloads/applications weren't being auto-moved to the cloud, uninstalled the game and reinstalled it again, moved the sims folder to my desktop and tried to run the game again to made it populate a new folder, and started from scratch again by removing the EA app and the game and reinstalling both again. No matter what I do, the game won't launch, and the folder stays the same. Is this a new thing I missed out on while I wasn't playing the game? I had my wife look at it too (she works in a video game tech-heavy field), and she couldn't figure it out either. Please help, this game is the closest thing to therapy I can afford. 

2 Replies

  • MsMeDeadly's avatar
    MsMeDeadly
    Seasoned Newcomer
    4 days ago

    This same thing is happening to me. The file named Sims 4 pack is empty. I tried uninstalling the game and reinstalling it. I tried emptying the EA cache. I tried finding a lost file somewhere in my cloud or on my computer, and there isn't one. I even tried uninstalling all my packs and just redownloading the Sims base game. As a last resort, I uninstalled everything, including the EA app, and started over from scratch. However, no matter what, the Sims folder remains empty, and the game still won't launch. 

  • MsMeDeadly​ 

    MsMeDeadly wrote:

    I reinstalled it and logged in, and had to download my game again (all the folders were gone from my computer since the game was uninstalled, so I couldn't remove the mods folder before downloading the game, and it downloaded the updated version).........Instead of the Electronic Arts folder I was used to, it says EA Games and has the Sims game icon and a folder full of pack information inside. There is no cache, mods, saves, or anything

    You're confusing the game installation with the user data location. The game installation location is set in EA App > Settings > Download and is by default to /Applications/EA Games.

    The user data is everything located in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 - saves, Mods, cache files etc.

    MsMeDeadly wrote:

    So far I have cleared the EA cache, repaired the game through the EA app, cleared up space in my ICloud and made sure downloads/applications weren't being auto-moved to the cloud,

    Your Applications folder cannot be part of iCloud, there is not setting that allows this. The same for downloads unless you have specifically changed the default download location on your Mac for some apps that allow that functionality.

    MsMeDeadly wrote:

    moved the sims folder to my desktop and tried to run the game again to made it populate a new folder,

    What was the exact location of this sims folder? 

    MsMeDeadly wrote:

    and started from scratch again by removing the EA app and the game and reinstalling both again

    How did you remove the EA App and game? To remove the game you click uninstall under the game tile in EA App. The only proper way to remove EA App is to manually trash all the relevant Library files and then trash the app itself, it leaves a lot of residual files behind otherwise.

    If you are using iCloud Drive to sync your Documents folder and store it in the cloud this will cause problems with syncing. Most of the time this causes the user data to be stored in the cloud meaning the game cannot see it https://forums.ea.com/discussions/the-sims-4-technical-issues-mac-en/read-first-saves-ccmods-or-library-items-disappeared-icloud-issues/10979712