HELP !!
Ten minutes ago I opened Sims 4 and everything was normal.
Then, before I could get started, I got two messages:
1) a Better Exceptions pop-up, that TwistedMexi's "T.O.O.L" had been updated to a new version (v2.8.4)
and
2) "It's Patch Day, should I check for problems?"'
So, I said yes to the patch day check, waited for the report and then closed the game (w/out saving).
Then downloaded the new T.O.O.L version, deleted the old version from MODS and installed the new version.
When I re-started the game......everything was gone! It looked as though I had just bought and downloaded the game only five minutes ago.
The Sims 4 folder (i.e., "Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4....." etc.) on my laptop still looks the same as it did before.
I do not use any Cloud services....everything is stored on my (very new, very empty) laptop.
What happened....and more importantly,....what can I do to get back a (single) game of some 21 months work, with 27+ houses and ca. 190 Sims ???
Many thanks for any suggestions/advice.
Alex
@AlexvonAuen I've moved your posts to the master thread for disappearing saves and other user content. Most of the info in the first post on page one is OneDrive-related, but you can still run the search described to look for any missing saves.
I don't know how Steam's cloud save function works, or how it can go wrong. (EA itself doesn't support cloud saving for Sims 4.) It's certainly possible that Steam's syncing messed with your data; I'm just saying I wouldn't know how to prove it, or what, if anything, can be done from here.
Google does show a number of possibly-helpful results for "Steam restore cloud save," but I don't know whether they're actually useful since I don't have Sims 4 through Steam. Still, it wouldn't hurt to try to download one of these saves, if they exist.
The unfortunate fact is that if your saves aren't on your computer and aren't accessible through some cloud syncing service, they're just gone.
Hi there,
Thanks for the quick response, as always.
I checked in Steam and somehow the "Steam Cloud Save" was set to enabled (..possibly a Steam up-date re-set it w/out asking ?...).
However, when I looked at "saved files" there were not even any games listed, so it seems nothing was saved/up-loaded to Steam.
I then turned the Steam Cloud setting back to "off", closed everything and tried opening Sims 4 again. However, still a brand new, empty starting page: no games, no library, nothing.
Just a thought: when I got this new laptop, you told me how to move all of my TS4 data from the C drive to the D drive (...by literally moving the original Windows 11 "Documents" folder from C to D...). Could it be that the game is now looking for files on the C drive and not finding anything??
As far as I can tell, everything on the D drive looks perfectly normal (see enclosure). I.e.: it looks as though everything is still there (on my laptop)...but the game simply can't find it. Can I somehow 're-direct' the game back to this drive/folder?
Also, after searching the entire C drive I can't find any 'new' folders that might have been created by the game. In fact, under: "Windows-SSD (C\Users\Alex\....." there isn't even a "Documents" folder listed (...as we moved it to the D drive..).
Before doing anything this morning, I saved/copied my entire "D\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4" folder to a thumb drive.
In a pinch, I also still have my old laptop as a 'backup' - it would mean losing a month's worth of "work"....but still better than losing the entire game.
Any thoughts...?
Alex
@AlexvonAuen Is Sims 4 still reading the correct location? Perhaps something changed on that front. Here's how to check:
https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2018/07/how-to-find-your-user-folder/
If that's not the issue, please create a new save and see whether you can load it again after quitting and restarting your computer, and whether the save file lands in the same location as your others. The smaller save files look too small, like they might have been corrupted, although the ones that are 7 MB might be fine.
if the new save works after a restart and its file is in the correct location, try recovering a backup of one of your older saves. Use the manual method here:
https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/recover-backup-save-game/
Hello!
Thanks again for the tip.
It seems my hunch was correct, the game is apparently looking for everything on the C drive, under "Public" (see screenshot). When I looked through the entire C Drive yesterday, I was looking for "Documents", but here they are listed as "Public Documents", which I didn't notice.
Any good tips on how to (safely) get the game back on track on the D drive, where all of my 'old' TS4 files - and the original Windows 11 "Documents" folder - are located?
(...as a precaution, I've copied/saved the entire "D\Documents\EA\The Sims 4" folder to a Desktop folder..).
With regard to my Save Files:
I only have one single game, which I actually 'play'.....I'm assuming those are the files with 7,393 KB (Slot_0000005). The second game (Slot_0000008) with only 1,339 KB isn't actually a game at all: I simply opened it up a while back for when I want to try and/or test something, without risking any damage to my main game. When I'm finished 'testing' I simply close w/out saving.....so there is basically nothing in it, other than whatever is there from EA's base game.
So, now that I've had a thorough fright about losing my entire game (..assuming I can, indeed, get it back..), I've made a couple of new folders....completely outside of the "Documents" folder....(see enclosed) as an emergency backup. As I understand it, the "Saves" folder contains (only) the last five manual 'saves' from each game played. The "Tray" folder contains everything (Houses/Sims/Familes) I've uploaded/saved to my Library (albeit, as 'individual' saves...i.e., per item...and not the entire Library as one save).
I plan on copying the entire Saves and Tray folders there once a week, as a backup. In theory, in lieu of just five former 'saves', I would then have five 'saves' from each of the past couple of weeks to fall back on (..after a while, the 'older' saves could be deleted as needed...). Good idea.....or is there a better method???
Alex
