I am also having this issue. I searched my entire drive and external drive to find my files. I have a saved file, but it just aks like the game is brand new and wants me to chose a season. I tried everything yesterday. At one point thre map was showing all of these llamas in each town, and several of my lots were blank.
After moving files and tring everything yesterday, now everything is just GONE. Sims, lots, everything.
very frustrating as Have been working on these houses all year. The most recent one took me a month ☹️
Same, I have houses and characters that I spent so long on and now everything is completely gone
Do you have any Mods or CC? If so move your Mods folder to the Desktop and delete localthumbcache.package. Then test the game.
can you tell me what deleting that would do? I don't want to delete anything without knowing what it does
If you've already tried searching your computer [Click the Start button and in the search box, type Sims 4 and follow the path it gives you] and checking that the game files weren't saved to some where else on your hard drive, external drive or OneDrive, you might try contacting a local computer repair shop to see how much they'd charge to possibly recover the Sims 4 files.
Something that maybe worth trying is to launch the game, create a new Sim and save the game. Go back to the Main Menu and press the Load Game button. Select a saved game. Mouse over or hover over the tiny folder under the game saves information. Like shown in the photo in the post linked below:
Sims 4 - Lost all Saved Game Data - https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/Moved-Sims-4-folder-to-desktop-and-have-now-lost-all-game-data/m-p/7321604#M131867
This will hopefully give you an idea of where the game is saving your saved games.
If trying a test save and finding the location from that doesn't work or the save still seems corrupt (shows llamas) then you might try resetting your Sims 4 folder and test again.
You can reset your Sims 4 folder by renaming it or moving it to the desktop and playing the game so it makes a new Sims 4 folder. Here's a how-to:
Rename your Sims 4 folder to Sims 4_Backup. The game will create a new folder next time you play. - Renaming it or moving it to the desktop will help you have a backup and keep your Sims 4 files safe.
Repair the Sims 4 game. In Origin > Game Library - right-click on Sims 4 and select Repair. - To make sure the install files and such are in working order.
Try launching the game, play a new save. If it's not working, don't save. However, if everything is playing okay then start putting the files back. (list of files and folders below).
- Options.ini (User game settings)
- Tray Folder (Sims/Houses/Commercial lots and rooms)
- Screenshots/Videos/Custom music
- Rest of the save games, if any.
(leave out slot_00000001.save which is the autosave. It is not used anymore.)
- Custom content like clothing, hair, skins, and makeup
- Mods (Put these back one by one to make sure they all still work)
Custom content can become outdated with most new game patches. If the game works when the Mods folder is removed, then one or more of the mods and/or custom content has become outdated and will need to be removed or replaced. EA/Maxis aren't responsible for broken mods/cc. It's up to the creators to fix.
Try the 50/50 method:
1. Move all the mods and cc out into a temporary folder on the desktop.
2. Move a few files back at a time. Load the game to make sure it loads and everything is good.
3. Delete the localthumbcache.package from the Sims 4 folder.
4. Repeat steps 1 - 3 till there is no more files to check.
** While your testing, don't save the game. If you find any problems, delete the mod or custom content file.
How To Find Problem Mods and CC
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:TS4_Finding_Problem_Custom_Content
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More information - Resetting the game to factory settings without reinstalling
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/READ-FIRST-Troubleshooting-your-Game/m-p/3621199#Resetting
If you move or rename the Sims 4 folder, the game will no longer be able to find it. When you go to play the game it will create a new folder.
I spent the better half of Tuesday with EA support. I took my mods out, moved folders, typed weird codes into windows, etc.
Finally, at 2:00, after 5 advisors on chat with me, and finally someone in the same country as me, it came back. I honestly don’t know what I did to fix it or which thing I did worked. I can post the chat from all the advisors.
I do want to completely shout out EA because they were so helpful and patient with me. I was in complete freaking meltdown mode. The last advisor I spoke with, gave me an expansion for free for all my troubles!!!!!
Can you believe it!!?!
Community Manager
