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Shayth's avatar
Shayth
3 years ago
Solved

I downloaded the new high school expansion pack and now my game won't load

Hi guys, so I bought the high school expansion pack aware of some of the bugs. However, someone had said most of the issues had been addressed. Only, when I go to load my game or click "resume" the game just loads endlessly, never fully loading my game. It should take several seconds (I have a brand new computer, a year old at best, everything is up to date and there's no viruses). I can definitely confirm that the game was working perfectly before the latest DLC expansion pack so I can confirm that the expansion pack is the issue here. The game starts up as per normal but when I go to load it, nothing happens. I do get the little helpful tips and such that are displayed while the game itself loads. Is there any way to remove the DLC from my steam folder so that I can play the game? Or does anyone have a confirmed work around? I tried tips that I read online and nothing's worked. I also posted this on Steam in case anyone found a work around. Here's what I've tried:

Starting the game from steam

Starting the game from Origin

Repairing the Sims 4 base game via origin. I can see the high school expansion pack that's available through origin but there's no option to repair the file. It's not high lighted and will not let me click it. it only let me repair the Sims 4 base game.

Verified the game files through steam.

Backed up my game files. Didn't think of it until the game wouldn't load.
pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    3 years ago

    @Shayth  If the Sims 4 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts gets deleted, whether through an uninstall or troubleshooting or because of some system issue, then when the game generates a new folder, the saves will still be gone.  I haven't heard of Steam syncing Sims 4 saves with cloud storage either.

    Just to make sure, you can search your computer for any saves.  Open a File Explorer window, click This PC in the left panel, and enter Slot_ in the search field in the upper-right corner.  This should turn up any saves on your computer.  If you find one, click on it and then click "Open file location" in the menu, and you'll jump to wherever the save is.

    Since the game won't load, please post a dxdiag as well.

    https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

16 Replies

  • Shayth's avatar
    Shayth
    3 years ago

    I do have mods but they never interfered with the game. This issue started after the high school installation. Literally played it just fine before installing it and then nothing after.

    Expansion packs are: seasons, the base game, city living and the high school DLC. Really not impressed with EA right now. People reviewed that the DLC was released as if no one actually did a trouble shoot for bugs. I'm thinking they might actually be right about this one..

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @Shayth  Before trying to uninstall anything, move the Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop to allow the game to generate a new folder.  Don't add anything to that folder yet; just see whether you can get far enough to start a new save and play in live mode for a bit.  If that works, you can start moving your existing content from the old folder to the new one.

    If that doesn't help, then yes, I'd like to see a dxdiag.

  • Shayth's avatar
    Shayth
    3 years ago

    I appreciate your input but unfortunately your advice was not helpful at all and actually made things worse. I moved the game folder to my desktop like you said and now the game won't start at all. I think because steam depended on it being in the original folder. I moved it back and it still doesn't work. So now I need to start over and uninstall and install everything again....=/ So if you're playing on Steam, do not move the original folder from its place...because you will mess up the game.

    Does anyone know how to remove the specific DLC for high school life from my steam library? I know that's the DLC that's messing everything up. 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @Shayth  It sounds like you removed the wrong folder, not the one I listed.  The Sims 4 folder in Documents > Electronic Arts contains your user data—saves, saved households and builds, mods and custom content—and can be safely moved or removed in a Steam install.  (This is easily demonstrated.)  Instead, you likely moved the Sims 4 folder that contains the game's program files, which would cause exactly the problem you've described.

    If you need help with anything else, let me know.

  • Shayth's avatar
    Shayth
    3 years ago

    That's likely it. Thanks. Learned that lesson the hard way. But there's also no saved folder for steam either. Not one that I saw. I saw all other folders but not saves. So maybe the Steam platform saves games differently. I've seen that folder in the physical disc copy but steam has no such folder. There is only steam/steamapps/common/Sims 4 and all of the files under that folder. But I never saw a save folder. I did for my physical copy of the Sims 3.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @Shayth  Saves are in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > saves.  This is true in a Steam install as well as in an Origin install.

    If you don't see the Sims 4 folder, you're probably looking in the wrong place, for example in OneDrive's Documents folder rather than the normal one, or vice versa.  Here's how to find the folder the game is reading; use the in-game option:

    https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2018/07/how-to-find-your-user-folder/

  • Shayth's avatar
    Shayth
    3 years ago

    Good news: for the first time I tried loading the game after reinstalling it and it turns out Steam automatically loads your game if you've backed everything up before uninstalling. The bad news: there is no saves folder. I looked in all of the folders and there's nothing, not even in the back up folder. I tried clearing the cache and still nothing works. I even uninstalled and reinstalled the DLC high school and still nothing =/ fing EA, man. They literally broke my game......

    Also, I tried without playing any mods and the game still won't fully load..

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @Shayth  If the Sims 4 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts gets deleted, whether through an uninstall or troubleshooting or because of some system issue, then when the game generates a new folder, the saves will still be gone.  I haven't heard of Steam syncing Sims 4 saves with cloud storage either.

    Just to make sure, you can search your computer for any saves.  Open a File Explorer window, click This PC in the left panel, and enter Slot_ in the search field in the upper-right corner.  This should turn up any saves on your computer.  If you find one, click on it and then click "Open file location" in the menu, and you'll jump to wherever the save is.

    Since the game won't load, please post a dxdiag as well.

    https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

  • Shayth's avatar
    Shayth
    3 years ago

    Thanks a lot for your very detailed walkthroughs so far =) I did search Slot_ and my computer found some, but didn't have a program to open the file with. I guess because I deleted the game, it no longer exists except for in the back up folder through Steam (first time I've used back up game data on steam). Attached is the dialogue yourself and one other person mentioned. I just tried the Sims again to no avail =/ I wish I could get a refund for something like this but I doubt EA will ever allow it, even though this is directly caused by them releasing a severely buggy DLC.

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