Forum Discussion

1 year ago

Solved

please help!! game won't recognize my saves/mods

hello, so to start off. i was having a ui issue when launching my game (it would replace the little 'x' close buttons in pop up menus with just a blank white square, the build mode ui completely wouldn't show up, placing a house from the gallery would just load forever, etc) i eventually downloaded the better exceptions script mod to help figure out which of my cc was bugged. i ended up deleting a few duplicate ccs and updated a few game mods (mostly some cas trait stuff).

anyway, i also read im pretty sure in the web window that pops up with the better exceptions mod to show you what issues it found, that disabling onedrive could help with accidentally redownloading deleted duplicate cc and whatnot. so i disabled my onedrive, turned it off completely, and i think that really ruined everything.

most if not all of my downloads go to my onedrive, i find out after turning it off. i quickly turned it back on and synced everything back up again and it seems like its fine now. of course all my mod, save and tray files are still there and still have content in them.

so i go to try and launch the sims from the ea app and it acts as if its the first time im launching the game, add on/kits/packs/expansion pop ups and all. no saves, no cc, nothing.

so i close it and check to see where its launching from. its launching from my computer's documents/electronic arts/sims 4 directory.

then i think, ok, surely this was because i turned onedrive off. so, i uninstalled the game so it would then prompt me, when reinstalling it, to direct where to install it to. so i copy and pasted the directory where i had all my mods and saves and whatnot: C:\Users\[my name]\OneDrive\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4

i thought that would do it. but the same thing happened, i launched the game, it loaded suspiciously fast (i have a lot of mods) and had no saves, no cc showed up, nothing. maybe its because things are still syncing?

https://imgur.com/V5TCsXr this is what it looks like in the actual folder right now.

im just really stressed out hoping i didnt really mess up, well everything. i have almost 400 hours into my sims and i have spent hours finding and downloading cc that i like. i dont know what to do, or if this is a dumb issue with a simple answer, im sorry in advance. please if someone could give me some advice i dont know what to do i just want to play again.

puzzlezaddict
1 year ago
@jakurais First, move your saves and Tray files here:

C:\Users\honey\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4

(No OneDrive in the file path.) Once you've done that, uninstall Sims 4 itself and reinstall somewhere else. Having it in the OneDrive folder can and will cause problems, later if not now. You can install it almost anywhere, including the default C:\Program Files\EA Games, but it should never be in the same location as your saves. The folders that contain the program files and the user data should always be separate.

To reiterate, you do need to move or back up your saves and Tray files before uninstalling the game because uninstalling will remove the entire Sims 4 folder that contains your program files. It should not remove the other Sims 4 folder, the one the game is reading, since you haven't installed Sims 4 itself there. But backups are always useful to have.

5 Replies

puzzlezaddict
Hero+
1 year ago
@jakurais Please confirm the folder that Sims 4 is currently reading through this in-game method:

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

If your saves and mods aren't in that folder, move them there. If they're in that folder and the game won't recognize them, please take a screenshot of the contents of the saves folder, as in, I'd like to see the save names themselves.

If you do need more help, please also list the folder Sims 4 is reading at the moment, so I can reference things more easily.
jakurais
1 year ago
C:\Users\honey\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Screenshots\
That is what is listed in game options for video and screen capture (in reference to the link you sent). I don't know why there is a backwards slash at the end, though. also it is not the onedrive version, even though i specified that version to have the game be installed to again.
this is the location the actual game is installed into with the ea app: C:\Users\honey\OneDrive\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4
I directed it to there when I reinstalled it because it is where I had all my saves and mods and tray files.
So if i just move the tray mods and saves to that folder will it work? i can try that right now, it just might take a bit because its a lot.
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
1 year ago
@jakurais First, move your saves and Tray files here:

C:\Users\honey\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4

(No OneDrive in the file path.) Once you've done that, uninstall Sims 4 itself and reinstall somewhere else. Having it in the OneDrive folder can and will cause problems, later if not now. You can install it almost anywhere, including the default C:\Program Files\EA Games, but it should never be in the same location as your saves. The folders that contain the program files and the user data should always be separate.

To reiterate, you do need to move or back up your saves and Tray files before uninstalling the game because uninstalling will remove the entire Sims 4 folder that contains your program files. It should not remove the other Sims 4 folder, the one the game is reading, since you haven't installed Sims 4 itself there. But backups are always useful to have.
jakurais
1 year ago
Yes, I did do that and was surprised when the game was able to launch and all my stuff showed up. but as you said, launching it from the onedrive location will cause problems in the future, so I'll definitely want to avoid that.
what you're saying now, is for me to have a back up of my trays, mods and saves before uninstalling again? before, I just copied them from their location in the onedrive version and put them in the documents one (where the game was saving new screenshots to).
if I uninstall, can I just copy all that again? or do you mean, since I now have it installed to my onedrive specifically, it will remove all that if I uninstall it now? either way, before doing so I can just move the files all to my desktop. that will keep them right?
I guess I never realized the saves and game files were separate before.
also im sorry if I'm misunderstanding, I'm also fighting a really rough cold right now.
puzzlezaddict
Hero+
1 year ago
@jakurais Yes, I'm saying you should create another backup. When you uninstall the game, the entire Sims 4 folder that contains the program files is removed. In your case, since one copy of your saves and Tray files is mixed in with the program files, that one copy will disappear. The second copy, the one you moved into the Documents folder that is NOT in OneDrive, should stay intact, but it's always best to have two copies of anything you wouldn't want to lose.

And yes, you can leave the extra copy on your desktop if you want. It doesn't matter much where that copy is as long as it's in an entirely different location.

It's always fine to ask more questions before proceeding. That's certainly better than the alternative, which is trying something you don't understand and potentially doing it incorrectly and possibly losing data or causing more problems.