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exileBailey's avatar
exileBailey
2 years ago
Solved

Sims 4 not starting in 2024 Please help im desperate

I tried to open sims in 2024 after not playing it for a long time. I knew that several updates had been made so I was expecting some complication with starting the game, but I didn't realize that ori...
pc
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    2 years ago

    @exileBailey  The files in your screenshot have nothing to do with Sims 4, with the exception of one that's just a pointer to a different location.  Please check onedrive.com for your missing saves, both "My files" and the recycle bin.  If you find any saves, download them and store them somewhere safe if you can, preferably an external drive.

    It seems like your entire user folder is gone, either pushed to cloud storage by OneDrive or deleted somehow.  A new one will spawn when you can open the game again, but it won't contain any of your old data.  However, if you do find any saves when signed into onedrive.com, you might also find other Sims 4 files and can download and later restore those as well.

    For now, I would suggest either getting rid of OneDrive entirely or at least preventing it from syncing the Documents folder.  Both options are covered here:

    https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Sims-4-saves-user-content-disappearing-PC/m-p/12475370#Disabled

    Whichever approach you choose, use the same Command Prompt command to confirm that your Documents folder is no longer inside the OneDrive folder.  If it's still there, use this guide (also in the post I've linked) to force Documents back to the proper location:

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/operation-to-change-a-personal-folder-location-fails-in-windows-ffb95139-6dbb-821d-27ec-62c9aaccd720

    Then try again to play, and let me know how it goes.

CGrant56's avatar
CGrant56
Hero+
2 years ago

@exileBailey 

Based on what you've said about messing with the game files, I think your best bet is to uninstall and then reinstall the game using the EA App.  I'm no expert on the App but what it sounds like is the App is failing to start the game because it's not finding something it expects or needs to find.  A reinstall through the App should fix that.  Before uninstalling the game, you should move the "The Sims 4" folder somewhere else on your computer out of the Electronic Arts folder just to make sure that the uninstall/reinstall doesn't wipe out your saves.

Hope this helps.

exileBailey's avatar
exileBailey
2 years ago

Thank you for your reply. I failed to mention that I use steam to launch the game. I've tried uninstalling it and only reinstalling it via the EA app but it will download the base game and once it gets to the first DLC I have it runs into an error every time and stops the download.

  • CGrant56's avatar
    CGrant56
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @exileBailey 

    Ok, I'm no expert on steam and how it works with the App, but I think if you bought the game and your DLC through steam, then you have to install it through steam.  Just using the App alone won't work in that case.  Others here will know more about it and may be able to help you a little better than I can.  But still, the key thing is to get the game reinstalled so it's all a new installation.  That'll fix any corrupted game files, etc.  Then you can start troubleshooting your mods and CC if you still have problems after getting the game to run vanilla.

    And what computer are you running the game on?  Windows PC or Mac?

    Hope this helps.

    • exileBailey's avatar
      exileBailey
      2 years ago

      I'm on windows PC. I'll re-install it again through steam. I have actually tried this before and it gives me the "already running" error. But I'll try it again just in case. Now, this may have been a bad idea, but in a desperate attempt to make things work, I deleted all Sims 4 related files in my computer, then reinstalled the game. I thought that it would make fresh files and fix whatever was wrong. It made new files but it put them in program files(x86)>steam>steamapps>common instead of documents>electronic arts. Ever since then it changed from the "initialization error at startup" to "already running error". I will try your suggestion again thought just in case. 

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