Share Your Multi-Generational Save Files with Maxis!
Hey Simmers, We're currently testing a new feature and are looking for save files with multi-generational families to help us with testing. Ideally, these saves would include several generations with family connections such as marriages, children, cousins, aunts, uncles, and great grandparents. What we're looking for: Save files with 3+ families spanning 3–5+ generations. Lots of interconnected family relationships (cousins, aunts/uncles, great-aunts/uncles, etc.) Bonus if larger families have intermarried, linking family trees. Any packs are welcome, including base game! Mods are fine to include! If you'd like to share your save file with us, please send me a private message with a link to the file. Instructions on how to send your save files can be found here: [INFORMATION] How to Send User Files to The Sims 4 Team Thanks so much for your help, we really appreciate you supporting our testing efforts!Laundry List: Upcoming Bug Fixes - Jan 6, 2026
Hi Simmers! Welcome to the Laundry List where we share the top community concerns that we’re currently investigating and hope to resolve. This is only a list of top topics with upcoming fixes; there are more topics reported by players that are not listed here and are still being worked on. Thank you for your continued reports and votes on what issues you’re experiencing. Our investigation into save file issues is ongoing, and you can read our latest in depth update here. As always, if you’re hitting crashes, infinite loading, or missing lots, please read our post here to see how you can share affected saves so we can gather some critical information to aid our investigations. -The Sims Team Here’s the list of the top community concerns we’re investigating for our next update: Top 5 Most Voted Fixes: [EA Forums] We addressed the top reported issue: Server Error while Uploading to Gallery/Library. This was primarily a Console issue but could occur with PC. (Base Game) This error is a valid error that should occur under certain circumstances, but we fixed the flow so that it is more forgiving to player systems and far less likely to occur. The Upload button will not be available until all thumbnail issues have been generated. When this error does occur, we have updated the generic “Server Error” message, and players will now receive a dialogue that provides more information and says “Time out during upload. Please check internet connection or try again in a minute.” [EA Forums] In our 12/2/25 Update, we fixed an issue where Child, Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder Sims no longer had clothing visible under their privacy mosaic. We are now addressing this issue for the remaining age groups, fully resolving the issue. (Base Game) [EA Forums] We fixed a notable instance of Sims standing around and not caring for their infants. While holding Infants, Sims were playing an idle animation that delayed responsiveness to queued interactions. This idle was removed. We hope to further address additional Infant issues in future updates. (Base Game) [EA Forums] We fixed an issue where Memorial Portraits and Graduation Photos would no longer display a Sim's image and appear blank. This fix does not address Portraits and Photos that were already broken, but will work on old saves for future gameplay with these objects. (University, Life & Death) [EA Forums] Household, Small Business-employed Sims will no longer receive a 'Miss Work/School' UI pop up when opening a Small Business while the Sim is at the Work/School Rabbit Hole. (Multiple Packs) Save Corruption As part of our ongoing efforts to address Save Corruption, we have two Save Corruption bugs that we’re addressing in this patch. [EA Forums] We fixed an issue where open street objects were being ‘shelved’ and never removed when traveling to an apartment building. (Multiple Packs) We fixed a case of Save Corruption where the player could become stuck in an endless load or be returned to Manage World after setting a custom venue’s schedule to include a Romantic Orientation Role criteria. (Adventure Awaits) Photos/Paintings Losing Data For this patch, we knew that “Memorial Portraits and Graduation Photos no longer displaying a Sim’s image” was a top community concern. We wanted to address as many bugs in this category as we could. Here are all related issues we fixed: [EA Forums] Paint by Reference Paintings will no longer turn white after they’ve been put in a Sim’s inventory and the game has been relaunched. This fix is retroactive and should be fixed in previous saves where it occurred. (Base Game) [EA Forums] Photos captured with Phone/Camera will no longer turn black once they’ve been mounted on a wall and the game is relaunched. This fix is not retroactive and will not address instances where photos were already missing data, but the fix will prevent this from happening in the future (even in old saves). (Base Game) [EA Forums] Photos captured with Phone/Camera will no longer turn black once they’ve been put in Sim’s Inventory or placed in storage chests and the game is relaunched. This fix is not retroactive and will not address instances where photos were already missing data, but the fix will prevent this from happening in the future (even in old saves). (Base Game) [EA Forums] The “Create Copy” interaction on a painting no longer will result in a blank, white painting canvas when placed on the wall. This fix is retroactive and should be fixed in previous saves where it occurred. (Base Game) [EA Forums] Celebrity Autographs will no longer appear blank after they’ve been hung on a wall and the game is relaunched. This fix is not retroactive and will not address instances where photos were already missing data, but the fix will prevent this from happening in the future (even in old saves). (Get Famous) [EA Forums] As noted above in the Top 5 Fixes, we fixed an issue where Memorial Portraits and Graduation Photos would no longer display a Sim's image and appear blank. This fix is not retroactive and will not address instances where photos were already missing data, but the fix will prevent this from happening in the future (even in old saves). (University, Life & Death) Now Available CAS Items! We fixed four instances where CAS items were being hidden from players, so you’ll now have them available for your enjoyment. [EA Forums] (yfHair_EP20DoubleDutchBraid_LightBrown) now properly appears brown, rather than being an exact copy of the Light Blonde variant. (Adventure Awaits) [EA Forums] The (cuBody_EP20RashGuard_LogoNavy) variant is no longer missing. (Adventure Awaits) The (EP14BangsMedium) hair (and all variants) are now also available for Child Sims. (Horse Ranch) While investigating an issue with the Toddler Makeup category, we discovered the (puMakeupFacepaint_EP19Floral) asset was hidden, and we have unlocked it for your use. (Enchanted by Nature) General Bug Fixes We addressed a handful of other important issues that were quickly rising, particularly problematic, or easy fixes to get in. Base Game [EA Forums] We addressed a rather significant issue where Away Actions at work were causing Sims to never receive Need gains while at work or school due to a change that was made during Adventure Awaits to how Away Actions at work function. We fixed an additional bug pertaining to this where Toddler and Infant Needs will now increase while at Daycare properly. Bladder, Hunger, Energy, and Attention should receive large increases, Fun a small but tapering increase, and Hygiene no increase. [EA Forums] We addressed an issue where the “Fight” interaction was available on all Sims, even if they had a positive relationship. Now, it should only appear if the Sims have a negative relationship. Seasons [EA Forums] Sims will no longer sometimes die of overheating while wearing the correct clothing. Blame the ghosts: this bug was due to the Overheating Ghost type and the aura they emanate. [EA Forums] In a previous patch we addressed an issue where sand sculptures were auto-generating on beaches when it rained a lot. We’re submitting the remaining portions of this fix to ensure it's now fully fixed in all cases. Growing Together [EA Forums] We’ve addressed an issue where it was difficult to unlock the Pull to Stand Milestone. The problem is that Infants need to be near certain specific objects to pull themselves up for the first time, but this is never indicated to the player and sometimes infants aren’t located near these objects. They can still unlock this Milestone as they could previously, but to address the concerns with this not being obvious in many cases, we’ve added a greyed out interaction and hovertip that directs the player to place the Infant in the Crib. While in the crib, the Infant can pull themselves to a stand, and (as an additional option) we’ve added a new interaction to Infant Sims in the crib to pull themselves up once they are ready to unlock the Milestone. This interaction is available on the Infant Sim when the Infant is the Active Sim. Business & Hobbies [EA Forums] We fixed an issue where Small Business Employees were leaving early (only 2-3 hours after opening) if a business was 5-Star and selected customer criteria was supervised customer only. Now, all hired employees should stay on a small business lot while it is open. Adventure Awaits [EA Forums] (yfTop_EP20VNeckTee) no longer has a visible seam on the shoulder when worn by Sims downloaded from the Gallery. [EA Forums] Imaginary Friends will no longer reset and disappear from the Relationship Panel after returning from another lot. [EA Forums] Custom Venues will now save Roles and Schedules with a custom role containing a Romantic Orientation criteria. This issue was resulting in a case of Save Corruption as well that was addressed and is noted above in that section. Werewolves [EA Forums] We fixed an issue where Werewolf offspring of Werewolves had black textures and no pelts upon aging to Teen. Our fix should apply a texture to any Werewolf Sim who is lacking one upon entering CAS and should address old instances of this occurring. Multiple [EA Forums] We fixed all reports of the camera being obstructed by trees in Gallery preview views of lots. [EA Forums] Maids and Butlers will now once again try to mop puddles instead of vacuuming them fruitlessly for hours. We assure you they were trying their best, and we appreciate your patience with them. CAS & Build Mode Tagging Updates We had the opportunity to address a large swath of simpler tagging bugs, making CAS and Build Mode sorting more accurate overall. The Lump of Clay (Base Game) and Stack ‘o Books (Cats & Dogs) objects also acquired some new gameplay functionality. Here are related issues we fixed: Base Game Lump of Clay now sorts as a Kids Activity and also sorts in the Creative Skills Section. It has also been updated to provide Creativity Skill gain for Children Sims. The In Full Bloom Centerpiece is now sorted as an Indoor Plant. Wedding Pillar with Floral Basket is now sorted as an Indoor Plant. (sitDining_EF07IRN02), (sitDiningIRN_01), and (SitDiningGENChess) now sort under Outdoor Seating and will filter for Park venues. The Men’s Shoe Rack and Women’s Show Rack objects now sort under the Storage Misc Category. The Bonsai Tree now sorts as an Indoor Plant. PenguinVision Children's Television Set now sorts as a Kids Activity. (yfHair_EP08BraidedPonyTail) now sorts as Afro-Textured. (cfHair_SP10ShortPinCurlLoose) now sorts as Wavy. (yfHair_EF90WaveMedium) now sorts as Wavy. (yfHair_EF90FiveFivePerm) now sorts as Straight for all ages. (yfHair_EF03TragicClown) now sorts as Straight. The (pmHair_SP12TightCurls) hairstyle now also appears as a Feminine Fashion Choice. (cuTop_Shirt) now properly sorts as a Button up instead of a T-Shirt. Get to Work (cfHair_EP01BraidsBunSide) now sorts as Afro-Textured. Cats & Dogs The Stack 'o Books object now sorts as a bookshelf, and it is also now functional as a bookshelf. Outdoor Patio Piece now counts as a Picnic Table. (ymHair_EP04Pompadour) now sorts as Wavy. (yfHair_EP04CurlyLongMiddlePart) now sorts as Wavy. (yfHair_EP04LowLoopWavy) now sorts as Straight. (cmHair_EP04WavyHawkDetail) now sorts as Afro-Textured. Seasons The Bow-tiful Candlelight is now properly sorted in the Off the Grid Lighting Category. Island Living (yfHair_EP07FlowerCrown) now sorts as Straight. Cottage Living (pfBottom_EP11ShortsDrawstring) was moved from the Cropped category and into the Shorts sub-category. (cfBody_EP11Jumpsuit) was moved from the Short Dresses to Jumpsuits sub-category for sorting. All (EP11CurlyBun) hairstyles now sort as Wavy for all age groups. Horse Ranch All three Horse Ranch facial hairs have been sorted into their respective Beards and Moustache sub-categories. Eco Lifestyle (yfHair_EP09CurlyBun) now sorts as Wavy. (yfHair_EP09BunFade) now sorts as Straight. Snowy Escape The Komorebi Shrubbery no longer sorts as an Indoor Plant. The Lantern in a Paper Cylinder and Stone Tōrō Lantern lights are now properly sorted into the Off the Grid Lighting Category. The (EP10ShortBuzzed) hairstyle is now consistently tagged between all age groups. (yfHair_EP10LongBraidedWavy) now sorts as Afro-Textured. (EP10LongBraidedWavyHighlight) now sorts as Afro-Textured. (yfHair_EP10LongBraidPony) now sorts as Straight. (EP10BunBangs) now sorts as Straight. Growing Together The (EP13LongBraids) hair now sorts consistently across all age groups. (EP13WavyMed) now sorts as Straight for all age groups. Lovestruck Makeup from Lovestruck will now appear for Cold and Hot Weather Outfits as an option. The Elongated Zebra Pothos Plant now sorts as an Indoor Plant. Business & Hobbies (ymHat_EP18Beanie) now sorts as a Brimless Hat. (yfHair_EP18_SlickBun) now sorts under Updo and Medium Length Hair. (yfHair_EP18Hattie) now sorts as a Long Length Hair. (yfHair_EP18FingerCurls) now sorts as an Updo. Spa Day The Foot Illumination System and Foot Illumination Corner Edition lights have been added to sort in the Lighting Category in Build Mode. Parenthood The Hanging Lights - long length and Hanging Lights - short length lights have been added to sort in the Lighting Category in Build Mode. Jungle Adventures (yfHair_GP06ShortPony2Tone) will now appear for Male and Female Sims for both fashion choice options. Realm of Magic The following lights will now be properly sorted in the Off the Grid Lighting Category: Light of the Marasenna Sconce For Little Light Totally Lit Bug Light Dream Home Decorator (cuBottom_GP10Shorts) were removed from the Skirts sub-category, added to the Shorts sub-category, and also added as a Hot Weather option. Holiday Celebration Pack The String of Snowflakes lights have been added to sort in the Lighting Category in Build Mode. Movie Hangout (SP05LongBraidCurled_DirtyBlonde) is now sorted as Wavy for all age groups. Moschino The Photo Drape, Fashion Studio Backdrop Curved, and Fashion Studio Backdrop Straight objects have been added to the Creative sub-category in Build Mode’s Activity and Skills category. Paranormal (SP18AngleBootsToeOpen) now sort as Wedges. Little Campers We fixed a text error where the Light My Way to the Moon Lamp object had a “Functional Off-the-Grid 10” typo error. The Light My Way to the Moon Lamp has been sorted into the Off the Grid Lighting Category. Goth Galore All makeup from Goth Galore will now appear for Cold and Hot Weather Outfits as an option. Autumn Apparel [EA Forums] The (ymBottom_SP69PantsLong) now sort as a Masculine Fashion Choice. Our team continues to investigate other community concerns for future fixes. Please note that some topics can be complicated to replicate and require an extended investigation on our end, so even though we are actively reviewing, it’s not a guarantee that we’ll have an immediate fix for it in the upcoming patch. This includes the following top voted issues: [EA Forums] Console crashing after update 2.13 has become our current community top issue, and we have begun actively investigating it. [EA Forums] We have been looking into CAS’s Turn On/Offs lacking numbers and the like/dislike button, and feel hopeful about this being resolved after January. [EA Forums] Eyelids not closing completely has been an issue we’ve been actively investigating and has proven rather complex. We are continuing our efforts. [EA Forums] We’ve been actively investigating Partnered Sims turning into Siblings and believe (though have not verified) it may be related to gameplay around Adoption, Have Science Baby, and CAS generated offspring, but we still haven’t found repro steps and have expanded our investigation to include mods. At this time, we haven’t determined a fix. Any saves that exist shortly prior to this occurring could really assist our efforts and can be shared in the linked Forum thread. [EA Forums] We’re actively investigating a variety of different fixes for the issues in this thread concerning Sims obsessively using certain objects. For the latest news, follow Sims Direct on X and join our Discord community - we’ll share updates as they’re available. Thank you for your patience and for all the helpful reports. Please keep posting any issues you encounter on The Sims 4 EA Forums. We’ll keep checking in, and together we’ll make this game the best it can be.The 12 Days of Simsmas - 2025
Sul Sul! It’s the most wonderful time of the year - The 12 Days of Simsmas is back! Get ready to celebrate another season of holiday fun packed with daily activities and a festive giveaway! This year we're celebrating alongside our official Holiday Gift Guides - we've got something for every kind of Simmer, whether you're a hopeless romantic or a chaotic storyteller, be sure to check out each collection here. For the next 12 days, we’ll be dropping a brand new seasonal challenge for you to participate in, so be sure to check back every day for more Simsmas fun! 🎄🎁✨ Day 1 - A Very Merry Makeover - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 2 - Present Hunt - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 3 - Holiday Hustle - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 4 - Ink the Halls - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 5 - The Great Simsmas Mix-up - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 6 - Faery Winter - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 7 - Once Upon a Simsmas - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 8 - Where's Father Winter? - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 9 - A Simsmas Carol - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 10 - Child's Play - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 11 - Simsmas Movie Magic - The 12 Days of Simsmas Day 12 - New Year, Old Flame - The 12 Days of Simsmas And just like last year, we're giving you a chance to win your choice of a Kit, Stuff Pack, Game Pack, or Expansion Pack for The Sims™ 4! To enter the giveaway, players on PC, Mac, Xbox and PlayStation will have until the 12 Days of Simsmas ends (December 31, 2025 at 11:59 PM CT) to comment on this post and share what the holidays mean to you; make sure you also include the hashtag #EASweepstakes to be considered! Two lucky winners will be contacted via EA Forums Private Message, so keep an eye on your DM's! For full details on how to enter, how winners will be selected, and which countries are eligible to participate, check out the official contest rules below: We’re also kicking things up a notch this year with a special Festive Challenge exclusively for our Discord members - share your in-game screenshots of what the holidays mean to you and decorate your Sim’s home for the season! 10 lucky winners will be chosen randomly to win 1 Expansion Pack of their choice, so be sure to join the Official Sims Discord here to get started!
Save File Investigation Recap and Early 2026 Plans
Sul Sul, Simmers! Over the past few months we’ve been sharing our progress with you as we work our way through concerns about save file issues, disappearing Lots, white screens, and loading problems. We know how frustrating it is when a beloved save doesn’t behave the way it should, and we want to keep you in the loop about the work happening behind the scenes to protect your hard-earned progress, stories, and creations. Our team has been deep in the trenches testing, reproducing, analyzing, and building new tools, to understand the many factors that can contribute to save corruption. While there’s no single bug to fix that fixes them all, we’ve made meaningful progress across several key areas, thanks in large part to the saves and reports you’ve shared with us. Here’s a recap of what’s been happening, where we are right now, and what our early 2026 plans look like. Investigation, Fixes, and New Tools At the start of this quarter, we kicked off a large-scale review of community-reported issues. We’ve been tracking everything from Lots disappearing in heavily populated Residential Rental worlds to white screens, endless loading loops, and cases where the game loads but saves show missing neighbors, objects, or builds. These issues vary widely with some only occurring on certain platforms, others only under very specific conditions, but we’ve been treating each one with care and urgency. To support this work, we created a new Python-based tool that helps us analyze the structure and contents of affected save files much more efficiently. This tool has already helped us spot patterns in file size, mods, Lot complexity, and version history - giving our engineers more concrete leads to investigate. We’ve also built an expanding database of player-submitted saves, which helps us compare cases and identify common traits more quickly. What We’ve Fixed So Far We’ve shipped several meaningful steps forward this quarter: Infinite Loading Fix Released We identified an issue that caused infinite loading when converting Penthouses or Dorms into Residential Rentals, something that arose with Adventure Awaits. A fix was released in the November 4 Base Game update. Several Error Codes Solved in Player-Submitted Saves We’ve resolved the underlying causes of Error 109:4fe45107, 109:d7e16575, and 123:b378c837 in the saves where they originally occurred. These fixes were released in the December 2nd Base Game update, and if you see these errors again we want your saves so we can track down additional causes. What We’re Investigating Right Now Protobuf Overflow – A Leading Theory for Missing Lots We’ve found compelling evidence that some cases of missing Lots or disappearing houses may be caused by what we call a Protobuf Overflow - a situation where Lot or save data grows so large it hits its storage limit. Our early testing suggests that the Memory Boost feature reduces this risk on some hardware configurations, and in certain cases, even makes missing Lots reappear when loading a broken save. This is an active area of testing and one where your data can heavily accelerate our progress. Error 801 and Scratch File Behavior Error 801 remains a top priority. Current findings suggest that multiple game processes may compete during load, causing inconsistent results. We’re also taking preventative steps by relocating scratch files from the Documents folder to AppData in an upcoming update to avoid conflicts with cloud backup services. Complex, Cheated, or Modded Lots We’re testing how extreme builds like heavily decorated Lots, MoveObjects placements, or builds using cheats behave when placed into saves that don’t have those cheats active. Some of these cases can create unexpected complexity that the game struggles to resolve, especially when mods or custom Lot traits were involved. Data Carrying Between Saves In rare cases, data from one save can carry into a second newly created save in the same session. This behavior started in Lovestruck, and while it doesn’t explain older corruption reports, it does give us valuable insight into how systems interact internally. Your Reports Continue to Drive This Work Across this quarter, your reports, votes, comments, and shared save files have been essential to every discovery we’ve made. Many investigations like scratch file questions or Lot data inconsistencies began with specific saves you sent us. And when we say we’re still collecting saves, we truly mean it: every single one helps. To help us push further into the Protobuf and missing Lot investigations, we’ve put together a Missing Lot Data Survey. If you’ve experienced disappearing Lots, odd load behavior, or interactions between Memory Boost and missing data, this survey will help us gather the targeted information we need. What You Can Expect in Early 2026 In early 2026 you can expect to see fixes for flea market items disappearing and reappearing, more fixes around photos turning black, our previously announced moving of scratch files, and more. For the scratch files, we will be staggering the roll out behind the scenes so that we can closely monitor for any issues before a full roll out to all players. You can also expect more updates from the team on our save file investigations, including testing around our investigations into mod data being shared via the Gallery. We’ll be back early in the new year with more to share, and as always, you can stay tuned to our social channels like TheSimsDirect on X and The Sims Discord for ongoing news. Thanks for sticking with us, for sharing your saves, and for helping us make The Sims 4 safer and more stable for everyone. Your willingness to share details, files, and feedback directly impacts the work we’re doing, and it accelerates our progress toward long-term fixes. We’ll see you back here in January with more updates. Dag dag!Laundry List - November 25th, 2025
Hi Simmers! Welcome to the Laundry List, where we update the community on what's coming next to The Sims 4! We’re thinking about giving this series a new name and we’d love your input! The Laundry List is where we share updates on the topics you’ve been talking about most, so it only makes sense that you help decide what it’s called. Should we keep the current name, go with something more descriptive, or try something totally new? Share your thoughts with us in Discord via our feedback forum that is available now! As we move beyond our 150+ fixes with the November 4th update, we remain committed to resolving your top community reported concerns. Many of our remaining top community concerns are trickier ones to fix, as they’re deeply connected to other game systems and take more time to solve safely. That means you might see fewer fixes from this team, but each one will make a bigger impact and help create a more stable game overall. We also know that community concerns around Careers have been top of mind for Simmers, and you’ll see some investment into that area below. We’ll have another batch of fixes for you in early 2026, more on that below December’s fixes. These fixes are separate from the ongoing investigation into save file issues, which we’ve provided an in-depth update here. As a quick recap, we've shipped a fix for residential units causing a white screen, and our investigations into large saves and Error 801 is providing great leads for future fixes. We also published articles that provide guidance for playing performantly, and how to back up your saves for extra peace of mind. You can read all of these articles and more on our EA Forums Sims Game Info Hub. As always, if you’re hitting crashes, infinite loading, or missing lots, please read our post here to see how you can share affected saves so we can gather some critical information to aid our investigations. - The Sims Team Here’s the list of the top community concerns you can expect to see fixed in our December update: Top 5 Most Voted Fixes: [EA Forums] Sims will once again change into their outfits in front of toddler Sims. However, the cause of the issue is different for other ages and we’re still investigating those instances to hopefully fix in an upcoming update. (Base Game) [EA Forums] Sims are now able to travel between world/lots without the Seasons screen popping up. (Seasons) [EA Forums] Male Gallery Sims will no longer have high-pitched voices. Their correct voice tone will be used. This fix is not retroactive and will only affect future saves going forward. (Lovestruck) [EA Forums] We fixed an instance of Save Corruption that was resulting in Error code: 123:b378c837: In this Save, a Sim was dead, a ghost, and min LOD (Not actively engaged with by the player), which was causing some code around Small Business careers to crash the game on load. We made it so that if a Sim is referenced in this situation the game will not crash when trying to load. (Business & Hobbies) [EA Forums] Made progress on Children being taken away despite not being neglected. More investigation is required before we mark this one as fully resolved. (Life & Death) Base Game: [EA Forums] The Nature Soundscapes radio station will no longer wake up Sims when they listen to it while sleeping. [EA Forums] Teens will retain their active Aspiration (so long as it is not a ‘Teen-specific’ Aspiration) when they age up into a Young Adult. [EA Forums] We rebalanced the “Mental Fog” moodlet to appear after 3-4 days of running the “Work Hard” career tone. It used to appear after 1-2 days of doing this. [EA Forums] The Arrrmed Living Chair had a duplicate color swatch. We didn’t want to remove a swatch, because that might break existing builds, so we decided to change one of those swatches to be a new variant. When choosing what color to go with, the artist thought this piece of furniture might nicely match some of the Enchanted by Nature furniture in style. But it felt odd to add just one swatch, so we added an additional two other variants, but then realized the Arrrmed Living Chair was part of a set, and we probably wanted those three new variants to match other pieces of furniture from Base Game—takes a breath—so in total there are at total of 27 new free swatches (9 objects with three new variants each). Here’s a list of the updated furniture pieces. Enjoy! (We know Princess Cordelia would!) Arrrmed Living Chair Deep Delight Living Chair Cuttlefish Love Seat Cuttlefish Sofa Arrrmed Dining Chair Captain Rodrigo de Pablo Dining Chair Arrrmless Dining Chair Cephalopod Bar Stool with Back Support Cephalopod Bar Stool [EA Forums] The Main Menu will no longer show “WWWWWW” when there isn’t an active Household to display on the Main Menu. [EA Forums] Sims will once again change into their outfits and not remain nude in front of Toddler Sims. [EA Forums] We fixed an issue where Moodlets and Quirk notifications could occur for a Young Adult Sim. [EA Forums] We fixed some texture issues with the IndustryMatters Brick Facade with Wood Trim wallpaper when applied to wall corners for two of the wallpaper’s variants. Sims without the Horse Ranch Expansion were able to get a Fear of Horses, but this can no longer happen. Good and Evil Sims will no longer mourn excessively at gravestones. Adventure Awaits: [EA Forums] We partially addressed this Forum Thread with a significant fix. Pre-made Custom venues will now display and execute their premade Schedules in the Release mode version of the game. This means when you load into a premade Custom Venue, you will now see the proper schedules and gameplay. This was previously only working on our internal builds due to some code that needed changed. [EA Forums] cfTop_EP20PulloverLayered is now tagged as a Masculine style choice option. [EA Forums] All Adventure Awaits Toddler and Child hairstyles are now visible if you remove the Masculine/Feminine Style choice filters. The Gran Gran’s Flannel Curtain rods were using a different shader than the curtain set, but we’ve updated them to use the same shader. This was done on purpose since curtains and solid objects use different shaders, but in this case, it caused a difference in some lighting scenarios which made the objects look like they were different colors. ymTop_EP20FleeceCurve was missing fashion choice tags. These have been added. Autumn Apparel: [EA Forums] Fingernails will no longer clip through the yfAcc_GlovesSP69Leather asset. Business & Hobbies: [EA Forums] The ‘Stucko’s Top Stucco’ Wallpaper now extends fully to the floor when applied. [EA Forums] We added a missing purple variant color swatch to 8 doors and windows. Lang's Door Double Arched Nordhaven-Style Door Single Nordhaven-Style Door Arched Nordhaven-Style Window Nordhaven-Style Portal Window Nordhaven-Style Cottage Window Nordhaven-Style Window Nordhaven-Style Glass-Block Window Cats & Dogs: [EA Forums] We fixed a situation where it looked like you couldn’t have more than 7 Sims in a Household. This was because the Household had an empty Sim slot ‘reserved’ for an “Adopt a Cat” story arc that the player couldn’t know was happening in the background. This story arc will now just wait until there is an available household slot and not prevent the addition of new members to the Household in the meantime. [EA Forums] We added timing restrictions on how often a Pet can explore the PooHoo Bush to every 3 days. Doing this causes them to get sick and was previously happening too frequently. Sims will no longer receive a text from their Pet about missing curfew. City Living: [EA Forums] Sims in the Social Media Career will now automatically meet their Coworkers so that they can perform certain work from tasks. This fix will only occur on fresh saves. Cottage Living: Added a shadow to the Cottage Living pack icon. For Rent: [EA Forums] Lines will no longer appear on Sims’ arms while wearing either the yfTop_EP15StackedPocketShirt or ymTop_EP15StackedPocketShirt shirt if nails are also equipped. Get Famous: The “Attend Drama Club” interaction is now available as a Self-interaction and on other Household members when a Teen Sim is at max level in Drama Club and has left for rehearsal. This interaction will remain for 90 in game seconds afterwards to allow the player time to select it. Greenhouse Haven: The AirCycler fan will no longer disappear when viewed from a different floor than the floor the player is currently on. High School Years: [EA Forums] The Corndog food object is no longer using a block model (which appeared as invisible in the live version of the game). This also fixes the related issue where it didn’t appear in preview UI images. Life & Death: [EA Forums] House Parties and Spooky Parties have been added as viable options for the Bucket List goal “I want to throw the most bizarre costume party of all time!” [EA Forums] Ghost Sims will no longer appear as a regular, living Sim while in the Reaper Career attempting to collect souls. [EA Forums] The Mentor Coworker interaction is available on a Co-Worker while they are performing “Practice Reaping’ on the training dummy. The “Ingest Ambrosia” interaction is now available to Ghost SIms when Ambrosia was made by Sims from another Household. This was preventing Sims who were in the Reaper Career from eating Ambrosia. My Wedding Stories: [EA Forums] We fixed an issue where the “Exchange Vows” interaction could become greyed out on the Wedding Arch even though the necessary Sims were present for the ceremony. Paranormal Stuff: The Terrified and Scared emotions are now available in Sim Stats. Realm of Magic: [EA Forums] All variant textures display the logo of the bottle properly on the Classic Apothecary Cabinet. Seasons: [EA Forums] Children and Teens can now donate on the computer when in the Scouts after school program. Vampires: Non-Vampire Sims will no longer autonomously eat Plasma Fruit Salad. Multiple Packs: [EA Forums] We fixed an instance of Save Corruption that was resulting in Error Code 109:4fe45107:239aa048: There was a Clone Sim in this Save game that has a Household with a status of “None” in our code. We fixed it so if a Household is in this state it will no longer crash the game upon trying to load. (Business & Hobbies & Get to Work) [EA Forums] We fixed an issue where sand sculptures were auto-generating on beaches when it rained a lot. This is still occurring if the Weather Machine is used by the player, but we have a fix planned for that instance in an upcoming patch. (Island Living & Seasons) [EA Forums] We made a change that allows gates with lanterns to have the lanterns light up the area around them. This should now work for the following gates: Spanish Inquisition (Base Game) Woodn't You Like to Know (Base Game) Maiden’s Gate (Base Game) Barn Door Double (Cats & Dogs) Cozy Craftsman Gate (Seasons) [EA Forums] Sims who dislike Mischief or Singing will no longer autonomously do mischievous behaviors or sing. (Basegame & City Living) [EA Forums] The Police Station, Foxbury Commons, and other work computers are now fixable after they’ve broken. (Get to Work, University, & More) [EA Forums] The Tomarani Introduction will now fulfill the “Greet Co-Worker” task in the Doctor Career. (Get to Work & For Rent) Fixed an issue with Temporary Stays where certain Sims couldn’t be invited to stay over from a Residential Rental lot. (Growing Together) As we head into the new year, our team maintains focus on improving stability and performance across The Sims 4. We’re actively working on the following top community reported concerns, targeting our January Base Game update. [EA Forums] [EA Forums] We’ve confirmed that the Makeup Category for Toddlers is currently working live, but it requires custom content (CC) to appear. We’re still looking into reports that it stopped working after the Business & Hobbies release and that there may have been non-CC assets before, so we’d appreciate any screenshots or clues you can share to help us figure it out. [EA Forums] [EA Forums] We were able to load these saves using our Memory Boost feature, so it feels like a promising lead or (in some cases) a fix for PC players! However, we’re still in the process of testing this against different hardware scenarios. If you are experiencing these issues, please fill out our Missing Lot Data survey. [EA Forums] The server error when uploading to the Gallery or Library is the top community issue, and we’re actively working on a fix—though it has proven tricky. [EA Forums] We’ve identified the main cause of Sims standing around instead of caring for infants and toddlers and plan to provide an update soon. [EA Forums] Memorial Portraits and Graduation Photos no longer display a Sim’s image and appear blank is another top community issue we’ve made progress on and are targeting for a future update. [EA Forums] Sims attending a Work/School Rabbit Hole not remaining in the Rabbit Hole when loading a Save (where the Sims were Employees of an 'Open' Small Business) is another top issue that we think we’re testing a fix for. [EA Forums] “Sims using objects obsessively” is another issue we’re tackling. This is a rather complicated issue to solve that might take some time, but we have some creative solutions we’re discussing. That’s just a brief update on what we’re currently looking at fixing next! There’s plenty more and at least six other issues in our top 10 community issues we want to at least get started investigating. They’re all tricky ones, so thank you for your patience, reports, and continued support! For the latest news, follow Sims Direct on X and join our Discord community - we’ll share updates as they’re available. Thank you for your patience and for all the helpful reports. Please keep posting any issues you encounter on The Sims 4 EA Forums. We’ll keep checking in, and together we’ll make this game the best it can be.Community Concerns with Save File Issues - November 2025 Update
Sul Sul, Simmers, Welcome to our November update into save file investigations. Over the past few months, our team has been testing, analyzing, and dissecting every lead - from missing lots to infinite loading loops - to understand what’s really happening under the hood. Thanks to our new Python-based tool and a growing database of player-submitted saves, we’ve identified several consistent patterns that point to the root causes of these problems. Here’s a high-level overview of where we’re at and where we’re headed, with more technical details below. 1. Fixed a cause of infinite loading on November 4th. Our team was able to identify and reproduce an issue that was causing infinite loading when converting Penthouses or Dorms into Residential Rentals. This issue was discovered internally, not linked to any previously ongoing investigations, and began with Adventure Awaits. A fix was shipped out alongside the community voted issues in the November 4th Base Game update. 2. Thanks to the community providing their affected saves, we’ve also been able to resolve the underlying causes for Error code: 109:4fe45107, Error code: 109:d7e16575, and Error code: 123:b378c837 in the saves that they were originally occurring in. You can expect to see these fixes in our upcoming Base Game update in December. This does not mean that these error codes will no longer occur, but we can confirm that we've resolved the issue that was triggering the error in the provided saves. If you do run into these error codes again, please let us know on EA Forums and provide your save file to the team as we work to eliminate other causes. 3. We’re also exploring what we call a “Protobuf Overflow” - a case where save or Lot data grows so large it exceeds its storage limits, leading to missing or corrupted Lots. The good news is that our Memory Boost Feature seems to reduce this risk, and we’re continuing to test this theory using intentionally overstuffed save files. We’re also tackling Error 801, where multiple processes compete during load and can crash the game, and we’ve begun the process of moving scratch files from the Documents folder to AppData to prevent conflicts with cloud backups. On top of that, we’re investigating event overlaps, cheat-heavy or modded Lots, lingering mod data, and even cases where venue data carries into new saves. The further we investigate these issues, the more we’re certain that save corruption has no single underlying cause, there is no “patient zero”. More accurately, save corruption is akin to “18 bugs in a trench coat” that we continue to curtail as we progress. - The Sims Team Our Current Investigations: Protobufs - Missing Lot Data Our investigations suggest that missing Lot data may be caused by a “Protobuf Overflow.” Protobufs are the data files that store information about your saves - but they have a size limit. When a save or Lot grows too large (for example, due to extremely packed builds or complex saves), it could exceed that limit and cause corruption. We’re currently testing this theory using an intentionally overstuffed save file and have found that the Memory Boost feature has the ability to to help reduce the likelihood of overflow, therefore preventing this issue from occurring on some hardware configurations. Our investigations are ongoing in this area, but this discovery gives us a solid direction for potential fixes to issues related to corrupted Lots and disappearing houses in saves with lots of rental units. We've done some testing on saves where lots appear missing and found that sometimes loading that save with the Memory Boost feature enabled can cause them to appear again. Our investigations are ongoing in this area, but given that both hardware and software are involved, it means we need more time to investigate this thoroughly so that we can come up with a proper solution. However, we do feel we have a solid direction and you can help us speed this up by filling out the survey linked below. Error 801 and Scratch File Investigations We’re actively working to better understand the underlying causes of Error 801, which can cause the game to crash before loading. Our current testing suggests that multiple processes might be competing to finish at once, creating inconsistent results. Although we haven’t confirmed scratch file deletion as a direct cause of corruption, we’re taking extra precautions. To prevent conflicts with cloud backup services, scratch files are being moved from the Documents folder to AppData in a future update. This change is currently in internal review to ensure stability while we collaborate with other internal teams on scratch files and their interactions with The Sims 4. Other Areas of Focus: Overstuffed and Cheated Lots: We’re testing how Move Objects and heavily decorated or modded Lots from the Gallery behave when downloaded into new games. Our theory is that the game struggles to resolve certain cheat-related placements when those cheats aren’t enabled - possibly causing corruption in large, complex builds. Potential Corruption Via Gallery Downloads: In some cases, mod data has persisted inside a save file even after the mod was removed. This can happen with mods that add excessive Lot traits or custom scripts. We’re looking into whether this leftover data can also transfer through Gallery uploads, creating issues for players who don’t have those mods installed. Venue Data Carrying Across Saves: We found that in certain cases, data from one save can carry into a newly created save within the same session, creating a broken save right from the start. This behavior began in Lovestruck and isn’t linked to older reports of corruption, but it helps us understand how different systems can unintentionally interact. Our Next Steps: Missing Lot Data Survey We’re looking to gather more information from anyone who’s experienced issues around missing Lot data, and we’ve set up a quick survey to gather information like Memory Boost interactions with previously broken saves, DXdiags, and any mods you have installed, as we think this may be critical to our ongoing investigation into these issues. We continue to investigate the issues discussed in this article, and look forward to gathering even more useful information from you via the survey linked above. Once again, your save data continue to be vital to this work - every file you share helps us identify new patterns and move closer to long-term fixes. Thank you for your patience and passion as we work to keep your Sims’ worlds safe, stable, and corruption-free. Thank you for reading, we’ll see you back here for our next monthly update in December.Reticulating the Splines: An Update to our Quality of Life Roadmap
Here at The Sims, we love creating games that allow you to experiment with life. The Sims 4 is our most ambitious life sim yet. It’s defined by limitless creativity; not just within the game itself, but how you choose to play, what platform you play it on, what you download from the Gallery, and whether you kit it out further with Custom Content or Mods. Every Sim, build, creation, and choice you make adds something unique to the experience. It also adds complexity. While it’s true that making any game is hard, life simulation games are especially challenging due to their deep interconnectivity, free form gameplay, and the randomness built into the simulation engine itself. When you add in years of updates, there are more than 2.4 quintillion possible combinations (really!) of Expansion Packs that a player could own. If we spent one second testing each combination, it would take over 77 billion years to go through them all! That doesn’t include Game Packs, Stuff Packs, custom content, or the differences in PC, Mac, and console hardware. Even if two players take the exact same steps in their game, the outcomes could differ dramatically. That’s part of what makes The Sims 4 so alive and fun to create, and what makes tracking down bugs and stability issues uniquely challenging. Our team loves the challenge of making this game, and while we’re always excited to rise to the occasion, we know we’ve been slower than we’d like to fix the issues you care about. Complexity is part of the magic, and challenge, of The Sims, and an important reason for why some issues take longer to resolve than you may expect. Our job is to keep improving the experience, one update at a time, and we’re not going anywhere. A Commitment to Consistency Back in September, we introduced our Quality of Life Roadmap and made a commitment to regularly fixing top community-voted issues, working closer with Mod creators to provide more advance information and notice, and providing clearer visibility into our update schedule. We’re shifting from large, infrequent patches to a steady regular cadence of updates. This commitment started in September, and will continue for the foreseeable future. In November, we delivered our first major step forward: over 150 bug fixes addressing many of the top community-reported issues. Our next update will be on December 2nd, bringing 40+ additional fixes and improvements of your most voted issues. Our Laundry List will be published November 25th and provide more details, as well as a preview of what we’re fixing in January. Alongside these updates, we’ll also be regularly hosting Dev Q&As with our team to give you opportunities to ask questions directly and learn more about how we approach fixes, testing, and player reports. Join Discord for our next Q&A November 25th! Deep Dive: Save File Corruption Issues impacting saves has been a concern for some of you. We’ve been investigating this deeply since early 2025, and over the past few months, our team has been testing and analyzing every lead, from corrupted lots to infinite loading loops, to identify the root causes. Thanks to new internal tools and player-submitted saves, we’ve been able to confirm several consistent patterns. Recent Progress We identified and resolved an issue causing infinite loading when converting Penthouses or Dorms into Residential Rentals, shipped with the November 4 Base Game update. This will work retroactively to restore any previously impacted saves. Fixes for Error Codes 109:4fe45107, 109:d7e16575, and 123:b378c837 are coming in our December update. These address the issues seen in the affected saves, though we’re continuing to monitor for new variants. Work is ongoing to resolve Error 801, which occurs when multiple processes compete during load. We’ve also begun addressing a potential “Protobuf Overflow”, where save or Lot data grows so large it exceeds storage limits, leading to missing or corrupted lots. Our Memory Boost feature appears to reduce this risk on some hardware, and we’ve launched a survey to collect information from anyone who has experienced missing or corrupted data. We’re also testing: Overstuffed or cheat-heavy Lots, where complex or modded placements may cause save corruption when cheats aren’t enabled. Mod data persistence, where removed mods leave residual data that can carry through Gallery uploads. Venue data carryover, where settings from one save can unintentionally transfer into another within the same session. Our conclusion so far? There’s no single cause leading to these issues, and if you like getting into the technical details, we shared a deeper update in the EA Forums. If you’re experiencing performance issues, we published guides on how to back up your saves and make changes to reduce the chance of issues arising. Our Ongoing Promise We know bugs and instability can be frustrating, especially when they impact your stories and saves. We’re working to make the process of fixing them more transparent, consistent, and sustainable. The Sims 4 has always been about creativity, connection, and community. Your feedback, comments, and votes via the EA Forums are continuing to drive what we prioritize, and your creations inspire us every day. We’ll keep updating you on what’s fixed, what’s in progress, and what’s still under investigation. Together, we’ll continue making The Sims 4 the best and deepest simulation game in the world, one update at a time. —The Sims TeamMods + Game Updates: Best Practices and Getting You Back Into The Sims 4
Sul Sul, Simmers, As many of you already know, after any base game update any mods or CC you have installed are disabled as you might need to update some of them to be compatible with the newer version of The Sims 4 you’ve just installed. Below you’ll find steps on how to launch the game “vanilla,” what to look out for when playing with mods, re-enabling mods, and (If something broke) how to use the “50/50” method to find the culprit, along with other best practices. Updating mods and CC, is it that important? Did you know that in certain cases using an outdated mod could cause unfixable problems for your save? Some mods may even make changes to your game that persist after the mod is removed, so be sure to check any elements of the game that a mod you used may have affected. If (for example) you used a mod to add Lot traits to your neighbor NPC Sim, removed playmats, or installed any food related mods, are the changes they made still present after removing the mod? Before you update Back up all of your stuff. Copy these 2 directories to a safe spot, like your desktop: Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Saves Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Mods Want some extra help here? Check out our full blog on backing up and restoring saves here for more info. Note your mod list. Have a lot of mods? A method of organizing your mods may be worth looking into, a simple text file or spreadsheet with the names of your mods and their creators might save you a ton of time later. Close the game and your mod manager (if you use one). After the base game update Launch once with no mods or CC (vanilla). Mods and CC are disabled by design after updates - this is normal. Hop into Live Mode for a minute. You’re just checking that the game runs on the new patch version. Exit the game WITHOUT saving. Don’t save a modded game while mods are off, or the game will strip most modded content (this mostly impacts mods that have separate .cfg files) Clear cache: delete localthumbcache.package (in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4) whenever you change mods. Re-enable mods/CC. Under Game Options - Other - Enable Custom Content and Mods (and Script Mods Allowed if you use them as well), then restart the game. Start adding content back safely Start with the known-good/updated versions. Grab fresh downloads from creators who’ve posted updates, and add back in mods that creators have said are compatible with the new game version. Remember to check for what other mods those mods depend on, though! Add in small batches. Drop in a few mods at a time, then launch and test. Prioritize gameplay and UI mods. These are most likely to break after patches - verify them first. (UI mods are anything that changes or adds to the game layout, including in Create-a-Sim and Build/Buy mode.) If something isn’t right: the “50/50” method Move all content out of Mods. Add back half → test in game. Make sure that in that half you include mods those mods depend on. You might want a “half” to be all build/buy and CAS content that doesn’t require a “core” mod, for example. If it breaks, the bad file is in that half → remove half of that half and test again. If you’re testing gameplay mods, make sure to not split mods from the ones they depend on. If it’s fine, swap in half of the remaining files → test. Repeat until you isolate the culprit, now you can look for an update or remove it. Clues the issue might be mod-related Script/gameplay bugs: interactions won’t complete, menus fail to open, Sims get stuck. UI glitches: Menus are the wrong colour or distorted, icons are jumbled. CC/asset glitches: missing meshes, distorted clothing and faces, floating accessories. Quick fixes that help a lot Test on a fresh save to rule out save-specific issues. Turn off the “mod list at startup” if booting your game is slow (uncheck Show at Startup on the mods list screen). Repair the game via your launcher if core files seem off (this doesn’t touch your Mods folder, but you may want to back them up again anyway): EA app - Library - click on The Sims 4 - Manage - Repair EPIC - Library - click on The Sims 4 - click the three dots (...) next to The Sims 4 - Manage - Verify (You’ll also want to follow the steps above on EA app after this as EPIC launches The Sims 4 through the EA app) Steam - From your Steam library - right-click the game tile - Properties - Installed Files - Verify integrity of game files Still not working quite right? What to include when asking for help We’ve got a whole section of the EA Forums dedicated to mods in The Sims 4. Remember when posting in the forum to check the pinned posts first, it’ll probably save you time. Also be sure to include the info below to get help from the community faster: Your game version, launcher, and platform (e.g. Version 1.119.109.1220, EA app, Mac). You can find your game version in the bottom left corner of the main menu. A short summary of what changed (e.g. “updated today; added X mod; removed Y”). Which mods/CC you’re using (link to your list if possible). Make sure any mods you mention are in line with the EA Forum Rules & Guidelines! We’ve got gamers of all ages here. When errors happened, and what happened. If at some point your game won’t launch the next stage, which stage that was helps with finding a solution. The same with what was happening when your Sims stopped behaving. Steps already tried (vanilla test, 50/50, cache cleared, repairs, etc.). Any error messages or LastException/lastCrash files.Dag Dag to Lag: Improving The Sims 4 Performance
Alongside our ongoing efforts to bring you closer to what we’re working on with our save file investigations and Quality of Life roadmap, we wanted to take a moment to share some behind-the-scenes info about how we make The Sims 4 the best experience it can be for everyone. Our team puts love and care into each pack and update we create, running meticulous performance tests to ensure they run smoothly on across many platforms, including min-spec machines. Here’s the fun part - we’ve learned a lot from our QA testing that can help you make the most of your game! We have advice on how you can build, utilize cheats, and experience the game in more performant ways. This is important information for all players, but especially those who may be exceeding hardware limitations and heavily utilizing in game systems as this increases the chances of resulting in error codes, lots failing to load, or other memory related issues. Read on to learn more! Signs That Indicate You Should Make These Changes You may want to make these changes in your game when you see things like long loading times, various error codes when saving or loading your game like ‘Error Code 140:95e2d14f’ ‘Error Code 34’, etc. or when you experience lagging and freezing in either Build/Buy or Live Mode. If you can hear your computer struggling, it’s probably time to take some of the steps below. Keeping your System Up-to-Date No matter what hardware you use, it is always best practice to remember to keep your system software and drivers up-to-date. This is best practice for any game. How to keep PC up-to-date How to keep Mac up-to-date How to keep Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One up-to-date How to keep PS4 up-to-date How to keep PS5 up-to-date Technical Explanation on Performance Beyond your computer’s hardware, two main things affect how well The Sims 4 runs: How much the game has to draw on screen. How many interactive objects are in play. Every visible object, piece of furniture, or part of the environment takes power to display. The more the game has to show at once (like nearby lots or heavily decorated builds) the more your computer has to work. Similarly, each object that Sims can use (like stoves or sinks) takes processing power, even when not being used. The more complex or versatile an object is, the more it impacts performance. For example, kitchen counters are surprisingly heavy on performance because Sims can do so much with them. Performant Lot Building Best Practices There’s no “one way” to build a lot, but if you’re ever curious on how you can build a more performant lot, here are some helpful tips and guidelines: Wallpapers - Multiple types of wallpaper on a Lot will impact performance more, especially wallpapers with edges. Mirrors - Multiple mirrors in a single room will impact performance if their reflections are bouncing off each other. Doors that have glass, transoms, or sidelights will impact performance more. The more of these a door has the more impact it has. “Portal” Objects - Portal objects are any object that transitions a Sim from one room/level to another. Large numbers of portal objects increase Sim routing time. Portal objects include doors, arches, fence gates, platforms, ladders, stairs, and more. The more portal objects a Sim must traverse to get somewhere the more performance is impacted. Pools and Platforms - Platforms are much like pools as Sims can get in and get out of a pool or traverse a platform at any location, so they have a lot of portals! The larger the pool or platform, the more portals. The smaller the pool or platform is, the more performant it is. Note: Fountains are quite performant, because you can’t get in or out of them. Fridges and computers - These have high simulation costs because they have so many interactions. Kitchen counters are an additional example due to the amount of hidden autonomous interactions available when using them. The more unique items used on a lot, the higher impact on performance. Clutter, lots of different pictures, lots of carpets, window types, light types, plants, etc. all add up. Ponds - The larger and more complex a pond is, the less performant it is. Small ponds with simple shapes are very performant. Large ponds with irregular shapes are less performant. Small ponds are about 8 x 8 tiles. Large ponds are about 19 x 19 tiles. “Simple” means smoother edges and simpler shapes like an oval or circle. Number of Sims - Be mindful of the number of Sims on screen at any given time. The more active Sims in a lot, the less performant your game will become as more resources are used. Large Lots - Whether a lot is big or small it has the same object budget. If you are building a large lot and want to keep it performant, our tip is to try to find a way to fill it in using creative object placement that isn’t dense or tile designs. Decorations cannot be as dense as they can on a small lot. Occluders and Visible Objects - When you load a lot with other lots around it, objects inside buildings on the other lots aren't visible. This is because the solid walls of the building act as “occluders.” If these objects are placed outside of the house walls then there is nothing to occlude them when loaded into another lot and the game has to draw them, which can result in a dip in performance. Most games work this way! Glass Walls, large Glass Windows, Glass Roofs also do not act as occluders because you can see what’s happening behind them. Seeing objects when loaded into another lot isn’t problematic, unless a nearby lot is very full with objects. Cheats are another performance variable to consider. Remember that cheats can impact your gameplay negatively if your specs aren't high enough, and it’s always best practice to backup your saves before trying any cheats, especially those that remove restrictions. Things that Will Affect Your Memory and Performance and Might Result in Bugs if Overutilized: There are many tools The Sims 4 provides the player to enhance creative options! We don’t know your exact software, however, and overutilizing these tools can result in poor performance, or memory issues (like corruption or failure to load issues). Mods are another aspect to consider when playing performantly as we can’t account for their resource costs when developing content for The Sims 4 as they are developed and maintained by the community. Please use these tools at your own risk and responsibly. These are also cumulative. Meaning, if you are doing all of these, then that adds up. That’s why sometimes bugs around crashes, freezes, and failing to load things can be difficult on our end to investigate - each one can be very dependent on how it came about. Graphics Settings The best practice is to be aware of your settings in relation to your system’s capabilities and don’t increase Graphics Settings beyond your system’s limitations. On PC and Mac, The Sims 4 has a benchmarking system where the game automatically optimizes graphics settings on first launch and allows the player to adjust. Exceeding the determined graphics settings can cause performance issues on lower spec systems. Build Cheats like vertical move cheats, scale cheats, or bb.moveobjects. These move cheats alter the navmesh (what Sims use to know where they’re going) and make it more complex. When this happens, the game has to do extra calculations which takes up extra performance and memory. Doing this a handful of times is normally perfectly fine, but if you have a Lot where this is happening hundreds and hundreds of times, that can be very hard on most computers. Using the bb.showliveeditobjects Cheat When we ship objects in a pack (the ones you can find normally in Build Mode or as rewards for gameplay), we have built and tested those objects to be performant. If you use LiveEditModeObjects, these objects are not performant when player-placed. Placing a handful of these items on computers with capable hardware is perfectly fine! This is why we wanted to provide this cheat as an option to you. However, if overused or if used by lower spec hardware this could cause a lot of memory and performance issues. This also applies to laying multiple objects together. Maximum Sim Count Game Options This is an option in the Household Manager menu. By default this is set to 80 Sims for played Households in a Save. This is best for players with Min Spec computers (and honestly healthiest for all computers). However, Mid to High End computers can reasonably upgrade to 150 Max Sims. Choosing the 200 or Unlimited options are things we’ve given you the option to do, but are not recommended in most instances. Please do this at your own risk. Super Stuffed Lots How much you can pack into your lots really depends on your specific hardware. If you fill every lot to the brim (and skip the performance tips here), you run a higher risk of encountering slower performance, crashes, or other issues. There’s no single “right” amount as every setup is different. If you find that you can build Lots with full, detailed spaces and your hardware can handle it, great! The key is finding a good balance that keeps your game running smoothly. Have Too Many Farm Animals Chickens, Mini Goats, and critters like these are super cute! However, depending on your hardware, having too many (not 10-15, but in the 30-100+ range) can cause the game to lag heavily, though we have made changes to try to decrease the effects of this. Mods that Allow Increased Sim Cap Limits We have a limit on how many Sims can appear at a time in a neighborhood for performance reasons. If you increase this using Mods, this is happening at your own risk and can greatly impact performance and memory. Screenshots Folder, Custom Music, Mods The more content you have in these folders, the more content that needs to be loaded and run. Having an overabundance of content on certain hardware specs can result in performance and memory issues. This is particularly relevant to mods, as much we love them! Running Other Apps and Programs Having other resource-heavy programs running on your computer while playing The Sims 4 can impact performance. Closing those extra apps can free up resources and make your game run more smoothly, so your Sims can thrive without any hiccups. You can easily see any programs that are configured to start running as soon as your computer does for Windows here, and here for Mac. Other Instances There are probably other ways a game can become inefficient and have memory issues based uniquely on how it is played. As always, the best advice is to create judiciously based on your computer hardware, listen to the game (if it starts chugging, or your cooling fans start ramping up, it isn’t happy), and follow a “moderation” is key approach. These things above aren’t off limits! But should never be overdone. Ultimately, The Sims 4 offers an incredible range of creative possibilities, and we love seeing the unique worlds you build and stories you tell. However, every creative choice comes with a performance cost, and understanding those limits helps ensure your game stays fun and stable. By balancing creativity with moderation and keeping your hardware in mind, you’ll enjoy smoother gameplay and fewer headaches, crashes, and load times. As always, if you have any questions or concerns you can reach out in our Technical Issues section of The Sims forums here for additional assistance.Backing Up Saves in The Sims 4 - Keep Your Sims Safe!
Sul Sul! We know that your saves are more than just Sims; they’re legacies, builds, and finely crafted stories. This is why backing up your saves in The Sims 4 is not only recommended, but essential for your peace of mind. It’s heartbreaking to accidentally overwrite a save folder, encounter a hardware failure, or lose a save file, so we’re here to help you prevent it from happening. There are other reasons to back up your save files as well. Did your favorite Sim just get attacked by the killer rabbit? Simply restore a backup save like it never happened. Just had your 99th baby in the 100 Baby Challenge? You’ll definitely want a backup save before moving on to baby 100. How often should I be backing up my saves? It's best practice to backup your saves regularly, say on a weekly basis as well as prior to any major game changes or in-game events. These might be base game updates, installing a new pack, finishing up an epic build, or even adding mods. This is because you're making changes to The Sims 4 file system structure, which has the chance, even if small, of corrupting a save file. If you're planning to use a new computer or even are moving the location of that computer, you will also want to back just in case anything happens and you can transfer over all your families and builds to your new PC. Backing up your save files: For Windows users: Go to My Documents. Open the Electronic Arts folder. Find The Sims 4 folder. Right-click on it and choose Copy. Go to your Desktop. Additionally, you can copy this folder to a flash drive or Cloud storage. Right-click on a free space and choose Paste. Right-click on the copied folder and choose Rename. Change the name of the folder to something you’ll remember like "Sims 4 Backup". For Mac users: Open Finder by clicking on the Finder icon on your Dock. In the Finder window navigate to your Documents folder. Open the Electronic Arts folder. Click once on The Sims 4 folder to select it. Press Command & C on your keyboard to copy the folder. Go to your Desktop. Additionally, you can copy this folder to a flash drive or Cloud storage. Right click on a free space on the desktop and click on Paste Item to paste your backup folder. Rename the folder on your desktop by clicking on it and pressing Return, then entering the new name. Change it to something you'll remember, like "Sims 4 Backup". Restoring your save files: For Windows users: Go to My Documents. Open the Electronic Arts folder. Click on The Sims 4 folder and press Delete. Confirm you want to delete the file. Empty your Recycle Bin. Go to your Desktop. Right-click on your backup folder and choose Rename. Change the folder name back to The Sims 4. Right-click on the folder and choose Copy. Go to My Documents. Open the Electronic Arts folder. Right-click on a blank space in the folder and choose Paste. For Mac users: Open Finder by clicking on the Finder icon in the Dock. In the Finder window navigate to your Documents folder. Open the Electronic Arts folder. Right click on The Sims 4 folder and select "Move to Bin" to delete it. Go to your Desktop Click on your backup folder. Press Return and change the folder name back to The Sims 4. Press Command & C on your keyboard to copy the folder. Open Finder. Open your Documents folder. Open the Electronic Arts folder. Click on a blank space in the folder and press Command & V to paste your backup folder. Once the above steps are complete and you've verified your saves are present in game, you can safely delete the backup folder on your Desktop. Restoring a “.ver” Save File: Please note that The Sims 4 automatically creates a backup of autosaves that can be found in your save directory as “.ver0”, “.ver1”, etc. as well. These can be restored via either of the following methods: Method 1: Use the in-game "Recover Save" feature: Launch The Sims 4 and select Load Game from the main menu. In the menu that appears, select the save you want to restore. Click the Recover Save button, which looks like a floppy disk icon. Choose the specific save version you want to restore and click Recover. Confirm your choice by clicking Yes. Method 2: Renaming the save file: Exit The Sims 4 completely. Navigate to your The Sims 4 saves folder. Find the file with the same name as your save, but with the “.ver” extension (e.g., “Slot_00000002.save.ver0”). Right-click the .ver file, and rename it by deleting the “.ver” at the end, so it becomes “Slot_00000002.save”. If you have multiple “.ver” files, the lower version number (eg, ver0) corresponds to the most recently created backup. Launch The Sims 4 and check your "Load Game" menu for the restored save. If you have any issues with the above processes, you can always reach out in our Technical Issues sections of The Sims forums for PC here, or for Mac here for additional assistance.
