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!
Dreamy Kits and Updates!
Update: 12/2/2025 PC: 1.120.117.1030 / Mac: 1.120.117.1230 Console: Version 2.25 Sul Sul Simmers! This update brings a variety of top community reported bug fixes and improvements across the base game, plus new furniture swatches and quality-of-life fixes for your Sims. We're also excited to announce a new Creator Kit coming soon called Prairie Dreams by Miiko! Read below for one more exciting update coming to The Sims 4. For the most up-to-date information, please follow @TheSims, @TheSimsDirect, join The Sims Discord, or visit EA Forums to share any issues, as this is our primary source of information for troubleshooting and gathering information on player issues. Happy Simming! -The Sims 4 Team What’s New? Upcoming Kits The Sims 4 SpongeBob’s House Kit and The Sims 4 SpongeBob Kids Room Kit will be available for purchase on December 4, 2025. The Sims 4 Bikini Bottom Bundle, featuring both kits and three exclusive SpongeBob SquarePants items: the Goofy Goober Guitar, Conch Street Aquarium and The Flying Dutchman’s Jungle Gym. Please note, in order to receive these exclusive items, you must purchase The Bikini Bottom Bundle. The bundle is available December 4, 2025 through March 3, 2026. Upcoming Creator Kit Our work with incredible community creators continues with a new Creator Kit collaboration. Coming this month: Prairie Dreams by Miiko, arriving on December 11, 2025. Bug Fixes It wouldn't be the patch notes without a few bug fixes! The following fixes are part of our continued commitment to regularly fix top voted community issues. Today we’re shipping improvements to smooth out unexpected behaviors, tidy up some long-standing quirks, and keep your Sims running just a bit more predictably. Thanks for all of your continued reports; your feedback is instrumental to our work. Base Game [EA Forums] Child, Teen, Young Adult, Adult, and Elder Sims will once again no longer have clothing visible under their privacy mosaic. 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. [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] 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 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 Pack 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. Multiple Packs [EA Forums] We fixed an instance of Save Corruption that was resulting in Error Code 109:4fe45107:239aa048. In the save we received, there was a Clone Sim that had a Household status set incorrectly 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 the game. If this error happens in other ways, new save files shared with us will be beneficial in uncovering the cause. (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. (Base Game, City Living) [EA Forums] The Police Station, Foxbury Commons, and other work computers are now fixable after they’ve broken. (Get to Work, University, and 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) City Living [EA Forums] Sims in the Social Media Career will now automatically meet their Coworkers so that they can perform certain Work From Home tasks. This fix will only occur on fresh saves. 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 autonomously explore the PooHoo Bush to every 3 days. Doing this causes them to get sick and it was previously happening too frequently. Sims will no longer receive a text from their Pet about missing curfew. Seasons [EA Forums] Sims are now able to travel between World/Lots without the Seasons screen popping up. [EA Forums] Children and Teens can now donate on a Computer when in the Scouts Afterschool Activity. 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 1 hour 30 minutes (in-game time) afterwards to allow the player time to select it. Cottage Living Added a shadow to the Cottage Living pack icon. High School Years [EA Forums] The Corndog food object is no longer using a block model (which appeared as invisible in Live Mode). This also fixes the related issue where it didn’t appear in preview UI images. Growing Together [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. For Rent [EA Forums] Lines will no longer appear on Sims’ arms while wearing either the shirts (yfTop_EP15StackedPocketShirt or ymTop_EP15StackedPocketShirt) if nails are also equipped. Lovestruck [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. Life & Death [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. [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 Sims 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 in the Reaper Career. Businesses & Hobbies [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. [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 Adventure Awaits [EA Forums] Pre-made Custom venues will now display and execute their pre-made schedules. This means when you load into a pre-made 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 changes. This is fixed in existing saves so long as the venue’s schedule hasn’t been edited already by the player. This doesn’t fully address the EA Forums thread, which mentions “Custom Venues not saving roles” but makes substantial progress towards the goal of fixing it fully. [EA Forums] The jacket (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. The jacket (ymTop_EP20FleeceCurve) was missing fashion choice tags. These have been added. Vampires Non-Vampire Sims will no longer autonomously eat Plasma Fruit Salad. Realm of Magic [EA Forums] All variant textures display the logo of the bottle properly on the Classic Apothecary Cabinet. 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 The Terrified and Scared Emotions are now available in Sim Stats. Greenhouse Haven The AirCycler fan will no longer disappear when viewed from a different floor than the floor the player is currently on. Autumn Apparel [EA Forums] Fingernails will no longer clip through the gloves (yfAcc_GlovesSP69Leather asset).
