Hi folks! I've been a simmer since, oh gosh, SimPark, and well, here I am still, playing Sims 3. I've been a custom content hoarder since Sims 1, but I stopped playing Sims 3 after having major issues with custom content and certain basic functions not working, such as all of the Aspirations or life goals disappear in CAS, or when I change active households, my household looks as though it will change, but will not give me the control panel nor zoom to the new active household. Because of these and other varying issues, I stopped playing for about 5 months.
(I know I could play without CC, but really, why bother. The amazing content creators make Sims 3 worth playing. EA made the game, but custom content creators make the game real. Or fantastical, or medieval. They make the game amazing.)
But really, not playing Sims 3 has been tough. It is my downtime, my creative outlet at times, and these issues have really put a damper on my playing.
I was searching online for the answers to my questions about my basic issues, when I stumbled upon this site. I signed up, knowing that I am not an active Sims 3 player at this point in time, so I may not be an active member here, but I would at least look around before you guys booted me off, and I have to say I'm impressed with the amount of information housed here.
When I was playing Sims 3 regularly, I wanted to try CAW, but every time I got started, I'd just get confused and stop. But just browsing through the CAW section, I'm blown away by all the resources here.
Hopefully, I can resolve the issues I'm having with my game and I can get back to playing. I use Delphy's Sims3 Dashboard to clear out all of the problem files, but are there any other tools out there that note if there is a conflict with a new patch or game? I was given Showtime and Master Suite Stuff as a birthday gift to update my game and so I'm trying to get back into playing.
Sorry, it's such a long intro, but I'm trying to both introduce myself and find out if my Sims3 game can be fixed to a playable condition.
Welcome beambug!
I can understand your frustration just as many here will also. Delphy's Dashbord is an excellent tool to use to help keep your game free of problem cc. Another place you may want to check out is
Twallens NRaas. This guy is phenomenal when it comes to mods that make the game better and more playable. His story progression mod and master controller are 2 must haves for your game. Most player I know use at least these two mods of his. You can even use one of them to keep a family immune from Story Progression and have them stay as is when you change households. You gain so much control over your game, it is like simmie heaven for a player.
When new SP or EP come out I remove everything and play vanilla for a short bit till I get the chance to check on sites like here and MTS to see if CC was broken, which doesn't take long. Since the whole fiasco with WA, I feel that EA has made the effort to not break everything. Pets did cause issues, but that is understandable due to the nature of that EP and how pets use/reactions needed to be programmed into each object.
I hope you can get back to your game soon and once again Welcome!
Welcome to the site.:MrGreen: Hope you get back to your game soon. The people here are very helpful with just about any project I have found.
Hi Beambug! (I love your user name.) :D
:welcometocs3:
One thing that helps me when I install custom content after updating to a new patch or expansion pack is to install things a little at a time. I had the most crazy thing happen after getting Showtime. I had checked sites for updated mods but had missed one that needed to be updated. When I loaded the save file (which was just a new save game I was using for testing; this I always do after updating) the one mod that was outdated in the game caused all the sims in the neighborhood to die.
There have been times in the past when I completely re-downloaded mods, even if they didn't need updating after updating my game so I didn't run into too many issues.
That's about the goofiest thing I've ever experienced with this game. I knew which mods I'd recently installed so I knew where to start hunting to find the problem. Thanks to Twallan's Error Trap mod, I was aware of what happened. Like Sookielee said, Twallan has a lot of things that help with the game and fix issues, like sims and cars getting stuck in the neighborhood. And I too love :wub: his story progression, because it lets me decide what I want to control in a town.
It is better to use caution with custom content and TS3, however, there is a lot of custom content that works great in the game, and I find with more expansion packs, there are actually a lot better hairdos, clothing and other stuff that are quite versatile with the recolor options.
I do hope you will be able to get back into your game soon. It is a wonderful creative outlet.
:welcometocs3:
Good luck getting your game back up. I haven't heard of any utility to identify outdated mods, and I'm not sure it's possible to write one. But there is one thing you do need to be aware of: any object made before the 1.29 patch (just before Pets) needs to be updated unless you stopped patching at 1.24. (In which case anything new won't work.) A lot of them have already been updated, and there is a tool to easily fix anything yourself. That isn't going to be as game-breaking as what you have been experiencing, but it's an annoyance that you need to be aware of.
The base game of The Sims 3 might have a sims 2 style aging, but if not you could 1. Awesome Mod, 2. Aging off keep track of days sims been played than testingcheatsenabled true and age 'em up, or 3. Stick with sims 3 style aging. Also, no story progression and no aging/sims 2 aging will allow you're unplayed families to not get all messed. Twallens NRAAS StoryProgression mod is really good too. You are in more control of what can be controlled with that mod :D
Thanks you guys for all the tips and the warm welcome. I've removed all my CC and have been adding it back a little at a time, and I'm definitely heading over to Twallan's to look for more help. I've used one or two of his products before, like the save reminder because I used to get Error 12 and 13 all the time. I plan on getting back into playing ASAP, because I sure do miss it.
It's good to know you're getting things back together. Good luck! I have previously suffered from those error codes as well. This game has been a big pain sometimes.
Quote:EA made the game, but custom content creators make the game real. Or fantastical, or medieval. They make the game amazing.
Isn't that the truth? So many people would lose interest in Sims game if it weren't for great CC. I use much less now than I did for previous games mainly because of the design tool but I don't buy much from the EA store and I don't have any stuff packs, just expansions (some of which aren't installed) so I still feel the need to fill a few gaps with CC. For example, that huge aquarium that came with High End Loft Stuff? I don't have HELS but I DO have a custom aquarium in my game that works perfectly. Then I have a mod that allows it to hold more than six fish. And then I have a Sim who had a tank with a few koi in it because koi are so beautiful and one day I looked at the tank and I was thinking, "Where did all those fish come from? I KNOW I had taken out all but six or eight" and I got to checking, and the fish had been breeding! :bounce:
Okay, okay, got to shut up about this, it's making me want to play. I haven't touched my game in weeks because of one thing or another and I've too much to do to go there right now.
Like Tontrin, I also pull everything out of my game after installing an expansion pack or update. I usually don't install anything right away so by the time I get around to it there are usually updated versions available.
Well, I finally found the trouble file, after spending most of my 5 days of vacation working on my game, and dealing with real life. So I'm back to playing. Except that there is this one file in my game, a fridge, and when I click it, it causes my game to crash. Not such a big deal except I keep forgetting that it crashes everything and I click it. Now I'm working on finding out what it belongs to and removing it. But I'm so glad to be back to simming so I'm leaving now to enjoy! Have fun folks!
I can't count the hours I've spent tracking down problems with the sims games. It's good to hear you found the worst problem. Good luck with the fridge problem.
Quote:Except that there is this one file in my game, a fridge, and when I click it, it causes my game to crash.
Ooh, that sounds so familiar!
I haven't had that happen with TS3 but oh so many times with the original game and 2 get hold of something that just wasn't happy in my game, and *boom*! Remember the SimCat programs Paladin made? Those came in soooo handy with tracking down that kind of thing!
Welcome BeamBug. This is a truly great site and the Dashboard is a good program for checking compatibility with add on's, I use it all the time and, I also use it to check my creations before uploading them to this site. O-Decaff