Saving Homes & Sims

[rebelizdav]

Okay, here's what has happened. And I confess to not suspecting anything much less knowing anything. In my first game, my sim and I worked really hard to have a good life...well, she worked and I spent. But we were very happy none the less. We had our little home just the way we wanted it.







Then that cruel Grim Reaper came and broke up the partnership.



At that point, I started a new game by creating a new sim. Much to my surprise when it came time to find a place to live, my old home was still there intact. Just the way I had left it. I didn't have the option to buy it though because, I assume, it was more money than I had to spend. So I bought a lot and built a simple house on it for my new sim. As it turns out, I really disliked the new sim I created. So I thought, okay, I'll start a third game, create a more agreeable partner and then just delete the second game and go on from there. Well, my lovely little house didn't show back up in the third installment. The property was back to the shambles I had bought in the first game. I can see all of my created sims including the one who died in the section called "Show Households". There was a button there that was labeled "Place Copy" but I didn't understand what that was for so I didn't. I also don't understand how to save a house I've built in the game using the build menu nor how to plop that structure into a new game. Anyway, is it possible for me to recover the house I built in game one and insert it into game three? And why is my first character still listed in the Households menu if she is no longer with us? Thanks in advance for any clues you can provide the clueless.

[LaB]

If you start a new game from the main menu your house won't be there because you're starting afresh. (Someone might know if you can save it). If your already in a game and go into edit town and want to move in a family from the list or create a sim then your house should still be there, your just altering the town. If you've deleted a sim or sims from the main menu they will still be there in move in household and you can delete them in there. The "place copy" is ok, once a sim has died you can play that sim again and again. It just places a copy of that sim or family to where you have chosen.

I really hope something has helped.   

[Pam]

Hi rebelizdav!

There's a great deal of information to learn about this aspect of the game.  First, I don't know why your first house showed up in your second game.  If you started a whole new game from the beginning, it would be a separate game file and should have nothing but the original town.  However, I've never had my one and only Sim die and end the game.  What happened when she died?  Did you get an option to create a new Sim from that point?  Or was the game just finished and done?

When you start a brand new game and create a new Sim, a copy of that Sim goes to the library and is available for you to play again if you choose.  Or you can place your previously created Sim(s) somewhere else in town and let her be around without playing her.  This is done through Edit Town once you start a game.

You can save a copy of your house through Edit Town, also.  Once you're in Edit Town, click on the lot.  Then click on the Save to Library button.  This will let you save the household with the house to the library and, again, it will be available to you in another game.

There's probably a way to save just the house, but I'm not clear on how to do it, so I'll let someone address that part with you.

I hope this is helpful and not too confusing. 

[Abyshep]

Hey Rebelizdav,

From what you've described I think you have done this:
Played Sim 1, she died. You played Sim 2 but didn’t like her. I think you did this all in one game file. I then think that you started a new game (from the main menu) and played Sim 3. Sorry to spell it out again but I want to make sure that I know where you are coming from.  That would certainly explain why the house was the same for your second Sim but different for the third.

If you did that, then the solution is fairly simple. Go into your first game and enter Edit Town mode. On the menu portal, bottom left you have an option to build etc homes within the town. You can then select your nice house and save a copy to the library.

This house is then saved and you can use it in any of your games after that.

The same thing happens with your Sim. The Sim that you create in Create a Sim at the beginning of your game is saved in the library and you can place a copy of her into any game that you like.

I hope that helps. If this isn't what happened please reply and I'm sure I or others can help.  Sorry to be a bit vague about instructions but I’m working from memory as I’m away from my Sims for right now. I’ll check later and confirm.

Cheers

AbyShep

[rebelizdav]

Thank you all so much! I am not sure what happened between game #1 and game #2. As I recall, when my first sim died I couldn't do anything else in the game. At that point either a message window popped up asking if I wanted to create a new sim and start a new game or I went to the menu and did it that way. I just don't remember. The third game I did go into the start a new game menu. Anyway, your suggestions worked. I was able to go into the second game and save a copy of my house. I then copied it into my third game and all is well again. Thanks! One more question though. I recolored an object in the game with the create a style panel. How do I save that style out? I didn't see a save button to do that though I am sure it's there somewhere.

[Pam]

Your new question is off topic now, but I'll go ahead and answer.  When you recolor and want to save that swatch for other things, you can save it in the category where it resides (fabrics, geometric, abstract, etc.) by using the folder icon below the other swatches and you can also put it in your Favorites category.  There's a button for that, too.  You can also save the color on the object by using the folder icon below the images of the item on the left.  All this will save the color, pattern, and item for the next time you want to use them.

For other questions, please search for the topic in the forum and add your question, or start a new topic if one doesn't already exist.  We just want to keep all the topics and information organized so that anyone can search and find all the relevant information.  Thanks! 

[rebelizdav]

Thank you. Sorry about drifting off topic. I wasn't thinking.

[Pam]

No worries.  Thanks for understanding! 

[judew]

I [think] this is still on topic. I have downloaded a new "world" but it has no sims population. I'd like to add households and empty houses to it. Is there a way that I can "save" this new world so I don't have to repopulate it every time I want to play it? Thanks for your help.

[Pam]

Hi judew and welcome to our Forum!

We have a thread about other worlds that already has a lot of information on it.  Try going there and if you don't find what you need, go ahead and post your question on that thread.  Thanks!

http://www.carls-sims-3-forum.com/index.php/topic,1075.0.html