Blue Plus Signs and Deleted Items Still There (Outdated Mod)

[MountainMamaMSB]

I had been having problems with my game for some time and used Delphy's Dashboard for my Mods. After 2 days work, found the problems and signed into my game properly...finally! Went to the house I had been trying to work on and when I bought and placed items...a big blue plus sign came up. Very annoying as if you filling a room with items, you soon have a room full of blue plus signs and you can't see what you're doing! When you save the game they do disappear, but buy/place...they're back again. I have posted on 2 different forums along with pictures of them as nobody has ever heard of this happening. After posting the pictures, nobody knew what do to about them. Can anybody here help me please?

Second problem: I deleted all of the Murano mirror floors because they were nothing but a nuisance in Sims 3. (Loved them in Sims 2.) But when I sign into my game, the blamed things are still there. And yes, I always delete the cache files including the DCBackup ones. Can someone please tell me where else they might be stored and how to get rid of them permanently.  Thanks!!

[MrsFlynn]

I have never come across this issue either. The first thing that comes to mind is it may be some kind of custom content/mod interference or something.

Please forgive any repeated troubleshooting steps.

Just curious, have you tried:

1. Saving the house to your library, and try loading the house in a new test game. - No need to save the test-save game. Does it fix the issue?

2. Try taking out your mods folder, clearing the game cache and try loading the house in a test-save.

3. If not it might be something is corrupt in your Sims 3 folder. Rename your current folder to Sims3Old. Open and close the game so it creates a new Sims 3 folder.

The goal of this test is to get rid of the plus signs in your house.

4. Copy your Library folder, and your option.ini file into your new Sims 3 folder.

 -- Please note your custom content and store content will not be there. -- It's okay, this is just a test.

5. Start a new test-save. Load the house from the library. How does the house look? Does it look better?

6. If so, you might want to troubleshoot the files in your mods folder by going through what custom content and mods you have.

When I've had issues with bad CC and mods, I've had to go through them in small batches, clear my game cache in-between each batch until I was finished finding what bad cc or mods I had.

 ** Searched on the issue and found the reference links below.

It may be a good idea to keep with your new Sims 3 folder, and copy in the folders and files described in the post below. As this will help get rid of all traces of outdated mod.

What Files/Folders to Add Back In
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=20732.msg401814#post_FF2AB

Try a test save, go into build/buy mode to place a few things to test if you get the plus signs. - I'm hoping not, but if you do it might be something to do with that specific house file. It's been a very long time since I've heard of a house file being corrupt, but it does happen from time to time.

------
Reference Links:

Game Help:TS3 Finding Problem Custom Content
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:TS3_Finding_Problem_Custom_Content

Custom Content - Blue + Sign Every time I put something in Build/Buy Mode??
http://modthesims.info/t/497476

[MountainMamaMSB]

I've sorted and tested my mods and got rid of all the problem ones. The one thing I didn't do I didn't do was buy/place in between the testing. When I left my game to begin this chore, I had never gotten the blue pluses. After I had cleaned out my mod files, the game was finally loading and running right so I went to my lot in progress and that's when they appeared. I had not added anything new to the mods.

In getting help, it was suggested that it was maybe just that lot. So I went to another lot that had been finished back in February and just bought a few things to see what happened. That was the second picture, so it was not the first lot that was the problem. I bought a new expansion, went to build in it, and yes...the blamed things are there now along with now I get "sparks" when I change my mind and delete something! This includes walls, floors, building stuff. Now I have a room full of blue pluses and sparks!! I'm about ready to give up.

I have always played the game in Windows 7 but my new computer of course has Windows 10. I HATE IT!!! My Sims is not the only problem I have now which makes me think the problem lies with Windows 10 for some reason. Most annoying is when I'm in my game or anything else that is entailed, my screen goes back to desktop with a little notice of "HDMI screen size 1920 x 1080". Now what purpose that serves is beyond me except to drive me crazy. I've turned of all notifications but they still pop up just the same. I never had this with Window 7 or any of the other versions. Nobody can tell me why that is happening and how to stop it.

My other question: Second problem: I deleted all of the Murano mirror floors because they were nothing but a nuisance in Sims 3. (Loved them in Sims 2.) But when I sign into my game, the blamed things are still there. And yes, I always delete the cache files including the DCBackup ones. Can someone please tell me where else they might be stored and how to get rid of them permanently.

Could you tell me where those files might be hiding? Also, is there a program that will show you what the items are that are nothing but numbers/letters? Just saying it's an "object" or Sims 3 Pack does not help me one bit.

Thanks for trying to help me!

[MountainMamaMSB]

Also...I forgot something else. I've lost my arrow for placing walls, fences, etc.. What happened to it?

[MrsFlynn]

There are files in the DCCache folder. - Contains all installed Custom Content/Exchange/Store items that you installed through the Launcher. -- \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\DCCache

If you'd like to read more about Sims 3 User Files, see Crinrict's article linked below:

User Files Explained
https://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/01/faq-user-files.html

I'm not sure where else bad files could be hiding. That's why I was suggesting to create a new Sims folder, and try a test-save, go into build/buy mode and place a few objects to see if you still have the issue.

If not, that means it may be some corrupted custom content and/or mods. Once you have gone through those a few at a time, add the mods folder back to you new Sims 3 folder and try another test save, again go into build/buy mod and place a few objects to see if the issue is still gone.

If so, Yay!!  That may mean that there was a bad or some bad files hanging around in your old folder.

It is highly suggested not to install or use the old house files in your new folder, but to rebuild those houses now that you've been able to fix the issue. Due to the house files potentially having bad CC in them.

A new Sims 3 folder might help you in getting back the arrow for placing walls, fences, etc.

There is a program called S3pe that can help you look at the files in your Library folder.
http://www.simlogical.com/s3pe.htm

I am not that familiar with it, so you might have to search on how to use it. I only know how to do a couple things with it.