Foggy panel icon images and stuck cars

[beardeux]

Hi.  I had a game crash (game just up and quit) the same day as the new patch 1.48.  I fully suspect the crash though.

My two mood panel character icons are foggy and the characters themselves are ok except for their hair.  It is also foggy.  It is the same as when in 'plan outfit', I often get this foggy image.  I exit and go back in, then it's ok.  Colours are fine.  However, I don't know how to fix this problem with the panel and hair.  The foggyness only seems to be in the town I was in when the game shut down.  Hoping someone can help me.

Also, since the crash, I've found so far 5 stuck vehicles in 3 different towns.  I can't get at them through edit town.  One of my characters detonated one at a neighbours house and got 4 piles of scrap and I though great!  I went to the neighbours house and the car was still there.  I went back to the detonators house and it was there again.  So that didn't work.  Can anyone tell me how to get rid of these rogue cars.

I run ErrorTrap and Overwatch.  They are not deleting these vehicles.

[MrsFlynn]

Hi Beardeux,

I've had stuck cars in my game. I play with Nrass mods - Master Controller to delete them out of the game. Reset Everything I think is what I use. I haven't played Sims 3 for a couple of months now. So that may or may not work.

Also, maybe try resetsim * -- Don't forget the asterik, as from what I understand it helps.

Hope this is helpful,

MrsFlynn

[beardeux]

Hi Mrs Flynn,  I tried the global reset - that didn't work.  Then I downloaded Master Controller.  I looked through the menus at city hall and found where to reset everything in town.  Wowwww.  18,000 and some hundreds later objects were reset.  What could they all be? The cars are gone.  Yeah!!  This town is fairly new and I can't imagine how many objects will be reset in established towns.

later - in Bridgeport I tried it again but there is a taxi still stuck in front of my sims apartment building.
Many many thank-yous.  I'll keep this mod.

Hoping there is someone out there who can help with my foggy icons in the panel.  I went into plan outfit on the dresser and changed their hair slightly.  That seemed to help the character image but not the panel images.  The other neighbourhoods don't seem to be affected.

[MrsFlynn]

Hi Beardeux,

I'm happy to hear Master Controller helped. It's helped me quite a few times. I've had to use the reset everything a couple of times or so to get a car and things reset.  It is surprising how many things get reset. It seems to help my game run smoother. I sometimes use reset everything when the game gets a little laggy. Seems to help with that too.

I'm sorry I'm not any help with the foggy icons. That problem has got me baffled. Hmm.. Have you tried using a search engine to get info on the problem? If I can't find answers here, I usually Google whatever the problem is. Sometimes that helps, and sometimes it doesn't.

MrsFlynn

[beardeux]

that's ok.  I appreciate the help with the cars.  I'll try it a 2nd time on Bridgeport and see if it will get rid of the taxi.  Do you know the haze I'm talking about?  I often see when I enter "plan outfit" on the dresser.  I have to exit and go in again.  Then the colour is ok.  I googled for it but can't find anything on it.  Maybe I don't know the right graphic term for it.  It's as if wax paper has been placed over it.  Not quite that opaque, but that's the idea.

[MrsFlynn]

I'm sorry, I don't know the haze you're talking about, we haven't experienced it.  Hubby (Flynn Arrowstarr) and I tried to see if we could re-create the problem or what-not. And we're not able to. As the portrait panel and mood icons are all okay, after using the dresser.

Hmm.. Does this happen in any of your other game saves?

MrsFlynn

[beardeux]

The panel icon problem I've never seen before and is only in the one town in which my game crashed.  All the others are fine.  The dresser issue 'plan outfit' happens frequently in every town and every house.  I go in and the image at any time I'm in there can turn hazy.  The colours are distorted and I can't determine the true colour of outfits.  I might add that only the character and outfit go hazy, not the background.  I have to exit and go in again.  Usually the 2nd time in it stays fine.  I don't believe the dresser is the cause of the portrait panel problem though.  I wasn't in the dresser when it crashed.  The wax paper analogy is the closest description I can come up with.  It seems a good one, just not so opaque as that.

[Ricalynn]

This seems a little random but when was the last time you cleared your thumbnail caches? If you did a factory reset - does it do it there too?

[beardeux]

I'm not sure what thumbnail caches are.  I clear the 4 cache.package files everytime I play.  I've never done a factory reset.

[Seabody]

Thumbnail caches are your Thumbnails folder, located at Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 > Thumbnails. Delete the whole folder, it will be recreated when the Game loads.

[beardeux]

Hi Seabody, I found and deleted the thumbnails folder and re-started the game.  There's no difference.  I never realized it before but also the main menu reference images are affected.  They're not clear and sharp.  The background of all the panels, the print and the game itself are all clear and sharp.  It's just the reference images and icons.  This seems to be an anomaly. 

[Seabody]

Are you sure your Graphics Card is up to scratch? You may need to update your drivers.

[beardeux]

yes.  I have a very good graphics computer.  Just for the sims, ya know .  It ordinarily runs very well.  No serious problems and most have been resolved with help from this site.  I keep it clean and running well.  I don't smell anything burning... (I'm snickering to myself) 

I was thinking that since this is the only town with this effect, I might just move my families , lock, stock and barrel into the library, restart the town and move them back in.  None of the other towns are affected.  They are all crisp.  It's really weird.  Maybe a new town would show up crisp.  Since this is the town the crash happened in, if I delete it, that may also fix the main menu.