Lost Game after traveling...

[theglahns]

I was returning home from Egypt and after loading it took me to the edit town screen? I quickly exited without saving and now the save game comes up under the original save name but it doesn't show the icons for the house or sim, its the "create" logos and takes me to the edit now... Any ideas??? Can I get back to a previous save game file if I haven't manually created a back up?

[Saltypaws]

I just had something like this happen today and I did get my game back.  I went into my documents and went into the saved game file.  All I did was copy the backup file of that game onto my desktop.  I rightclicked on that file and deleted "backup" at the end of the name so it looked like the orignal file name.  Example, file name "Longview - Gillespie.sims3". I then moved that file back into my saved folder and my game was back.  I realized the backup folder is very important.  What happened to me, is that I finally experienced the vanishing sims on vacation problem, only, dummy me, I saved it instead of just turning off my computer, so when I went back into my game, I had the same thing you did, a blank icon in my menu and I lost the family.  I am glad I got them back, because they were both getting read to max out their lifetime wish.  I didn't realize the backup was a previous save from the last save you made.  I know this is not really a new trick and we do have a thread on this also.


This is the same way of doing what I just said, probably is explained better, but my file was not corrupted, just stupid me saved when I was not suppose to.  You might have to do some things over, but it is better than losing a game altogether.

http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=6.0

[Pam]

Welcome to our Forum, theglahns.

Yes, your best bet is to try recovering the backup save file, either the way Salty described or by using the instructions on the link she provides.  Also, just so you know, traveling is known to be quite buggy at times, so always be sure to save right before your family leaves for vacation.  It's also a good idea to have multiple copies of your file by using "Save As" and giving it different names, such as Game Name A, Game Name B, Game Name C, etc.