Harvesting error...

[rklesc]

I have just installed World Adventures for the first time... I know, late bloomer in life... and have enjoyed the new features, particularly the new skills. I am an avid gardener, cook and fisherman and have enjoyed countless hours perfecting various approaches to these skills and looked forward to the new fruits in World Adventure to try my hand at the nectar skill. Unfortunately, whenever I tried to harvest "wild" plants in France and Egypt (haven't tried in China as yet) I get bounced back to the starting point where the message board is located. The grapes and cherries from the one plant appears in my inventory but I am returned and unable to harvest the rest of what I had come across in the wild. Any clues as to why this may be happening? Is this another one of EA's failures or has something gone wrong with my download and installation.

Everything else seems to be working fine... opps, one exception, my sound has gone weird on me as well as I can no longer hear my Sim converse and the music sounds as though it has been limited to a single channel. But that's a topic for another thread I guess, unless they are related in some way.

[Pam]

Welcome to our Forum, rklesc.

What you describe with your plants in vacation locations is a new one for me.  Have you tried harvesting with a different Sim or in a different game file?  If it works fine in a different file, then you've just got a corrupted file and it's not likely anything wrong with your game overall.  Same with the music issue.  Check to see if it does the same thing in another file.  If you still have these problems, we'll move your topic to the Technical Help thread and see if you can get some help there.  Good luck!

[rklesc]

I just downloaded and installed on Sunday, so this is my first instance playing with the new expansion. I did, however, continue with an existing Sim, so you may be on to something here. Hate to give up my developed Sim and start over, but will start a Sim and see if the issues clear. If so, then I'll have to say good bye to Lez Bee-Ann. Thanks for the heads up. Will report back when I try tonight.

[Wai]

This bug has been around since the issue of the first patch for Supernatural.  SN introduced a collection journal and plants is the last page of the journal.  I understand the if you buy and install SN the proplem is rectified.  I do not, and will not, have SN. (I simply do not want the main content of this EP).  So I have had to try to find a workround.  (I believe there are third party mods which fix the problem, but, I never use mods, so can't tell you any more about that method of fixing the problem.)

I have not found a complete workaround, but, I have worked out how to have your sim able to harvest at home and in one other location if that is of any help to you.

Start your new sim or sim family.  Whatever you do, do not allow the sim to collect anything or buy anything collectable in their home town until after the sim has been abroad.  Decide which location you want the sim to harvest in.  I usually choose France as there are a lot of harvestables there and I like to make nectar once I have built a vacation home.

Go on vacation (I usually take the 3 day minimum vaction on the first sim day of play.) The first thing to do when you arrive at the destination is to harvest something.  It does not matter if you scrump from someones garden or plunder a community lot, just so long as you harvest one plant.  This will initialise your collection journal and you will get a "plants" page for that town.

Unfortubately, the other two towns will never get a complete "plants" page and you will continue to have the problem in those towns.

If your sim family contains 3 adult (or teenage) sims, you could send each to a different location and have the abilty for one family member to harvest in each town, though, I do not bother with this prefering my sims to be able to harvet collectively.  Sadly, child sims are a problem as you cannot allow them to collect anything until they have aged up to teen and travelled to their chosen harvest town if you want them to be able to harvest while on vacation.

I am afraid that Lez Bee-Ann will never be able to harvest abroad unless you buy and install SN or find a mod. Or, of course, EA fixes the bug!

[rklesc]

@Pam... thanks again the heads-up. Starting a new game resolved the harvesting issue. Apparently, continuing a game after the expansion install must have corrupted the game in some way. The harvesting gods are now placated and a new Lez Bee-Ann has started down the trail to recapture her perfect garden along with a flock of mastered skills.

Unfortunately, my sound is still glitchy, but then it has been off and on for many weeks. It comes and goes. Generally a restart will re-enable the sound mix. Maybe its one of the mods I have that tampers with one of the sound files. I'll need to spend some time to investigate, when the polish of a new expansion wears thin... perhaps a few weeks from now...

Again, thanks for the heads-up.

@Wai... not sure of the issue you mentioned regarding the harvesting page. I haven't been playing World Adventures long enough to encounter anything you described.

I also find nothing interesting or redeeming concerning Supernatural. I only have Ambitions and now World Adventure (along with three of the stuff packages... I found them on sale) and haven't decided if there is another expansion I want to install. Pets seems interesting, but the polish is still shining bright on WA and will continue, I assume, for several weeks.

[rklesc]

Based on Pan's initial comment above, I started a new character and immediately sent her off to France to harvest to check if the problem stemmed from a corrupted game. She was able to harvest several plants consecutively and believed the problem was solved with a new start.

I restarted the game with another new character and developed her to a point when I received a message to deliver one of my banned books to China. While there, she tried to harvest and once again was reset to the base camp. Most frustrating. I now have a better understanding of what Wai had mentioned above.

I guess I will abandon all hopes of harvesting on a regular basis while abroad except for what I absolutely need to grow back home - and live with the reset issue, unless someone has a workaround. Since I have already restarted, I will not follow Wai's suggestion until I start another new game/character.

[Wai]

rklesc,

I have been working on finding a solution to this for some time as I think it is unlikely that EA will fix it now they have fixed it for customers who have SN.

I am sure there is a solution, and think I might be close, but, I need some help from one, or more, of the computer whiz-kids here.

I posted a request for help in the Technical thread a couple of days ago.  Sadly, no one has yet read my request, so I have abandoned hope of getting help with this.  I will continue my experiments, but, don't hope for an answer from me anytime soon.

[rklesc]

Good luck with your study. I did find a thread on the Sims 3 forum site from someone. sad to say I don't have the original link, but I did copy and paste the text to an email and sent it to myself... I do that a lot. This is what he had mentioned...

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

I might have found a way for folks without Supernatural installed to continue growing plants.

In your Options.ini file, set the following:

enablelunarcycle = 0
enablelunarphase = 0
lunarphaselength = 0

These all have to do with moon phase effects which apparently influence fungal growth. By turning them off the game no longer tries to evaluate their effect on plants, and this seems to set them on the proper plant-based track.

I hadn't noticed an improvement after the release of Seasons so I don't think I'm seeing the effects of a corrective patch, but I could be wrong. Anyway, if you're still having problems with plants, tear them all up, replant them after changing these configs, and see what happens.

Happy simulating...

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With the long weekend coming, I'll try this and see what happens. In another thread he mentions that it was working for him and another reader posted that it was working for her as well... fingers crossed, along with eyes and a few toes.

Cheers...

[sunshine_2406]

I have been working on finding a solution to this for some time as I think it is unlikely that EA will fix it now they have fixed it for customers who have SN.

This doesn't seem to be the case it seems. I have SN, and in my game file I sent my family off to China to their vacation home, but my Gardener cannot harvest plants without being reset this is a new problem for me. I have all expansion packs as well.

[Wai]

I might have found a way for folks without Supernatural installed to continue growing plants.

Thank you, ridesc, This looks like a much simpler solution than the one I have been working on.  If it works.

I am looking forward to trying it.  But, It is going to have to wait a while.  It is after 3a.m. here and I am just going to finish my lemon and honey, down two paracetomol then me and my cold are going back to bed.

[rklesc]

Hope you feel better real soon.

[Laurencius]

Does the sim that resets when harvesting have the Gatherer trait? My sims with the gatherer trait would reset constantly while harvesting on my home lot. I had to switch out that trait to get it fixed.

[rklesc]

I have never tried the gatherer trait. I have no problem harvesting at home, only when traveling. A new, clean Sim can harvest in one foreign land (did not try taking her to a different locale) and could harvest at home. But once my new Sim harvested first at home, she could not harvest anywhere else.