Sims 3 - Stuck in Build/Buy Mode

[Pam]

I'm trying to add a floor to a house and I'm getting stuck in Build/Buy Mode.  I got some things done, no problem, but at some point it won't let me leave Build/Buy Mode to go back to Live Mode.  That, in turn, means I can't save what I've done.  When I click the Live Mode button, the cursor just spins until I finally force the game down with the Task Manager.  I've restarted the game and my computer several times, but it's not improving.  Before, I could at least get a couple of things done before it froze up, but now it's doing it every time I leave Live Mode.  Anyone have any ideas about this?

[samoht04]

That just happened to me! I spent hours making a house, finished, left build mode. It does what you described... They should let you save in build mode not just live.

[Meurix]

Try saving the game under a different name.

[LlamaMama]

@Meurix: the point is they can't save because that requires Live mode and they can't get there.

[Meurix]

Ah... I thought you can.

[Esther1981]

Ah... I thought you can.

Unfortunately not. This has happened to me before. All I could do is force shut down with task manager. I wish they would make a patch for it! For now all I think we can do is cross and our fingers and say please please please when we hit live!

[Naga]

You could try using testingcheatsenabled to shift+click the lot and Buy/Build. It's not a certain fix but it is worth a shot. Also, you could try using F1, F2 and F3 instead of the mode buttons... How that would help? I have no idea.

[samoht04]

It probably wouldn't the whole game crashes and you have to Task Manager the sims away.

[Meurix]

Try going to C:\Documents and Settings\User\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves and rename the folder that has the name of your save (e.g: rename "Sunset Valley.sims3" to "Meurix.sims3" (without the ")).
I'm not sure if it'll work so make sure you backup the folder.

[Leto85]

Just to be sure, save every hour. I remember Swede mentions somewhere else to restart the whole game every two hours, but I highly recommend that you would do something similair with the save function.
Mja, or you should backup your save file and reinstall the whole game... The more expansions you have, the more time consuming and therefore less nicer this option become.

[Pam]

I've got some good information.  First of all, it seems that it's only Build Mode that gets stuck.  I didn't have any trouble coming out of Buy Mode back into Live Mode. 

Second, I did a "Save As" and added a B to the name of the file.  When I tried Build Mode in the B game, I was able to come back to Live Mode with no problem.  So, try that and see if it helps.

Also, I moved this topic to the Technical Help thread, which is where I should have put it in the first place. 

[Chiand1half]

I want to post this here because this is the first thing that comes up in google when I searched "SIMS 3 STUCK IN BUILD BUY MODE CAN'T SAVE" (Lol)

So this happened to me- but I figured it out!! One of the few things you can still do is hit "Edit town" And from there I saved once, twice, once again and quit... Reboot, restart... and it saved my house down to the very last bit!  I am freaking out but I am glad it worked. Success ♥

[Nagafixdmahchit]

I had a similar issue... I went to modify an owned property downtown and in doing so got stuck between modes, I.E. could not click any of the mode buttons, could not save or edit anything.... basically could only move the camera around town and bring up the main menu to quit with no option to save. NAGA your the man, F1 is the only thing that got me outta this mode, saved me about 8 hours of playing time without saving. THANK you sir, I searched many forums and your the only person that even mentioned F1-F3 for possible mode swap! F1 IS WIN!

[Seabody]

Assuming you're in any build mode where F1 will take you to Edit Town, try Pressing "..." then, press "Edit Town". That worked for me when my game did this.

[hendersonphoto]

None of the suggestions here worked and I was about to break something before Ctrl+Alt+Del and force quitting the game.
I then noticed the little pause button in the top, right corner. Clicked it and the game returned to Live mode...
All is good now.