Got arrested - the game went missing

[MineHS]

Hi guys

I recently installed University Life, and was just getting settled at the university when I got arrested for tagging a wall. This had happened before without any drama. So, my sim gets in the police car and poof, he disappears along with his face icon thing, and I can't press the skills, backpack, mood or anything. It's just stuck and when I try to locate the sim, it doesn't do anything. I took some screenshots, because it is kind of hard to explain, but I don't know how to add them to this post.

The build/buy icons go dark and i can't press them. The same thing with the floor up/floor down button. I can press the town button and the find my sim button, but nothing happens at the last one.

So I tried quitting the game and restarting, but I saved the game before quitting (that was stupid). When it opened again at the starter screen where you pick which family you want to play, the family icon was blank with just a dashed outline of a family. When it reentered the University town it was the same as when I quit, but now the right side of the panel wouldn't open, and the vertical mood thing in the middle had turned a strange turquoise color.. The time is still passing, but there are no people in the town or any sim to control. I had one sim in university and three others back home, so I'm pretty bummed about this.

I really hope this is something you have seen before, or you have some ideas for what might have happened. I apologize for the bad writing - english is not my native language.

Thank you in advance!

Mine

[Wai]

You should have a .backup copy of your file in the saves folder, under documents - electronic arts - The Sims 3, if you had saved your game previous to the last save.  Rename the file with .sims3 this will at least get you back some of your game progress.

I think we have all made the mistake of playing for ages without saving and of overwriting our only file with a broken game.  I know I have.  Try to get into the habit of saving regularly using "save as" to keeping several previous game saves available that way.

Sorry, I don't have university so, I don't know if there is any way to recover your lost sim and his family.   

[MineHS]

Thank you very much! I will try that

[Pam]

Welcome to our Forum, MineHS.

Just adding to what Wai said, here is a link to a thread that explains the process of restoring a backup file in more detail.

[MineHS]

Thank you Pam.

But i have one more question for this. When I copy the .sims3 and the .sims3.backup file I get two new folder called .sims3 copy and sims3.backup copy. Then I delete the two old ones and then what? I still have two folders, but it says in this post you sent me, that I should rename the .backup - but then I have two .backup folders? I don't think I understand.

[Angélique]

Hi Mine

You should copy all your Saves to someplace else, for instance a USB memory stick or an external hard drive. If you do that they'll be safe if anything bad happens to the one you're currently playing. You're not supposed to copy them to the same folder where they already are. There's no point in having duplicates there.

And this thing with replacing the non functioning .sims3 folder with the .sims3.backup, it's quite easy once you get the hang of it. Just remove the .sims3 folder from the Saves folder, and after that remove the word "backup" from .sims3.backup. That's all you have to do. Next time when you start the game and come to the main menu, you will be able to choose the former .sims3.backup save file to play with. Hopefully it will work better than the original .sims3 save file.

The important thing here is that as soon as you add something at the end of any .sims3 folder, the game will not see it anymore, and therefore can't use it. That's why you have to rename it to make the game see it and be able to use it.

And finally, you don't have to apologize for your writing, Mine! It's not bad at all, it's really good.

[MineHS]

Thank you Angélique. I did everything that you described, but still it's the same. There is still just an outline of a family and none of the panels are working. I don't know what more I can do, and I think the game is lost. I tossed the original .sims3 file, made a new folder for the Saves and renamed the .backup folder, but nothing changed in the game.
Thing is, I actually saved my game quite often, and when it went wrong the other day it never crashed but just kept going without a playable sim. I find it vey strange and it has never happened to me before.

Nevertheless, thank you for your help :-)