Issues with Patches; have to repair game to be able to play

[Shewolf13]

Just as the title says: every patch since I would say... March, I am unable to play the game after patching.  It comes up with an error of the game files being missing.  I have tried restarting Origin, restarting the computer, clearing caches, etc, but it doesn't help.  Before I can play the game, I have to repair game.  The fact is, I CAN still play the game, but I just find it incredibly odd and a bit frustrating.  Has anyone else experienced this?  I was unable to find a bug report anywhere, then again, I am limited to my phone currently and admittedly, I can sometimes overlook things.  Just curious if anyone has a solution or has heard of it this before.

[Dellena]

Two questions:

1. Do you play with any custom content or mods?

2. Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling Origin?

[Shewolf13]

I do not play with CC or Mods and yes, have done that as well. 

[MrsFlynn]

Hi Shewolf,

I'm am not exactly sure what the problem might be, but I'm going to throw out a few guesses of what it might be.

01.) The sims 4 Cannot start because of missing or damaged data
http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/The-sims-4-Cannot-start-because-of-missing-or-damaged-data/m-p/3514993#M12236

--- If this is similar to what your experiencing, what may be of help is doing a factory reset.

Sims 4 Factory Reset (HowTo)
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,21899.msg401669.html#msg401669

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02.) Game Data Incomplete
http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/ISSUE-Game-Data-Incomplete/td-p/4472222

--- If this sounds closer to what you're experiencing, what might help:

Close the game and do not save it.
Click on the game and choose i
Scroll down till you see the expansions/game packs
Right click on the first one and choose Repair game
Repeat for all game/expansion packs
Restart the game.

----
**** Question:
Just curious, when you go to update, do you save a backup of your Sims 4 folder before you update? Then let it do it's update, Play test the game to make sure all's good. Then copy back your Sims 4 folder?

----
03.) Try a Clean Boot as this will help with stopping any other programs from interfering.

http://help.ea.com/en/article/how-to-clean-boot-your-pc/

04.) If none of the above is helpful, it might be time to uninstall/reinstall the game. As it sounds like there may be game files that are some how dammaged. - Link below will help with some uninstall/reinstall tips and a backup of the game install files.

Uninstall/Reinstall the Game
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=21899.msg401673#msg401673

Hopefully this helps,

MrsFlynn

[Shewolf13]

Thanks for all the info, Mrs. Flynn, though none of that is quite right.  What happens is, I click on the game.  It automatically updates (I do do backups before patches, just in case) and it seems to update perfectly fine.  Now, before I believe it was the March update, the update would finish and then I could click on the game and get right into it.  But now, after the update, I go to click on the game and I get the game data incomplete.  It won't even let me open the game.  The thing is, I have to do a repair game every time there's a patch.  I was just hoping to figure out why or to see if there was a way around it. 

Thanks bunches ^^

[Deklitch]

@Shewolf13 are you playing the PC or Mac version of Sims 4?

[Shewolf13]

PC version

[MrsFlynn]

If you're getting a Game Data incomplete message, then try what I had suggested above:

Close the game and do not save it.
Click on the game and choose i
Scroll down till you see the expansions/game packs
Right click on the first one and choose Repair game
Repeat for all game/expansion packs
Restart the game.

Link for reference:
Game Data Incomplete
http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/ISSUE-Game-Data-Incomplete/td-p/4472222

However, a question just popped into my head. - Do you play online or offline?

If you play online. Try playing offline to see if that helps. Also it may (?) help to deactivate Origin in-game. As that's known to cause problems when it's on.

Try playing the game in "Offline" mode -- In the Origin Client, go to the Origin Menu and select Go Offline.

Deactivate Origin In-game -- Open up Origin, Go to My Games. Click on the 'I' button next to the 'Play' button by the Sims 4 game. Then click on Game Properties. Check the box to disable Origin in Game.

*Edit*

Here's something that might be worth trying:

Run Origin with Administrator rights and then run a repair on the game (right click the Sims 4 game tile in Origin client and select 'Repair Game').

MrsFlynn

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Thanks for all the info, Mrs. Flynn, though none of that is quite right.  What happens is, I click on the game.  It automatically updates (I do do backups before patches, just in case) and it seems to update perfectly fine.  Now, before I believe it was the March update, the update would finish and then I could click on the game and get right into it.  But now, after the update, I go to click on the game and I get the game data incomplete.  It won't even let me open the game.  The thing is, I have to do a repair game every time there's a patch.  I was just hoping to figure out why or to see if there was a way around it. 

Thanks bunches ^^

[Shewolf13]

I guess I'm not clear.  I HAVE to run repair game.  That's the issue.  Once I do it, the game works.  But I have to do it after every single patch now.  I was just hoping there was a way to avoid running repair game after every patch, heh.  I do have Origin disabled for in game, though I do play online.

[dethdukk]

Hey wolf, in general if you have to repair the game after every patch, that indicates that either your base install is bad, or you're stopping the patch halfway through each time (possibly due to the computer turning off or hibernating in the middle of the patch).  I'd recommend doing a cache clear along with a full uninstall and reinstall of the game...  if you've already tried that, try a full uninstall and reinstall of origin as well.  outside of that, contact origin and see what they say....

[MrsFlynn]

I'm sorry, I'm not trying to frustrate you. *Grin* I know how it can be when the game isn't running as it should. The only other thing I can think of since you mentioned game files were missing is to do an uninstall/reinstall of the game.

I'd try playing offline to see if that helps, if you haven't tried that already?

MrsFlynn

[Shewolf13]

Yeah I tried all that the last time this happened.  I suppose I'll just have to deal with it.  Like I said, soon as I do the repair, it works perfectly, so I have no idea what the issue could be XD

@dethdukk the fact that the game works fine after the repair would seem to indicate that it isn't bad, which is why I have no idea what's wrong XD  And I'm normally right here when the patch happens.  It isn't set to sleep or hibernate at all and my connection is such that it only takes a minute or so to download and install.  So I don't think that's it.  And you aren't frustrating me, Mrs. Flynn.  I truly appreciate the help.  I just wasn't sure if I was being clear or not.

Like I said, the thing is, I can get into game right now and be perfectly fine.  It opens the game, I can play to my heart's content.  It's only after the patch downloads and then installs does it suddenly not work any longer.  Once I do repair game, it fixes it.  I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out why that is.  I've followed most of the suggestions already, if not all of them at various times. 

[MrsFlynn]

Thank you Shewolf,

I'm honestly trying to help. This has got me totally stumped. I'm not able to find anything in searching for a fix.

Have you thought of maybe reporting this as an update patch bug? - As you shouldn't be having to repair game every time you do updates.

Help Us Report Bugs On Official Forum (Where & HowTo)
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,21582.0.html

MrsFlynn

[Shewolf13]

I'll do that.  That's what I was thinking heh, but I was just curious if anyone else had had this problem, so that's why I asked.  I couldn't find it while searching either.  Thanks for the link ^^

[MrsFlynn]

You're welcome!!

If you do make a report, would you please share the link in this thread?

MrsFlynn