Super-Stuck Sims - advanced help please.

[Slingsby]

Here's a really tricky problem, and I'd be grateful for any advice.  The story so far ....

Normal day, and 2 Sims from the same family were at work at the Science Facility when the game suddenly dropped ALL activities from all 6 Sims in the family, including those at home.  I looked at the Science Facility, and all the occupants were standing outside ... actually, Wilhemina had 2 co-workers sharing the same spot as her, and Doris had one, and the bodies were all superimposed  Both Sims refused to accept any actions [like "Work", "Go Here" or anything at all].

OK ... Plan A, we all know what to do.  "resetSim xxxxx xxxxx".  No, that didn't work.  So I used that command on the co-workers that were sharing the same spot [their bodies were all mixed up together, but I could click on the odd protruding leg/arm]. That worked for resetting the co-workers, but I was still left with my 2 Sims standing there refusing to take any commands, including resetSim!

OK ... Plan B.  Use the family Teleporter to "Go Home".  Ooops, no luck there either.

Hmmm ... Plan C.  Use "testingcheatsenable true" and click on open patch of ground for instant teleporting.  Ouch, that doesn't work either.

I now have these 2 Sims just stood outside the building, doing nothing apart from occasionally fidgeting, and refusing to take ANY commands at all.  The rest of the family [on the home lot] aer just fine. 
Are there any other tricks/solutions I've missed?


Incidentally, the problem of resetting the rabbit-hole building with everyone stood outside has happened to me before ... when a Business-career Sim went to "Hold Meeting" at the school when the daughter was in class.  On that occasion everyone stood outside in neat straight lines, so re-tasking everyone was not a problem.  BUT ... does the game not like 2 Sims from the family being in the same rabbit-hole at the same time?

[Wevee]

This has happened to me several times, if the resetting doesn't work almost immediately, I usually try to copy the family/house in edit town mode.  You don't have to replace them or anything, but the action of copying resets the actions of everyone (in your household) in town.  That typically resets everything BUT ... if the save game is corrupted, which is usually the case if resetting doesn't work, you might not be able to get into edit town mode, the main frame of the game will disappear and you will be able to move the camera around almost like making a movie.  If that is the case, you might be better off going to the backed up save game.

When this happens this badly to me, before I try going back a save game, I look around the town and find clustered Sims around entrances and attempt to reset all of them first, it works about 1 in 5 times, but might be worth the attempt depending on how long ago your last save game is.

If I could suggest, After getting into the old save game, if you have to use it, make a copy of the household right away, you could even try starting a new game and replacing the household, as what corrupted the game may happen again anyways.

I am by no means an expert on troubleshooting this game, but this is what has worked for me, If someone has a better suggestion I would also be interrested as I have 2 or 3 that are just so corrupted that I can't even play them anymore.


This only usually happens to me when I either have age turned off or at extreme length and the town starts to get very congested, plenty of new kids with no elders passing on, and happens around week 10-12.  The whole thing is so much worse now with all the paparazzi running around.

[Slingsby]

Thanks, Weeve.  I'm glad someone else has had the same problem [not really, but you know what I mean!].

Follow-up questions/comments ...

1.  I managed to get into "Edit Town" [at least, part-way there before I realized it wouldn't have any Sims visible to move!!].  I'll try that again.

2.  I am assuming the copy of the household goes into the 'Library' ... the original family/house still stays where it is.

3.  Interesting point on aging, and the increasing population.  We had been running with aging off, although we're now back to normal lifespan.  However, we don't have NL [just WA and AMB] so the population issue may be less critical.

Time for some testing ... thanks again.

[Pam]

@Slingsby:

What happens when you exit the game and restart?  Are they still stuck at the Science Center?

[Slingsby]

@Slingsby:

What happens when you exit the game and restart?  Are they still stuck at the Science Center?

Good morning, Pam.  They were the last time ... I'm just about to launch the game.  I'll report back in 30 minutes!

[Slingsby]

Yikes!!  After the typical 15 minutes to load the game, I now have the following situation ...

Sim No 1 still stuck at the Science Lab!
Sim No 2 has been deleted from the family, along with 2 other family members!

= Wipe-out major legacy family, only 3 out of 6 survived and one of those is still stuck!!


However, I have a solution which will only work for some people.  I use a Mac, with the Time Machine back-up drive that stores files hourly/daily/weekly until the drive is full [and then deletes oldest].  I guess I'll just go back in 'real time' to last week, get the old game file and paste over the current one.

Back in an hour or so .... 

[Pam]

Good luck with the recovery!  Sounds like you've got a badly corrupted file.

[Slingsby]

YESSSS 

Thank you, Apple Time Machine!
Thank you, Weeve!

So ... I got the game file of 2 Dec from the backup system, and over-wrote the current one.  That at least gave me the family of 6, although both Sims were still stuck. I could have gone back a bit further in real time, I hadn't realised how long ago this actually happened.  However, Weeve's "Copy Household" in "Edit Town" then did the trick ... they're un-stuck and heading for home 

Which still leaves that interesting question ... does the game not like having 2 family members working in the same rabbit-hole building?

Thanks again, Weeve ... you're a STAR!

[Wevee]

Glad to help, I have gotten a lot of practice on it  

I just ran into it again on my latest and favorite family.  Just about every game I play now gets corrupted within 10 weeks, and this last time it was after saving and moving the family.  I think I am going to have to do a complete reinstall, as I have tried everything else I can think of and the same thing ends up happening.

I'm sure everyone knows this but, it's always worth reminding, saving a lot is great, but also "Save As.."  is almost even more important, getting the multiple back ups can save some frustration.

[Wevee]

Thanks, Weeve.  I'm glad someone else has had the same problem [not really, but you know what I mean!].

Follow-up questions/comments ...

1.  I managed to get into "Edit Town" [at least, part-way there before I realised it wouldn't have any Sims visible to move!!].  I'll try that again.

2.  I am assuming the copy of the household goes into the 'Library' ... the original family/house still stays where it is.

3.  Interesting point on ageing, and the increasing population.  We had been running with ageing off, although we're now back to normal lifespan.  However, we don't have NL [just WA and AMB] so the population issue may be less crtical.

Time for some testing ... thanks again.

2. That is correct, if, for example, you were to create a new game, the copied family/house would be under the "Move In Household" tab

3. That's an interesting point.  I installed LN and AMB at the same time, I played the base and WA for ages before getting both of the others at LN's release.  I never had this type of problem before and hadn't been able to track which expansion might have caused the problem.  To be honest also, I really didn't want to take the time and uninstall and play for a bit.  I think I will have to completely uninstall all and clean everything out and restart.

As a side note, I never run with custom content, although I may chose to use Riverview this time around because almost all of my corrupted games are in Sunset Valley.

[Slingsby]

ooops , mis-spelled Weevee!  And thanks for the last input.

It takes me back to the days of TS1 and TS2, where we spent as much time addressing technical problems as we did playing game!!  To be fair, they were full of [don't tell Pam] CC, but absolutely nothing these days apart from a few bits of free stuff from the EA Store  

Anyway, this afternoon ended up in another household with stuck Sims ... one would reset, the other one wouldn't.  I shall restore the Hotspur household to yesterday's state later [thank you, Apple!]. Then, probably, a complete reload of the game.

[Slingsby]

Must try that "Save As" option ... I'm sure I can manage that! 

[Slingsby]

Apologies to regenerating an old-ish thread, but having had a skip of instability trouble with the Beckmann Family [that's Dave and Vicky, of course] the OH suddenly noticed, in Map View at Bridgeport, a 'spare green plumb-bob'.

Yes, Vicky Beckmann has bipolar disorder.  One of her is still down in the Simerset Station, playing guitar for tips.  the other one goes to work, keeps stepping outside, never finishes a day's work, never gets promoted  ... and that affects Dave's soccer career as well.

I tried all the tips above ... no way, Jose.  One of her is still down in the subway, plucking her guitar.  The other one of her goes to work and achieves nothing.

Solution ... it only really works with a Mac.  Using the Apple Time Machine, I was able to revert to 9 January ... before she started 'playing for tips' in the subway. 
Tip ... back up your game files regularly!!

What caused it?  ... perhaps a bit of game confusion about whether she was using her car, her 4-star stretch limo, or just running to the Film Studio round the corner?  Whatever the reason, one of her was still down there plucking away [not earning tips] while the other her was at work. 

Bizarre 

[MimiG323]

Here's a really tricky problem, and I'd be grateful for any advice.  The story so far ....

Normal day, and 2 Sims from the same family were at work at the Science Facility when the game suddenly dropped ALL activities from all 6 Sims in the family, including those at home.  I looked at the Science Facility, and all the occupants were standing outside ... actually, Wilhemina had 2 co-workers sharing the same spot as her, and Doris had one, and the bodies were all superimposed  Both Sims refused to accept any actions [like "Work", "Go Here" or anything at all].

OK ... Plan A, we all know what to do.  "resetSim xxxxx xxxxx".  No, that didn't work.  So I used that command on the co-workers that were sharing the same spot [their bodies were all mixed up together, but I could click on the odd protruding leg/arm]. That worked for resetting the co-workers, but I was still left with my 2 Sims standing there refusing to take any commands, including resetSim!

OK ... Plan B.  Use the family Teleporter to "Go Home".  Ooops, no luck there either.

Hmmm ... Plan C.  Use "testingcheatsenable true" and click on open patch of ground for instant teleporting.  Ouch, that doesn't work either.

I now have these 2 Sims just stood outside the building, doing nothing apart from occasionally fidgeting, and refusing to take ANY commands at all.  The rest of the family [on the home lot] aer just fine. 
Are there any other tricks/solutions I've missed?


Incidentally, the problem of resetting the rabbit-hole building with everyone stood outside has happened to me before ... when a Business-career Sim went to "Hold Meeting" at the school when the daughter was in class.  On that occasion everyone stood outside in neat straight lines, so re-tasking everyone was not a problem.  BUT ... does the game not like 2 Sims from the family being in the same rabbit-hole at the same time?

This is the EXACT problem i'm having; it started outside the Science Facility. What do you all recommended as the best way to fix this? I tried to reset all of the sims that were stuck on each other outside the science facility but my 2 sims are still stuck at home. I tried to go to Edit Town but it just makes my blue task bar at the bottom of the screen disappear. The only thing I can do is scroll around my town camera style. Do I just need to go back to an old save file? Thanks so much.

[Pam]

This is the EXACT problem i'm having; it started outside the Science Facility. What do you all recommended as the best way to fix this? I tried to reset all of the sims that were stuck on each other outside the science facility but my 2 sims are still stuck at home. I tried to go to Edit Town but it just makes my blue task bar at the bottom of the screen disappear. The only thing I can do is scroll around my town camera style. Do I just need to go back to an old save file? Thanks so much.

Hi Mimi.

You've already started a topic for this issue.  There's no need to post the same information around on other topics.  It's just duplication of information.  Plus, I've answered your topic already.