Households won't load

GreenDay · July 2015

I posted this in the Mac forum, but was hoping to actually get a reply, so I will try here:

After the latest patch, I can load up the game, but when I select a household to play, it will go to the loading screen and eventually return to the world selector without loading the family. I've restarted the game, tried different families and repaired the game and nothing has worked. I have no mods or CC either so I have no idea how to fix this.

rosemow · July 2015

Hello.
Turn off origin in-game
http://sims4.crinrict.com/en/2014/09/deactivate-origin-in-game/

Move your saves folder from your sims 4 folder to the desktop, then start a new game and this will generate a new saves folder. Start a new game and see if the problem has been fixed. Exit the game.
Put each of the save files that end in .save ( not the save.ver ones) that are in the saves folder on your desktop one by one back into the Documents -Electronic Arts -sims 4 folder -saves folder, testing the game after each one to see if the game is working.
To do that, put one .save file back into the folder, go to the load button ( the one with the file image) in the main screen in the game, load the game and see if it works. Then take that file out and try another .save file. Every file that works, is a game file that you will be able to keep in the game.
Don't put the slot_00000001.save back into the folder because that is the autosave. The autosave could be causing the problems.

GreenDay · July 2015

@rosemow thank you for your response. I have only one save that I've been playing since the start. I tried what you suggested, and it still goes back to the world selector no matter what household I choose to play. I really don't want to have to delete that save as it does seem to be something surrounding it.

rosemow · July 2015

When you tested the game, before adding back any of the save files, had the problem been fixed?

If it was fixed, the cause would have been a save file that has become corrupt.

Try rolling back the save file to an earlier version.
These are links to how to roll back your save to an earlier version.
https://enkeli63.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/sims-4-saved-game-back-up-recovery/
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/783120/how-to-roll-back-your-save/p1

GreenDay · July 2015

@rosemow thank you for that suggestion, unfortunately I tried that with each version and none of them worked- they all take me back to the world selector. CAS works fine, and I can create and save sims for the world, however if I load a lot to build on or a household to play, it always takes me back to the world selector.

If i start a new save, it seems to work, but I really do not want to lose this current save.

Lindley · July 2015

I was having the same problem with my households, following your instructions I essentially got the game to work again, until I got to the saves that happened around the time of the last patch, in which case it causes the game to go back to not loading the households. Unfortunately these are the saves that I actually do care about, I've moved them back into my desktop folder so I still have them without them corrupting my game, but is there any way to actually get them back?

rosemow · July 2015

Lindley wrote: »

I was having the same problem with my households, following your instructions I essentially got the game to work again, until I got to the saves that happened around the time of the last patch, in which case it causes the game to go back to not loading the households. Unfortunately these are the saves that I actually do care about, I've moved them back into my desktop folder so I still have them without them corrupting my game, but is there any way to actually get them back?

Hello Lindley.
Try rolling back the saves to an earlier version
These are links to how to roll back your save to an earlier version.
https://enkeli63.wordpress.com/2014/09/30/sims-4-saved-game-back-up-recovery/
http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/783120/how-to-roll-back-your-save/p1

An earlier version may not have got corrupted.

crinrict · July 2015

Could you guys post here and maybe upload your corrupted saves: http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/ISSUE-Loading-family-just-loads-Map-again-Need-your-bugged-save/td-p/4137595

SimChelle1982 · July 2015

I have identified the save that is corrupted and it's my most recent save. My previous save is 4 months old!!

I will lose so much if I go all the way back. Is there any way to fix this?

crinrict · July 2015

There might be a way. Do you know if you had any unfinished paintings in that household ?

GreenDay · July 2015

crinrict wrote: »

Could you guys post here and maybe upload your corrupted saves: http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/ISSUE-Loading-family-just-loads-Map-again-Need-your-bugged-save/td-p/4137595

Would it matter if the file is from a Mac?

DarkWalker · July 2015

If my current guess is right, make a backup of your seemingly corrupt save and keep it somewhere safe. I can't tell for sure, as I don't have the required debugging tools, but I believe the same issue that is causing friendships to not progress might be, in rare cases, causing households to not load; if I'm right, fixing that issue might cause those 'corrupted' saves to load again.

SimChelle1982 · July 2015

crinrict wrote: »

There might be a way. Do you know if you had any unfinished paintings in that household ?

Possibly, yes, but it would have been at a kid's table, not an easel.

crinrict · July 2015

That could be an issue too. Unsure.

This is something I found as a culprit.

http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4/ISSUE-Loading-family-just-loads-Map-again-Need-your-bugged-save/m-p/4663822#M49233

@GreenDay No, it doesn't matter. Trying your save right now.

crinrict · July 2015

DarkWalker wrote: »

If my current guess is right, make a backup of your seemingly corrupt save and keep it somewhere safe. I can't tell for sure, as I don't have the required debugging tools, but I believe the same issue that is causing friendships to not progress might be, in rare cases, causing households to not load; if I'm right, fixing that issue might cause those 'corrupted' saves to load again.

You mean a corrupt relationship is causing the issue ? That could be another possible cause to this. Anything that prevents the game from loading the family will cause this so if a Sim or a relationship is the cause, that could be it.

Only question is how one could fix that.

IceyJ · July 2015

When this happened to me, I fixed it by deleting the "localthumbcache" file in my Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4 folder. What caused it in my game was placing a custom retail lot. I had to go back to an older save before the corruption and bulldoze the lot.

crinrict · July 2015

One you downloaded or built yourself ? Do you have all the addons ?

IceyJ · July 2015

@crinrict Talking to me? Right now, I have everything except Perfect Patio. But this occurred back when Get to Work came out. It was a custom lot I downloaded from the Internet, (this one, in fact: http://sims4customcontent.tumblr.com/post/117230800397/nolween-sims-disney-store-by-nana-if-you-use) plus the required CC. I was able to edit it in build mode, but once I attempted to travel to it I was booted back to the travel screen. I discovered that no lots in the world would load once this happened, even in previous saves until I deleted the localthumbcache. I finally gave up and deleted the lot.

I remember being able to help one other person who encountered the same issue after placing a retail lot in-game. I acquired my lot online, but theirs was from the gallery: http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/13589936/#Comment_13589936

Looking back, I see that the problem started when attempting to make the lot NPC-owned by selling it. Could play just fine as long as my family owned the lot.

crinrict · July 2015

The same one or another one ?

Did you close down the game inbetween trying different games ?

(and yes I'm talking to you @IceyJ

IceyJ · July 2015

I don't remember if I closed the game each time, but I was troubleshooting for a few hours. So I must have shut down the game at some point.

crinrict · July 2015

OK. I would test that lot if it didn't have so much cc.

Just wanna say that I narrowed down @GreenDay issue to a corrupt family/relationship. Deleting the family makes the game load again.

With this bug it's very important that you close the game once you have the bug before trying a new save or it will carry over.

SimChelle1982 · July 2015

@crinrict You are an absolute GENIUS! I evicted my household from the home and then deleted them from "household management". I went back to the house and it loaded. Sure enough, there is an unfinished painting on the kiddie table (image below). So now we know that this also causes an issue because there are no unfinished paintings on any easels in the house. In fact, they've never even been used.

What should I do from here? I assume I can delete the kiddie table. Then, do I save the game and close? Do I save as a new game? Also, the family I deleted had been saved to my gallery when I first created them. I assume it would be ok to move them from the gallery back to the house?

TS4 2015-07-11 16-43-14-19 by SimChelle1982, on Flickr

crinrict · July 2015

You should be able to go to the house without having to evict the family.

If the houses loaded after you evicted the family, it might be a different issue though

Anyways, try this

1. Put Origin in offline mode
2. Start the game
3. Load your save game
4. Go into buy mode
5. Delete the picture (if you can't delete it on it's own, delete the whole table)
6. Go back to map view.
7. Load the family.

As said, your issue might not be that picture but a corrupt relationship as for @GreenDay

You're welcome to upload your save if you want me to take a look.

SimChelle1982 · July 2015

@crinrict - Thank you. I couldn't go into buy mode before. Anytime I tried go into any lot (even a never used Newcrest lot), whether going into it through build or live mode, I went back to the neighborhood screen. I removed all of my mods so I knew it wasn't that. Then I removed all my save files and replaced them one by one until I encountered the problem again. It was my most recent file. I finally decided to try to delete the family, and now I can access every lot. I am currently building on a lot in Newcrest. Out of habit, I hit save after building the shell of the house. I was planning on not saving until I heard back from you...but....duh.

I would be happy to have you look at my save but I'm unsure of how to send it to you.

crinrict · July 2015

Just zip the saves folder and upload to mediafire or dropbox. Then PM me the link.

SimChelle1982 · July 2015

crinrict wrote: »

Just zip the saves folder and upload to mediafire or dropbox. Then PM me the link.

Done. A million thank yous for this!!

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Households won't load

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