Problem placing foundation

Rhiannon58 · September 2018

I am trying to rebuild my house on an existing lot. I used the "hammer" to demo the entire house, tile-by-tile, wall-by-wall. There is NOTHING showing on any floor.

When I try to place my foundation on the first floor, there is a tiny 3 square spot (L shaped) where it won't place. It gives an error that says "can't intersect object". I've checked all levels and see nothing in the way. What could be causing this?

Karritz · September 2018

Rhiannon58 wrote: »

I am trying to rebuild my house on an existing lot. I used the "hammer" to demo the entire house, tile-by-tile, wall-by-wall. There is NOTHING showing on any floor.

When I try to place my foundation on the first floor, there is a tiny 3 square spot (L shaped) where it won't place. It gives an error that says "can't intersect object". I've checked all levels and see nothing in the way. What could be causing this?

It might be buried. If you have debug enabler mod installed click on the floor tile with the invisible object and do radius purge. It will delete everything within the specified area including Sims. I usually choose 1 as the number it requires to avoid unexpected mishaps.

suzses · September 2018

Was there something on the lot (like landscaping) that you were really wanting to keep? If not, you can go to edit town and in map view use the bulldozer tool to bulldoze the lot *once.* That will delete anything that is still on that lot and would have been a lot easier way to get rid of your old house to begin with

If you do that, make sure to change your tool back to the arrow or something else so you don't inadvertently bulldoze it a second time, which deletes the lot completely, as opposed to just what's on it (you can usually put it back if you do that by accident but that's another topic).

If you really, really don't want to start with a blank lot for some reason, there are a couple things you can do. Turn on buydebug and see if there is anything that shows up in that area. The way to turn it on is to open the command window (ctrl/shift/c) and the type in "testingcheatsenabled true" and enter. Open the window a second time and type in "buydebug on." If there's something there, probably some kind of marker or a jig (although I'm not sure you'd see the second with buydebug), you should be able to just delete it. You can turn those commands back off if you like by repeating the above and using "false" and "off" where "true" and "on" were, or they'll just close themselves when you quit the game and restart it.

If that doesn't show anything, you can also try saving your lot as it currently is to your bin, then bulldozing (once) the lot on the map and replacing it again from your bin. That might work to clear out something.

Otherwise, I personally would use MasterController* to find and delete whatever it is, but as I recall, you aren't using any mods.

(* or debug enabler as @Karritz said - I didn't see her post while I was typing my novel

).

I was also thinking if it's in the middle of the foundation somewhere and you can place floor tiles over it (my experience is you likely can't), it may not hurt to just leave it there. BUT it also might cause future problems - your sims may not be able to go to the spot or use a piece of furniture or appliance on it, or you might not be able to put a second floor over it in that area, so probably not worth the risk to go with that.

SheriGR · September 2018

Did you try bulldozing the lot?

Rhiannon58 · September 2018

suzses wrote: »

If you really, really don't want to start with a blank lot for some reason, there are a couple things you can do. Turn on buydebug and see if there is anything that shows up in that area. The way to turn it on is to open the command window (ctrl/shift/c) and the type in "testingcheatsenabled true" and enter. Open the window a second time and type in "buydebug on." If there's something there, probably some kind of marker or a jig (although I'm not sure you'd see the second with buydebug), you should be able to just delete it. You can turn those commands back off if you like by repeating the above and using "false" and "off" where "true" and "on" were, or they'll just close themselves when you quit the game and restart it.

I really really don't want to start blank. The family has a large double sized greenhouse on the property. I "moved" it but I don't want to have to put all that in inventory if I don't have to.

Using the buydebug thing, I found a couple of little purple looking things that are on the spot I can't build the foundation on. I can't really tell what they are, can't pick them up or delete them. While building, I have sent the entire family outside out of the way. Everyone complied but two of the cats had "actions" with items that were not in the house anymore (food bowl and litterbox). I canceled those actions and had them move a bit before stopping everything again. The two little purple things still can't be removed due to being in use.

As I work around, I started my house a little further back on the property than planned, which is ok, but I will eventually want to put shrubs there.

suzses · September 2018

Try using the "moveobjects on" command to delete them. Just type that in the command box like the others mentioned before. Or, maybe reset the cats? That would be "resetsim (first name) (last name)" for each cat. That should clear out any actions for them.

Edited to add: If you only want to put shrubs there now, you may be able to do that, at least with the moveobjects command turned on.

SheriGR · September 2018

Did you try going out of play mode to the world then enter the lot through 'edit' (not by entering the play household mode's build mode)? I have been able to then use the sledgehammer or other delete methods that way that were not working in live mode or build mode within the active household.

If it's a case of an area(s) they're interacting with within a 'glitch', you can also try moving the household out (make sure you select the 'sell furniture' option in the move so it all stays as-is). (Save and exit game.) Then go in to edit the lot without it filled with a household. Delete or adjust what you need to. (Save and exit game.) Then move them back in. That move out then back in thing has worked wonders for me when not even going in to edit a thing in-between. Tends to reset a number of things.

Rhiannon58 · September 2018

suzses wrote: »

Try using the "moveobjects on" command to delete them. Just type that in the command box like the others mentioned before. Or, maybe reset the cats? That would be "resetsim (first name) (last name)" for each cat. That should clear out any actions for them.

Edited to add: If you only want to put shrubs there now, you may be able to do that, at least with the moveobjects command turned on.

Ah ok. I could move them. It was a "socialjig two person" and there are two of them. What are they? Are they safe to delete?

suzses · September 2018

They are safe to delete. They're just little leftover things from actions - social interactions in this case looks like. Not sure why they get left - maybe from cancelled actions. I just couldn't remember if you could see them with buydebug turned on, but apparently you can.

Karritz · September 2018

Social jigs are usually invisible and are big trouble if you can't find them. They are placed on a spot where sims are interacting to make other sims walk around them. Then when the interaction is finished they are supposed to be deleted automatically by the game - but if the interaction is interrupted the game doesn't get a chance to clean them up and they get left behind.

The ones for pets I've seen are usually tiny shiny dark balls. The jigs for other sims are often long dark oval shapes on the floor/ground.

Sometimes they are visible in normal play mode, but mostly they are not.

Going into BuyDebug will often make them visible but if not the only other way I know of actually finding them is to use Master Controller to list non inventory items and look for anything with jig in its name.

Even if they are not visible Debug Enabler > Radius purge will get rid of them. But you have to be careful when using that as it will delete anything within the radius you specify. That's why I rarely make it greater than 1.

I actually deleted one in my game a few days ago. It was a largeish round dark strange looking patch in front of a gate and visible in normal live mode. My sim was able to use the gate but made an odd detour around the jig instead of walking straight along the path to the front door.

Having said all of that, I tend to get more problems from food the sims have left behind. Anything from apples to plates of toast or other things. It sinks slightly below the surface with just a tiny round shadow to be seen. I made a tutorial on how to get rid of them.

https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=0gsTdw-NF6U

Another thing to look for is if you've got anything on a level below the problem area. Many items poke through the floor to the level above and reserve a space that can't be used. Some items that do that include the Swift Gro Gardening Station (needs two levels due to the light that flashes above them when it starts to water) and the Group Science Project (reserves 4 levels due to the light that shines when it is activated correctly by sims using it). There are others. The space reserved on floors above the object can't be used and it can be very frustrating trying to work out what the problem is if you're not aware of this issue.

Rhiannon58 · September 2018

You guys ROCK. Problem fixed!

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Problem placing foundation

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