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It's Worse Than I Thought

Hello again. Surprised to see me? I can't believe how many issues I have with this game. I've been playing since 2009; you'd think I'd have learned something. I don't know where you folks go to learn how to resolve issues, but I'm jealous. Is it like a school...?
I posted much too recently about my store content, the MultiTab 6000, not showing up in the game, even though it says it's installed. But now, none of my content is installing. I have all this great stuff that I can't use. It says they're installed and located in Buy Mode, but they're not. My building is still invisible between the lobby and my Sims' suite. I tried twice now to repair the game in Origin, but that doesn't do a thing.
Unusual activity has occurred at the same time this problem started; like my screen flashing once or the layout becoming large, my icons momentarily disappearing, my computer shutting off by itself, and being unable to log out of multiple programs. Additionally I now get pop-up advertisements on Facebook, if that's relative. Maybe I should have mentioned that before, but it didn't occur to me then. My computer has been hacked earlier this year, so I'm hoping that's not the case. I'm hoping several things aren't the case; like another ugly computer death. I cannot afford to replace my computer again so soon. If this problem is terminal, I'm just going to have to let my computer go.

> No mods
> No patches
> Ambitions, Generations, Island Paradise, Late Night (free trial), Pets, Seasons, Supernatural, World Adventures
> Missing content: Deliciously Indulgent Bakery, MultiTab 6000, other
Be safe.

Comments

  • AverageLuluAverageLulu Posts: 34 Member
    Have you scanned your computer for malware/virusses and are your drivers up to date?
  • cocococo Posts: 2,723 Member
    @riverblossom It might be a problem with your ccmerged file. Try the instructions here. Can you uninstall the Multitab and then re-install it?
  • RiverBlossomRiverBlossom Posts: 255 Member
    Circuseend wrote: »
    Have you scanned your computer for malware/virusses and are your drivers up to date?

    I have and they are.
    coco wrote: »
    @riverblossom It might be a problem with your ccmerged file. Try the instructions here. Can you uninstall the Multitab and then re-install it?

    I have done that. And just now, when I went into Buy Mode, all the categories were empty; I couldn't see the toilets, the fridges, nothing!
    Be safe.
  • cocococo Posts: 2,723 Member
    @riverblossom That doesn't sound good :frowning:

    At this stage the thing I would do is let the game generate a new folder for you. Make a copy of your 'The Sims 3' folder and delete the original. Start the game and it should make a new folder. Start playing a family and see if everything is showing up in Buy Mode. If it is then I would start copying your files back over to the new folder. It will require a bit of testing to see what is causing the problem. If everything is still missing then the only thing I can suggest would be a full reinstall, but that's the last option because usually a fresh copy of the game folder is enough to fix things.

    What is your launcher showing?
  • RiverBlossomRiverBlossom Posts: 255 Member
    edited December 2019
    My launcher shows the already installed content, with the option to install it again (an option that never goes away). In place of a picture for each installed item, some of them have only boxes, and some of the items show up in the launcher more than once.
    But for now, the non-store items in Build and Buy are appearing. That was scary....


    I have a picture of what I'm talking about and I'd like to share it here, but I don't know how.
    Be safe.
  • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
    I agree with @coco that a clean folder is the next step here. I don't know why all of your regular Buy content disappeared temporarily, but that means there's something wrong enough with either the install or the game folder that the best move is a clean slate.

    For what it's worth, I wonder whether the store content issue has to do with the "free upgrade" you got through Origin Access. Store stuff often stops working when people add another base game code to their accounts, and upgrading through Access might have the same effect. In the case of a new code, reinstalling all the store stuff into a clean folder fixes the issue, tedious as it may be.

    And yes, if your store content doesn't appear even a clean folder, then you might need to do a clean uninstall/reinstall. An Origin repair does fix some files, but it may well not be thorough enough to solve the underlying issue. It's still worth trying though, since it's much faster than reinstallng every thing from scratch.
  • RiverBlossomRiverBlossom Posts: 255 Member
    I agree with @coco that a clean folder is the next step here. I don't know why all of your regular Buy content disappeared temporarily, but that means there's something wrong enough with either the install or the game folder that the best move is a clean slate.

    For what it's worth, I wonder whether the store content issue has to do with the "free upgrade" you got through Origin Access. Store stuff often stops working when people add another base game code to their accounts, and upgrading through Access might have the same effect. In the case of a new code, reinstalling all the store stuff into a clean folder fixes the issue, tedious as it may be.

    And yes, if your store content doesn't appear even a clean folder, then you might need to do a clean uninstall/reinstall. An Origin repair does fix some files, but it may well not be thorough enough to solve the underlying issue. It's still worth trying though, since it's much faster than reinstallng every thing from scratch.


    I hope that is the problem, because my trial will end soon and it would be great if the issues resolved themselves. I have no idea how to do it myself. Not even the folder thing—unless you just mean copying it into a new folder manually, which did not work. Today the content decided to appear again, but I know it's going to go away.
    Be safe.
  • puzzlezaddictpuzzlezaddict Posts: 1,877 Member
    Yes, the clean folder means removing or renaming your Sims 3 folder in Documents\Electronic Arts, launching the game to create a clean folder, and then copying over what you want to keep from the old folder to the new one.

    It's probably best not to try to sort this out until your Access trial ends anyway, since that will only complicate things and maybe necessitate another reinstall of all your content. If you did want to get Access removed from your account, you could contact EA customer support. But it's kind of a hassle to deal with them, especially right now when they're still overloaded.

    https://help.ea.com/en/contact-us/

    The other thing you could do is install the store stuff you want into a clean folder now, move over the save you're playing in Bridgeport, and go back to your old game folder when the Access trial ends. Again, it's as simple as dragging and dropping the folders elsewhere, or renaming them if you want to leave them where they are.
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