Sims in the floor.

Sharonia

Erm... Has anybody else got issues with the random sims around town being stuck under the ground? I try resetting them but it doesn’t seem to fix the problem. My sims are unable to interact with them cause they’re all stuck. I don’t actually know what to do here. I was wondering if there is a way to fix them maybe?

Karritz

I have had the occasional game with this issue. I've read people noticing townie sims who are performing for tips are sometimes underground with just their tip jar visible.

I don't know if there is a fix for it. It seems to me to be game specific. The only thing that I know of that a player might have done to encourage this happen would be to use the cheat ConstrainFloorElevation False and not return it immediately to True after doing whatever they were needing the cheat for.

The way I've dealt with it in the past is to save my household to the library and start a fresh game. Or, if there are sims other than sims from the one household that I wanted to keep in the game without messing up relationships is to use the NRAAS Porter mod to back up all relevant sims (I've done it with more than 300 sims at times) and move them all to a new game. Info on how to use Porter mod is on the NRAAS site.

igazor

The usual cause, if I am understanding the description correctly, is that the sims' outfit assignments have gone bad. Not the outfits themselves, the sims' assignments to them. The sims aren't actually stuck when this happens, they can still move about and sometimes we will see speech and thought bubbles coming through the floor/ground as they do so. But they can't be clicked upon to interact with.

If this is the actual problem, then resets won't help. The solution is to have the sim change their clothes, even if it's into the same outfit they were already supposed to have been wearing. On inactives, that can be tricky to make happen without mods but with NRaas MasterController in play the MC > Outfit command usually fixes them right up. On a more global front, NRaas DebugEnabler has a Fix Invisible Sims command that many of us find to be around 80% effective on an entire world of invisible sims.

suzses

Assuming you don't see the sims at all (except plumbob and maybe a performer accessory), while it looks like the sims are under the ground/floor, they're really invisible and it's outfit assignment related. Old thread on it here: https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/841023/invisible-sim

If it's more like their feet get stuck in the ground, then it's likely as Karritz mentioned. If I have a lot where that's happening, I usually just give up on using the lot or replacing the lot with something else (which sometimes works).

Sharonia

Thank you so much. I will see if the clothes changing fixes them. It’s a funny bug.

suzses

I hadn't seen your reply @igazor - I must be typing slowly - and would have just stayed out of it if I had.

igazor

@suzses - No worries. I'm getting older now, my reflexes aren't what they used to be and I make slow-motion ninja posts all the time by just forgetting to refresh the screen before finishing. The question then becomes, did my post really duplicate what was said just before me (that I hadn't noticed) or did I really have something new to add to the discussion--as your post did.

(looks confused) Wait a minute. This isn't the phonograph repair and spare parts forum. Where am I?
(kids, don't look worried...this will happen to each of you some day!)

IreneSwift

I have seen my own sims, at specific locations in EA worlds, as they are leaving a lot, sink down into the ground, walk around under there, (indicated by the wandering of their plumbob) then come back up and continue on their way. That's not the same as the issue the OP brought up, but nobody seemed to know how to fix those spots in the terrain where sims dropped under the ground, when I asked about it years ago.

SimplyJen

I died laughing the first time I saw a plate scooting across the floor because of this issue.

Karritz

I found when Sims become invisible and I am not controlling them, I have had some success by placing a sprinkler nearby and most sims will autonomously change into their swimwear and play in the sprinkler.

This is a separate problem from when sims are underground, or partly underground and 'swimming' through the dirt or bridges.

IreneSwift

Karritz wrote: »

I found when Sims become invisible and I am not controlling them, I have had some success by placing a sprinkler nearby and most sims will autonomously change into their swimwear and play in the sprinkler.

This is a separate problem from when sims are underground, or partly underground and 'swimming' through the dirt or bridges.

I was having an issue like that with my current sim. I moved her to a houseboat docked at Pepper Port on Lonely Isle. Whenever she got onto her aqua sled to leave the lot, she appeared right in the middle of the houseboat, underneath with her head and shoulders through the floor. I started sending her down the beach a ways before having her leave. Eventually, she got thrown into non-routable terrain when something glitched on her, and after resetting her, her aqua sled was moored to the post on the island. I had to reset the aqua sled, because she couldn't use it at all the next time she went somewhere. Ever since then, she goes to that side of the beach when she leaves, so the issue of being under the boat seems to be fixed.

Karritz

IreneSwift wrote: »

Karritz wrote: »

I found when Sims become invisible and I am not controlling them, I have had some success by placing a sprinkler nearby and most sims will autonomously change into their swimwear and play in the sprinkler.

This is a separate problem from when sims are underground, or partly underground and 'swimming' through the dirt or bridges.

I was having an issue like that with my current sim. I moved her to a houseboat docked at Pepper Port on Lonely Isle. Whenever she got onto her aqua sled to leave the lot, she appeared right in the middle of the houseboat, underneath with her head and shoulders through the floor. I started sending her down the beach a ways before having her leave. Eventually, she got thrown into non-routable terrain when something glitched on her, and after resetting her, her aqua sled was moored to the post on the island. I had to reset the aqua sled, because she couldn't use it at all the next time she went somewhere. Ever since then, she goes to that side of the beach when she leaves, so the issue of being under the boat seems to be fixed.

It does seem to fix itself eventually. One of the more memorable examples of this I had was a herd of horses trying to cross a bridge at the market in Shang Simla. They were slightly submerged in the bridge. Their shoulders were about at the level their hooves should have been. It was funny to see as they seemed to be swimming through the roadway of the bridge.

Sharonia

I’m still seeing sims underneath the ground in my game. I’m just going to pretend that they are shy Sims that don’t like to be seen.

Chi5678

@IreneSwift That happens to me every time my sims bring home a new baby after having it at the hospital LOL they'll be "going home" and they'll reach the usual spot just inside the door holding their baby but then its like they dont register theyre home and they just walk in one direction in a straight line slowly going down into the ground, walking through walls and objects etc. The first time I thought it would reset itself but my sim walked about halfway to downtown SV deep underground. Using reset sim brought her back, but I had to use it on the baby too cause she dropped the baby some place far underground I think it's an issue of lag, but if reset sim doesnt work for you itll have to be looked into.

IreneSwift

@Chi5678 There's definitely lag in my current game, so you could be right. Next time I play in IP, I'm going to have to do more to fix all of its issues than I did this time. I only planned on keeping her there until she finished mastering scuba diving and making the skill challenges she can't do without dive lots. That's done, so I'm moving her to my newest CAW creation.

Karritz

The few times I have had that problem I think it's usually been with a game I'd been playing for ages. I also noticed that I went through a phase of every game I played I had problems. I'm wondering if clearing the caches next time you shut down might fix it. I obviously did something to solve it as I went from having the problem in just about every game, to not seeing it for over a year.

Caches to delete are in the Sims 3 folder. CASPartCache; compositorCache; scriptCache; simCompositorCache

Some people clear the caches every time they play but that mostly just results in the game taking longer than necessary to load. But if you're having problems with the game clearing the caches can be a solution.

IreneSwift

I always clear the cache files. IP is just a glitchy mess of a world. The first time I sent her to explore an underwater cave, she was reset to land, reminding me that I have to reset every cave, every time, right before I send her in.

Karritz

IreneSwift wrote: »

I always clear the cache files. IP is just a glitchy mess of a world. The first time I sent her to explore an underwater cave, she was reset to land, reminding me that I have to reset every cave, every time, right before I send her in.

I know the feeling with IP. But I've had this issue in other worlds. The one that is etched in my brain is watching those horses swim through a bridge at the Market in China. They were planning to gallop across it, but were already partially under ground when they got to it.

Around that time I'd been having problems in every world or game I played in with sims running directly through houses instead of following streets. All sorts of things were happening. It continued for a few weeks and then mysteriously stopped and I've not had a problem since. The only thing I can think of was clearing caches as I do tend to do that occasionally. Used to do it every time just before I loaded the game but now just do it if I've changed to a different save or the save is getting a bit glitchy.

izecson

if the sims is on the lot and not out of bound, you can use moveobjects cheat to pick the sims sunk on the ground and place it on the appropriate ground. if the sims is in community lot use testingcheatsenabled cheats and shift click the ground to use buy/build mode on the lot beforehand