sims 4 troubleshooting guide
converted and edited from my reddit
are you experiencing game breaking glitches? heres some help!
ive been a simmer for quite some time now, and ive seen several posts on different platforms (this one included) about save files acting weird or bugging out for various reasons! there are several troubleshooting guides on the internet, two i will list below, this is a more time consuming fix that i suggest as a last resort.
also by me: sims 4 modding guide
by u/saveverris on reddit: a helpful guide to using and updating mods
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this was originally posted as a comment by me, ive tweaked it just a bit
PREFACE
this guide is for those who have tried updating their mods, but something still doesnt seem quite right! ive been there, done that! this is a fix that has worked for me and, honestly, it is a bit of a convoluted way to do it!
i want to preface this with this may not be the fix you need or are looking for and that a lot of these steps can be avoided if you simply want to try to update your mods and repair your game! a lot of times, doing those two things will fix it!
if something still isnt quite right, you can try this! tldr: you take your mods & saves out, delete your cache, repair your game, run your game, put your saves and mods back in. heres a step-by-step on how i personally do this
GUIDE STARTS HERE
if youre experiencing a homescreen that says "wwwww..." where the household name should be, try repairing/restoring a previous save before continuing with this guide. as far as im aware, that glitch means your household has been corrupted and therefore lost. the game cannot detect any sims in that household, hence the 'w' where the name should be. you may have to delete that save file, and start fresh.
if you are experiencing ui glitches besides the "www...", try updating all ui mods that you have. this includes but is not limited to: ui cheats, better build buy, more columns in cas, more traits in cas, expanded build buy, custom ui colours, etc.. if the issue persists, make sure your game is updated, sometimes an up-to-date mod and an out-of-date game can cause severe ui glitches. if the issue still persists; follow this guide.
if you are receiving a pop-up that says your game cannot run due to a specific file, remove the file. that error means the file is corrupted. if you recieve the error multiple times with multiple files, follow the steps listed below. if you continue to recieve the error after following the steps below, you will likely need to delete your cc and reinstall it. i understand this is frustrating and will likely take a long time, but sometimes it is unavoidable.
now onto the rest;
first, run your game. make a new save, make sure your current save isnt just a fluke. if it is just your current save, try recovering your save. if it isnt just your current save, do the following:
close your game entirely. even after closing the window, check your task manager to be sure its not open in the background
open your sims 4 game folder. your game path should be one of these:
C:\Users\[user]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\ (Windows)
Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 4/ (macOS)
once youve located your game folder, remove your entire save folder and mods folder. put these onto your desktop.
clear you cache (localthumbcache. this can be found directly in The Sims 4 folder. also delete the contents of the folder cachestr)
run your game with nothing in it. if the issue persists, close the game and open up whichever app you use to play it (ea, steam). if the issue doesnt persist, skip to the final steps.
to repair your game, open the app you use to run TS4 and repair your files. typically this is done by clicking the game in your library and clicking the three dots, an option to repair your game should be there- however its been awhile since ive done this so i may be wrong! look it up if you need to! also make sure the game is completely up-to-date. if you cannot repair your game, clear the cache of the app you run it with. if this does not work, uninstall and reinstall the app. if issues persist, check online fourms for help!
if you use the anadius version of the sims 4, make sure you repair and update your game using his launcher, too.
once your game is updated and repaired, run the game with no mods or saves in it once again.
if the game loads and runs fine up till here, create a new save and test it.
if the new save runs fine, add your saves back into the game. do not add back the folder, only the files within the folder. your game should automatically create a new saves folder, as well as a new mods folder.
test the saves, if they work as normal then youre good to move on to the final steps. if they do not work, i suggest doing one of these:
try to recover/restore the save. you can do this by restoring a previous version from the "load save" menu, clicking the floppy-disk will allow you to restore a previous version before the bug happened.
if you cant recover your save but can open the save file without any immediate crashes, try to open cas and save the sims to your gallery.
if neither of those options work, your save may be a lost cause. im so sorry!
if everythings worked up to this point then youre good to do these... final steps
before adding back your mods folder, update all of your mods! (unless you know which mod is causing the issue)
are your mods up to date already? check their compatibility with both the game and other mods! most mod download pages will have a list of what is/is not compatible.
did you install a mod that requires a pack you dont own/have installed? either remove the mod or install the pack! you can check here to see a list of every sims 4 ep/gp/etc. name and number!
did you install a mod that requires a different utility mod that you dont have? either remove said mod or add the utility you need! this often breaks a game! a lot of mods require lumpinous mood pack, i always recommend to check for that first!
readd your mods, use the new mods folder that should have been created! make sure your script files are directly in your mods folder or only one folder deep, no deeper! make sure any other file (package files) are no more than five folders deep. typically, modders will tell you how deep their files can go, but one folder deep is my general reccomendation!
test your game! if it works, then congrats!
if any issues continue to persist, you can send me a message or an ask with the trouble youre having and i will try to help. otherwise, you may need to contact ea. this guide should be able to fix all problems regarding the game, unless the problem stems from a bad mod that you keep readding or game troubles themselves. the sims 4 is very buggy, play it safe, backup your saves!
happy simming! heres a song you can listen to while you troubleshoot!
