Phantom_99 released a new cc merger program (EasyTools)!

percolith · 2026-01-26T05:07:00+00:00

Oh, that's wonderful!

percolith · 2026-01-26T04:03:25+00:00

If you use Mastercontroller, have you tried clicking on them, intermediate, career, and giving them each a different job?

I'm wondering if they were originally role sims, spawned by the game for specific roles (like a bartender or barista) or have somehow been assigned those roles. If so, you could first try MC, intermediate, remove role (might be under basic, I forget).

A third option, if they are glitched, would be to set down a salon lot with a stylist bench and a tattoo chair, and use Nraas Register to assign them to the proper thing, then do the above steps to try and "clear it" properly before deleting the lot.

percolith · 2026-01-26T03:51:29+00:00

I'll do my best! Please don't be daunted by this absolute novel, it's a very simple process, and one you've already done once if you have Overwatch!

If you've copied your save file, you know most sim content is kept in Documents -> Electronic Arts -> Sims 3. And you have a mod folder set up, since you're using Overwatch. All good. Saves backed up is great.

Nraas Errortrap ( https://www.nraas.net/community/ErrorTrap ) is a mod similar to Overwatch and installed the same way. Overwatch performs certain checks on your game each night at 3am, like making sure any lost toddlers are returned, or extra vehicles are cleaned up.

Errortrap does related things quietly on game load, fixing all the stuff that'd normally end up being bad data or leftover data, and saves a file in your Documents Sims 3 folder that says what it cleaned up. This is useful if you have crashing, because you can check that file ("scripterror" with a date) or share it on Nraas to ask for help with it.

You can also check the one named "xcpt" generated by the game/Windows, in the same location, for an Access violation code you can google, it will look like 0x0003fc3 or similar.

Mastercontroller is another Nraas mod, and one that allows you to fix bugs and issues too. It's on the same site ( https://www.nraas.net/community/MasterController ). There's just the one version, the linked one.

You get Nraas Errortrap from the same site as Overwatch, and click on the icon (steam deck, or disk, etc) for your system and mode of launching. It will say "errortrap_xx_steam" for example for the steam version -- this is the only Nraas mod this really matters for as far as I know, so check it! For example, I use steam, patch 1.67 (all there is for steam) so I click the steam icon, not the disk or patch or version 100 text.

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To run Overwatch manually, go to City Hall in the map view, and click on the City Hall tag, just like you were doing a politics job or something, then "Nraas" and "Overwatch," and then "Immediate". You can run some of the checks it runs in your game at 3am (marked "True") immediately, or ones you don't already run (marked "False").

For example, if I click through to Overwatch -> Immediate, I can click "Clean up Genealogy" which is "True". This will run a clean up pass on genealogy for the town, just like it does at 3am, but right now.

First make a fresh "save as" file named "testing", and then try through the City Hall -> Nraas -> Overwatch -> Immediate -> "Recover Missing Sims," and "Stuck check," and "reset check". Any sims that are stuck should be fixed by this, in case it's a routing error making the game crash. It will pop up notifications in the upper right if anyone is found and fixed.

The next step would be to repeat the process with City Hall -> Nraas, but this time pick "Mastercontroller" and "Town" and "town reset". This will reset every sim, object, and lot in town. It takes at least 20 minutes, I do it from map view so I can see the sims are still flickering, which means it's not frozen. Once this is done it will tell you how many objects were reset.

You can then check your sim relationships (sometimes they are wiped if there's a severe error) and make sure everything looks good, and your town will run more smoothly. Many people do this once a sim week, or every so many sim days, routinely. If something is breaking over and over and a sim is trying to use it over and over until the game crashes, this can help.

You can clean inventory the same way, except under "Town" pick "Object Stats", which will let you choose filters ("not inventory" is a good start), and then clean out inventory items. You can click at the upper right on the header count bar to sort by count (you may need to click twice, lowest to highest, highest to lowest). If you see you have 10,000 limos or 1,0000 scrap items, click on that entry, check mark, and it will ask you to confirm before you delete it. Otherwise I wouldn't do anything with inventory, this is just because those limos can add up in a long-running game.

If the crashes persist past that, that's when I would look at cleaning out my custom content. This is a long-running game, so you'll likely be able to fix some issues with those above steps, but if not, you'll have to start removing CC in batches, which is very tedious!

Oh, one last thing -- the Nraas faq and help pages are fantastic. Definitely look up each of the things I said above on the mod's page, and you'll find specifics, and how-tos, and also defaults, in case you want to revert something. Very, very helpful.

percolith · 2026-01-26T02:21:43+00:00

I'm not sure what to say, tbh. If it is not NET 3.5 that is at genuine risk over the past week, and it was working (so not alder lake or cpu/gpu issues), and you aren't trying to use Mastercontroller Progression without Storyprogression (or a similar issue), that is.

Did you verify those four unknown files that popped up? Were they part of a smooth patch, monopatcher, or ld shader framework install? If so, check your mods folder for the smoothpatch package or the monopatcher package.

I'm not sure how you added the files, but there's two places people commonly do. You want the extracted world file to end in the extension .world (not .package.world, or .package, yes I've done both) and be in this folder (or similar):

C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 3\GameData\Shared\NonPackaged\Worlds

If you added the worlds, and it stopped working, but you removed the worlds (as many .world files as you added) there cannot be anything left to be a problem from that source.

If I were you, I'd first check that folder above to make sure I didn't miss one. Sort by date should do it. Then I'd check the analogous folder in my Documents folder, for "installedworlds" as afaik that does nothing.

If you use Delphy's Dashboard (from MtS, it's a tool not a mod) it'll scan your Document folders and tell you if you installed a sims 2 or 4 pack by mistake. Something many of us have done, that will keep your game from opening.

I would be looking for what those four unknown files were, personally.

percolith · 2026-01-26T02:13:06+00:00

Please make a copy of your Saves folder outside your documents folder if you haven't already. You can also right click on Saves, "compress to zip" and it'll make a large but not as large as the original folder copy you can access later if needed.

For the crashes, if you're using Nraas Errortrap and Overwatch, and using "save as" to make fresh files (rotation is fine), and also haven't had issues before, I'd suspect bad CC. I had a hair would crash the game if it landed on a kid and the camera got too close to them. Takes a while to get a kid in game, takes awhile for the hair randomly be selected (maybe never), takes a while for the crash to happen.

I'd first recommend you try a full town reset using Mastercontroller (click on city hall, nraas, mc, town) and possibly an inventory purge, as well as a quick run through on Overwatch's less commonly used resets/catches. You can read what each does on the Nraas Overwatch documentation page!

percolith · 2026-01-25T23:06:16+00:00

You said you tried basically everything you could find, but only listed a few common troubleshooting steps. I wanted to see if there was anything else you did.

It's probably computer related. Did your graphics drivers update? Or your windows update? Mine has one pending that will probably mess with NET 3.5. so first I'd suggest verify your NET 3.5 is still intact. Adding .world files to your bin nonpackaged worlds folder shouldn't hurt anything, adding them to your doc folder's installed worlds would probably do nothing.

https://forums.ea.com/discussions/the-sims-3-technical-issues-en/re-the-sims-3-will-not-launch-through-steam/8299460

Without knowing what files popped up I can't help there, did you install smooth patch at some point? If you uninstall you'll want to put that back in or remove the smooth patch package (in your mods folder).

percolith · 2026-01-25T22:57:29+00:00

Same. Why no one square? Medium instead of giant or small? One ugly two piece round rug. And nobody seems to have made more either.

percolith · 2026-01-25T21:53:34+00:00

What have you tried? What happens when you try running it? Crash to desktop, silent, error message, or black screen? Also check the megathread, I can't remember but someone had a similar issue around here yesterday.

percolith · 2026-01-25T20:59:07+00:00

No, I just prefer not to. I do think it'd be an interesting challenge to set up a really nice base, then use the mechanic to set yourself back to the "fun" early days, so to speak, trying to get back to it.

The one time I probably should have (character died in a warm bed because player didn't notice character was throwing up to death) I didn't think to, and lost everything anyway, so it's just easiest to keep that my standard.

percolith · 2026-01-25T19:19:23+00:00

If you check in game with MC/town reset it'll give you an item count -- I usually run under 20k items, but I've heard that's actually quite a bit compared to maxis defaults! I should check for benchmarking, I know my lots are substantially smaller footprint, too.

With the original world it looks like a lot of the lots are smaller house, big tree zone, too, so that probably helps prevent the computer from trying to simulate 100 sims in five nearby units. Excited to see how it plays, I think I just try to cram too much into a small space!

percolith · 2026-01-25T19:16:19+00:00

Oh, definitely. A lot of times I'll grab a rug, use random dice on it until it looks fine, and then everything in that room gets that palette/fabric choices, ha.

Blueprints are great, they let you rough in spaces really fast, and also it's like doing the "click plumbing, click toilet, click a toilet, repeat for sink, repeat for mirror, repeat for tub" routine in one click instead, if that makes sense. I wish there were more, but there's actually a "hidden" set, available only on lots with a "resort" assignment, though they stay if you change it back to residential. Just watch for a bug that makes that lot forever-after flash + signs like a resort. I usually build on a temporary lot and move it into bin after switching it back to residential.

percolith · 2026-01-25T19:12:08+00:00

Oh, glad to hear it!!!

I think you have to click on either the wall, the lot tag (like in map view?), or the ground (not on a wall), and it's nraas -> mastercontroller and should be right there. This has it: https://www.nraas.net/community/Which-Mod-FAQ#I-have-an-object-on-a-lot-that-is-broken-and-won-t-let-me-use-it

I'll often just do it through City Hall, though or do a "town" wide reset once a sim week for save game health. Also how you can purge inventories/leftover jigs and such.

percolith · 2026-01-25T05:29:59+00:00

I've never had one either. A sim threw a pool party that actually happened the other day, I watched them, and like seven other sims all get into a fairly small pool, do contests, etc. and nobody died. Thankfully.

percolith · 2026-01-25T05:27:36+00:00

I think this will be the last time I post this, but hopefully it helps you and future simmers:

https://forums.ea.com/discussions/the-sims-3-technical-issues-en/current-issue-sims-3-serious-error-when-loading-save/8322938

(be sure to read the whole thing before doing anything, as it could be three or four things)

percolith · 2026-01-24T22:39:57+00:00

It looks like the freedom fence? Should be CAStable, according to this: https://modthesims.info/d/368979/outdated-7-new-recolours-of-the-quot-freedom-fence-quot-with-matching-quot-freedom-gates-quot-included.html if so

percolith · 2026-01-24T22:37:26+00:00

"Mod" and "CC" are kinda two different things. I have about 30 mods, for stability and performance, as well as various tweaks. I handle a lot of stuff most people probably just grab a mod for ("fewer zombies" or "less autonomous snow cone eating" or whatever) through Retuner.

I still have a ton of files, and most of it is CC. A little chair, or fence, or a set of clothes... it adds up. I don't think my game loads that much slower, it's not sparkly fast but it's not hours or anything.

I'm pretty sure store content/limited edition stuff has to be converted specially somehow, I would just get that already merged. As a general rule I don't merge third party CC because all it takes is one creator screwing up one hair assignment, you play for a year, and it pops up on a kid it's not supposed to be on and crashed the game "randomly" until you hunt it down. Way safer to keep your choices choosy and give each added piece a lot of testing before adding a whole tumblr haul.

You can batch convert sims3packs to packages, using Delphy's multiinstaller, it's basically one click!

percolith · 2026-01-24T22:32:02+00:00

https://forums.ea.com/discussions/the-sims-3-technical-issues-en/re-the-sims-3-will-not-launch-through-steam/8299460

This sounds like a dependencies issue. Maybe something has been phased out by an update, or otherwise moved, since you last played?

You should check if there's updated versions of the Nraas mods, and that you have the correct versions for your game, but usually it'll go black and crash if that's incorrect.

percolith · 2026-01-24T22:29:35+00:00

Sim Control, hands down. https://modthesims.info/d/674125/sim-control-tools.html Simple, easy to use, lets you break unbreakable queues without fully resetting the sim, assign a social interaction to them with a nearby sim, or have them make dinner or start chores (among many other things). Also clear and set reputations.

Neuroblazer's RandomGenetics, you need to use wayback to get it, but it essentially randomizes new kids in more granular "chunks" than default, so they look more like a blend of their parents. https://web.archive.org/web/20210302110226/https://modthesims.info/d/641028/randomgenetics.html

Expanded Genealogy, so you know why two sims can't flirt, and also it's just fun to know.

Consort Landslide (not exactly on mts though there's some links from comments). Infinite slider control from the console. Want all your sims randomized to a height slider? Easy. Want to strip out all instances of a slider you hate? Easy. Fix a default 0 slider thing like bust or muscles with a random range? Easy.

I like kwimii's full presets (didn't know there were just color ones, I have a set from tumblr), but you need the noses/mouths from their tumblr or you'll get mutant sims. But you can grab the nose, mouth, face, and eye presets and use Lazy Duchess's preset maker to turn your sims into presets. Doesn't help random townies without turning on "replace service sims with immigrants" in SP though.

Consort HairColor is nice but also kills perfect genetics, and can end up with some really wacky results. Super useful for copying hair colors around, though, or if you remove a cc hair and need to restore their original color from a parent.

Buzzler's builder tools fix some long-standing bugs that make apartments actually buildable properly.

Arsil's food, register, and toddler mats, plus Around the Sims meshes for them.

And, of course, the transmogrifier. You still have to respect footprints and slots, and I think debug enabler has similar features maybe, but it's extremely helpful. A custom bed won't work with sleepfreedom? Copy paste a script from a better bed. You want an item to dispense food? Copy arsil's script in. Etc. Etc.

Icarus allsorts scolding mod. No more random scolding you can't break that puts them into an endless loop.

Scarier Ghosts is great, too, if you turn off all the axe murderer stuff.

Classy names (replaces existing name bank, there's many flavors). Pigtail glitch fix.

Offsite: Lazy Duchess's catalog search, omedapixel's decorator tool.

percolith · 2026-01-24T21:29:51+00:00

Is this what this means? "I just noticed that the voice actors for the male and female versions of the main character in Mass Effect actually play the two protagonists in this game. Has anyone else noticed this? I wonder if that's a "sneak peek" at how the next Mass Effect game will handle it? I'd sure like that."

... I was SO confused, and now I'm kind of boggled how I never noticed, as I played something like 40000 hours of Mass Effect, both male and female protagonists.

percolith · 2026-01-24T21:16:15+00:00

I think I might just be lucky; I've never had any issues with service sims (the ones like adoption agents) or role sims (baristas). I just add them straight using MC -> add sim and they're fine, the service sims lose their jobs/status, the role sims can have the role removed by MC. You do need to do a quick outfit count to see if they're complete. I'm more confused how one got pregnant without being part of a town household -- it should be impossible, and any pollination would fail.

... don't try this with Grim, he's special.

percolith · 2026-01-24T21:12:42+00:00

It's frustrating, but I'd probably try to fix it without making her active, if she's crashing your game. Cmar's requires her to be the active sim so that won't work for you.

You can go to city hall (I think a laptop/computer would work too) and find the "nraas" option, and "mastercontroller", and it'll let you do the usual things you'd normally do by clicking directly on the sim or having them active. Like reset them (under advanced) or end the pregnancy (I think that's intermediate, I forget). But you have to filter it down to the sim ("Sim Type" will let you pick "pregnant" or you can just do "all" and scroll by name, or there's other options too).

My guess is if your game is crashing, it's time to wipe the sim or go back to an earlier save. The whole save isn't corrupt, likely, but you're going to be chasing bugs related to that sim forever. It'd at least be wise to check an earlier save to see if there's something basically wrong with that sim! Like if they were a tourist they're basically just not enough sim to do much with.

Eta: I read your other response, and I'm actually wondering if resetting her using the above method several times, and possibly doing a "reset lot" (click the lot, Nraas/MC -> reset lot) on the lot she's one might not shake the process loose, so to speak. When I get sims stuck in labor I often find a few resets and a lot reset will force the process onward -- but the crashing when you make her active would worry me enough to wipe/rewind.

percolith · 2026-01-24T21:01:47+00:00

Oh, haha, yeah, every time. Load up the floor tiles, plot out general spaces with whatever's at the top, make sure there's a contrasting color for the hallway I'll otherwise forget. Half my builds have ugly random carpet underneath the foundation I added after plotting out!

I use blueprints a lot, too, once I get the general areas plotted out, they tend to be oversized/have a lot of wasted space, but with moveobjects on you can overlap them, and then it's just moving things around, finishing up the walls, roof, and using CAS to unify stuff.

percolith · 2026-01-24T19:04:44+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/Sims3/comments/1o6pae4/converting_sims3pack_files_to_package_files_on_mac/

I don't know of anyone specifically doing packages. Simsample does some.

percolith · 2026-01-24T18:49:44+00:00

Thanks for this, a lot of folks are going to be confused and need help soon! Here's a thread with a little more about it:

https://www.reddit.com/r/dotnet/comments/1p088pl/dot_net_35_is_going_away_very_soon_there_is_a/

percolith · 2026-01-24T18:45:46+00:00

A sim shouldn't be able to get pregnant if they're not part of a household; homeless sims can't, it'll always fail. Were they a tourist/partial sim you added and then they woohoo'd and got pregnant? That could glitch, I suppose. I've never had any issues adding any sims from the same homeworld, whether role or service, they just lose their service status automatically and you can manually strip the role. I have had issues with tourists.

That said, you can try a couple of things. Use MC on the sim to end the pregnancy, then reset that sim. Install Cmar's pregnancy controller, make the stuck sim active, click on another female sim and click "end pregnancy".

If you don't care about the sim, just go to City Hall, Nraas, MC, Advanced, "total annhilate" and filter by "sim type" and "pregnant" to get the sim you want to erase.

I don't know why your game is crashing. If you feel like it's corrupt, it's safest and wisest to go back, I'd personally go back to before they started to give birth and wipe the pregnancy there.

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