The Horror! The Horror!! The GBFBVFS!! Gone! Gone! All gone! The GBFBVFS (Great Big Fireball Visible from Space) has struck, leaving despair and devastation in its wake! Gone is Pleasantview where the grandchildren of Mortimer Goth will never graduate from La Tour Academy, and where my first Legacy Family (well into its fourth generation) will never fulfill its destiny Gone is Dunvegan BayWould Alexander Flyte, being blackmailed by the downtown diva, ever have been able to reconcile with his beloved wife and family? Would Avedon Hawthorne ever have figured out where he really belonged with his mistress in Blue Water Village, being more than a part-time father to their three sons? Or would he have stayed with his wife, and their six children? And what about Avedons two oldest children by his first wife (killed in the tragic satellite accident)? Would they have graduated from university? Or would Ashelon, his oldest son, have dropped out after finding it too difficult to keep up his grades, due to his recent Vampiric Affliction? And then there was Sam Ferris, trying to grow up in the harsh world of the Dunvegan Bay Childrens HomeWould he have been able to thrive under the iron rule of the orphanages caretakers the cruel Crumplebottoms Joe and Helga? Have they found peace and happiness on the other side of the Matrix all of my beloved Sims? Curse you, GBFBVFS! I hang my head in despair
Oh no! I'm sorry Sach...I haven't had it happen yet and I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Did you make a back-up?
I have tried removing my Downloads Folder (since I'm pretty sure that's where the devistation started) but so far, no luck. I can load the game, but can not load any neighborhood. Not really sure what else to try, short of a complete reinstall! I do have a back-up, but it is a very old back up, so I would loose several months of play. Still, that would be better than nothing, I guess. Unfortunately, I don't know if I have any back-ups that include the Orphanage, and I would really hate to loose that! (It took FOREVER to build!)
I haven't installed the EP, yet. I'm visiting families, and I get caught up in playing with them. But I was seriously worried about my downloads folder and what might be there. I can't imagine what could have happened with your installation that removing the downloads folder doesn't cure. But some things, like lighting and camera hacks, I believe, are installed in other places besides the downloads folder. I always thought a new EP simply overwrote that stuff. Not so sure now. p.s. does it allow you to create a new neighborhood?
I haven't tried creating a new neighborhood - I will try that ans see if it works. Also, no Expansion Pack was involved...I'm on a Mac, so no Seasons for me for a while! No - I believe this happened when I downloaded a new lot with custom content - always a risky venture. I had actually not intended to install it, but as I was installing a few hairstyles, I accidentally clicked on the lot package, and installed it.
Can you clean out the PackagedLots folder? Or is that a no-no? I've never done it so I don't know what happens. I've had two of my OWN lots close down the game on me, but without lasting damage, fortunately. To this day I have no idea what was in them that caused the crash, so it could happen again to another lot. They were empty lots, at least. No families involved.
I'm so so sorry! That stinks. I back up my game obsessively just in case such a thing happens. It happened once, a long time ago, in PDL, and that was lesson enough ... So very sorry, Sacha. :(
This is a lesson that I need to back up MY game now! Eeek! Sorry that happened; technology can be so unpredictable. :(
I backed up my game. Took a while. I went grocery shopping while I waited. Then I loaded Seasons. Fingers crossed.
*Goes to back up her custom neighborhood files* Oh man, Sacha, that really sucks. I hope you get your neighborhoods back. Gee, I never thought GBFBVFS would ever really happen. So you think it was from a download?
I think Sacha mentioned that it happened after she installed a downloaded lot by mistake, before she'd had a chance to look at it more closely. It's always risky to download lots. They have a history of bringing along unexpected consequences.
My bad. I sympathise, Sacha. Try deleting the cache files (groups, accessory and ContentRegistry and cigen for good measure) This might kick start things by forcing the game to rebuild new ones). If that works post again and I'll ehlp you try to track down the bad package in downloads ... *mirelly crosses fingers*
Well, I tried deleting the cache files - still no joy...The game starts, I select a neighborhood (or try building a new neighborhood), th game looks like it is going to access the neighborhood...then BOOM! It kicks me out...So I'm guessing my only option is to try uninstalling and reinstalling, correct?
Well you mentioned a downloaded lot ... try removing the contents of Lot Catalog. (Put them somewhere else in case you need them later) If that doesn't do it ... time to reinstall I'd do a full manual uninstall followed by a defrag then install and play test then defrag one pack at a time. I'm thinking of doing it myself and restoring my Pennfield or maybe even my High Oak neighborhoods. I pulled High Oak because it had a few problems, but I pulled Pennfield before installing Pets because I was without internet access and didn't want to risk it
Well - it looks like it's reinstall time! removing the conents of the LotCatalog didn't appear to work. If back-up JUST the current neighborhood files, and then add them back to the Neighborhoods folder after I reinstall, will they include any of the bad files which are surrently causing the game to crash, do you think? And, by the way, THANKS for all of the help!!!
I would definitely keep copies of your existing neighborhood files because (a) like cryogenics a cure may be developed in the future and (b) as you say, after a reinstall the original files might just work anyway. As a rule, if there's still space that isn't needed for anything else, NEVER throw anything away. Good luck, Sacha.
Well - there is no joy in Simville...I could not get the game back up and running, and so I did a complete reinstall...Then I came to the painful decision to just let my little Sims rest in peace. I was afraid to restore my saved neighborhoods incase whatever bug brought the game to its knees in the first place, still lingered there... Having made that decision, however, I have come to the conclusion that it is rather freeing to start all over again with a clean slate. I have added back in only the few most trusted and tested downloads, and with the exception of the Mayfair Cafe (by Redheaded Creations), I have only reinstalled my own original packaged lots. Unfortunately, I did NOT package the Orphanage. But I DID take a LOT of pictures, so I am currently recreating that. I had a really good storyline going in Dunvegan Bay, so I have decided to recreate that neighborhood, clear out the chaff, and start over again. This will give me the chance to add more of a back story to my original plot, and make the story even better. I'm sure that things won't go exactly as planned - after all, as Lynet and SBW can surely attest - Sims sometimes have a mind of their own! However, I plan on recreating my favorite Sims, start them out in the same situation, and see what happens!
I think you make a good point, Sacha. I've often thought about how I'd feel if the game crashed on me and I had to start from scratch. I suppose I'd kick the wall about the loss of a couple of characters, but the idea of a clean slate has a strong appeal. Actually, I used canned sims in CAS to create Errol and Harcourt. Slight modifications only. It amuses me when I notice an NPC behind the counter of a coffee bar who looks like Errol. Hmmm, I thinks. Long lost cousin?
One of the things that has helped is that I have taken TONS of pictures since the very beginning of Sims 2 - something that I didn't really do in Sims 1. So while I was clearing things out and Archiving before the reinstall, I went back and looked through a lot of the old pics, and it was so fun to revisit old friends. I even toyed with the idea of pulling some of my favorites into iPhoto and creating slideshows - How GEEKY is that??? Anyway, they may be gone, but they will be remembered...So now on to new adventures!
