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How to... > Lot disappeared, owner sims still available
Pac-Man	posted: Sun Apr 17, 2011 9:18 pm
Member since: 2011-04-17 Posts: 3	Hi there, I am new here, so please forgive me if I posted this in the wrong sub forum :/ I probably have a question you don't want to hear again - I found a lot of threads dealing with a similar problem to this by using a search engine, but the problem solutions discussed in those threads either don't fit or fix problems when they were caused by something different. Now to my problem: As said in the title, a lot including two Sims just disappeared in the neighborhood. I used the free cam to check if it got placed erroresouly at weird positions, but I didn't find anything. I tried to invite the Sims which live on the lot - which is possible (e.g. they have a phone and thus said they must also still have a lot). I thought my save game states are messed up so I restored a previous state, but in that the lot is also missing (actually I didn't play with that lot for months and just noticed it's missing, so the previous save state is probably buggy too). Being totally upset with that (yes I rage for fun), I installed SimPE again and had a look in the Lot descriptor list. Adler-Allee 128, my lot, is still in the list. The sims are also found (surprise). I didn't see any errors in the lot data displayed in SimPE (compared to Adler-Allee 267 or 512 which are preinstalled). Did anyone of you had the same problem? Are there known fixes? It's a bit nasty. I would like to rebuild the house if there is no better solution, but I want to extract the sims at least! (Or is it even possible to pack a lot (externally / with SimPE since I can't see it in the game) so I have it listed in the lot bucket ingame to place it again?) EDIT: I now found out how to extract the Sims with the good old "Sims Surgery" tool, but I dunno where to place them so they appear in the family bin (SavedSims-folder doesnt work). Additionally I need to know if I can extract the house with SimPE. The owner sims neither were on a campus or on vacation before. I own Sims 2 with all big extension-packs (EP1-8). No changes were made to this setup before and after I noticed this problem. If additional data is needed I'd love to post it. Many thanks and best regards Pac-Man
Ghost	posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 12:37 am
Member since: 2006-03-19 Posts: 788	The best one I can think of to help with your lot would be Mootilda, but she's usually at MTS. Extract Sims puts them in Bodyshop, ready to make a new family with. If they and the lot are there, there should be a way to restore them... I sent her a PM at MTS, so hopefully she will be able to help.
Mootilda	posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 1:52 am
Member since: 2008-04-05 Posts: 12	If you can invite your sims over, that's a much better option than recreating them from scratch. Inviting them over should maintain their memories, skills, relationships, etc. Could you check that the lot instance in the Family Information (FAMI) record matches the instance of your Lot Description? Also, could you check that your lot was not changed to one of the hidden Lot Types? Look to see whether the lot package still exists in the Lots subfolder. The lot number will be the instance of the Lot Description, but in decimal rather than hex. If the lot package exists, the simplest way to save the lot is to copy it into the LotCatalog folder and then rename it to match the naming conventions in that folder. With any luck, it will appear in the game in the Lot Bin and you can place a new copy of the lot in your neighborhood, then move your sims back in and you won't have lost too much.
Pac-Man	posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 11:21 am
Member since: 2011-04-17 Posts: 3	Hi there! Thanks for getting Mootilda here, Ghost, and thanks for coming Mootilda ;) I tried what you told me. The sims are now safely living in the family bin but I can't get the (still file existing) lot in the lot bin. I think there is also an error with the lot instance linked in the FAMI. Here is what I've done: Mootilda wrote: If you can invite your sims over, that's a much better option than recreating them from scratch. Inviting them over should maintain their memories, skills, relationships, etc. Yeah, I also thought of inviting sims and then tell them to move in and move out after the lot is fixed. They're now in the family bin after doing so. Mootilda wrote: Could you check that the lot instance in the Family Information (FAMI) record matches the instance of your Lot Description? The lot instance says 0x000000C4 (the same as "Visiting lot" if that information is useful). However, in the Lot Description list, there is no house with C4. The house I remember they're in has CD, not C4 (Checking some other families just as a test reveals fitting instances, so this seems to be a unique error)! Mootilda wrote: Also, could you check that your lot was not changed to one of the hidden Lot Types? All lot types in Veronaville are either Residential or Community. The house is Residential. Mootilda wrote: Look to see whether the lot package still exists in the Lots subfolder. The lot number will be the instance of the Lot Description, but in decimal rather than hex. Since the lot had CD in its instance: Checking N003_Lot205.package for existance was successful. It's still there. Mootilda wrote: If the lot package exists, the simplest way to save the lot is to copy it into the LotCatalog folder and then rename it to match the naming conventions in that folder. With any luck, it will appear in the game in the Lot Bin and you can place a new copy of the lot in your neighborhood, then move your sims back in and you won't have lost too much. Yeah, I tried that and thus said renamed a copy of the lot there in cx_00000043.package. It didn't appear in any lot bin lists. There are also some cx_Character_cx_000000??_????????.packages in that folder, so I also tried renaming it into that mask (with an ffffffff at the end, just randomly), also didn't work. EDIT: I just copied the houses of my other families in there which worked. Did I just fetch the wrong house number? Which should I use then? 0xCD is 205, isn't it. Any other chances to get the lot exported or visible again? Thanks for all! Greetings, Pac-Man
Mootilda	posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 5:36 pm
Member since: 2008-04-05 Posts: 12	Yes, CD is 205. C4 is 196. If you can see that Lot Description instance CD (205) has the correct Lot Name, but the lot doesn't appear in the neighborhood, then there is either something wrong with the Lot Description or with the lot package itself. Since copying the lot package into the LotCatalog folder didn't work, I'm guessing that there's a problem with your lot package. cx_00000043.package is the correct format for lots in the LotCatalog folder. Packages with names of the format: cx_Character_cx_000000??_????????.package are the sims associated with occupied lots, such as the Kat family or the Traveller family which came with Pets and Bon Voyage. At this point, it's unlikely that we'll be able to get your lot back. I don't suppose that you have an earlier backup of the lot? You wouldn't need to restore your entire neighborhood, just copy that one lot into the LotCatalog with your existing game. If you'd like, I can take a look at those two packages and see whether I can figure out what the problem is. You'd want to zip up the neighborhood package and the lot package and share them, but I wouldn't need any of the other files in the neighborhood folder (ie, none of the Characters, none of the other Lots, none of the Storytelling). I have sometimes been able to find and delete a small bit of corrupt data and get back most of a lot. I'd be happy to take a look.
Pac-Man	posted: Sat Apr 23, 2011 5:58 pm
Member since: 2011-04-17 Posts: 3	Hi Matilda, thanks for your reply. I didn't want to believe my package is damaged :(. So I just copied all building of Veronaville in the LotCatalog folder, renamed them (manually, now my arms hurt) and then found the lot in the lot bin! As Adler-Allee 143, weirdly (I always give my houses a power of 2 number to find them in cases like this!). Freakingly it appeared as first listed house in the lot bin, devil's work to play a trick on me >:] I don't know which package it now was, which I'd love to know, but without wasting the time for deleting some packages from the lotcatalog directory, starting the whole game, looking into the bin and repeat if it's still in there... Thanks for your help! Now I know on which nerves I can go if I need technical assistance with The Sims 2 :P bet the EA hotline would've been of no help again.

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