Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 3rd Dec 2020 at 6:19 PM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Seasons
Default Where is everybody??? Vanishing Sims Syndrome...
Spoiler alert: I have a Mac, so just walk away if this makes you itchy for some reason.
Yes, I do have a heck of a lot of CC installed, and although I’ve become pretty good at avoiding crash-bait, I get surprised once in a while. While I think I’ve excised the cancerous cells this time, the backup procedure is still a little confusing, as stuff gets saved in more than one part of my hard drive. In this case, it’s the Vanishing Sims Syndrome: although the bad CC has been eliminated, the Sims in ALL my neighborhoods have vanished, although their houses are still there. I’ve obviously gone too far in my excising, and deleted the wrong file, OR when restoring after the surgery, I may have replaced something fairly recent with something that came right off the DVD. I don’t actually know what I did, and it’s too late to un-do at this point, but for the sake of future knowledge, my question, for clarification purposes, is:
What is THE KEY FILE that holds the identity and data of my multitudinous Sims? It’s not the “N0004” neighborhood file or whatever, because the neighborhood is still perfectly intact, just spookily empty. Since I have more than one backup location, I figure I can just take a slightly older version of that sims data file - whatever it is - and pop it back where it belongs, and all my little buddies will return. Or at least the ones who were extant at he time of the backup. Yes? Or is it more complicated?
Advertisement
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#2 Old 3rd Dec 2020 at 10:27 PM
Sims are in the N004/ Characters folder, but they are of course linked and referenced by the neighbourhood package file. To restore a backup of your neighbourhood, you should replace the entire N004 folder and everything in it- you cannot just replace parts or individual files (unless you really know what you are doing!).
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 4th Dec 2020 at 6:04 AM
Default Makes sense.
Thanks for that - I haven’t been specifically backing up my neighborhood files, but I suppose I might have one from not too far back that I could sub in for the corrupt one. Any idea what could cause the sims to all disappear while leaving the neighborhood lots untouched?
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#4 Old 4th Dec 2020 at 12:54 PM
Just a guess- you deleted the characters folder?
Forum Resident
#5 Old 4th Dec 2020 at 2:04 PM
You could have either accidentally deleted your Characters folder, like simsample suggested, or exceeded the Mac's file limit (which may not be the case, as I think that prevents new sims and lots being created; a Mac user can correct me here).

Another cause could be corruption, provided you've done any of the VBTs, as I think disappearing sims is a symptom.

I've also heard that certain anti-viruses don't get along with The Sims 2 and can do some wonky things with the files if they are allowed access to them. There are probably more reasons that I haven't cited, as The Sims 2 itself is unpredictable, but fun.

When a game is predictable, it's boring.
That goes for any medium that isn't life.
That's why The Sims 2 is my favourite sims game.
It has elements of unpredictability and everything feels more involved.
The Sims 4 is another story altogether...
Mad Poster
#6 Old 4th Dec 2020 at 3:59 PM
If you want to make sure to get a good backup of your game, the best thing you can do is to copy the entire Sims 2 folder that has your saved game, and put the copy somewhere safe. That way if you need to restore this particular game you can replace the entire folder. The Neighborhood folder and Doownloads are the most important ones, but there are other folders you may want to keep the contents of (like the LotCatalog, PetCoats, Config, Cameras, Paintings, Collections, Projects, SavedSims, etc. - depending on which ones you may have edited either knowingly or via the game at some point, and perhaps want to keep the contents of).

(If you have a lot of CC - GBs worth of it - you can copy it over to a separate folder alongside the TS2 folder, and then later copy over the missing files, so you don't get a bunch of . As long as you keep track of what you've added or removed, it shouldn't be a problem)

Frequent backups is the best way to deal with larger issues. backup your game whenever you've done large changes, or played for a while without doing a backup, or something like every Monday (if you play very regularly). As long as your game remains stable, you can delete older backups, although it could be an idea to keep one for every one or two months or thereabout for a while, and just have a random small selection of older backups - because you never know when a VBT occurs and which backup you need to use to fix it (if you have an external harddrive, you can chuck the backups over there).
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#7 Old 4th Dec 2020 at 10:04 PM
Disappearing sims are one of the later symptoms of hood corruption, along with disappearing lots. The last step-or nail in the coffin is when the hood itself vanishes. On a Mac you can't run Hood Checker unfortunately so you have no way to mop up corruption. You need to be double as cautious on a Mac if you want hoods to last a long time.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Field Researcher
#8 Old 5th Dec 2020 at 9:50 AM
It sounds like the Mac open file limit might be a possible cause, since that can definitely cause Sims or lots or CC to disappear, if there are too many files when it tries to load the game.

Which version of OS X/MacOS are you running?
(Newer versions have higher file limits so are less likely to hit a problem.)

How many hoods in total?
(The game will count every Sim and lot file for every hood towards that open file total when it loads, even the ones you’re not playing).

How much CC do you have?

And do you leave any other apps open when you play?
(Their open files will also get counted towards the total.)

You can get a rough figure for the file count by right clicking on the The Sims folder and selecting Show Info.

If that’s the problem, then you’ll need to modify your computer to increase the file limit (details on how to do that are in my sig), and restore the corrupted hoods from a backup from before the problems began. And it needs to be a complete replacement of the whole Nxxx folder since missing Sims will have relationships with non-missing Sins that won’t match up otherwise. Unfortunately every hood opened after hitting that limit will have saved and corrupted. Hoods that hadn’t been loaded would probably be okay.
Back to top