BUG: Fish disappear from the inventory

Problem
I was traveling and caught some fish that is only available in foreign towns but when I came back home, the fish (and possible other objects) got missing and can't be found in the inventory anymore.

Cause
Because of an error in the code fish cannot be recreated properly after traveling. This also causes to bounce most other objects in the inventory.

Solution
Use the cheat buydebug to place fish spawner in your home town. This way you can at least finish any open opportunities. Make sure you don't have fish in your inventory when returning home to make sure that everything else gets home ok.

Mods that help with issue

• ErrorTrap corrects this issue.

BUG: Spiral Staircases don't work anymore

Problem

• The interactions use stairs is missing
• My sims takes to stairs to go up but can't go back down anymore
• My sims can't use the stairs at all anymore

Cause

• Patch 1.26 made the interaction disappear. As soon as you install Pets, it's back, but only if you are on the same lot as the stairs.
• Since Patch 1.26, existing spiral staircases tend to be a bit wonkey. 

Solutions

• Sims can use the stairs if the interaction is available or not. Just click on a square next to the stairs and they will go up/down.
• In most cases, it's enough to turn the stairs a little to make them usable again. If you build walls or small stairs, you might need to do some rebuilding. If any of your inactives live in houses with spiral staircases, make sure to check those as well. If Sims can't use those, that will lead to lags cause they will be trying over and over and over if they are pushed to do something
• If you are using non-EA stairs, make sure to update those.

Mods that help with the issue

• If you only use the patch, you can get this mod to fix the missing interaction Spiral Staircase 'Use Stairs' Fix 1.26 

BUG: Multi-Selected Portraits

Problem

• I click on the portrait of one of my Sims/Pets but the old one stays selected as well. Also all infos stay on the old Sim/Pet
• I click on the portrait but while the portrait itself chances the info stay on the old Sim/Pet

Cause
Like many issues with the interface, this is not an actual bug but the symptom of one. While trying to change the portrait an error occurs that bounces the interface and the old portrait does not get unselected because of it.

Since Pet this issue is happening a lot and it seems it has something to do with horses

Solution
Restarting your game (yes, you can save but preferably under a new name) helps getting rid of the multi-selection in most cases but it can happen again any time.

Further Reading

• BUG: Sims missing from the portrait panel
• BUG: Missing UI
• BUG: Missing Sims and empty UI when arriving in vacation town

BUG: Gourmet Pet Food

Problems

1. I have only the Patch and not the EP itself but still my Sims can now cook gourmet pet food
2. My Sims eat pet food at the restaurant
3. My Sim has cooking level 10 and yet he cannot cook gourmet pet food

Cause

1. EA forgot to block those for not EP owners
2. EA forgot to block those for the restaurant
3. This only happens to Sims that had a cooking level before the patch. Since they already passed the level where the food was supposed to get added, they can't learn it anymore.

Solution

1. None
2. None
3. It is possible to still learn the recipe on the TV. So keep watching that cooking channel.

Mods that help with the issues

1. None
2. None
3. Use MasterController to set your Sims cooking level to 0 and then back up to 10. That should trigger the receipt

BUG: Sim can't fish

Problem

1. My Sim can't fish. There's no option for it.
2. My Sim can't fish with bait anymore

Cause
Problem 1
This is caused by unknown seeds in your inventory.

Problem 2
Might be caused by bait that is not in your inventory anymore. If you fished with a certain bait and now you don't have that bait anymore that can make the option disappear.

With Patch 1.26 they seem to have changed some stuff but forgot to take out some coding in a tuning file. This is causing this error and unfortunately, Mods seem the only solution for this.

There might be other causes to this, outdated mods being one of them.

Solution

• Remove all unknown seeds from your inventory
• Make sure to finish all adventures that involve fishing before returning home
• Make sure to always have the last bait you fished with still in your inventory. 

Mods that solve the problem

• Overwatch, V41 or newer fixes this issue with bait-fishing.

BUG: Animals are teleported to the edge of the map

Problem
I can't find my animals. After searching for quite some time, I found them on the edge of the map

Cause
This is a conflict with the store bath tubs (possibly all of them). When animals try to interact with the tub, they are teleported away.

Solution
Reset the animal and don't use store tubs for the moment.

BUG: Pets can't learn certain skills

Problem

• Cats & dogs can't learn hunting
• Horses can't learn racing

Cause
This might be a conflict with the spell book but that's not 100% certain. It could also be the same skill modifier bug that made Sims not learn the athletic skill anymore and Vampires learn at insane rates.

Solution

• Uninstall the spell book and delete your Cache files. If that does not work, start a new game and check if it's working there. It might be that if you already have the bug in a game, you can't get rid of it.
• Use the cheat testingcheatsenabled true and shift-click on the mailbox. Then choose make needs static (Credit goes to SiriusNSassy1176)

Mods that solve the problem

• Overwatch, V41 or newer fixes this issue. 

Further Reading

• BUG: Sim can't improve theirs skills / Vampires learn insanely fast

NEWS: Issues with Patch 1.26/1.27

Please post and refer to my Bug Thread in the official forum for details: Pets Bug Thread - Please post your issues here.

If you have troubles installing the patch, get the manual one here:  Patch 1.26/1.27 and make sure your Origin is up-to-date.

To do that, start Origin and see if there's an update. The current version is: 8.3.0.3527 - 112620 (found under the little cog-wheel icon - about)

If you are not offered an update and your not at the version, uninstall Origin and get the newest version here: Origin
 
Known issues

• Spiral staircases not working
• Sims can eat dog food at the restaurant
• BUG: CC Objects issues with Patch 1.26/1.27 
• Limited Edition: Codes for registration and Code Redemption are switch. Red Paper: Installation Code, White Paper: Code for Pet Store. 

Fixed issues

• Excavation Bug
• Photography Bug

Not fixed

• Car piling issue 
• Age resetting when using tattoo chair and styling station 

BUG: CC Objects issues with Patch 1.26/1.27

It seems that the new patch has borked most of the cc objects. This does not include hair or clothing and most deco items will be fine as well but all objects that have slots (for other objects or Sims) are most likely not usable anymore (some of the older stuff still seems to be).

Read all about it over at MTS

• Sims 3 News - New TS3 Patch and Existing Custom content   
• Information - Collections! Finally! And..er yeah, patch 1.26/1.27

s3pe is being updated as I post this and Workshop will be soon too. Creators will need to fix their stuff. Delphy seems to be working on a tool that can easily do this.

Will post more info as I get it.

BUG: Store and Custom Content uninstalls itself

Problem

• I started my game and got a missing objects warning
• My launcher shows all my stuff as uninstalled

Cause
It seems that certain updates (Origin or the game) can break your installed content and make it uninstalled.
In case of just the launcher showing them as uninstalled, that might just be the launcher. Check your game if you have the stuff or not.

Solutions
To solve this, you probably need to reinstall all your custom content (including Store). Unfortunatly this does not seem to work for everyone but I don't have a solution if this doens't work.

1. If you get a missing object warning you should immediately leave your game without saving. If you save, all your houses and Sims will look different cause the downloads you used will be replaced.
2. Go to this folder: [User Directory]\theSims3\DCCache and find a file called missingdeps.idx. Delete this file. It's a cache file that will be recreated on the next start of the Launcher.
3. Open your Launcher/game to see if you have your stuff back. If so, you're done here. Else continue with 4
4. Close your Launcher. 
5. Go to this folder: [User Directory]\theSims3\DCCache and move all files *.ebc (store) and *.dbc (3rd party content) files to your desktop (make a folder there) 
6. Open your Launcher. All your stuff will be uninstalled now (except words/houses/sims)
7. If you don't clean out your downloads folder, you can simply reinstall everything but I don't recommend to install everything in one go. If the *.ebc/*.dbc files are getting too big, the launcher has new problems. Keep them to 200-300 MB in size. If you usually move the files to a save place, copy them back into the [User Directory]\theSims3\Downloads and then install.
   If you don't have those files anymore, you will need to redownload them. Store Stuff can be downloaded from your purchase history.
8. Close the launcher
9. Open the launcher/game and check if everything is back. If not, I don't have any other solutions atm
10. If everything is back to normal, you can delete the files you have moved to the desktop in step 5

Precautions
To easily get your stuff back when an update decides to uninstall everything, you should backup the files in DCCache and Downloads every time you successfully install new downloads. Keep 2-3 backups in case one breaks.

Backing up the Store-Downloads is a good idea anyway in case EA decided not to host the files any longer. After you downloaded them to your game, you can find them in die Downloads folder.

BUG: Lags in China

Problem
My game is severely lagging in China. I can hardly play. It's worse at night

Cause
Like Bridgeport, China has some severe routing problems. There are places where Sims get stuck a lot, causing these lags to happen.

More information about this can be found here:

• Game Help:World Routing Lags 
• Possible lead on the Hot Springs Lag Problem...
• EP1: World Adventures - Weird freezing in China after generations install 

The most problematic lots are

• Dragon Springs
• Hot Springs

Solutions

• Reset your sims. This has the disadvantage that your active Sim will be reset too
• Reset the problematic lots. You will need MasterController to reset a single lot
• Replace the original EA .world files with fixed version (READ INSTRUCTIONS!) 
• Replace the door at Hot Springs that seems to be self-locking at night (see link above) with an arch. You can do that with the cheat enablelotlocking true.
• Replace the settings for Dragon Springs and Hot Springs to No Visitors Allowed. 
• If you are using Twallan's StoryProgression Mod, turn it off while on vacation (you can set that individually for every town). Some functionality will still be working but Sims aren't getting pushed around which should reduce the lag. 

Further Reading

• BUG: Lags & Intermittent Freezes 

BUG: Missing picture in savegame overview

Problem
The overview where you choose your savegame to play is missing it's pictures

Cause
This is caused by tents stored in chests

Solution
Don't store tents in chests. If you have any tents stored in a chest, take it out and the picture should be back

BUG: Can't choose a pre-existant family

Problem
I wanted to start a new game but there no option to choose one of the pre-existant families. The option is missing

Cause
You are in tutorial mode. The options are being reset every time you update your graphic drivers.

Solution
Enter Edit-Town to get a message to leave tutorial mode.

Further Reading

• ERROR: Saves are gone/ Options are reset

BUG: Infinite Baby Loop

Problem
My pregnant Sim is stuck in a infinite baby loop. I already have x babies but I keep getting a prompt to name more. I can see the actual babies

Cause
This bug has been around since the base game came out but it seems as many others this has gotten worse with GEN. The cause is probably an unhandled error that occurs at the same time that the baby is born that simply resets the process. This error is reproducible and even reloading of the game does not get rid of the glitch

Solution
Reset sim does not help in this case but some people have found that switching active families and have the baby born as an inactive solves the problem for them. Make sure to NOT save the game before you quit.

For some the loop stops by itself after many many babies.

Mods that help with the problem
MasterController has an option to terminate the pregnancy before hand and/or get rid of the extra babies

Credit for the picture goes to Moderator_Gagea 

BUG: Moodlets don't go away

Problem
(Negative) Moodlet don't go away (hunted moodlet, Disgusted moodlet etc) although there's no reason for them

Cause

• Disgusted  
• Check your inventory for spoiled food or garbage
• Leave the house and go to a community lot. If the moodlet goes away and comes back when you go back to your house, you have something in the house that bothers them. Check your garbage, potties, other Sims and hover over the moodlet to get a clue what might be wrong.
• Hunted: This moodlet tends to stay although there's no vampire around anymore.

Solution
Moodlets can be clicked away by entering the cheat testingcheatsenabled true and then ctl-clicking on the moodlet. If they come back, there really is something that triggers them. It might still be an error but then there's not much you can do about it.

BUG: Imported house raises/lowers the terrain.

Problem
when I place a house on a lot it was not originally built on, I get either mountains they sit on or they sink into the ground.

Solution
This problem can be solved with a cheat.   You will need to type in the cheat before you place the lot:

SetImportedTerrainOffset (value)

(value) Is a positive or negative number depending on whether the lot created a hole or a mountain.

After you placed the lot, check if the elevation is level before pressing ok. If not, cancel and change the value you put in. Positive numbers raise the lot and negative numbers lower the lot. You can even use decimal values for fine tuning.

All credit for this goes to Richdre
Credit for the pic goes to DavusAntonius 
  

BUG: Sim wakes up every morning at 4 am

Problem
My Sim is waking up at 4 o'clock in the morning every day. I can send him back to sleep after that but it's getting on my nerves anyways.

Cause
This bug is probably caused by the opening hours of some bars. If your Sims stays at those bars until closing, he can get this bug.

It's actually not only sleeping that gets interrupted at 4 am but everything the Sim is doing at that moment.

Solution
Move your Sim out and back in and he'll be cured.

BUG: Double Relationships

Problem
My Sim has a relationship to the same Sim twice (in the relationship panel twice)

Cause
Unclear. Probably has something to do with cleanups that are not properly done after Sims have been on vacation (WA and GEN Opportunity) or boarding school

Such double relationships generate two Sims with the same ID and that can lead to a lot of problems, for example Sims going missing from the portait panel.

Solution
---

Mod that help with the problem

• Overwatch has the ability to clean up most of those double relationships
• RelationshipPanel has the option to simply delete those relationships.

BUG: Sim feels betrayed with no good reason

Problem
My Sim is suddenly accusing his partner of cheating although they have done nothing wrong. The end of the relationship is not far off.

Cause 
The new reputation system is counting old lovers as cheating as well. If you have any Sims that still show the heart in the relationship panel are counted as cheating on your partner. Also it's not possible to have hidden affairs. If you flirt with another Sim, everybody knows it (even if you do it in the privacy of your own home) and your relationship will go down the drain very fast.

Prevention
Before going steady make sure that you don't have any open relationships showing. Make sure to ask them just to be friends.

Solution
Buy the lifetime rewards Above Reproach and Clean Slate. The lifetime reward No Jealousy doesn't help in this case for it has no influence on the reputations system.

Mods that help with the problem

• Romantic Reputation Recombobulator replaces the system with an new one. You can read about the details in the mods description.

BUG: Imaginary Friend Problems

Problem

1. The interactions sing and play are being canceled.
2. I can't get rid of that stupid doll 

Cause

1. Those interactions only seem to work if they are used from the inventory. If you cue them after each other they are being canceled and the IF is placed back into the inventory. 
2. The IF cannot be deleted 

Solution

1. Only choose the interactions from the inventory
2. Have the child bury it in the sand box or make him real and then kill 

Mod Confict
Imaginary friends are ServiceNPC. Because of this they are cleaned up by older versions of StoryProgression Mod and Overwatch. Make sure you have the newest versions available to prevent that issue.