Mod The Sims - Disappearing Neighbourhoods

GirlaPH

26th Aug 2011, 7:49 PM

This is the wrong thread, since your neighborhood is still there. Please start a new thread in the Sims 2 Help forum after following the game problem FAQ (when you start a thread, you'll be given the link).

If you have an idea of what the problem is, don't just say "Blue Lot of Death". Give us some links to threads that discuss the issue, so that we know what you're talking about. When I google for that term, all I find is Sims 3, which obviously can't be your problem.

Then I do apologies then. Anyway, I already fixed the problem thanks to the Sims2Pack Clean Installer. I disabled the lot that causes the blue rectangle lot, and then deleted the lot file. The cause of the problem is that the lot is near both of my community lots. I'll create another thread next time if this happens again.

Again, I do apologies for posting in the wrong topic.

Melpomeneia

3rd Sep 2011, 6:01 AM

Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Computer specs: 2.7 Ghz processor, 4.96Gb RAM, atiumd64.DLL
Games: All of them, and I had all of them when backups were made
Details of Neighbourhood loss: I stopped playing the game after old computer crashed. Had back-ups made in SimPE before crash. Went to reinstall all the games plus my back-up which was of Pleasantview N001, but it won't show up in screen.
Neighbourhood File details If you go to Documents/ EA Games/ The Sims2/ Neighbourhoods are the neighbourhood files still there? Everything is there.
Sim PE Investigation: Yes I can see everything, I couldn't see any sort of corruption but then again I am not particularly sure how to properly check.
What changed on your system immediately before the corruption: It's a completely different system and I can't get my SimPE back up to install into the game despite there being nothing noticeably wrong with the files.
Any other relevant information: Whenever I start the game it creates an empty folder titled EAGames, and inside that: TheSims2, exactly the same as the one with my content, but there's nothing in it, every time I attempt to copy and paste the other, and restart the game this folder shows up. I've tried SimPE backup restore, manually installing each neighborhood eg uni, downtown etc, start game nothing is there, tried manually copy and pasting the back-up N001 file where the old one was after I deleted it, still doesn't show up in game, running out of idea here, some help would be fantastic!

Mootilda

3rd Sep 2011, 7:13 PM

Details of Neighbourhood loss: I stopped playing the game after old computer crashed. Had back-ups made in SimPE before crash. Went to reinstall all the games plus my back-up which was of Pleasantview N001, but it won't show up in screen.SimPE doesn't make proper backups. Please see here:
http://simpeforum.ambertation.de/sims2/Warning-for-people-who-edit-sims-and-hoods-in-SimPE

Here is a link to the correct way to make a backup:
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Back_Ups

If you are copying and pasting just the one file (N001_Neighborhood.package), then it will not work. You need to delete the newly generated Neighborhoods and replace that folder with the entire Neighborhoods folder from your backup.

Melpomeneia

4th Sep 2011, 2:23 AM

If you are copying and pasting just the one file (N001_Neighborhood.package), then it will not work. You need to delete the newly generated Neighborhoods and replace that folder with the entire Neighborhoods folder from your backup.

That's the thing, I am not just trying to paste in that specific file, I am trying to put in the whole contents of that neighborhood, the lots folder, the characters, storytelling, thumbnails etc, none of them are .bak files they looks like every other neighborhood file, and the N001_Neighborhood.package file, to my knowledge, isn't corrupt it's the right size and everything.

So what your saying is to delete all the generated hoods and just replace it with my N001 files?

Melpomeneia

4th Sep 2011, 4:42 AM

Also to add, basically I has saved my N001 separately from my other hoods because I didn't really play them. I did also have a back up with the other hoods separate from N001, for god knows whatever reason i tried throwing the N001 in with the other hoods from my other backup and was able to save most of my CC (sigh of relief). The result was nonetheless to say bizarre, I got two Desiderata Valleys, two Belladonna Coves, and none of the others. All the hood files are named different ie N001, N002, N003 etc exactly the same as the name given by the basegame. If all is lost and I have royally screwed up I managed to clone some of my favourite sims out of the N001 backup to restart again, but I was wondering there are a few lots I wouldn't mind saving as well, is there anyway to extract them using SimsPE like I did the sims?

Mootilda

4th Sep 2011, 5:01 AM

The folder name is not the only thing that can conflict; sometimes the internal hood ID conflicts as well. You may have a conflict between some of your backup neighborhoods and the generated versions. Try removing the entire generated Neighborhoods folder and replace it with your backup Neighborhoods folder. That should avoid all conflicts. Alternatively, try deleting all of the generated neighborhoods and just copy in your N001 folder and nothing else.

If that doesn't work and you can't see your neighborhood, you can just copy the lot packages from your neighborhood Lots folder to your new LotCatalog folder. Rename all of the packages to have filenames which match the naming conventions in that folder (ie, cx_00000001.package) and then run the game. Your lots should appear in the lot bin in your game.

Melpomeneia

4th Sep 2011, 8:32 AM

If that doesn't work and you can't see your neighborhood, you can just copy the lot packages from your neighborhood Lots folder to your new LotCatalog folder. Rename all of the packages to have filenames which match the naming conventions in that folder (ie, cx_00000001.package) and then run the game. Your lots should appear in the lot bin in your game.

Doing this didn't work. Do you have a link to a tutorial because I may have done it wrong. Also I did try moving N001 into the Neighborhood folder by itself, deleting the base hoods, doing this didn't work.

Mootilda

4th Sep 2011, 3:42 PM

This is the closest thing to a tutorial that I have:
http://www.modthesims.info/journal.php?do=showentry&e=4911

asiankim97

5th Sep 2011, 1:37 AM

Hello~
So, all my neighborhoods except Desiderata Valley disappear when I add my Custom Neighborhood N004 to the Neighborhoods folder.
I bought Freetime when the digital download was on sale for 5 dollars on Origin (this was about a month or so ago) . I backed up my files and installed it, and all the neighborhoods were gone except Desiderata Valley.
Then, I uninstalled/reinstalled all my games except Freetime, and everything went back to how it originally was. I removed all my files to make it a clean slate and then installed freetime again, and all the Maxis neighborhoods were there like they should be. I then replaced the files with my backup, but without my Downloads and N004 folder. That worked well.
After that, I tested with the custom content and everything was still fine, but when I added my custom neighborhood, the neighborhoods disappear again. I do just about all my simming on that neighborhood, so I'd really like to be able to use it with Freetime.
Somebody please help~

Melpomeneia

5th Sep 2011, 8:12 AM

This is the closest thing to a tutorial that I have:
http://www.modthesims.info/journal.php?do=showentry&e=4911

It worked!!! You are amazing thank you so much. It didn't work the first time because I had 1 too many zeroes in the file name when I got up to the 100's, I only just realised that all the digits had to be aligned eg.

cx_00000001
cx_00000010
cx_00000100

etc.

I am pleased as punch, now to repopulate!!

Mootilda

5th Sep 2011, 4:51 PM

when I added my custom neighborhood, the neighborhoods disappear again. I do just about all my simming on that neighborhood, so I'd really like to be able to use it with Freetime. Somebody please help~It really sounds like your custom neighborhood conflicts with the shipped neighborhoods. I can think of two possible solutions:

1) Keep two EA Games folders: one with your custom neighborhood and one with everything else. When you want to play, make sure that one is named EA Games and the other is not (ie, call it EA Games Not In Use, or something like that). Swap between the two folders as needed.

If you can run the AnyGameStarter, you can accomplish the same thing by setting up an AnyGame for your custom neighborhood.

2) If you are familiar with SimPE, you might be able to resolve the conflict. Make sure that you have your custom neighborhood backed up somewhere safe. Then, copy it into the Neighborhoods folder with the shipped neighborhoods.

Open your custom neighborhood package in SimPE. Select ID Number (IDNO) in the left pane. There should only be one record in the right pane, select it. In the Plugin View, you should see the current neighborhood settings. Click on "make unique" and check that it changed the UID number, then commit, and save.

You may also have to do this with each of the subhoods attached to your custom neighborhood. For each downtown, university, suburb and vacation neighborhood in your custom neighborhood folder, ask SimPE to give you a unique UID. This should ensure that none of your neighborhoods conflict.

alpie_ap

14th Sep 2011, 1:27 PM

Hi,
So this is my problem... After upgrading my computer from Vista to 7, I had to re-install all my sims 2 games. Of course, I wanted to play my saved games from before the upgrade, so I deleted the new game files and copied my backed up Sims 2 folder into Documents/EA Games. Loaded the game, it asks me if I want to enable custom content (like it did before), I click yes. No neighbourhoods. At all. Just the option to create a custom one.
Reload game, click no to custom content. Same thing happens. Checked the neighbourhood folder, all the files are there and look normal (I think).
Have tried playing the game as administrator, in xp compatibility mode, in vista compatibility mode. Uninstalled all games and re-installed in the recommended order, nothing changed. Uninstalled and re-installed in vista compatibility mode and as administrator. Nothing works! No matter how many times I copy my backed up files and load the game, no neighbourhoods appear. Sometimes, after I've done something a little differently (can't remember what that is though) Belladonna Cove and Riverblossom Hills appear but nothing else. The only way I can seem to get any neighbourhoods is by playing the new game files. But I really want my custom neighbourhood back! :( It's the one I play the most, and all my favourite sims are in it, is there any way of getting it back??

Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
Computer specs 2.10 Ghz processor, 4Gb RAM
Games DVD Base game, Uni, Nightlife, Open For Business, Glamour stuff, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Apartment Life, Mansions and Gardens.
Details of Neighbourhood loss No neighbourhoods appear after I've restored a back up, only the option to create a custom neighbourhood.
Neighbourhood File details Everything's there.
Sim PE Investigation: I don't have Sim PE.
What changed on your system immediately before the corruption: Upgraded to Windows 7 from Vista.
Any other relevant information: When I was upgrading to Windows 7, it didn't quite work and I had to do a system recovery back to factory settings with Vista, then do the upgrade again. Maybe this corrupted something?? I also used to have the Store edition too, but I can't get that back since upgrading... Is that vital?

Mootilda

14th Sep 2011, 4:23 PM

First, do you have the same EPs and SPs that you had before your O/S upgrade?

If so, is it possible that you are restoring to the wrong location? Remove the entire folder (Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2?). When you run the game, check the location that you're restoring to. Does it contain all of the save game files that you expect? If not, you may be looking at the shared EA Games folder. Look around until you find the folder which actually contains the newly generated save game, and restore your backup there instead.

alpie_ap

15th Sep 2011, 4:30 AM

Yes, I was using all the EPs and SPs I own before the upgrade, and I made my back up just before the upgrade and it included all the EPs, etc. I've re-installed all of them, so it should be the same as before...

I know the EA folder you're talking about, there's never anything in it. I haven't been restoring to that one, but to the one that actually contains all the game files, which is Documents/My Documents/EA Games. I've tried deleting the new The Sims 2 folder and pasting my back up in it's place, I've tried merging the two to see if that made any difference, I've even tried restoring each individual folder in the The Sims 2 folder. I also tried just copying my custom neighbourhood (N005) into the Neighbourhoods folder, but while it kept all the game generated neighbourhoods, my custom one still didn't appear...

Thanks for the quick reply, by the way :)

Mootilda

15th Sep 2011, 5:13 AM

Merging is wrong. Everything else that you've tried should work. You've got me stumped.

alpie_ap

15th Sep 2011, 5:18 AM

Is there a way of finding out if one of the files is corrupted? That's the only other thing I can think of as to why it's not working.

Mootilda

21st Sep 2011, 5:20 PM

Sorry, I missed your last post. No, I don't know of any way to find a specific corrupted file. The neighborhood package is the largest and most important package, so it's the one which is most likely to be corrupt.

Your best bet is to have your custom neighborhood in the Neighborhoods folder by itself, since that will ensure that it doesn't conflict with any other neighborhood. Perhaps you should regenerate the standard save game, then delete everything out of the Neighborhoods folder and copy N005 in. If your neighborhood doesn't show up when it's the only neighborhood, and with newly generated files for every other folder, then it's safe to say that your neighborhood is probably corrupted.

If you'd like to share your neighborhood, I'd be happy to take a look at it and see whether there's anything that I can do. I have a number of programs which allow me to do some internal checking on packages.

alpie_ap

27th Sep 2011, 4:49 AM

Ok, well I tried just putting N005 into the Neighbourhoods folder, loaded the game and it didn't appear, only the option to create a custom hood. So looks like it might be corrupted :/
How do I share my neighbourhood? Thanks for offering to do that.

By 'regenerate the standard save game', do you mean having all the new folders and files as if I've just installed the game and it's EPs?

Mootilda

27th Sep 2011, 5:16 AM

To share your neighborhood, zip, rar, or 7zip the entire N005 folder and add it to a file sharing site.

To regenerate the standard save game, you just remove the Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2 folder and run the game. It will recreate everything.

alpie_ap

29th Sep 2011, 11:04 AM

Oh, I didn't realise it recreates everything if you delete it all. That's good to know.

Here's the link to my custom neighbourhood folder: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/43493989/N005.zip
Maybe you can find something that's wrong with it?

Mootilda

29th Sep 2011, 6:08 PM

OK, I've got your neighborhood.

It requires the Sims 2 Store Edition. Do you have it installed?

If not, then you may have lost your neighborhood, since EA has taken down the Sims 2 site and store, and the Store Edition may not be available any longer.

I can't help you further with the hood itself, because I don't have the SE. This is the first time that I've seen a neighborhood that I couldn't open in the game. I was able to open your neighborhood in SimPE and in all of my programs which access various parts of the neighborhood, so I wasn't able to find any corruption. It's impossible to tell whether the problem is the lack of the Store Edition, or a corrupted neighborhood package.

If you are unable to get the Store Edition installed, or if you have it installed but are still unable to play your hood, you may be able to salvage some aspects of your neighborhood and then recreate it from scratch:
- You can salvage your decorated neighborhood using my HoodReplace program.
- You can salvage your furnished lots by copying all of the lots to your LotCatalog folder and fixing the names to follow the correct naming conventions.
- You can salvage your sims appearances and then recreate your families in-game from those, using SimPE to add back family ties, relationships, memories, etc.

alpie_ap

30th Sep 2011, 8:54 AM

Thanks for checking that out for me. I was wondering if that was the problem. The thought did cross my mind earlier but I forgot to mention I had the Store Edition. Everything got wiped off the computer when I upgraded so I don't have the store edition anymore :( I did back up the SE folder though, so if there was a way to re-download SE, my game might work again... So you don't know of any way to re-download the Store Edition? I'm pretty sure that must be the problem, because I had no problems with it before I lost the SE.

Is there any way of copying whole families, including their houses, back into the game?

Mootilda

30th Sep 2011, 4:12 PM

I did back up the SE folder though, so if there was a way to re-download SE, my game might work again... So you don't know of any way to re-download the Store Edition? I'm pretty sure that must be the problem, because I had no problems with it before I lost the SE.This is really getting off of the topic of this thread, and outside of my area of expertise. So, I'm going to suggest that you post this as a new thread in the Sims 2 Help forum. Explain that I've been helping you with your missing neighborhood after moving to a new machine, that we believe that your neighborhood may be dependent upon the Store Edition, etc.

Questions about salvaging your neighborhood can remain here; I just think that you need to ask someone else about the Store Edition.

Is there any way of copying whole families, including their houses, back into the game?Yes, there is. See "The Hard Way" here:
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Moving_Sims

Unfortunately, that technique requires that you run the game and package your occupied lots, which is clearly not an option for you.

It may be possible to salvage everyone by creating a brand new neighborhood and copying all of the necessary records from the old neighborhood, including: NGBH, NHTG, NHTR, NHVW, LTXT, FAMI, FAMT, STR#, SDSC, SDNA, SWAF, etc. etc. etc.

One problem with that strategy is determining exactly which records to copy. The other is that some of those records may actually require the Store Edition. It could be a long process of trial and error, creating a fresh new neighborhood each time.

[Update:]

Looks like a winning strategy, though. I created a new empty neighborhood (using empty templates) and copied the following, in order: STR#, SDNA, SDSC, SWAF, FAMI, FAMH, FAMT, and LTXT and ended up with a neighborhood full of playable occupied lots. You'll also need NGBH for the memories and NHTG and NHTR for the neighborhood terrain. Some of your SRELs are corrupt, but you can probably copy the rest of them and get most of your relationships. You might want to copy CTSS and IDNO to get the proper hood IDs and descriptions.

To copy all records of a particular type: open your old neighborhood in SimPE, select the record type that you want to copy in the left pane and then select all of the records in the right pane. Right click anywhere in the right pane and select "Extract", then save the records to your hard drive. Open your new neighborhood, right click anywhere in the right pane and select "Add", then choose all of the extracted records.

If you want to re-create your neighborhood completely, you'll have to add back an empty subhood for each original subhood and copy (at least) the CTSS, IDNO, NHTG, NHTR, STR# and LTXT for each one.

One other thing: I'm not sure which game engine is required for the Store Edition. I created the new neighborhood with all EPs and SPs (except the Store Edition) and that worked. You might want to ask in your other thread about which EP you'll need if you can't get the SE.

[Another update:]

I realized that I had a way to find some information about the game engine version. I checked the internal version of the SDSC records in your neighborhood. Your save game requires either the Store Edition or Apartment Life or higher. It may require Mansion and Garden; I just don't have any way to check that.

Lady Starr

3rd Oct 2011, 8:33 PM

This has happened to me before, I have tried to load a custom hood only to not have it show in the main selection screen. I have followed the directions on the first post of this thread and still no luck. The folder looks different than the others in the Neighbourhoods, I opened Sim PE and it doesn't even show in the Neighbourhood Browser there. I can't even extract my sims to save them should I need to rebuild this hood once again, Sim PE can't find it so I can't extract. The last SP I put on was Mansions and Gardens, but as recently as last week it was working fine with no issues. I have not installed any system updates other than the Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and even after that was on it was still working fine and showing up.

System: Windows 7 Premium
Processor: AMD Athelon II Quad Core
RAM: 4 gigs DDR3
HD: 750 gigs
EP's and SP's: All EP's, all SP's except Ikea, Kitchen and Bath Design

Mootilda

3rd Oct 2011, 10:01 PM

In general, it's much better to be specific. Telling us that you tried "everything in the first post" isn't nearly as useful to us as telling us exactly what you tried in your own words. For example, say "I tried to remove the NeighborhoodManager.package; my neighborhood did not appear. I tried copying the NeighborhoodManager package from Program files/ EA Games/ The Sims2/ TS Data/ Res/ User Data/ Neighbourhoods; my neighborhood did not appear. I tried ... etc. etc.".

Try moving or removing everything in your entire Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods folder. Then, copy in just your backup neighborhood folder that is causing you problems. Does that help?

Don't bother to restore the other neighborhoods until you have actually managed to get your neighborhood displayed. Many people find that they have a conflict between two of their neighborhoods and playing only one neighborhood at a time will completely remove that possibility.

Try deleting all of your caches. Does that help?

Try removing all of your CC. Does that help?

Aurialle

16th Oct 2011, 9:58 PM

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit)

Computer Specs: 2.19 GHz processor, 2 GB RAM, Intel Celeron

: Base, Nightlife, Party Stuff (packaged as Double Deluxe, if that helps at all) as a download from Origin; I have all the patches that come with it (I'd assume up to second Nightlife).

Details of Neighborhood loss: After I download the game (which I've done three times), I immediately try playing it, but it only comes up with the option to create a custom neighborhood. The only extra thing I've downloaded is SimsPE (which I downloaded after I tried everything else mentioned in the post).

Neighborhood file details: The game didn't even make the folder at first. I made the base folder hoping that the game would make the subfolders, but that didn't work either (I repeated this just to be entirely sure it wouldn't work). After making the folders myself, I copied the file NeighborhoodManager.package and the folders for the three base game neighborhoods, and not even that worked.

SimsPE Investigation: I can see the descriptions for Veronaville, Strangetown, Pleasantview, and a town I don't remember ever having heard of before called Waterside, along with other files with things like “z_OEPlayground” (there's about 7 total with names starting with z_) and three other files that show up in the list as “UNK: 0x8CC0A14B”, “Directory of Compressed Files” (also of note- the publisher is listed as Quaxi; I have no idea what this means, but it might be important), and “0xCC8A6A69”. All these files are there in both copies, but they seem to be in a slightly different order in the lists. Opening the neighborhood files in SimsPE worked for both locations.

What Changed immediately Before the Corruption: I uninstalled TS2 and deleted all the custom content I'd downloaded (and the Clean Pack Installer) in the hopes the game would work after waiting more than a month between downloads, also an update to my anti-virus program was simultaneously installing. I only downloaded some songs and saved some pictures between the first and second downloads.

Attempt of other method: I created the folder from scratch so there was no original to paste on the desktop, and it was in a different location (Program Files (x86)/Origin /The Sims(TM) 2 Double Deluxe/Base/TSData/UserData/Neighborhoods), but I did try this, and it didn't work.

Any other relevant information: My computer is a TOSHIBA Satellite C655, but I doubt that the specific manufacturer and model has anything to do with it, because my father's computer (which downloaded the game perfectly) is a TOSHIBA Satellite A505. Also, I have my anti-virus set up to automatically scan all downloads.

salamanderer

17th Oct 2011, 6:59 PM

Reading through what happened here might help. Especially the necessity to delete the cache files, and try to restore from a backup. Since many posters on here have already deleted their files, you can't restore anything. If your files are randomly renaming themselves, it sounds more like a virus or a hard drive that is going bad.

I have successfully re-built most of my missing neighborhood. It was very tedious and took several months. I learned one big thing from all of this and that is to backup your entire My Documents Sims2 folder - not just the neighborhoods folder. After reaching milestones, I back it up, and keep at least two versions at all times. It really helps that I have a 1 TB external drive to put the backups on. They are *huge*! When doing this, be sure to use appropriate names with dates, like "Sims 2-Gen2grown-11-10-10". That way, you'll kind of have an idea of which one you want, and when. I have slight OCD, and I'm a bit of a nerd, so I didn't want to give up without a fight. I also kept notes in a spreadsheet about characteristics of each of my sims and families. Yes, I do have a life. :) This nerdishness helped with restoring, though.

I used Sim PE with Alt Sim Surgery (available at moreawesomethanyou.com) and a clean copy of the game with the Sim Blender (thanks to simbology.com), at the very least, and perhaps a shopping computer installed. I also used multiple backup packages to glean all I could from them. If you have no working backup copies, then this probably won't work, especially for houses. You might be able to save some of your sims, however, from your current crashed game. I haven't figured out how to do the houses from that point.

Here is an interesting observation to note. I had families disappear from the list in Sim PE. What I did was look in backup copies to find their ID number, then open the latest game file in Sim PE, clone the default family resource, but change the ID number and voila!, there was my family in the list. I also tried this with some houses. Another thing I tried was to change some of the "now on lot" ID numbers to get them in the correct house. Make sure they also are in the correct suburb ID, too. Again, though, you need backups, and it doesn't always work, so be forewarned that you should make a backup of your backup so you don't completely screw everything up more than it already is.

See the attached file for a full explanation of what I did. I did not put this in a bullet-point format because it's been a few months, and I'm going by memory. I may have missed a few details here and there.

Mootilda

17th Oct 2011, 8:30 PM

Neighborhood file details: The game didn't even make the folder at first. I made the base folder hoping that the game would make the subfolders, but that didn't work either (I repeated this just to be entirely sure it wouldn't work). After making the folders myself, I copied the file NeighborhoodManager.package and the folders for the three base game neighborhoods, and not even that worked.If the game doesn't create the EA Games\The Sims 2 folder, then you are looking in the wrong location. Do a search on your hard drives for "The Sims 2" and then look at all of the results, to see where the game is creating the real save game folder.

jamini94

25th Oct 2011, 1:40 AM

I'm not sure exactly what's going on as far as fixing what's happening. I tried reading through the messages but I got more confused after about seven or eight pages. I just want my stuff back if possible, so here it goes...
Operating system: Ummm, not exactly sure what this mean....I know I have something called a windows vista, but I don't think that's what your talking about...
System Specs: I really don't know what this means, I'm really sorry. I just really don't know or understand technology or the lingo....
Games: Nightlife, Pets, Apartment Life, Seasons, Open for Business, Univerisity, Bath and Kitchen Stuff, Teen Stuff, Ikea.....I think that's it.
Details of Neighborhood Loss: When I went to go play my game, there was nothing there. It seems like I still have all my custom content, but my families, their lots, the lots I created, basically everything I did was completely gone. And it wasn't just Riverblossom Hills where I spent basically all my time the past year or so. Its all the neighborhoods. Strangetown, Pleasantview, Belladonna Cove, everything. Its like I've never played my game.
I was exploring body shop before I tried to get to my game. I wanted to see if I could make a mohawk because I wasn't having any luck finding one I liked. I can't remember exactlly what the message said, but when I clicked on the maxis mohawk for men, it said something like it had exported the files to somewhere. After that I exited because I didn't know what I was doing. I download some hair and clothing that I had been meaning to download for awhile and then I went to my game and everything was gone. I close it, restarted it and everything was still gone. I closed it again, went back to bodyshop because i figured i had messed with something i wasn't supposed to. I clicked on the mohawk project i had saved and imported (?) it back to the game or something like that. I restarted the game again and still everything was gone.
Neighborhood File Details: I went to my neighborhood files after what I described above and i went to the riverblossom hill folder and everything looks normal. the files that are usually there are present and everything..
SimPE Investigation: I don't have sims PE...

alpie_ap

29th Oct 2011, 7:48 AM

It may be possible to salvage everyone by creating a brand new neighborhood and copying all of the necessary records from the old neighborhood, including: NGBH, NHTG, NHTR, NHVW, LTXT, FAMI, FAMT, STR#, SDSC, SDNA, SWAF, etc. etc. etc.

One problem with that strategy is determining exactly which records to copy. The other is that some of those records may actually require the Store Edition. It could be a long process of trial and error, creating a fresh new neighborhood each time.

[Update:]

Looks like a winning strategy, though. I created a new empty neighborhood (using empty templates) and copied the following, in order: STR#, SDNA, SDSC, SWAF, FAMI, FAMH, FAMT, and LTXT and ended up with a neighborhood full of playable occupied lots. You'll also need NGBH for the memories and NHTG and NHTR for the neighborhood terrain. Some of your SRELs are corrupt, but you can probably copy the rest of them and get most of your relationships. You might want to copy CTSS and IDNO to get the proper hood IDs and descriptions.

To copy all records of a particular type: open your old neighborhood in SimPE, select the record type that you want to copy in the left pane and then select all of the records in the right pane. Right click anywhere in the right pane and select "Extract", then save the records to your hard drive. Open your new neighborhood, right click anywhere in the right pane and select "Add", then choose all of the extracted records.

If you want to re-create your neighborhood completely, you'll have to add back an empty subhood for each original subhood and copy (at least) the CTSS, IDNO, NHTG, NHTR, STR# and LTXT for each one.

Sorry this is a bit late, but thanks Mootilda for all your help with this :) I really appreciate it.

If I have the time (and the patience!), I'll try your suggestion. I gather I need SimPE to do this?

Mootilda

29th Oct 2011, 4:06 PM

runeon

29th Oct 2011, 4:15 PM

I don't know if anyone already suggested this but this one works for me.

- Back up Downloads,Collections and Neighborhood(N001,N002,etc. *Don't copy NeighborhoodManager.package*) folder.
- Delete EA Games folder located on your "My Documents" (WIN XP not sure bout Vista)
- Start the game and wait 'till the game loads everything (this will generate all the files you deleted).
- Once it's done loading, exit the game.
- Put your back-up files on their proper locations.
- Start the game and see if your missing neighborhood is there again.

Note: This only works if your missing hoods files is still on your neighborhoods folder but for some odd reason won't show up when you start the game.

Mootilda

29th Oct 2011, 5:22 PM

If you're going to follow runeon's advice, don't forget to backup your LotCatalog and SavedSims folders as well as any installed Cameras and UserStartup.Cheat.

In fact, your best option is to backup your entire Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2 save game folder, just in case there are other changes that you'll want to restore.

alpie_ap

31st Oct 2011, 4:47 AM

Yes. However, you should be aware that this is not a beginner SimPE project.

To copy a record, extract it from the original neighborhood to your hard drive, then import it to the new neighborhood. There are a lot of records, but you can do them in batches. Just multi-select before choosing Extract.

Yes, I realise it's not for beginners, but I'm going to try it anyway. I don't really have anything to lose, as I can't play my old neighbourhood anyway...

I just need to make sure I have a few things clear. I'm very new to this, so forgive me if this is a stupid question, but to do what you've suggested, do I open N005_Neighborhood.package in SimPE and get the records from there? Do I touch anything from the Characters, Lots, Storytelling and Thumbnails folders in my N005 folder?

Mootilda

31st Oct 2011, 5:14 AM

I would suggest that you copy all of the things from Characters, Lots, Storytelling, and Thumbnails directly into your new neighborhood.

LilSister

3rd Nov 2011, 2:11 PM

I just had the same issue... when I loaded the game my custom hood didn't show up. I exited the game and checked the neighborhoods folder and the neighborhood folder was there and everything looked fine. I deleted the cache, group, cigen & accessories file and did a virus & malware scan and reloaded the game. Still the neighborhood was not there. I exited the game again opened SimPe, the neighborhood was there but it was listed as "unknown." I'm not sure how this happened, the only thing that I can think of is that I had a problem with a particular lot that I moved a newly created sim into. The sim would not do anything autonomously, he would only do things as directed. I moved him out and back into the lot and the same thing happened. I moved him out again, bulldozed the lot and exited the game to install a backup (I always package a lot before moving in any sims). During the exit the game froze and I had to use the task manager to shut down the game, during this process my screen jumped and all the files on my desk became jumbled. I installed the lot and when I moved the sim in the same thing happened, sim would not do anything but stand there. I moved in another sim and the same thing happened. I tested other lots in hood everything normal. I went back to the lot and sent the sims to several community lots and the functioned fine, they went about being a sims without me directig them. I returned them to the lot, moved them out and into a new lot and they functioned normally. I believe that the lot in question may have been corrupted in some way over time, causing the game to not recognize the hood. It's a lot that was created by someone else that I downloaded over a year ago. I have made several community lots with it, but never used it as residential lot as it was intended. I bull dozed the lot and go rid of the back ups and I will have to download a fresh copy. I restored my nieghorhood from a backup and all is well (thank God I started making backup's after each game play.) Now I can get back to my other issue...lol

LilSister

4th Nov 2011, 11:02 PM

Ok it happened again, wondering if I should be concerned, same neighborhood. I played with backup copy and got rid of offending lot. I rebuilt the home from scratched move family in played for 3 sim days no problem. I play 3 other lots saved and exited game. Today same thing, neighborhood listed as unknown-I didn't bother to load game I knew something was amiss when I tried to run a check with the hoodchecker and the neighborhood name was missing, I then checked Simpe. We are going to try this one more time before I throw in the towel.

Mootilda

4th Nov 2011, 11:58 PM

Yes, I would be concerned. This is not normal behavior. It really sounds like your neighborhood is corrupt and just on the edge of complete failure. Your backup is probably corrupt, too. Do you have an earlier backup?

LilSister

5th Nov 2011, 11:29 AM

I have several backups plus the orginal saved copy that only has the townies but never played. I've just checked neighborhood listed after last nights game play, fingers and toes crossed.

LilSister

11th Nov 2011, 5:58 PM

I found my problem- My Sims 2 Folder was on my desktop, I was moving things around and inadvertantly placed the folder on my desk top and failed to put it back. Haven't had a problem since I put it back where it belonged.

forspecial

12th Nov 2011, 5:17 AM

I have Mac OSX 10.5.8, all of the EPs and SPs that are compatible with Macintosh.

So, I had a megahood that used Bluewater VIllage as a base and had Strangetown, Pleasantview and Veronaville as shopping districts. After my sims game crashed while loading Academie Le Tour that was associated with the megahood (for reasons unknown), I restarted the game and discovered that this hood was totally gone. My other neighborhoods are totally untouched. I play this nhood pretty much exclusively, so I'm pretty devastated by this loss. Looking through the Applications>The Sims 2 folder as well as the My Documents rooted folder, all of the data for the neighborhood is still there. I replaced the Applications folder game data with a backup I had on my external, and unfortunately I don't have a backup of the My Documents folder. I restarted the game and Bluewater Village is still gone.

I didn't make any system changes at all, but this is what I was doing when the game crashed:
I had a sim in college at Fiesta Tech, and I made a townie part of her household for marriage purposes by using the Family>Move In option in the SimBlender. I wanted to move them out of the dorms and into a place of their own, but their relationship status required that they have separate rooms, so I was looking for the house where the two guys live and are best friends or whatever, but it's like two small separate houses on one lot. I didn't find it in Sim State University, so I left that and went to load Academie Le Tour and was watching TV while waiting for it, and when I looked back at the screen the game had crashed without error message.

I also already copied the neighborhood manager package from the source game files into the My Documents one to no avail. Please help, I am so crushed by the loss of this hood :(

Mootilda

12th Nov 2011, 3:47 PM

I'm reasonably sure that the crashing destroyed your neighborhood. Since you don't have a backup of your save game (My Documents), there's not much that can be done.

You may be able to recover the neighborhood terrain using HoodReplace, depending on how badly your neighborhood was destroyed.

You may be able to recover most of the lots by copying all of the files from your Neighborhoods\<neighborhood>\Lots subfolder to your LotCatalog subfolder, then renaming each file to match the naming conventions in that folder. If a lot is still valid, it should show up in your Lot Bin in the game.

Restoring your families is much harder. Be sure to create a backup of your current unusable neighborhood and keep it safe, since you will require that backup intact for the following:

You could always try Sim Surgery using Theo's alternate plugin:
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,3563.0.html

You may be able to use the technique that I suggested for alpie_ap above, starting with post #525. However, alpie_ap had a working neighborhood to start with; we don't really know the state of your neighborhood.

cathteg

13th Nov 2011, 1:35 PM

Hi! I've looked all over and haven't found exactly this thing (though by the time I got to this forum, I had run out of brainpower for reading all 500+ comments, so I skimmed a bit.) I hope someone can offer some advice. :)

Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)

Computer specs: i5 processor,6gb RAM, Intel HD Graphics (I forget the number, it's one of the very recent ones. The computer's like two months old.)

Games: Basegame, Uni, Nightlife. Up to Uni patch.

Details of Neighbourhood loss: It didn't actually disappear, just reset. I usually play in Pleasantview, though I have some houses in Veronaville too. I thought I might have a go at making a new neighborhood to play some historical Simmies in, so loaded up the 'create neighborhood,' picked out a terrain, and started messing around putting lots on. (No lots were re-used from other 'hoods or anything; I ended up only leaving one house there because I got sleepy.) Saved, went to bed, came back to the game this morning to revisit Pleasantview. The game asked if I wanted to associate a Downtown with it--okay, a little odd, I thought, but we'll play along. Loaded up the map and all my characters and houses were gone! It was left in its original default state, with Goths and Pleasants and whatnot, and not a Jones or Murray to be seen.

GOOD PART: I'd backed everything up that afternoon, so only lost a couple of hours play. (It was an eventful couple of hours; Grandpa Jones died at the kids' anniversary party and a couple recent graduates got married) but it's nothing I can't live with.

BAD PART: I can't really go look up what happened to the bad files now, because I've restored the backups. Sorry.

What changed on your system immediately before the corruption: Just making the new neighborhood. I've got loads of CC but it's all been working fine, and I didn't put any in right before this!

Is this a bug I should have known about? Is it maybe dealt with in the NL patch or something obvious like that? I've googled every combination I can think of and get loads of information on how to reset neighborhoods, but so far none on how NOT to do it! I don't need a custom 'hood that badly, but it seems like something many other people have successfully been able to do!

Again, I'm really sorry if this has been covered before; I really have looked.

Cheers, and thanks in advance for any help,
Ash

cathteg

13th Nov 2011, 1:37 PM

[QUOTE=cathteg]Hi! I've looked all over and haven't found exactly this thing (though by the time I got to this forum, I had run out of brainpower for reading all 500+ comments, so I skimmed a bit.) I hope someone can offer some advice. :)

Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium (64 bit)

Computer specs: i5 processor,6gb RAM, Intel HD Graphics (I forget the number, it's one of the very recent ones. The computer's like two months old.)

Games: Basegame, Uni, Nightlife. Up to Uni patch.

Details of Neighbourhood loss: It didn't actually disappear, just reset. I usually play in Pleasantview, though I have some houses in Veronaville too. I thought I might have a go at making a new neighborhood to play some historical Simmies in, so loaded up the 'create neighborhood,' picked out a terrain, and started messing around putting lots on. (No lots were re-used from other 'hoods or anything; I ended up only leaving one house there because I got sleepy.) Saved, went to bed, came back to the game this morning to revisit Pleasantview. The game asked if I wanted to associate a Downtown with it--okay, a little odd, I thought, but we'll play along. Loaded up the map and all my characters and houses were gone! It was left in its original default state, with Goths and Pleasants and whatnot, and not a Jones or Murray to be seen.

GOOD PART: I'd backed everything up that afternoon, so only lost a couple of hours play. (It was an eventful couple of hours; Grandpa Jones died at the kids' anniversary party and a couple recent graduates got married) but it's nothing I can't live with.

BAD PART: I can't really go look up what happened to the bad files now, because I've restored the backups. Sorry.

What changed on your system immediately before the corruption: Just making the new neighborhood. I've got loads of CC but it's all been working fine, and I didn't put any in right before this!

Is this a bug I should have known about? Is it maybe dealt with in the NL patch or something obvious like that? I've googled every combination I can think of and get loads of information on how to reset neighborhoods, but so far none on how NOT to do it! I don't need a custom 'hood that badly, but it seems like something many other people have successfully been able to do!

Again, I'm really sorry if this has been covered before; I really have looked.

Cheers, and thanks in advance for any help.

asiankim97

20th Nov 2011, 4:46 PM

1) Keep two EA Games folders: one with your custom neighborhood and one with everything else. When you want to play, make sure that one is named EA Games and the other is not (ie, call it EA Games Not In Use, or something like that). Swap between the two folders as needed.

If you can run the AnyGameStarter, you can accomplish the same thing by setting up an AnyGame for your custom neighborhood.

2) If you are familiar with SimPE, you might be able to resolve the conflict. Make sure that you have your custom neighborhood backed up somewhere safe. Then, copy it into the Neighborhoods folder with the shipped neighborhoods.

Thank you for the reply! I'm sorry I haven't answered; I haven't had the time to play the past few months.

I was about to do your 1st option, the one with 2 separate EA games folders, but now I can't even get Origin to install the game. Every time i press the 'Ready to Install' button. it doesn't have a little progress bar and take awhile like it should, but I get a pop up saying 'Sims 2 Freetime: Ready to Play' instantly. Then to get the 'ready to install' button back, I have to go through files and the registry editor and manually uninstall it. I've memorized the exact things I have to delete by now, with all the times I've done it. I've been playing without FreeTime lately, but it's disappointing Origin isn't doing what it's supposed to do.

Any advice would be really appreciated >_<

Mootilda

20th Nov 2011, 5:53 PM

For help uninstalling and reinstalling, it would be better to post in the normal Sims 2 Help forum.

LilSister

21st Nov 2011, 4:21 PM

Is there a concrete explanation as to why neighborhoods disappear or become "unreadable?" I have changed my file sharing permissions, purged my downloads folder, copied file manager and followed runeons suggestion in post. The neighborhood saves correctly for several game plays and then it happens again. Usually I am abel to make a backup before the file becomes unreadable. This time I was not so lucky, I am so frustrated, I had 2 babies born and a child aged to teen, another family added to the hood and I had managed to play all of my families. Could it be that I played too long between game saves (I played several hours)? Or could it be that Murray Hill is just plagued? I have never had so much trouble with a neighborhood. I have 2 other hoods that even with all of the dumb stuff I did in the beginning are fine, I've been playing them for almost 2 years without a hitch. I've had minor fixable hiccups but none of the trouble I've had with hood. I may give it one last shot and follow Mootilda's suggestion of playing the hood by itself and see what happens.

Mootilda

21st Nov 2011, 4:52 PM

No. We suspect that there are a number of different explanations. Sometimes, it's user error. Sometimes, it's a conflict between two or more neighborhoods. Sometimes, it's neighborhood corruption. There may be other reasons as well.

Have you done the entire Game_Help:Game_Problem FAQ? Bad CC could corrupt your neighborhood. Bad installation files, too.

I often play for several hours without saving. However, a less powerful machine may have problems with that time period. Also, if your hard drive is a bit flakey, you can get file corruption even if your machine is up to the task otherwise. Are you experiencing crashes? Any other symptoms that your computer may not be up to playing? Does the game always shut down cleanly? Have you tried running in debug mode, to see whether you are getting in-game errors?

To find whether a neighborhood is "plagued", try playing another neighborhood for a couple of hours. Does it disappear? If so, then you may have a problem with your CC, your game installation, or your computer. If not, then Murray Hill is probably corrupt. Once a neighborhood is corrupt, there's no way (that we know of) to fix it.

If you suspect your computer, make sure that your hardware meets the required specifications. Make sure that your power supply is adequate. Scan and defragment your hard drive. Check your computer temperatures; overheating can cause problems. If you need help with these things, ask in the Computer & Software Technical Support forum:
http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=563

LilSister

21st Nov 2011, 7:00 PM

Mootilda, I don't have this problem with any of my other neighborhoods. I play my other two hoods the same, I sometimes play for hours and I've never had a problem. I played my hood Shiloh last night and it didn't disappear nor did Spring Valley. I scan my computer daily for virus and malware. I have a schedule set for defrgmenting my hard drive and My hardware and computer required specifications are fine and I have adequate memory. I play on a laptop and sometimes if I'm playing on my sofa and it's resting on my lap it may run hot and I'll shut down. The only thing that I've done different is Murray Hill was created with clean templates found on MATY and I've used the hoodchecker remove feature on Murray Hill. My other neighborhoods always have clean shut down. I haven't played it in debug-so this is something I could try. Only Murray Hill has been problematic. I am considering reinstalling my game, and trimming down my downloads folder further and just scrapping Murry Hill altogether. I had a back up copy so I was able to extract my sims. I will also check the forum that you suggested.

Mootilda

21st Nov 2011, 10:11 PM

If you don't have the problem with any other neighborhood, then Murray Hill is likely corrupt.

Illirey

8th Dec 2011, 2:12 PM

I have one problem; I got some wierd random cartextures replacing the terrain of my neighborhoods at times ( such as when I just entered a neighborhood and etc) and decided to uninstall sims 2 Freetime, in case the problem was too high strain on my computer. Now when I open Bon Voyage, All my old Neighborhoods that I backed up and put into the neighborhoods folder wont appear. Is there any way to sort this out ?

Darby

8th Dec 2011, 4:08 PM

Illirey

8th Dec 2011, 4:55 PM

When you install a new EP, its features are integrated into your existing game, but the process does not work backwards. Uninstalling does not remove, or unintegrate (if that's a word) those the features of the EP. So unless you have a saved game from before you installed FT in the first place, you're stuck with resetting and starting over, or reinstalling FT to reintegrate the features your current game must now have in order to function.
I believe the word you sought where "disintergrate" :) . So since I cant reinstall Freetime unless I begin to consider killing my computer I suppose thats the end of the line fo my neighborhood. Buggers me why that issue really happened (groan, 1,5 years of work gone waste!). I might however have a saved game since earlier left, seeing as I have used this neighborhood in Bon Voyage earlier when I didnt have freetime. Could that somehow help me get it to refunction in it?

Mootilda

8th Dec 2011, 6:13 PM

Illirey

8th Dec 2011, 9:38 PM

The simplest solution is to restore from the most recent backup that you have, from before you installed FreeTime. You will, of course, lose everything that you did since that backup.

If you don't want to lose everything that you did, you can attempt to recreate your neighborhood. You should be able to salvage your neighborhood view, including terrain, roads, trees and deco using HoodReplace. You should also be able to salvage the appearance of your sims, then create new sims with that appearance and use SimPE to restore their relationships, family ties, memories, skills, etc. However, the lots that you played with FreeTime will be incompatible with Bon Voyage, so you'll have to recreate them from scratch.
For the restoration, do I have to have a sample of an older back-up of my documents folder, or is it some other file demanded? I believe I've deleted all older back-ups, but I think I might be able to restore it with an un-eraser utility if thats the one I need for this. Freetime was a pretty new aquirement, so I wont lose much anyway, though stinks that I wont have that pretty restoreable car anymore.. but there's me sobbing when prio one really is my precious families back ( Silly me, hehe).

Mootilda

8th Dec 2011, 10:04 PM

Yes. Restore your backup of your Documents folder.

KamoflaugeK

6th Jan 2012, 9:50 AM

I accidentally posted a thread about this! Sorry :/

Operating system: Windows XP
Computer specs: 1.4GHz, 40GB HDD, 256MB DDR, Intel Celeron M 360 processor, 1MB L2 cache
Games: Base Game and Seasons, and I don't THINK I have any patches
Details of Neighbourhood loss: All three of the main neighbourhoods disappeared (Strangetown, Pleasantview, Veronaville). I didn't play any of them that much. Riverblossom Hills was OK. It happened when I either uninstalled SimPE, or uninstalled TS2 Clean Pack Installer
Sim PE Investigation: Don't know, because SimPE doesn't work well on my PC - EXTREMELY slow.
What changed on your system immediately before the corruption: Deleted SimPE or Sims 2 Clean pack installer :/
Any other relevant information: I've tried doing the finding them again in Program Files, and deleting the neighbourhoods folder then starting up the game, and neither of them work.

Thanks :)

Kierne

12th Jan 2012, 12:58 PM

I don't know if what I'm experiencing is the beginning of this same issue - I'd love to hear from someone more savvy than I.

System Specs: Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
Computer Specs: AMD Athlon 3.30 Ghz, 4 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, GeForce GT 520 with 1 GB RAM
Games: Everything but Teen Style Stuff, no patches.
SimPE Investigation - ::SimPE walks in, looks around, then wanders off to go sit under a tree somewhere:: Everything's peachy! No worries!
What changed recently: I downloaded a couple of new objects, and got a few mods for the game. I'm not going to name names, but this person is a respected member of the Simming Community, and I had no trouble with their stuff - until now. (But removing it makes utterly no difference.)

I haven't lost any neighborhoods, but someone mentioned back when this thread started that the Sim became unselectable.

For me, this has happened in all hoods, when I'm at any community lot, and I try to do something like get a witch to turn my sim, the Live button goes grey. On owned lots, the owner shows up, blows her whistle, then taps her watch - and promptly leaves. On four of ten occaisions, just telling the Sim to leave caused the Live button to grey out. My only choice was to exit without saving. I've never had a problem of this level before, and I was hoping maybe someone could throw me a crumb. Perhaps this is the Sims Gods telling me I was a bit too hasty in bragging that I'd never borked my game to the extent of needing to do a full reinstall...

(If there's a thread about ths exact problem somewhere else, my apologies. This was the only thread I found that mentioned the Live button greying out.)

ETA: Sorry, Mootilda. I noticed that one of the posters had mentioned a similar problem, then their 'hoods went asplodie. I followed the fix it help given, but that's not the problem.

Mootilda

12th Jan 2012, 3:49 PM

Kierne, this is not the "disappearing neighborhoods" problem, since none of your neighborhoods have disappeared. You should start a new thread in the Sims 2 Help forum, after following the Game Problem FAQ (which is required before you are allowed to post). The Game Problem FAQ will likely solve your problem:
http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Game_Problem

katachthonios

9th Feb 2012, 8:32 PM

Maybe this has been previously addressed; I'm not sure. I haven't read through all twenty-something pages.

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional
Computer Specs: 2 GHz Pentium processor; 2 GB RAM; NVidia GeForce 7100
Games Installed: Base through Apartment, plus Glamour Stuff
SimPE: *crickets chirping*

I can trace the issue I'm having to a select event: using SimPE. I had used SimPE to edit a character and somehow -- I assumed through not properly saving/closing the 'hood -- it borked my neighborhood and it vanished from the menu. I reinstalled the 'hood from an old backup and tried to recoup my losses. A month or so later and the same thing happened again, although I had been sure to save and close all SimPE files beforehand.

The neighborhood doesn't appear in SimPE when I browse for it, though the N007 folder and all(?) contents are still in My Documents.

(I did try replacing the NeighborhoodManager file to no avail.)

Humbug.

Mootilda

10th Feb 2012, 1:28 AM

You should always backup your neighborhoods before using SimPE, just in case there's a problem.

katachthonios

11th Feb 2012, 5:25 AM

You think I would have learned that by now.

ManyMuchMoosen

28th Feb 2012, 3:36 AM

:alarm: :alarm: :alarm: :alarm: :alarm: :alarm: :alarm: :alarm: :alarm: :alarm: :blink:I have normal XP, I have no idea what specs are, I have NL, UL, OFB, SE, PET, FT, IKEA, TS, CS and the base game. I lost my custom neighborhoods, Viper Canyon and Awesomeland, as well as my AWESOME characters, custom stuff and my Riverblossom Hills lot, and I was fooled by Sims Wiki in a tutorial that said I was SUPPOSED to put my SavedSims, Downloads, and Neighborhoods folders on my desktop. :( When I came back, my lot, 'hoods, Sims and custom content dissapeared. :rolleyes: I loved that stuff :!: :!!:
:wtf: WHAT THE FROG IS GOING ON?! :wtf: :faceslap: :help: :cry:

Mootilda

28th Feb 2012, 5:30 AM

This doesn't sound like the "disappearing neighborhoods" problem. It sound like you are having problems following the instructions in one of the FAQs. Perhaps you should start a new thread in the Sims 2 Help forum and explain what FAQ you were attempting to follow (link please), what you actually did, and what the results of those steps were.

Also, less smileys might make it easier to understand your problem. A lot less smileys.

deathsex

7th Mar 2012, 10:18 PM

im using a mac 10.6.8
first only had the original sims 2, got a few expansions and installed them, the last one being bon voyage, now the only neighbourhood i can access is riverblossom hills.
spent so long making a house in pleasantview that if i cant access the original neighbourhoods is there a way to get the family/lot files and bring them to another hood?

Mootilda

7th Mar 2012, 10:39 PM

What happens when you try to play Pleasantview?

Lot files are relatively easy to move. Just copy all of your lot packages to your LotCatalog folder and rename them to match the naming conventions in that folder.

Families cannot be moved, but you might be able to extract the appearances of your sims and clone them in a new neighborhood:
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Extract_In-Game_Sim

deathsex

7th Mar 2012, 11:12 PM

there isnt even an option to go into the neighbourhood upon startup,
thank you, ill try that with the lot file

Mootilda

8th Mar 2012, 12:10 AM

What happened right before the neighborhood disappeared?

deathsex

8th Mar 2012, 1:28 AM

nothing really, i just installed my expansions and everything loaded fine but all the old hoods were gone and just replaced with riverblossom

kate1234123

17th Mar 2012, 4:39 AM

Operating system: Windows 7

Games: Sims 2, Open For bussiness (all most recent patches)

Well, i recently got a new laptop and wanted to install my sims 2 on it. I installeverything (The sims 2 followed by Open for bussiness EP) and it all loads fine when i get into the neighborhood menu there are no neighbourhoods? When i go to create one the pop up menu is just blank. I also went into my files (My computer/ EA games/ The sims 2 and the only folders that are present are Config and Downloads. Could this have something to do with my problem?

Neighbourhood File details If you go to Documents/ EA Games/ The Sims2/ Neighbourhoods are the neighbourhood files still there? I DONT EVEN HAVE A NEIBORHOOD FILE Can i just create one myself?

PLease help :( i am getting withdrawl symptoms!!!

Mootilda

17th Mar 2012, 5:22 AM

This is not the disappearing neighborhoods problem. It sounds like an installation problem. You'll probably have better luck starting a new thread in the Sims 2 Help forum. More people will see your problem and the people who see your problem will be more likely to be able to help you.

DezyandCream

3rd May 2012, 5:07 AM

The Problem: About two months ago my laptop's hard-drive was replaced but luckily I had backup files of my Sims 2 game and was able to recover the game on my new hard-drive. For two months now it was working perfectly with only a few glitches in the game, but today my computer had a BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH attack and I had to turn it off.

The next time I turned my computer on and loaded the Sims, the neighborhood that I usually use had disappeared. What is strange is that all of the files are still in My Documents Folder, including the Characters, Lots, Storytelling and Thumbnails, but the neighborhood is gone when I start-up the game.

Another thing is, is that when I click on My Computer and locate The Sims 2 Folder there, there seems to be a difference between the content in the My Documents Folder and the My Computer Folder. For example in the My Documents Folder the content contains all of my saved data, etc., while in the My Computer Folder the content looks like it re-installed itself. Could that have anything to do with it?

However, why did my neighborhood just disappear all of the sudden when it was working perfectly fine early today?

Is my neighborhood gone forever even though its files are still on my computer like characters from this neighborhood, etc.?

Thank you,
Desiree :faceslap:

Peni Griffin

3rd May 2012, 5:15 AM

The two sets of files aren't redundant; the My Computer files are the program that runs the game, and the My Documents files are the data that result from the game. The neighborhood folders in My Computer won't change until you go deliberately changing them (ideally). This is why you can always reset a premade hood by deleting it from My Documents and copying the version in My Computer to My Documents. So that's a distraction from your main problem.

That said, I don't know what happened to your neighborhood. Can you still look into it with a package editor? Is there anything wonky when you look in their properties? Does your custom content still work? Has anything detectable changed in your unused neighborhoods?

Mootilda

3rd May 2012, 4:06 PM

When your computer crashes, it can leave any open files in an indeterminate state. This means that all of your neighborhoods could have been corrupted by the crash. I would recommend that you try restoring from your most recent backup. Backup your existing neighborhoods first, just in case. If your previous backups don't work, then you have a different problem than what I've suggested.

DezyandCream

3rd May 2012, 5:06 PM

The strange thing is, is when I load Sims 2 Desiderata Valley [my most used neighborhood] does not appear in the selection of neighborhoods. Like you said my neighborhoods may have been corrupted, yet what's strange is that all of the files are still in the folders, as if nothing happened.

The game was just working perfectly fine; as said before; but right after I turned it off "POOF!" Desiderata Valley disappeared.Could this just mean that I need to re-install Freetime to get the neighborhood back?

DezyandCream

3rd May 2012, 5:46 PM

--Also, I have a folder where my backup of the game is from two months ago on my computer. I would just like to know if I can CUT the Desiderata Valley Folder from my backup folder and PASTE that folder into where my "corrupted" Desiderata Valley Folder is, to restore my game from two months ago.

Would Desiderata Valley show up again if I did that, or do I need to re-install Freetime in order to get it back and then PASTE the backup folder back into the Desiderata Valley Folder?

Thanks again for your help,
Desiree :help:

Mootilda

3rd May 2012, 6:19 PM

You can't tell whether a neighborhood is corrupted by looking at the number and names of the files. Corruption occurs inside of the files.

There's no need to reinstall. If you want to restore Desiderata Valley from the original shipped neighborhood, you can just copy that one hood.
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Reset_Neighborhoods

To restore from your backup, first move (cut and paste) your existing Desiderata Valley folder somewhere safe, such as onto your desktop. Just make sure not to copy it over your existing backup.

Then, copy your backup Desiderata Valley folder into your save game Neighborhoods folder. You'll want to copy rather than cut, so that you don't destroy your backup.

The most important thing is that you don't overwrite your current version with the backup version, which is why you want to move the current version somewhere else first.

DezyandCream

3rd May 2012, 7:28 PM

Thank you so much for everything! I just checked my game and guess what Desiderata Valley is back in play! I really don't know how I should thank you, but I appreciate your help very much! I am eternally grateful!

The problem seemed to be contained in my most recent neighborhood folder, and like you said it was probably corrupt. The only issue that I have now is rebuilding a few community lots and recreating a few characters. Unless, is it possible to restore characters by pasting the Character Folder into the backup Neighborhood Folder? Regardless, since I'm sensible I don't have a problem with remaking everything I was just curious. [Although my sister will probably be mad. Haha!]

With everything thanks again, I couldn't have done it without you!

Thank you,
Desiree :giggler:

Mootilda

3rd May 2012, 10:35 PM

No, you cannot restore characters by copying files. Your characters are most likely lost.

However, it is possible to restore lots by copying files. If you can find the exact lot package that you want, then copy it to your LotCatalog folder and rename it to match the naming conventions in that folder. The (unoccupied) lot should appear in your Lots Bin. When you place it into your neighborhood, edit the lot, make a build change, and save before moving a family in. This should help to clean the lot.

MattShizzle

4th May 2012, 10:08 PM

This happened to me last night. Lost all neighbohoods and custom content. Any way to get it back without a backup?

Mootilda

5th May 2012, 12:24 AM

This happened to me last night. Lost all neighbohoods and custom content. Any way to get it back without a backup?We'll need more information than that to help you. Are all of your files still there? If not, what happened to them? What happened immediately before they disappeared? Have you looked in your recycle bin?

MattShizzle

5th May 2012, 12:38 AM

We'll need more information than that to help you. Are all of your files still there? If not, what happened to them? What happened immediately before they disappeared? Have you looked in your recycle bin?

No, they disappeared totally from the downloads/neighborhoods folders. I had just installed Nightlife but couldn't go to any of the houses. I uninstalled it then and everything is gone.

Mootilda

5th May 2012, 1:31 AM

When you uninstall your game, EA deletes everything. They usually warn you that they intend to delete everything.

Unless your stuff is backed up, or in your recycle bin, it's gone.

greenbanks92

25th May 2012, 5:15 AM

chandia

26th Jun 2012, 6:24 AM

Hi everyone! I hope u can help me out

Operating system: XP Home Edition 2002 Service Pack 3

Computer specs: Intel(R) Atom(TM) 1.60 GHz, 1 GB RAM (HP mini netbook 110 LA)

Games: The Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Pets, Open for Business and Seasons. I am not sure but I think I have only the last patch, the one for seasons.

Details of Neighbourhood loss: After installing every single expansion I decides to play with VeronaVille (I never played with this hood), and when I clicked on it, the game started to show "pets", "weather" etc... (creating the hood with my expansion), but once I got into VeronaVille all of the families were gone. That´s my problem, all of the lots are empty.
I dind´t remove my downloads and I do udo the sim blender sometimes, but I don´t use time sync or money hacks.

Neighbourhood File details If you go to Documents/ EA Games/ The Sims2/ Neighbourhoods are the neighbourhood files still there?: Yes, they all are. When I look inside N003 (VeronaVille) everything is in there (Characters, Lots, StoryTelling and Thumbnails Folders), that´s the weird thing!

Sim PE Investigation: I don´t have SimPe

What changed on your system immediately before the corruption: Nothing! Just tried to play with the hood that I ever touched!

Please give brief details of any system or game changes you made just before you noticed the missing neighbourhoods: I did download some objects (manually unzipped, but I do have CleanInstaller). I never played with VeronaVille so I don´t have any idea if the families were there and I corrupt them with downloads, or they were never there from the beggining.

Any other relevant information: I tried removing the "Downloads" Folder and restart the game, I tried replacing all of the Neighborhoods from the "original folder in C:), replacing "NeighborhoodManager.package", etc.

I don't want to reinstall everything because of the missing families, so PLEASE if anyone can help me out with this, I will really appreciate it! :cry:

Mootilda

26th Jun 2012, 3:53 PM

Luckily, you never played the neighborhood, so it doesn't really matter to you. Just reset your Veronaville and try again.
http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Reset_Neighborhoods

magic08

2nd Jul 2012, 1:17 AM

Not only do I have a disappearing neighborhood(more like never loaded in the first place),but the majority of items that come from OFB do not exist or are messed up looking if they do.

I have a brand new store brought computer that I haven't had for a month yet. Uploaded the Sims up to Seasons only last week.

Specs-

OP-Windows 7 Home Premium Service pack 1 64 bit
Computer manufacturer- Lenovo
Processor-Intel R Core i5-2320 CPU 3.00GHZ(4CPU's)
Ram 8192MB Ram(2010 used)-14068 MB available
Graphics Card:Intel(R)HD Graphics Family
DAC-Internal
Approx Total Memory 1760MB

Expansions Uploaded-Base Game,Uni, Nightlife,OFB,Pets,Seasons. No stuff packs. No patches.

Problem-Everything was smooth sailing until I installed OFB. First it would not install the regular way no matter what I did. I cleaned it about 7 times. Still Nothing. It has scratches on it sure,but Seasons has wayyy more and it uploaded perfectly. No matter how many times I tried to install OFB it would stop at 3% with this error message:

A problem occurred when trying to transfer the file TSData/Res/Sound/Voice3.package from the media. Cancel or Retry.

So after some searching I found how to manuel install from this site. Everything was going good until a error message came up that said that one file could not be copied do you want to skip.? So I skipped. I did not launch though. I then loaded Pets and Seasons and then began to play.

First thing I noticed was the neighborhood for OFB(Bluewater Village) is nowhere to be found. Instead the game told me to build a custom district. This was the only option available. The only neighborhoods listed are Riverblossom,Pleasantview,Strangetown, Veronaville and of course a nightlife district if that counts as a neighborhood.

Next problem I noticed was when I actually started to play. All items in the buy menu that come from the open for business pack say no pic and are invisible if I click the no pic and try to place it in my house. The food from OFB is the same way. The descriptions for these items are there though.

Some items that do show up, like some trees and the the devices that you can make things like the toy maker etc, are visible and can be placed in my house or lot,but they have no color to them. Just words scribbled all over them. Like it's incomplete.

There are a few things from the OFB pack that do show up though. Color and all.
-Talent Badges
-Regular Cash register
-Turn-ons/Offs
-Shopping Cart icon to hold items until you pay
-The ability to make many items like food at a time
-Sims personal inventory
-The ability to make a home business. Haven't seen if it will work yet since the majority of things for OFB don't.

Don't know if these have to do with the problems of OFB or just because I haven't patched,but I'll list them anyway.

-Sometimes pets get stuck. This happened to my dog while washing him in the tub. I couldn't move him. So the social worker came and took him away.

-The Sims shake sometimes. I've only seen it done in cutscenes like marriage or woohooing in the hot tub.

-Once on the load screen I wanted to skip the intro so I clicked on it and it froze. I waited a few moments, and then went to task manger and reloaded.

-When entering my house part of the screen stays black for a few seconds before everything loads into view.

Also if patching is something that will have to be done do any of them, up to Seasons, come with Securom on them? I really don't want to go though having that infected back on my computer.

Overall how can I fix OFB. If it even can be fixed? Thanks :)

Mootilda

2nd Jul 2012, 1:58 AM

This is not a disappearing neighborhoods problem. You should really re-post your problem in the main Sims 2 Help forum.

Sounds like you need a new OFB disk, unless you can repair the one that you have.

Some of your other problems may be because you don't have a graphics card. Your computer isn't really up to playing the game, especially the later EPs. Here's a FAQ which explains the problem and suggests ways that you can reduce the damage that you are doing to your computer every time that you play:
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Onboard_Graphics

rosedreamer101

5th Jul 2012, 9:38 AM

I dOperating system (Win 98/ Win XP Home/ Win XP Pro/ Mac OS10.4 etc- I am particularly interested in whether it is Pro or Home for XP users)

I have Window XP Home.
I have no idea what a computer spec is :(
Sims 2; Double Deluxe. Night Life. H&M
My strangetown was acting all weird and all of the houses that were located in strangetown were houses i didn't recognize and were scattered randomly (intersecting roads, etc). So i deleted strangetown. and then when i came started my sims 2 today- pleasantview (my favorite town) was gone and in it's place was strangetown ! :(

Because this happened, my sims 2 crashed and i had to re-install my sims 2..but for some reason my H&M did not need re-installation. Also, i recently made changes to my "Globalprops.xml" file accordingly to what the instructions were to make the cheat "allmenus on" available to me.

N002 (strangetown) is not located in my files.
N001 (pleasantview) is located in my files, as well as all the pictures i took in that neighborhood.

rosedreamer101

5th Jul 2012, 9:40 AM

Also, the neighborhood file that is supposed to be located under "Program File" is not there.

simsample

5th Jul 2012, 10:42 PM

Also, the neighborhood file that is supposed to be located under "Program File" is not there.
In that case, you'd need to reinstall your game.

Mootilda

6th Jul 2012, 12:01 AM

You should be able to get back the neighborhoods from DVD, rather than having to reinstall everything.

However, your original problem sounds like the game was really confused. Deleting N002 shouldn't affect N001 at all. Can you explain exactly what you did to Globalprops.xml? Was Pleasantview OK after those changes?

onthesea

14th Jul 2012, 12:59 AM

operating system: microsoft windows 7 home premium
computer specs.: amd athlon x2 dual core processor 3250e, 1500 Mhz
games installed: all expansion packs/h&m stuff pack, mansion & garden stuff pack, celebration! stuff pack & family fun stuff pack
details of neighborhood loss: the only neighborhood i'm currently missing is the one i play the most, which is desiderata valley
neighborhood file details: all of my neighborhood files are currently there, including desiderata valley files which won't show up in my game
sim PE investigation: i don't have sim PE installed on my computer
what changed/happened before corruption: right before desiderata valley seemed to disappear, my computer apparently got overheated & shut down unexpectedly, while in the middle of loading desiderata valley. i then waited a couple of hours to restart the game & once it was completely loaded desiderata wasn't there like it had been before the shut down
other info.: i downloaded a bunch of custom content last night (the disappearance of the neighborhood happened today) but i don't think any of the downloads affected desiderata valley showing up. i am almost positive it was due to the unexpected shut down of my computer, i'm just wondering if there's a way to recover all of my sims & lots since i didn't have a backup of desiderata valley before it happened

i have already tried cutting & pasting the neighborhoodmanager.package file twice, it didn't seem to help at all. i also tried removing my downloads folder thinking that it might help, but that didn't seem to do anything either.

thanks & hopefully someone can help me~

Mootilda

14th Jul 2012, 1:16 AM

onthesea

14th Jul 2012, 2:00 AM

The most likely explanation is that the crash permanently corrupted your neighborhood.

You should be able to get back your lots by moving everything from your neighborhood's Lots folder to your LotCatalog folder, then renaming all of the packages to match the naming conventions in that folder.

To restore your sims, you'll need to install SimPE and see whether you can extract (http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Extract_In-Game_Sim) their appearances. However, if your neighborhood package is badly corrupted, this may not work.

You should probably do the Game_Help:Game_Problem FAQ to ensure that the new CC is not crashing your game.

You might also want to post your system specs (http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:System_Specs) in the Hardware Forum (http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=563), to see whether your computer is up to playing the game.
well thanks for the help.
do you have any idea why an unexpected shut down corrupts files ?
its happened before but it's never actually made one of my neighborhoods completely disappear

also, what do you mean by extracting appearances ? i've used sim PE before but i've never tried this before. if this works will the whole sim be extracted, like their memories & relationships, or will everything be wiped out ?

i ended up installing sim PE & located what i think to be desiderata valley but its titled 'unknown.' do you have any idea why ?

MattShizzle

14th Jul 2012, 2:51 AM

When you uninstall your game, EA deletes everything.

Why would they do that anyway? Just to be an ass? I can see that the way they run that company seems like they hate people who play games.

Darby

14th Jul 2012, 3:37 AM

Huh? What else would you expect uninstalling to do. *headscratch*

Mootilda

14th Jul 2012, 5:02 AM

I'm sure that the "I hate EA and EA hates us" thread is somewhere in the Discussion forum.

onthesea

14th Jul 2012, 4:21 PM

do you think doing a system restore might help in any way ?

MattShizzle

15th Jul 2012, 1:41 AM

Huh? What else would you expect uninstalling to do. *headscratch*

Uninstalling an EP, not the entire game.

Darby

15th Jul 2012, 2:41 AM

Not EA's fault when the Windoze uninstaller acts up.

Mootilda

15th Jul 2012, 2:51 AM

do you have any idea why an unexpected shut down corrupts files ?If a program crashes while it is saving its data, the data won't be written fully or correctly. Crashes are never good; they imply that something has gone really wrong.

also, what do you mean by extracting appearances ? i've used sim PE before but i've never tried this before. if this works will the whole sim be extracted, like their memories & relationships, or will everything be wiped out ?Only the sim's appearance will be extracted. You can then use that appearance to recreate the sim in CAS. Their memories, relationships, skills, etc. will not be saved. However, you can recreate some of those things using tools like SimPE, the SimBlender, debug mode, etc.

i ended up installing sim PE & located what i think to be desiderata valley but its titled 'unknown.' do you have any idea why ?Likely because the neighborhood was corrupted beyond repair.

do you think doing a system restore might help in any way ?As far as I know, a system restore will only restore registry entries and program files, not your save game. The only harm would be that a system restore would remove anything that you've done to the system since creating the system restore point.

MattShizzle

15th Jul 2012, 2:53 AM

It is EAs fault when they set it up to delete not only all neighborhoods (a bit over the top but maybe makes sense in that it's possible any lot will no longer be compatible) but to also automatically delete all custom content is just being an asshole. And yes they set it up to do that. There's no legitimate reason whatsoever to delete all CC just for removing an EP other than being a prick.

Darby

15th Jul 2012, 3:38 AM

:rolleyes: Those no legitimate reason for the player to refuse to protect his own CC by backing it up, and ignoring the popup advising one to do so, which they wouldn't have bothered with if they just wanted to yank you around, is 100% on your head.

Mootilda

15th Jul 2012, 5:42 AM

Please, this has nothing to do with disappearing neighborhoods. Couldn't you two take this off-topic discussion somewhere else and leave this thread to discuss disappearing neighborhoods?

Darby

15th Jul 2012, 6:29 AM

I'm done now anyway, but I apologize for not letting it go sooner.
:llama: <Apology Llama

smw4

6th Aug 2012, 11:47 PM

okay so i was having the same issue with my neighborhoods disapperaing, so i uninstalled all of my games and reinstalled them again and still i didn't have the default towns (pleasantville, strangetown, and veronaville) so i looked up how to get them back and did the thing where you go into your program files and i just dragged everything into my neighborhoods folder under sims 2 and the towns came back! but now my towns have theses strange white boxes all over them and even the houses when i go into them some things are missing and have this white blotches all over them. can someone please help me fix this so i can just enjoy my game? :cry: :cry:

nia312

12th Aug 2012, 12:37 AM

I just want to give a word of hope to all those whose neighborhoods have gone missing:

If your computer creates restore points, and you still have the missing neighborhood's folder in your EA Games/...The Sims 2/...Neighborhoods folder, you can right-click the missing neighborhood folder, properties, and Previous Versions tab. From there, if you haven't deleted your restore points, you can select a previous version of the missing neighborhodd from before the suspected corruption happened. You might lose a week or so's worth of happenings in your hood, but it's better than having to start all over from scratch.
Thank yoU SO MUCH!! THIS HELPED ME OUT!
My problem was, I was playing the game,then I got a harddrive error and it said I didn't have enough space,when just a few hours before I had over 200 GB. I knew something was wrong and that I should just restart my computer,which I did.But,my fatal move was that I saved my game,and that caused the neighborhood to become corrupted and it dissapeared from the main menu. And after I tried this,everything went back to normal!! I did lose some sets I was working,but losing 2 sets compared to losing my whole neighborhood is alright with me!!

Ivy Copur

13th Aug 2012, 5:52 AM

Operating system Windows XP
Computer specs 1Gb RAM
Games Store Edition/Double Deluxe/Nightlife/University/Best of Business/Freetime/Apartment Life

Details of Neighbourhood loss All of them. I completed the Subhood Template Tutorial. One step is to rename folders in order to generate a blank hood for the IDNO. Once you load the game, the only option is to create a custom hood. After extracting the IDNO and creating subhoods in SimPE, I removed the blank hood and the "original"s and "stealth"s from the folder names. Yet the game still only lists the custom neighborhood button. It's also behaving as if I do not have Open For Business and University. It's only accepting my Apartment Life CD.

Neighbourhood File details There are only .package, .png and .reia files listed. This isn't a change. The subhoods and University have only popped up in Program Files. I could copy and past it over but I need a second opinion.

Sim PE Investigation: I can still see all neighborhoods in SimPE. Nothing appears to be corrupted.

Could you also try this: I did. It made no difference.

HestiaTLO

10th Sep 2012, 2:14 AM

All my neighborhoods disappeared as well.
My OS is Windows 7 and I have 2GB of RAM, I think.
The reason I didn't want to download an expansion pack online was because I was worried something like this would happen, but when I downloaded the Sims 2 University Life Collection from the EA "Origin" website, all my neighborhoods disappeared.
The only one I have installed on this computer besides University Life Collection is Double Deluxe, and the thing is that in the EA GAMES My Documents folder, everything is exactly where it should be (and therefore SimPE shows no corruption or mistakes in any of my story files). I made one neighborhood with the University Life Collection and that is the only neighborhood in the game when I launch it, none of the 3 premade neighborhoods or any of my custom ones are present at all. The one neighborhood I made with the new pack is located... somewhere that isn't the folder in My Documents, and I can't figure out why or where. I assume the only thing I need to do to restore everything is copy and paste from my backup of the My Documents folder into wherever the location is that the story files are supposed to be stored now? The only other thing I lost is the extensive list of possible neighborhood subsections that I don't have the required expansion packs for (now it only displays 5 of them).

sillycubb

1st Oct 2012, 6:24 AM

:help: I unfortunately ran defraggler on my computer system and though I have unistalled the programs and resinstalled them i still have base game neighboor hood missing.... I dont know what to do Ive tried doing an recover on my recycling bin ive attempted to search my back up files and I cant seem to find them... I was wondering if anyone could possibel send me the zip files for the base game neighboor hoods saving me from further frustrations? :help:

Mootilda

1st Oct 2012, 3:51 PM

I believe that this is what you want:
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Reset_Neighborhoods

kdevereaux

5th Oct 2012, 8:02 AM

So, my neighborhood disappeared unexpectedly after a crash.

Operating system: Windows 7 Home Prem

Computer specs: Intel core processor i7-3770 cpu, @3.40GHz, 8.00GB memory, 1 TB hard drive, 7770 graphics card

Games: Sims 2 cd, All expansions(cd/dvd); teen, h&m, kitchen&bath, mansion&garden stuff packs; all patches.

Details of Neighbourhood loss: I was playing a custom hood and testing out a new mod; christianlov's clothing rack. It seemed to work as advertised so I had my sim walk to a community lot. She arrived with no problems. When I had her walk to another community lot the game crashed. Since I have an extremely bloated downloads folder (which has been compressorized within an inch of it's life), I wasn't surprised. I restarted the computer, deleted any cache files and restarted the game. In neighborhood screen I noticed my custom hood was missing, only showing it's custom Downtown which crashed when I tried to load it. Rinse repeat.

Neighbourhood File details: Oddly, the neighborhood files are still there. Lots, characters, ect... Nothing "looks" out of the usual.

Sim PE Investigation: When trying to open the hood with simpe, it's considered unknown with no readable files. No playables, nada.

What changed on your system immediately before the corruption: Only that I had added the clothing rack mod to my DL folder. Nothing else dramatic happened besides that. The crash wasn't even out of the ordinary. I know crashing is bad but my game is always doing it because I have too much CC (I'm an addict and in therapy). I've never had a crash make a neighborhood disappear though.

Attempted Fixes: So I removed my DL folder, I've removed the neighborhood manager file, I've removed the actually Downtown neighborhood file... I haven't tried a reinstall (saving it for last). After reading thru this thread I'm thinking the crash killed the hood but I thought I'd ask for advice anyway. I've been playing this hood for years and had actually just rebuilt it from scratch. Which of course means that while I have all the lots and sims separately packaged, I haven't had a chance to back up the newly built hood.

So yeah, anything you can suggest I'd appreciate. I've already resigned myself to rebuilding and losing some of the new characters I never had a chance to export but it would be great if you had a miracle up your sleeve :)

Mootilda

5th Oct 2012, 4:46 PM

The crash probably corrupted your neighborhood. Since you don't have a backup, your only option is to recreate the neighborhood from scratch.

kdevereaux

5th Oct 2012, 6:33 PM

The crash probably corrupted your neighborhood. Since you don't have a backup, your only option is to recreate the neighborhood from scratch.

Yeah, that's what I figured. :( Oh well. Thanks for your prompt reply

NatalieSeductif

11th Oct 2012, 8:35 PM

After I was adapting skins to Warlook meshes on BodyShop, I ran the game next day to find out N001 was gone. I resist to believe this is over.

Operating system: Windows 7 running in Apple BootCamp on a 54GB partition

Computer specs: MacBook Pro Intel i7, @2.40GHz, 4.00GB memory, 0.5TB hard drive

Games: Sims 2 from HD [edited], All expansions; mansion&garden stuff pack; all patches and updates; plus Angels & Nurses by Chris Hatch (BAS) and a lot of CC.

Details of Neighbourhood loss: No idea.

Neighbourhood File details: All files there. N001_Neighborhood.package shrunk to 96 bytes. N001_Neighborhood.bkp 7.6MB. Plus one of these Mac legacy hidden files (.DS_Store).

Sim PE Investigation: File empty.

What changed on your system immediately before the corruption: No idea.

Attempted Fixes: I tried:
- replacing the neighbourhood manager file with the one in the Progs folder
- renaming the neighbourhoods folder, running the game to recreate the standard neighbourhoods, and exchanging the new N001 with my old folder
- exchanging the old N001 package file and the new game-generated one.

There are a series of recently updated 'suburb' packages in my N001 folder and a N001_Neighborhood.bkp file dated May 2011. I wonder if I could use those files to reconstruct the N001 package file with SimPE. I asked at ambertation.de and was referred to you guys and Mootilda.

Mootilda

11th Oct 2012, 8:44 PM

Games: Sims 2 no-cd, All expansions; mansion&garden stuff pack; all patches; plus Angels & Nurses by Chris Hatch (BAS) and a lot of CC.I'm afraid that the first step is to remove your no-cd and run the game legally. We can't support cracked games.

If your neighborhood package was truncated, then your only option is to restore from a working backup of your save game. Unfortunately, a valid backup must include all of the files in your neighborhood folder and its subfolders (Characters, Lots, etc.), not just the neighborhood package itself.

NatalieSeductif

12th Oct 2012, 11:03 AM

I'm afraid that the first step is to remove your no-cd and run the game legally. We can't support cracked games.

Thanks, Mootilda. Sorry, I didn't meant my game was cracked. I'm simply not running it from the CD/DVDs like the last poster, since it was patched via EA update long ago.

It's sad to read there's no reconstruction possible for my current N001. I do have a full folder backup, but it's months old. I'll try to run R-Studio's file recovery, but I guess there would be no point as the file must have been overwritten.

NatalieSeductif

12th Oct 2012, 11:13 AM

Just to be sure: Is there no way to extract from other package files the characters with all their memories and personalities? Sorry, I resist to believe the main file was it all...

Mootilda

12th Oct 2012, 4:02 PM

Since the neighborhood package was truncated and is unreadable by SimPE, there's no way to properly extract your sims. Memories are stored in the neighborhood package, so they are gone. I believe that this is true for personalities as well, since I can't find a SDSC record in the character file.

I haven't tried this myself, but I've been told that the Alternative Sim Surgery plugin will not work with the standard character files. You could certainly try it yourself, but I believe that it would only give you the sim's appearance, not memories or personalities:
http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php/topic,3563.0.html

I'm sorry that I don't have better news, but the neighborhood package contains most of the important data. If it's gone, then there's not much hope.

You can salvage most of your lots, but I understand that it's the sims that you really want.

NatalieSeductif

17th Oct 2012, 11:45 PM

Just an update: the n001_neighborhood.bkp file worked but everything is like 20 yrs ago, except for the sims bodies and the lots. The last memories are gone and newer sims landed in the default family folder (if you use the summoner mod). Story pics are also there, all in one pot. I wonder where the texts to the pictures are.

Mootilda

18th Oct 2012, 1:05 AM

Look for files named webentry_#.xml. These are text file which contain the picture descriptions, along with a bunch of tags and other information.

NatalieSeductif

19th Oct 2012, 12:29 AM

Look for files named webentry_#.xml. These are text file which contain the picture descriptions, along with a bunch of tags and other information.
Thanks, Mootilda!

angiesan

20th Oct 2012, 5:07 AM

Hi! I have a problem with my sims 2.
I have seasons and pets expansion packs, I was normally playing the other day with no problems, i stopped playing for like 2 days and now i start the game and my seasons neighborhood disappeared (or should I say all my families).. my sims arent there anymore, just the town with the default families, etc. (don't know if this belongs to "disappearing neighborhoods" or "disappearing families"), i remember accidentally clicking something on the keyboard and then it said something about a snapshot added to storytelling or something like that last time i played, don't know if that could be a problem..also when i start the game it's like im playing for the first time cause the tutorial comes up welcoming me. in the storytelling folders i saw snapshots of all my lost families and when i start a new family i still can see the dog breeds i registered...it's very weird, anyone could help? thanks!

missydeeoh

7th Mar 2013, 7:59 PM

This helps if your back up is really old and you want to salvage more of your neighborhood then you could with a back up.

Pleasentview suddenly stopped appearing in the neighborhood screen. I had made no alterations since last loading the game and as far as I knew the game closed out correcty. when I used SimsPE it showed it was called Unknown instead of Pleasentview. However, the sub-hoods remained intact (Downtown was still called Downtown, etc.). I ended up getting rid of 1 of the neighborhood files, since it was the most recently modified and seemed to deal with just the main neighborhood in particular, which was N001_Neighborhood.package and replacing it with the older versions of that file from my back ups. It seemed to fix the problem the problem of it not showing up and I can now play Pleasentview.

You do lose some information, particularly in Pleasentview. Some weird things happen in University. Characters will needed to be added to lots using the Tombstone of Life & Death or something similiar and you will prob need SimsPE to fix some relationships. But its a lot more fixable then losing months or more of the whole neighborhood.

Spamaccount

23rd Mar 2013, 3:41 AM

I couldn’t help but notice that when I opened my game up today, my Neighborhoods files had all completely disappeared. I have DDE, The Best of Business Collection, and recently, Pets. When I open the game, I don’t even have a new Pleasantview/Strangetown/etc, just the New Neighborhood button. Now, when I open up SimPE though, it locates all the files as if nothing has happened and opens them near perfectly; when I save a copy of the SimPE neighborhood back into the Neighborhood file, however, the subhoods associated with the neighborhood aren’t following, which I’m not sure is intended or a system problem. The main hood then appears in-game, though the terrain file thumbnail does not. The main hood loads and seems to play properly, but the subhood and all the families/businesses I had in Bluewater Village are nowhere to be found. The game also re-created the Pets invisible neighborhood, leaving duplicated copies of the Crittur and Roseland families.

I hadn’t touched my game in a few days, since I was messing around with my TS3 families on a different computer. I had not made any changes to the system with TS2 installed, but had downloaded about ten hairs and a default replacement skintone, all local. And as far as I can tell, the last time I played the game saved flawlessly; the SimPE version opens and plays right from where I left it.

Mootilda

23rd Mar 2013, 3:56 AM

Do you have a recent backup? If so, you might want to consider restoring from your backup. If not, where did you get the neighborhood package which you copied over your existing neighborhood package?

Spamaccount

23rd Mar 2013, 4:12 AM

The only honest back-up I have is about a month or so old. To be honest, I'm not really sure where the new package came from! I think it has something to do with me opening the EA Games/ The Sims 2/ Storytelling folder and copying a Neighborhood file from there, moving it up a level. Then, when I opened SimPE, the neighborhoods with all the data was present. I'm not sure if that data appeared because I moved the files in Storytelling or not since I hadn't tried SimPE before that. After opening SimPE, I just Saved As...'d and that became the file I tried to run. (Interestingly, when I remove the file that I created using SimPE, the neighborhood still showed up when the game opened, but as the Pets subhood with the Family Bin of the former file. Edit: Actually, just by exiting and re-entering, now when I load the game it's back to not seeing anything)

MissKayasha

6th May 2013, 5:04 PM

I'm glad too see that i'm not the only one this happen too only
I still don't understand what to do to fix the problem--

I had just finished playing a household, I saved the lot and exited to the neighborhood screen. The program stopped responding and the neighborhood screen never loaded. I had to use the task manager to shut down the game (I waited 15 minutes before doing this). That was 3 hours ago. I just started the game and the Neighborhood was missing.

I've tried re-installing my games but I can't install anything after the original sims2 it keeps saying "Can't Copy to disk" or something like that pops up and un-install whatever expansion/stuff I tried to download >< Will I have to buy a new disk or something?
Any help is appreciated! T_T

Mootilda

6th May 2013, 5:44 PM

I still don't understand what to do to fix the problem--That's because we don't know how to fix the problem. We don't even understand why it happens, in general. We started the thread to try to gather enough information to find a pattern to this problem, but there doesn't seem to be a pattern.

Instead, individual people have individual problems and some of those problems cannot be solved.

In general, the best solution is to restore from a recent backup, if you have one.

It sounds like you may have several completely different issues:
1) Your CD / DVD may be bad. You could try cleaning your disk. Here's how:
http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Install

2) Your neighborhood may have become corrupted when you were forced to shut down the game. If you don't have a current backup, there's not much that can be done. We can confirm whether or not your neighborhood is corrupt. We can help you to recreate your neighborhood from scratch.

PacMani

2nd Jun 2013, 12:47 PM

Hi there, I have the exact same problem now.

I wanted to restore an old backup of Veronaville (N003) I played with a German installation of Sims 2 with all main EPs installed.

Now I have an English installation with all main EPs, restoring it doesn't seem to work!
I moved* the default N003 directory out of the Neighborhood folder, moved my backed up N003 into there - and Veronaville was completely gone in the main menu.

I'm not sure if the language is the problem, but that's the only thing which has changed since the last installment of the game. The German debug menues are messed up which is why I didn't install it in German again.

*I found out that renaming the default neighborhood folder to something like N003_old will mess up, the game probably just checks the first letters of the folder and if they match it will take that folder or even none. I always had to move the N003 folder out of the Neighborhood directory to get my backup work (previously!).

Mootilda

2nd Jun 2013, 2:16 PM

When you say that you have all main EPs installed, do you have the Store Edition? Did you have the Store Edition on your old computer? If either of those is true, you may not have the correct version of the Store Edition and that would explain why your game is unable to open the neighborhood.

I believe that a German neighborhood will still open with an English game. I've certainly downloaded neighborhoods which were created in a different language and was able to play them, although I couldn't tell you which languages they were made in.

The neighborhood folder name "N003_old" is valid but odd. If you rename the folder, the game will not be able to recognize the neighborhood unless you rename every file within that folder and all subfolders. There are various programs which will help you to rename a large number of files. Here's a post that may help:
http://www.modthesims.info/showpost.php?p=4130897&postcount=5

PacMani

2nd Jun 2013, 3:00 PM

Thanks for the response, I "fixed" it by replacing the whole EA Games folder which I had stored... yeah, the language isn't a problem, even though many NPC names are now renamed, but that's ok since the German ones are dull and boring anyways.

(However a business lot was missing, similar to last time when I was restoring my backups, when a residential lot was missing, you helped me there one year ago on SimPE :D I could restore it already but it's not connected to the business' owner anymore, couldn't link it correctly together in SimPE, but well at least the building is back)

Sirrah

14th Jun 2013, 9:55 AM

Just in case this is still an unsolved problem, here's my case:

Operating system Windows 7
Computer specs 2.13 Ghz Intel Core i3 processor, 4GB Memory
Games Sims 2 Super Deluxe (Basegame + Nightlife + Party Pack), Holiday Pack, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Freetime and Apartment Life
Details of Neighbourhood loss I lost Belladona Cove (E001), all other Neighbourhoods are fine (Desiderata, Riverblossom Hills, Strangetown, Pleasantview, Veronaville, Custom Neighbourhood "Shaking Pears"). The last ones I played were Riverblossom Hills and the Custom one, I didn't touch Belladonna recently. The one I play most ist the custom one. As far as I can tell all subhoods are there as well. My Downloads haven't been removed (except some hair and some clothes which weren't working for me anylonger). I have one hack that allows alien pregnancy for females.
Neighbourhood File Folder for Belladonna is not there, all the other ones are.
Sim PE Investigation Belladonna isn't simPE either.
What changed on your system immediately before the corruption I did install some Widows Updates, but my guess is that this isn't what made Belladonna dissapear. The major change was that I installed Freetime. Eversince I did Belladonna isn't there. There wasn't any problem installing and since I didn't notice that Belladonna was gone straight away and everything else seemed fine I deleted my Backup of the game that I usually makes before installing something new ( :faceslap: ).

I'll simply have the game recreate a new Belladonna, I can live without the two families. But perhaps some genius can figure out what's going on or someone else has the exact same problem and want's to feel reassured that he/she didn't screw up.