It appears I have encountered quite the conundrum.

Last night I went to load my save file that I've been playing since October or so. The game loaded without incident, and I selected my file which indeed displayed the family I had last been playing with correctly. There was no reason to suspect anything was wrong with the file until I got a CTD just as the game was nearly finished loading. A full on "The Sims 3 has encountered a problem and needs to close" shabang.
So I closed it. Then thinking it was a fluke, tried again.
Same deal.

Thus my saga begins.

Things I have tried: (That haven't worked)
-Restarted the computer. Several times.
-Loading in the backup (same problem, same crash point)
-Deleting and letting the game recreate the caches
-Uninstalling CC
-DEP tweaks and making sure TS3W could use 4GB of memory
-Moving my original user data folder to the desktop and forcing the game to regenerate the whole thing, then putting my save back in its saves folder. (Since that didn't work, I assume it's not any of the preferences there, and have since switched it back to my original user folder)
-Making a new game, then using its metadata to replace the metadata in my bad save file.
-Using the Crash Log Analyzer to look at error causes.
+Fixed two warnings (EPs not updated fully, Graphics card not in database)
+Now all crashes but one are from unknown causes
+These crashes are unknown, but they are all ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address errors.
+The one is a DEP crash. Considering that I had already done the DEP tweaks (Turn on DEP for all programs except TS3W.exe), I don't know why that happened. Any insight on that one is much welcome.
+Will post exported error log below.
-Installed NRaas' Overwatch and Errortrap per this suggestion from the checklist:
+The problem is that it doesn't seem to trap any errors unless the town fully loads. Or it hasn't been anyway :/

Things I have NOT tried, but will if anyone believes it will help:
-Uninstalling and reinstalling - It's a lot of time and effort for something that seems to be concentrated on one save file, and will likely not solve the issue.
-Bypassing the launcher. My game is too new. I can't bypass the launcher
-Resetting everything in the Options.ini file. I did reset the enable in game store, but that's more because I always found it annoying anyway. Again, no problems with the overall game crashing; just this one town.


Also...
-A very important thing to note is that this doesn't occur on any other save file. I would wonder if mine was simply corrupted, except that it doesn't show any of the obvious signs of corruption (small file size, won't show up on main menu.) The town loading screen is fine alright, and everything flows smoothly until it's JUST about to load the game. Maybe I just want to believe~~~~~~~~
-This has happened before after I'd been using a town for a while. I was, however, able to recover that from its backup. This time I wasn't so lucky.
-The save file folders are darn near 500MB. There's something there alright...
-And upon analysis in Neighboorhood Workshop, I can confirm that there is indeed SOMETHING there. It can read off all the households with no problemos, exactly as I left them. So, all the families are still there, likely the lots too. I sure hope so anyway.
-I last played the game smoothly on Tuesday when I got on to move around a few lots. It saved and shut down just like normal, and there were no problems. At least, that's how I remember it. Given that, I don't understand how both the main file and the backup can have the SAME corruption, since the crash occurred the very next time I went to play it.
-My game had no mods until I put in ErrorTrap and Overwatch to diagnose the problems I was having.

What may have changed...
-While I have enough CC on this thing to make my computer cry, I haven't downloaded or installed any in months. There are only two things that have changed recently.
1. I installed Seasons about a week ago. Yeah, I'm slow. I'm also really cheap. It was on sale. I don't think this is the cause of the problem, though. I played that game with no issues at least three or four times since the installation.
2. Upon checking my system restore settings, I see a restore point around noon yesterday for a "critical update." Now, I didn't actually let my computer install any lousy updates until after the Sims crash which was that evening. However, the sucker probably downloaded the updates on a whim, and was sitting on them all day.

My hypotheses...
I have a couple ideas for what might be wrong. But I have no idea as to their validity. The truth could be none or any combination of these.
1. The computer is having problems with memory allocation for the particular state this save file was left in.
2. The save file is fine; the only thing corrupted is something required to load the town. Maybe it has to do with what the sims were doing when I left it. Maybe one little action or data point slipped and now the game can't handle it.
3. Since it was the "Current game" it might have been more susceptible to being upset or messed with by one of the new updates.
4. I don't trust windows updates. I sometimes wonder if Microsoft built in a hidden process that bogs down your computer until you install what it went and downloaded, like they won't be defied or something. In any case, I have noticed that when my computer wants to install updates and I won't let it (either by leaving it on or turning off automatic installation) crashing and other shenanigans happen a whole lot more frequently. Maybe I'm biased? Maybe there's a reason it needs the update? I don't know, but honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if in trying to configure these updates the stupid thing interfered with something it shouldn't have. ESPECIALLY if it tried to pull something while I was playing the game like say... last Tuesday.

What I'd like help with...
-Well... if anyone else can take a look at these data and my tale of woe and see something I don't, that would be ideal. I'd like a fix that would keep this from happening again. It's all well and fine if this is a one time oops. But I'm worried nasty things will happen every time I really get a town going. Is there a permanent memory issue? Is it something else...?
-I want to know if system restore would work. My guess is not. The Sims userdata files are in "My Documents" which I don't think system restore sets up checkpoints for. One way or the other, I do have a restore point from before my computer downloaded those silly updates, back when TS3 worked nicely. I'm tempted to try it, because there is always the possibility that even though the save file is the only erroneous parameter, the actual error lies somewhere in the system itself.
-If all else fails, is there something that can extract all lots (families too would be nice) from a save file and export them to my library? Just like as would happen in the game? Most of the precious data in this save are buildings. I spent a lot of time customizing the town, so while I can recover sim families from the original CAS or an earlier export, I cannot otherwise recover those lots.
And if I cannot recover those buildings I will be...........
Quite unhappy.


I will keep looking...
I've been researching this nonstop for the past 24 hours or so. Well, mostly. I do have places to be. I also have physics homework and a lot of time from my life lost along with this save.
I post this in the hope that someone comes across it sometime, and even if I solve my problem before I get an answer, it'll help someone in the future. In fact, as it happens, I usually solve my problem right after writing these detailed problem reports on forums asking for help. In which case, I'm looking forward to the magical answer!
I'm not going to sit here and wait for an answer. Everyone's off playing TS4 now while cheap little me sits around solving technical issues. Persistence is key!


Now the hard stats...

Game Specs
Base Game Version 1.67.2.024001
EPs:
World Adventures
Ambitions
Late Night
Generations
Pets
Showtime
Supernatural
Seasons
University Life


DEVICE CONFIG
=== Application info ===
Name: Sims3
Version:
Build: Release
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 2 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2394 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2792 RAM: 16316 Adjusted RAM: 15804 Cores: 4
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Windows Vista 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 6
OS minor ver: 0
OS SP major ver: 2
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1
CPU: GenuineIntel
Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4700MQ CPU @ 2.40GHz
Family: 6
Model: 12
Cores: 4
HT: 1
x64: 0
Memory: 16316MB
Free memory: 13305MB
User: <3
Computer: AELEC
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600
Name (database): Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600 [Found: 1, Matched: 1]
Vendor: Intel
Chipset: Vendor: 8086, Device: 0416, Board: 1962103c, Chipset: 0006
Driver: igdumdim32.dll, Version: 10.18.10.3412, GUID: D7B78E66-4756-11CF-D87E-6839BBC2C735
Driver version: 3412
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 1792MB
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1

System Specs
Dxdiag

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/14/2015, 22:13:14
Machine name: AELEC
Operating System: Windows 8.1 64-bit (6.3, Build 9600) (9600.winblue_r7.150109-2022)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
System Model: HP ENVY TS 15 Notebook PC
BIOS: F.56
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4700MQ CPU @ 2.40GHz (8 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 16384MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 16316MB RAM
Page File: 3909MB used, 14838MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.03.9600.16384 64bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)


Error Logs (From CLA)
Processor Name: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4700MQ CPU @ 2.40GHz
Processor Architecture: AMD64
Graphics Processor: Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600 (2.03 GiB)
Antiviruses: Windows Defender, Norton 360 Premier Edition

Games Installed: The Sims™ 3 (1.67.2.024001), The Sims™ 3 World Adventures (2.17.2.011031), The Sims™ 3 Ambitions (4.10.1.011037), The Sims™ 3 Late Night (6.5.1.011037), The Sims™ 3 Generations (8.0.152.011001), The Sims™ 3 Pets (10.0.96.013017), The Sims™ 3 Showtime (12.0.273.015017), The Sims™ 3 Supernatural (15.0.135.018017), The Sims™ 3 Seasons (16.0.136.019017), The Sims™ 3 University Life (18.0.126.021017)
Custom Content: Yes (8 found)

[UNKNOWN] 2/14/2015 12:49:08 AM
OS Version: 6.0.6002
TS3 Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.209
Installed RAM: 15.93 GiB
TS3 Free VM: 1.76 GiB / 4.00 GiB
Crash Type: ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0x04488954
Crash Address: 0x00e56660 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe":0x0001:0x00a55660

[UNKNOWN] 2/14/2015 1:26:26 AM
OS Version: 6.0.6002
TS3 Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.209
Installed RAM: 15.93 GiB
TS3 Free VM: 1.70 GiB / 4.00 GiB
Crash Type: BREAKPOINT
Crash Address: 0x0058dc16 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe":0x0001:0x0018cc16

[UNKNOWN] 2/14/2015 3:14:59 PM
OS Version: 6.0.6002
TS3 Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.209
Installed RAM: 15.93 GiB
TS3 Free VM: 1.85 GiB / 4.00 GiB
Crash Type: ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0xffecff2c
Crash Address: 0x00e56660 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe":0x0001:0x00a55660

[UNKNOWN] 2/14/2015 6:33:09 PM
OS Version: 6.0.6002
TS3 Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.209
Installed RAM: 15.93 GiB
TS3 Free VM: 1.75 GiB / 4.00 GiB
Crash Type: ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0x00000014
Crash Address: 0x00e52215 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe":0x0001:0x00a51215

[DEP CRASH] 2/14/2015 7:19:59 PM
OS Version: 6.0.6002
TS3 Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.209

[UNKNOWN] 2/14/2015 9:01:00 PM
OS Version: 6.0.6002
TS3 Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.209
Installed RAM: 15.93 GiB
TS3 Free VM: 1.83 GiB / 4.00 GiB
Crash Type: ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0xffffffff
Crash Address: 0x3fffdfe0 <unknown module>

Ah, and here are two earlier ones:

[UNKNOWN] 2/13/2015 8:59:21 PM
OS Version: 6.0.6002
TS3 Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.209
Installed RAM: 15.93 GiB
TS3 Free VM: 1.90 GiB / 4.00 GiB
Crash Type: ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0x3f850f46
Crash Address: 0x00e56660 "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe":0x0001:0x00a55660

[UNKNOWN] 2/13/2015 9:31:17 PM
OS Version: 6.0.6002
TS3 Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.209
Installed RAM: 15.93 GiB
TS3 Free VM: 1.92 GiB / 4.00 GiB
Crash Type: ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0x00000037
Crash Address: 0x00e646af "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe":0x0001:0x00a636af

[UNKNOWN] 2/13/2015 9:53:51 PM
OS Version: 6.0.6002
TS3 Path: C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe
TS3 Version: 0.2.0.209
Installed RAM: 15.93 GiB
TS3 Free VM: 1.85 GiB / 4.00 GiB
Crash Type: ACCESS_VIOLATION reading address 0x00004178
Crash Address: 0x00e646af "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin\TS3W.exe":0x0001:0x00a636af

After reading a whole bunch of documentation, one thing that comes to mind is "improperly compressed resource", especially in the .nhd file.

In simplified terms: A compressed resource should end with one of the 0xFC-0xFF control codes, but one particular resource doesn't, so the game engine stupidly tries to continue consuming the buffer, which has run out.

If you can upload a zipped version of your .nhd to Mega, I can take a look.

Ah, thanks! Seriously, good to know somebody actually has an idea of what might be wrong.
I'm uploading the zip file now. I'm not the most internet savvy, so it may take me a while to figure out how to actually get it to you.

The zip file is of the TOWN.sims3 variety. I assume that's what you meant?

Here it is!
http://www.mediafire.com/download/1..._0x00000000.zip

This is just the nhd file. Nothing else. I uploaded the full zip too if required.

Thanks!

The save cleaner didn't work, which really didn't surprise me (pretty sure the problem is deeper), but there was something curious.

At the moment, I have two copies of the save in question in my user data folder, (the original one and the one with replaced metadata) as well as two backups of the town on my desktop.
When the cleaner loaded my towns, it nicely loaded my other three towns (either old ones or ones I never really used) into a list with all the pictures of the last active family. The decoy I used to steal metadata loaded, but without the picture of the active family.

The odd thing is, this save (the one in question) appeared on the list four times. Once with the active family picture, the other three with no picture. Same for the metadata switched one (except obviously no active family picture).

Hmmmmm..... I wonder if this has something to do with the worlds. Conveniently, this save contains four worlds: home, France, China, and University (never had a chance to visit Egypt on this one.) Perhaps there is something messed up (in the metadata?) that connects these four together, so the cleaner... and the game tries to read it as four separate worlds instead of one. And since that's not what SHOULD be there, maybe it can't handle it?

What I think I will do is try the metadata thing one more time.

But I have a question in case that doesn't work:
Can I straight up delete the nhd and package files for the other worlds? And just let them regenerate when I travel back? I I didn't make any modifications to them, so I don't mind losing them. However, I suspect there is some other marker somewhere in the save that says I have traveled to these worlds and it could really mess up all the WA and UL stuff if I go barreling in.
I don't know if that would make a lick of difference anyway, but I figured it was worth asking.

Thanks! I'll download tomorrow from the office.

The Internet at my home is a bit problematic today.

We'll see what happens when we sic my sims3utils.test_corrupt tool on your .nhd...

Yup. Cleared the world cache. For a while I was wondering if all this was because of my custom world (it's not exactly a work of art), but file history backups load fine, and I had this same problem with Twinbrook once upon a time. Thanks though -.-;

Yeah, I think it's probably something in the main nhd. Which sucks. I'll try wiping the worlds for good measure, but... Unless the main nhd can be decorrupted, looks like I'm going to have a very bad time.

I did have some luck, though. When I searched through my file history, the most recent backup I could find was from October 12th. "But surely my drive has backed up more recently than THAT!"
Well... I ran a file history backup today, and lo and behold... a backup from December 25th appeared in the drive. Odd, seeing as it wasn't there before and the only new stuff that should have appeared would be the files that were there TODAY. I ain't complaining though. I call it "a Christmas miracle."

I checked the logs for File History... and what do you know, there were events dated February 7th. Now, I can't find any files from February 7th, but it looks like File History ran (as it's supposed to do whenever I plug in the drive.) I suspect I was working on an audio project which I store on the hard drive since it's so huge and left it connected to the computer the whole time I was working on it which would have been a couple hours at least. It should have had enough time to back up my documents. I think. So I'm wondering if maybe the files are floating around somewhere, and I just have to make them appear in the right place. Dunno what the deal is, but those backups from December sure didn't come from my present hard drive. And they weren't there this morning. Hmmm...

Probably a long shot since it doesn't have to do directly with TS, but no one happens to know anything more about how Windows 8 File History works, do they? Because if it turns out that my computer did make a backup on Feb 7th and put it Bob knows where, my heart will be filled with rainbows.

I guess I owe Microsoft an apology for bashing Windows 8. I GUESS. Only if that Feb 7th surfaces though.

Hmm... I've sic'ed sims3utils.test_corrupt on the .nhd file, and found no problems. Nada. Zilch.

Even over three iterations of the tools (every iteration adding possible breaking point for a DBPF file).

Perhaps you can upload the other files?

I'm as curious about this one as you.

Thanks, ha ha... Yeah, I have no clue what is wrong with this thing...

Here's the full neighborhood zip:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/7...risle.sims3.zip

Well, I guess if there are no problems, then maybe that means all the good stuff is intact. I hope!
I actually have to get to class and work today, but maybe while I'm sitting on the bus, I'll try deleting all the other files and moving stuff around. Maybe it's a problem with my computer itself even...

I might restart the save anyway since there are a few tweaks I want to make to the world in CAW. I just want to have all my beautiful lots back.

Oh dear.
I tried a system restore to February 7th for kicks, and since it actually made my computer dumber, I put it back to today. Having run two system restores in a row, it's not happy.
AND now I'm getting a "serious error" message whenever my game even tries to access a save file - any save file, not just the questionable one.

Eh, I probably messed with something I shouldn't have. I'll delete caches, and maybe even reinstall. I've got backups of the save files I was using all weekend, so even if the ones on C:/ got messed up, I'm good. Well, I'm where I was anyway.

Ahhhhh, gotta love computers.

EDIT:
Refreshing the caches DID take care of the "serious error" problem, but now I'm back to square one. It's odd. I tried giving the town save a complete meta transplant; copied meta data from a fresh game and then deleted all the other worlds. Still no dice.
I'm stumped.

EDIT TWO:
To put icing on the cake, CAW refuses to export the world. Keeps saying "Export Failed!" All cheery like.
That's it. I'm going to bed.

Thanks again!
It didn't work, but I guess that's nothing new It just doesn't want to load that world. It's got an issue loading the nhd file one way or another.

Well, luckily it's my own custom world, so I uploaded it in case you want to look at it! (It's full of terrible and I apologise for none of it.)
http://www.mediafire.com/download/y...82%29.Sims3Pack

Not sure why the file has a (2) attached, but might have had something to do with uploading it. I don't know that you need to delete the 2 to have it work properly, but it's not supposed to be there. It might install as Shrisle{1}, and you'll have to take out the {1} from the file name in installed files for it to work properly.

I actually found a fix for the CAW problem pretty quickly. So if I can just get those lots off, I now have my world three point freaking oh to use. It's much nicer. I fixed a typo and added a couple lots. HUGE DIFFERENCE! Well, I fixed the beautiful vista buff problem. I assumed since it prompted for 0-100 it was a probability the buff would appear. It was not. And for a while my sims were existentially happy every time they went to the park, even if they were on fire. Hmmm....
Actually, on second thought I should have left one lot in like that for kicks. Oh well~

What I was wondering about was if anyone knows how lot data is stored in the nhd files. I got a bit of bumming time since I got an unusually light class load, and I've been wanting to learn how to mod this game for a while anyway, so I'd be down with trying to write an extractor.... but only if research has already been done on the nhd file structure.

Well, the .nhd file structure is exactly the same as a .package file structure.

Lot description + vista buffs + some other mysterious thingies (haven't decoded them) are stored in LDES Resources (0xD063545B). The contents on the Lots ... I'm yet to find out. But soon... as soon as I implement a much-needed performance boost for my tools.

( I happen to have recently modified those two pages -- based on my experience parsing/decoding DBPF files -- so I should know )

If you want to write an extractor, AFAIK there are only two open source routes:

• Peter L. Jones' s3pi library: http://s3pi.sourceforge.net/ -- using .Net Framework 4, so might not run on non-Windows systems.
• My sims3py library: https://bitbucket.org/pepoluan/sims3py/ -- still under intense development; it's still missing a lot of resource wrappers/helpers. But you can check out the parser.py file. It has an already properly-working parser for DBPF (package) files.

OBJS is a strange and very complex resource. The index to Sims 3 DBPF Resources only say that it's "Script Resource Dump".

If it's corrupted... I'm not sure I have the skills to fix it yet.

Hey! I tried this and it DID work! Well... mostly!

I'm trying to decide if what I got is nightmare fuel or the best thing I have seen in my entire life. I'm gonna go with both.

I dunno if this will help for any research on the OBJS resource, since you've probably already encountered this, but I can tell you guys what came up.
First off, there's that beautiful, beautiful picture where my sims from the fresh game were replaced with objects. That's not really the odd part though. (Since those sims never existed in this town, and nothing was on that lot, it doesn't surprise me the game didn't know what to do.)

As you said, there were no actual sims in my save - either the families are gone or the game simply doesn't know how to put them back. The lots were there! At least they looked like they were. BUT the fun part is that I saved them all to my library and what I plunked down in my new save file can best be described as faceless buildings. The thumbnails looked fine and when I loaded them in build/buy in the broken save they looked fine, but the output from the library was only about half the lot.

What I DID get:
-Terrain paint
-Walls
-Floors
-Wallpaper
-Rocks
-Foundations and decks
-Fences
-Pools

What vanished:
-Anything from buy mode
-Rabbithole buildings and other community objects
-Windows and doors
-Trees and plants
-Columns (?! Why?!)

Luckily, the skeletons of the buildings are good enough for me. Need be, I can just take pictures and reconstruct them from there.

It's kinda neat though. The game rendered everything, but I'm not sure the items were actually there. So it saved the visual image to the thumbnail, but the item data weren't actually there. I could pick up, move, and drop the items like usual, but they wouldn't save to the library. On one of the broken game lots, I even saw a sim when I went to build/buy. He was "there," but there were no households in the neighborhood. I got myself a ghost town! It's so haunted, the windows are ghosts. The ghosts are ghosts!

Also, changes I made to the lots in the broken save held when I saved them to the library. I added a tree in one lot, and the tree went through. The rabbithole was lost though. I tried picking up and moving windows and doors, but those did not go through. Strangely, the second time I gave it a try, the trees on the indoor pool lot (shown below) WERE saved. The picture below is only of the first try, though. Odd. I wonder if there's a way I can get it to save down the rest. I'll try replacing the items with fresh ones.

Fortunately, it's not the end of the world if you can't recover my sims (I mean that in the sense that it's about time my town had a nice little apocalypse) for this save. Because it was a custom town, most of my energy went into building stuff. A lot of the sims there were fresh out of my library. Most of the story progression work I did was in the Twinbrook I was using before this. Dodged a bullet there!

Again, I dunno if this is any new data for you all, but hey!
Thanks a million! Seriously, I usually don't go to forums for help until last resort, but it's awesome to know the internet has as least as many friendly and helpful people as it does trolls. I think I'm actually going to persist in this since it has piqued my interest. Like I said, I'd like to be able to mod myself anyway. Drives me nuts not knowing how something works.

Out of curiosity, how did you isolate the sour part? It would have occurred to me to try knocking out the resources one by one until it worked, but that would take forever.

The problem with rabbitholes is perhaps what was meant by OBJS' description: "Script Resource Dump".

Because, rabbitholes are actually Scripted Interactions. So, OBJS might be storing the rabbitholes' state & stuff.


My question also. Care to answer, @nitromon ?