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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 20th Feb 2010 at 5:46 AM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures
Default Receiving an error message when trying to load saved game in Sims 3 World Adventures
I receive the following message when trying to load my saved game..."Cannot load this save game. It may have been saved with expansion pack data that is no longer present on this system". Would anyone have a suggestion of how to fix this error? Thankyou
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Test Subject
#2 Old 20th Feb 2010 at 6:31 AM Last edited by TheUnknownTruth : 20th Feb 2010 at 6:42 AM.
I had the same problem when i first installed WA. This a problem EA created when they released WA. WA saves games differently and that is why your Sims 3 save won't load. I think they fixed this problem with a patch. Try patch your game and see if it helps, if it still wont load you might have to start a new game.

You could also try to recover your save by doing this:

Go to C:\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Saves - You will be given a list of 4 items.

Sunset Valley.sims3 (folder)
Sunset Valley.sims3.bad (folder)
Sunset Valley.sims3.backup (file)
Sunset Valley.sims3.legacy (file)

-Delete the 2 folders (Sunset Valley.sims3 & Sunset Valley.sims3.bad)

-Then rename Sunset Valley.sims3.legacy to Sunset Valley.sims3

Hopefully this will allow you to use your save file again. It didn't not work for me but some people had luck with it.
Top Secret Researcher
#3 Old 20th Feb 2010 at 7:36 AM
My game has never created any .legacy files. You normal just rename the .backup file.
In the Arena
retired moderator
#4 Old 23rd Feb 2010 at 6:34 AM
Is this game based on a custom world or Riverview?
If custom worlds, including Riverview - means your game is no longer recognizing world objects. Did you uninstall the world? or you might be having the issues in the stickied Launcher thread?
Test Subject
#5 Old 24th Feb 2010 at 5:34 PM
Hello, I have just recently run into this problem as well.
I haven't attempted to fix it all because I figured I would Google it and see if anyone has an answer, rather than me accidentally do something to ruin it.

Anyways,
I do have the Adventures expansion, and the last time I played was very briefly about a week ago. It was fine, and now it says it cannot load because the expansion pack data is no longer present on the system.

The only thing I can think of is that the last time I played I had to catch a city bus, and I was trying to save my game (my computer is slow..), and it didn't save fast enough, so i just turned the computer off so that I wouldn't miss work.
It wasn't finished saving when I did that, but I have done that a couple times before without an issue like this.

If anyone can find a solution for this that would be great. For now I guess I will just try to use my backup save.

Thanks
Test Subject
#6 Old 27th Feb 2010 at 9:30 PM Last edited by Lisa522 : 27th Feb 2010 at 9:30 PM. Reason: missed something
FOUND A WAY TO RECOVER YOUR OLD NON-USABLE SAVES - YAY!!!

Personally, I think this is easiest of all methods as you can then save your game normally and don't have to mess with removing other world files. In the end, all that will be required is overwriting ONE file before each play session.

**Before doing this, make a full copy of your old unusable saved game and put it aside somewhere. While I never had any problems using this method, it is always a smart move to back up your files.

PREFERRED method:
1. Start a "new game" of the world giving you grayed out saves.
2. Create one sim (you won't be keeping him so don't spend too much time)
3. Use "motherlode" cheat and immediately send him on vacation (anywhere)
4. The minute the vacation area loads. Save and then exit the game.
5. Go into your "saves" folder (in My Documents) and open the save folder you just created. Make a copy of the file called Meta.data. Save it to your desktop as you will need it each time you want to play that particular world.
6. Locate your previously unusable saved game. Open the folder and overwrite the old Meta.data file with the new one that you copied.
7. Load the game and have fun playing!

NOTES: (Two things)
1. When your game is loading, you are going to see the name of that dummy sim you created, don't worry about it, once the hood fully loads, it will be as if he never existed. Only your recovered saved game data will be there as normal - just like you want it to be.
2. Each new time you save, it will still appear grayed out in your "Main Menu" - but no worries, next time you are ready to play, just overwrite that same Meta.data file and you will be good to go.

I tested this with about 20 various "grayed out" saved games and it worked each and every time flawlessly. Your old save games will still contain everything they had before - your sims do not lose relationships, skills, jobs, lifetime happiness, inventory, etc - everything will be exactly how you left it.

I also tested with adding additional skills and other changes then saving and using the Meta.data replacement on the new saves - everything was retained by the game without issue.

If you don't have a previously unusable saved game, you can start a new game, knowing that you will be able to play them by simply replacing the Meta.data file before each play session.

NOTE: You CAN simply use another world's Meta.data file and it does work. However, I feel less comfortable merging two different world's data so that's why I recommend going the vacation save route to generate a new Meta.data file specific to that particular world and using that one.

For info, It seems that the minimum number of files created during a save game are:

Neighborhood file (this records the current state of the map, including who lives there - do NOT replace this or you will lose your families!)
Traveldb file (this seems to record your overall hood progress in the vacation areas - not necessary to replace)
random letters file - I believe THIS is the file that maintains your actual sim data for each save - never overwrite this file.
Meta.data file (this seems to be the general game info, exp packs, patches applied, etc)
Test Subject
#7 Old 14th Nov 2015 at 12:51 AM
hello so what has happened to me is that i tried to load my game i have saved yesterday and it say your exspantion is no longer on this system and i start to freak out because most of my other saved games says the same think and right now i am like crying xD but i really dont know what to do i keep looking and it says like Sunset Valley.sims3.bad Sunset Valley.sims3.legacy and i cannot find it so please help meeee
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