I can control my sim but her icon has disappeared on the left and I can't open her sim panel.

Without more information to go on, try doing a Save As (unless this started happening at the very beginning of the game session), quit entirely, and startup again?

Do you mean, like this http://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/0...rait-panel.html ?

no, not like that. The entire icon is missing not just the face.

it was at the start up. I tried some of my other worlds and I had the same problem.

if i restart the game I still have the same problem.

So no matter which saved game you startup, you have no active sims in the portait panel and no household or sim information tabs? Does this happen on newly started games as well?

If you are on Patch 1.69 with the Origin tie-in, are you certain that all of the EPs you expect to have in play for these ongoing games are actually checked off on the Packs and Stuff Launcher tab and that they are actually loading?

If so, sounds like something is going wrong at the end of the startup process. Have you added any mods or CC lately that could be triggering the problem? Have you tried clearing the five cache files in your TS3 user game folder in Documents?
CasPartCache.package
compositorCache.package
scriptCache.package
simCompositorCache.package
socialCache.package (this one is optional)

And if that's no help, try pulling out your entire TS3 user game folder from Documents to the Desktop for safekeeping. The game will spawn a new one on its next attempted startup, with no added content at all and none of your prior saves, but those will all be safe back in the old folder. Can you start and run a new game that way?

Sorry for such a late answer, but I'm answering because I have exactly the same problem only with NPC Sims. I did everything you wrote in this message, but the problem remains. I have a clean game, no mods or CC. Even if the icons appear, they then disappear on their own after some time and then do not appear at all. Can you help me?

I think something got lost in the mists of time here. This thread was about the actively played household's sim portraits failing to show on the portrait panel on the left side of the screen, where we would go to switch between actively played sims and to open/view their information panels that then display their moods, skills, job/school progress, etc.

An NPC is a Non-Playable Character. In an unmodded game, why would we expect an NPC (no natter how we define the term) to be showing on the left-side active household portrait panel?

Perhaps you could describe the issue you are having from the beginning and confirm that we are actually talking about TS3?

I didn't say that we should see the NPC on the left. I'm talking about ( just didn't specify) the NPC portraits disappearing or not showing up at all on the relationship panel, as well as at the top left when you interact with them.
Yes, I'm specifically talking about TS3. Do you know what might be causing this problem? I've tried everything: reinstalling the game, using NRaas mods, game optimization, and nothing helped. My computer is powerful and modern, so it's definitely not a hardware issue.

I love this thread; forgotten for seven years and suddenly resurrected!

ye, the author of the post disappeared and didn’t answer, why not take advantage of the moment
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Because your issue has nothing in common with the one the original poster was describing. That's why I was going on about the portrait panel on the left, as that is what this thread was originally about.

The NRaas mods that should (usually) help fix this would be Overwatch, ErrorTrap, and RelationshipPanel. With at least those installed, I would suggest bringing the issue to us at NRaas where you can upload any script error logs that these mods might be generating if just installing those and clearing the scriptCache file doesn't resolve the problem. We will also need to know the source of your game and type of install (Origin/EA App, Steam, retail discs, something else).