I face this sudden problem with 2 custom hoods that I have made. They both have an empty custom hood as the main hood (I have placed only some community lots there but no residential lots). The first one has Pleasantview, Riverside Shopping and Downtown as subhoods. The second is a little bigger and it has Pleasantview, Riverside Shopping, Bluewater Village and Desiderata Valley as subhoods.
I have played in this hoods during the previous year (they are not new) but suddenly the game crashes to desktop or freezes (but I get a pop up on the desk top that "the application has crashed") whenever I try to play in Riverside Shopping, it doesn't even make it to the neighborhood view. The confusing part is that I have Riverside Shopping as a subhood in other custom hoods too and there is no problem there. I can also play in Riverside as a stand-alone or main hood without problems either. The problem occurs only with these 2 hoods (which happen to be my favorites!). I run the Hood Checker and I got a report but, from what I can see, it can't fix this problem, it keeps reporting the same thing everytime I "check" and try to "fix" it.
So, I'm at a loss about what I can do to save these hoods and play them again. Thank you in advance for reading my post (I have attached the Hood Checker report in case anyone can help me understand it) and thank you for any help you can provide.

Do you have any Pollination Technician replacement mods? They can account for missing character files as the character is not in the hood file (but in your Downloads folder).

Do you use HoodChecker often? Sometimes running it can cause the neighborhood to crash afterwards, that's why you're meant to make a backup before doing so.

simsample and kestrellyn, thank you so much for replying.

simsample, I do have a Pollination Technician remplacement mod (the Multi Pollination Technician Pack by ChihoSan, I got it from here on MTS). I removed the file when I read your reply but it didn't help. The specific two hoods crashed the game again when I tried to play in Riverside Shopping so I put the file back in. I hate how alien babies look when their "father" is EA's default PT. EA's PT (just like PT9 in Strangetown) doesn't have a freaking nose and I find it a bit creepy!

kestrellyn, I always make backups when I use HoodChecker but I only use it when I spot a problem in a hood and these two hoods already had caused the crashing problem before I used the HoodChecker.

Is there something else that I can do or I have to start my hoods all over again? Also, if these hoods can't be saved, can I delete them without corrupting my other hoods too?

It's a long shot, but did you already try loading the hoods without any cc installed?

Phantomknight, thank you for replying!
I can try that but I have a lot more hoods and only these specific two make the game crash. If it was a cc issue wouldn't my other hoods also make the game crash?

Edit: I removed the whole "Downloads" folder. I was able to get to Riverside Shopping neighborhood map in one of the "problematic" hoods but I didn't get into any house because all the sims have cc clothes. In the second "problematic" hood, it reached the neighborhood map but then it froze and crashed again to desktop. I have other combined hoods where Riverside Shopping is a shopping district and I can play just fine there, I can't understand why the same hood causes problems in one "megahood" set up and works in another one. Also how cc could cause problems in one hood and not in another one...
(But I had forgotten how fast the game loads when you don't have any cc, it's crazy, lol!)

^ Not necessarily. Could be a CC item that's only present in those particuclar hoods, or one that only acts up when paired with another item present in those hoods, or a sim wearing an item that makes the game crash, but no other sims in the other hoods wear that item. CC can act up in the weirdest ways.

Take a backup of all the hoods before you test without CC, as sometimes things can go a bit wonky without CC, especially if you accidentally save.

Thank you simer22. I missed your reply because I was editing my own reply to Phantomknight to avoid double posting.
I figured that if I entered a house where the sims use cc clothes without having my Download folder present in game, could cause problems so I just checked that I can reach the neighborhood map (I couldn't even do that the previous days). The thing is that the sims in these hoods don't have any cc that I downloaded recently on them. I was able to play these hoods a few months ago without any problem, I can't understand what changed now. I have downloaded some new cc but I didn't have the chance to play to use it, it just sits in my Downloads folder.
Maybe I'll start these hoods again, I have only played 3 or 4 rotations in each of them. Is it safe to delete the hoods that cause me problems, though, or should I just leave them there?

You can delete entire hoods.

If CC is the problem, then that CC will most likely at some point cause issues in new hoods if you continue to have those items in your game, though. Finding the problem content so you know what it is and can remove it is the best solution. That way you won't continue having issues, you can most likely continue using your older hoods, and you'll also know which files to avoid when downloading CC.

Files that just sit in your Downloads folder can also cause trouble, if it overwrites a mesh, or acts like a borked default, or there's a GUID conflict, or in several other ways. Some items cause trouble almost immediately upon detection, while other items cause trouble only when the game tries to access them. It's not only when you start using the items they become "active".

@natbsim75 I would hold off a bit before deleting your hoods and starting over--that's a last resort. It sounds like that's not necessary just yet; it's looking like it's a cc problem, and that's fixable.

Now, I had thought I read that you had already backed up your hoods before you started troubleshooting; if not, my apologizes for not mentioning it. As simmer22 mentioned, you should always backup before pulling cc/doing a 50/50, so that you can return to the backup once the problem is found and you don't have to worry about the effects of running the game without cc. Since you were able to load a hood once some cc was removed, I recommend doing the 50/50 method now (linked to wiki in case you don't know how). Again, I agree with simmer22--just because you've had something for a long time doesn't mean it can't start causing problems now.

The crashing could also be a sign you've hit your cc limit. The amount of cc each computer can handle varies and sometimes using a lot of it together can cause problems like random crashing. So for example, for me, I know that above 22-23 GB of cc, my computer tends to start crashing randomly. The cc I have isn't bad, or wouldn't usually cause problems, but once I go over 22 GB, I'm taking a risk every time I play. On the other hand, if I stay below that, I usually don't have problems. So you know, it could be a situation like that--you didn't have problems before because you had less cc before, but now that you have more cc altogether, loading some hoods is a strain on your computer. But that's just an example, we won't know for sure what's wrong with your game until you finish troubleshooting.

Now, as for running your game without cc, it's not always a huge deal--it depends on the mods and other cc you've installed. The biggest things to worry about are mods that cause a reset when installed/uninstalled, or mods with tokens. For the former, loading your game without them will cause a reset and this means that sims at work might be at home, or return home, when you load the lot; or if sims were asleep, they'll be awake with full energy, etc. Not too big a deal usually, but warning if you use cars and your sims are off lot when they reset--they can return home without the car. Sometimes I've had the car return and show up again, but usually when this happens, I've lost the item and either need to reset the driveway, buy a new driveway, or place the new car with Move Objects. For mods with tokens, running the game without the mod will, in effect, delete the tokens, or at the very least cause the token to reset, as if you're installing the mod for the first time. So, for example, if you play with ACR, you'd have to redo all your settings for the mod, or if you use the banking system in Monique's Computer, everyone with money saved will lose it, loans will be forgotten, etc. All that financial data would be lost. I usually keep mods like these in a separate folder and only pull them if absolutely necessary (i.e., I can't find the problem elsewhere), but if you backup before you do a 50/50, you're usually covered for things like that.

For objects, clothes, defaults, etc. Usually these will just revert to a Maxis item or they might flash blue. So sims wearing a cc outfit should show up wearing a random Maxis outfit upon lot load; sometimes missing accessories will flash blue. Occasionally they might show up naked. CC objects and defaults should revert to a Maxis object/thing it was based on. Sometimes missing cc objects can prevent you from loading a particular lot. If you have any default genetics, those should revert to the Maxis stuff as well. If you exit the lots without saving, your sims and houses should show up correctly the next time you load them if you add the cc back. So, for the long term, you'd really only have to worry about the mods you've installed, and any default genetics (you'd want to make sure those are correct after you added the cc back). While continuing a save after you've removed cc is not ideal, it is definitely doable if you don't have a backup.

Some last tips: As you do your 50/50, make sure boolprop is turned on in your userstartup.cheat file, to see if the game generates an error log before crashing. Or you might get a pop up error dialog while something is loading; either can help you figure out the source of the crashing. And as you add back cc, or as you test in small groups, I would check if you can load your households, too. It may help you narrow down your problem. Check that CAS loads as well, to see if the problem is a CAS item (clothes, hair, makeup, accessories,etc.), or it can help signal if you have a cc limit problem. When I have too many CAS items, loading CAS can crash the game, either during the initial load, or as I flip through items. Just some things to look for.

You should never remove multi-pollination technician mods, unless you mean that you didn't remove the character files and only the hack package. It corrupts all of your neighborhoods because you removed a character file from them.

Things like this is exactly why it's very important to have a backup. If there's "don't remove" type of CC in your game and you accidentally move it out while testing, you can just remove those tested-upon neighborhood folders, put back the original ones, and the game is back to normal.

Hi guys, sorry for disappearing from the post, I was testing my cc and my hoods are... miraculously fixed without having to remove anything. It's weird!

First of all, kestrellyn and simmer 22, the multi-pt replacement mod I use is this https://modthesims.info/d/290883/mu...-ll30-sims.html and as you can see in the dowload page, it only has one package file to place in the Downloads folder (there are no character files). That's the file I temporarily removed (and then put back). I don't think the removal is going to cause me any issues because after I got this mod, there isn't any sim who got pregnant by aliens in my hoods. What I had forgotten (and it causes me some anxiety) is that in one of the hoods that faced the crashing problem (and I hadn't played for ages because it crashed) there is a sim (Ralph Marshall) who got pregnant before I got the PT repacement hack, so he got pregnant by EA's default PT. Does anyone know what is going to happen to his pregnancy?

Phantomknight, I have only about 9 GB of cc so I don't think that it's too much to cause me a problem.

Anyways, back to the hoods that used to crash. I started removing cc, exactly like you told me (after making a backup of my whole game). Since the mods/cc in the Downloads folder are in alpabetical order, I started by removing the "A"s. I loaded the game and the specific hoods crashed again. It reached as far as the neighborhood map and the moment I clicked on a household it crashed. I removed the "B"s and the game crashed again when I tried to load these hoods. To cut a long story short, I reached up until removing the cc that starts with "H"! And then the crashing, stopped, so I thought that the "culprit" was something from the "H" bunch. I split the "H"s in two parts, I put back the first one and no crash happened, I put back the other half and again no crash. I started to put back all the cc I had removed, I finally put it all back and the game loads the hoods that used to crash, I can get to the neighborhood map AND choose a family to play... How weird is that and wtf happened? For months I wasn't able even to load the map of these hoods and now it's like nothing happened! The only "issue" (not an issue really) is that I accidentaly saved a couple of times when testing and there are a few sims with base game hair and 1 or 2 households lost their "hacked" computers (by Monique) but that's an easy issue to fix...

Thank you all for your replies, I play this game since 2014 and I never had to do a 50/50 cc test or anything like that. You helped me so much with your suggestions and instructions, I swear I would have deleted the hoods (or reset my whole game because that's what I used to do whenever I had problems, lol!) and restarted them if I didn't have your help...

Yes there are- it contains the multiPT mod and four Pollination Technicians to go with it.

As simsample pointed out, that hack has five packages in it, just like most multi-PT hacks, and four of them are character files. It doesn't matter whether or not anyone has gotten pregnant by aliens in your neighborhood, removing a character file corrupts the neighborhood regardless of how that sim is connected or related to other sims. Also, that hack is not a PT replacement hack, it is a multi-PT hack that adds four new characters. Your existing alien pregnancy will continue as normal, installing multi-PT hacks doesn't affect that at all.

kestrellyn, thank you for your answer.
So, my hood is corrupted anyway because I removed the multi-PT file for 5 minutes and then put it right back in? I don't remember seeing anything in the mod's description page about how to safely remove the hack from my game and I thought it was OK to do so. When I removed the hack the game crashed anyway (exactly the same way it used to crash for months now, even before I got the multi-PT hack, whenever I tried to play these 2 hoods) without being able to reach the hood map, so the game didn't actually "run" without the new PT files at all... Should I forget these hoods and start them over? I'm totally at loss here because, for its own weird reasons, the game doesn't crash at all now, even though I didn't have to remove any cc.

It's really up to you, I would say. Corruption is one of those things where it's effects are not instantly seen and its severity can vary.

First, I would check to see if your Downloads folder has the other files, the PTs, anywhere. Since you thought there was only one file, I'm thinking that you might have either installed the mod incorrectly and forgot to put the PT files in, or they might be stored somewhere else (like in the "Characters" folders of your neighborhoods). So, yeah, check for the files first. If you do have them in your downloads and you removed them, then you can worry about corruption. But if you never had them, or if they were in your Characters folders the whole time, you should be okay.

Next, if you did accidentally pull out the PT character files while testing, check to see if your computer made a backup of the folder on its own. If you have Windows 7 or above, there's a feature called Restore Previous Versions that you can use to check and see if there's a previously saved version of your Neighborhood folders. It doesn't always work, especially if you never tell your computer to backup or don't do any updates, but it doesn't hurt to check. Right Click your Neighborhood folder, or the individual hood folders, Select "Restore Previous Versions" and see if there's any versions saved. If there are, see if you can pick one from before you pulled the mods. If not, then you've gotta make a decision.

If you don't notice any problems right now and you really like the hood, you can keep playing. It could be a really long while, if ever, before you see problems. Plenty of players have done VBTs or experienced corruption, but continued to play their hoods for months or even years. I would consider how long you expect to play the hood, how invested you already are, and your tolerance/patience level for problems. Some players are super worried about corruption and would probably prefer to just start over, especially if they want to, or expect to, play the hood for a really, really long time. Other players are not so worried and as long as there are no obvious problems, or huge, game breaking things that keep one from loading and playing a hood, they would take the chance and keep playing.

Personally, I would keep playing the hoods. It's still early, there's no game-hampering errors just yet, and, also, I don't really stick with the same hood for long periods of time. I usually start a new hood every year or so--that all means that I'm unlikely to ever experience the bugs and long term effects/wonkiness that comes with corruption. And indeed, I never have. I've played the game for years, done a few VBTs like deleting the sim bin sims and have never experienced the game breaking corruption that others are so worried about. I don't recommend doing those things, mind you; just saying that if you don't tend to stay in one hood for long, this is probably not something you really need to worry about. You'd most likely be okay if you keep playing the hood. But only you know how invested you are, what's worth doing over, what sims/progress you don't want to lose, and how much effort you're willing to keep the hood going. Either way is a valid choice, because again, you don't really know when or how the hood will become unplayable. It's all chance.

If you do decide to keep playing, just make a note to be more careful for next time and make backups more frequently. Take a look at your mods, see if you have any other mods with character files, or files that shouldn't be removed, and label them. I put mine in a "DO NOT REMOVE" folder, for example. And then, yeah, you just keep going.

Phantomknight, thank you for your very detailed and explanatory replies. I have said it before on the forums, I can only say that I "try" to play this game (even if I play it for almost 7 years now) but there are so many things about it that I don't know and even more that I don't understand, so thanks again!
The Multi-PT file is in my Downloads folder and it's exactly like the photo simsample has above (all 4 PTs are there!). I didn't have the chance to remove the Multi-PT file during my testing because it begins with an "M" and I was going alphabetically, since the problem seemed to have fixed itself by the time I had reached the letter "H", the Multi-PTs stayed exactly where they were. Also, I had no idea that mods/hacks like this are not supposed to be removed after they are placed in the game, I wouldn't have moved it if I knew...
OK, I'm keeping my "problematic" hoods for now, since I played in one of them last night and earlier today and it... "behaves"! It crashed only once but it was probably Cassandra's and (a little bit) mine fault because Cassandra wanted new clothes (she is kind of depressed after Don fleed their wedding and the next day she found out that she was pregnant) and I tried to rush through the... millions of cc that appeared for her to choose and apparently the game didn't like to be... rushed! After the crash, I went back into the game and she had lost the want for new clothes so we are good now, lol!
I don't stick with one hood either, I have a lot of "combinations" of EA's premade hoods (with Riverside of cource because it's been more than three years and my... obsession with this hood isn't over yet) and a couple of custom ones with my CAS sims, so I kind of juggle between all of them. I get bored a little easily but after a while I always go back!