I have been researching the issue where patterns cause the CaST process in the game to stall with "Materializing Materials" showing that requires closing the game to get past.

For months I was unable to duplicate the issue, but have finally found some CC that triggers that issue. Being able to duplicate the issue is a critical step in fixing it. Without that, you just can't figure out what is really going wrong.

The primary cause seems to be a bug in an early patch of the base-game itself that wrote out incorrect data to the patterns during exporting of lots or sims. The EA Launcher's method of reading in patterns (and other stuff too) automatically fixes the problem so .sim3pack files don't have the same kind of problem as .package files.

To explain the issue, we need to dissect a pattern a little bit so we can see where the issue occurs.

When you look at a pattern file in S3PE, you usually see several _IMG resources, a couple of _XML resources, an ICON and a PTRN resource.

The _IMG resources are just the images that the pattern is build up from and doesn't matter.
The ICON resoures is just a PNG file that shows the thumbnail in Launcher, also doesn't matter.
One of the _XML resources, the one with the type of 0x73E93EEB is just a manifest file and isn't required once you convert a pattern to .package form.
The other _XML resource (type 0x0333406C) is important as is the PTRN resource.

Here is a snippet from one of each of those:
First, the _XML:

Second, the PTRN:



You should notice that both of these have an xml attribute called reskey, and that the actual value of that attribute has a space in it after the colon.

The export process for early versions of TS3 added a space before the instance number of the reskey value.

To fix a pattern that causes Materializing Materials, simply REMOVE THE SPACE from both lines.

Change into in both resources and you've fixed the pattern.

Nice find!

I have just finished putting a MM fix tool together. You can grab it from: http://sims3.the-prof.net/forums/in...08.msg3770.html

It is a simple drag and drop utility just like the old Rigfix that I did for Pets.

hello, thank you so much for all this. it is SO much appreciated!ive been trying to figure out this issue for a month now,got all my other island paradise issues fixed, except this. do you mind telling me were i pull the scripts up, (to take the spaces out) im just not sure were i go to do that. also, were you say drag and drop the files, what folder are you referring to drag and drop into. once again, thank you so much! jamie

ok, i realized you are talking about s3pe, i just downloaded it, now, i have all my cc in my mods folder, (ea, sims3, mods, packages) (im using a p.c btw) are the patterns located in there, or a different folder. when i open s3pe, it do i go to file, and open, then were should i go? thank you once again, im just anxious to get this resolved, as ive been at it for months now

I went to your page and can not find the download.... any help?

You have to register or sign in in order for the download file to show

I see no where to register ?¿? http://sims3.the-prof.net/forums/to...08.msg3770.html :s

AngieLoverSims♦³

Thats cos the site got closed or something. He says he might start it again for TS4

Thank goodness I found this! I was just experiencing this very issue in my Sims 3 (just came back from a long hiatus). It was easy enough to fix in S3PE along with your instructions. If you've recently downloaded a lot of pattern packages, I would recommend going through most, if not all of them, to make sure there isn't more than one pattern involved.

For those who are unfamiliar with S3PE and need more of a helping hand, basically:
1. Open a pattern file in S3PE...
2. Go to the PTRN tag section (I found this was the easiest way to figure out whether the file was affected by this issue as it's a smaller text box to skim through)
3. Look through the given text in the right hand side text box, if you notice a space after the colon, then this is the problem file (as explained by granthes)
4. Right click on the PTRN tag section (left hand side of S3PE), choose Notepad from the given options
5. Remove the space using Notepad, then click File>Save, and now close Notepad
6. S3PE will notify you that the resource has been changed and ask you if you would like to commit the changes, click Yes
7. Repeat for the affected XML tag section (the INSTANCE number should match the PTRN instance number)
8. Lastly, make sure to click File>Save in S3PE in order to fully complete and save your changes

What about patterns that duplicate themselves in CAS? I managed to get rid of the Materializing message but now certain patterns (it seems ones created with CrAP) tend to duplicate themselves, overwriting previous patterns that work just fine. It's driving me crazy and I can't seem to fix it. I tried the above but there was no space to delete in the XML file so I'm kinda at a loss.

The latest version of CCMagic handles the materializing materials thing internally now. You can download the last version here:

http://modthesims.info/d/461888

It doesn't handle it automatically, but it tells you what the broken files are so you can fix them. This was super helpful because I have like 500 mods

This is really confusing to me, can you explain it in a simpler way?

Where do you find S3PE file at?

I don't know where it is I can find this tool..I'm having an issue with materializing materials, I've run into it before and fixed it using one of delphys tools to remove patterns from sims3packs in downloaded houses. I do use CC magic, and it's told me the name of the file that's causing my game to freeze on the spinning wheel of death, but I cannot find the file! I've gone through all of my new CC I downloaded with a fine tooth comb to hunt the little sh!t out, but to no avail. Is there a way to use CC magic to find the file, or do you still have this program so I can fix this issue? My game is currently unplayable due to it. Thank you

How were you able to pinpoint which pattern it was? My CC magic says its "pozadi" but I can't find that file name anywhere on my computer..

I have managed to pinpoint quite a lot of these issues and resolve them but it's a painful process.

I have found the worst offenders for these issues are lots and patterns off TSR. I have yet to see any objects throw up these issues but I welcome being proven wrong. If one is getting a pattern issue recorded but searching doesn't throw up the file name, it's probably a lot. If one has created package files out of Sims3Packs and get this issue, then the packages should be deleted and done again. Sorry

I have found the tools out there to "fix" broken patterns are flaky and the easiest solution is to delete/strip them out. I fixed the issue by progressively going through content in CC Magic to identify the offending patterns, then either deleting them, or repairing if possible.

You Need
1. CC Magic
2. Delphy's Custard

Steps
1. backup your entire Sims 3 folder in case something goes wrong.
2. Install CC Magic. Install Custard. Open CC Magic.
3. Click "Rebuild" to create a database of your content.
4. Go to the "Status" tab. Note down all the names of the patterns that are causing issues.
5. Go into Windows Explorer. Locate the CC Magic Folder (If you don't know, search your entire hard drive for "CC Magic"). Go into CC Magic\Content\Sims3Packs
6. Search for the name of each of the offending patterns individually.
7. If they are a pattern, delete them. If they do not show up, they are probably in a lot.
8. Create a new folder in the "CC Magic\Content\" folder. Call it something like "Removed". Create a second folder. Call it something like "Clean".
8. Return to the "Sims3Packs" folder Try to remember when you first got Materializing Materials issues. Sort your Sims3Packs by date. Select the packs prior to this date. Cut and paste them into your "Removed" folder.
9. Go back to CC Magic. Click Refresh. Click Clear Cache. Click Rebuild.
10. Go to the log and see how many offending patterns remain. If they equal the number originally minus the number you deleted, congratulations! It's just a matter of going through what remains and checking in blocks of 10-30 which ones are having issues. Move all the content from the Removed folder into the Clean folder, then move all the remaining content from Sims3Packs Folder into the Removed folder. Otherwise, you might need to do 10A.
10A. Empty out the Sims3Packs folder into the Removed folder. Return 10-30 items at a time to the Sims3Packs Folder, focusing on anything obviously a pattern or a lot. Do smallish batches as CC Magic is somewhat unstable with larger amounts of content (i.e. my 17gb worth). It also speeds up build times,
11. Now you have a possibly offending block of content in your Sims3Packs folder, you can check which one is offending. In CC Magic, click "Refresh", then "Clear Cache" then "Rebuild". If you get a hit, go back to the "sets" page. If you have "missing" ones with a pink stripe down the side, hit "refresh" again. Uncheck each item, and then check the last one. Hit "clear cache" then "rebuild". Check the log to see if this item is getting the issue. Uncheck the clean item, and check the next item up. Then "Clear Cache" and "Rebuild" and check the logs again. Do this for every item when a block of items returns a "Materializing Materials" issue.
12. Once you get a hit, if it is a pattern, delete it. If it is a lot, there's a possibility it can be salvaged by removing patterns
12A. Go into Delphy's Custard. Open the offending item. In the "type" column, locate items that are "patterns". One can either remove all patterns, or try to remove just the ones with a black or white preview. For the first one, uncheck all patterns. Click file > Save as (I let it save as "Copy of x"). Go back into CC Magic, hit refresh. Find the copy. Unselect all other files, except the copy. Hit Clear Cache, and rebuild. Check log to see if this remedied the problem. For the second issue, it's a matter of going back into Custard and unselecting Patterns, saving out and rebuilding until the issue stops coming up in the logs. Sometimes, a lot cannot be salvaged and should be deleted. (but I can't tell you why)
13. Once you acertain content is not causing issues, move it to the "clean" folder. Eventually, the only Sims3Packs will be in the "Clean" folder. Move them all back into the "Sims3Packs" folder, refresh, clear cache, and rebuild.
14. If you are lucky, you will now get no errors reported.

I know this thread is long dead, but grave digging is clearly tolerable if the ressurection of the post is directly related to the issue in the original topic. No other thread for this matter exists.

The link above is dead. However, a mirrored link continues to exist.

I'm confused about how to properly use the Pattern program. Do I just drag and drop Package files onto it? I tried that and it generated new ones and new files with the BAK file extension. I loaded them into my game, though, and they were still corrupt.

I thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart for resurrecting this link, and for creating this tool. You sir, are a genius!!!

I'm very thankful that this was brought back. I am having this problem with my TS3 right now.
I followed the link, downloaded the zip, extracted, dbl-clk the App file... and nothing.
Was there something else to do to help?
Thank you anyone!

Did you try dragging and dropping the Pattern Package files onto the application itself?

Wondering if anyone is still on this to solve an issue.

Used Granthes tool to fix all patterns. Had taken the offending one out first. Then fixed the offending one (the checked one), just because I'm not totally trusting and wanted to check in S3PE after. First pic is when I added the offending pattern, it made every pattern in my folder the same.

Second pic after I removed the one that had originally been bad, they all go the same as another pattern, one pattern from the fixed ones duplicates when in game.

Anyone know what's happening and if there's a way to fix it?

Tried everything I could think of and can't get working packages out of these few patterns that I'm trying to change and all patterns I use a lot, or i would dump them.

I don't know if you've found a solution to this in the meantime, but the issue you're describing is different than "Materializing Materials".

You can find a tutorial on how to fix it here: https://sweetdevil-sims.tumblr.com/...nto-100-working
(Tutorial not written by me, I just retrieved it and added some notes/comments.)