Hello,

After a while of learning about modding and custom content, I've decided to actually play the game for once. However, when I load into a lot for the first time, the Sims' clothing (clothing only, not the hair) randomizes. I have not gotten any clothing default replacements installed and the clothing the Sim randomizes into is also always a maxis one (even though their intended/supposed outfit is also a maxis one). If I save the game and then exit the lot and load in again, the outfit stays the same, as it should.

Removing my mods also did not help...

Why not manually edit my Sims' outfits and then save? Well, I am trying to play a custom neighbourhood and I'd like to see the intended clothing on the Sims. I first thought this custom 'hood might've been the issue, but this problem also occurs in another one of my hoods; a custom one of my own (created with "Create New Neighbourhood" button), which I haven't played in ages, but apparently has the same problem now (which it definitely didn't have when I first created it)...

Also, from a technical standpoint, I'd really like to know why this is occurring.

Has anyone here got any ideas?

Thanks in advance for your help! :D
CT04.

Do you have One Drive synchronising your Documents folder to the cloud as you play, or is your antivirus set to scan your Documents folder on-access? If so, exclude your Sims 2 files in case your game is being prevented from writing to the neighbourhood files correctly.

Next test would be to backup your game, and test the neighbourhood with a clean set of userdata (drag your Documents/ EA Games folder to the desktop, run the game to create a new one and then copy your neighbourhood into there to test). Do outfits save correctly then?

Did the sims use any CC clothes on the sims the first time around? If so, have you at some point removed the CC, or your downloads folder, or turned CC off - and then run the game? If you have, the game doesn't save the clothing references properly, and will "default" to putting sims into random maxis clothing and hair (at least for saved sims/visited lots). Even if you put the CC clothes and hair back into your downloads folder again, they won't return on the sims.

For a custom hood, it's possible the creator used default replacement clothes in the previews, so what you're seeing is probably the regular default clothes from your game, or the game can't find the references for the default replacements and randomizes the outfits (the new outfits stay when saved). I'd think this is likely normal behavior.

If you make sims in CAS, do they keep their clothes (as they should) when you put them on a lot? If they do, any of the above is most likely, especially when using custom hoods or if you've moved CC around.

OK, so I disabled OneDrive on the Documents folder (the only way I was able to do that was by reinstalling OneDrive and not selecting the Documents folder), but, that didn't help. I went through some of the steps on the troubleshooting page you linked and am now at the part where you let the game regenerate a new "The Sims 2" folder.

Well, the problem still persists; When I put my custom neighbourhood into the game, the outfits still randomise. And, even worse, I opened the standard "Pleasantview" and it wasn't populated with Sims at all! Strangetown and Veronaville work fine, however Veronaville has Pleasantview's Story panel/book now?!

Is this game corruption? It would suck if it is, as I then would have to reinstall my game and I've made quite a few adjustments to the game files over the years (camera mod, manually altered wants packages, etc.) and I don't remember them all of off the top of my head...

Anyway, thanks for your reply btw! :D

Nope, all maxis clothing. That is why I find it weird that it keeps randomising, as its intended outfit was also a maxis outfit. When I change the outfit and save the lot and exit (the lot) and come back, the saved outfit stays.

Just to check, did you test with the clean Sims 2 folder, as well as clean neighbourhoods?

Could you tell me about your game setup (where it's installed, what version of the game you are running and where your userdata goes)?

I gave my actual "The Sims 2" folder another name ("The Sims 2_Main" in my case), so that the game would generate a new one. This is the one where all of the corruption like stuff happened in. I just started up my "The Sims 2_Main" folder to see if any of that stuff happened there, but my already played Pleasantview was fine in that the Sims were still there (and not that they disappeared as with the newly generated "The Sims 2" documents file). Although, I do think my used Pleasantview is a meetmetotheriver's clean template...

My game is installed in E:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Mansion and Garden Stuff\TSBin . It is the disk version that I've cracked so that I can start it up without a disk inserted. I have all expansion and stuff packs installed and as far as I know all of the patches as well. I use Graphics Rules Maker , the 4GB Patch and the RPC Launcher (.zip version) to start up the game.

My userdata can be found at D:\Users\UserName\Documents\EA Games

In total I have 3 hard drives on my PC. The standard C: drive, A D: drive (where my userdata is located) and my E: drive (where my game is installed on).

Do the same issues occur in a freshly generated version of either one of the 3 main hoods (vanilla version or meetmetotheriver's clean templates)? - Check any of the premade families, they should have their regular outfits.

Is the custom hood old enough so it's possible you at some point had CC/defaults in it, took it out, and forgot you did? This could cause the issue.

Removing CC/defaults/clothes is usually what causes this particular issue. If the clothes can't be found, sims generate with random clothes on the first new load, and save with whatever they're wearing when you save them.

(Apologies for the late response, I was on holiday.)

Hi!

I just installed a new Meetmetotheriver's Pleasantview clean template (the "main hood WITH Townies" one on this page: https://meetmetotheriver.tumblr.com...rerelease-fixed) (I don't know how to let the game generate one itself). And here the townies appear completely fine and in their right clothing. However, when I go into my already played hoods/custom hoods (like a custom Pleasantview or my own custom hood) the clothing still changes even though they should already be in outfits the game has access to (maxis/game/non-custom content outfits). I've attached some screenshots.

Thank you both for the help up till now! Appreciate it! <3

If it doesn't happen with the clean templates (and presumably with a freshly generated hood?), something happened with your other saves. It's likely they had default replacements or CC clothes that got removed at some point, or a mod that had to do with clothes was removed, or something similar.

I've had this happen several times when CC has been removed. The sims will keep randomizing their outfits and hair (usually but not always to various defaults) until you save the game, which saves whatever they're wearing.

To regenerate a premade neighborhood, all you do is to move out the "N00X" folder that belongs to the hood you want to regenerate, then run the game.

If this doesn't work, you can temporarily move out the Neighborhoods folder, then let all the folders regenerate. Delete the new Neighborhoods folder + the regenerated folders you don't need, and put the folder you wanted to generate in with the old ones in the original Neighborhoods folder (make sure nothing overwrites - you should only keep one instance of each "_00X" folder in the Neighborhoods folder).
(I hope that wasn't too confusing)

Then I assume this can also happen if CC is removed while no sims are wearing it? Or when they are but you exit the game without saving (I did test some CC clothing in my game (self-made), but quit without saving when I was done)? Considering they are all supposed to be wearing maxis outfits...

What weirds me out, though, is that this randomization also occurs with a freshly installed NON-CC custom 'hood.

If you put CC clothes on sims but don't save, those clothes don't get saved.
If you put CC clothes on sims, save the game, then remove the clothes, the clothes change (usually to BG clothes).

If a sim is saved wearing a regular EAxis outfit, and you put in a DR outfit, they'll use the DR next time you go ingame.
If a sim is saved wearing a DR outfit and you remove that DR, they'll (usually) revert to the EAxis outfit the DR outfit replaced.

If the sim gets saved at some point, they'll have the same outfit every time.
If the sim wasn't properly saved somehow, the CC outfit was removed, or for some other reason, they'll continue getting a randomized outfit until they're properly saved.

This goes for hair, too.
I actually have an ingame example. Many years ago I made some infant hairs. Infants don't usually have hair, so when you put the hair in the first time, the hair gets randomized on existing infants. If you don't save, the next time you go ingame, the hair is randomized again. It keeps switching until the lot is saved. When it is, the infants on that lot will keep the hair they were saved with. This phenomenon also happens to older sims if you remove CC hair they're using. I suspect something similar is happening - either the sims were using DRs, potentially pore removed CC, or they weren't properly saved.



Are you absolutely sure the maker of the hood didn't use default replacement clothes? Could be worth checking, if the hood is still up for download. It's possible they've added a comment about clothes/hair being different if you use other replacements or some such.

The clothes you're showing aren't the thypical clothes sims will show up in when they revert from CC clothes (tends to be basegame), but they could easily be whatever the DRs are replacing (I can see clothes from several packs, including SPs).

Good to know! I just checked the page of the 'hood I downloaded, though (New Pleasantview! - A CC-free makeover of Pleasantview) and it doesn't say anything about the outfits not being from the game (it literally says CC-free), so I don't know what is going wrong there.

In this particular neighborhood, for me the sims are loading in with the clothes they're shown with in the pictures. I've checked at least 3 of the families.

(I'm currently playing with a low-CC game, with only my essential defaults, which mostly fixes maxis outfits, adds pregmorphs, or texture-defaults them, so even if something is replaced, it still looks mostly the same, or wouldn't fully replace anything).

I noticed one comment saying something about missing wallpaper, but this could potentially be if they were missing a pack (pretty sure the original Pleasantview is BG only, while this one uses content from all the packs). Other than that, it doesn't look like anyone else have had similar issues.

So then something is definitely screwed up with my game... I really didn't want to have to go and reinstall, considering I've made so many changes to the game files over the years (altered WantTrees .package files etc.) that I cannot all remember of off the top of my head. But oh well, guess I have to. If literally no one else is having this problem and at this point I haven't got a clue as to what the cause could be...

Anyway, thank you for being so in-depth with trying to help (installing the neighborhood for yourself as well, etc.)! I really appreciate that!

Make sure you launce through the RPC and make sure it is deleting the cache files, if not then try that and see what happens.

Have you tested a new copy of the neighborhood?

If you currently have a folder named the same as that one, move it to a safe spot outside the game, then move in the one from the download topic. Then test to see if you still get the clothing issue. (you can delete the new one and move back the old one when you're done testing).

If not, something was going on in your old copy (most likely CC/DR/etc. related)
If they change clothes from what are shown in the pictures (and you have all packs), then you might have an issue.

I already launch my game using the RPC with its clearing cache option, so sadly that couldn't be it.

I put in a fresh copy of the 'hood and it still happened. Also tried the subhood version and same result. However, I have realised that not all households change clothing, for example, the Brokes always keep their intended clothing while Lothario always changes his. In the Burb household, it is only Lucy that retains her intended outfit.

I also noticed I am missing some wallpapers in the Lothario household... (see screenshot)🤔

Btw, could it have something to do with the fact that I "suppress" some "secret" subhoods so that my bin isn't filled up by them when I launch a neighbourhood for the first time? Just thought about that.

So there is more than just clothes and your missing such things and base game wallpaper or paint.
You may have a bad install of the game files or you are starting to have computer problems.
Can't really say without having the computer in front of me though.

1: Do you have any hiders for clothes or hair in your Downloads folder? (If yes, the items could be hidden, therefore randomized. Although, normally sims will still be wearing already worn hidden clothes, but they won't appear at CAS/birthdays)

2: Do you have all the EPs and SPs? (If no, you're missing items related to these packs)

Hiding subhoods shouldn't have anything to say. This is related to the wearable items. I've hidden the stealth hoods too, and it shouldn't affect the sims. I did not check the Lothario or Burb households, though - if I go ingame the following days I can test if I see the same issues (or see which clothes/wallpapers are supposed to be there, and maybe figure out the mystery of what's missing in your game).



The "haven't played it in ages" could be a clue for that particular hood. It's possible you forgot you used some CC that was removed, or something like that. At times it can be difficult to remember, especially when it's been a while since you've played a hood.

Other players have had some problems with that version of Pleasantview and it may not be in a good state to play.

I thought this over for a while and decided to install a completely different custom neighborhood, just to see if it happened in that one too (I chose to install Emerald Heights) and guess what; all the Sims in that 'hood keep their intended outfits?!?! So, maybe it indeed is the specific custom 'hood? (But that doesn't really explain why simmer22 didn't encounter this problem when trying out the custom 'hood I had installed and also why it occurs in my other custom 'hood).

1. I do have some hiders installed, but this problem also occurs in a fresh "The Sims 2" documents folder where these hiders are not installed in (hiders go into downloads, right?).

2. Yes, I do have all EPs and SPs installed.

Good to know that about the subhoods!

1: Does it only happen in those two hoods (your custom hood that you've not used in a while + the one linked above, and not other hoods)?

2: Does it happen with new sims straight out of CAS? (recently made sims, not sims who've lived in the bin since a long time ago)

3: Is it a bit random which sims it happens to, or is it all sims?

If it's all sims in all hoods, there's an issue. If it's not all sims and a bit random-ish, not new sims directly out of CAS, and only those two hoods - then I'd think it's more likely to be linked to defaults/CC/hiders or some other would-be explainable reason. Older hoods you haven't touched in a while can be difficult to diagnose, especially if you've loaded in and out CC. Custom hoods can have issues the original creator missed, even if they think they looked at everything (maybe they had unlockers for hidden EAxis items hiding in their install files that they didn't think of, for clothes/wallpaper/hair/etc.).