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Field Researcher
Original Poster
#1 Old 2nd Aug 2019 at 12:44 AM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, University Life, Island Paradise, Into the Future
Default Deleted mods still showing up in game.
I recently cleaned up my mods folder. I deleted some mods from the folder, then emptied my trash so they should be completely gone, right?

Wrong.

One of the mods I uninstalled was for a buymode object. But when I start a new game, the very same item is still available for purchase in buymode! I no longer have the files for it, but it haunts the menu!

Incidentally, this also happened. I installed a new game mod, but it hasn't taken effect even though I installed it correctly.

I've started a new game, with a new sim, but the Mods are all out of whack! What gives?
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Top Secret Researcher
#2 Old 2nd Aug 2019 at 2:01 AM
You have to clear your cache files - http://simswiki.info/wiki.php%3Ftit...ete_Cache_Files
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#3 Old 2nd Aug 2019 at 2:27 AM
Quote: Originally posted by KatyFernlily
You have to clear your cache files - http://simswiki.info/wiki.php%3Ftit...ete_Cache_Files


Already did that, but they are still malfunctioning.
Mad Poster
#4 Old 2nd Aug 2019 at 6:56 AM Last edited by igazor : 2nd Aug 2019 at 8:29 AM.
You may have a second, unexpected game folder on your system that is not the same one as the one you are adding and removing mods from that the game is now reading. Does the modification date/time on the file called DeviceConfig.log in the user game folder you are working with reflect the last time you that you started up the game? If you aren't sure, try starting it up and the modification date/time should update instantly.

OneDrive is a common place for these second unwanted user game folders to show up on Win 10 and for some on prior Windows versions.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#5 Old 2nd Aug 2019 at 7:06 PM Last edited by stormcat3 : 2nd Aug 2019 at 7:25 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
You may have a second, unexpected game folder on your system that is not the same one as the one you are adding and removing mods from that the game is now reading. Does the modification date/time on the file called DeviceConfig.log in the user game folder you are working with reflect the last time you that you started up the game? If you aren't sure, try starting it up and the modification date/time should update instantly.

OneDrive is a common place for these second unwanted user game folders to show up on Win 10 and for some on prior Windows versions.


I don't use windows, I'm on Linux.

I also took a look at DeviceConfig.log but I can't find the date in that file.
Mad Poster
#6 Old 2nd Aug 2019 at 8:59 PM
Sorry, forgot about your being on Linux. The modification date/time is not IN the file. It's an attribute OF the file. There must be a way on Linux to see the modification date/time of a file without actually opening it up, no? I'm talking about the equivalent of a right-click Properties in Windows or right (or control) click and Get Info on the macOS.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#7 Old 3rd Aug 2019 at 5:55 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
Sorry, forgot about your being on Linux. The modification date/time is not IN the file. It's an attribute OF the file. There must be a way on Linux to see the modification date/time of a file without actually opening it up, no? I'm talking about the equivalent of a right-click Properties in Windows or right (or control) click and Get Info on the macOS.


Okay, I figured that out, and it looks like the date is correct.
Mad Poster
#8 Old 3rd Aug 2019 at 8:43 PM
Not sure if this is the best way to proceed then or if Linux presents more variables to consider than other platforms, but I would probably pull the TS3 user game folder out or rename it so the game spawns a new one and test the game on that clean no-content folder. Then, if all is well, begin rebuilding the content store and mods collection a bit at a time, of course being careful to not inlcude the stuff which was unwanted.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#9 Old 4th Aug 2019 at 8:52 PM Last edited by stormcat3 : 4th Aug 2019 at 9:35 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
Not sure if this is the best way to proceed then or if Linux presents more variables to consider than other platforms, but I would probably pull the TS3 user game folder out or rename it so the game spawns a new one and test the game on that clean no-content folder. Then, if all is well, begin rebuilding the content store and mods collection a bit at a time, of course being careful to not inlcude the stuff which was unwanted.


Did as you instructed and this seems to be working. Now to just add back all the mods and see what happens.

EDIT: The Phantom mods are still in effect.
Mad Poster
#10 Old 5th Aug 2019 at 5:21 AM
Quote: Originally posted by stormcat3
EDIT: The Phantom mods are still in effect.

That's impossible.

Okay obviously it's not impossible if this is what you are experiencing, so let's say that's unexpected. But I mean it has to be the case that you have inadvertently copied the unwanted content back into the new game folder. If you do not have a second "live" being used game folder, then there is no other place the content could be coming from.

Are you working with merged packages that might have included the mods/content you are trying to get rid of? Might there be downloaded sims or lots that arrived as sims3packs that are carrying these things? Perhaps something was lurking in DCBackup that you copied back?

What kind of mods/content are we talking about here? I never even thought to ask for specifics.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#11 Old 5th Aug 2019 at 5:23 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
That's impossible.

Okay obviously it's not impossible if this is what you are experiencing, so let's say that's unexpected. But I mean it has to be the case that you have inadvertently copied the unwanted content back into the new game folder. If you do not have a second "live" being used game folder, then there is no other place the content could be coming from.

Are you working with merged packages that might have included the mods/content you are trying to get rid of? Might there be downloaded sims or lots that arrived as sims3packs that are carrying these things? Perhaps something was lurking in DCBackup that you copied back?

What kind of mods/content are we talking about here? I never even thought to ask for specifics.


No, I don't have any merged packages or any downloaded sims3packs.

Most of the mods I'm using are your standard MTS stuff, one of the "phantom" mods that I deleted was one that gave a sims family $30,000 to start with instead of the usual $16,500. Every new family I make has $30,000 to start with even though I removed that mod.

There are, however, a few "adult" mods in there. In particular, I used to have... let's call it "Adult Mod X". I uninstalled X (or so I thought I did completely) and installed Adult Mod Y. Mods X and Y are incompatible and cannot run together or there will be trouble. I soon discovered there were a few files from X that I forgot to delete so I removed those... and that's when this whole mess started.
Mad Poster
#12 Old 5th Aug 2019 at 6:33 PM
If Mod X happens to have initials KW, then it cannot be removed from an ongoing game. There is supposed to be an uninstall mechanism, or there was at one time, but reports are that it never worked as it said. The mod is also known to hose the entire user game folder over time even if the mod itself is no longer present. Starting with a fresh game folder should have taken all parts of X (I mean KW) out of the picture entirely, but the saved games that had already "seen" the mod and their sims are not expected to be playable even in a new game folder. I would say that anything having to do with a game folder that has seen X, even lots, might be potentially affected and not suitable to copy over to a new one.

I wouldn't be above trying X out myself one of these days. But there is no way I would subject my current ongoing games to it with the expectation that they will continue to run long-term or forever as they have been. Perhaps isolated to a new game folder and contained/limited to only that game folder while my other ongoing games stay blissfully unaware that any of this is going on would be a safer way to experience the mod.

I am admittedly flying a bit blind here, so let's disregard the above if I haven't got the identity of what X and Y might be quite right.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#13 Old 5th Aug 2019 at 9:32 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
If Mod X happens to have initials KW, then it cannot be removed from an ongoing game. There is supposed to be an uninstall mechanism, or there was at one time, but reports are that it never worked as it said. The mod is also known to hose the entire user game folder over time even if the mod itself is no longer present. Starting with a fresh game folder should have taken all parts of X (I mean KW) out of the picture entirely, but the saved games that had already "seen" the mod and their sims are not expected to be playable even in a new game folder. I would say that anything having to do with a game folder that has seen X, even lots, might be potentially affected and not suitable to copy over to a new one.

I wouldn't be above trying X out myself one of these days. But there is no way I would subject my current ongoing games to it with the expectation that they will continue to run long-term or forever as they have been. Perhaps isolated to a new game folder and contained/limited to only that game folder while my other ongoing games stay blissfully unaware that any of this is going on would be a safer way to experience the mod.

I am admittedly flying a bit blind here, so let's disregard the above if I haven't got the identity of what X and Y might be quite right.


Actually, KW is the one I'm trying to add. In this case, It's Y.

But I have been trying to start a new game (several actually) with "Y" but the phantom files from "X" (One word, first letter P) are blocking Y from taking effect even though I've deleted them all. I even re-downloaded both X and Y to make sure all the files were matching up (didn't add either one to mods folder, just needed them for reference)

Huh. Maybe I'll ask on the site I downloaded them both from.
Mad Poster
#14 Old 6th Aug 2019 at 2:33 AM
Huh. I have been using P's predecessor (AW) for years and have never experienced anything even remotely similar to this. It's lightweight and very removable. I know the subsequent/current developers have added a lot of stuff to it, some I don't like which is why I stayed with the much older version, but I can't believe they made things that heavy-handed on purpose. Would like to hear how this gets resolved, when it does.
Field Researcher
Original Poster
#15 Old 6th Aug 2019 at 8:53 PM
Quote: Originally posted by igazor
Huh. I have been using P's predecessor (AW) for years and have never experienced anything even remotely similar to this. It's lightweight and very removable. I know the subsequent/current developers have added a lot of stuff to it, some I don't like which is why I stayed with the much older version, but I can't believe they made things that heavy-handed on purpose. Would like to hear how this gets resolved, when it does.


Well, KW works now, but I'm still having trouble with these "Phantom" mods.
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