How To Recover Saves - PC Only Guide

CillaGray wrote:I had this problem once before and was able to fix it using this method. I also guessed it was from not saving often so decided to try saving every hour.

Last night it happened again. This time it happened not ten minutes after my last save. So saving often didn't make a difference in my case. My first thought when I got the error message was "that was a close one" because I had just saved. I figured I'd just go in my saves folder and rename the backup. That's when the problem started, there wasn't a backup file. When this all happened the first time I had noticed that it wasn't making a backup file. I thought the game made one automatically but since it hadn't, I decided to make a copy of the main file and rename as the backup. I have no clue what happened to my backup file and I guess now my hours of game play and multi-generational family are lost...again!

Am I wrong in thinking that the backup file is suppose to be automatically made and updated with each save? Could my taking the main file and renaming it as a backup cause it to disappear? I really hope you can explain this to me better. I'm so frustrated!

Did you have any .bad files?
If you have no backup but bad files, delete the .bad file, and rename your backup that you renamed back to .sims3.

Hello Shadow,

I was enamored the first time I read this post because I was able to save hours of game play that I thought was gone. But now, I am getting the error codes 12 and 13 and it seems that saving frequently does nothing to help. What now seems to be happening is everytime I have a party, it will not save after that even if I saved right before it. Now I thought that maybe the hack for allowing more party members could be the problem, but it did the same after deleting that hack. I can no longer just change the name and get the game back as well. I have deleted the cache files that you reccomended and that did nothing as well for my lost games. Please help.

Great need to know info! I haven't had this problem...yet...but I will be bookmarking this thread.

*rummages around in backpack and pulls out shiny, shiny object*

Here, have a nice pre-emptive "Thank You!"

This tip came in very handy today. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you so much Shadow

I wish I found this link sooner

Thanks for the help Shadow, used your instructions and got my family back.

Although I am a little upset, the save I got back was from my last save, and from the point of where I was, my Sims got A LOT of opportunities. But oh well, better to have them then lose them.

Thanks again!

Sorry to be the bad apple here, but I have been deleting bad files for who knows how long, and it sometimes work for a while and then just error code 13 again, and sometimes don't even save ones. I am seriously considering going back to sims2, and I don't want to because that is like replacing your Ferrari with a bicycle.
Please help.

HNDSIM wrote:Sorry to be the bad apple here, but I have been deleting bad files for who knows how long, and it sometimes work for a while and then just error code 13 again, and sometimes don't even save ones. I am seriously considering going back to sims2, and I don't want to because that is like replacing your Ferrari with a bicycle.
Please help.

Did you revert the backup to .sims3, and delete the SIMS3 file?

Hi,

For those who are experiencing crash or error code issues when saving, the following thread may provide a solution:

http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/79541.page;jsession
id=AC1A577915DE59CF6BDEFEBBBB6593F3.015051

(You might want to add this to page 1 of your handy guide, Shadow.)

Thank you, I was about to toss the whole game in the trash

I kept the bkup and just made a copy/renaimed and it's bk.

I'm confused....What EXACTLY is this method of game retrieval supposed to do? It it supposed to restore your town back to it's original state from the last time you saved your game(after months of playing, altering, etc.)? I ask b/c I've tried this method on several occasions, but no avail, it didn't work. I renamed and deleted the proper files, started my game and everything has been set back to default mode (meaning all original townies, lots, etc. were back and all my custom Sims and their progress, gone).

What's wrong here?

QueenLioness84 wrote:I'm confused....What EXACTLY is this method of game retrieval supposed to do? It it supposed to restore your town back to it's original state from the last time you saved your game(after months of playing, altering, etc.)?

This solution is for corrupted save files. It reverts saves to the last time you ever saved.

I recommend only using it if you're having problems.

I've been banging my head against this virtual world for hours, trying to coax and soothe it's disgruntled little soul so I can get back in and see my Simmies, but to no avail.
I did the delete .bad, delete the original .sim3 file and switch .backup to .sim3 and nada.
My last ditch attempt was to move my save file to my desktop and reinstall riverview (as this was the town that the "corrupt" .sim3 file was in), created a experiment town, quit, reloaded my .sim3 folders (from my saved folder on the desktop) to the new saves folder in the my docs and it didn't work. I still get the "A serious error has occurred while loading..blah blah blah, etc etc"

Any last suggestions before I call time on my little town and have mass funerals for all of my sims?
I was playing all of my sims in the same town for months now. :-\ So sad..I was doing well and then suddenly my game would crash to the desktop without due cause, blip, no warning. Went from watching my sims to seeing my desktop picture. It happens several times and then last night I get booted to the desktop, restart like normal (redecorate the bathrooms for the 2nd time) go to save my changes, they save normal, go to save them ten minutes later (paranoid by now) and I get error 13! Two times in a row, then crashes to desktop. I went to bed, then come back this morning to this blasted serious error business. >

I am not a very happy simmer right now. :-\
(Sorry this is so long, just turned into a rant)

Please note that save files created in the latest version of the game will not work with previous game versions (1.0, 1.2, 1.3 etc.). You will either have to update your game back to the correct version or start a brand new game.

I haven't reinstalled my game, so it is at the same version (latest patch version) it was at when the corruption occurred.