Nightlife clothing disappeared...UGH

[RabidAngel]

Hi all,
I've just had a problem arise.
Bodyshop is no longer showing any Nightlife clothing...University clothing is all there are in tact, but the Nightlife stuff is completely gone.
I tried removing my downloads and savedsims and restarted Bodyshop, and still no Nightlife stuff...
There are one are two meshes that are showing as blanks as well...but I don't think those are Nightlife meshes.
I'm completely baffled.  Has anyone experienced this issue?  And would someone be kind enough to suggest a remedy?
I tried looking in my sims cd to find the 3d content, but all of the file names are obscured, and they are compressed.  Plus, I don't even know if that would do the trick.  I'd be most appreciative of any help...First I lost my pork chops, and now I've lost my Nightlife clothing.  If I don't respond, you'll all know that I've put an end to this vicious cycle of woe and misery.  
Thanks a bunch!

[Motoki]

I once lost all Maxis hair and makeup and only had custom available. Weird stuff like that happens sometimes. I tried using the old TS2 and Uni bodyshop versions but the NL stuff still shows up in them for me. Do the outfits show up in the CAS at all? Can you buy them in the game?

Anyhow, the files in question are the 14 simsxx.package files, sims00.package through sims13.package, which go in C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\3D and skins.package which goes in C:\Program Files\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Nightlife\TSData\Res\Catalog\Skins

The may be inside of a zip file on the CD. I know off hand the objects.package file is in compressed.zip.

If copying those files from the CD to those directories doesn't help, the only other thing I can suggest is to backup your neighborhoods and do a reinstall.

[RabidAngel]

Hi Motoki,
Thanks so much for the advice.  I will try those things.
To answer your questions...
No, the clothing does not even show in CAS or in game when buying from community lots (or the like).
This is so weird....If all else fails, I'll just do a clean re-install.  I don't really mind, it's just a bit time consuming.  I really appreciate the help, though. I'll let you know how it goes in case it ever happens to anyone else, LOL.
Thank you very, very much.

[RabidAngel]

Okay, I just tried replacing the afore mentioned files...to no avail. Still no Nightlife clothing. The only package I was unable to locate on my Nightlife cd was the skins.package...I checked all of the compressed files and no such file showed up.
I guess it's time to do a re-install.  I just wish I knew how this sort of thing happened so that I can prevent it from occuring in the future.
Thanks again, Motoki.  As always, you've been extremely helpful.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I had a townie move into one of the lots Downtown, she changed her hairstyle to one of the Uni ones, and everytime she went in the shower her old hairstyle was back, but once she got dressed, the new one reappeared!  The old hairstyle also appeared when she went to bed - I don't know about workout clothes, though.

[Motoki]

If I had to venture a guess, I'd bet it actually was the skins.package since that's the one that contains all the property sets and there are flags that can be changed in it that will hide clothing. I've actually been messing with that file a lot lately.

Sorry you couldn't get it working, but I'm fairly certain a reinstall will fix it. Or if you can wait a few hours I can email you my skins.package when I get home if you want. Just pm me your email address.

[Bangelnuts]

Okay, I just tried replacing the afore mentioned files...to no avail. Still no Nightlife clothing. The only package I was unable to locate on my Nightlife cd was the skins.package...I checked all of the compressed files and no such file showed up.
I guess it's time to do a re-install.  I just wish I knew how this sort of thing happened so that I can prevent it from occuring in the future.
Thanks again, Motoki.  As always, you've been extremely helpful.

did you possibly download a file that replaces maxis default clothing or skins? Iv e done that before and had to painstakingly go through my downloads folder with clean installr to find the offending downloads and Remove them from game play.once I did that I opened bodyshop and my maxis clothing and skins had returned.I have since learned to read all the fine printt contained in the down load info by the creator

[ZephyrZodiac]

Seems crazy that anyone would want to actually replace default clothing in what appears to people to be a normal download!  I know a lot of people do want to get rid of some default items, but I think they would much prefer to do it knowingly!  And for those of us who don't want to replace anything, it's apain if we have to read every word of (sometimes) a very long blurb!

[Motoki]

Well there is a way to technically hide an outfit via a package file in downloads without getting rid of it per say. I'm doing it now with the old saggy elder clothes. You just set a flag from 0 to 9 and it won't show up in the bodyshop, CAS or as buyable. Conversely, you can make a package file in downloads that overrides the Maxis settings and makes the npc outfits buyable and unhidden.

There's reasons for doing it, but I can't imagine why anyone would want to hide all the new NL stuff. Well, okay I can lol a lot of it's rather unappealing, but still I think this is more a bug than anything on purpose. Or at least if it is from a download it's probably an unintended side effect.

[ZephyrZodiac]

You're probably right, Motoki!  I quite like some of the clothing, but other outfits are just unbelievably badly designed!  And I'm just about sick to death of knee-length shorts for the male sims!  Nearly every sim that grows up or graduates seems to be wearing the darn things!

[Bangelnuts]

Seems crazy that anyone would want to actually replace default clothing in what appears to people to be a normal download!  I know a lot of people do want to get rid of some default items, but I think they would much prefer to do it knowingly!  And for those of us who don't want to replace anything, it's apain if we have to read every word of (sometimes) a very long blurb!

I agree with you but I have had it happen to me numerous times since way  I got the base game in 2004. the issue is a real problem on the exchange .I learned my lesson about downloading sims there to get the clothes or the skin or whatever.I havent had that problem of late. since I no longer download houses with sims or sims themselves from the exchange.I have been wrestling with my computer tonight. I had to do a reinstall of nightlife  because Lastnight I added ramwent from 512mb to 1024mb of ram and for whatever reason bodyshop uninstalled itself  when I did the changeover. thank god I remembered to back up my neighborhood that is custom and my Dl folder because I went into body shop and discovered that  none of my custom content was there.I put in my back up folders and it reappeared .I used sim enhancer to change the name of my custom hood for a new story line Im working. and the insimenator to kill off a few sims that I no longer wantyed but didnt want useless file of in SimPE. I had a living sim move the  headstones to the cemetary , then I moved my living sim back to her original house. it pays to back up files and periodically look through the downloads folder and cleanse it of files that never get used.

[RabidAngel]

Oh crap...
It's too late since I just reinstalled everything.  That would have been great, Motoki, had I thought to check before going ahead and reinstalling.  Thank you for the offer.  As for downloads, I do have certain skins that are tagged "default" but I removed them all...So, if it was a download, it is an extremely evil one.  I'm happy to have a fresh install though, so it wasn't so bad...Now, the true question will be...once I place all of my custom content back in, will be Nightlife clothing still be there?  I have no answer for that, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.  And you can rest assured that I'll be back crying tears of woe if my game remains "broken".
I'll also be weeding my massive downloads folder down to just a semi-massive one.  
Thanks all!

[Bangelnuts]

Oh crap...
It's too late since I just reinstalled everything.  That would have been great, Motoki, had I thought to check before going ahead and reinstalling.  Thank you for the offer.  As for downloads, I do have certain skins that are tagged "default" but I removed them all...So, if it was a download, it is an extremely evil one.  I'm happy to have a fresh install though, so it wasn't so bad...Now, the true question will be...once I place all of my custom content back in, will be Nightlife clothing still be there?  I have no answer for that, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.  And you can rest assured that I'll be back crying tears of woe if my game remains "broken".
I'll also be weeding my massive downloads folder down to just a semi-massive one.  
Thanks all!

dont feel bad I just  had to do a reinstall and my download file is 760mb in size down from over a gig  a couple of days ago.

[ZephyrZodiac]

I added up and found I had over 2MB when I included all my skins, genetics etc. in Saved Sims, and my Walls and Floors folder!  But the game seems to play ok, and doesn't take all that long to load - half that amount was slower with sims1, so I'm not complaining!

[Bangelnuts]

I added up and found I had over 2MB when I included all my skins, genetics etc. in Saved Sims, and my Walls and Floors folder!  But the game seems to play ok, and doesn't take all that long to load - half that amount was slower with sims1, so I'm not complaining!

2 MB  is a tiny amount my download folder sends my sims 2 folder to 1.33 GB. and according to my system Info.when I star the game up I have 733 megabytes of Ram that is not being used.so upgrading my Ram from 512 to 1024 has noticeably sped my game up. even in large lots with lots of sims. I have one lot where the Mom Just had twin girls.I used sim enhancer to tweak the girls to  being fraternal twins with the same birth sign and I noticed  only a couple of seconds lagtime for the birth instead of 2 or 3 minutes  when I had  256mb of ram and  a full minute and a half for  512 mb. so I have learned that Ram does make a difference in the speed of the game when it comes to special events in games where  you have a ton of CC. which to me is anything Maxis didnt ship with the game

[ZephyrZodiac]

Oops! Typo! Meant to type 2 GB!  And I've still a load more to put back in!  (2MB, I wish - but one blueskin alone is about 6MB+!)

[Bangelnuts]

Oops! Typo! Meant to type 2 GB!  And I've still a load more to put back in!  (2MB, I wish - but one blueskin alone is about 6MB+!)

LOL Zephyr . I have out fits for sims that are almost as big as your typo.I cant imagine  what a real 2MB downloads folder would have in it  probably a hairstyle and som lip glosses and not much else

[ZephyrZodiac]

Maybe two or three floors just to make up to 2MB!

[Motoki]

Now, the true question will be...once I place all of my custom content back in, will be Nightlife clothing still be there?  I have no answer for that, but I'll keep my fingers crossed.  And you can rest assured that I'll be back crying tears of woe if my game remains "broken".
I'll also be weeding my massive downloads folder down to just a semi-massive one.  
Thanks all!

Well I would say if the problem was a corrupted game install file like the skins.package or something like that then you should be fine. However, if it is a downloaded file causing it then as you said you have have to end up weeding through the downloads. At very least you can most likely narrow it down to clothing.

I didn't even think of this before you did the reinstall so sorry I didn't mention it but next time you run into something like that it might be a good idea to temporarily move you downloads and savedsims folders somewhere else (I usually just drag them to the desk top) and then give the game and/or the bodyshop a test run. If the problem goes away without the downloads then you know it's something among the downloads causing it and if not then you definitely need to do a reinstall if you can't track down the installed file causing the problem.

I know when I had my issue with no Maxis hair and makeup showing up a reinstall did fix it for me so I am hoping it does the same for you.

[ZephyrZodiac]

And remember, it's usually only necessary to reinstall the latest EP, just move everything out first to the desktop (downloads, neighbourhoods etc.).

[Motoki]

Oh is it? I guess that makes sense. Usually I just reinstall the whole kit and kaboodle, but as they add more and more episodes that's going to get far more time consuming so that's good to know!

[Bangelnuts]

And remember, it's usually only necessary to reinstall the latest EP, just move everything out first to the desktop (downloads, neighbourhoods etc.).

thats what I did yeaterday when for whatever reason changing out Ram cards wiped out my ability to open bodyshop.Iuninstalled night life after moving my custom neighborhood and downloads folder and my custom collections to the desktop .after reinstall I put my stuff back in patched and opened the game everything was there so I closed.the game after saving opened body shop and it opened right up. so the reinstall put bodyshop back where it was again useable

[ZephyrZodiac]

Oh is it? I guess that makes sense. Usually I just reinstall the whole kit and kaboodle, but as they add more and more episodes that's going to get far more time consuming so that's good to know!

Yes, just make sure the game isn't overwriting your downloads and neighbourhoods.  You'll get a complete new set of neighbourhoods, of course, but you can either overwrite them or move them out and save them for future use.  (Like if you need a clean copy of Pleasantview for a legacy challenge, then all you have to do is disable all your downloads when you load up the game!  Useful!) 

Great advantage - 2 CD's 5-10 mins.  10 cd's - about half an hour plus!