It's just like TS3 to embarrass me.  Not 15 seconds after I posted this, version 2.2.8 of AM decides to work fine.  Thanks anyway guys!

Just downloaded the new AM today, and now the game won't load! I tried version 2.2.8 and version 2.3, neither one will load the game.  I'm getting a little concerned! The game itself won't load, it's not like my lot won't load.  It gets stuck right at the end of the green bar in the opening screen, sometimes on "Expanding Horizons" and "Ascending Maslow's Hierarchy".  I was wondering if anyone else had this problem.  I haven't tried going back to the old awesomemod, but I think that's the next step.

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance! 

Definitely have played numerous games with and without AM, no crashes whatsoever.  It is only the Legacy neighborhood, and only when it reaches a certain size.   We seem to have started having problems when the savegame file reached 45MB, and haven't stopped having problems since.  I would be interested to know if anyone hasn't had a problem with a Legacy-type neighborhood that is greater than 45MB.  At any rate, I'm sure we could start a new game and play for hours without a problem, because we did that already.  This is our second Legacy game, and the only one that has reached a large file size.  This is the only thing we can think of.  The game simply cannot handle such a large, complicated neighborhood.  We do not play with overstuffed houses, there is no custom content --- it doesn't matter.  Maybe something on the lot is corrupted, but I think the savegame would never happen if that was the case.  We can save.... sometimes.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for all the suggestions.  Think this is EA's problem to fix.  (We had this problem with theSims 2)

Here to report back (again).

Tried playing in windowed mode, worked for about 25 minutes, then crashed with error code 12, and then 13.  At this point, we can only play 15-20 minutes (sometimes 30, as I said before) before crashing while saving.  We still keep autosave turned on and it saves every 5 minutes, so that if (read: when) it crashes, we only lose 5 minutes of human time.  I can't even begin to tell you how frustrating it is to play the same freaking story over, and over, and over, and over.  We really need a solution to this, and are open to trying anything.

So far, we have tried:
~removing custom content
~removed all cache files, regenerated without awesomemod, removed script.cache, then ran with awesomemod
~Save in Edit Town
~Save As in Edit Town (this actually sometimes works, but we have to close the game anyway because it will crash the very next autosave)
~Manual Saving (of course)
~turning down the number of High Detail lots to 4
~playing in window mode
~saving while zoomed in on the ground of the lot (so that not a lot of objects were onscreen)


OH, and we're not willing to play without awesomemod; we are on generation 5 in a Legacy Challenge and are not willing to start over!

As I said, all we get is a good 20 minutes of playing time before we have to reload the game. It is complete BS.   Anyway, if anyone has another solution, please post!

Thanks!

I read that thread and tried this yesterday.  Just came back to report that it did not work for us.  We still get CTD, error 12, and error 13's when saving.  It happens randomly, whether we play for 5 minutes or for 50.  Seems more likely to happen if the camera is on a community lot, as opposed to having the camera on the active family's home lot. (but happens randomly on both) Our savegame is up to ~63megs after 4 generations on normal lifespan, and I think the game simply eats itself after a while.  Eventually, no matter what you do, saving becomes a game of Russian roullette, and that's just the way it is.

Yeah, I definitely should've read your whole post before trying your solution.  I did everything you did - three times, then installed the brand new awesomemod and tried the same procedures again... Nothing. Unfortunately, I'm not willing to start from scratch, so I might have to scrap 2 hours of play (like, 2 human hours!) and go back to a previously saved version of my lot and pray this sh*# doesn't happen again.

I would be fine with invisible sims (I assume eventually they would fix themselves), but it's the unplayable ones whose Needs just keep deteriorating that I worry about :\

I have everything updated (game, awesomemod) and have never had this problem until today.  Now I have 2 completely bugged sims who don't move and have no available interactions, and I have 3 invisible sims who seem to be interacting with everything (except the bugged sims) normally without problem.  It all started after one of my elder sims died (no one has died on this lot before).  This is complete crap!! Starting to hate this game... I have my whole legacy on the line here (with a freakin awesome lot!).

Help?? please...

I get this same error, btw.  I have several homeless families who can afford several available 8-bed, 2-crib shanties (also with stove, fridge, sink, shower, and toilet).  The command worked once.  I verified the successful move-in and saved the game.  Then I did it again and got that Flagrant System Error.  Quit without saving; then reloaded.  Then the command worked again (once).  Then it failed again.  Quit without saving; then reloaded.  Command failed.  Q w/o saving; reload.  Command failed.  Q w/o saving; reload.  Command succeeded!  Verified move-in and saved.  Then the command failed again.  Q w/o saving; reload.  Command failed.  Q w/o saving; reload.  Command failed.  Gave up.

Something seemingly random is causing it to succeed or fail.

Ugh!  The original code in TS2 and TS3 is such utter trash, it's infuriating.  F-minus.


Although there's a multi-quadrillion hard cap on the population, I doubt that's the "population limit" mentioned in the article.  It must be a soft cap variable defined somewhere, and players must be hitting it, because the (allegedly) "population control" move-out code is being readily invoked, as evidenced by the many people complaining about random move-outs.  Unless it's just an aspirational limit, not necessarily defined anywhere, that the original code is intended to achieve.

So I guess my question is: with "No One Gets Out Alive" enabled in Awesomemod, is any consideration given to a "population limit" when new Sims are added to the hood?  What about in Awesome+Indie?

The remarks about overpopulation are interesting.  I wonder what the population limit is...?  If I know EA, then my guess is that it's a stupidly low value to enable the game to run on lower-spec computers... without, of course, any possible adjustment for higher-spec computers.

I'm surprised more people aren't mentioning Charismatic.  It seems to operate similarly to Good Sense of Humor and Flirty.  Whereas GSOH opens up the "Funny" social branch, Charismatic opens up the "Friendly" branch.  You "Get to Know" traits more quickly, which then helps you tailor your social interactions more specifically to the target.  (Compliment sims that are Snobs, etc.)

I like Party Animal, too.  But, then again, I like parties.

The Leader of the Free World, in my game, is a Charismatic Party Animal with Legendary Host, etc.  Party every day.  It's a fun combo.

Heavy Sleeper and Light Sleeper seem truly useless.

What exactly does deleting the cache files do?  (i.e., per the AwesomeMod instructions, I always delete scriptcache.package before installing or updating AwesomeMod, but I always wondered why)

Ridiculously huge parties were my favorite part of TS2, and TS3 (so far) seems better.  I think it's great that the guests bring friends -- it's more realistic, it allows your sims to meet new people, and it makes for a bigger party.  I like that they bring food, too.  My legacy family throws about one party per day, and the fridge is overflowing with leftovers.  They never cook.  I also like that people arrive early and leave late in TS3, instead of the game-crushing simultaneous zerg rush for the front door at the beginning and end of TS2 parties.  Lastly, it seems that simply attending a party improves sims' relationships in TS3, so you don't have to actually socialize with everyone.  Overall, it's just a little bit better in every way.

My only question: Is there a way to increase the guest limit, like there was in TS2?