is there a way to figure out exact cause of lot crashing?

[bootsie]

I had a problem recently where a university lot wouldn't load and the game would crash.  I did the usual steps to try and fix it and eventually just moved the residents out and into another lot.  I just noticed that a text document was created in the error log folder for each time the lot crashed.  Is there anything in those documents that could tell me what exactly was wrong and caused the crashing?

[BlueSoup]

Perhaps.  Upload it and someone awesome can take a look at it.

Right now, you don't give a lot of info to go on.  What EP's do you have?  Is it a custom dorm?  What are the steps you took to try to fix it?  Do you have the patches? Stuff like that.  The more info, the better. 

[J. M. Pescado]

Eh, sounds like the cellphone problem. Anyone have a cellphone there?

[bootsie]

What?  You mean people can't read my mind?!  I'll attach the report.  I have all three EPs and the OFB patch.  The lot was the Tri-Var Sorority House.  Hmm, I think 3 of the 5 girls had cell phones at the time.  This was the first time my game has crashed on me.  I play in debug mode and didn't get any error message so no chance to delete any offensive object on the lot.  I removed my whole downloads folder and the lot still wouldn't load and the game crashed.  I deleted that file everyone suggests deleting (objects.cache?) and the same no load/crash thingy happened.  I finally just moved them out to a different house.

I'm just really curious about what is in the text documents and "mdmp" files that were spawned with each crash.  There's alot of codes and alphanumeric stuff in there.  Is it just vague "error!" stuff or specific "Tiffany Upsnott was doing xyz" encoded in there?  I just want to know so I don't recreate the situation that caused the crashing.  By the way, what's an mdmp file?  Thanks.

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[RainbowTigress]

Saving while sims are on their cell phones is a Bad Thing.  It is notorious for causing lots to lock up on loading.  If you are using JM's autoyakyak and removing this when you removed all hacks did not unstick it, another thing you could have tried was to enter the lot from another lot if you have "clickable neighbors" enabled.  This is a new feature in NL.  I have had stuck lots and I tried other more complicated ways of unsticking lots as mentioned by JM here before by replacing the lot file from a backup, but recently someone mentioned that they were able to get into a lot that crashed on loading by entering it from another lot.  I had the opportunity to try this recently, and it worked.  Sure enough, when I loaded the lot, one of my sims was on the cell phone.  I had been so careful about not saving when they were on it, but they are on them so much that I kind of got lax with it.  Since you've moved them out, it's a moot point now, but if it were to ever happen again, this is certainly something to keep in mind.  I am not sure why entering the lot this way seems to work yet entering from the neighborhood screen causes the game to crash.

[J. M. Pescado]

If you are stuck due to conventional phone calls, you may wish to try the cellphonerst package available here. Note that this package is both extremely circumstantial and NOT to be left in your game: Install it, enter the lot and see if you successfully load, and if so, save, quit, remove. Do not leave it in: It is designed to intentionally break your game in a more controlled manner.

[C.S.]

Oh crap, now I'm having the same problem. I had a servo with max cooking skills wanting to learn how to make lobster thermidor among other things, she could make the other dishes just fine but starts a fire every time when it comes to the dang lobster meal. I finally got disgusted after the 4th successive fire, turned on the 'dormtools' and 'moveobjects' cheat, deleted the flaming cooking stove and exited without saving. In my haste and annoyance, I forgot to check if anyone on the lot was on the phones. Today when I tried to re-enter the lot, the game crashes with every attempt. I've tried the method of entering the problem lot from another lot as mentioned above by rainbow and also with the cellphonerst package in my Downloads folder but no luck.

There were stuffs on that lot I don't wanna lose, such as the silly business awards for one, but I'm screwed, aren't I?

[J. M. Pescado]

If you were using the AutoYak to place your phone calls instead, remove it and load the lot to force a reset, then save/quit/put it back. Cellphonerst resets for standard "Call Sim". If you know what you were DOING with the phone, I might be able to extend the reset to that calltype also.

[C.S.]

If you know what you were DOING with the phone, I might be able to extend the reset to that calltype also.

Unfortunately for me, I don't know . I had wanted 2 sims on that lot to manage groups that night 'cos I was planning on taking them out to the community lots on group outings. I remember after clearing their queues I paused and saved the game. Now, I can't recall exactly if I had queued up the manage groups commands as well before saving, but that shouldn't fubar the lot as long as the game wasn't saved while a cell phone was in use, should it? So then I un-paused, the sims managed their groups, servo started a fire, then another and another, I deleted the flaming stove on the 4th and quit the game without saving, from then on I couldn't enter the lot. I wasn't sure if those 2 sims who managed groups were in the act of answering their cell phones when I quit. The next day I started the game, I was expecting it to load at the point of save but it crashes instead.

I hadn't patched the game at that point, but did after trying the methods mentioned and the load won't load. I was hoping installing the patch might reset something but it didn't. I ended up moving the occupants out and when I tried entering the empty lot, it still crashes. I'm not sure what the hell happened. That lot has since been bulldozed.