Disappearing Gravestones (Cause Finally Discovered)

[Ancient Sim]

I suspect the cause of ths problem is Maxis' attempt to fix the problem that the deathfix mod previously fixed (properly).

I had a Sim die tonight and when I went to put his gravestone with the 3 others on the lot, I realised they'd disappeared.  As I had just made a back-up I saved so I could see what had happened to them - I discovered that the Sims concerned were totally wiped from the game and had no character data. The lot concerned was the old Caliente house, but obviously I don't know at this stage whether the problem is lot-specific or not.  As it's my first death since installing the patch, I'm not optimistic that it's going to be confined to the one lot.

[JenW]

I haven't had any graves disappear since installing the patch, and I've been on at least two lots that already have graves and they were there and haunting. I have lost graves to them being smashed (by ghosts or visitors, not sure), maybe that's what happened? Or would there still be character data there, I'm not familiar with that.

Jen

[witch]

The lot I played last night - when testing for recessive skintones - was a pre-Nightlife, pre-patch lot. The grandfather had been eaten by the cowplant prior to the patch but after NL install.

There should have been a notice that he'd died, I expected the family to be grieving, but no mention was made of this sim's death. He's not in the house but nosim seems to have noticed. :/

[vecki]

Morty Goth's platinum tombstone vanished on me post NL but pre-patch.  But I was planning on resetting Pleasantview anyway so he's alive and well and living in the Caliente house now...

[Regina]

I had something very bizarre happen with a gravestone but I doubt it's related.  Nevertheless I'll add it here because you just never know.

The Ambrosia family were moving to a new house and of course they wanted to take their Leo-the-Romance-sim-sunburnt-vampire-ghost with them, so they packed him up with the rest of their goods.

The instant their lot loaded, out popped a gravestone right in the middle of the sidewalk!  I thought, 'Well, at least I know where the cemetery's going,' and picked it up and moved it there.  The description looked great:  "Here lies Leo Corsillo," so I neatly placed the stone and placed the two bouquets of roses that stand on each side (he really was loved, you know).

When the family moved, I let Alistair be the keeper of all things marvelous and wonderous.  In his possession he had all of the aspiration rewards (thinking caps, noodle soothers, Renu-u-Sensor Orb, Elixirs of Life, Leo's flowers, the gravestone, career rewards, etc.).  Shortly I decided to go ahead and unpack all those goodies and something struck me very odd.  Right there in Alistair's inventory was a gravestone!  I took a double-take to see if indeed I had placed Leo's stone and sure enough I had.  I took the one out of inventory and checked the Buy Mode description, which said simply "Rest in Peace".  I thought, "Great!  I don't know for sure which of these stones holds the ghost!  I'm assuming it's the one with his name, but as wonky as this game is you just never know!"

So, I placed the newly recovered stone up by Leo's stone.

Well, today when I restarted my game and went to the Ambrosia household, the extra gravestone has gone missing.  I've no idea where it is, but apparently it wasn't needed because Leo has wasted absolutely no time going haunting and trying to scare everyone out of their wits (like it's their fault he got a little sunburnt?)

Like I said, this may not even be related, but since you were on the topic of disappearing gravestones I thought I'd add my 2-cents worth.

[Ancient Sim]

Well, this problem is worse than I originally realised and it's confined purely to Pleasantview, which makes me think maybe the end has come for that neighbourhood.

I went into the Goth house and every single grave had gone.  If there is a new death, the grave stays, but all old graves are going.  They're not even there if I go into the lot in build mode.  This is something that's happened post-patch, it didn't happen after installing Nightlife.  In the case of the Goths, every Sim has lost their character data except Alexander, his wife, and Bella.  Their graves are gone, but their files are still intact. 

The graves in Gothier Green Lawns are fine, so my current idea (short of resurrecting everyone and getting them eaten by the cowplant, which doesn't produce a death memory) is to move all the families with tombstones out of their lots and rezone them as community, send a family member in to retrieve the gravestones, then make the lot residential again so they can move back in and replace the stones.  I just wonder if it's worth it, or if I should just accept that my Pleasantview has succumbed to that big fiery ball.

[Ancient Sim]

Have finally cracked it.  The lots where the gravestones are vanishing are ones where ghosts were out and about at the time I patched the game.  The others are unaffected. 

So, those of you with tombstones might find you have the same problem if your ghosts were out when you put the patch on.  I am going to have to reinstall NL and get all relevant lots to daytime before re-patching it.  What a palaver.  And why is it happening anyway?  They ought to safeguard against things like this.

[RainbowTigress]

Have finally cracked it.  The lots where the gravestones are vanishing are ones where ghosts were out and about at the time I patched the game.  The others are unaffected. 

So, those of you with tombstones might find you have the same problem if your ghosts were out when you put the patch on.  I am going to have to reinstall NL and get all relevant lots to daytime before re-patching it.  What a palaver.  And why is it happening anyway?  They ought to safeguard against things like this.

I'm glad you figured out the cause of the problem.  There are all sorts of problems like this that occur when patching a game or installing an EP that you'd think they could safeguard against.  It seems like the only way to upgrade is to make sure everyone in every house is safely home, no ghosts out, no visitors over, no npcs on your lot, everything put away, etc. 

[witch]

Maybe that's why I rarely seem to have patch or EP install problems with sims. When I play I generally leave the house at 6am, all sims in bed. If not all in bed, there are only 1-2 sims up cooking or studying.

Glad you found that answer Ancient Sim! Even if it is work to get back to where you were.