OFB Community Lot Car Bug

[J. M. Pescado]

So, my hunt for this bug proceeds with some success. How many people actually have a lot that's stuck in this state? So far, I had one lot that jammed in such a state, where when driving off the lot, the game never went home and just hung there disabled. I was able to "exit" the lot by by using the Lot Debugger's "Reenable UI" to unjam the save/exit buttons, and thus perform a save and exit.

On return, the lot was unplayable and live mode was grayed out. The owner and employees were present on the lot even though they weren't when I left.

Does anyone else have a similar experience? If your lot jammed in a similar state, it may be possible to crowbar the lot the same way I did.

[miramis]

How are you planning to re-enable live mode? (I haven't tried using cars since installing OFB so don't have problem lots).

[J. M. Pescado]

Well, I was able to crowbar a lot back to live mode being reenabled no problem, so it's not so much a "How are" as it is a "how did", but I'd like to see some more test cases to see if this is generally applicable, or a specific thing.

[Process Denied]

I had a prob in Matyville.  I went to a community lot with a sim to have her  catch up with her friends and I took control of this other sim cause I felt like he might leave so I had him macro-socialize her.  Well, in a couple of mimutes,he got a message that a taxi was coming for him.  I de-selected him and the taxi still came for him and suddenly I was on route to his house.  When I got a screen,it was the community lot that I just came from and It was in build mode.  Nobody was there including my sim.  I left the game and was too afraid to go back to Matyville to assess the damage.  I had that happen in Veronaville after that, but when I got the message, I actually deleted him and all was well.

[J. M. Pescado]

Unrelated.

[FatedCircle]

I think I had this problem.  I was at a community business with my owner sim and 4 playable sims from the family, they had used a family car to get there.  I can't remember if I ever saved and exited with them on the lot, but I'm thinking I probably did.  When I went to have them leave, they all got into the car, but it just sat there, nothing happened.  I thought maybe I had a few stragglers who hadn't gotten the memo it was time to go, but there was no one on the lot, everyone was in the car, but it wouldn't move.

Force Error: Reset only made the car drive up again, it was still stuck, no one could get out, and it wasn't going anywhere.  Force Error: Delete, however, fixed the problem.  The car and the owner (who was driving) were deleted, and my 4 playable sims were standing on the side of the road.  They were able to call a taxi and go home.  When they got home, they came home in the family car, with the owner driving it.  So all was good.

I had the owner go back to the lot, and all was fine.  Live mode was enabled, and everything looked normal.  I had him get back into the car and go home, and it worked fine.  Although, he went alone, I didn't have him go with family members that time.  If I encounter this again, I'll report back, but that's been my experience.

[earthmagick]

I have this happen every time I use a taxi. The cars work fine for me. But yes, I did the same thing as FatedCircle. I did a Force Error on the taxi then hit delete. I was then able to call a new taxi and go home. I have been to this lot since and played my business and all is well if I use my sims car.

I am starting to think this has to do with the open/close sign. Someone on the BBS said that their sim was stuck in the closing loop at their home business lot after they closed. Couldn't get them to stop blowing the whistle and shouting for people to leave.

[Simlover]

I haven't so much had the problem at work but on my sim returning home from work (in taxi at time) her stepfathers carpool was stuck and the taxi kept ramming it up the bum (which I have to admit was kinda funny) however force error> reset worked in this case.

[cwykes]

I've come across a couple of posters who've had problems.  I can ask them to try things - what do you want/need?  My own game is still stuck in London with my daughter who has never mastered the art of posting things Aaarrggh!  Here's the only post I can find right now.  I told her not to touch the lots, but wait for the patch.

Author:      daddysgirl1990 - 
Date:        Mar-07-06 04:24 PM PST
Subject:     Please Help! Family disappearing
 this is awful! My sims adult female and male own Amielas Store or something like that on OFB (the only expansion pack i have) I called the taxi and had the taxi come to take them there from there house and i had to run downstairs so i left the game going so that the game would load to Amileas and everything when i came back the screen was still on there place but it had switched to buy mode and the live mode was like marked out so i left the house and went to amielas lot to see if they were there and they wernt its like they disappered but the game saved when they left so i cant go back help what do i do? ive worked hard on this family ande lot please help me thanks

As she had a taxi maybe it's unrelated.  But the other post I can't find was also about a taxi.

[miramis]

What steps need to be taken to get this car bug JM?  I've been playing in my test hood sending the twins back and forth from the community lot to their house, and to other community lots but everything is normal so far.  Am I supposed to save at their business lot or something before sending the car home?

[Darkstormyeve]

In Pleasantview my sim drove her car to her community lot business.

All played fine. I saved the game and exited whilst she was still on the lot with her car. I went to bed, got up to play the next day and then everything went weird.

Her house was there in neighbourhood view but no car in the driveway. I clicked to enter her home lot but the game said the family was out visiting her commercial lot where I had left the night before. Fine. So I clicked on her commercial lot and it loaded but only in build mode.

My sim was not where I had left her. She was in street clothes and heading up the stairs to her shop. Pointless anyway as I could access game play. I eventually bulldozed the lot and everything seemed fine after that. My sim's flat mate though has had blank wants/fears ever since though.

I might add that I have never had this problem using taxi's and I can save, exit and re-enter without anything going wrong.

[J. M. Pescado]

The problem seems to exhibit no consistency, which is why it remains elusive. I'm looking for the specific condition where the lot is frozen with live mode disabled, so it is impossible to apparently leave, and yet also impossible to play the home since it will insist on rerouting to the community lot. Screenshots of this, including notes with whether or not the owning sim or any of his family are present, would be helpful.

My sim was not where I had left her. She was in street clothes and heading up the stairs to her shop. Pointless anyway as I could access game play. I eventually bulldozed the lot and everything seemed fine after that. My sim's flat mate though has had blank wants/fears ever since though.

I might add that I have never had this problem using taxi's and I can save, exit and re-enter without anything going wrong.

This is exactly the condition I was looking for, and matches my single observation. I was able to successfully crowbar the lot, though. If this happens again, refrain from destroying all the lots involved and you can try the Crowbar solution.

[shezoe]

i tried this bug out as soon as i first read about it and it happened just like had been stated. i sent a sim to work in their car, closed the business-sent the employees home, and tried to leave. she left-i stayed there. i had saved prior to doing this. i tried other stuff just to see what would happen-like summoning her to another sims house with insiminator, making her selectable, calling a taxi to go to a community lot, n then having her call a taxi to go home. when the taxi left with her-she left-i was stuck at the community lot. i never tried the crowbar thing. i didn't want to risk making it worse. hmmmm
oh- i tried it with a different sim and didn't save and got home fine. i tried going to work with a taxi, saving and leaving and everything was fine. so for me-it seems to happen with the saving at a communityl lot and a personal car only.

[Darkstormyeve]

Shezoe,

I think the critical point here is that when you leave the community lot and your sim IS STILL THERE, when you try to go back to that lot you enter sure enough, but only in build mode. The lot is no longer playable, only buildable.

Stormy

[J. M. Pescado]

Yeah, I think that the crowbar will work, then.

[shezoe]

Shezoe,

I think the critical point here is that when you leave the community lot and your sim IS STILL THERE, when you try to go back to that lot you enter sure enough, but only in build mode. The lot is no longer playable, only buildable.

Stormy

well on this one-i can still play the community lot, cuz the sim is still there. she just never makes it home when i have her try to leave. i have to ctrl alt del to get out of the game and of course-that brings me back to where i last saved when i re-start. So i can play the community lot-just not her home lot. it sounds like if i used the crowbar-the community lot would be inaccessible, but she'd be back home?

[J. M. Pescado]

i tried this bug out as soon as i first read about it and it happened just like had been stated. i sent a sim to work in their car, closed the business-sent the employees home, and tried to leave. she left-i stayed there. i had saved prior to doing this. i tried other stuff just to see what would happen-like summoning her to another sims house with insiminator, making her selectable, calling a taxi to go to a community lot, n then having her call a taxi to go home. when the taxi left with her-she left-i was stuck at the community lot.

By "left and you stayed there", you mean your sim was off the lot, but the game didn't leave, and you were simply stuck staring as time scrolled by? Or did the game go to build/buy only, with no live mode? That seems to be the early symptom.

i never tried the crowbar thing. i didn't want to risk making it worse. hmmmm

Well, you couldn't. Because I made the Lot Crowbar for this, and I never released this object.

[Theo]

@Pescado:
Your description matches word-for-word what happened in a business lot of mine.

[...] I was able to "exit" the lot by by using the Lot Debugger's "Reenable UI" to unjam the save/exit buttons, and thus perform a save and exit.

In the "oh-no" second following that action, I thought that maybe the Lot Debugger's "Clear Offworld Loiterers" option could somehow solve the lot's locked state. Has anyone tried using it? Upon reload, only the buy/build tools were available.

[MokeyHokey]

By "left and you stayed there", you mean your sim was off the lot, but the game didn't leave, and you were simply stuck staring as time scrolled by?

That's what happened to me. The debugger immediately sent me to the loading screen for the home lot; my sims were there as they should have been and I've not had any problems since.

[artchick]

I purchased a community lot and drove the entire family to the new business, and saved as soon as I reached Rank 1.  I then quit the game.  The next time I started playing, I clicked on the business to keep playing, but it wouldn't let me load the lot, saying something like, "This is a Community lot and you need to use the phone with your Sim to visit."  I then clicked on the family's house in the neighborhood and it said they were still at the community lot.  After reading about the car bug, I decided to start from scratch and recreate a new Bluewater Village.

Now I'm only using taxis to go to the community lots, and I'm occasionally getting the "owner doesn't stop whistling and won't leave the lot" bug.  If I Force Error on the owner, it solves the issue, since the cab then drives home with everyone inside.

[Simlover]

Question? Is this only happening to shop owners in Bluewater village?  I have not had any problems with my shop in Pleasantview!

[Emma]

Question? Is this only happening to shop owners in Bluewater village?  I have not had any problems with my shop in Pleasantview!

I'd love to know this too-I am sure Bluewater is bugged!

[Jelenedra]

I played my sim family in Bluewater that owned a home business and they never had a problem closing shop, but then again, they don't own a car.

[Darkstormyeve]

Question? Is this only happening to shop owners in Bluewater village?  I have not had any problems with my shop in Pleasantview!

No. It happened to me on my own personally built community lot in Pleasantview.

[J. M. Pescado]

I have a wild theory that it MAY be triggered if you send a single sim alone to a business in a car, then save and reload it later. Somebody test, and if their lot jams, DO NOT DELETE IT. Inform me immediately if this reliably triggers the problem, and if the symptoms I listed above match. Perform the Reenable UI, then save/exit, and I'll post up the Lot Crowbar.