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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 18th Feb 2018 at 8:37 AM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 2, University, Nightlife, Open for Business, Pets, Seasons, Bon Voyage, Free Time, Apartment Life
Default CAS content not showing up in Bodyshop or in game - Build/Buy content works though
I've recently been updating and organising my CC, redownloading stuff and putting things into folders. A few weeks ago I was working through CAS stuff and I was regularly checking things in Bodyshop with no problems. Then I've been working through Build and Buy stuff, checking things in game and sorting things into collection files.

Today I tried to look at some more stuff in Bodyshop and it just didn't turn up. I booted up my game and checked in CAS - the clothing and hairs didn't show up in there either. I'm not sure what I've done differently since the last time I was checking stuff. I even put in some of the items I'd previously successfully checked and they didn't show up either.

I backed up my game and repaired it through Origin, but it didn't change anything. The build/buy content still shows up, the CAS stuff doesn't. However, I did throw in a default replacement for a CAS item and it DID show up.

Has anyone experienced this or know what could be causing it?
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Forum Resident
#2 Old 18th Feb 2018 at 11:56 AM
How deep are your folder structures? It could be that the filepaths are too long so if you have something like downloads/hair/hair-mesh-creator/hairname-or-number/retexturers-name/actualhairfiles.package then that's likely too deep and the game can't read it. Try if things work if you move a single thing out of the folders to the main Downloads to check if that will make it visible, if yes then it's likely too deep foldering. That's pretty much the only thing I can think of aside of your files having gotten corrupted somehow so that the game can't read them anymore but it's very unlikely that they would have all gotten corrupted the same time.
Instructor
#3 Old 18th Feb 2018 at 12:13 PM
Stupid question: might it be that you have the option "Show Custom Content" set on Off?
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#4 Old 19th Feb 2018 at 7:24 AM
foxmaniac - at the moment I have no subfolders in my Downloads folder. Usually I just have subfolders of categories, eg Seating, Clothing, Doors and Windows, etc. But when I've been checking out these downloads I've just put them straight into the main folder.

*-Drew~ - I've definitely got in set to On, as I mentioned my Build and Buy content is working fine. The CAS stuff is the only stuff that won't show.
Instructor
#5 Old 19th Feb 2018 at 9:32 AM
@NellyStardust: I asked you because I know there are some kind of CC that show up in the game without the option on or some of them that work without the CEP
You could try to turn it off and then on again, but it seems like the problem in somewhere else.

I would also delete the cache files.
Another little thing, you could try to take out some downloads (moving them to a safe folder) and check if the others are showing or not, with the 50-50 method.
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#6 Old 19th Feb 2018 at 1:19 PM
Do you want to post one of the files here - one that doesn't require a mesh to show up? We can just check that it's not the files that are the problem.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#7 Old 20th Feb 2018 at 9:02 AM
*-Drew~ - Thanks for explaining that I checked to make sure - it's definitely selected. I turned it on and off again, no jam. And as far as I know, CC is enabled in Bodyshop by default, as I've never had to do anything to make CC show up there. I've also deleted cache files. I've also tried putting one CAS item in on it's own, with no luck in game or in Bodyshop.

maxon - I'm happy to do that, but I really don't think there's a file issue - none of the CAS files are showing up, whether they're ones I've had for months or ones I've just downloaded today, from multiple sites and creators. So you could download a file directly yourself and it would be the same file as I'm trying in my game. But I'll attach a file I downloaded today (from freesimmy1, here at MTS). It's an adult female top. I had a copy of the files from months ago that didn't work, so I downloaded it fresh today - again with no luck. This is the same zip that I used to get the files for my game, so the file you get from it will be exactly what I've been using.

I also put some things in Saved Sims and they didn't show up either. So it really seems as though Bodyshop and CAS are somehow not recognising CC or are unable to access the Downloads folder somehow?
Attached files:
File Type: zip  MTS_freesimmy21_1067934_fs21_simplesweater_cocoa.zip (334.7 KB, 16 downloads) - View custom content
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#8 Old 20th Feb 2018 at 12:57 PM
Quote: Originally posted by NellyStardust
maxon - I'm happy to do that, but I really don't think there's a file issue - none of the CAS files are showing up, whether they're ones I've had for months or ones I've just downloaded today, from multiple sites and creators. So you could download a file directly yourself and it would be the same file as I'm trying in my game. But I'll attach a file I downloaded today (from freesimmy1, here at MTS). It's an adult female top. I had a copy of the files from months ago that didn't work, so I downloaded it fresh today - again with no luck. This is the same zip that I used to get the files for my game, so the file you get from it will be exactly what I've been using.

Well, that file is working but what I was thinking was sometimes the game rewrites files (for its own reasons, I have no idea) and I wondered whether that was what happened. Without being able to test a file from your actual game, we can't rule out that possibility.

The other thing that occurs is to ask whether you have the right Downloads folder? Sounds daft, I know, but the later versions of Windoze have a habit of locating My Documents in more than one place in the file system but the game only reads one of them. It does sound like your game is not reading the files. The other thing - possibly anti-virus?

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Instructor
#9 Old 20th Feb 2018 at 7:42 PM
@maxon Build and Buy mode items show up, so its the correct downloads folder? Don't know if its possible.. to have a corrupt bodyshop/cas? or a corrupt folder/files what have something to do with the bodyshop? Maybe bring the files to a save place and let the game generate new ones. And then try if the game reads the bodyshop items? Just a suggestion.
Always backup your files before trying anything.
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#10 Old 20th Feb 2018 at 10:13 PM
Worth a shot Kater.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Field Researcher
#11 Old 20th Feb 2018 at 10:33 PM
Not everything needs to be in the Downloads folder to show up (I know for sure walls & floors don't).

Nobody asked so I will, does the Downloads folder have a capital D?
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#12 Old 22nd Feb 2018 at 3:28 AM
SleepycatDSL - The Downloads folder definitely has a capital D, as well as the s on the end. The Build and Buy items that I've been able to see in game have been in pretty much every category - objects as well as walls and floors. So the game is definitely able to access the Downloads folder.

KaterMikesch77 - I took out my Downloads folder and let the game generate a new one, then put in a clothing recolour file but it still didn't show up in either Bodyshop or in game. So there doesn't seem to be a problem with the Downloads folder or its location.

maxon - Ah, I think I understand. So you're thinking that even though I'm putting a perfectly healthy file into my game, my game might be messing with the file in a way that makes it not show up? I'm attaching a file that I downloaded this morning and then put in my game. It's been there as I've opened both Bodyshop and the game, so hopefully you can see if there's anything there that has changed. I'm also attaching the file fresh from the original zip, in case you want to compare the file from my game to the file in it's original state. It's a recolour of a Base Game child female's formal dress.

If it is my game doing something to change/corrupt the files, then it's still so bizarre that it's ONLY affecting CAS content. I am having absolutely no trouble with objects, and I can't remember doing anything to change the settings or files/folders that would explain why my game suddenly has an issue with CAS content.
Attached files:
File Type: rar  Girls-FormalDress-LACK-Black-ByMichelle - ORIGINAL.rar (218.2 KB, 7 downloads) - View custom content
File Type: rar  Girls-FormalDress-LACK-Black-ByMichelle - USED.rar (218.2 KB, 5 downloads) - View custom content
The Great AntiJen
retired moderator
#13 Old 22nd Feb 2018 at 12:02 PM
Right @NellyStardust - well, those files are working so that's not it. It was worth though I think to check. The game occasionally does things like rip files completely or disable them in play. I think it's when it runs into trouble with a file and it takes steps to overcome the problem. But anyway, not that. So there's something else going on. It does seem to be an issue with the game seeing the files rather than something up with the files themselves.

I no longer come over to MTS very often but if you would like to ask me a question then you can find me on tumblr or my own site tflc. TFLC has an archive of all my CC downloads.
I'm here on tumblr and my site, tflc
Instructor
#14 Old 22nd Feb 2018 at 2:56 PM
I meant to do everthing to a save place, not just the downloads folder. You know, just to check if its something wrong in MyPc/my docoments/ea games/sims2.
If I understand correct, at the beginning everythings worked and then suddenly it doesn't work. So maybe something must happend between. Maybe: Do you have installed something new? And sometimes people have problems after installing a windows update. ( i check my pc everyday with adwcleaner (virus), i do check everyday the system control/software, i make every two days a restore point on my pc and I copy my data every few days to a usb stick. maybe this is paranoid, but i can tell you, after i have that one day I have a corrupted neighborhood, I was really happy, that i have a copy of that)

and always backup first
Screenshots
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#15 Old 22nd Feb 2018 at 9:41 PM
Have you tried turning your antivirus off? They have been known to do weird things to Sims 2 files.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Field Researcher
#16 Old 23rd Feb 2018 at 5:28 AM
I think I would pull the entire my docs/the sims 2 folder out (not just the Downloads folder) and let it make a new set. Then try in that one to enable cc and stuff. In case some setting got stuck or something.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#17 Old 23rd Feb 2018 at 5:40 AM
No need to pull out, just rename.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
#18 Old 23rd Feb 2018 at 7:04 AM
Delete the thumbnails - it may work.
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#19 Old 23rd Feb 2018 at 9:44 AM
IT'S WORKING!!!

I took KaterMikesch77's suggestion and moved the entire Sims 2 folder out and let the game generate a new one, then popped in some CAS files and ran Bodyshop - and they all turned up! So something in my original Sims 2 folder must have become corrupted in some way and was messing with the CAS files. So now I'm just slowly adding in the necessary files from my bad game folder - Cameras and Neighbourhoods. And I'll keep checking to see how things are looking, so if things start messing up I'll be able to delete the culprit immediately.

So I still don't know what exactly happened or why, but I think I'm finally able to use CAS items now! Thank-you so much to everyone who has patiently tried to help me figure this out, you're the reason I love this community so much.
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