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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 4th Mar 2013 at 8:01 PM
Create a world: Can't export!
Hey
I have a big problem! I have just finished my world but now I can't export it!
CAW always says: "World export failed"
This happens with every world I want to export as soon as it has a lot on it, even when it's an empty one. I'm so frustrated! I have worked on this world for a long time and now I can't play in it

My game version is: 16.0.136.021017 and i have the latest CAW version.
My OS is Windows 8 Pro
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 5th Mar 2013 at 6:17 PM
try renaming or moving your Mods folder under Documents/Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 and see if you can export the world file. That should let you, once done, simply rename or move the folder back.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 5th Mar 2013 at 8:16 PM
Thanks, but renaming and moving the Mod folder didn't work
Instructor
#4 Old 6th Mar 2013 at 1:18 AM
You may want to try posting in the CAW forum: http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=616

Also, what is your base game patch version (1.xx)? http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php...ind_Gameversion
Instructor
#5 Old 6th Mar 2013 at 3:21 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Mordant17
You may want to try posting in the CAW forum: http://www.modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=616


I hate to say this (not really), but the people on the official forum seem to know vitually nothing about the technical problems of world building. That forum is dedicated primarily to shameless self promotion and gamers trying to mooch a custom world off of world builders.

I have been having the same problem, and as much as I hate to admit it, I am glad there are others in the same boat. It means that I probably did not do anything really weird and that CAW is its old buggy self.

It seems that CAW has been pretty FUBARed since Seasons.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#6 Old 6th Mar 2013 at 1:46 PM
Finally I could Export my world. I just deleted all cache files (DC Cache, DC Backup, WorldbuilderCache) and moved the world file to my desktop. :D
Mad Poster
#7 Old 19th Mar 2013 at 8:11 PM Last edited by Menaceman44 : 20th Mar 2013 at 6:03 PM.
Thanks, Phil! I couldn't export my world when I tried today but moving the world file to my desktop allowed it to export witout any errors. Now to see if it will install into my game or not.

ETA: It installed via the launcher with no error messages BUT when I try to start a new game in my world I get told there has been a fatal error, or something like that, and that I should restart the game.

ETA 2: From reading the official forums (!) I actually found some useful and helpful information.
One player had tracked down the cause of the error to one of the files in the DCCache. It may be a different file for each player, it was the dcdb0 file for me, and the original poster never said which file it was for them.
After removing that file temporarily, I was able to successfully export my world and successfully start a new save game in my world.

My deviantART, MTS Yearbook Origin ID = Alistu
Lab Assistant
#8 Old 22nd Mar 2013 at 9:50 PM Last edited by Beltanefire : 22nd Mar 2013 at 10:57 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Menaceman44
Thanks, Phil! I couldn't export my world when I tried today but moving the world file to my desktop allowed it to export witout any errors. Now to see if it will install into my game or not.

ETA: It installed via the launcher with no error messages BUT when I try to start a new game in my world I get told there has been a fatal error, or something like that, and that I should restart the game.

ETA 2: From reading the official forums (!) I actually found some useful and helpful information.
One player had tracked down the cause of the error to one of the files in the DCCache. It may be a different file for each player, it was the dcdb0 file for me, and the original poster never said which file it was for them.
After removing that file temporarily, I was able to successfully export my world and successfully start a new save game in my world.



Uhhh, thanks a lot for this! I had exactly the same problem today. When I was able
to export the world (what took me ages...) wanted to test it and then got this
"fatal error" message, I was really sad. I'll try this now and hope it works!
Do I have to export the world again or is it enough just to remove the file in the DCCache?

*Update*
I tried this but it doesn't work somehow.
There are three files in the DCCache folder:

-dcdb0.dbc
-dcdb0.ebc
-dcdb1.ebc

If I remove the first one (.dbc) there are just the EA worlds left.
It seems this file is created again when you delete is or get it out of the folder.
What I now did was removing my world from the game again, cutting off these three files
and put them into another folder, made a new "export" file, added it to the game again,
started it again and got the same error message than before.
Before this I tried different combinations like "adding just the .ebc files","adding just
one of them", "adding nothing and see what happens".
But the fatal error is still there.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#9 Old 23rd Mar 2013 at 12:06 AM
Have you alredy tried to delete all your mods and downloads before exporting the world??
Mad Poster
#10 Old 23rd Mar 2013 at 1:52 AM
Never delete the content of your DCCache folder!!! Only ever move it. Those files tell your game what Launcher installed content you have in your game. If you delete the files it will effectively uninstall all of the Launcher content.

I had to move the dcdb0.dbc file out of the DCCache folder BEFORE I tried to export my world again from CAW. Also, make sure you uninstall the old version of your world first otherwise the Launcher will think you are trying to install the exact same world file again even though you're not.

My deviantART, MTS Yearbook Origin ID = Alistu
Lab Assistant
#11 Old 23rd Mar 2013 at 3:29 PM Last edited by Beltanefire : 23rd Mar 2013 at 3:43 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Menaceman44
Never delete the content of your DCCache folder!!! Only ever move it. Those files tell your game what Launcher installed content you have in your game. If you delete the files it will effectively uninstall all of the Launcher content.

I had to move the dcdb0.dbc file out of the DCCache folder BEFORE I tried to export my world again from CAW. Also, make sure you uninstall the old version of your world first otherwise the Launcher will think you are trying to install the exact same world file again even though you're not.


I tried it again but it still doesn't work. First I uninstalled the world, deleted it from the
exports folder and made a new file for the export. Then I moved the dcdb0.dcb out of
the cache folder, started the launcher, installed the world, started the game and
clicked "new game". The loading screen appears and then the message "A fatal error
occurred when trying to load XY.world. We recommend to restart the application."

Now I don't really know what to do. I could try to install something else like the
Sunset Valley light version just to see if this is a general problem and has nothing
to do with my world.

@Phil: No, I haven't tried this because it wasn't necessary before. CAW always worked
fine for me until the latest version. And I didn't use any CC except for some EA store
items in this world because I wanted to share it.

*UPDATE*

I tried this with Sunset Valley_Light and got not error message.
So it must have something do to with my world.
Does anyone have an idea how to check where the problem is?
Maybe just start with the empty world without streets and all
and then try to load it in the game and if that works, try it again
with streets, then with lots, then trees and stuff to see where it
starts to cause trouble?
Mad Poster
#12 Old 23rd Mar 2013 at 7:53 PM
You're missing a step!
After you take out the DCCache files you then have to go back into CAW and export your world AGAIN. Don't just reinstall the same world you already tried with.

1. Uninstall the world that is not working.
2. Move the DCCache folder to the desktop.
3. Open CAW and export your world again.
4. Close CAW then put the DCCache folder back.
5. Install the NEW version of the world with the Launcher.
6. Try to start a new game in your world.

My deviantART, MTS Yearbook Origin ID = Alistu
Lab Assistant
#13 Old 24th Mar 2013 at 7:42 PM Last edited by Beltanefire : 24th Mar 2013 at 8:46 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by Menaceman44
You're missing a step!
After you take out the DCCache files you then have to go back into CAW and export your world AGAIN. Don't just reinstall the same world you already tried with.

1. Uninstall the world that is not working.
2. Move the DCCache folder to the desktop.
3. Open CAW and export your world again.
4. Close CAW then put the DCCache folder back.
5. Install the NEW version of the world with the Launcher.
6. Try to start a new game in your world.


Ahh, now I got it.
Thanks a lot! I will try this and see if it works.


*UPDATE*
Tried it again but had no luck. When I closed the CAW and wanted to put the DCCache folder back,
I saw there there was a new folder with a file called "missingdeps.idx" in it. Do I have to replace this one
with the folder I moved out before? Sorry, for maybe being annoying...
Mad Poster
#14 Old 24th Mar 2013 at 9:52 PM
I let it overwrite in my game and haven't noticed any issues. I think that file will always generate again if the game finds it is missing.

My deviantART, MTS Yearbook Origin ID = Alistu
Test Subject
#15 Old 27th Mar 2013 at 7:15 PM
Ok, so after two days of trying all of these things (plus many more tips I've found after hours of searching) I am in a very similar and frustrating situation and desperately need some advice!!!

I've finally finished a world I've been building for over a year (!!!) and I went to export it into my game yesterday. Initially the export failed, but then using advice found on here (thank you!) I moved the .world file onto the desktop and then it exported fine, so I installed it onto my game.

BUT every time I try to start a new game using this world it starts loading but then immediately brings up the error message:
" A serious error has occurred while loading Newport.world. It is strongly recommended that you restart the application".

I have tried all the usual tricks like removing my Mods folder, deleting the Caches (world and normal) multiple times. I've restarted, shut down and cleaned my laptop using CCleaner, including doing a registry fix.
I've also uninstalled, re-saved and re-exported my world time and time again under slightly different names and tried loading a new game and still the error message.
I've tried the steps Menaceman44 has suggested above about all the DCCache files etc too, by removing them before exporting no luck.

I've also tried all the tricks on this wiki: http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php...0Has%20Occurred
but nothing works. When I had to try the wiki suggestion of downloading the Unlocker thing it tells me there is "No Locking handle found" so I can't even carry out the proper steps they suggested.

I realise I've probably tried everything, but does anyone have any bright ideas that could get me out of this jam that I haven't already tried?
It's so horrible to know my world is complete and ready for me to start testing but that it just won't open to let me, argh! Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you
Lab Assistant
#16 Old 27th Mar 2013 at 7:47 PM
Default Clean Global Layer?
Quote: Originally posted by ali250790
Ok, so after two days of trying all of these things (plus many more tips I've found after hours of searching) I am in a very similar and frustrating situation and desperately need some advice!!!

I've finally finished a world I've been building for over a year (!!!) and I went to export it into my game yesterday. Initially the export failed, but then using advice found on here (thank you!) I moved the .world file onto the desktop and then it exported fine, so I installed it onto my game.

BUT every time I try to start a new game using this world it starts loading but then immediately brings up the error message:
" A serious error has occurred while loading Newport.world. It is strongly recommended that you restart the application".

I have tried all the usual tricks like removing my Mods folder, deleting the Caches (world and normal) multiple times. I've restarted, shut down and cleaned my laptop using CCleaner, including doing a registry fix.
I've also uninstalled, re-saved and re-exported my world time and time again under slightly different names and tried loading a new game and still the error message.
I've tried the steps Menaceman44 has suggested above about all the DCCache files etc too, by removing them before exporting no luck.

I've also tried all the tricks on this wiki: http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php...0Has%20Occurred
but nothing works. When I had to try the wiki suggestion of downloading the Unlocker thing it tells me there is "No Locking handle found" so I can't even carry out the proper steps they suggested.

I realise I've probably tried everything, but does anyone have any bright ideas that could get me out of this jam that I haven't already tried?
It's so horrible to know my world is complete and ready for me to start testing but that it just won't open to let me, argh! Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you


Prior to export, did you place a clean global layer into the save? e.g.
UserToolData
--Worlds
----Newport World saved
------ Layers
-------- GlobalLayer_ (hex number).layer

This will clean out all the random garbage that attaches to the GlobalLayer during construction - typically every time you edit in CAW-Edit in Game and touch a lot, it adds garbage to the GlobalLayer.

How to Clean Global Layer

I do this just a few steps before world export. Then once a clean layer replaces the current global layer you will need to go back into CAW/Edit-in-Game and "makesim"/NRaas Porter your sims into the game. Then export...

Lesson: When creating a world, save the original save as a backup somewhere. Then when ever you need to splice a clean GlobalLayer, you can go to your backup, grab the globallayer and use this over and over again as you develop your world. This saves people a lot of headaches, instead of having to do the drill of making a test world and having to hex edit a different global layer to make it match your own, it's easier to just work from a clean copy from the original world.

Also check that you have no custom content, typically downloading someone's premade lot and placing it you might have issues. Check that the lots don't have any custom content. You can check this when starting the Sims game, open the tab Installed Content, check the box "Run without custom content". If the lot has custom content it's not going to load...

Hope this helps.
Test Subject
#17 Old 27th Mar 2013 at 11:02 PM
Thanks so much for the quick reply PWN9483.
I gave the global layer cleaning a go but while it has made my global layer nice and empty it doesn't seem to have helped it to actually load :/
Although, I didn't do the next bit you said about going into CAW/EIG and doing "makesim" as I'm not really sure what that is?

Something tells me I may need to delete a heck of a lot of my lots from my world then, because a lot of them are pre-made lots I've downloaded. I always kept my Mods folder out of the game when I was working on my world, but do the pre-made lots often just add any custom content automatically and thus doesn't go into the Mods folder? I have a feeling that may be where I've been going wrong :-S

I just checked the box "Run without custom content" and my world and also Jericho which I've previous been playing on both don't even show up in the options of towns when you try to start a new game now, so does this mean that there's defintiely custom content within my world then that's conflicting with it loading for the first time?

I may have to go and delete all these lots then :-S What is the cleanest/best way to remove them?
Should I go into CAW/EIG to bulldoze the lots so that I can then hopefully replace them on the now empty lots once/if(!) the world ever loads properly in the actual game?

Thanks so much for your help, it's been an awfully long day of digging around in my Sims folders and all the help I can get is so welcome!! :-P
Lab Assistant
#18 Old 27th Mar 2013 at 11:19 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ali250790
Although, I didn't do the next bit you said about going into CAW/EIG and doing "makesim" as I'm not really sure what that is?


That's the part where you pre populate the world with Sims you've made. If you are creating an empty world, disregard.

More Info: Populating CAW Worlds


Quote: Originally posted by ali250790
Something tells me I may need to delete a heck of a lot of my lots from my world then, because a lot of them are pre-made lots I've downloaded.

Didn't mean to create anxiety. There's plenty of pre made lots that don't have custom content and it doesn't necessarily mean this is the cause of your problems but you should know if lots have CC so you can point this out to others when you release your world to the wild.

Quote: Originally posted by ali250790
I always kept my Mods folder out of the game when I was working on my world, but do the pre-made lots often just add any custom content automatically and thus doesn't go into the Mods folder? I have a feeling that may be where I've been going wrong :-S

Lot custom content won't show up in your Mods folder. They're "bundled/embedded" with the lots, which is why they do have a history of causing problems. FYI: Lots end up in the "Library" folder.

Seems from your response that some of them do have custom content. In my mind, I would treat them as "suspect".

Quote: Originally posted by ali250790
I just checked the box "Run without custom content" and my world and also Jericho which I've previous been playing on both don't even show up in the options of towns when you try to start a new game now, so does this mean that there's definitely custom content within my world then that's conflicting with it loading for the first time?

Yes

Quote: Originally posted by ali250790
I may have to go and delete all these lots then :-S What is the cleanest/best way to remove them? Should I go into CAW/EIG to bulldoze the lots so that I can then hopefully replace them on the now empty lots once/if(!) the world ever loads properly in the actual game?

Totally up to you.
My preference is to know what's in each lot, dissect pre made ones with BuyDebug and MoveObjects on to see if there's anything hidden. I am currently doing a full review of the world I plan to release. I have two monitors set up, one with the game, the other with a spreadsheet. I am going house by house and making notations on "suspect" lots to dig into and clean up or replace before I upload. Fortunately I have only two pre made lots, they were just too well done not to use and I have approval from their creators to use them.

Another thing to consider on pre made lots, make sure you have the creators permission to use them.

Hope you figure things out. Best of luck.
Test Subject
#19 Old 27th Mar 2013 at 11:31 PM
Oh brilliant, ok thank you, I'm just making this world for myself at the moment so I was just going to slowly add sims to it and play about with it as it's the first world I've ever created, but nice to know that you can pre-populate it for any future projects I do. That's also why it's got an awful lot of downloaded lots in it as I couldn't bare to build every single one for my first world attempt :-P

Ah, thank you, that makes sense as to why keeping my Mods folder out hasn't actually helped, I remember quite a few lots I downloaded having custom stuff included but it didn't regisiter that it could of course cause conflicts once I'd place it in CAW/EIG.

In that case I had better start sorting through them all...haha, may take a while as I would say probably the majority of the lots I've placed are downloaded ones, but I have a few ideas as to the main culprits now I think back.

I think I will do exactly that and go through one by one in EIG to try and solve it...but I think I'll tackle that tomorrow :-P
Thank you so much for all your help, I'll let you know if I get a breakthrough!
Lab Assistant
#20 Old 28th Mar 2013 at 12:52 AM Last edited by PWN9483 : 29th Mar 2013 at 9:52 PM.
One thing I didn't think of, duplicate stuff...

There's a program called "Sims3Dashboard " that's worth looking into.

I've noticed in the past when I export, then install the world a duplicate of that world is also placed in the DCCache or DCBackup folder (can't remember which at the moment). That duplicate if there can cause problems.

Sims3Dashboard will catch duplicates and provide the information to locate them. This will also help with an earlier post above about cleaning caches, it will show you duplicates or "problem" files including but not limited to mods, custom content and even some lots... It once even showed a corrupt Sim I didn't even know about

That might be a good starting point in your efforts. At least you'll have more information to work from after using the program.
Instructor
#21 Old 31st Mar 2013 at 5:34 PM
This is not a particularly helpful solution. Removing the DCcache files also has the effect of removing all downloaded content, including custom content. This may be fine for people who don't want custom content in their games, that is, people who like boring plain vanilla games which are about as interesting as watching paint dry. But, I suspect many players want to play a more interesting game, which is why sites like this one exist. Removing the downladed content makes the world just as boring and unintersting as the vast majority of player made custom content worlds.

Now maybe this is part of a plan by EA to buy crappy stuff from their store rather than download quality items from places like Mod the Sims. Or perhaps it is just another instance of EA doing a half a$$ed job. I suspect the latter, but will not rule out the former.

In the meantime, I have other projects I am working on, and will just put my world building projects aside until EA fixes this mess. Besides, the last thing the gaming community needs is another boring plain vanilla world.
Test Subject
#22 Old 3rd Apr 2013 at 10:05 AM
Quote: Originally posted by PWN9483
One thing I didn't think of, duplicate stuff...

There's a program called "Sims3Dashboard " that's worth looking into.


Sims3Dashboard will catch duplicates and provide the information to locate them. This will also help with an earlier post above about cleaning caches, it will show you duplicates or "problem" files including but not limited to mods, custom content and even some lots... It once even showed a corrupt Sim I didn't even know about



Thank you so so so so much! I opened Sims3Dashboard and I was quiter ruthless.
I deleted all the corrupt files and conflicting files I had (which was quite a lot!.

Then the most useful thing about it was it showed up every other bit of downloaded content that wasn't in my Mods folder, aka all the custom content that had been included in lots I'd downloaded.

Once I had done that I uninstalled my world from the game and started up Create-A-World, and exported my world again and installed it again to give it a chance to refresh now all the custom content and corrupt files etc were out of it and ta-dah! It FINALLY loaded properly in game!

So PWN9483, I cannot thank you enough for all of your help, you've been a life saver! Now I can finally play on the sims again! (I'd been persevering as I wanted to actually complete my world before playing anything so I've not just played on the normal game in over a year!!)

Also, High Plains Gamer, now my world has successfully loaded in game and I have saved it as a playable save I have now been able to included custom content in it again.

Basically it's the process of actually installing your .world file onto the game once exporting it that doesn't seem to be able to cope with any custom content at all.
But once it is installed and playable in game you can then add custom content.

So I would advise (and will be following this strictly next time I start a project like this again!!) that you build your world completely custom content free first, and then once it's ready, export it and install it and then edit lots or build lots that you want custom content on after that.
Instructor
#23 Old 5th Apr 2013 at 7:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ali250790
Also, High Plains Gamer, now my world has successfully loaded in game and I have saved it as a playable save I have now been able to included custom content in it again.


This is completely unhelpful to me. The creative content I have put in my world is totally integrated into the world itself. The world basically is not viable without it. Since placing that content in the world took a lot of time and effort, replacing it in a temporary save file would take me days, if not weeks -- it is not worth the time. (Keep in mind that I make over 90% of my own creative content.)

I understand what EA is doing however. They make plain vanilla (i.e. boring) worlds which are basegame compatible. They have no need to make their worlds work with all of their supplements because they do not place material from any of the expansion packs into their worlds (unless it is part of an expansion pack.) Obviously, they do not use creative content made by others, so at most, they include their own craptastic and often defective junk from the store.

Plus, EA has no incentive in seeing the gaming community produce worlds which are better and more imaginative than those produced by EA. Why would anyone purchase a plain vanilla crap world from EA, when they could download a good player made world for free?

So EA has no incentive to make CAW work with all of the expansion packs, or player made creative content.

This means, in its current incarnation, CAW is a pretty worthless tools, unless one is into making boring plain vanilla crap like EA makes. At this point, I am simply loading the last functional version of CAW (pre-Seasons) into a laptop which has been sitting idle for over a year. Yes, I will forego all of the Seasons and Univesity stuff like Festival Lots, bowling alleys and coffee shops, but it will be easier to add those in after the fact than it will be to add all of my own creative content.
dodgy builder
#24 Old 5th Apr 2013 at 9:10 PM
They don't charge for it. Most of you is probably gonna kill me for saying this If they started charging for it, they may actually be able to do more for the people using it. It's a bit silly really. Here they have a fully working program, but they call it a tool and pretend it's only usable as a beta. Yet they sell useless s*** in the store.

CAW has potential, great potential.
Lab Assistant
#25 Old 6th Apr 2013 at 12:09 AM
Process monitor may be helpful in identifying bad content with CC loaded, since you can see either what is hanging, or what was loading when it crashed.
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