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[Domenec Reynolds]

Corruption in The Sims 2 is when some of the game data, whether it is in a neighborhood or in the core game files, contains unexpected or junk data. This game guide explains the difference between game corruption and neighborhood (shortened to 'hood') corruption, highlights known actions that guarantee corruption, provides solutions to fix existing corruption, and dispels common myths about what's game-breaking and what's not.

Corruption is when the files for your game or neighborhood end up with junky, glitchy, or nonsense data that cause problems in your game. This can be limited to one neighborhood ("neighborhood corruption" or "hood corruption"), or it can occur globally across your game ("game corruption"), though the latter is extremely unlikely to occur.

When a neighborhood or game becomes irreversibly corrupted, it is referred to by some players as a "BFBVFS" (Big Fiery Ball Visible From Space)[1] - in reality, this is a very rare situation, and most of the time when someone refers to losing a hood like this, they were merely experiencing bugs/glitches which were unfortunately thought to be a larger problem previously.

In discussions about corruption, there are usually two types mentioned: game corruption and neighborhood corruption (also called "hood corruption"). New players may mix up game corruption and hood corruption, and some incorrectly think all corruption requires a full reinstall.

With hood corruption, the corruption occurs within your saved game data. These are typically located in your Documents folder, and includes your neighborhoods, custom content, lots and houses bin, storytelling images, and so forth. You can typically find these files at:

Corruption normally occurs in a neighborhood's folder, located in the Neighborhoods folder. Each neighborhood gets a folder with a unique ID on it (e.g. N001) containing data relating to the neighborhood (e.g., Sims, relationships, memories, and lots in the neighborhood). Neighborhood corruption is more common than game corruption, but it's often more easily fixable.

This is an incomplete list of possible symptoms that may or may not indicate corruption. Not all symptoms listed here may be a sign of corruption, but may be indicators of other problems, such as bad custom content.

Players on MacOS need to be aware of the Mac file limit. MacOS has a built-in limit of how many files can be open at once which is not specific to any game or program. When launching The Sims 2, the game opens every file in your game's save folder in addition to its installation files. If the OS's file limit is surpassed while the game is still opening, the computer will stop reading the game files, which can lead to temporary or permanent data loss (i.e., corruption).[8]

You may have seen mentions of "raising the file limit" on forums or other Sims 2 guides for Mac. It is possible to increase the file limit on macOS 10.14 (Mojave) and earlier using a Terminal command. Unfortunately, this was disabled in macOS 10.15 (Catalina), but there are still ways to increase the limit - for example, this thread discusses how to raise the limit on Big Sur.

The data regarding Sims and Lots is stored in two separate locations: the corresponding subfolders of the Neigborhood folder (Characters, Lots), and the neighborhood's main package file, named "[Number]_Neighborhood.package". If one opens this file in SimPE or a similar program, then launches the game and creates new Sims and lots in the neighborhood, these Sims and lots will disappear immediately and no data will reference them in the Neighborhood.package file, while they will still have their own separate files in the dedicated subfolders.

This is because the Neighborhood.package file, like any file on any computer, can only be edited in one program at once. While the game will still read it when it's open in SimPE, it is technically read-only and the game will not be able to save any modification made by the player. Because The Sims 2 doesn't have an error message that would be displayed in the event of a save failure, it will look as if the progress was saved even though it has not. Always close SimPE, Hoodchecker, and any other Sims 2 programs before running the game.

The biggest risk of corruption comes from external programs - currently, this primarily means OneDrive (which is automatically included with Windows 10+ and should be disabled completely to stop it syncing the game's files) and antivirus software (even if you do not have another antivirus installed, Windows Security can also block the game's files - you need to add exceptions for the game's save and install folders and the application itself, if that's an option in the antivirus). If you can do something in game without cheats, it will not cause corruption - this is despite the many persistent myths otherwise which are further explained below.

The following actions are known to corrupt the game's installation files. They should not be attempted, unless you are prepared to reinstall the game/have a backup of the objects.package.

Certain NPCs, such as the Grim Reaper, Mrs. CrumpleBottom, Therapist, Pollination Technicians, ideal plantsim, and so forth, do not have playable character data. Their character files are not located in the folder of the neighborhoods, but in the objects.package file in the C:\Program Files location. Modifying them in any way or form that involves hacks, cheats, or SimPE will modify that file and result in unpredictable behaviour.[9] Unsafe interactions with these NPCs include:

By default, the game prevents you from deleting EAxis content in Create-a-Sim or Buy/Build mode. However, using default replacements can reenable the in-game or Body Shop "Delete" icon. "Deleting" a default replacement will delete the texture of the object or Create-a-Sim content in the installation files, which can result in paper-white objects or Sims and break any related Want trees.[10] Unless you backed up your installation files, the only way to fix this is to reinstall the game.

The neighborhood saves Sim and lot data in two different locations: the Neighborhood.package file, and the character or lot file itself. You can delete Sims and lots in game without issues. If you want to delete a Sim or lot file from your game's folder instead of in game, do so using this game guide. If you delete the character or lot file without properly cleaning the Neighborhood.package file, your hood will be left with half of a Sim or a lot, and may not function properly.

Contrary to popular belief, it's safe to delete Sims from the Family Bin.[11] When you delete a Sim from the bin, the Sim's character file is "stubbed," but the file itself is still complete.[12] However, the deleteallcharacters cheat wipes out all character files in the neighborhood's Characters folder, and may not fully clean out all the data.[13] To be on the safe side, avoid the cheat, and use these instructions to create a new neighborhood with no Sims at all.

The maximum value of the Sim Creation Index is 32767. Once a neighborhood has reached the limit, trying to create any new Sims (via births, CAS or any other way) will result in the game crashing. This is not actually a character file limit as previously thought because if you manually set the SCID to 32767 you will see the same results as if you actually had 32767 character files - the limit is with the value of the SCID and not the number of files.

However, MacOS users also have the MacOS file limit to contend with and need to be cautious of running up against that file limit. Additionally, Windows players with all EPs and SPs have sometimes reported issues with their game once their Characters folder surpasses about 1,000 Sims.[14]

Some mods or custom content create NPCs as part of the mod. These include custom objects that move around a lot (e.g. bicycles or farm animals), multi-Pollination Technician or multi-ideal plantsim mods, or Sims that otherwise function as part of the mod (e.g. nurses in any version of Chris Hatch's hospital mod). Once these NPCs have been created, simply deleting the mod's files is similar to deleting files out of a neighborhood's Characters folder: it only partially deletes the NPCs from the neighborhoods, so character data points to the wrong location and causes corruption.[15]

If you want to get rid of a mod that created custom NPCs in your game, you can delete the mod, but you must keep the NPCs in your existing neighborhoods. Find the file for the custom NPCs, and move them from your Downloads folder into the Documents\The Sims 2\Neighborhoods\\Characters folder of each of your existing neighborhoods. Afterwards, you can delete all of the relevant mod files from your Downloads folder.

The game considers memories to be objects given to Sims. Some game mods, such as the InTeenimater, include custom memories as part of the mod. If you delete these custom memories when a Sim already has them, the custom memory can potentially turn into something else (like another object), which may cause problems in-game.[17]

If Sims in your neighborhood already have these custom memories, you can either remove the memories from the affected Sims using the Memory Manipulator (found here) or SimPE, and then wipe corrupt memories and gossip using the FFS Lot Debugger. Once no Sims have the memory, you can delete the file containing the custom memory.

If you delete a custom career while Sims are employed in it, or a custom major your Sim is enrolled in, the game will not properly reset your Sim's career or major. Sims who were at work or class will go missing, and households of Sims who used the custom career or major might not load. Poorly-created custom careers and majors can even cause problems across all lots in the neighborhood when deleted.[18] Before deleting a custom career or major, have all Sims employed in the career quit their jobs, and direct all students enrolled in the major to change their major.

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