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Missing Sims and/or User Interface

Most of the suggestions listed in Already Have the Issue? have solved this bug for many people. While many are affected by World Adventures and Sims going to or returning from vacation, it has also affected those without World Adventures. If you already have the recommended mods below, these will keep the town in tip-top shape by the auto-cleanup scripts in ErrorTrap or other mods. If they do not, you have the option of triggering the fix manually by following the steps stated.

Issue & Symptoms

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You get Green empty Thumbnails where the Sims thumbnails are. The Portrait of the Sim is also missing in the HUD Panel. Not pictured is how the invisible Sim look like with just a plumbob floating over thin air. (First image)
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Upon loading a save game, you find the HUD panel missing, and there are no Map Tags. None of the keys (F1, F5, or F10, etc) works. (Second image)
Upon traveling, in patch 1.22 onwards (with Generations release), you may also get clones (aka doppelgangers, as some call them) of your Sims
Upon traveling, you lose relationships with those in the Relationship panel. Or you suddenly gain a new family member or acquaintance
Upon traveling, Sims' ages get messed up

Causes

The most common cause for the Missing Sims bug is according to Twallan a "Missing or wrongly referenced outfits" issue. The missing or having clones while traveling to and from WA Destinations is due to the buggy EA StoryProgression. StoryProgression is also the cause of messed-up Relationships and Aging.

Solutions

How to Avoid Issues

While a fix or workaround are still being sought, there are some things you can do to help prevent the issue from occurring in the first place:

Make sure your system meets the Minimum Requirements as well as the slightly higher recommendations from MTS
Make sure your Graphic and Audio Drivers are up to date, DirectX is up to date, and close all unnecessary programs running in the background (some even disconnect from the internet)
Run the game from admin user account or with admin privileges, doing so helps eliminate many user related issues.
Those that tend to stick with one family (don't switch active households) tend to have less issues and problems.
Do NOT use EA Story Progression especially if you have World Adventures. EA Story Progression is the default when you install your game. Even if you uncheck the box to disable it, it may still be running and corrupting your game. Try NRaas Story Progression, or AwesomeStory
If you find Sim(s) missing during gameplay, "Quit Without Saving" Yes, you will lose progress, but the alternative is losing the game entirely.
If you have World Adventures and plan on sending your sims on vacation, make extra backups of the save using "Save As" to save the game. Save often, and rename each appropriately so you know which is which. Doing so can minimize loss, if you experience game issues, computer crash, power outages, etc. Save the game before going on vacation, during vacation, and just before returning, etc. This will help you tremendously, should the Traveling Glitch make your sims or user interface corrupt or invisible.
By default, the game allows teens, young adults, adults, and elders to travel to Vacation worlds. In contrast, children are permitted to return to the home world as well as the other age groups. Neither of which allow babies or toddlers to travel. While this may be changed in a tuning file, doing so may cause your game to have issues.
Also note at what day of their life cycle each Sim is on, before traveling. There were several reports of Sims showing up with an incorrect age appearance, even though they were in the correct age cycle.

Already Have the Issue?

As noted earlier, these fixes or workarounds work for most people, once the issues occur and even if you save the game once the issue has occurred. You can try the steps below to see if it solves your issue, but there are no guarantees. It should also be noted, there are various reasons for Sims to become invisible and or the user interface to become corrupt and each is treated differently. Some can be solved (if root cause is known), others can't.

You made sure you had not accidentally pressed the TAB key or F10 key to hide the User Interface
Try using Twallan's mods available @Nraas Industries
- Master Controller mod: click on a Sim, Nraas > MasterController > Household > ResetLot
- Debug Enabler mod: click on a Sim (or City Hall), Nraas > DebugEnabler > Option:Sim (if Sim is clicked) > Fix Invisible Sims,
- Error Trap mod: other users have reported this has helped them if you lat it run past its auto-cleanup time at 3am Sim Time, and
- Overwatch mod: proven effective with removing items during gameplay which can cause lag and other issues.
Try removing All Custom Content Remove Sims3 Custom CC Wizard
Refresh/Delete the Cache Files especially when you add or remove custom content.
If possible, try using the cheat: "resetsim (first name) (last name)"; or "resetsim *" to reset ALL Sims in the world
If possible, save the current family to the library. Evict and delete the existing family, then place the saved family in the same house. Choose them as your default family in live mode. NOTE: doing this may allow you to play the family, but outside relationships, dreams and wishes, careers, etc will be lost.
At the first sign of an invisible Sim/missing Sim or missing UI Panel, quit the game without saving. Then follow the Restoring Backup Saves Guide and attempt to load the backup save to see if you can continue with the backup. This, also, may not work as the backup may also be corrupted.
If after quitting and reloading the game, the UI Panel is still missing, you can enter "forceHud" in the cheat console. You need DebugEnabler for this to work.
Uninstall and Reinstall. Completely Uninstall the game, move or rename the User Files (Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 folder). Once you have completely uninstalled and removed all traces of The Sims 3, then reinstall and patch your game. From a Guru on Sims 3 Forum "The reason uninstall/reinstall is often suggested, especially manual uninstall, is that with the wide variants of systems, hardware, mods/no mods, exchange content, store content, etc. It is possible that somewhere along the way a file was changed or modified in a way that was not intended. Doing a completely clean install updating directly from install to the newest versions, and playing a new game or a for sure 100% clean save are the best ways to be certain that there aren't any additional outside programs/changes effecting the game and causing errors to pop up. "

How You can Help

If the above suggestions do not work for you, we have posted a Sticky for this issue to collect information, you can find it at the top of the Help Forum. If you have or have had issues with Missing Sims and/or the User Interface, we welcome you to post your details in the thread.

References

The following threads helped provide information for this article, you may find additional information in these threads that was not included or may have been added after this article was posted. As more information is learned, it will be added and the link provided.

MTS Help Threads

Links to Help Threads with Missing Sims or User Interface, various reasons:

Sims 3 Forum Threads

Posts/Threads from TheSims3.com Forums

Sims 3 Game Help Categories:
Custom Content \| Installation \| Gameplay Guides \| Technical & Graphics Issues \| Miscellaneous Issues
MTS Help Q&A Forums

Game Help:UI and Sim Issues

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Missing Sims and/or User Interface

Issue & Symptoms

Causes

Solutions

How to Avoid Issues

Already Have the Issue?

How You can Help

References

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