Sims not gaining skills - Sims 3 Complete Collection. [SOLVED]

Hi there!
I'm hoping somebody might be able to help me out with something.

I downloaded the Sims 3 Complete Collection yesterday following the instructions in SimArchitect's video and everything went smoothly and as expected. However, since playing it, I've noticed that my sims haven't been gaining any skills, even though they should be. I haven't played the Sims 3 in a good few years, but I'm definitely sure I'm experiencing some sort of bug here. The only problem is that I'm not sure what's caused this, so I don't know how to go about fixing it.

I'm aware that the 1.69 patch causes issues in the game, and I recall that when I installed it, the EA Download Manager came up - I'm not sure if I did something wrong there and that wasn't supposed to happen. I've wondered if the Download Manager perhaps updated my game to version 1.69 and that's why I'm having issues (especially because I do have mods installed, such as NRaas Master Controller, which I know has problems with this patch version). Unfortunately, it doesn't appear that the Sims 3 Documents folder has a 'Game Version' file, unlike the Sims 4, so I'm not sure how else to check what version my game is actually on. When I open up DeviceConfig.txt, it has information about the game and it says "Version:" but it's left blank. I have had the Sims 3 installed on this laptop before (both legit and G4TW versions), so I'm not sure if leftover files from that are affecting the current installation and messing things up, but I did make sure to fully uninstall the Sims 3 before installing this version.

The only other mods I have are the no build sparkles mod and the no intro mod, and I've played with those before with no problems so I don't think they'd be causing the issue. I don't know if it's useful to add, but I also have the package files for the store content and fixes in my Overrides folder. I've tried to do a bit of research myself on this issue, but everyone who seems to be experiencing a no skill gain bug has been playing with vampires - I don't even have vampires enabled in my game, so I'm not sure that's the same problem I'm having.

If anyone can help out or give any pointers, I would very much appreciate it! Please let me know if you need any more specific information or details in order to give advice. It's also my first time posting on the Forum, so I'm terribly sorry if I've posted this in the wrong place. 

Welcome to the G4TW Forums @Pandababy and sorry for the belated reply,

I myself am still experiencing some problems with my internet, so there's a (small) backlog of questions on here.   Either way, forget about the versions 1.67/1.69 for now. These hiccups occur in any patch version.

Go under Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3, and delete the following:

- CASPartCache.package
- compositorCache.package
- scriptCache.package
- simCompositorCache.package
- socialCache.package
- the contents of the folder "Thumbnails" (but not the folder itself)
- the contents of the folder "WorldCaches" (but not the folder itself)

Then try the game again. You can keep your mods inside for the moment; if you still experience that skills glitch, then try removing these mods, though I doubt they cause the issue in the first place.

Incidentally, NRAAS Master Controller has an option somewhere where you can cheat your skills up to Level 10. Or was it another NRAAS mod, I can't quite recall. But this would be another hypothetical avenue to explore, if all else fails.

Another possibility: this could be an early sign of savefile/sim corruption. If you google for "Sims 3 save cleaner", you should still be able to find the tool, and use it. Make sure to backup your saves though, before applying the tool. If you cannot find it on the internet, I believe I still have the files somewhere, and I could re-upload them here later on.

Good luck for now!

Thank you for the welcome, and I'm sorry to hear about your internet issues - I hope it gets sorted out soon!

Of course, I guess that was naive of me to assume that any version of The Sims 3 would be glitch-free 
I deleted all the files you recommended, and it seems to have worked! I've found and downloaded the save cleaner as well in case I might need it in the future, so thank you for letting me know about that.

Thank you for all your help 

PandaBaby wrote:Thank you for the welcome, and I'm sorry to hear about your internet issues - I hope it gets sorted out soon!

Of course, I guess that was naive of me to assume that any version of The Sims 3 would be glitch-free 
I deleted all the files you recommended, and it seems to have worked! I've found and downloaded the save cleaner as well in case I might need it in the future, so thank you for letting me know about that.

Thank you for all your help 

Make sure to copy-paste my previous response, or otherwise memorize it, since it's a standard-fix for in-game woes in TS3. You should also apply it whenever you remove and/or add new mods and custom content to your game.

Have fun with TS3 and feel free to get back in touch with us again anytime you need more help! Problem solved and topic closed.