I love user-created tools and content from those tools, but sometimes if not done right, they cause problems – serious ones. It’s one of the main reasons the Sims Team do not support them – they are unofficial and they have a hard enough time trying to fix the game of their own bugs.
While I’ve been out of the loop the past few days, it appears that the official Exchange is under attack by a custom-created doll from TSR (go figure). The creator’s first version of the doll had some sort of glitch – it attached itself to every house, household, patterns, objects, clothes, tattoos and anything else that you upload to the exchange. You can easily get this by downloading from the exchange to – acting just like a virus. If you’ve been downloading from the exchange, you may want to check the Kids toys section to see if you may have it.
By attaching itself, it is causing game problems for a number of players. The Sims Team is encouraging everyone to NOT download or upload to the exchange until they can weed out this doll from all of the files that it attached itself to. If you have this doll, a kind member from the official Sims 3 forum by the name of glitzyangel posted a walkthrough on how to remove the doll from your game:
- make backup of your game just in case if something will go wrong. For most of the people this doll is removed successfully without problems.
- check if this doll is not in your houses as a toy or it’s not in your kids inventory
- go to install content in your launcher (not downloads) and look for the doll and uninstall it
- check in DCBackups (my documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/DCBackup) for this file 0x038a68fe04da61a6aa65f939d77fbc37.package and delete it too.
- check also your downloads because there was the place from where doll was installed (if it was originally downloaded from tsr or from the exchange with some file)
- also go to your Export folder (my documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Exports) if you sent something recently to exchange or to other sim pages. Because this doll is attaching to the files. It will be in your uploads too. Remove files or clean it with Custard tool. (untick the doll)
- check all your creations that’s are in your studio on exchange or on other pages that you sent something too.
For more information about this matter, please read this thread created by magician1 from the Sims 3 Forums. Let’s help make the Exchange and people’s game doll free! Also, thanks to Rob for informing me of this situation. I had no idea what was going on…
*shudders* So creepy. The creator fixed the glitch in the doll and TSR claims there’s nothing wrong with the new version now, but how is anyone supposed to know which is the virus and which is the harmless child’s toy when this damn thing is all over the Exchange?
I accidentally downloaded this murderous little bee-otch with a house off the Exchange, too! You have no idea what you’re downloading on the Exchange sometimes, since custom content isn’t listed.
Go figure… I hate TSR and go out of my way NOT to go there or download anything from there and I still got a TSR-bred infection. I swear that damn site needs to be shut down. It’s a menace to the Simming world!
To be fair, the creator has been very, very good about this. She meant no harm, is a respected creator even outside TSR (goodness knows why she’s on the site, in that case!) and fixed the doll as soon as the error came to her attention.
There is no firm evidence that the doll actually harms people’s games. But it is viral, extremely infectious, and a lot of people don’t know that they have it.
I hope we can wipe this corrupt doll out of existence. Because I don’t yet have it. I don’t want it. And it’s totally creepy-looking.
This is why I don’t download CC, no matter how much I want an end piece to connect my island counters to my regular counters :/
It’s not an argument against CC as a whole. EA are less reliable than themselves than the top quality CC sites. EA story progression is the most bug-ridden rubbish in the gaming world, and the story progression replacements by Pescado and Twallan actually make the game make much more sense. This whole disaster is just an argument for using CC carefully, sparingly, and only from credible sites: TSR is not one.
There’s no need to be puritanical about it.
Sims 2 had similar problems, iirc! It was easy to pick up hacked/modded objects or even sims that could break your game…especially downloading houses or lots!
It does make me wish for a Clean Pack Installer for Sims 3, tho!
😎
Not such much a warning against CC, as a warning against downloading off the exchange.
I’m glad you”ve posted something here, the creator doesn’t seem to interested in spreading the word about the problem…proof that she fits in nicely at TSR.
In the locked thread at modthesims* HP said that Delphy magically checked everything at Modthesims, but a creator there said he had to remove three houses because they were infected, and other people have found infected houses too. So either they are lying or Delphy isn’t as magical as HP thinks . Be careful downloading simpacks anywhere, for a while.
*Thread was locked because people were understandably, upset, and HP & Inge Jones decided it was a prank and the problem wasn’t worth being upset about. Oh, and people weren’t being very nice to the creator.
Call it whatever you want, but this is awesome!
It’s a doll on the facade and behind it there’s bizarre programming that makes it work like a computer virus!
Next step, the internetz!
😀
PajamaRick, there is, it is called CUSTARD, Clean Up Sims3Packs Today! Also raises dead?
You can find it here: http://forums.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=390235
What does this even do to people’s games? Are there any adverse effects if you get it, besides just having it?
“So either they are lying or Delphy isn’t as magical as HP thinks . Be careful downloading simpacks anywhere, for a while.”
I think this is the case. It sounds like the doll is not ‘attaching’ itself to Simpacks using conventional methods, and may be very hard to detect.
Thanks @ Nate! I hadn’t seen that program…will have to give it a try!
😀
I Have heard of it thank god i don’t download any exchange or TSR items but there is a chance i might have (hope not) That iss soooooooooooo CREEPY Is worse than chucky!! Any ways the Sims 3 community is spreading the word to help simmers make things easier for EA to Demolished it down for good and im actually getting help from a Simmer in sims 3 community that knows how to get it out of your system and what to do to your studio in the sims 3 community to not spread it to other simmers. If i see that Beotch in my Frieken Game i’m going to explode that doll in the sims 3 ambitions and it’s a promise.
actually i have delphy and it works but i think it doesn’t work for MAC
Actually the effects are bad to the game it Make your game Lag, Crash, have error codes and that’s all i know and ACTUALLY THEir saying that the Doll is attaching to all exchange files in the Sims 3 community so yeah it does Attach itself like a stamp to sims 3 packs.
The only problem I have with the doll is that the creator may have unknowingly started a chain spread of Sims3 viruses that WILL obliterate sims3 games. Because there ARE people out there who have nothing better to do than sabotage everyone elses things. And you can bet they’re gonna manipulate that wretched doll.
One question…. how did this become a virus?
Did the girl who made the doll already have a virus or what?
I mean the fact that it clings on to sims 3 files must mean that it started somewhere… so where did the virus with the doll come from?
The Doll is the source. I believed the creator modified the code of the object in their editing program without realizing they made a mistake. From what I know, it contained some sort of game code in which it attaches itself to everything it can get into – thus acting like a ‘virus’.
This stupid doll is causing me trouble! :@ It’s freezing my game in the file where I have my most preciated legacy! PLEASE I need help! If I just desinstall this stupid doll, I get rid of all the problems? or what?
Adriana Goytia:
It’s happenning to me too!
It’s horrible, I don’t know what to do
I don’t even know why did I put that doll on my sims bedroom! I’m not sure if I can uninstall that doll just like that, if it’s still on the game, but with that doll in there I can’t play and sell it !
Yes. Uninstall it off your Sims Launcher.
Then check in DCBackups (my documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/DCBackup) for this file 0×038a68fe04da61a6aa65f939d77fbc37.package and delete it too.check also your downloads because there was the place from where doll was installed (if it was originally downloaded from tsr or from the exchange with some file).
Honestly I pasted most of that, if you read the artical you wouldn’t ask such a moronic questin
You didn’t understand what was our problem, so the moron should be you…
I have this doll,and I don’t remember if I downloaded it seperately and I have downloaded tattoos off the exchange.{shudder}
EVIIIILLLL DOLLLLL!!!!!!!
What does the doll do?
I tried to click the link, but I just got the page with a blooper that says “Oops! page cannot be found”
So does it like kill sims?
I have had this doll for ages and didn’t realise there was any problem with it untill a couple of weeks ago I clicked on it to buy to put it in a room and that was it!! All my hard work gone – just froze. I even had to force quit so no saving 🙁 Tonight – I was redecorating and clicked on the doll again…doh!!! I realised my mistake as soon as I clicked!! Another couple of hours wasted (more than usual!)! Unistalled it and deleted the file now – hope it works!
I have tht doll i CANT STAND IT !!!! it just exits out the whole game. and once i had to wait 4 hours for my game to load !!! THAT DOLL IS A MONSTER !!! WE MUST KILL IT WITH FIRE !!!!!!! O.O
i cant found the
0x038a68fe04da61a6aa65f939d77fbc37.package file at (my documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/DCBackup)
help it has install that f+cking doll today at my computer with a stupid family!!!
help what i should do??
With how much FEAR this doll is spreading around, she reminds me of Alma Wade. Now just give the doll black hair and a red dress. 8D
is it over now?
And Where The HECK Did you get the Picture of the POOR Child Holding CHUCKY’S Wife xDD
I found this doll in my game today 3/1/13 so no it’s not over! I’ve only downloaded clothing/hair/accessories, and today downloaded my first house from modthesims, and wow she came with it. I don’t know how to get rid of her since I didn’t download her directly. I’m so over it, it seems like everything that can go wrong with the sims 3 goes wrong for me. I’ve spent so much money just to be able to play this game, and now I have a doll that can mess my game up!
i never got her and i download a lot from the exchange, it’s those dreaded boots making me half to age up babies in order for them not to glitch,
Happy I don’t have that doll -_-
If anyone else runs into this doll, let me know. It’s been a bit since someone’s seen it, so I’m just doing a back-check.