FAQ: Jump Bugs!

Q: What's a jump bug?

A: A jump bug is caused by an error in one of the thousands of behavior scripts that run in the Sims 2. Jump bugs do not crash the game, but they can interrupt game play and render some objects or sims unusable. More often than not, a jump bug is caused by incompatible or defective content that you've installed, but is sometimes the result of a legitimate bug in the game.

Q: How do I recognize a jump bug?

A: When a jump bug is triggered, your sims will "snap" or "jump" to their default pose, which is standing upright, arms at their side, and idling. All queued behaviors are cancelled. Jump bugs are most often noticed when a sim interacts with an object or another person and all actions (including the current one) are abruptly terminated. Sometimes, if a jump bug occurs during a critical phase of the game (such as a birth cinematic, moving in or out, death of a sim, social worker, etc...) it can leave the game in an unusable state (buttons greyed out, can't build, can't exit, can't save, etc.)

Q: I have lots of mods. How do I find out what mod is causing the problem?

A: The easiest thing is to start by removing or disabling content in your game one-by-one until you identify the source of the problem. Often it is easier to simply remove everything, verify that things are behaving normally, and then add your hacks back in one at a time until the problem resurfaces. Sims 2 Clean Installer is an excellent utility for troubleshooting and allows you to painlessly enable/disable custom content in your game. This tool will often identify mods or hacks that have been installed unbeknownst to you (often mods will piggyback on lots you may have downloaded from the Exchange), so its always a good idea to run this tool first.

Q: I don't have any hacks in my game or I removed them all and I'm still getting the error. What can I do?

A: The best thing to do is to capture an error log, "trap" the jump bug, and analyze the output. Here's how:

1. Press CTRL+SHIFT+C to bring up the dev console
2. Type boolProp testingCheatsEnabled true
3. Repeat the steps necessary to reproduce the "jump" bug
4. An error message will be displayed. Make a note of the name of the file that is shown on a piece of paper. Dismiss the error by choosing Reset. If the error is continuous, then you may need to respond with Delete.
5. Exit the game; DO NOT SAVE (especially if you answered 'Delete' in Step #4).
6. Browse to your My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2/Logs folder and locate the file that you wrote down in Step #4.
7. Zip and attach this file to a post and someone with experience with modding can have a look at it to see what might be causing you problems.

Q: My game has become frozen. I can't interact with the menus. Can I salvage my game?

A: The InSIMenator (available from this website) provides a facility through which you can enable/disable the save menu. If you have the SIM or DEST edition, simply click anywhere on the open lot, choose "Other..." and then "Enable Save". You might have to do this 2 or 3 times to ressurect the main menu buttons. Once the menus

Q: I keep getting an "The application has crashed." error. Is this a jump bug?

A: No, this error occurred outside the game's behavior system and typically indicates a more serious problem with the game, file corruption, a conflict with your computer hardware, or your device drivers. In very rare instances, custom content can expose these kinds of errors in the game. The clothing system, for example, is particularly fragile (especially in the original release of TS2); custom clothing can often trigger these kind of fatal errors and may even prevent a lot from loading.

So while custom content doesn't usually cause this kind of bug, it's still a good idea to remove/disable them temporarily as a precaution to rule the possibility out. Reinstalling the game can sometimes correct the situation by replacing corrupted or missing files (make sure you back up your My Documents/EA Games/The Sims 2 folder first!). Make sure you have the very latest drivers and patches installed for your game. As a last resort, you may try contacting EA for technical assistance. EA will generally not offer support for games that have been "modded", so make sure you've removed all mods and custom content first before seeking assistance.