This time in Moonlight Falls. At least this time I only lost two game days of progress since I had just made a fresh save in case I decided I didn't like the turn the story just took and wanted to backtrack. More on that later.
I did a search and got quite a few results regarding the "unexpected error", with the most helpful result being this post on Reddit: The Most Reliable Guide to Resolving Your Error Code 12 Woes. The post gives some helpful tips regarding handling memory issues. Some things I was already doing, like always using Save As instead of Save and using the save cleaner. Other things, like resetting the town, was not being done as often as I should. Saving is also best done in Map View rather than live view. I hadn't really thought about that before but it makes sense that Map View requires less resources than life view.
Finally, I just need to save more often, even it means using a timer to make sure I don't allow hours to go by without saving.
I'll add a cut here since I can see that this might be lengthy:
Another thing I did was move most of my saves to a separate folder, and I did have a lot of saves that didn't need to be sitting there. Saves such as my "Dragon Valley Emptied" and "Moonlight Falls Victorian". These are the saves where vanilla households have been removed and/or the town has been torn down and remade with modern buildings replaced with medieval/Victorian ones. These are not saves I play and I only hold onto them so I don't have to rebuild the towns again if I ever want a fresh start. They can sit in another folder until the time comes that I want to work with them.
I was also holding onto saves from different stages of Gloria's life; "Gloria as a Toddler", "Gloria as a Teen", etc. I don't want to delete them, but they aren't played anymore since Gloria has grown up and is now a young adult. Those saves also went into a different storage folder.
So now that leaves "New Pelagiad, Spring" for Aeronwen's game, and "Gloria - Independent" for Moonlight Falls. Now the save cleaner isn't complaining about there being too many saves. I guess the trick is to periodically make new saves, but not let the folder fill up with too many of them.
And yes, I did do the town reset and I noticed that cut down the time it takes to load a save or make a new one. So neither of my games are ruined thank goodness. I just need to be a bit more careful about resetting, cleaning, and saving. When I'm sure I have a handle on this I'll resume the Pelagiad game. I'd really like to get Aeronwen and Neldor married, I just want to make sure that I have a handle on the error problem.
Now for the interesting story direction in Moonlight Falls. I had joked not long ago that Gloria needs a farm hand. It turns out that she actually does. She did some over-planting with her garden and now is waiting for the plants to finish their life cycle so she can build a greenhouse. On the days of her classes she is out from 8AM to 6PM and she just doesn't have enough time and energy to work on earning her degree and run the farm.
Here I'm including this screenie just because I think she looks pretty in her straw hat and cotton gardening dress.

Luckily she had enough money left from what she inherited from her grandparents to turn a section of the hayloft into a studio apartment. It's very similar to the apartment her parents built for her when she was still living on their lot.

So...who does she offer the job to? While debating this, I made multiple copies of "Gloria Independent", which is where the apartment is ready but no one is yet living there. This save can always be returned to later.
The first candidate was James. Unfortunately he, like Gloria, has four pets (horse, donkey, dog, cat). There's enough room on Gloria's lot for them, but it would make the household larger than I would like it to be at this time and I really didn't want all those additional animals all over the place. Another reason I was hesitant to go with James is because this would essentially be "human Aeronwen and Neldor". Nothing against those two of course, I love them, but I felt it would make the two worlds too similar.
So...she calls up Cody, asks him to come over and offers him the job, which he happily accepts. For what it's worth, Cody isn't quite as despicable as Godonir because with him I swapped out the Evil trait for Brave. I assigned bed ownership to make sure that when Cody is tired he goes up to his apartment to sleep and doesn't go into the main house. At this point I made a new save: "Gloria - Werewolf Farmhand" (so again, easy to go back to before this if I don't like the story direction).
Thus far the arrangement is actually quite respectable. Nothing scandalous is going on, although I doubt Gloria's parents approve. Gloria is still keeping an eye on James but she gets frustrated with him because he NEVER flirts with her (and nothing is preventing him from doing so). Cody mostly uses friendly interactions when speaking with his new employer, but occasionally gives her a flirty compliment which results in her getting the Flattered moodlet. Unfortunately this also makes Gloria wonder why James doesn't do that.
James: *talking about the weather, his horse, his dog, etc*
Gloria: "Has it ever entered your mind that it might be nice if you told me I look pretty?!"
James: "Huh? I guess I figured you knew. You look pretty. That better?"
Gloria: *stomps off* "Oh save your breath!"
James: ???
Uh, James, even a loner like Gloria likes to be (gently) pursued.
Now for an amusing little twist in the story. During the last full moon while Cody was out prowling around as a werewolf, he met Gloria's remaining grandmother Sarah in the park. Sarah is a bit of a hippy and very artistic. She's into sculpting, painting and photography. She was THRILLED to have the chance to socialize with a werewolf and spent a long time chatting with Cody.

I can almost imagine Sarah being somewhat like Barenziah the next time she visits with her granddaughter.
Sarah: "So you have a werewolf helping you with the farm. That's so exciting! Does he scratch up the place?"
Gloria: "No, he's been good about indulging his need to scratch off the property. He's done a great job tending to the crops and getting them to the market on the days I have to attend classes."
Sarah: "Have you sketched him nude yet? If not you really must!"
Gloria: "Uh...no I have not sketched him nude."
Sarah: *glances around before lowering her voice and moving closer* "Now, I promise I won't tell your parents. Have you slept with him?"
Gloria: *stares aghast at her grandmother*
Sarah: "You can tell me. Is he a wild beast in bed?"
Gloria: "Grandma! No! Nothing like that is happening! He helps with the garden and he's been upgrading the windmills and fixing anything that's broken. That's it!"
Sarah: *sighs* "What a pity. You will let me know if that changes, won't you?"
Gloria: "Uh, excuse me. I need to go wash my dog...And by that I do mean my DOG. Not my farmhand."
Sarah: "As I said, what a pity."
Games with stories. Gotta love them.
I did a search and got quite a few results regarding the "unexpected error", with the most helpful result being this post on Reddit: The Most Reliable Guide to Resolving Your Error Code 12 Woes. The post gives some helpful tips regarding handling memory issues. Some things I was already doing, like always using Save As instead of Save and using the save cleaner. Other things, like resetting the town, was not being done as often as I should. Saving is also best done in Map View rather than live view. I hadn't really thought about that before but it makes sense that Map View requires less resources than life view.
Finally, I just need to save more often, even it means using a timer to make sure I don't allow hours to go by without saving.
I'll add a cut here since I can see that this might be lengthy:
Another thing I did was move most of my saves to a separate folder, and I did have a lot of saves that didn't need to be sitting there. Saves such as my "Dragon Valley Emptied" and "Moonlight Falls Victorian". These are the saves where vanilla households have been removed and/or the town has been torn down and remade with modern buildings replaced with medieval/Victorian ones. These are not saves I play and I only hold onto them so I don't have to rebuild the towns again if I ever want a fresh start. They can sit in another folder until the time comes that I want to work with them.
I was also holding onto saves from different stages of Gloria's life; "Gloria as a Toddler", "Gloria as a Teen", etc. I don't want to delete them, but they aren't played anymore since Gloria has grown up and is now a young adult. Those saves also went into a different storage folder.
So now that leaves "New Pelagiad, Spring" for Aeronwen's game, and "Gloria - Independent" for Moonlight Falls. Now the save cleaner isn't complaining about there being too many saves. I guess the trick is to periodically make new saves, but not let the folder fill up with too many of them.
And yes, I did do the town reset and I noticed that cut down the time it takes to load a save or make a new one. So neither of my games are ruined thank goodness. I just need to be a bit more careful about resetting, cleaning, and saving. When I'm sure I have a handle on this I'll resume the Pelagiad game. I'd really like to get Aeronwen and Neldor married, I just want to make sure that I have a handle on the error problem.
Now for the interesting story direction in Moonlight Falls. I had joked not long ago that Gloria needs a farm hand. It turns out that she actually does. She did some over-planting with her garden and now is waiting for the plants to finish their life cycle so she can build a greenhouse. On the days of her classes she is out from 8AM to 6PM and she just doesn't have enough time and energy to work on earning her degree and run the farm.
Here I'm including this screenie just because I think she looks pretty in her straw hat and cotton gardening dress.

Luckily she had enough money left from what she inherited from her grandparents to turn a section of the hayloft into a studio apartment. It's very similar to the apartment her parents built for her when she was still living on their lot.

So...who does she offer the job to? While debating this, I made multiple copies of "Gloria Independent", which is where the apartment is ready but no one is yet living there. This save can always be returned to later.
The first candidate was James. Unfortunately he, like Gloria, has four pets (horse, donkey, dog, cat). There's enough room on Gloria's lot for them, but it would make the household larger than I would like it to be at this time and I really didn't want all those additional animals all over the place. Another reason I was hesitant to go with James is because this would essentially be "human Aeronwen and Neldor". Nothing against those two of course, I love them, but I felt it would make the two worlds too similar.
So...she calls up Cody, asks him to come over and offers him the job, which he happily accepts. For what it's worth, Cody isn't quite as despicable as Godonir because with him I swapped out the Evil trait for Brave. I assigned bed ownership to make sure that when Cody is tired he goes up to his apartment to sleep and doesn't go into the main house. At this point I made a new save: "Gloria - Werewolf Farmhand" (so again, easy to go back to before this if I don't like the story direction).
Thus far the arrangement is actually quite respectable. Nothing scandalous is going on, although I doubt Gloria's parents approve. Gloria is still keeping an eye on James but she gets frustrated with him because he NEVER flirts with her (and nothing is preventing him from doing so). Cody mostly uses friendly interactions when speaking with his new employer, but occasionally gives her a flirty compliment which results in her getting the Flattered moodlet. Unfortunately this also makes Gloria wonder why James doesn't do that.
James: *talking about the weather, his horse, his dog, etc*
Gloria: "Has it ever entered your mind that it might be nice if you told me I look pretty?!"
James: "Huh? I guess I figured you knew. You look pretty. That better?"
Gloria: *stomps off* "Oh save your breath!"
James: ???
Uh, James, even a loner like Gloria likes to be (gently) pursued.
Now for an amusing little twist in the story. During the last full moon while Cody was out prowling around as a werewolf, he met Gloria's remaining grandmother Sarah in the park. Sarah is a bit of a hippy and very artistic. She's into sculpting, painting and photography. She was THRILLED to have the chance to socialize with a werewolf and spent a long time chatting with Cody.

I can almost imagine Sarah being somewhat like Barenziah the next time she visits with her granddaughter.
Sarah: "So you have a werewolf helping you with the farm. That's so exciting! Does he scratch up the place?"
Gloria: "No, he's been good about indulging his need to scratch off the property. He's done a great job tending to the crops and getting them to the market on the days I have to attend classes."
Sarah: "Have you sketched him nude yet? If not you really must!"
Gloria: "Uh...no I have not sketched him nude."
Sarah: *glances around before lowering her voice and moving closer* "Now, I promise I won't tell your parents. Have you slept with him?"
Gloria: *stares aghast at her grandmother*
Sarah: "You can tell me. Is he a wild beast in bed?"
Gloria: "Grandma! No! Nothing like that is happening! He helps with the garden and he's been upgrading the windmills and fixing anything that's broken. That's it!"
Sarah: *sighs* "What a pity. You will let me know if that changes, won't you?"
Gloria: "Uh, excuse me. I need to go wash my dog...And by that I do mean my DOG. Not my farmhand."
Sarah: "As I said, what a pity."
Games with stories. Gotta love them.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-03 09:33 pm (UTC)From:That is a pretty pic of Gloria.
Having Cody living upstairs, that could be a start of a sitcom. Especially with Grandma dropping by to ask nosy questions and making naughty comments. But I think Sims was set up for that.
The flirting thing, yeah. It can be disappointing. When I played Saje it felt like he had to make all the first moves to connect with Aryon, then when I swap over to Aryon it's the same thing! It was autonomous giving flowers all the time, but that tends to die down, just like rl.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-03 10:02 pm (UTC)From:I could easily make a written story about what's happening in Moonlight Falls, but one sim-fic is enough. That being said, it really surprises me that the game I'm not writing anything about produces almost as many plot-bunnies as my TES game.
The flirting thing, yeah. It can be disappointing. When I played Saje it felt like he had to make all the first moves to connect with Aryon, then when I swap over to Aryon it's the same thing! It was autonomous giving flowers all the time, but that tends to die down, just like rl.
The lack of flirting from James surprised me because he is essentially a human Neldor, and as we know quite well, Neldor can barely keep his hands off Aeronwen. He is always stopping what he's doing to make flirtatious jokes, pay her a compliment or kiss her. James on the other hand continues to treat Gloria like his best school friend. Sure, Gloria could be the one to initiate it but as a lady she doesn't feel that she should do the pursuing.
Cody flirts but not excessively. Just enough for Gloria to feel flattered but not uncomfortable. A compliment here, a flirtatious joke there, then back to friendly interactions. In other words, James is screwing up and doesn't even realize some competition is now living in Gloria's hayloft.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-03 10:45 pm (UTC)From:I'm wondering if it has to do with how many distractions there are. Aryc and Amaryllis don't have much beyond the horses and the cat. Not even the computer or the chess set. I might put in more no autonomous settings, like browsing the web or playing chess. Or if there is a setting to make the motive of flirting higher than most of the fun stuff.
Cody flirts but not excessively. Just enough for Gloria to feel flattered but not uncomfortable. A compliment here, a flirtatious joke there, then back to friendly interactions. In other words, James is screwing up and doesn't even realize some competition is now living in Gloria's hayloft.
This could make for an interesting turn of events, especially as you have taken evil out of Cody's traits.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-03 11:13 pm (UTC)From:He does come across as a bit more level-headed than his Bosmer counterpart.
Just now I saw James at one of the taverns playing pool and his parents came in. I started picturing his father giving him a smack upside the head and yelling, "What's the matter with you, boy?! Not only has Gloria been your best friend since grade school, she's smart, she's beautiful, and she's wealthy! And you're just sitting on your can and letting this golden opportunity slip away to that mangy werewolf who now lives on her property!"
James: *blinks and rubs his head* "...What werewolf?"
no subject
Date: 2025-05-03 11:45 pm (UTC)From:Days of Our Lives...
no subject
Date: 2025-05-03 11:59 pm (UTC)From:I started watching that soap when I was in high school and continued to watch it for many years. I stopped when the stories became stupid even by soap opera standards. LOL
The scene continued and it really did look like James was having a disagreement with his parents.
His Mother: "Please tell me that you at least call Gloria now and then."
James: "Actually she calls me every couple of days to touch base, so I figure I don't need to call her."
*His mother bursts out crying*
His father: "I hope you're happy! You're breaking your mother's heart! What's the matter? A beautiful young lady who was voted Prom Queen, made valedictorian, is now on the dean's list at the university, runs her own business and happens to own half the town isn't good enough for you?"
James: "But I-"
Father: "No buts, boy! If you don't get off your backside and do something, that werewolf handy-man of hers is going to go from living in the barn to living in the house! And then one of these days you're going to look over at Gloria's home and see a couple of werewolf children running around in her yard. And then you'll think, 'they could have been mine'!"
James: "...But...why would I have werewolf children?"
Father: "....Forget it! You're too dumb for that young lady!"
James: "...."
LOL Sorry. The dialog just keeps coming. :)
no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 12:08 am (UTC)From:I actually face palmed at this.
Someone like Sarasvati would give Gloria a little tip.... "Don't call him. Let him come to you." But the game mechanics isn't set up that way. So I see why Gloria has to call him to keep that friendship high. Or are they Romantic Interest or Boyfriend/Girlfriend?
In that sense it's easier to play two mer who are attracted to each other and do not care who is more dominant or makes the first move.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 12:18 am (UTC)From:Yes, that's why I have her call him, to maintain the friendship. He never calls her. It seems like everyone else in town calls to chat, but not James.
Or are they Romantic Interest or Boyfriend/Girlfriend?
They are Best Friends. They did kiss on prom night, but it all took place in the rabbit hole and nothing further came from it. James didn't seem to even remember it (the jerk!).
no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 12:39 am (UTC)From:Gloria and James do have matching traits and favorable signs? Even Neloth is in and out of an affair with a female sim who just happens to have all of his traits and compatible signs. I've done nothing to encourage that romance. I bet if they didn't have the evil and mean spirited traits they would be married by now.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 12:50 am (UTC)From:Yes, they do have a few traits in common and their signs are compatible (Leo and Sagittarius). With they way they hit off and zoomed straight up to Best Friends on the day they met I thought for sure that they would become an item when they reached adulthood.
I bet if they didn't have the evil and mean spirited traits they would be married by now.
Sarasvati would breathe a sigh of relief.
James needs another smack upside the head because Gloria has now started to flirt with Cody. And this is all on her own. I'm not telling her what to do. Perhaps the next time I see James at one of the taverns I have should have Gloria drop everything and go there. Maybe in a different setting James might be more open to flirting.
James' Father: "You're blowing it! All because you don't want to loose time training your horse for the next competition!"
James: "We're at the advanced levels. We have to keep in shape."
*His mother wails in sorrow and blows her nose*
no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 12:55 am (UTC)From:Seriously I would see where that will go.
Perhaps the next time I see James at one of the taverns I have should have Gloria drop everything and go there. Maybe in a different setting James might be more open to flirting.
I do wonder if location and the amount of distractions can affect romantic actions.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 01:02 am (UTC)From:Nope. I just double-checked. There's nothing stopping it on her end. James is set up specifically to flirt/romance the "Active Household", which is of course Gloria. I did that to keep him from messing around with the Town Bike or any of the other bed-hoppers who roam the town.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 01:09 am (UTC)From:Which seems to be every npc sim in my town, lol. I bet if you took James out of the caste he will immediately start romancing an npc sim. I couldn't believe how fast the game/story progression set up Aryon with that one sim as soon as I took the "no romance" off him so Saje could approach him. Straight into Boyfriend/girlfriend with nothing before. No compatible traits. And it took time for Saje to advance their affair to that stage.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 01:19 am (UTC)From:Things continue to evolve strangely in Gloria's world. James has the green light to flirt with her and become her significant other, but he treats her like a sister.
Cody has no restraints on him, and just now while he was having a drink at the Toadstool he turned down the Town Bike when she tried to flirt with him. He hasn't flirted with anyone except Gloria since moving onto her lot.
no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 01:29 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 04:24 am (UTC)From:no subject
Date: 2025-05-04 04:55 am (UTC)From: