Missing IF and Strange New Stuff

[athena]

Hi! I played two households, when I returned to the original house/family, I noticed that the IF toy of my toddler Sim is missing, it is nowhere to be found in all inventories. Another strange thing I noticed, when I returned to that household is that there are some new stuff in the parent's inventory, one had a cello and another one had both a cello and a guitar. Since they weren't into music, I had to delete these new stuff.  It makes me wonder though, where the new stuff came from? The parents are not celebrities, they're newbies so I wouldn't think the new stuff came in as gifts. Can Sims acquire stuff while we are not playing them ? And whatever happened to my toddler's IF? Has anyone experienced these strange occurrences? 

[MoonsAreBlue]

I've had a similar problem with an Imaginary Friend. After moving to a new house, my child's IF disappeared. The strange thing is that there was a little girl standing at the edge of my lot, on the sidewalk. When I hovered my mouse over her, she had the same name as the IF and had the same portrait that was in the relationship panel. For me, the portrait would randomly switch between toy form and human form. She never moved, and I never tried interacting with her for fear of it messing up my game.

I'm not sure about the items your sims received, though. I know when sims get married (I don't know if this is from Generations or the Generations patch) their friends might send them wedding gifts. Maybe you checked their mail and just didn't notice it until later? I'm not sure if that would be it though because the gifts always go to the family inventory in my experience.

Not sure if these will help any, but you're not alone in a disappearing IF.

[MarianT]

When you switch between households, you often get stuff in your Sims' inventories. I've had cars (as many as 8 or 9) show up and books from China and Egypt. Things disappear, too -- homework and teddy bears almost always, also instruments and fruits. And the first time I had an infant get an imaginary friend, it was gone when I came back to that household.

[Frey]

This reminds me to the bug that came with World Adventures that made the inventories empty when moving out or changing households. It's probably a glitch. I'm not sure if this is possible, but maybe you could put them in a treasure chest before changing households? That used to help with the World Adventures bug. It won't give you your IF back but maybe it can prevent this from happening again.

[imaGleek]

Hi! I played two households, when I returned to the original house/family, I noticed that the IF toy of my toddler Sim is missing, it is nowhere to be found in all inventories.

This happened to me too, imaginary friends are kind of like the gnomes in the game, one second they'll be where you put them, and the next, they'll be somewhere else in the house. So, if your imaginary friend goes missing just look everywhere in the house until you find it. One time, I thought my imaginary friend was in my toddlers bedroom where I left it, but it ended up magically moving to the living room.

[athena]

Thank you for your replies! Now I know that I am not alone in the missing IF and the new stuff. I guess I will just have to live with it. Perhaps the Sims do acquire and dispense of stuff while we are not playing them, who knows?

MoonsAreBlue, the picture of the IF which turns from toy to real is normal in my game, it really happens. For that child that is the IF standing in your lot, i think that is your IF, but hold on, it wont have turned "real" unless you applied the potion or went to the science lab to make it real. Why don't you try to interact with it and see what happens? If the game messes up, then just exit without saving. Strange occurrences are happening with some IFs.