Game Help:Body Shop
Game Help: Body Shop
Here you will find all of the known issues and fixes for Body Shop-related problems.
If you are looking for tutorials on using Body Shop to create content, see Body Shop Recolouring Tutorials. If you are looking for information on Body Shop and what it does, see Body Shop.
Body Shop won't run, or crashes when loading
Body Shop often has a problem where it won't start... double-click the icon and nothing ever happens. It may or may not be running if you ctrl-alt-delete to check the task manager when this happens.
Try to be patient if you get this. If you have a lot of content, it may take quite a while for Body Shop to load. If it's just not coming up, you can try the below steps. These steps also work if you're experiencing crashes while Body Shop is loading. After each step, attempt to run Body Shop. This will help identify exactly where the problem was - that way, if you have the same problem later, you may be able to resolve it faster.
1. Make sure you are using the right shortcut:
If you have no expansions packs installed, start Body Shop from Start - Programs - EA Games - The Sims 2 - The Sims 2 Body Shop.
If the have only the base game and University, start Body Shop from Start - Programs - EA Games - The Sims 2 University - The Sims 2 Body Shop.
If the newest expansion you have installed is Nightlife, start Body Shop from Start - Programs - EA Games - The Sims 2 Nightlife - The Sims 2 Body Shop.
If the newest expansion you have installed is Open for Business, start Body Shop from Start - Programs - EA Games - The Sims 2 Open for Business - The Sims 2 Body Shop.
If the newest expansion you have installed is Pets, start Body Shop from Start - Programs - EA Games - The Sims 2 Pets - The Sims 2 Body Shop. Please note that if you have Pets and want to use Body Shop, you need to install the Pets Body Shop Patch so your creations work for people who do not have Pets. Please see Body Shop for more information and links to the patch.
2. Reboot your computer.
3. Delete your temporary cache files.
4. Check your other user files.
D3DERR_INVALIDCALL! Error
This error is a result of the Body Shop that comes with The Sims 2 and University having a conflict with certain integrated Intel graphics cards. One can try updating drivers, but the problem will likely persist. There is no known workaround. If you are getting this error, these are your options:
1. Purchase and install a new/different graphics card that will not have the conflict. This is generally a relatively expensive and technically complex option, though if you have an integrated Intel card, you probably could do with a new graphics card anyway. More info on graphics cards.
2. Use the version of Body Shop that was released before the game. It can be downloaded here, and there is a starter content pack for it here. However, be aware that some users have reported their game stops working after installing the prerelease Body Shop, and the only solution is to uninstall both Body Shop and the game and reinstall (after backing up your game). The prerelease Body Shop is extremely limited even with the starter pack (only one or two meshes per age/gender), does not take custom content or custom meshes whatsoever, and skintones are created incorrectly (see below). It's really only good for facial sculpting.
3. Recommended: Purchase and install a newer expansion pack. The conflict is not present in later expansions (i.e. any except University). Whichever expansion you get doesn't really matter for fixing this problem - just get whichever one you want the most.
Body Shop takes forever to close
This is generally due to bloated temporary cache files. Delete your temporary cache files.
This can also be due to having lots of old projects hanging around. Make sure you clean up old projects by deleting the projects from within Body Shop. This can be done on the "load existing project" screen.
Body Shop takes a long time to open with custom content
Yes, well, this can happen, especially if you have a lot of custom content. There's really no way to just make it go faster, besides perhaps deleting your temporary cache files, though that can sometimes make the initial load even slower as it will have to regenerate thumbnails, etc.
If you work a lot in Body Shop, it will likely be worth it to you to organize your content so you can just drop your Body Shop content in when you would like to use Body Shop, as non-Body Shop content does seem to increase loading times even though Body Shop doesn't use it.
Body Shop takes a long time to open, even with no custom content
This is also due to bloat from old projects. Clean up your old projects and cache files as described above. Make sure you also check your SavedSims folders - all those partially-finished and completed projects may be slowing everything down too, and you may not think of them when you're taking out the rest of your custom content.
"Shredded" or incorrect thumbnails
Sometimes Body Shop starts looking like it's sent the thumbnails for content through a shredder, then badly reassembled them. If you get this, or thumbnails are incorrect, displaying the wrong thing (or hasn't updated if you've made changes to an associated mesh) then deleting your temporary cache files should fix it.
Creations made in Body Shop are blurry or pixellated
This is due to certain settings being set incorrectly (often as a result of a new expansion or reinstall), resulting in Body Shop trying to over-compress your imported images. You must edit those settings to fix it. Instructions are here. It is written for Windows users but the same technique works for Mac users.
Body Shop says I don't have enough disk space, but I do.
This mysterious problem has been occurring for years when users try to begin or finish a project. Clues point to it having to do with compressed files (they may show up blue in Windows) but a solid solution is not currently known.
Hair of sims cannot be changed in Body Shop
This problem seems to have arisen in later expansion packs, happening when you are missing the hair mesh for the custom hair a packaged sim is wearing.
To fix it:
1. First, try cloning the sim in Body Shop (just make a new copy of them under Build or Clone Sims). If that doesn't help...
2. Go into the game and make the sim in Create a Sim, wearing a different hairstyle that you do have the mesh for, or a Maxis hair. Finish the sim and save them as a new family by themselves. Close the game.
3. Then extract the sim using SimPE.
4. Go into Body Shop and clone the extracted sim once. You should always clone a sim fresh out of SimPE.
5. Now you can make your changes to your clone.
Sims package with no content
This problem also seems to be associated with later expansion packs, and most often occurs with sims that have just been extracted using SimPE.
To fix it, clone the sim in Body Shop by making a new copy of them under Build or Clone Sims. The new copy should package properly.
Custom meshes package with sims
This issue is associated with the version of Body Shop that comes with Pets, and seems to have been a deliberate change by EA. For more information (and how to remove the meshes), Body Shop: The Pets Expansion and Body Shop.
Body Shop only has a few outfits to choose from
You are using the prerelease downloaded version of Body Shop. Make sure you are using the version that comes with the game. See above, under "Make sure you are using the right shortcut."
My baby has a body on its face and another eye on its forehead.
How do I take pictures in Body Shop?
There is no "camera" in Body Shop, like you can find in Create-a-Sim, or the neighborhood, or in a lot, so you'll have to take pictures yourself.
- To take pictures while in Body Shop, you will need to hit the Print Screen button on your keyboard. If you see Print Screen/SysRq, you may have to press Shift then Print Screen. This will copy whatever is currently displaying on your screen to your computer's clipboard.
- Then open up a graphics program, like Paint, PhotoShop, or Paint Shop Pro. File - New and create a new document the same size as your screen resolution (800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024, etc.).
- Click on Edit, then Paste. Now you can edit, crop, resize your pic, and save it.
- If you want to take multiple pictures and edit them later, you can get a screenshotting program like Fraps which will take screenshots using a hotkey (like the game does using the C key) and save them to a folder so you can edit them later.
Contributor Credits
Thanks go to HystericalParoxysm, Simsample and daysies for the original articles.
