White-Screen Fix, Food Overhaul, and Project Rene Is Paused

Becca HartwellOkay, my Sim just stood in the kitchen for 10 minutes staring at a wall. Autonomy is fine. Everything is fine.

Danny ReyesThat Sim is not okay. But honestly, Becca, same energy as my whole week.

Becca HartwellSul sul, everybody. I'm Becca, and this is The Plumbob Report with Danny, who has opinions.

Danny ReyesSo many opinions. I made a list. The list has a list.

Becca HartwellOf course it does.

Danny ReyesHere's the rundown. There's a patch, and it's got something people have been grumbling about for ages. Then big franchise news, Project Rene is paused. And item three is me trying very hard to stay calm about both.

Becca HartwellPaused, not the other word. Very different word. And you, calm? I need to hear this live attempt.

Danny ReyesRight? Very different. And near the end, we're doing a rumor segment.

Becca HartwellClearly labeled rumor, by the way, like a big blinking sign over its head.

Danny ReyesFloating green diamond, but for gossip.

Becca HartwellLove that. Honestly, that's the deal with this show. We tell you what's solid and what's whispers, and we try to be funny while we do it.

Danny ReyesAnd we'll try very hard not to let my list run the whole episode.

Becca HartwellGood luck. So anyway, we should probably start with the thing everybody's actually been staring at.

Danny ReyesThe screen that's just white.

Becca HartwellFirst up, the patch that finally deals with the white screen. Okay, so the patch notes are out, and the headline fix is the one everybody has been dreaming about. The infinite white screen when you load a save, gone.

Danny ReyesWait, really? Gone, gone, or we looked into it, gone?

Becca HartwellGone, as in listed as fixed. Now, a little caution. The copy I'm reading is a fan news transcription of the official October 27th, 2026 patch notes. So it's a secondary source.

Danny ReyesRight, so somebody typed up the official notes.

Becca HartwellYep, and that transcription says the update fixes the infinite white screen save loading bug. That's the exact line.

Danny ReyesOkay, I'm choosing to believe it because, Becca, think of every save that just sat there spinning at nothing.

Becca HartwellUgh, I have lost afternoons to that, whole afternoons.

Danny ReyesThe autonomy really said choose violence, and the violence was a blank screen.

Becca HartwellTotally. Sims have been stuck in doorways for 20-some years, but at least you can see the doorway.

Danny ReyesOkay, but for anybody who dodged this one, what does it actually feel like when it hits?

Becca HartwellYou pick your save, the game starts loading, and then the screen goes white and just stays white. You tell yourself it's a slow day. You make a snack, you come back, still white.

Danny ReyesAnd there's no end to it. That's the cruel part. It says infinite right in the name.

Becca HartwellRight? A breakup is a breakup. At least it's over. The white screen is being left unread.

Danny ReyesOkay, I'm stealing that.

Becca HartwellGo ahead. And that's why this fix matters more than a shiny new item. If you can't get into your save, nothing else in the update exists for you.

Danny ReyesFair. So is it live or is this a coming soon situation where we all wait around?

Becca HartwellIt looks live. A write-up of the patch notes went up October 28th, the day after the notes. The title says, "New items, food overhaul, body toggles, and more."

Danny ReyesWhich is the most Sims sentence ever. Plenty to keep you busy, and then you spend four hours on a kitchen.

Becca HartwellRight? And coverage landing the next day tells me this isn't a promise. It's a patch people can download now.

Danny ReyesStill, don't go deleting your backup saves just because a bullet point says fixed.

Becca HartwellOh, absolutely not. Keep the backups until you've seen it work. And if your game is still broken, flag it with specifics rather than suffering through it.

Danny ReyesOkay, we've all been burned by a fixed bug that wasn't. Okay, and honestly, that's the least flashy thing on this list. The rest of the notes are stuffed.

Becca HartwellThey really are. Before I forget, there's free stuff in there too.

Danny ReyesFree stuff? Okay, now I'm listening. What else does this update actually add?

Becca HartwellOkay, so the freebies. The update drops free elder CAS items and free build items. Free, like no pack required.

Danny ReyesWait, really, elder stuff? Finally. My elders have been dressed like they're all headed to the same bingo night for since forever.

Becca HartwellDanny, bingo night is a lifestyle.

Danny ReyesIt is, but options, Becca. Options.

Becca HartwellTotally. And there's more. There are new toggles for muscle and weight changes.

Danny ReyesToggles, as in I decide?

Becca HartwellAs in you decide. Your Sim hits the gym, and you can choose whether the body changes with it.

Danny ReyesOh, that's good. I'm picturing my Sim doing one pushup and coming out looking like a action figure. Autonomy would absolutely do that.

Becca HartwellAutonomy would have them skip the pushup and eat cereal on the floor.

Danny ReyesWhich honestly, accurate.

Becca HartwellOkay, but think about what a toggle means for how you play. Some people want the body to change as the Sim trains. Other people designed a Sim down to the last slider and don't want anything moving.

Danny ReyesRight. I've got a very specific look for my founder, and I don't want the game quietly redesigning her. A toggle means I'm not fighting it.

Becca HartwellThat's the real win. It's not a gimmick. It's just handing you the steering wheel.

Danny ReyesSteering wheel, but for biceps.

Becca HartwellOkay, one more on the list. TV locking by Sim category.

Danny ReyesHold on. Say that again.

Becca HartwellYou can lock the TV based on the category of Sim. So, like, the little ones don't get to watch whatever.

Danny ReyesOh, I see where this is going. Finally, a parental control that doesn't involve me chasing a toddler around the living room.

Becca HartwellAnd I like that it's tied to the category of Sim, so it's about who's on the couch. Also, a quick flag here, all of this is from those same patch notes, so it's the headline list, not a deep dive.

Danny ReyesMm-hmm. Good to know where it's coming from.

Becca HartwellWhich is why I'd rather give you the headline list and be honest about it than pretend I've combed every line.

Danny ReyesHighlights are my love language. Give me the stuff I'll notice in the first 10 minutes.

Becca HartwellNow the food, because there's a food overhaul, and the number is the thing. Family recipes extends to 375-plus dishes.

Danny Reyes375? That's a lot of casseroles.

Becca HartwellThat's a lot of everything. I mean, come on, you could cook a different dish every day for a year and still have some left.

Danny ReyesOkay, that math checks out, and now I'm scared.

Becca HartwellScared of what?

Danny ReyesOf my Sims. They already can't handle one grilled cheese without making it a tragedy. Now you hand them a menu that big?

Becca HartwellThe fire alarm is going to be the most used item in the house.

Danny ReyesMotherlode energy, but for smoke. The autonomy sees 375 dishes and picks the one that ends with a rescue.

Becca HartwellAnd I'll say this, I don't have the mechanics detail on how all of it works. The notes summary gives us the headlines, so I'm not gonna pretend I know more.

Danny ReyesFair. I'd rather you say that than make something up about a soufflé.

Becca HartwellHa. No soufflé claims here.

Danny ReyesOkay, but real talk. Free items, toggles, a bigger cookbook. That's a pretty friendly update.

Becca HartwellIt really is. The kind of stuff you notice the second you load in, like, "Oh, that's new."

Danny ReyesAnd the free part matters. Nobody has to buy anything to get the elder items or the build stuff.

Becca HartwellRight. And for anybody watching their budget, that's the best kind of update. You just get it.

Danny ReyesAnd it's all kind of cozy, right? Which is a funny contrast because the other news this week is not cozy at all.

Becca HartwellOh, no. You're talking about Rene.

Danny ReyesI'm talking about Rene.

Becca HartwellOkay, now the bigger story. What happened to Project Rene? Okay, so Project Rene, also called Project Lotus depending on who's talking, that's the mobile-focused Sims title.

Danny ReyesThe one everybody was weirdly protective of even though nobody had played it.

Becca HartwellRight? One report says EA and Maxis paused development on it, and EA's own blog post says it will prioritize something called Project Evergreen.

Danny ReyesEvergreen. Sounds like a scented candle.

Becca HartwellIt does. Pine Forest Evergreen, burns for 40 hours.

Danny ReyesBut wait, early reports said canceled. I saw that word everywhere on day one.

Becca HartwellYeah, and that's where it matters. A fan site news site covered an EA internal memo from Cam Weber and David Tinson. A news outlet had obtained that memo.

Danny ReyesSo it's a relay: fan site covering an outlet covering a memo.

Becca HartwellTotally. So hold it a little loosely. But the fan site says the word in the memo was paused, not canceled.

Danny ReyesHmm, paused is doing a lot of work there. A paused Sim in my game is just standing in the kitchen forever. Is that alive? Is that a plan?

Becca HartwellFair. Paused at least means somebody wrote down a door they might reopen.

Danny ReyesMight, not will.

Becca HartwellRight. The fan site also says that, quote, "later showed up on EA's website," and prioritizing Evergreen tells us where the focus is going. It doesn't say what happens to Rene's team, and it doesn't give a date for anything.

Danny ReyesSo paused for a mobile game is a sticky note on the door. Back later maybe, or not now.

Becca HartwellExactly. Nothing says it's coming back, and nothing says it's dead. File it under we don't know yet.

Danny ReyesVery mature from someone who once named a Sim after a sandwich.

Becca HartwellRespect the sandwich.

Danny ReyesSo now the big one, Evergreen. What is it? Because my timeline already decided it's Sims 5.

Becca HartwellOf course it did.

Danny ReyesI mean, come on, priority, new name, mystery. Chef's kiss for speculation.

Becca HartwellOne article frames Evergreen as possibly a mainline sequel. Possibly. That's the framing, and it's a guess. Nobody has confirmed it.

Danny ReyesOuch. Also, the fan site goes one further and ties Evergreen to the rumored Project X, the single-player game.

Becca HartwellWait, really? That's its own inference, right? Not something EA said.

Danny ReyesRight. Fun theory, zero confirmation.

Becca HartwellOkay, so what's rumor and what's actually confirmed? Because I think we can sort that into two piles right now.

Danny ReyesOh, I've got a pile ready. Several, honestly.

Becca HartwellOkay, rumor desk is open. Danny, you've been vibrating for 10 minutes. Go.

Speaker 3Sul Sul. I have a screenshot. Well, a relay of a screenshot. A fan news site passed along claims from an anonymous insider who posted on ATRL.

Becca HartwellAnonymous on ATRL?

Speaker 3Yep. No name, no title, no badge.

Becca HartwellHmm. So what's the insider saying?

Speaker 3Three things. Layoffs hit both the Rene team and the Project X team.

Becca HartwellWait, both?

Speaker 3Both. Second, that X got redefined. Third, that The Sims 4 stays in maintenance mode.

Becca HartwellHmm. Redefined into what?

Speaker 3That's the thing. The summary doesn't say. I'm not going to invent a definition.

Becca HartwellFair, because that one word could mean anything. Smaller, bigger, a different genre entirely?

Speaker 3The autonomy would pick all three at once.

Becca HartwellHonestly, yes

Speaker 3And maintenance mode is the one that'll make people twitch. You know what I mean. Everybody's got a thread about it already

Becca HartwellRight, but it's one anonymous person's claim relayed by a fan site. That's two hops before it reaches us

Speaker 3Two hops, zero receipts. I love a dumpster fire, actually, but I wanna see the fire first

Becca HartwellOkay. Has anybody actually confirmed the layoffs?

Speaker 3No. The same report says the Maxis layoffs haven't been officially confirmed

Becca HartwellSo even the relay is waving a little flag that says, "Careful"

Speaker 3Which is more honesty than half of social media manages

Becca HartwellTotally. So if you're sharing this around, say what it is: an insider claim. Not a fact, not a headline

Speaker 3And not a reason to go yell at a developer who may or may not have lost their job. Seriously, be a person

Becca HartwellYes. Protective of the community, including the people who make the game

Speaker 3And the Evergreen and X link from earlier, that's the site's own inference, not something confirmed

Becca HartwellRed string on the corkboard energy. Fun, but it's also how you end up convinced a Sim has been haunting your kitchen

Speaker 3Autonomy, not ghosts

Becca HartwellMostly. Okay, let's wrap it up. Danny, you start the goodbyes. I'll find my Plumbob

Speaker 3It's on your head, Becca. It's always been on your head

Becca HartwellOkay, so quick landing. The patch is out, and it's real. Rene is paused, and everything the insider said is still just rumor

Danny ReyesWhich is a very Sims week. One solid thing, one maybe door, and a pile of whispers

Becca HartwellTotally

Danny ReyesAnd honestly, the white screen fix is the part I'm taking home. Nobody ever got emotional about a loading bar until it ate their save

Becca HartwellReally? You cried over a loading bar?

Danny ReyesI mourned a legacy family. Four generations, gone. Let's not talk about it

Becca HartwellAw. Okay, so if you want to help us out, subscribe to the show wherever you listen. It's the easiest way to make sure new episodes land on your phone

Danny ReyesAnd leave a review, even one line. Tell us your favorite moment or tell us I'm wrong about something. I can take it

Becca HartwellYou absolutely cannot

Danny ReyesI can take it a little

Becca HartwellAlso, we want your Sim stories. The chaotic ones, the sweet ones, the one where your Sim did something nobody asked for. Send them to us at Plumbob Report

Danny ReyesYes, please. Bonus points if there's a pool involved and no ladder

Becca HartwellI mean, come on. That's a classic

Danny ReyesAnd if you built a pool with a ladder on purpose, tell us that, too. We're keeping score

Becca HartwellA ledger of ladders. Okay, that might be a segment

Danny ReyesSeriously, though, thanks for hanging out with us this week. Whatever you're playing right now, wherever you are in your save, we're really glad you're here

Becca HartwellAw. And we mean it. Come back next week, bring your chaos, and we'll sort the rumors from the real stuff again

Danny ReyesAll right, Becca. I think we're done before one of us wanders off to cook something

Becca HartwellKeep your backups close, everybody, and be nice to your Sims, mostly

Danny ReyesSul sul