[sporr]

Have you tried using the "Include new images" for multiple sims after this? During a first sim, ALL images are considered new, so the game includes them all if they have never been included in an update before.

There was a case where our league had to restore from a backup once. In the process of copying and pasting over files, the game saw all of the faces as "new" again and included them all in the next update again.

So I'm wondering if something in your process is causing whatever toggle OOTP uses to determine dates on the photos to be unchecked again so it includes all of the faces.

Do you move any files manually in your process? Because I follow the process you've outlined exactly myself and have not had this problem.