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- IreneSwiftSeasoned Newcomer@Emily 4331 Thank you for the link. Those are nice hairs. I especially like the second one on the page, which looks similar to my favorite of the Skysims toddler hairs, which has a big bow tying back the hair. But the bow wasn't the main thing I liked it for, so that one will be a great substitute.
- The hairs in question aren't much of an eyesore in my game. I do see some kind of slight distortion but not like the pictures shown which I think Emily4331 was right the first time about the graphics. Some cc hairs only look good with high settings. These hairs I downloaded from TSR Skysims. It's not flawless but it's not bad. By the way, my graphics are maxed out except high detail lots. 1920 x 1080 resolution.
https://s25.postimg.org/5gv9ai2of/Screenshot-288.jpg
https://s25.postimg.org/s5kga8ce7/Screenshot-300.jpg
https://s25.postimg.org/543v4apjj/Screenshot-309.jpg
https://s25.postimg.org/njoc1qdyn/Screenshot-312.jpg
https://s25.postimg.org/41tolrefz/Screenshot-313.jpg
https://s25.postimg.org/6j5ft1t7j/Screenshot-293.jpg
https://s25.postimg.org/ck34q3sof/Screenshot-308.jpg
https://s25.postimg.org/i89fh17bj/Screenshot-303.jpg
Now I'm going back to playing Pokémon Ultra Sun. :p - IreneSwiftSeasoned NewcomerThere's no way my graphics card could be the problem, because it is major overkill for the Sims 3. So I decided to play around with the settings some more. What I tried before, that I said didn't make it any better, was to set texture detail and sim detail as high as they would go. This time I started by setting everything as high as it would go, except anything specific to something having nothing to do with sims, like reflections and high detail lots, and I set shadows to low. This is the result:
https://i.imgur.com/YPF5SjV.jpg
I did some more experimenting, turning most of the settings back to medium, but trying different combinations of settings for sim detail, texture detail, and shadows. Even with shadows on low and the other two as high as they would go, it was still bad. I finally tried setting visual effects to high. This is what I got:
https://i.imgur.com/e7uF4IE.jpg
As you can see, it is just as good as the other. I tried lowering sim detail again, because that's the only setting of the three that will affect game performance, but it was bad again. So I guess I will try playing with sim detail on very high and see what happens. I had so many problems with my game for so many years, before the current computer, I am a little paranoid about taking any risks with game performance, especially when I do still have occasional lag and freezes. But I've concluded recently that those are most likely from sims getting stuck somewhere, so it probably won't make any difference to have that one setting higher. - IreneSwiftSeasoned NewcomerI forgot to add to my last post, I want to thank all of you who helped me get this issue solved. I didn't expect to be able to use those hairs, and I'm delighted to be able to after all.
- That's great that you got the hairs to look better.
Always back up your game/data.
If you really want to know what your computer can and cannot handle you might want to start a brand new TS3 folder and see what settings the game can handle with minimal to no lag. Preferably, at first, with no mods at all. Then once you know the limit of your computer modless then test it with mods a little at a time to notice any performance hits.
Start > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 (Probably different location with digital downloads.)
-Cut and paste The Sims 3 folder onto the desktop then close out the window (You can create a folder on the desktop that reads Main Game and then place TS3 folder inside.)
-Open up TS3 launcher then close to generate a brand new The Sims 3 folder
Start the game.
-Go into the options menu while at the main menu and choose what you think your computer can handle.
Restart the game.
-Close and restart the game because sometimes even changing the options during the main menu and playing the game after can cause some visual distortions.
-Test out gameplay modless. EP's/SP's/Store Content are all fine. Just no 3rd party content for now. Play for a Sim week or more to get an idea of performance.
(Sidenote: Isla Paradiso will usually be unplayable and is a common issue for most.)
Delete these houses, you can save the Sims if you want. Originally learned this from BlueSpaarkle's post.
Icatcha
Scott
Los Amigos
Medina
The Romantic
The Prince
Keep tweaking the settings as needed, then restart, to find out what is the computer's max capability with decent performance. Once you figure that out, then you can add mods little by little to determine the limit before the game's performance begins to suffer. Remember some hair and objects are high poly and too many of these will dramatically slow down the game. Also remember the more CC such as hair/clothes/accessories/etc installed, the more the NPC/Townie Sims can randomly use these items and further cause a performance hit.
And of course, some CC is just poorly made and can cause issues. Some CC can be GPU intensive and some mods can be CPU intensive and both can cause lag, stuttering, freezing, etc once your computer has reached its limit. It doesn't help that TS3 is a 32-bit application but in no way means the game is unplayable as is. I've done so for years until UL and there are many who still don't use mods/cc at all. But glitches, all game's have it.
When your testing is all done, you can keep or delete that TS3 folder. If you keep it, it will make good use for testing new mods/cc so not to mess up any of your cared for saves. And a new mod tester folder would be easy to regenerate if something goes awry. Hey, it's expendable.
When you are ready to switch back to your main TS3 folder.
-Take the old folder out by using cut and paste (or delete the test folder), and put it on the desktop within a created folder reading Mod Tester or whatever name you want to use that TS3 folder for.
-Cut and paste the main TS3 folder back into its original place.
Start > Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3
Delete the 4 cache files within TS3 folder.
-CASPartCache.package
-compositorCache.package
-scriptCache.package
-simCompositorCache.package
Then start the game, otherwise, sometimes the game just hangs on the loading screen when switching back and forth between different TS3 folders. So far I have 4 different TS3 folders. One for mod testing, one is my main saves, one is for vanilla photoshoots with no visual or gameplay alterations and the last one is base game only. These TS3 folders are within a named folder for identification on the desktop for easy access. I plan on making more to play out a couple of scenarios based on an inspiration from The Sims 2: Castaway and Urbz: Sims in the City.
Again.
Always back up your game/data. - NikkeiSimmerNew AdventurerThanks for posting this up, @Deshong04, It'll definitely help me too when I get the IP EP in a few months. I'm actually going to copy-paste this into a word-file so that I can refer back to it when I have to go through Isla Paradiso and revamp it so that I can actually play with it.
Glad to see that there is a fix for those hairs. Guess I have to tweak the graphics settings so that I won't see the artifacts in the hair...which was a problem that I was have with Skysims hair as well...just that I rarely ever used her stuff in game. - @IreneSwift Yeah, I changed the lifespan in my current main save to be even longer and it was not a walk in the park to edit every single Sim in the world. But glad that's all done and I don't plan on changing it again for that save.
Here is some useful information to explain how the poly count works and how it may affect performance. Though it refers to TS2, it still applies as well to TS3 for the most part.
http://modthesims.info/t/391070
I have recently downloaded some of Nightcrawler's hair such as this one.
https://s25.postimg.org/j2inhgs1b/w-600h-450-2920207.jpg
https://s25.postimg.org/5be6eu2z3/Screenshot-348.jpg
https://www.thesimsresource.com/artists/Nightcrawler_Sims/downloads/details/category/sims3-hair-hairstyles-female/title/nightcrawler-nala/id/1409195/
And it says:
https://s25.postimg.org/oqoy8h6pb/Polycount.png
Which, if I understand correctly, it means the polycount depends on your game's settings. So for me who has everything maxed out except high detail lots the polycount would be 30K. Now, I'm guessing that's obviously high but I also don't know what is considered high poly as in the number in TS3. But if I go by what it says for TS2, then 30K is way over what The Sims Studio would have used. Like maybe 5x the polycount. :D
Of course, the graphics card dictates how much your computer can render without any performance issues. And when you start to experience lag, stuttering, freezing, etc then you might want to look at the cc you're using to rule it out or discover it is the culprit for the slow performance. - IreneSwiftSeasoned Newcomer@Deshong04 Thank you. I will keep all of that in mind. I'm even thinking of installing different hairs in each of my Sims 3 folders, so I can use them all, just not all in the same games.
@Karritz Thank you. I've bookmarked that page. Sadly, none of the toddler or child hairs by Skysims seem to have been retextured, and those are the ones I want the most. But I already downloaded a couple of retextured hairs by Skysims and they worked the same as the originals, so I guess that won't matter. Maybe it's the Nightcrawler retextures I need to try out instead, to see if I could maybe use more of them on the higher settings. - Some times they are the opposite for some hairs. I'm guessing it's how the game handles cas vs in game
- IreneSwiftSeasoned Newcomer@Emily4331 I could never see much difference between medium and high for most settings, so I have everything on medium for the sake of better performance. Based on what you said, I changed texture detail and sims detail to high and very high respectively. The grass looks a bit sharper, but the hairs still look the same.
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