Is it normal for cache file to be too big?

Looks about alright. Just delete it from time to time. Personally, I do it once or twice a day.

"Turjan;c-17265378" wrote:
Looks about alright. Just delete it from time to time. Personally, I do it once or twice a day.

I delete this cache everytime before playing sims 3 but leave the rest cache since they dont get as big..
I heard it's related to buy and build objects and I'm assuming because I have all EPs and some some store content..generally alot of content in buy mode it gets big? I'm not sure

Hoping someone more expert on this can help me because I'm trying to keep sims 3 as stable as possible and sick of occasional lag..

Compositor cache is related to build/buy mode items
Simcompistor cache is related to new sims, default skins
script cache are related to mods.

These are three I make sure to delete each game.

The entire caching system exists to make the game work more smoothly by providing faster access to the temporary data they hold, not to slow it down and increase lag. By deleting the caches before every startup, certainly the two compositor caches and the CasPartCache, we are actually making the game work harder to re-create them as needed. For those of us on strong enough systems, we should barely notice the difference.

The reason for the cache file deletion is not to keep the cache files smaller than a few hundred MBs each, but to help ensure that they don't get clogged up with stale data. That's why they certainly need to be deleted whenever we introduce new content to or remove content from our games and more like periodically otherwise. And that's also why many of us do not recommend clearing the WorldCaches or other such files like Thumbnails unless there is a specific problem we are trying to solve or we have removed an entire world from the install and have no intention of ever playing it again.

I'm of the opposite opinion concerning the 'World Cache' files. I do delete these files once they reach a certain huge file size. It hasn't hurt my game. However, the loading of textures and other things happen a bit slower on the next start up until the file is rebuilt. If you lack patience or if seeing those grey texture-less objects bothers you, don't delete these files. Once everything has been 're-written/re-loaded', there is no need to 'clean it' again until it reaches that certain huge file size. What that huge file size would be depends entirely on you and your machine.

Deleting the thumbnail package is a big no-no for me as it can play havoc with the images of installed content, even content which is hardwired into the game and not store bought or otherwise installed. I leave this one alone at all costs.

"igazor;c-17265521" wrote:
The entire caching system exists to make the game work more smoothly by providing faster access to the temporary data they hold, not to slow it down and increase lag. By deleting the caches before every startup, certainly the two compositor caches and the CasPartCache, we are actually making the game work harder to re-create them as needed. For those of us on strong enough systems, we should barely notice the difference.

The reason for the cache file deletion is not to keep the cache files smaller than a few hundred MBs each, but to help ensure that they don't get clogged up with stale data. That's why they certainly need to be deleted whenever we introduce new content to or remove content from our games and more like periodically otherwise. And that's also why many of us do not recommend clearing the WorldCaches or other such files like Thumbnails unless there is a specific problem we are trying to solve or we have removed an entire world from the install and have no intention of ever playing it again.

Thank you @igazor ! I know leaving them make everything loud faster which I try not to delete them if they dont get big..but they get about half 1 GB (the Compositor cache one specifically) in one play season (2-3 hours) so is that normal? I'm getting concerned whether I should delete them everytime becus they get huge fast or leave them for a while?

That's what I meant with my first answer: half a GB for simCompositorCache.package sounds about right after several hours.
Edit: Except if you really meant compositorCache.package, which should be considerably smaller.

A few hundred MB to somewhere around 500 MB (but certainly less than 1 GB) each is not uncommon or to be considered too large for cache files. They cap themselves and shouldn't grow much larger than what has been described.

@graventhe - I don't think you have anything to worry about, the sizes of your Cache-files seem perfectly normal. This is how mine looked after a couple of hours play in a new Sunset Valley save:

https://i.imgur.com/8QZhQpY.png

"GraceyManor;c-17265424" wrote:
Compositor cache is related to build/buy mode items
Simcompistor cache is related to new sims, default skins
script cache are related to mods.

These are three I make sure to delete each game.

@GraceyManor - Not only to mods, since I get them too, and I don't use mods and never have. It is almost always 2978 kB for some reason.

"SuzyCue72;c-17266878" wrote:
@graventhe - I don't think you have anything to worry about, the sizes of your Cache-files seem perfectly normal. This is how mine looked after a couple of hours play in a new Sunset Valley save:

https://i.imgur.com/8QZhQpY.png

"GraceyManor;c-17265424" wrote:
Compositor cache is related to build/buy mode items
Simcompistor cache is related to new sims, default skins
script cache are related to mods.

These are three I make sure to delete each game.

@GraceyManor - Not only to mods, since I get them too, and I don't use mods and never have. It is almost always 2978 kB for some reason.

I am going by what modthesims listed and what others have told me when troubleshooting .I am at work right otherwise I would post a link
you don’t even use mods like overwatch, etc?
Don’t know why yours is big then but I was told to always clear that one after installing/removing mods and modthesims cache guide lis5 it as being mod related