PSA Here is how Everyone can get The Sims 3 to run buttery smooth with all expansions. No Mods.

Question

For the longest time we have had to download routing world fixes, Twallans mods ect to get the game even semi playable.
Well I'm here to tell you no longer! You don't need to download a single mod or routing fix to get smooth as butter gameplay.

For a long time I have suspected the reason TS3 runs the way it does is not because of routing issues ect. It's because modern hardware runs the game at such a high FPS that 2 CPU cores and a single thread (TS3 limit) could not process all the data fast enough resulting in the issues that have plagued the game for years. Here is how to fix ALL lag in game.

Nvidia:
1: Go to control panel, Manage 3D settings, Program settings.
2: Click add and go find ts3.exe location (Its in Game/Bin where ever that is on Steam/Origin/Disk)
3: Now scroll down to "Max Frame Rate". Turn it on and type 60 (for 60fps. You can experiment with higher FPS later to -
match your refresh rate,for now this is proof of concept).
4: Scroll down to Vertical Sync and use "Fast Sync". (Disable Vsync in game if its on.)

For AMD users, if you have an option to limit FPS do it. If not there are programs that can limit fps. Also search for your fast sync equivalent. Do not use Vsync.

Extra Fun Step
5: Enable all content you own. Yes all expansions and stuff packs. This step is just to show you that this works with everything enabled. You don't have to do it but you will want to see it with your own eyes to believe it.

And that's it. Open the game and shed 500 tears because you have never seen such beautiful smooth gameplay since the game released.

Additional option:
Go to Game/Bin. In there you will find Sims3.ini. Change "MemoryUsageLimit = 20000000" to "MemoryUsageLimit = 40000000"
The game defaults to 2GB ram. This step enables the game to use up to 4GB ram. There is no point setting the value past 40000000 as TS3 is 32-bit and is unable to use anymore than that.

Doing this step slightly decreases loading screen time (at least in my case but your mileage may vary). The purpose of this is not to decrease load times but it Dramatically decreased object/clothing load times in Create A Sim, build/buy mode and Create A Style. I also noticed distant lots load faster with this. Also don't worry if task manager says the game is only using 2gb after doing this. Mine does too. This doesn't force the game to use 4GB, it allows it to use Up to 4GB. The game will only use what it needs.

igazor · Answer

Okay, some corrections to this Important PSA if I may. :)

1 - We have always advised fps capping for cards strong enough to throw frame rates above the refresh rates of one's monitor. That's most dedicated cards today and even some integrated ones, hardware has come a long way since 2009. This is not optional and failing to take TS3 not having a functional built-in fps limiter into account will not only lead to very poor game performance, but is dangerous as it can lead to the card burning out entirely and also damaging the system board on which it is installed. However, I have to push back on not using vertical sync. While vsync alone is often not enough, it together with triple buffering is often where to start and then one way or another usually a max frame rate does need to be set.

These steps are vitally important, I would say required, but not sufficient alone for many players to experience buttery smooth gameplay in all instances. Thus we have the mods, route-fixed worlds, and other tools available to us to help maintain gameplay.
http://www.nraas.net/community/TIPS-FOR-BETTER-GAME-PERFORMANCE

Not all players are on systems strong enough to carry all 11 EPs under any circumstances. That's going to vary by individual player.

2 - Your Additional Option will be neutral to the game at best and harmful at most. The setting referenced there is for the theoretical upper limit to the game's script heap (20 GB, not 2 GB, and changing that to 40 GB is not going to help anything). It has nothing to do with RAM usage.

TS3 on Windows is Large Address Aware (LAA) all on its own and will use up to just short of 4 GB of RAM when it needs to, provide the RAM is there for it to use. This came about with Patch 1.17 that was released alongside of Late Night many years ago. TS3 on Mac is currently limited to 2 GB and there is no way to improve upon that, although surprisingly enough a patch is in the works by EA to do so and is expected to be out later this year, we hope.

igazor · Answer

I do not know what exactly I said that is being deemed as wrong (all of it or just certain parts). I am delighted that you have the game working better for you now, but will continue to push back against what might be poor advice to other players. Those other players may of course decide for themselves which solutions to pursue, most of them are intelligent enough to make up their own minds. And I recognize that not everyone wishes to use mods in the first place. But we do at least agree on the need for fps capping no matter how it's done.

We at NRaas (and many here) will continue to advise against the script heap max limit adjustment. We don't know why the game developers chose 20 GB for a max heap limit, which again is what that setting is really for, but they must have had a reason.

No one said anything about 32-bit operating systems with older CPUs.

igazor · Answer

This may sound like an extreme counter-example that would never realistically happen and that I am making it all up, but we see it all the time here and other places where player game support is provided. I guarantee you I can walk into an office supply store or visit one online (or even Amazon or the equivalent) and acquire a brand new laptop or desktop with all modern but low-end hardware that cannot possibly be expected to run the entire TS3 game. And players do actually do these things.

I'm talking about U- or Y-series processors, no dedicated graphics cards or the lowest end of the current dedicated ones like MX 150s and 250s, what were in the prior series also called GT 1030s, or AMD Vega 8s that sound like dedicated cards but really aren't so, not enough RAM (less than 6 GB although this is a bit less commonly seen now), not enough hard drive space meaning 128 GB or less. These are systems that are meant for lightweight mostly online tasks other than games, yet sometimes the price tag is all the player can see or this is all they can afford. Some of them are really nothing much more than souped up tablets with insufficient or no internal cooling systems. The game will not run well, if at all, in such environments and some players honestly cannot tell the difference between one of these and a more mid-range system just by reading the specs because it's all a foreign language to them.

Yes, a GT 1030 will need to have its fps rates capped like the other stronger cards. That doesn't mean it can really be expected to carry the entire game well on medium to high graphics settings. The same was true of its predecessors, the 940Ms, 940MXs, and 840Ms, etc.

I'm very sorry, but again I will push back and essentially telling me that I am out of touch without using those exact words when I've been supporting TS3 continuously here and elsewhere for years doesn't really add anything helpful to the conversation.

But again, we do at least agree on the need to check those frame rates in-game and take action on just about any hardware set that requires it.

reclusiveeagle · Answer

Ahha my dear Igazor this is where you are wrong. I did this on a i5 2400, GTX 750 TI (2gb) and 8GB of 1333MHz ram. If I can run the game smoothly on this, an electrical frying pan will run the game just fine. The game is 11 years old. If you are somehow still on a 32bit system in 2020 with a CPU older than mine, you will still see massive benefits

reclusiveeagle · Answer

Also while the game has been Large Address Aware for years now, this only comes into play when the game calls for more than 2GB.

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PSA Here is how Everyone can get The Sims 3 to run buttery smooth with all expansions. No Mods.

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