This is a wonderful thread. I didn't know such small things could cause lag. It just sounds absurd, but I can see why the game would get "stuck" trying to figure why there is a tree in the middle of the driveway.
Believe it or not, I am running this game with all expansion packs, one stuff pack and countless mods/CC on a laptop with Intel Celeron 2Ghz, 1GB ram and Intel GMA-4 chipset. I play in a medium-sized world which is populated with my own library families (shameless plug: it is Richdre's DryGulch with multiple custom lots added). I experience little to no lag and there is only causal hanging when speeding up. I've got approximately fifty sims in this town and there is no wildlife whatsoever and very little service population (I use Twoftmama's mods for that). So, yes, I play this game on a laptop which doesn't even have the minimum requirements, and - knocks on wood - I still manage to enjoy it.
Thank you for all the information. I've bookmarked this thread and would be glad to read and bookmark any other helpful threads you all come across or start.
-M.
