Well, this all depends on if this is a world you have been playing in or a just opened world - it really matters because a freshly opened world needs to "get going" technically before you start doing something with it if it has Sims. rabbitholes, spawners and everything else in it - as all of these things can cause little freezes, even a few major freezes as it is setting itself and it's population up - especially an EA world where programming specific to that world is often in play. It is different methods according to different worlds. Like Caw (user created) worlds with no Sims take the least "wait" time, because other than standard programming there is not generally anything specific to that world just it getting up to task with all the eps you have in your particular game - but in a store world or ep world you want to give the implants (sims) who are part of the overall EA story time to get settled - if you have pets ep you need to give the spawners time to spawn - so to be safe I generally make a game run and play it normally without additions for a good strong Sims full week - I send my chosen Sim to all the RH's for skills - especially athletics if you want a good strong character for helping you as a test subject - I generally will go in CAS and make a sim, go to a small empty lot and build a small starter house with just the necessities for the sim - that way I am not bringing in any problem to the world and I am not using a game sim that might have programming of some sort in the scheme of the hood. I also stick to basics as far as clothing and hair go by using the new content that comes with this new world - and the furniture if possible. That way you are not doing anything that this world would have to deal with. If I can't find something I need for the basic sim and home I generally use just base game stuff as all EA worlds are tested with the base game and the things in the world you are in. So both are safe choices. Don't even recolor anything. Just pick from the choices EA gives you to keep any conflict out of the picture.
After the test sim is set up and not going to complain about anything they need for basic survival - which are of course - a fridge - a cabinet - a sink - a toilet - a shower - a bed - a table and a chair, you should be in business to while away at good 5-7 sims days. I do generally give my sims for testing these traits - athletic, loner, loves outdoors, brave, bookworm - these all work in your favor. You want them a loner because you want to keep interractions with other sims at a minimum and you don't want the need to socialize to create any hesitations when you are working your sim. If they have the bookworm trait they learn faster and can be entertained and kept happy just by keeping a few books in their inventory. They do not need a whole bookcase. Just buy a couple of cheap books - you can find best deals in a consignment store generally or a sale at the book store. Now go about the business of skilling the sim with classes - first being athletic, cooking,and handy. Let the world spawn things. You can help this by sending your sims to places where service sims are required but remember your sim is a loner so they will not be happy when a lot of other sims start showing up - so once a register or barkeep or what ever service sim is needed is in place - have your sim leave.( If the service sim is in place already, you have no need for the sim to stop there unless you just want to.)
It is no reason to go by all the other little things I do to prepare testing a world - as those are the important first steps - you just basically want to help your sim survive - build up her athletic skill, handy and cooking and allow the world to do all the things that it needs to do that can cause tiny lags, freezes, and hesitations on it's own as your operation system looks for each thing it is programmed to do. It is especially beneficial if one has Pets because I have found out when I have seen at least two different stray type pets walking around - generally the world is ready for you to start adding your lots. So at this point I will make my first save that I make a copy of for my desltop back up - in case of problems this save is the most important as it takes the longest to get ready. I name it -testready- after that I name each one if adding lots as lot 1 - lot 2 - etc. But you do what works for you.
Now you are ready, add your first lot in town edit and save under the lot 1 or what ever name. Return to game. As I have generally put my sim to bed before I went into edit town - they will have needs to be met - I do this all normally with out cheats to get no other influence into my game - so I will send the sims for a shower, the toilet, and to eat - when they are happy they will then be directed for a bit of jogging. All this time you are also watching for that hesistation I mentioned which is another good reason not to cheat up the sims needs. But you want to test each lot one full cycle - which is a full sims day and night - you may get hesitations around 1 am that is the game spawning stuff, making plants go into the next cycle, moving sims in or out of town, things like that - it is not your lot and is not the same type of freeze. Broken routing will be steady as I previous described and constant - it is more of a hesitation than a pure freeze in the beginning, but very constant.
So if your sims makes it through a whole day and night - go to about 4 am if you have had no problem, then go back to edit town while the sim still sleeps. I go at 4 am especially if there are Venues or bars in the town, so they have closed and most sims are no longer active. You do not want to go later than that as activity gets underway again shortly - like Army sims etc - So 4 am is when you hit pause and go back to edit town. Save Lot 1, move the copy to your desktop of the save, and proceed.
But yes using the world editor is a pain to get a few lots in, but this is the best method I have found that allows me to add a few without breaking the game and routing.
Hope that is all understandable. I am like the worlds worse teacher I think. hehehe
