I am adding this to the first post. If you see anything that needs correcting or is misstated, please let me know. Oh, and let me know if I missed an issue, too. :)
Summary list of issues discussed, so far:
Causes of Lag or Freezes1. objects blocking driveways, like trees or shrubs
2. critters or sims spawned inside small fenced/bordered/enclosed areas (avoid "one space" enclosed gardens next to buildings and avoid "one space" gates or openings)
3. critters caught between the "V" at the base of two palm trees
4. horses that do not have two spaces of width to maneuver in or out of any area (including between palm trees, trees and buildings, anything enclosed, junk piles, etc)
5. critters who cannot maneuver off raised platforms, because they cannot back away far enough to turn around and get down
6. baby pets who cannot maneuver stairs
7. critters from spawners, who spawn under buildings, large rocks, etc
8. using "reset sim" without manually deleting abandoned cars (the reset sim gets a big lemon or jalopy car in their inventory, and their real car is left abandoned in the game) -- using "reset sim" at 3:00 am may reduce the problem of abandoned cars
9. too many spawners on a lot, no matter who made the lot (even EA lots have this problem) -- be sure to make a one tile basement, to check below ground for hidden spawners (for detailed information, see this thread:
http://forum.thesims3.com/jforum/posts/list/523406.page)
10. spiral staircases placed before the Pets expansion, that have not been turned or replaced since then
11. fancy method of making an entrance with archways (this makes the actual front door and "inside door" which means sims cannot ring the doorbell, and it will cause other routing issues, as well)
12. too many memories accumulated in older games
13. an old hood, that has accumulated too many errors, even just as a result of normal game play
14. anything that causes game corruption (see list below) Causes of Game Corruption1. deleting ANY sim that EA put in the game, whether dead or alive, ghost or urn or tomb, pet or simmie (these sims are coded directly into world layers, and deleting them "shatters/fragments" their coding, leading to game corruption, at its most basic levels)
EA sims are NOT regular sims/ghosts/critters/ghost critters -- they are coded into the game layers and have back-stories that keep calling on deep game coding--removing them is NOT an option2. deleting a lot that has an occupied urn or tomb on it (some are even hidden in attics)
3. deleting EA graveyards
(graveyard ghosts are NOT regular ghosts -- they are coded into the game layers and have back-stories that keep calling on deep game coding--removing them is NOT an option)4. placing too many lots with the in-game world editor tool (it breaks a key component used in world creation, that can only be fixed in CAW, which means a saved game is broken beyond repair) -- an increasingly worsening problem with every expansion since LN)
5. using "moveobjects on" for any object that has a sim interaction, like chairs, beds, bookshelves, tables, etc (plants, rugs, or things that can be placed on end tables are still safe, as of ST, but who knows if later expansions will further break the cheat)
6. trying to mix an old and "not patched up to date" game, with newer CC designed for up to date games
7. games without the latest update to Origin, Adobe flash player, Adobe air and/or games with old video card drivers
8. using awesome mod to "destroyallhumans"
IF the mod is subsequently
removed from the game (it apparently works fine if you continue to use awesome mod with that saved game, to the best of our knowledge, as of today)
9. moving sims with "moveobjects on" (resetting the Sim usually solves the issue -- corruption does not spread)
10. editing an in-game sim in CAS by using the testingcheatsenabled menu, if you try to change traits, favorites, skin tone or body sliders and possibly even star sign (modifying/editing anything on the sim's head is safe, as is changing clothes/makeup/hair/accessories)
11. adding corrupted lots or sims to new games
12. adding lots with corrupted CC to new games
Other Issues1. clock stopping issue (the clock does not update) that is usually caused by an 'alarm' not being able to fire properly (not really a lag, since everything else still continues)
2. stuck baby/missing sim issue (to fix, go to edit town and move the entire household to the clipboard by evicting just the family, then move them back into their house which will reset the whole house and will not cause anyone to disappear -- make sure when you can get out of game after fixing them, you delete the 4 caches that like to hold corruption in your game, so that instance is gone permanently from your game and can't corrupt your saves)
