ExpandSims2 wrote:
amjoie I have a question....1st I have no cc or mods in my games, never have had, not even from the exchange. I have all the expansion packs, stuff packs, and all the store stuff. I have had lagging and freezing in my game. I have used MOO all the time and testingcheatsenabled. I play with the epic aging on and all supernaturals off. I have a few EA sims that I evicted from their houses and put in the library. I have had memories on and off before. I have deleted numerous games in the past. I noticed once in my EA game files that my sims I had created and deleted their games were still in the files (the sims, not the games). I always play with story progression on. I also notice that just lately I purchased University Life and it is the limited edition that has The Sims 3 included in it. I've had the lagging, freezing issues before that though. But would this be a problem? Do I need to uninstall it and find just the University Life and use it instead? I can if I should. My idea to best solve my problems would be just to uninstall all my EP's, stuff packs, store stuff...the whole Sims 3 game and then defrag my PC and then reinstall it all over again. I know this would be a lot of work....hours and hours with all the store stuff. But to me it would be worth it if it would help my lagging, and freezing problems. I've also read all your comments about the causes of some of this and I have done many of them. With the fresh start I could avoid those mistakes again. What do you think of that idea? Wouldn't it be the simplest solution for me? It's worth the work to me if it will help the lagging and freezing.
Take a deeeep breath. Now relax, totally. :) OK. Now we're ready to troubleshoot your game.
First, the folder named The Sims 3 in Documents/Electronic Arts should be located. Drag it to your desktop and name it
The Sims 3 old game. Leave your Documents/Electronic Arts window open, missing the folder you just dragged to your desktop, and watch what happens next. Start up your launcher. Did you see a new The Sims 3 folder pop up in Documents? That is a whole new fresh never been played game. When you start your game through the launcher or by using an alias, it is that brand new game that will open. Let's do that -- go ahead and start your game up.
You will have to set your options all over again, because this is a new game. So set all your options that you can, before you choose a world. Some, like aging, will be grayed out. That's OK. We'll set those once you open a world.
Now choose a new world to open. Note that any store worlds are not available, because nothing from the store has been installed yet. Don't worry about that. We are testing a "vanilla" game, this time.
So, once you have a world chosen and open, set the options you could not set before. Then go to Edit, so you get out of the tutorial, and choose a family to play. All that remains now is to play a family for a while, and see if your glitching and lagging has stopped.
If your game is now playing real well without glitching and lagging, then you have solved the problem, during this phase of testing. You will NOT have to reinstall your base game and all expansions/stuff packs.
(If the game is still giving you fits, then you must uninstall and reinstall. But I bet you won't need to do that. If you do, then go through the steps above, after the full reinstallation.)
OK. Now we have a working game. We know that much. The next step is to install all your store things, through the launcher.
If you have your store things in a backup folder or in your old Downloads folder already, then install a few at a time, like this: Install worlds, one at a time, first. Then install really large sets. Next, install small sets in multiples, about 20 MB worth, at a time. Install hair and clothes a few at a time. Then install single items in multiples, about 20 MB worth (or maybe about 16 items, whichever is fewer) until you have all your store items installed.
If you have to download and install from your purchases page, then make sure as you download, that you install worlds as soon as they are downloaded, but one at a time. The same with large sets. The rest you can do as shown above.
Once you have all your store things installed, then open up the game, and play that family you know was working before. If your game is still glitch and lag free, then you are done testing.
Drag a copy of your Collections folder from your old game to your new game, if you had previously made any of your own collections folders. If not, skip this step. Same with music and videos.
Go ahead and start your new favorite world. This time, keep in mind all the things you should NOT do.
But you can go ahead and add some sims that you have previously made in CAS, if you have any that are in your old
Exports and can be installed through the launcher. Once installed, they will either be waiting in CAS for you to put in your Library, or be in the Library waiting to be put in the world.
Please do not add any houses you built or decorated from before, though. They may be corrupted or have routing issues that you wish to avoid, this time around.My recommendation, actually, is to make your own brand new sims in CAS, starting all over. Just leave your old games behind, and start completely over. You will soon be loving your brand new sims as much as you did your old families.
You'll most likely find that building new houses or redecorating houses already in the game is more fun, now, because all your store stuff is available. And you are more expert at building or decorating. So your new house will probably be your favorite house ever built or decorated.
I have started over many times in Sims 3. Every time, I am happier with my game than I was before. As long as you look ahead, and not behind, you will probably enjoy the game more than ever.
Just remember:
1. Try not to use MOO at all -- but if you find you must, then only use MOO for things that your sim does NOT interact with, like floor plants. If you do ever use MOO, test for routing failure, even with something like plants. Turn MOO off when you are done using it.
2. You may safely move EA created or spawned sims around from house to house, but do NOT move them out of the world and do NOT delete them. So NO moving them to the library bin, because that is moving them out of the world.
3. Do NOT delete ghosts or urns or gravestones. Move gravestone or urns to the graveyard if you don't want them in your house.
4. If you want to play with
testingcheatsenabled true, and/or
buydebug on, then be very careful what menu options you use, because some are not safe.
It is perfectly safe to teleport sims, and perfectly safe to drag motive bars up or down. Using static motives will cause problems with some premium content. Taking a sim into Edit mode by using cheats may cause corruption. It doesn't always, but it can, so it is risky. Better to use the mirror or dresser or salon instead, whenever you can. It is also safer to use rewards to change traits or favorites.
5. When you move anything outside, stay far away from driveways. Don't place trees closer than two squares apart or two squares from the driveway. Leave a two square opening somewhere in a fenced or hedged area. Use double gates. (Do a forum search on your favorite world, and learn what lots may have routing errors, so you can fix those things.)
6. Do NOT use the world editor to add blank lots. You may, however, bulldoze lots already in the world,
IF they do not have gravestones or urns on them.
7. Reread this thread, and make a note of other "avoids."
8. BACK UP YOUR WORLD, once you have your sims living there, and your house built, and/or your favorite expansion's lots added. You want to keep a copy of the world when it was "new," so you don't lose your sims again. All worlds will eventually get "old" and naturally corrupt. So having a copy of a relatively "new" world, that is set up the way you want it, is always a good idea.
If you have any more questions, do not hesitate to ask. :)
