[FAQ] Lags & Freezes
I'm still a little unsure what to post in this forum and if it would be a good idea to make threads for the more common issues with this game. After all it is all about answers here.
One of the more common issues are Lags & Freezes. They occur on the best computers. So while sometimes the computer is the issue, lots of time, it's not.
I've started collecting some causes of the issue and thought I list them here. If you have anything to add or have any questions, feel free to post.
Causes
- Make sure your computer fulfills the requirements. I think the minimum requirement for this game are way to low so if you are even lower than that, that is probably where your problem lies.
- Stuck or frozen Sims
- Stuck cars and bikes
- Tons of cars in the streets and the inventories of inactive Sim. These are temporary items that don't get cleaned up properly.
- Crowd gatherings that never dissolve.
- Tons of downloads (especially package files) and faulty ones.
- Bad Routing in Bridgeport and other towns
- Large Savegames. Games that have been played very long tend to bloat. Especially all the relationship information take up a lot of space.
- Spiral Staircases that don't work correctly anymore after Patch 1.26
- Make sure you have no areas where Sim can get stuck
- Trees in driveways make the game lag.
- Some of the bigger mods are very heavy on the resources. If you have an older/slower computer, don't use them.
- The game likes to spawn a lot of wild animals and strays. Similar to the car issue this makes the game lag
- Server Connections Issue (SimPort, social features)
- Thousands of alarms being fired in the background
Solutions
- Sims in Slow Motion
- Turn down your options or get a new Computer
- Reset all your Sims in town by entering the cheat resetsim *
- Delete stuck cars by using the cheat testingcheatsenabled true and then shift-click on the car and choose Object-Delete
- Try to reduce the number of cars in your hood. Remove them from inventories of inactive Sims and streets. To prevent them spawning everywhere again, delete the parking spaces as well.
- Reduce the amount of Custom Content you're using and make sure the ones you are using are actually Sims 3 files and not corrupt.
- Copy all your Sims to the library and move them to a new town. You will loose all your relationships but everything else will be maintained.
- Make sure to fix all spiral staircases in your town by turning them until they work correctly.
- Log out from game while playing.
- Turn off the interactive loading screen.
Special Case: Island Paradise/Islo Paradiso
Islo Paradiso does have a lot of problems. Routing issues and the large world with an entire routable ocean are just an example.
Things you can try:
- Delete the Scott Family
- Use the cheat DiscoverAllUnchartedIslands to make all islands visible. I'm aware that this takes away from the fun but it seems to help some.
- Make sure you have no stuck sims in your town (use the cheat resetsim * to reset all sims in your town and put them to a safe location)
- Use Overwatch and ErrorTrap (those are mods and you'll be using at your own risk. Not supported by EA. Just google to find)
- Check for any aboandonned boats in your game and delete them by using testingcheatsenabled true and then shift-click on the boat and choose object-delete.
- If you're playing Hobart's Hideout, be aware of this issue: Routing Issues in the Resort Hobart’s Hideout
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