Re: Pets... sometimes stretch when idle...?

It isn't. Happens way too often even without custom content.

@Werusek-2000  It is in fact most often related to custom content, whether that's what's happening on your particular computer or not.  Given the relatively low rate of reports and the fact that the majority of people who do report it find they have bad cc or a mod that affects idles, it's pretty clear that this isn't a typical game bug outside of some very specific circumstances.

Anyway, if you have a mod that governs idles, for pets or for sims, remove that and see what happens.  Otherwise, test on a different lot, preferably one without a foundation or stairs, just to see whether the issue has to do with lot routing or something similar.

And what if it keeps happening even without mods and custom content? I don't even use store content anymore.

@Werusek-2000  Then I'm not sure.  I've been messing around with a lot of pets lately, and I haven't seen this at all.  I'd still be curious to know what the pets do immediately after stretching, and also what graphics settings you use; I'm playing on ultra.

Additionally, please let me know whether there are any stairs or ladders in the house and whether you happen to be playing in a houseboat or a house with stilts.

Definitely not a routing error, this happens on pure flat ground. Anywhere. Even without foundation, anything. It mostly happens with cats but with dogs too. Never seen it happen with puppies or kittens but probably because I don't play with puppies or kittens. So they usually stand around before doing the horrifying spingly thing, and they have no action when you click on them, completely idle. Then right after the horrific stretch, they "snap" back to their normal self and glance around as if nothing happened. (The AI becoming self-aware LOL)

Cats are more wide and stretched, dogs are more spingly and disoriented. This only happens ever so often, like a glitch- so it's like a horror movie lol. You ever seen the toddler stretching into adult sim glitch? That's what happens here. Additionally, I don't play with buggy EPs such as World Adventures, Showtime or Island Paradise. Don't own any stuff packs. Also, NEVER happens to horses. Never happens to minor pets either (Terrarium ones). Raccoons? I've never seen it with them but I'm pretty sure they can glitch out too since I've seen people talk about it. Deers don't glitch either. 

How do I find my specs? ^^

Nevermind. I have a built-in-retina display, with 8GB RAM which, isn't that tragic I'd assume. My last one, which was a windows laptop had intel graphics with 4GB RAM, you can assume how that went.

@Werusek-2000  I guess I don't know what to tell you.  I know about ladder issues and houseboat issues and some weirdness when a house is built on stilts, but I don't really understand why this would happen without any of those factors, and no custom content or mods that affect idling.  I also haven't seen it in my game at all, including in my current save, where the main household has a dog and there are plenty of cats roaming around.

Raccoons are built on the cat model, and deer on the horse model, so it makes sense that raccoons would be affected and not deer.

For the specs, I was looking for the info under About This Mac: everything except for the serial number.  And I'd like to know what graphics settings you're using as well; mine are on ultra other than water and high-detail lots.

For what it's worth, World Adventures isn't buggy at all if you exclude the mostly minor routing issues in the WA worlds.  Even that isn't too bad—my sims just got back from a 10-day trip to Shang Simla, and I think I had a total of three notifications about stuck sims.  The only Showtime glitch that affects performance in any meaningful way is the overproduction of career performance limos, and that can be disabled with NRaas Traffic.  The world of Isla Paradiso has many issues, but the rest of the pack's content is fine to use in any world that has room for it.  I understand if you don't want to use all the packs; I'm just saying you could.

I keep it as the settings that sims 3 automatically gives me, which is high. I uninstalled Nraas mods because I got scared that would be causing the glitch but is Nraas fair game? I’m playing with pets in my current save just to ensure it’s not a settings issue or  CC issue like you said.

@Werusek-2000  NRaas mods are all safe and will keep your saves in better shape than otherwise.  They were created by a professional software developer and have been extensively used, and supported, for almost the entire lifespan of Sims 3.  I totally understand being cautious about mods, but these in particular are a clear upgrade over a modless game.

So, what do you recommend I do?

Managed to grab a photo. This isn't my game, it was my friend's game a while back. She sent me this screenshot, but fairly she was using a lot of outdated CC and such. Additionally, this is exactly what happens to me.

@Werusek-2000  I knew what you meant about the pets stretching; I've seen lots of examples over the years.  I just don't know that you can fix it.  Without knowing your specs or your exact graphics settings, there's nothing else I can say.

Mac Specs  

  Model Name: MacBook Air

  Model Identifier: MacBookAir10,1

  Chip: Apple M1

  Total Number of Cores: 8 (4 performance and 4 efficiency)

  Memory: 8 GB

  System Firmware Version: 7459.141.1

  OS Loader Version: 7459.141.1

Game Settings  

Enable Object Hiding - Yes

Enable Animation Smoothing - Yes

Enable Advanced Rendering - Yes

Reflection Quality - Mirrors and water

Edge Smoothing - Off

Visual Effects - Medium

Lighting and Shadows - Medium

Tree Detail - Medium

Draw Distance - Medium

High Detail Lots - 3

Texture Detail - Low

Sim Detail - High

@Werusek-2000  That's not the info under About This Mac, and you probably want to remove the serial number and the two lines below it.  But MacBook Air 10,1 means M1, which is the important point anyway.

You should be able to play on ultra settings, not just high, although water and high-detail lots should be turned down to lower the strain on the game engine.  (Besides, the high-detail lots setting doesn't totally work in the 64-bit Mac version of the game.  So that's worth trying, including enabling Edge Smoothing.  When you change any graphics settings, do so at the Main Menu and quit to desktop before loading a save.

Still, I don't know whether this will help because I don't know why it's happening in the first place.  As I said, I'm not seeing it at all in my current save, where pets have had plenty of opportunities to glitch.

Ultra? That's not an option for me?

@Werusek-2000  I meant maxing out the settings in each category that isn't water or high-detail lots.  "Ultra" is just shorthand for the highest settings across the board.

You sure that's safe for me to do?

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@Werusek-2000 wrote:

You sure that's safe for me to do?

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Yes.  Just make sure your Mac can properly cool itself, which basically means playing on a hard flat surface or with the Mac elevated on a laptop tray or cooling pad.  (No playing with the laptop on top of a blanket.)  But it should be fine.

I've heard people say this before, isn't the reason some glitches happen because of overheating?

Thank you so much for your help.