Unresponsive Sims

@Matteuch 

There is an issue where 2 or more sims will become connected somehow when in close proximity.  One will go about their business and the others involved will just stand there doing idle animations, but queued actions won't drop, and the sim doesn't do them.  I have it happen quite a bit and have learned to keep them apart when doing things like homework, etc.  What it takes to get all the sims going again is to reset a sim with the debug reset option.  The type in reset command may work too but idk as I just keep testingcheats on, so the debug options are available to me all the time.  So, when it happens, try resetting the sim that is just standing there.  What you should see is at least 2 sims reset.  And if the sim that was doing something like fabricating something or making nectar, you'll lose that progress.

There's nothing else I've found to get around it.  

Hope this helps.

Hi! 

Thanks for the reply. I did observe that two of my sims would be reset at once so I’ll try to avoid them interacting although it sucks for the gameplay. Thanks for the tip! 
But my problem is a bit more general, sometimes they are floors apart and all my sims in my household are blocked… In that case debugging them does nothing ☹️ 

It seems to have something to do with how many sims are on the plot because on a different save with just one sim in a two appartments location there is no issue. 

@Matteuch 

It's ok if the sims are actively interacting with each other most of the time.  I have it happen when two sims are just in close proximity doing different things like where I have my shop area and one might be working on candles and the other on the robot workstation.   But from what you've said, you might have something else going on.  Something that is causing the game to lag.

Are you playing with autonomy on or off?  You could try turning autonomy off to see if there is any change. I find that if I turn autonomy off on certain lots, usually the larger ones with 8 sims on them, they play a lot better and smoother.

What is your usual frame rate (FPS)?  You can see what that is in the lower left corner of the screen by opening the command line and typing FPS on.  You can turn it off again with FPS off.  I sometimes get frame rates in the single digits, and it almost feels like everything is running in slow motion.  One thing I have found that will improve it when my FPS is low is to quit, delete the localthumbcache file and restart.  Usually that gets it back up to where the game runs smoothly again.  I also have found the number of background programs and the order you start them will have an impact on the game.  For instance, I've learned to start the game before starting other apps like Discord.  It's fine when the other apps are started after the game is going but a lot of the time, if I start other apps first, the game will be laggy.

Hope this helps.

Hi!

Thanks a lot for all the suggestions. Unfortunately none of them solved my issues. 
- I tried disabling sims autonomy

- i checked my FPS and it was always around 80 which I assume is normal

- i always close every other app on my laptop when I play 

In the end I moved my original family on a non-rental lot, sold their rental so that they wouldn’t have to manage it, and everything works just fine again. Therefore I suspect it has something to do with the For Rent pack. I am disappointed not to be able to play with something I paid for. I hope a patch update will fix the issue at some point. 

Many thanks again for the help! 

@Matteuch 

Well, at least you found the cause.  I built and have played in a 6-apartment residential rental and don't have any problems like that, so I know it works.  But I do know that there are a lot of issues associated with them, particularly with some downloads of that venue from the Gallery.  If you downloaded the lot, maybe you got one that has problems.  And even with the one I built and played myself, I have noticed some things that don't happen with other venues.  Longer load times and a delay when traveling chief among them.  They do seem a bit more sensitive to the order in which you do things and in the way you have to go about building them too.  So, there is certainly room for improvement on what goes on for the venue. So, don't give up on playing them.  

Hope this helps.