Forum Discussion

6 years ago

My sim seems to freeze during working in their store

So I am fairly new to playing Sims 4, but when I initially started playing the Sims in their store they responded just fine. But now it take several seconds for my sims to respond to any command. In ...

SheriGR

Hero

6 years ago

@hallrebecca86

Can I please get some additional information?

Does this only happen on the retail lot & when responding to customers?
Does it only happen with this household?
What packs do you own?
Are you on PC, Mac or Console?
Is your game fully updated?
Did you run a game repair in Origin? [ Open Origin, click 'Game Library' then right-click Sims 4 > Repair Game ]
Do you have Mods or CC (Custom Content)?
Can you please attach a DxDiag? This can help us see if the computer is taxed by the game, etc.
Directions for gathering a DxDiag for your computer: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
Then you can attach the file to your reply on this post.
It may help to disable Origin in-game. Do this by opening Origin > Application Settings > Origin In-Game > and then toggle the 'Enable Origin In-Game' button to off.

I'm not sure if this is what you mean but in my game I've noticed lately that my sims seem to frequently pause maybe 1-5 seconds or more (seems like an eternity when waiting for them to do the task) as if they're 'considering on it' when I ask them to do things. I don't notice it all the time, so I wonder if it's certain tasks.

For instance. I've noticed this a lot in front of the refrigerator. They go to it and stand there a few seconds (so I start wondering if they froze or something), then they seem to suddenly remember what they're there for and the task kicks in. Like a 'mind fart' or 'senior moment'. 😉

A few things that may specifically help in the retail lot:

The pause button is your friend in retail. Pause to queue up the tasks immediately so no seconds are wasted while the customer is actively waiting and your sim has not yet received his/her 'directive' yet.
Sometimes pausing then unpausing seems to help the sim 'snap out of it'.
Employees are not entirely useful in retail, but worth having. You can assign one to check out customers. This may or may not help often enough, but it helps some of the time.
Multiple owners or employees may have autonomously decided to respond to the customer at the same time. This may also cause a hesitation in action.
Things like hesitancy can be more likely on a lot with a bunch of stuff going on or a lot of sims, also, which retail can be. Also watch for this factor.
Customer care can be a bit of a dance on retail lots sometimes, but you'll get used to it. Even when you do everything right sometimes things just go wrong. Perhaps a bit of randomized push-back in the algorithm for realism. I have wondered this at times.
This is a great guide for retail lot info: https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/expansionpacks/gettowork/retail/

I look forward to getting your information and looking into this further if needed.

hallrebecca86
6 years ago
It mostly happens in the retail lot. especially if I am asking the sim to ring up a customer. It will pause for several seconds. pausing and unpausing sometimes helps, but only randomly. it occasionally do this when standing in front of a bassinet for a baby as well. but it mostly in the store. Sometimes I can't get it the sim to make any money because all the sims needing to make a purchase have walked out , before the sim is ready to respond to the first customer. I own the Get to Work and Cats and Dogs expansion packs, as well as the great outdoors, and kitchen cool stuff. It is all for the pc. It is fully updated. But, I will try the game repair. I don't have any mods or cc. I will check out the guide as well.
- DonroaAkashu
  Seasoned Ace
  6 years ago
  I recognize this as well, I fear my computer may be underpowered for the Sims 4. You could post your computer specifications, or better, make a dxdiag report of it, for more information to be visible. I can't promise I will be able to understand all of it, but there are other players here that are good at hardware and I'm sure they'll try to help.
  
  How to make a dxdiag:
  https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/
  
  Also, could you tell what fps you get. When in game press keys Ctrl+Shift+C and type in: fps on , the hit enter. The number is usually in the upper right corner. Play for 10 min or so, and keep and eye on it and write back what different numbers you get. I'm not sure it is actually related to your problem, but it could be interesting to know anyway. To get the number to disappear you can either just exit the game, or bring up the cheat console again and type: fps off (and enter).