Re: Time freezing, animation looping in university dorm

Thanks very much for getting back to me. I've attached the dxdiag and a screenshot of my Task Manager. I didn't actually take the screenshot when the game froze, just when it started to lag like it was about to. 

@remedialcha0s  Your dxdiag is full of Windows update errors, so many that any possible Sims 4 errors have been crowded out.  You're also on a Windows build that's almost three years old and has been out of support for over a year.  Have you been deliberately blocking updates, and if so, is there a particular reason?  Did you recently reset the computer to factory settings?  I ask because this should absolutely be addressed even separate from any Sims 4-related issues.

For the save itself, how large is the save file?  Please open Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > saves, sort the folder by modified date, and post a screenshot.

Please don't save your progress while playing this save, at least not right now.  You might need to revert to one of the backup saves, and that would only be helpful if you have an old-enough backup.  Saving demotes each of the previous backups and erases the oldest one.

Thank you so much for pointing this out to me! I was given this laptop by a family member not long ago and hadn't noticed I wasn't getting any updates. Took me a good few hours to find a fix online as Windows Updater itself was corrupted, but it's all sorted and up to date now. I dread to think how much longer I would have carried on without picking up on the lack of updates, so thanks again. 

I've attached a screenshot of my save files - all the visible ones are the same save game. Hadn't realised I had so many as MCCC autosaves for me, could too many saves be an issue? Regardless I've stopped saving now.

@remedialcha0s  Your saves list looks fine, and the fact that you have a lot of saves shouldn't have any impact here.  The game should only load data from the save you're playing, otehr than the thumbnails from the other saves at the Main Menu of course.  On the other hand, it's not going to hurt anything to move your older saves elsewhere, and it might make keeping track of the saves easier for you.  Whatever you prefer is fine.

Your save was using most of your computer's memory but not all of it, and I wonder if the RAM use keeps going up until you really can't do anything at all with the save.  It's difficult to tell from one screenshot, but you can keep an eye on the Task Manager once the save starts to lag and see what happens.

It's also entirely possible that this save's RAM use is fairly stable but that it's high enough overall to cause problems.  In that case, try playing this save immediately after restarting your computer and without opening anything else, other than the EA App of course.  It can also help to put the App in offline mode.  Other than cutting off access to the Gallery, this shouldn't affect the game at all.

Hi!

I have the exact same problem and I have tried everything but it still freezes. (like the other user said, only the time, but the trees are moving) And also only just with the sim who is in university. ☹️

Can you help me too, please! I really want to continue playing with her !!

Thanks

@btmdwsyrix5q  Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

I am having the same issue. I’ve updated my driver and Windows is up to date. 

@mjacks48  Does this happen in all saves or only the one?  Do you use mods and custom content, and if so, does it happen with no mods or cc present?  I'm not saying you need to abandon the save or the third-party content, only that this is a useful test to perform before jumping down the rabbithole of potential system issues.

@puzzlezaddict Only the one save. I did two things:

First I created a new household with Mods and CC intact and the game time did not freeze and crash it ran smoothly. I then went back to the "bad save" with mods and cc and had the same time freezing issues

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@puzzlezaddict wrote:

@mjacks48  Does this happen in all saves or only the one?  Do you use mods and custom content, and if so, does it happen with no mods or cc present?  I'm not saying you need to abandon the save or the third-party content, only that this is a useful test to perform before jumping down the rabbithole of potential system issues.

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Now I just removed my entire Sims 4 out of Documents and on to my Desktop and created a house hold and ran the game with no issues (no mods no cc). Then I only put back my SAVED file that was on the desktop in the "new" vanilla game with no mods or cc just saved file and the game with this ONE saved file still froze time and crashed. 

@mjacks48  Alright, you've established pretty definitively that the problem is only the one save.  Do you see the same issues if you play a different household within that save?  You don't need to save your progress; the point is to test.  Please try a household in a different world.

Please also try moving your main household to a different lot, again just for testing purposes.

Thanks for the suggestions. So I tried 3 things:

1. Playing a different household in the same save : time stopped and game crashed

2. Moved main/problem household to a different lot within the same world : time stopped and game crashed

3. Moved main/problem household to a different world and different lot: time stopped and game crashed 

I also noted that the game crashed at the same "hour" mark for each trial : 2:16 am 

For kicks and giggles I turned off my anti virus protection: time stopped & game crashed 

@mjacks48  It sounds like something is firing at 2:16 am, or close enough, that's causing the game to fall all over itself.  Do you have Eco Lifestyle installed, and if so, have you been allowing sims to vote on NAPs?  I'm not exactly sure when the commodities associated with NAPs get applied to sims, but that could be one cause.  Another could be updating the eco footprint of the worlds.

If you do have Eco Lifestyle installed, try disabling it and playing the save forward, again just as a test.  Here's how:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2017/03/disable-single-packs/

Please do test with no mods or custom content present as well.  I know you already established that this save will crash with no mods or cc, but it's always possible that you're seeing multiple issues, so it's better to test with as simple a setup as possible and build from there.

@puzzlezaddict interesting observation however I do not have the Eco Life Style pack. The only packs/expansion in my game are:

• Cottage Living
• Season
• Cats and Dogs
• City Living
• Dine Out
• Holiday Celebration Pack
• Get to Work ("Kim K voice")

@mjacks48  I don't typically see issues with those packs on powerful-enough systems, as yours is.  One exception is that San Myshuno can run badly, but that's not the problem here; another is that the wild animals from Cottage Living can run amok, which shouldn't be an issue if you've tested on different lots that don't use the associated lot traits.

Please load this save, let the game clock run for a few sim-minutes, then let me know how much RAM the save is using.  Don't minimize Sims 4 when you check; just put it in windowed mode and alt-tab.  Additionally, if you're willing to use a mod for testing, please install Show Sim Info by Frankk (this is the newer one; the MTS version is outdated), click on a sim in this save, choose Search all sims, and let me know how many sims are listed.  The total will be right at the top.

@puzzlezaddict  The saved problem household is actually located in San Myshuno!

I haven’t tried your other suggestion prior.. however since you mention San Myshuno can run badly should i disable that pack?

@mjacks48  City Living itself should be totally fine; it's just the world that has problems.  But that's why I suggested testing the same household in a different world, preferably one of the base game worlds.  The problems from San Myshuno have never followed sims elsewhere, at least as far as I've ever seen.

@puzzlezaddict 

I installed the mod & its saying there is over 18,536 Sims below! 😕 

@mjacks48  That is way too many sims, and unfortunately, there's no efficient way to get rid of all the extras without also flushing the ones you want to keep.  (It may even be impossible to delete all the sims, as in, the game might run out of memory before it can finish the task.)  I was actually wondering how much RAM Sims 4 was using, not just your system overall, but 14.6 GB in use is far too much if you're only running Sims 4 and maybe a couple of browser windows.

If you have a backup of this save, please load it and see how many sims there are.  This is probably the most accurate predictor of whether a given backup is affected too.  Even if you've never made any backups, the game keeps older copies of your saves.  You can use the manual method of restoring them described here:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/recover-backup-save-game/

Your oldest save will be the one with .ver4 on the end, so be sure to try that even if the newer ones are affected.

If all the backups have 18k sims, or close enough, then all I can suggest is saving your favorite sims to the library and placing them in a new save.  (MCCC could restore relationships not preserved in the transfer.)  I haven't tested this problem myself, but someone else who did on a high-end gaming system with 32 GB RAM couldn't get the sims deleted, and in that case there were only about 10k.  Or if the save is important to you, you could go through and delete a handful at a time, saving along the way, but that would take hours even if Sims 4 never crashed.  So I don't know whether that would be worth the time and effort.

@puzzlezaddict yea I was hoping MCCC mod delete all un played sims option worked  because they are not important to me they are all NPC un played households but running the mod kept freezing the game

  I saved the household to the library and started a new game and the sim count is down to 89! 

Fingers crossed it solved the issue cause my RAM usage decreased as well

@mjacks48  I hope this has resolved the issue too, but I'd strongly suggest keeping extra backups, or using "Save as" frequently, for a while at least.  And keep an eye on the total number of sims too.  I think the generation of all those extra sims is probably mod-related—everyone affected that I've seen has been a mod user—but I was never able to figure out which mod that was, so please be cautious in adding yours back.

HI, it's OP again. I never managed to solve the issue but played a different save file outside of Britechester for a while. I almost forgot about this bug, but now I'm having the same issue again in a different save file (but in the uni dorm, same as before). Launching the game just after booting my laptop up gives me a couple extra minutes before the bug appears but it happens every time. I'm wondering what could be causing it? ☹️

@remedialcha0s  Please let me know how much memory Sims 4 and your system overall are using, now in this new save, when you run into the issue.  A screenshot of the Task Manager's Processes tab would be enough; you can put the game into windowed mode (but don't minimize it) to check.

Please also list which dorm, how many sims are under your control, and how many roommates there are on the lot.  I'm wondering if there's a pattern.  Additionally, if it's not the default in-game dorm, please let me know whether you built it or downloaded it, and if the latter, the creator and lot name so I can check it out in the Gallery.

I now play university for the first time, and I've got exactly this bug too. Two Sims of mine moved into the dorm on a Saturday, and on Sunday (somewhere around 2 pm) the game froze, but the sound was still going on like voices from sims and trees were still moving in the wind. But I couldn't click anywhere, couldn't save or travel.

It is very annoying and disruptive, and I haven't figured out what causes it. I checked with my mods and without my mods, it was still there. Then I let the game create a new Sims 4 Folder, and it was still there with and without mods. Only when I started a completely new save and let Sims move into the dorm (with my mods) and fast forwarded like 4-5 days, and no game freezing. So I don't know if my precious 6year old save file is corrupted, but I am not willing to start over just for university. Otherwise the savefile works fine.

So my "workaround" is this:

1. Every few real life minutes I save, so if the game freezes again, I don't lose much progress. (Important: First I check, if the Sims are not accidently frozen in their looping animation. Only if they can move freely like walk somewhere, I save)

2. When the game freezes, I have to force my computer to close the game or completely shut down the computer, because sometimes I can't even access my desktop anymore. After that I open the game again, and load the latest save. But I don't let the Sim continue what they were doing before the game froze. Instead I cancel, what the Sim is currently doing and travel with him to another lot. So the game will not automatically freeze again. 

I played one full week of university and my game froze like 5-6 times. But luckily I saved so often that nearly no progress was lost the entire week. Maybe this is helpful to someone else who has the same problem. 🙂

Some infos:

I play 2 Sims of mine, there are 8 nonplayed students as roommates. The University is Britechester.

When you look at the map of Britechester, there are two dorms on the map, one at the top and one at the bottom. I live in the bottom one.

I replaced the default dorm with my selfmade dorm, no CC used.

@MissLjupka  The issue might be the dorm you made; a few other players have reported this problem only in custom-built dorms.  (I don't mean dorms that have cc, just those that have been modified.)  If you're not happy with this workaround, it's worth testing in one of the default builds instead.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you for your reply. 🙂 Hm, when I let the game generate a new Sims 4 folder, my last try was to open a fresh save with random Sims, without adding my saves. But while testing the gameplay in this new save I then also added my Mods and placed my own dorm. And it worked just fine, no freezing at all. I fast forwarded a few days and everything was ok.

That was the moment it hit me that something might be wrong with my beloved save file in relation to the university game play. But I can't figure out, what the problem could be. It would be so much easier if the problem was caused by Mods or even if the problem was the dorm itself. But my testing showed that it is neither caused by Mods or by my costum build dorm. Sigh. 

Edit: Hm, but I never tried it the other way around like you said...maybe my dorm build has for some reason only a problem with my current save file, but works perfectly fine in a fresh save. If I find the time I will try to replace (for testing purposes) my own dorm with the default one in my current save and see if the freezing is then gone. 

Thank you for your help and your work here on the forums. I will follow this thread just in case someone finds the source of the problem. 🙂