Platform: PC / Windows
Game: The Sims 4
Issue: Extremely long or apparently endless loading screens, including after removing all mods.
I have been experiencing increasingly severe loading and gameplay issues after the recent update.
Initially, I was testing my game with mods installed. I completed a full beta test of my mod setup and the game was loading and functioning normally at that point.
Since then, my main legacy save has developed extremely long loading screens. The game can sit on a loading screen for 15 minutes or longer without entering the save.
I initially suspected my mods, so I began troubleshooting.
Troubleshooting already completed:
- Restarted the game multiple times.
- Restarted the computer.
- Deleted localthumbcache.package.
- Removed the entire Mods folder.
- Attempted to launch and test the game completely vanilla.
- Used a separate throwaway/test save rather than immediately opening my main legacy save.
- Previously tested my mods individually/in groups and had them working correctly before this problem began.
Even with the game running without mods, loading is now taking far longer than normal and appears to become stuck.
Before this loading problem became severe, I was also experiencing the following gameplay issues:
- Sim interaction menus and phone menus taking approximately 3–5 seconds to appear.
- Clicking another Sim sometimes taking approximately 5–30 seconds before interactions initiate.
- Sims occasionally freezing completely.
- Saving does not always fix the freeze.
- Resetting the affected Sim does not fix it.
- Going into Manage Worlds has sometimes been the only way to get the game functioning again.
- Infant-care interactions have been particularly delayed. Actions involving infants can take around 15–20 in-game minutes to complete, including something as simple as picking up an infant.
- Queued infant-care interactions frequently do not progress normally and often have to be issued one at a time.
- Dates sometimes fail to end smoothly, and on one occasion I could not click any Sim to access the interaction menu and had to end the date using the event controls in the top-left corner.
I understand that modded games can load more slowly, but the important point is that I am now seeing abnormal loading behavior after removing all mods and clearing the cache.
My fully modded test setup had previously been loading correctly, which is why the sudden deterioration is particularly concerning.
Expected behavior:
The game should load into a save within a reasonable amount of time and Sim interactions should execute without extremely long delays or requiring Manage Worlds to recover the game.
Actual behavior:
Loading screens can remain for 15 minutes or longer, sometimes appearing to never complete. When the game does load, interactions can be significantly delayed and Sims can become stuck.
This has made the game extremely difficult to play and troubleshoot because the behavior is occurring even when testing without mods.
Please investigate whether there is a current issue causing very long/infinite loading screens, save-related loading problems, or severe simulation/interaction lag.
I have spent a substantial amount of money on The Sims 4 and its additional content, and I expect the game and the content I have paid for to remain reasonably playable.
I am also an Australian consumer, and my purchases are covered by the consumer guarantees contained in the Australian Consumer Law. Those rights cannot simply be excluded by a standard refund policy. Where a product has a major failure, Australian consumers may be entitled to choose a refund or replacement.
If these ongoing issues cannot be resolved within a reasonable time and the game continues to be unusable despite the extensive troubleshooting I have already carried out, I will be formally pursuing the remedies available to me under Australian Consumer Law, including a refund where applicable, for the game and content I have purchased.
I would much rather have a functioning game that I can actually play, but I am no longer prepared to continually spend days troubleshooting a product and additional content that I have paid for.
