Great addition but no townies in Late Night

[carisa761]

I finally got LN installed and working and got to play for a few hours earlier today. Its great, I love the more urban environment and living in the high rises. Going out to clubs would be a lot of fun to except when I try to go to one, there are no other sims apart from sims on the job like bouncers and bar tenders. I also noticed that there are barley any other sims out walking the streets. Im certain my computer is more than ample to run the game well and am not having any performance issues or anything. Is this a common thing? Otherwise, the game is an excellent addition and what Ive been hoping sims lives could be like.

[Shoosh Malooka]

That would disappoint me greatly. A city should have a gangload of sims milling about thither and yonder. Perhaps the Sims 3 engine will warm up and make more townies, or you can begin filling the lots with eight sims each. There are also reports of clubs having no patrons in them except for service sims. Being the only sim in a bar is the antithesis of the purpose of going to a bar. This is why I chose to wait.

I hope things work out for you.

[Srikandi]

Theoretically at least (based on the previews), clubs have varying degrees of popularity that varies from day to day. Some clubs will be empty while others will be packed.

Not sure how you find out, but I'm guessing the paper?

[CisteCaise]

That's strange, my Bridgeport is chock full of people. Srikandi is right, the popularity will affect how many Sims are at a lot. You can find out what will be a hotspot by reading the paper, gossiping, or simply walking on a lot.

[Captain THPS4]

For me it doesn't matter whether it's a hotspot or not, usually only one other sim max will stop by at whatever club I'm at and it's usually just the paparazzi (even though none of my sims are famous yet). I'm on a low-end system and I'm in a custom hood so results may vary. My game is not lagging that much though so I don't think my game will crash if at least two or three more sims showed up.

[carisa761]

thanks! the tip about the newspaper helped. it told me to go to a dive bar and sure enough there were already 4 other sims hangin out in there. through the course of the night no other sims came or left though. but at least it was something and my poor girl isnt all by herself with no one to talk to but the bartender. looking forward to trying it out with a lounge or dance club to see if even more sims will show in the larger clubs.

[BrianChambers]

I would also make sure your actually visiting lot, not just "Go here" to make sure people show up to as thats been a problem I've had with non populated places in the past.

[jay_envy]

I'm having this same issue. I'll go to one of the 'hotspots' and nobody will be there, or there will only be like 3 people. How is my vampire/celebrity sim supposed to get her slut on?

[acid_fairy]

Anybody tested the performance theory by turning their settings down and seeing if they get more sims around town?

My computer is the opposite - it thinks it can handle more than it can. Ohh silly Dell, silly overheating graphics card.

[mswilson2007]

I totally agree...I was excepting to be a big party everywhere I went. Sadly nothing...and my sim has 4 celebrity stars and nothing.

[seanp]

Am having the same problem, have a sim that is a 4 star celebrity and everywhere she goes nothing turns up. Haven't tried reading the paper though.

[skeletonkiss]

Having the same issue, the most sims I've seen in one lot was 3-4, not including NPC's, and that was rare. Same with the whole town, fairly few sims just wandering around.

Wondering if this is a performance issue or what.

[seanp]

Am starting to think it is a bug but I've seen other posts where people aren't having the issue. Tried dumbing down the graphics just to see if it'd help and nothing. But besides that, seems like a really fun expansion so far.

[so_freakin_glam]

Maybe EA hyped us up?. remember the ghost town in nightlife?

[acid_fairy]

I don't think it was hyped up because that video posted from Gamespot, I think it was? Was someone else playing it with Grant directing him round, and even though they were in the dive bar place, it still had quite a few sims around.
Also, on the official forums, some people are reporting LOADS of sims and some aren't getting any so I reckon it's just a typical bug. With any luck Pescado will implement it into awesomemod.

[Mishy]

YIKES! i will be recieving my copy later today or tomorrow, and i hope this annoying bug wont be party pooping all over my sims late nights fun!

[ChaoKuang]

Each club has peak times that vary, so try hitting the clubs during their peaks to get the best crowds.

[sharkloverplayer]

Yesterday I went into a bar that had a lot of sims but no bartender on duty. I didn't see a bartender so I clicked on the bar and it said no bartender on duty. Is this a bug?

[Akadai]

I would think (if this is how it works) if you lowered your game settings, the game might think you can't handle that many sims and try not to include that many where ever you go. I on the other hand have my settings nearly maxed out and I get about 8-12 sims where ever my sim goes. I'm actually finding it a little annoying. Not because my system can't handle it, but because I don't like stalker sims. Will probably be fixed once I get it modded again

I've only come across 1 bar that didn't have a bartender, but the bartender showed up the next day I went. I have the issue of no consignment shop owner showing up. I haven't been able to buy from the shop once yet

[jay_envy]

^ Only problem with the settings issue is that all my setting are either on medium or are maxed out. My computer should be able to handle that many sims, as even at parties there are like 10 to 12 sims there. So I'm sure its just an annoying, pain in the ass bug.

[carisa761]

I noticed that only when I go to dive bars that are listed as hotspots do i get a few other sims to show up. If I go to a lounge or dance club, no mater if its a hotspot or not, there are still no other sims in the location. I even get the pop up saying that the palce is jumping tonight or that everyone in town must be there. No one.

I did try lowering all my game settings to their lowest value. And still nothing. It didnt help in the least. It doesnt make sense, my computer is practically new and has more than enough oomph to run the game. Im really hoping that EA finds a fix for this or someone makes a hack to ignore game limitations of townies on the lots. I think I remember there being a similar hack for Hot Date way back in the day. Or maybe it was Nightlife.

[sharkloverplayer]

I sent my sim in a dance club today at 4pm sim time. The only one there was the bartender and bouncer however at 10pm quite a few sims entered the club and one was a vampire. They all proceded to the dance floor.

[carisa761]

I know time can matter, but Ill send my girl out right after work at 6pm and shell be there till the club closes at 2 or 4am and not a single non-employee sim will show up the entire night.

[aliydna]

i don't think it's because of performance issues..
have u ever seen riot or protest at city hall? or have ur sims ever had any award ceremony at city hall?
i have, and i can see lots of townies there, more than 12 if i'm not mistaken..

[Ericm]

I've noticed that any bar with a velvet rope at the entrance seems to be deserted. If my sim goes to a place without one, like Eugi's, Waylon's Hangout or The Grind, there'll be a few sims there and some more rapidly show up. Just like any community lot. If I go to an exclusive club, there might be, maybe, 1 lone sim hanging out, while a stream of people show up, ask to get in, get denied, and leave. I even tried a test game where I invited the welcome wagon out to the sports bar. That place has two ropes, a no star rope and an exclusive area rope. A lone celebrity was hanging out in the exclusive area, while the outer area was
deserted. All three sims I brought with me immediately asked to get in to the exclusive area, got denied, and left, thanking me for a great time as they went!

[acid_fairy]

I too am having the no sims at hotspots problem.

The busiest it got was at a dive bar, not at the time it was meant to be popular. My sim was only there to promote a film and about 6 other sims, including celebrities, joined her. But aside from that - nada. I really want to see some celebs at the high end clubs!

And like Aliydna, I get loads of sims at protests at city hall. I get loads of sims at house parties when I throw them. But the nightlife in LN is just not happening.

Edit: It does seem to be places with the velvet rope but in my game sims don't even TRY to get in!

[mjhunter]

I've notice that some bars are empty while other places are packed; and like the previews showed us, it really is because of popularity. Just last night I had my sim and a small group of sims go to a bar; and upon arriving we got a new moodlet and a message that stated that "This place is hotter than..." (can't remember the whole message). The moodlet was because the place was packed full of sims. A lot of the 'popularity' seemed to stem from the fact that several 3, 4, and even a 5 star celebrity were at the bar, mingling amongst the 'normal' sims.

So, I really believe it does take into effect which bar will be popular on Monday, then Tuesday, etc... Have yet to find out which place, but I assume the computer may have an option to find out or even the Newspaper.

[acid_fairy]

I get those messages that say that the bar is hot, and it's lies! Just my sim, the bouncer and the bartender. It's a bug, and it sucks.

[Fernweather]

I get those messages that say that the bar is hot, and it's lies! Just my sim, the bouncer and the bartender. It's a bug, and it sucks.
Maybe the bar is packed, but it just happens to be Ninja Night (Ninjas drink free!).

[lizbethbear]

I have heard that you can check hotspots via the newspaper. But how do you do that? My newspaper doesn't have a special option for it, and when i read it it just tells me about sporting events or families moving in or out. :(

[GrizBehr]

I have heard that you can check hotspots via the newspaper. But how do you do that? My newspaper doesn't have a special option for it, and when i read it it just tells me about sporting events or families moving in or out. :(

Sometimes an article will come up with a Celebrity Hot Spot headline that will tell you. It doesn't happen every day.

Sometimes I get alot of Sims at a hot spot, others only 1 or 2.

[Jaeger]

I wonder if the bartender skill has anything to do with it...

Maybe you need to wait until their skill get higher or play one and crash course their ass.

Carl's Sims Guide has a detailed Mixologist article.

http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/

[lostinshalott]

I finally got into the clubs after some sort of bug made it so none of the bouncers appeared and we couldn't get in, to find that there was no one there even when I got the hot spot message. No one is ever in the really swish clubs its only the grimy bars, I also have only ever seen two vampires I have no idea where the vampire club is but its also probably empty. Kinda sucks the fun out the game ):

[Tanja1986]

I finally got into the clubs after some sort of bug made it so none of the bouncers appeared and we couldn't get in, to find that there was no one there even when I got the hot spot message. No one is ever in the really swish clubs its only the grimy bars, I also have only ever seen two vampires I have no idea where the vampire club is but its also probably empty. Kinda sucks the fun out the game ):

Like the name says you should find the vampires in the bar called Plasma 101! Its the same name the Plasma Fruits exclusive for vampires have!
But for some reason all the other sims go there but the vampires not... At least in my game... :(

the NPC vampires in my game go everywhere also at daylight, its no problem to call a vampire with the phone and get him/her to your apartment/house, also at daylight.

I have found some vampires in my game, but your right, that the town itself is empty somehow! I dont see any sims outside, most only a few in the big park. But thats it... Only from 3 pm - 3-4 am there are more sims in the bars and clubs

[so_freakin_glam]

i don't think it's because of performance issues..
have u ever seen riot or protest at city hall? or have ur sims ever had any award ceremony at city hall?
i have, and i can see lots of townies there, more than 12 if i'm not mistaken..
exactyl! in the small towns we get townies all over the place walking around or doing whatever, but the city is empty? no sims on the steets no sims in the clubs?

[Sec_1971]

The only bug I'm having is that I can't tend bar. Oh, I'll stand there and wipe counter, polish glasses and the like, but when someone comes up and sits down, my sim just stands there and the "make drink" queue appears and disappears. The customer eventually leaves, shrugging....

Shoosh Malooka, did you just say, "thither and yonder?" LOL

[Fernweather]

It looks like the max number of sims at any venue is capped by the game based on the rating it assigns to your comp's processor. Really high-end machines will allow up to 20 sims to be attracted to a lot, while machines with craptastic processors will cap the max at 4 :( . To change this requires either a core mod or a modified GraphicsRules file (to trick the game into thinking you have a better processor than you do).

[DarkHellboy]

Yesterday I went into a bar that had a lot of sims but no bartender on duty. I didn't see a bartender so I clicked on the bar and it said no bartender on duty. Is this a bug?

I'm having the same problem e___e Lots of sims, but no bartender...I have an oportunity that needs me to take a drink at someplace...but I've tried going there 4 nights and no bartender could be found .-.

[Captain THPS4]

Now it does really seem like it's my game capping the amount of other sims on community lots to 4. For the sports bar I took away one of the velvet ropes so that left 1 bouncer, 2 mixologists plus the 1 visitor. When I had the buggy version of Twallan's register mod that prevented bartenders and bouncers from showing up, there were always 3 or 4 other sims showing up. When I took two of my sims to a park 4 others came. The previous night, my sims crashed a house party and there were 4 or 5 sims (not counting the 3 residents) which was great. So I'm 99% sure it's a slightly too strict limit for me.

[Fernweather]

Now it does really seem like it's my game capping the amount of other sims on community lots to 4. For the sports bar I took away one of the velvet ropes so that left 1 bouncer, 2 mixologists plus the 1 visitor. When I had the buggy version of Twallan's register mod that prevented bartenders and bouncers from showing up, there were always 3 or 4 other sims showing up. When I took two of my sims to a park 4 others came. The previous night, my sims crashed a house party and there were 4 or 5 sims (not counting the 3 residents) which was great. So I'm 99% sure it's a slightly too strict limit for me.
One way to tell if it is the game throttling back the number of sims on the lot is to take a look at the DeviceConfig file in your Sims 3 user folder and find the following block:
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 4 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 1 RAM: 3 CPU Speed: 2199 Threading: 1
Adjusted CPU: 2199 RAM: 2047 Adjusted RAM: 2047 Cores: 1
The CPU rating will let you know what the game will cap venue populations at:

4 sims
9 sims
13 sims
20 sims

[[Black_Spirit]]

I have this :

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 3 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 1 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 1596 Threading: 3

But however, in my game, there is always NO sims in the bars and hotspots. (even when I put the graphical settings at the minimum and even if I remove the barrier ropes)
I hate it, what's the point in being alone in a bar ? That really sucks. EA'd better make a patch for this and quick !

EDIT : I went to a bar called Edgis or something like that, and there was a lot of people in fact. The same with the grind. Maybe it's related to those ropes. I'm gonna delete them all and check this out.

[dylanino]

we can change the cpu setting in this file ?

[potatoehead]

Curious. I have an Intel i7 quad-core processor at 1.73 GHz and the DeviceConfig file rates it as 1. I know the game only uses two cores, but still...

[suzetter]

Are you sure it is a processor thing? My machine is just ok but I can invite 12 or more sims to a party and if its at a venue there's also the bartender(s), Bouncer(s) and the host sims so there can be anywhere between 12-20 sims on the lot. But there's never 12-20 sims at the clubs when I just send my sims there. I thought perhaps it had to do with there being only 60 sims in LN and with 8 clubs and bars at least 25% of them are at work each night. I am going to try populating the town with my sims.

[acid_fairy]

Mine says:

GPU: 4 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 1 RAM: 3 CPU Speed: 1994 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2259 RAM: 3069 Adjusted RAM: 2557 Cores: 2

Which number are we meant to be looking at? I get a lot of sims at parties but hardly any at venues, even with the rope barriers taken down.

[crazycrabbe]

Here's my log:

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 4 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2194 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2925 RAM: 3069 Adjusted RAM: 3069 Cores: 2

And I'm STILL only seeing about 4 sims at a hotspot if I'm lucky! Also, I tend to see a group of three sims clustered at the entrance of either the subway or an apartment building that my sim is walking by. But that's it as far as townies walking about town. Bridgeport is one heck of a lonely place. I'm getting bored living in this ghost town. As far as neighbors, I only have one in my highrise, even though there is one other apartment on my floor.

I'm going to experiment and move in a bunch of sims from the sim bin into various apartment buildings around town and see if that picks things up a bit. If I have any luck, I'll report back.

[FeNerd]

This is mine, I am having the same problem but my computer should be MORE than able to run the game. I can run it on max settings with zero problems,

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2400 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2800 RAM: 4094 Adjusted RAM: 3582 Cores: 4

CPU gets a 3, so if what Fernweather posted is correct I should be able to have 13 sims. Parties are fine, I went to a dive bar and there was one other customer but at the other bars and clubs it is just me and the staff. Tried it without any CC or mods but no change.

All points to a bug to me.

[potatoehead]

What CPU do you have? I'm getting the feeling the game is using only clock rate as the deciding factor for the CPU rating. (Yes, I know I'm getting off topic, but this is really confusing me.)

[FeNerd]

Intel Quad Core Q6600 @2.4GHz. a few years old yes but more than surpasses the game requirements.

[JettBlack]

One way to tell if it is the game throttling back the number of sims on the lot is to take a look at the DeviceConfig file in your Sims 3 user folder and find the following block:
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 4 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 1 RAM: 3 CPU Speed: 2199 Threading: 1
Adjusted CPU: 2199 RAM: 2047 Adjusted RAM: 2047 Cores: 1
The CPU rating will let you know what the game will cap venue populations at:

4 sims
9 sims
13 sims
20 sims


I don't buy this theory nor do I like it. And I believe we are finding out that isn't true either. But I will say this, it seems like after ambitions came out, towns seemed to empty out a lot more.

To be honest I sort of noticed this emptying out of the cities a lot earlier. I think the current theories of the velvet rope and my theory of recent patches are more likely the problem.

It definitely takes a lot out of the whole appeal of this release when you have patched out sims actually participating in the world.

And I for one don't believe for a second that the sim sprites themselves are that CPU intensive, of course it is the hi detail lots that would be more intensive.

And a question to end this, has anyone had multiple paparazzi following them, for me, it always seems like the same guy. And not only that, but the amount of celebrities itself is extremely weak.

Clearly we've got some hard coded bugs to work out

[Captain THPS4]

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 1 GPU Memory: 2 CPU: 3 RAM: 2 CPU Speed: 2400 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2800 RAM: 2047 Adjusted RAM: 1535 Cores: 2

Well I'll be darned. Despite my MacBook barely meeting the system requirements posted on the box, it should be able to handle around 13 sims? I thought that many sims at once would make it overheat, crash and/or explode. Even before LN I've never had that many sims on a community lot at once. Heck...from what I remember I don't think I've seen more than 8 when I was playing on my Windows PC with the same 2 GB of ram, but with the nvidia geforce 7300LE graphics card which isn't great but still better than my Macbook's X3100.

If this is really a bug then I've had it for a while and on two different systems! lol I don't think I could really get away with even getting into the double digits.

[JettBlack]

Just posting a request for players to post their packed clubs and bar screenshots. I want to see how it looks because it isn't working for me yet...

[crazycrabbe]

An update on the empty bars: I've followed some people's suggestions and I'm seeing significant improvement! I went to Eugie's bar and there were 6 sims already there, not including staff, plus my group of 5!!!! Afraid it was just a fluke, I took the group to Plasma 101 and again, there were 5 sims already there and more arrived after our group. And they were all doing their own thing: some were dancing, some drinking, some playing games, you get the idea. These were hotspots on the night, mind. I then went to the Brightmore, which wasn't a hotspot that night and no one was there, even though we stayed for a while.

You can look at my earlier post on page 2 for my computer's rating info - nothing special but certainly more than adequate to run the game.

So here's what I did:

1. Lowered all graphics to the lowest possible rating. I thought I would hate playing like this, but the difference in detail doesn't affect me nearly as bad as I thought it would.

2. Went to edit town and clicked on each and every disco/bar and removed the velvet ropes. When you're living in a ghost town, you really can't be too choosy about who can and can't get into a club. As my population grows by adding more lots, etc., I may put these back.

3. Moved random sims from my sim bin into all the empty lots in town, leaving only 1 empty apartment and 1 empty house in all of Bridgeport. This made a big difference because it's these sims I'm now seeing in the bars. (One family of roommates I made for Twinbrooks has 10 people in it and I moved them into the one bedroom cottage on the edge of town in Bridgeport! I don't plan on playing them, so whatever.)

4. And probably the most significant change of all - I installed Twallan's Relativity Mod (you'll want phase 2, version 5). You know how in Late Night you'd get to spend maybe an hour in a club before closing time because of all the time wasted getting to the club and swarming the elevators? Well with this mod, it slows down time on the sim clock. So sims move about as normal, but instead of taking several hours just to get into a club, it now takes about 30 sim minutes. I have the mod set to move the sim clock at half speed. Without this mod, I would never have been able to visit three bars all in one night like I just did. And not only did I visit three bars with my group, but we were there long enough for even more sims to arrive (if it was a hot spot).

There is a massive swarm at the elevators at closing time in these busy clubs and that is unbelievably frustrating, so I've learned to keep my eye on the clock and about 15 minutes before closing time, I teleport my sim out onto the street.

Forgot to add that I also use the fps limiter from MATY. This stops my graphics card from going mental and overheating when I run the game. I don't really know if this changes the performance in any way, but my laptop is cooler since running the limiter with the game.

[acid_fairy]

I placed some venues in Sunset Valley and removed all the velvet ropes. I am still seeing at most 2 other sims. I've stopped playing it now because it's completely sucked the fun out of it for me. Very disappointed :(

I don't understand why my CPU rating is 1 because like I said before, I have no problems with sims showing up at parties or protests; I easily get around 15 sims at each, so I don't think that theory holds water. I have an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU with 3 GB of RAM.

[crazycrabbe]

Just posting a request for players to post their packed clubs and bar screenshots. I want to see how it looks because it isn't working for me yet...

My Halle Berry sim (center, in the white top and short black skirt) is just arriving at the Prosper Room hot spot with three other girls in her group. It's not exactly packed, but more sims are arriving from the elevator and two more are waiting downstairs, and as I said, my sim just got there. After taking this screenshot, the bar closed a little while later and two sims came from upstairs and headed to the elevator. I didn't see anyone up there when I looked, but they could've been on the terrace, I didn't bother to check there.

Note: Now that my clubs are nicely populated, my celebrity Halle Berry sim can't enjoy her outings anymore! Every action she does is cancelled when someone asks for an autograph! I can cancel the autograph request, but if I had a lot of actions queued up, I have to do them all over again! I'm having second thoughts about removing those velvet ropes.
Oh the trials of stardom...

[Freelance Wolf]

Thanks everyone! I too had very few to no Sims in the bars and clubs so I did bulldozed and put back in all the lots from the bin and I also removed all the velvet ropes. Now I get lots more people when I go to them! Game's much better now that I have a decent sized crowd!

[Citrina]

Theoretically at least (based on the previews), clubs have varying degrees of popularity that varies from day to day. Some clubs will be empty while others will be packed.

Not sure how you find out, but I'm guessing the paper?


This is realy old news and I have same problem as OP. Th one reason i bouth LN was that I would go to clubs have some fun, and well its not really fun when you go to clubs and even the hotspots and its no on there. I stay at this clubs from apening till closing time but nobady shows up. :/

[Fernweather]

I don't buy this theory nor do I like it. And I believe we are finding out that isn't true either. But I will say this, it seems like after ambitions came out, towns seemed to empty out a lot more.
It's not a theory. It's right there in the core script. Obviously, though, your processor rating isn't the only thing that'll regulate the number of sims that'll show up to a particular venue. And I also wouldn't rule out at this point that there could be bugs that are keeping as many sims from showing up to certain venues as are supposed to.

But, one of the things the game does use to determine the desired number of sims for a lot is a number (4, 9, 13, or 20) based on your CPU rating. I've altered my GraphicsRules file to tell the game that my CPU should be rated at 2 and I've seen more sims on every lot I've visited (though I haven't had a chance to visit any high-end venues yet).

So, while I wouldn't rule out bugs keeping some venue populations down, it is worth keeping in mind that if you are running the game on a low-end machine you aren't going to see tons of sims anywhere. Obviously, if you get huge crowds in some venues but others which should be crowded remain empty, there's likely something else going on.

And I for one don't believe for a second that the sim sprites themselves are that CPU intensive, of course it is the hi detail lots that would be more intensive.
They're CPU-intensive enough that my machine takes a noticeable performance hit when I get more than 6 or 7 of them on a lot together. But, as usual, I think EA is probably too conservative when it comes to deciding what your game can handle.

I don't understand why my CPU rating is 1 because like I said before, I have no problems with sims showing up at parties or protests.
It won't limit the number of sims that show up to a party. And probably not a protest either (I've always seen more sims at protests than anywhere else in my games). I'm not even sure that it acts as an absolute hard cap on the number of sims that can show up to a lot, but it is used to in the math to determine how many sims will swarm to a lot. Each type of venue has a number of desired sims it wants (based on time and day). This number is compared to the number derived from your DeviceConfig rating, and the lowest of the two is used, the end result being that sims won't swarm lots as aggressively on low-end machines.

[JettBlack]

It's not a theory. It's right there in the core script. Obviously, though, your processor rating isn't the only thing that'll regulate the number of sims that'll show up to a particular venue. And I also wouldn't rule out at this point that there could be bugs that are keeping as many sims from showing up to certain venues as are supposed to.

But, one of the things the game does use to determine the desired number of sims for a lot is a number (4, 9, 13, or 20) based on your CPU rating. I've altered my GraphicsRules file to tell the game that my CPU should be rated at 2 and I've seen more sims on every lot I've visited (though I haven't had a chance to visit any high-end venues yet).

So, while I wouldn't rule out bugs keeping some venue populations down, it is worth keeping in mind that if you are running the game on a low-end machine you aren't going to see tons of sims anywhere. Obviously, if you get huge crowds in some venues but others which should be crowded remain empty, there's likely something else going on.


They're CPU-intensive enough that my machine takes a noticeable performance hit when I get more than 6 or 7 of them on a lot together. But, as usual, I think EA is probably too conservative when it comes to deciding what your game can handle.


It won't limit the number of sims that show up to a party. And probably not a protest either (I've always seen more sims at protests than anywhere else in my games). I'm not even sure that it acts as an absolute hard cap on the number of sims that can show up to a lot, but it is used to in the math to determine how many sims will swarm to a lot. Each type of venue has a number of desired sims it wants (based on time and day). This number is compared to the number derived from your DeviceConfig rating, and the lowest of the two is used, the end result being that sims won't swarm lots as aggressively on low-end machines.

Yea, again I don't think it is the CPU that is the main factor of low population of sims, when I was playing Ambitions on the same computer I would play guitar outside the theatre to crowds of 10-20 people regularly, something was patched that is creating this effect. That or the actual coding of sims visiting various clubs is a little buggy and the velvet ropes may bouncers may be glitching out sims.

>performance hit when I get more than 6 or 7 of them on a lot together.
I've never seen any difference on my computer when there are tons of sims in the same place, only when trying to load the locations and buildings.

So I think it is misleading to throw out the CPU factor as the main factor.

[Fernweather]

That or the actual coding of sims visiting various clubs is a little buggy and the velvet ropes may bouncers may be glitching out sims.
My sim visited Plasma 501 while it was supposed to be a hot spot and there were 6 other sims there (not counting the bouncers and bartenders). One of the sims was a celeb and she was inside the lounge, the other 5, all non-celebs, were hanging around on the ground floor drooling on themselves for a while before most of them left. So, yeah, one issue seems to be that the game is bringing sims to the lot without checking whether or not they can actually use it (i.e., have the celeb status to get past the ropes). (Also, has anyone else noticed that the sneak-in and ask-to-be-let-in interactions on roped off doors seem to be mixed up? The interactions on the bouncers seem to be fine.)

I've never seen any difference on my computer when there are tons of sims in the same place, only when trying to load the locations and buildings.
Well, I play on a real turd of a machine. :(

[lostinshalott]

I can tell you now it can't just be the CPU because I have a pretty powerful hunk of machine here and no one ever goes to the high end clubs, but I'm going to remove the velvet rope of doom and get the relativity mod and see how that goes, I have been going to the more low end bars and I get about 6 people which I'm not too happy with but it was actually nice to just have people there for a change! If it is a CPU thing thats just ridiculous but I wouldn't be surprised :|

[carisa761]

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 4 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 1 RAM: 3 CPU Speed: 2199 Threading: 1
Adjusted CPU: 2199 RAM: 2047 Adjusted RAM: 2047 Cores: 1
The CPU rating will let you know what the game will cap venue populations at:

4 sims
9 sims
13 sims
20 sims


How exactley do you find this file? I cant seem to look in the right place. Im on a Vista machine if that helps.

[potatoehead]

It's in C:\Users\Luke\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3. It's called "DeviceConfig."

[figgy53]

It's not a theory. It's right there in the core script. Obviously, though, your processor rating isn't the only thing that'll regulate the number of sims that'll show up to a particular venue. And I also wouldn't rule out at this point that there could be bugs that are keeping as many sims from showing up to certain venues as are supposed to.

But, one of the things the game does use to determine the desired number of sims for a lot is a number (4, 9, 13, or 20) based on your CPU rating. I've altered my GraphicsRules file to tell the game that my CPU should be rated at 2 and I've seen more sims on every lot I've visited (though I haven't had a chance to visit any high-end venues yet).

So, while I wouldn't rule out bugs keeping some venue populations down, it is worth keeping in mind that if you are running the game on a low-end machine you aren't going to see tons of sims anywhere. Obviously, if you get huge crowds in some venues but others which should be crowded remain empty, there's likely something else going on.


They're CPU-intensive enough that my machine takes a noticeable performance hit when I get more than 6 or 7 of them on a lot together. But, as usual, I think EA is probably too conservative when it comes to deciding what your game can handle.


It won't limit the number of sims that show up to a party. And probably not a protest either (I've always seen more sims at protests than anywhere else in my games). I'm not even sure that it acts as an absolute hard cap on the number of sims that can show up to a lot, but it is used to in the math to determine how many sims will swarm to a lot. Each type of venue has a number of desired sims it wants (based on time and day). This number is compared to the number derived from your DeviceConfig rating, and the lowest of the two is used, the end result being that sims won't swarm lots as aggressively on low-end machines.

Fernweather--thanks for this. Like many other folks I have logged a good chunk of time playing late night and never saw more than 3 sims at any low end bar/club (eugi's, waylon's, the grind) and always zero non-staff sims at any of the other locations, even going at hotspot and peak times/days. I even tried other suggestions from the forum such as deleting and replacing community lots from the bin and deleting bouncer ropes (even though it took out the fun) and had no improvement.

Looking at my DeviceConfig file I had the CPU: 1 rating even though I don't think it should be that low, I use a Dell Studio laptop with a Quad Core Pentium i7 @ 1.73 ghz with 4 gb of ram. I edited my GraphicsRules file to force a 2 rating and immediately going back into the game saw instant difference after only playing for about 20 minutes: 3 celebs at the Prosper Room (hotspot night at 8 pm) and then approximately 10-11 sims that same night at Eugi's (non-hotspot). In fact, my sim went to Eugi's after she successfully snuck in to the Prosper Room only to get ratted on by Aria Trill and then kicked out, lol. Screenshots of full Eugi's below. Can't say this will work for everyone but it certainly has made my game instantly much better!!!

[Jaeger]

My Halle Berry sim (center, in the white top and short black skirt) is just arriving at the Prosper Room hot spot with three other girls in her group. It's not exactly packed, but more sims are arriving from the elevator and two more are waiting downstairs, and as I said, my sim just got there. After taking this screenshot, the bar closed a little while later and two sims came from upstairs and headed to the elevator. I didn't see anyone up there when I looked, but they could've been on the terrace, I didn't bother to check there.

Note: Now that my clubs are nicely populated, my celebrity Halle Berry sim can't enjoy her outings anymore! Every action she does is cancelled when someone asks for an autograph! I can cancel the autograph request, but if I had a lot of actions queued up, I have to do them all over again! I'm having second thoughts about removing those velvet ropes.
Oh the trials of stardom...

Keep the bouncer rope for the VIP rooms but lower it to one-star so any celebrity can get in. The in-game Lessons will explain how.

[potatoehead]

I use a Dell Studio laptop with a Quad Core Pentium i7 @ 1.73 ghzWHY DID YOU STEAL MY PROCESSOR?! Seriously though, I wouldn't force just a two rating- I forced four. i7 is a very good processor, even at a low clock rate.

[figgy53]

WHY DID YOU STEAL MY PROCESSOR?! Seriously though, I wouldn't force just a two rating- I forced four. i7 is a very good processor, even at a low clock rate.

Haha. Thanks for the advice--maybe I will increase the rating again after some a few more hours of play. But for a first try and considering that I wasn't even sure I was doing it correctly, combined with some of the elevator/queue issues that seem to pop up in the game, 2 seemed like a safe bet.

[Shimrod101]

Would one of you care to explain which part can be edited in the GraphicsRules file to make this happen? Is it this bit here:

seti cpuCutoffLow 2500
seti cpuCutoffMed 2900
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3700

Or is it the bit further down, depending on whether I have AMD or Intel? Or in both places?

if (match("${cpu}", "*AuthenticAMD*"))
setb cpuAMD true
seti cpuCutoffLow 2200
seti cpuCutoffMed 2600
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3400
endif
if (match("${cpu}", "*GenuineIntel*"))
setb cpuIntel true
seti cpuCutoffLow 2300
seti cpuCutoffMed 2700
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3600

I also presume it is the cpuCutoffLow that should be changed, to something like 1500, such that my 1599 CPU is rated above this, pushing it up to Level 2?

[potatoehead]

What is this "GraphicsRules" file of which you speak? I can't find it anywhere on my system.

[Fernweather]

Would one of you care to explain which part can be edited in the GraphicsRules file to make this happen?
Probably the easiest way to go about it is to find the following block:

seti cpuLevelUber 4
seti cpuLevelHigh 3
seti cpuLevelMedium 2
seti cpuLevelLow 1

If you want the game to at least treat your CPU as having a rating of 3, for example, you could change it to:

seti cpuLevelUber 4
seti cpuLevelHigh 3
seti cpuLevelMedium 3
seti cpuLevelLow 3

Now, no matter what, GraphicsRules will tell the game that you have a CPU rating of at least 3.
What is this "GraphicsRules" file of which you speak? I can't find it anywhere on my system.
It should be in the game folder for your latest expansion (C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Late Night\Game\Bin if you are running Late Night on Windows XP).

[figgy53]

@potatoehead: the GraphicsRules file is located in the c:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game folder (or possibly one folder down in c:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin...I'm not at my laptop right now so can't confirm which of those two locations for certain). It has a .sgr extension so you might try searching for it that way. Also, there is an identical version of this file in all ep folders too--so c:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Late Night\Game, for example. I currently have WA and LN, so I replaced the file in each of the base game and the ep folders.

@Shimrod101: I can't for certain guarantee this is 100% the correct way to do it, but it worked for me. Hopefully the explanation makes sense, apologies that is it somewhat lengthy.

First, I only edited the cutoff settings in the location of the file that is chip specific, so the second part you pasted in your message. For me, this was under "GenuineIntel."

if (match("${cpu}", "*GenuineIntel*"))
setb cpuIntel true
seti cpuCutoffLow 2300
seti cpuCutoffMed 2700
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3600

The DeviceConfig file, which is confusingly under c:\User\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3, will tell you which chip it is identifying.

Second, the number you need to adjust for is actually the "Adjusted CPU:" number...if you read the GraphicsRules file it only sets the cpuCutoff after running a formula to calculate Adjusted CPU. This is also in the DeviceConfig File. So for me, the relevant info was CPU: 1, CPU Speed: 1729, Adjusted CPU: 1905.

Last, you're correct that the formula uses a "less than or equal to" calculation. Therefore I changed "cpuCutoffLow 2300" to "cpuCutoffLow 1900" This forces it to assign cpuCutoffMed because 1905 is greater than or equal to 1900, not less than or equal to 1900.

Some other advice: First, create a backup copy of the original GraphicsRule file before any editing so that if something goes awry, you can copy and paste the pristine backup into the game. Second, I don't know which OS you use, but I use Windows 7 which will not allow direct editing to files in the Program Files directory (even with admin access). So, I copied the GraphicsRule file to my desktop, created a backup copy, and then edited the desktop version, which permitted me to save the new parameter. Then I went and copied and pasted the now edited GraphicsRule file from the desktop back into The Sims 3 folder. I also pasted the edited file into my WA and LN folders.

That was the process that worked for me, hope this makes sense and good luck.

[potatoehead]

I see the GraphicsRules file now... but how do I edit it?

[CatRose]

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2999 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 3599 RAM: 4094 Adjusted RAM: 3582 Cores: 2

Is mine, but i still only see a couple of sims. Kind of annoying.

[figgy53]

I see the GraphicsRules file now... but how do I edit it?

If you are on a windows machine, first save a backup copy wherever you want, then save a copy to the desktop and then select Notepad as the program to open the desktop version of the file. Edit the text, click save, and then copy and paste the now-edited desktop file into the game folders.

Also, Fernweather's edit method is much easier than mine, feel kind of silly for going with the more complicated route, lol.

[potatoehead]

seti cpuCutoffLow 2500
seti cpuCutoffMed 2900
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3700Heh, I knew it, the game just uses the clock rate! How incredibly stupid of it- clock rate is pretty much useless for comparing CPUs unless they are the same model.

[justin1010]

So I followed some of the steps in this thread regarding changing that file, and I'm actually now seeing sims in my clubs. Like today I sent my sim to Eugi's, which was the hotspot that night, and as soon as he arrived there were around 8 sims as opposed to zero to just a few like I'd usually get. I'm still testing it but these changes already seem promising :)

Edit: So upon further testing, I'm noticing my bars and clubs always have around 8 sims now regardless if it's a hotspot or not. So glad I stumbled upon this fix.

[normawilahmina]

It's working? Which steps did you follow?

Edit: I tried the changes in Fernweather's post on the previous page because it was super easy, and it worked. Not only were there a bunch of Sims at the hotspot, but there were also a bunch at a non-hotspot. I did notice that even though there were 8 or more Sims hanging around trying to get in to the clubs, only a few could get in because of the bouncers, so I have to fix that. Otherwise it worked great and all I had to do was change a couple numbers. Also, there were Sims showing up that I had never seen before and I think a new guy moved into an empty apartment in my building. That could be coincidence, I don't know.
So, thanks guys! I never would have figured it out my own. :D

[Ed Newman]

Thank you, Crazycrabbe. Your tips were very useful. :)
Twallan's Relativity Mod is a blessing for my game, and FPS limiter put an end to my temp issues. Much appreciated!

There was in fact a huge change in my game with with these tweaks. Now it's very easy to find 13 NPCs at the hotpots (bartender included), which is coherent with Fernweather theory. My specs are:
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2402 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2803 RAM: 4095 Adjusted RAM: 3583 Cores: 4

With Relativity Mod, my sim can visit three or more bars in a row - and so the NPCs, I guess. Once more my sim was hired to dance in Aquarium, usually an empty place, but after the tweaks there was (for the very first time) 13 NPCs (bartenders and bouncers included) at the same time. In fact, four celebs were already waiting for the elevators when she arrived.
I don't know is FPS limiter is also helping here - I limited my game up to 30 fps. Would the script be smart enough to detect this limit and improve the number of NPCs accordingly? Who knows...

About the lack of townies, I'd already notice that Barnacle Bay's streets were way less crowded than the older towns', just before installing LN. So, at least in my case, that's not a LN issue. I will follow your suggestion to populate the empty lots from the family bin and see what happens later.

[Kestie Freehawk]

GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 2 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2109 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2412 RAM: 3839 Adjusted RAM: 3327 Cores: 2

Please dont kill my system and I know I have an anomolly I told AMD when I first fired up the system. One of the 4 cores on my 2 core system isnt threading. They said they could only guarentee 2 cores and the third is a little defective. Number four makes up for it. *Sweet* Most of you dont have enough ram. I am at the motherboard limit for ram and have a 16 gig usb key for ready boost. I get plenty of sims to show at events if I go to the right event. There are up to 2 vampires or more and often 5 to 6 celeb types *posers* and a few Norms.

[JettBlack]

@potatoehead: the GraphicsRules file is located in the c:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game folder (or possibly one folder down in c:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin...I'm not at my laptop right now so can't confirm which of those two locations for certain). It has a .sgr extension so you might try searching for it that way. Also, there is an identical version of this file in all ep folders too--so c:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Late Night\Game, for example. I currently have WA and LN, so I replaced the file in each of the base game and the ep folders.

@Shimrod101: I can't for certain guarantee this is 100% the correct way to do it, but it worked for me. Hopefully the explanation makes sense, apologies that is it somewhat lengthy.

First, I only edited the cutoff settings in the location of the file that is chip specific, so the second part you pasted in your message. For me, this was under "GenuineIntel."

if (match("${cpu}", "*GenuineIntel*"))
setb cpuIntel true
seti cpuCutoffLow 2300
seti cpuCutoffMed 2700
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3600

The DeviceConfig file, which is confusingly under c:\User\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3, will tell you which chip it is identifying.

Second, the number you need to adjust for is actually the "Adjusted CPU:" number...if you read the GraphicsRules file it only sets the cpuCutoff after running a formula to calculate Adjusted CPU. This is also in the DeviceConfig File. So for me, the relevant info was CPU: 1, CPU Speed: 1729, Adjusted CPU: 1905.

Last, you're correct that the formula uses a "less than or equal to" calculation. Therefore I changed "cpuCutoffLow 2300" to "cpuCutoffLow 1900" This forces it to assign cpuCutoffMed because 1905 is greater than or equal to 1900, not less than or equal to 1900.

Some other advice: First, create a backup copy of the original GraphicsRule file before any editing so that if something goes awry, you can copy and paste the pristine backup into the game. Second, I don't know which OS you use, but I use Windows 7 which will not allow direct editing to files in the Program Files directory (even with admin access). So, I copied the GraphicsRule file to my desktop, created a backup copy, and then edited the desktop version, which permitted me to save the new parameter. Then I went and copied and pasted the now edited GraphicsRule file from the desktop back into The Sims 3 folder. I also pasted the edited file into my WA and LN folders.

That was the process that worked for me, hope this makes sense and good luck.

GPU: 4 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 4 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 1995 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2260 RAM: 4060 Adjusted RAM: 3548 Cores: 2

Alright I made the specific tweaks to the graphicsrule file and plopped the new edited file in my base sims game folder & late night folder (not sure if the file needs to be put in all of the expansions yet). Have it recognizing my system as a CPU 4, why not, more sims have never adversely affected my system so I maxed it. And now I see a very noticeable difference at hot spots so far. I think there was around 8 people or so when I went this time, there being two hot spots that night.

I'll definitely keep testing this method out and visiting more big clubs like the grind. It's amazing, and in a thankful way that these retarded settings are out open in a file like that, so thanks for the heads up on the coding file. This game after all is supposed to be about a booming night life, so here we go. :beer:

Another question, I have not noticed any mummies or robots around anywhere. Do the mummies start flooding in when you visit Egypt the first time with the new expansion and patches?

[Jaeger]

Another question, I have not noticed any mummies or robots around anywhere. Do the mummies start flooding in when you visit Egypt the first time with the new expansion and patches?

Mummies don't walk around willy-nilly; visit a tomb, open a sarcophagus looking for treasure or to have woohoo with your squeezums and you might get a surprise, then run like hell. Robots are built by inventors or received if you spend mega points on a certain lifetime reward. Don't know if a townie inventor will build one on their own volition since it's pretty hard to do with several ingrediants. And do townies earn lifetime rewards even with awesome mod or Twallan's mod?

To actually see either walking around you will have to set it up. Playing an inventor, building one or play a sim, earn those lifetime reward points, buy one and then start playing another sim. For the mummy, let a sim get cursed by a mummy, they'll get mummified and they will go home...

[wholenothalevel]

I could use some advice/help on this topic myself. I use the longview town with several of the late night clubs in it. When I go to places without exclusive ropes I can generally get 4-8 sims including the mixologist to show up. My CPU rating is 3 so I expect to see more. Besides that, I would like it if I saw sims when I arrived to the club, it would make it a lot more realistic and a whole lot more enjoyable.

[JettBlack]

Mummies don't walk around willy-nilly; visit a tomb, open a sarcophagus looking for treasure or to have woohoo with your squeezums and you might get a surprise, then run like hell. Robots are built by inventors or received if you spend mega points on a certain lifetime reward. Don't know if a townie inventor will build one on their own volition since it's pretty hard to do with several ingrediants. And do townies earn lifetime rewards even with awesome mod or Twallan's mod?

To actually see either walking around you will have to set it up. Playing an inventor, building one or play a sim, earn those lifetime reward points, buy one and then start playing another sim. For the mummy, let a sim get cursed by a mummy, they'll get mummified and they will go home...

I was just curious if the mummies start wondering around the city at night because the velvet rope settings would make it seem that way. I've never been cursed so perhaps I will try that...or not.

Do townies earn lifetime rewards? Hmm, I never noticed it without using core modifiers.

[Captain THPS4]

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 1 GPU Memory: 2 CPU: 3 RAM: 2 CPU Speed: 2400 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2800 RAM: 2047 Adjusted RAM: 1535 Cores: 2

Tried Fernweather's method and nothing changed at all. I pushed everything except the uber setting up to 3 yet I still a max of 4 sims. I seem to have a special case though since I have a CPU rating of 3, yet when in-game I'm treated as if I'm a 1 when in a club or any community lot. Doubt it has anything to do with me being on a Mac. I'm afraid about messing with the settings through figgy53's method since my adjusted CPU is 2800, meaning I'd have to force all the numbers below 2800 which I think may be dangerous. I think I'll just face reality and say it's definitely because of my laptop being on the low-end side of the spectrum.

[Jaeger]

By George, I think I got it. Remember how parks and beaches attracts sims with the Love the Outdoors trait, bookworms are attracted to the library, etc. Well, shouldn't bars and nightclubs attract the Party Animals? Spam your neighborhood with Party Animals...

http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Party_Animal

Edit: checked the sims wiki. That page hasn't been uddated for LN but they are attracted to Hangouts.

Use the Add Trait mod (i like the 7 one myself) and give present Sims the Party Animal trait with Twallans mod to get them into the clubs.

Here are the present party animals. Copy these to bin and insert into your town.

http://sims.wikia.com/wiki/Category:Party_Animals

[Bandon]

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 2 CPU Speed: 2800 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 3334 RAM: 2045 Adjusted RAM: 1533 Cores: 3

Sims do show up at hotspots in my game, about 12 to 18, but haven't seen 20 yet. The problem I have is that my sim reads the newspaper but I never get the little red marker on the map that shows where a hostpot will be. And when my sims gossip they never hear where a hotspot will be at.


The bar Waylon's Haunt, beside the criminal career hideout, is packed 50% of the time though. But the clubs that have a bouncer that only let celebrities in were really empty when I first started the game. But now that there are more celebrities, and the celebrities are popping out tons of celebrity kids who are now adults, the more expensive venues have more of a chance of filling up. Still if it's not a hotspot then 1 or 2 people will show up who can't even get past the bouncer. So then it's just my sim and barkeep talking about the weather...

[crazycrabbe]

Sims do show up at hotspots in my game, about 12 to 18, but haven't seen 20 yet. The problem I have is that my sim reads the newspaper but I never get the little red marker on the map that shows where a hostpot will be. And when my sims gossip they never hear where a hotspot will be at.

I have yet to discover a hotspot from gossip. I've had my sim gossip and celebrity gossip to every single sim she meets in hopes of finding this interaction and it just hasn't happened yet. I did discover that when reading the paper, you have to let the sim finish reading the whole paper and put it away before the hotspot indicators show up on the map.

[aliydna]

really thanks for the tip!
my current deviceconfig:
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 2 CPU Speed: 2194 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2525 RAM: 2042 Adjusted RAM: 1530 Cores: 2

i believe originally my CPU is at 2. lol now i've changed it to 3.

there 20 sims there including the mixologist.
http://imgur.com/YdulDl.jpg

http://imgur.com/Smswhl.jpg

and now i have more sims watching me jamming.
http://imgur.com/QvhQWl.jpg

[JettBlack]

really thanks for the tip!
my current deviceconfig:
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 2 CPU Speed: 2194 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2525 RAM: 2042 Adjusted RAM: 1530 Cores: 2

i believe originally my CPU is at 2. lol now i've changed it to 3.

there 20 sims there including the mixologist.


Ahh good to see aliydna, could you give any information on the other mods you use or modifiers you have running? And have you spent a lot of time creating Sims as well?

[suzetter]

You can see where the hotspots are on the Maps --they have a red hot Cocktail glass with a star in it next to them. What's hot switches from night ti night. The evening runs by so fast I installed Twallan's Relativity mod and it's working great! My sims now have time to drink, play shuffleboard, dance, pee, make out and blow bubbles before the club closes and its time to go home. Wheee! If you're interested you can find it here: http://ts3.tscexchange.com/index.php?topic=4687.0

Still, I get more people at parties than I do at clubs.

Waylons Haunt

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/vv132/sirodriguez/LN%20pix/th_waylonshaunt.jpg (http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv132/sirodriguez/LN%20pix/?action=view&current=waylonshaunt.jpg)


House Party

http://i677.photobucket.com/albums/vv132/sirodriguez/LN%20pix/th_rowenasparty.jpg (http://s677.photobucket.com/albums/vv132/sirodriguez/LN%20pix/?action=view&current=rowenasparty.jpg)

[gilasims]

deleting the velvet ropes does works

[aliydna]

JettBlack:
I did create 8 sims and stuffed them in one small house. because i'm bored seeing the same person going to the bar. haha
traits that "encourage" npc to be at bar are these:

Divebarspots/divebarcriminal
Athletic, Daredevil, LovesTheOutdoors, PartyAnimal, VampireHiddenTrait

divebarirish
Slob, Brave, HotHeaded, PartyAnimal, VampireHiddenTrait

loungeasian
PartyAnimal, Dramatic, Excitable

loungevampire
Dramatic, Evil, Flirty, Snob, Virtuoso, Loner, Artistic, HopelessRomantic, VampireHiddenTrait

loungecelebrity
XFactor, Snob, Schmoozer, Dramatic, Charismatic, Ambitious

and probably having unemployed townies would help too. i guess.. hahha

[Shimrod101]

Those interested in more inactives out at the venues may also want to look at this Townies Out on the Town mod: http://ts3.tscexchange.com/index.php?topic=3954.0

The Fernwether Method definitely works, thanks a gazillion for that one.

[kampffenhoff]

[QUOTE=Fernweather]Probably the easiest way to go about it is to find the following block:
[CODE]
seti cpuLevelUber 4
seti cpuLevelHigh 3
seti cpuLevelMedium 2
seti cpuLevelLow 1
==

Altered this as stated by Fernweather on my daughter's PC and started the game. Got an error message saying Graphics card was not recognized when it is plainly on the list of cards that will play the game. This was followed by a message saying all settings had been reset to the highest possible. When I checked the options tab however, I found everything had been set to the lowest possible settings. This included Young adult lifespans being set to 4 days.

As a result I quit without saving and put the original files back. My daughter will have to wait for a mod I think as this didn't work at all.

I did think of altering the settings in options and restarting the game but I was worried about the errors noted above so I didn't alter them and just quit.

[Buzzler]

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 4 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 3825 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 4700 RAM: 4095 Adjusted RAM: 3583 Cores: 4Hmm, probably doesn't make sense for me to armtwist the game into thinking my rig was faster. Except for Waylon's Haunt and The Grind, my lots are almost always deserted anyway, though.

I'm going to look what altering the MetaAutonomyTuning does for me. Maybe look what can be done about the elevators while I'm at it.

[murfee]

i don't think it's because of performance issues..
have u ever seen riot or protest at city hall? or have ur sims ever had any award ceremony at city hall?
i have, and i can see lots of townies there, more than 12 if i'm not mistaken..

That's true. The very first time I booted TS3 I went STRAIGHT into CAS, made a ton of Sims, picked a family to start playing, and they went past City Hall and the very first thing I saw was a protest, with more than half of the extra Sims I had created. It had me on the floor dying with laughter, so I took a bunch of screenshots to commemmorate the moment. :) And I've never seen a protest SINCE.
EA, art thou SCREWING with us!? :wtf:

[Shimrod101]

As a result I quit without saving and put the original files back. My daughter will have to wait for a mod I think as this didn't work at all.


I altered this part here, and nothing else:

if (match("${cpu}", "*AuthenticAMD*"))
setb cpuAMD true
seti cpuCutoffLow 1500
seti cpuCutoffMed 1550
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3400
endif

The 1500 # first, afterwards the 1550. My CPU was then recognized as a level 2 in that Config file in the MyDocs area, now as a level 3 after I did the 1550 edit. No problems whatsoever.

[kampffenhoff]

I altered this part here, and nothing else:

if (match("${cpu}", "*AuthenticAMD*"))
setb cpuAMD true
seti cpuCutoffLow 1500
seti cpuCutoffMed 1550
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3400
endif

The 1500 # first, afterwards the 1550. My CPU was then recognized as a level 2 in that Config file in the MyDocs area, now as a level 3 after I did the 1550 edit. No problems whatsoever.

Thanks, but I really need to have this explained in German as my brain for English seems to have become quite stupid. I looked on some German sites and couldn't find anything so if anyone here can oblige I would be very happy.

[bluegenjutsu]

At Buzzler, the Elevator traffic and speed is tunable. Have you tried the ElevatorInterior file and ElevatorDoors file for testing the speed? I made a mod for making the Elevator traffic faster so that sims wouldn't all try to get on the same elevator all the time. Now they break up into smaller groups. Or are you talking about something else entirely for the Elevators?

[Buzzler]

At Buzzler, the Elevator traffic and speed is tunable. Have you tried the ElevatorInterior file and ElevatorDoors file for testing the speed?Yes, I altered the values with a scripting mod, though. I don't do tuning modding if I can help it. ;)

Things seem to have improved a little, escpecially altering kElevatorSimQueueWaitBeforeTeleportSkipTime seems like a good idea. Too bad the time to switch floors can't be altered. Most of the time is the animation anyway, and kTicksBetweenFloors is a constant and thus unused due to optimization and just 5 ticks anyway.

[bluegenjutsu]

I use most of your other script mods and if you succeed with a script mod for fixing the Elevator traffic, then I most likely will use your mod instead of mine. Even though mine is working, I see sims with a thought balloon of the Elevator all the time and my active sims will queue up the Elevator for some odd reason and then it drops from the queue. When I check what the queue is about, nothing will show up. It's very strange. I don't know if it's due to changing the timing of the Elevator use or some strange EA bug that needs to be fixed.

[Buzzler]

I use most of your other script mods and if you succeed with a script mod for fixing the Elevator traffic, then I most likely will use your mod instead of mine.It's just for personal use, i.e. part of a bigger mod for personal use, and right now doesn't really do anything differently than a tuning mod altering the same tunable values. I just prefer doing "tuning modding" with a scripting mod, because scripting mods don't conflict and don't need to override resources.

My game probably isn't the best indicator for that anyway. As I said, my community lots in Bridgeport are mostly deserted. I only see stuck elevator traffic when I try to send active sims with a whole bunch of followers to a lot. In these cases the front door is actually a much tighter bottleneck. Yesterday, my band sims had a gig at Eugi's. I sent them there from the front of the cinemathingy one hour before the gig started and wanted the NPCs (maybe 8 or 10) to go with them. It took them more than two hours to even arrive at the elevator.

Even though mine is working, I see sims with a thought balloon of the Elevator all the time and my active sims will queue up the Elevator for some odd reason and then it drops from the queue.Did you alter kElevatorGiveupTime? You might want to try to increase it.

When I check what the queue is about, nothing will show up. It's very strange. I don't know if it's due to changing the timing of the Elevator use or some strange EA bug that needs to be fixed.I can't say I have ever seen queue stomps at the elevator, unless someone asked the sim in question for an autograph. As far as I am concerned, the one who is responsible for the autograph-queue-stomping, deserves to be poked with the Sharp Stick Of Great Ouchy BTW.

[mswilson2007]

lol...went to edit mine and I was already at a score of 4. Yet, I still don't get townies in clubs. I'm going to try to remove some of my mods, and see how that goes to see if that may be the answer.
Also, I'm not leet game modder, but shouldn't their be a value in the gameplay file that tells, how frequently sims visit a club/how many sims can be in the club/how frequently a club is a hotspot/etc. Can anyone find that for me, I can do my own edits. I just can't find it

[Buzzler]

Also, I'm not leet game modder, but shouldn't their be a value in the gameplay file that tells, how frequently sims visit a club/how many sims can be in the club/how frequently a club is a hotspot/etc. Can anyone find that for me, I can do my own edits. I just can't find itThe "how may" stuff is in the Venues _XML. Not sure if there is anything about the frequency.

[dleor]

Hi,

I am having a low cpu rating problem. It's rated one and I want to change it. I have located deviceconfig.log but I can't edit it. Im not too hot with computers so there may be something I'm doing wrong. Also I'm on a mac but if anyone would could help it would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers.

[XTS]

I was just curious if the mummies start wondering around the city at night because the velvet rope settings would make it seem that way. I've never been cursed so perhaps I will try that...or not.

Do townies earn lifetime rewards? Hmm, I never noticed it without using core modifiers.

I think you can have mummies and robots roaming the town. I've not done these things in a long time but if I remember right: If you build a special sarcophagus, it can spawn a mummy as a family member. You can have them move out.

You can build a robot, have them move out.

Now I don't know what can happen next but I suppose they can also move off if story mode is on. Funny thought, tons of mummies & robots roaming around. Thanks for the laugh ;)

And now we've got vampires.. The 3.. wow, what a mess that could be for unchanged sims. I feel a strange inspiration coming on.. lmbo

(Lots of good tips and ideas here)

Thanks for all the ideas and such. There's alot of good posts, with lots of information about risks and opportunities. I appreciate that. :up:

[carepuppy]

GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 1 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 1596 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 1728 RAM: 8182 Adjusted RAM: 7670 Cores: 4

This is what mine looks like... I built a bar.. no bouncers, and only 1 bar.. and i only get the mixologist and one guest... :S
how can i change it?


EDIT:

I used twalla's mode.. deleted the ropes and now i get lots of sims when my sims go dancing :)

[inf666ipi]

After spending about 30 mins on this thread and going through that file ( GraphicsRules.sgr ) I came up with Holy Crap!!! What a difference. :lol:

I changed the following lines in my configuration

seti cpuLevelUber 4
seti cpuLevelHigh 4 <==}=- Changed From 3 to 4
seti cpuLevelMedium 4 <==}=- Changed From 2 to 4
seti cpuLevelLow 4 <==}=- Changed From 1 to 4
seti cpuCutoffLow 2500
seti cpuCutoffMed 2900
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3700

setb cpuAMD true
setb cpuIntel false
setb pentium4 false
if (match("${cpu}", "*AuthenticAMD*"))
setb cpuAMD true <==}=- Changed from false to true
seti cpuCutoffLow 2000 <==}=- Changed from 2500
seti cpuCutoffMed 2050 <==}=- Changed from 2900
seti cpuCutoffHigh 2100 <==}=- Changed from 3700

My processor is an AMD 3800+ Dual Core OC'd to 2.1Ghz stable

I then got the following in the log file

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 4 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2104 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2405 RAM: 16384 Adjusted RAM: 15360 Cores: 2

When I first started it looked like this

GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 3 CPU Speed: 2104 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2405 RAM: 16384 Adjusted RAM: 15360 Cores: 2

I am going to play with this file a little bit more and see if I can tweak it a tad and keep at it till I either blow something up or burn it to the ground. Either way it'll force me to tell the wife I need a new system anyways. http://img127.imageshack.us/img127/8572/24el2.gif

But yea tweaking this particular file does seem to make a big difference with the game and how many sims go to specific venues. Which was my entire plight to begin with. Thanx to Twallan for the link here and thanx to all you that have this info posted. You guys all make my day when I can find information like this!!

The only thing that still has be boggled is why does the file have my GPU set as a lvl 5 which it's only a 4870 series GPU? Ah well...

Like I said I'm going to seriously tweak this file out and see what happens.

Cheers!! ;)

[x0AnnaMariex3]

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 3 CPU: 1 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2400 Threading: 2
Adjusted CPU: 2000 RAM: 3969 Adjusted RAM: 3457 Cores: 1

This is my info. I am on a mac and I tried finding that GraphicsRules.sgr file but no luck. I feel like it would solve my problems! So...any chance anyone knows where that file is on the mac? Or does it have a different name because I tried searching for it on my computer and no results came up.

[QueenJimmyIV]

My favorite part is when I go to a club/bar/whatever and it tells me that the club is popular and hot and full of people and I go in and the only people there (on any levels) are the pianist, the bouncers, the bartenders and one vampire. Seriously?

[baratron]

I am on a mac and I tried finding that GraphicsRules.sgr file but no luck. I feel like it would solve my problems! So...any chance anyone knows where that file is on the mac?

It's in (deep breath):
/Applications/The Sims 3.localized/The Sims3.app/Contents/Resources/AddOns/The Sims 3 Late Night.app/Contents/Resources/transgaming/c_drive/Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 Late Night/Game/Bin :!:

However, it takes a bit of effort to get into.
1) Open the Applications window in Finder.
2) Scroll down to The Sims™ 3 Late Night.
3) RIGHT-click that Alias and choose Show Original. A new Finder window pops open.
4) Right-click The Sims™ 3 Late Night in the new window and choose Show Package Contents.
5) Then you can click through the folders Contents/Resources/transgaming/c_drive/Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 Late Night/Game/Bin as usual.

The game is quite laughably suggesting I have a CPU rating of 1. In fact:
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 1 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2660 Threading: 2
Adjusted CPU: 2260 RAM: 3964 Adjusted RAM: 3452 Cores: 1

Yup. Because I have MacOS 10.6.6, Sims 3 has decided that there is something weird and unstable about my OS, and has reduced my processor speed by 400 MHz and my RAM by 500 MB! Here's the lines of code that do it:
if ($osMajorVersion >= 6)
seti adjustedCPU (($adjustedCPU)-(400))
...
if ($osMajorVersion >= 6)
seti adjustedMemory (($memory)-(512))
This is fecking stupid, because in other parts of the GraphicsRules.sgr file, there's an $isMac variable. That should be called here! As it is, Macs are being treated as if they are running Vista (Windows version 6.0) or Windows 7 (Windows version 6.1), which both need a lot more memory to function!! Idiots!

For some reason, it's also deciding that I only have a single-core processor. I don't even know why - there's an if ($cpuCount >= 2) part of code that's being ignored completely!

What I'd be interested in would be to see what a typical Windows user sees for this part of DeviceConfig.log:

=== Machine info ===
OS version: MacOS 10.6.6
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 10
OS minor ver: 6
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 0

Thanks :p .

[x0AnnaMariex3]

It's in (deep breath):
/Applications/The Sims 3.localized/The Sims3.app/Contents/Resources/AddOns/The Sims 3 Late Night.app/Contents/Resources/transgaming/c_drive/Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 Late Night/Game/Bin :!:

However, it takes a bit of effort to get into.
1) Open the Applications window in Finder.
2) Scroll down to The Sims™ 3 Late Night.
3) RIGHT-click that Alias and choose Show Original. A new Finder window pops open.
4) Right-click The Sims™ 3 Late Night in the new window and choose Show Package Contents.
5) Then you can click through the folders Contents/Resources/transgaming/c_drive/Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3 Late Night/Game/Bin as usual.

The game is quite laughably suggesting I have a CPU rating of 1. In fact:
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 1 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2660 Threading: 2
Adjusted CPU: 2260 RAM: 3964 Adjusted RAM: 3452 Cores: 1

Yup. Because I have MacOS 10.6.6, Sims 3 has decided that there is something weird and unstable about my OS, and has reduced my processor speed by 400 MHz and my RAM by 500 MB! Here's the lines of code that do it:
if ($osMajorVersion >= 6)
seti adjustedCPU (($adjustedCPU)-(400))
...
if ($osMajorVersion >= 6)
seti adjustedMemory (($memory)-(512))
This is fecking stupid, because in other parts of the GraphicsRules.sgr file, there's an $isMac variable. That should be called here! As it is, Macs are being treated as if they are running Vista (Windows version 6.0) or Windows 7 (Windows version 6.1), which both need a lot more memory to function!! Idiots!

For some reason, it's also deciding that I only have a single-core processor. I don't even know why - there's an if ($cpuCount >= 2) part of code that's being ignored completely!

What I'd be interested in would be to see what a typical Windows user sees for this part of DeviceConfig.log:

=== Machine info ===
OS version: MacOS 10.6.6
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 10
OS minor ver: 6
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 0

Thanks :p .

Thank you so much!! :D I had actually gotten into the resources folder before but didn't think the file was there so I looked elsewhere. I'm about to try out my game now and see if the changes made a difference. :giggler:

[inf666ipi]

What I'd be interested in would be to see what a typical Windows user sees for this part of DeviceConfig.log:

=== Machine info ===
OS version: MacOS 10.6.6
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 10
OS minor ver: 6
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 0

Thanks :p .
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Windows 7 6.1.7600
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 6
OS minor ver: 1
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1

Cheers :up:

[Honey32]

my sunset valley is desolate all my sims either stay home are go to the park.if i send my sim out they usually just go home on they're own which is annoying.bridgeport has all the action.but i don't like playing there is the problem.i feel the other towns were completely neglected.and the focus was put on bridgeport alone.

[tizerist]

Has any of the people here had success with a custom club in a custom town?

Because, this fix works for me in Bridgeport, but not in my own town.

I altered the .sgr and played in BP, dropped 16 unemployed party animals in, removed most ropes, and the result was fine, lots of sims.
Returned to my own town, deleted the three smaller clubs, leaving one custom Dance club without ropes. Plopped down the 16 sims (bringing population to 106) and despite this club being the hotspot every time, there is an average of 4-5 sims per night.
Returned to BP, plopped down my custom club, only for it to be almost totally ignored until I proceeded to delete the BP clubs, giving the sims no choice but to visit my club. Which they did - I just counted 13 on the lot, which is almost full for a dance club.
However the club is never flagged as a hotspot in BP. And also the notifications "this place is jumping" have disappeared.
Returned to my hood, and the same, solitary club in the town continues to pull 4 people each night.

Has anyone got this working outside of BridgePort?*
*I think I just found my answer, in post 156 here
http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=424374&c=1&ht=&page=7&pp=25#startcomment
So this fix will not work outside Bridgeport or Los Aniegos.

The "how may" stuff is in the Venues _XML. Not sure if there is anything about the frequency.
Where is this located please? And what does it so specifically?
And what type of club allows 20 sims at once?

[TheJim07]

Hi,

Can someone tell me what I have to do, step by step, to increase the number of Sims in community lots please ? I'm totally lost in this thread :s.

Jim.

[Aventerra]

I've altered my GraphicsRule.sgr and my game still rates my computer as 1. It's a quad core.

[vampirlady80]

: O!!!!!

[Starfish_Niccles]

Hi,

Can someone tell me what I have to do, step by step, to increase the number of Sims in community lots please ? I'm totally lost in this thread :s.

Jim.

1. GraphicsRules.sgr is in c:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
2. Make it so that you can open the file with Notepad.
3. Copy and paste GraphicsRules.sgr into "my documents" and paste another copy as a backup for if something goes wrong.
4. Open the first one you pasted and follow Fernweather's instructions in this post (http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=3359624#post3359624) and save it once you've edited it.
5. Drag and drop or copy and paste your edited GraphicsRules.sgr from your "my documents" folder to c:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin and replace the original.

^ I did this and it's worked perfectly. My clubs were completely empty even the hotspots and now my sim is mingling with six celebrities :bunny: good luck and thanks Fernweather and figgy53 for the great help ^^