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- Lag/Freezing - Game pauses in live mode fixed
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This user has the following games installed:
Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, University Life, Island Paradise, Into the Future
Posts: 2,200
Thanks: 37050 in 294 Posts
Posts: 2,200
Thanks: 37050 in 294 Posts
Posts: 2,200
Thanks: 37050 in 294 Posts
Posts: 2,822
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I'm recommending it because, while I did use the Dashboard in the past, I like this option better. I've never been in danger of accidentally downloading Sims 2 content and I manage my mods well enough to know they're not conflicting - in addition to this, ProcMon tells you exactly which file is causing issues, so find it better for what I need, personally.
The guide recommends going only into Live Mode, but I've found from personal experience that going through Build Mode can also be beneficial. For example, I once caught a pattern that was acting up (literally 1 million access times) only after entering Build Mode in the testing process, because I hadn't used it anywhere in the world yet i.e. Live Mode.
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Someone at their wiki said it might help with tiny lags.
And in the Story Progression options you could change the time between actions in your neighborhood. I tried to change all of them to a higher number, but slightly different (1203, 1212 ...) on another computer, but I´m not really sure if it´s helpful.
Im not a native speaker
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Lately I´ve heard of the Relativity mod from nraas. You could try to set the speed to 50%, so there´s more time between actions. The animations look the same, so it´s just like your sim day is longer and you don´t need one hour to brush your teeth Someone at their wiki said it might help with tiny lags. And in the Story Progression options you could change the time between actions in your neighborhood. I tried to change all of them to a higher number, but slightly different (1203, 1212 ...) on another computer, but I´m not really sure if it´s helpful. |
I have Relativity and the number it is set on is 13. I'm not sure what percentage that is for the game but it does slow the time down to where it seems more realistic.
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Hmm... Mastercontroller town reset will reset everything including sims that are stuck in routing errors. They don't specifically report it. To check the town global inventory, goto Master controller --> town --> object stats --> global (Becareful in what you delete! Don't accidentally delete your sims or even your rabbitholes. Usually check for things like excess books or diplomas.) About the RAMdisk cache, read post #2 on there. Not the 1st one. |
I read the #2 post I went to the global option and found a bill that said it had 114 count. I went to delete it and it deleted all of them. Is that what I'm supposed to do is delete all the extras? I thought was supposed to leave 1 count of ea.
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I'm recommending it because, while I did use the Dashboard in the past, I like this option better. I've never been in danger of accidentally downloading Sims 2 content and I manage my mods well enough to know they're not conflicting - in addition to this, ProcMon tells you exactly which file is causing issues, so find it better for what I need, personally.
The guide recommends going only into Live Mode, but I've found from personal experience that going through Build Mode can also be beneficial. For example, I once caught a pattern that was acting up (literally 1 million access times) only after entering Build Mode in the testing process, because I hadn't used it anywhere in the world yet i.e. Live Mode.[/QUOT
None of my mods or CC's have been changed or any added new in over 4 months. I would think if they were conflicting, which I've checked back when I installed them and recently went back and checked them again, that they would of caused a problem even with a new game not just showing up several sim weeks later. Thanks for your suggestion though
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Um, so we don't get confused. 1) The #2 post I was referring to was on the thread "how to make TS4 use > 4 GB or RAM." The 2nd post is a tutorial on how to use Softperfect RAMDisk and how to put the cache files and your thumbnails on the RAMdisk for people with 8GB of RAM. 2) I think you are referring to Mastercontroller? Yeah, it deletes them all. Sometimes items get corrupted. I had 20,000 diplomas once. Books are another object that can get corrupted easily. Your town should only have a few hundred books, not 10,000 books. It is ok to delete these things, they'll respawn in the game. That is why I said becareful not to delete rabbitholes or sims, those won't respawn. (Also check if you have the infamous icecream truck glitch. You should only have 1 icecream truck in the world, not 800 or 1000) |
Thank you for replying. Yes, I clicked on your link about the hot to make TS4 use > 4 GB or RAM. It said for people with 8GB of RAM to go to the 2nd post. So I scrolled down to that one and began reading it. It did some abbreviations and since I've never done it before it was rather foreign to me and I have no idea what a RAMdisk is. Also, I just remembered, I had read somewhere that some computer systems can't handle large towns with lots of sims. That's why I was trying to lower my population this last time. When you read my specs on my computer is my computer able to have a large town? I don't really want 300 or more or anything like that but it was nice when my town was 150-170ish sims. Just wanted to clarify if that had anything to do with some of the glitches.
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Well, your cpu is an older generation, but still... you have 3 cores and adjusted at 3.3Ghz, that is more than enough to run a large town. TS3 can't use more than 2 cores anyways. The thing is, mods really do play a big factor in the game. If you are using NRAAS SP, that would need more computer resources than how many sims you have. The question is, when you say 150-170 sims, are you only referring to the residents? Or the whole town? I'm running an i7 and the largest my total population got to was 1000 sims, but only about 230 residents. Now, those 1000 include the deads in the grave yard, animals on the adoption list, etc... many which are inactive. It also included the NPCs - maids, firemen, taxi drivers, carpool drivers, etc.. etc.. I think your CPU and RAM could definitely handle 150-170 residents even with NRAAS SP, given the world itself is not too huge and you don't have too many heavy resourced mods. But generally, 100 residents is ideal, which would give you a total population around 500. The bigger problem with a larger town is not really lags, but you will run out of RAM when you save and getting error 12 or 16. ---- The RAMdisk option is actually extremely helpful, especially on older systems. However, I can see how it would require some background knowledge of computers to set it up. If you have a friend who can help you out, that would be ideal. I can try explaining some of it here, but it won't be as helpful as an actual person helping you. So TS3 actually caches (read/write) to your harddisk(HDD) while you play the game. So while you play, you may have noticed your HDD lights blink. So the HDD will affect how smooth your game runs. People with Solid State Drives(SSD) have the best performance. Today's regular HDD runs at 7200 RPM, which is pretty fast. Older HDDs may be running at 5400 RPM. So you can imagine, while you play, if your HDD is slow and the game is constantly reading/writing from it... it would pause the game sometimes to let the HDD catch up. Now the breakdown of your RAM. TS3 can use max of 4GB RAM. Your Win7 requires at least 1GB of RAM and another 1GB for background programs/services. So that means when you are playing TS3, you are using a total of 6GB (4+1+1) of RAM out of your total 8GB. What is happening to the extra 2GB? They're just setting there, doing nothing. If you open other programs while you play, such as a webbrowers, then your system will use those extra RAM. A RAMdisk is a program that will convert those extra RAM into harddrive (HDD). However, it is like 10 times faster. It is even faster than SDD since it is direct memory access. So what that thread is, is a tutorial on how to set up the Softperfect RAMdisk (it is a free RAMdisk software), then it shows you how to move your cache files and thumbnail folder to that RAMdisk. So instead of reading/writing from your HDD (which is slow), it will read/write from a RAMdisk at 10x the speed. At this rate, your game won't need to pause for the caching (read/write) to catch up. This helps anyone's game even those on high end gaming computers. On my i7, the game still lags and pauses during ultra speed mode (game going too fast the HDD can't read/write fast enough). So when I moved the necessary files/folders to the RAMdisk, ultra mode was smooth. |
Thank you for taking the time to explain. That really does help. I'm the type that the more it makes sense the easier it is I'm not sure I guess how many sims I actually would have. I used Mastercontroller, demographics and then population and it said one time around 100 residents 0 homeless & 0 was on the other one-can't remember what it was. I have the pet population turned off including strays. I always thought they were part of the problem with lag so I used on of NRAAS mods-can't remember which one has it- and turned them all off. I never noticed if my HDD blinks or not because I have one of those corner desks and it sits sort of under the desk below the raised monitor. I wonder if that's the problem. It does pause more when I use the 2nd speed and when it uses the high speed at night when my household is sleeping. I will go back to that link and see if I can figure it out. I have never come across that program or anything about the game read/write to the HDD so that's why I sort of questioned it on what it was and was uncertain. I like to check things out before doing anything. You never know anymore on what's all out there. If I have any questions on getting this RAMdisk going I will ask. Once I get it going I will let you know how it is working in the game. Those other ideas you game me I think did help. The global inventory wasn't that full, only maybe 3 items had more than 100 but less than that one that had 600ish. Hopefully I get this figured out. Glad I have enough Cores for the game although I am unfamiliar with what those are I still would like to upgrade my computer some day because I really hate AMD lol And apparently 500G HHD isn't as big as it used to be lol
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Well, your cpu is an older generation, but still... you have 3 cores and adjusted at 3.3Ghz, that is more than enough to run a large town. TS3 can't use more than 2 cores anyways. The thing is, mods really do play a big factor in the game. If you are using NRAAS SP, that would need more computer resources than how many sims you have. The question is, when you say 150-170 sims, are you only referring to the residents? Or the whole town? I'm running an i7 and the largest my total population got to was 1000 sims, but only about 230 residents. Now, those 1000 include the deads in the grave yard, animals on the adoption list, etc... many which are inactive. It also included the NPCs - maids, firemen, taxi drivers, carpool drivers, etc.. etc.. I think your CPU and RAM could definitely handle 150-170 residents even with NRAAS SP, given the world itself is not too huge and you don't have too many heavy resourced mods. But generally, 100 residents is ideal, which would give you a total population around 500. The bigger problem with a larger town is not really lags, but you will run out of RAM when you save and getting error 12 or 16. ---- The RAMdisk option is actually extremely helpful, especially on older systems. However, I can see how it would require some background knowledge of computers to set it up. If you have a friend who can help you out, that would be ideal. I can try explaining some of it here, but it won't be as helpful as an actual person helping you. So TS3 actually caches (read/write) to your harddisk(HDD) while you play the game. So while you play, you may have noticed your HDD lights blink. So the HDD will affect how smooth your game runs. People with Solid State Drives(SSD) have the best performance. Today's regular HDD runs at 7200 RPM, which is pretty fast. Older HDDs may be running at 5400 RPM. So you can imagine, while you play, if your HDD is slow and the game is constantly reading/writing from it... it would pause the game sometimes to let the HDD catch up. Now the breakdown of your RAM. TS3 can use max of 4GB RAM. Your Win7 requires at least 1GB of RAM and another 1GB for background programs/services. So that means when you are playing TS3, you are using a total of 6GB (4+1+1) of RAM out of your total 8GB. What is happening to the extra 2GB? They're just setting there, doing nothing. If you open other programs while you play, such as a webbrowers, then your system will use those extra RAM. A RAMdisk is a program that will convert those extra RAM into harddrive (HDD). However, it is like 10 times faster. It is even faster than SDD since it is direct memory access. So what that thread is, is a tutorial on how to set up the Softperfect RAMdisk (it is a free RAMdisk software), then it shows you how to move your cache files and thumbnail folder to that RAMdisk. So instead of reading/writing from your HDD (which is slow), it will read/write from a RAMdisk at 10x the speed. At this rate, your game won't need to pause for the caching (read/write) to catch up. This helps anyone's game even those on high end gaming computers. On my i7, the game still lags and pauses during ultra speed mode (game going too fast the HDD can't read/write fast enough). So when I moved the necessary files/folders to the RAMdisk, ultra mode was smooth. |
Also I have come across the errors 12 & 16 and have learned how to get past them with out losing my game
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Also I have come across the errors 12 & 16 and have learned how to get past them with out losing my game |
How? I'm curious because I've come across error 12 fairly frequently and I was MAYBE once able to save the game after it returned that error (freak occurrence).
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How? I'm curious because I've come across error 12 fairly frequently and I was MAYBE once able to save the game after it returned that error (freak occurrence). |
I tend to minimize my game just because it takes so long to load the world. Well since error 12 comes up do to running out of memory in your RAM and saving the game uses the RAM and a little gets left behind each time. So mostly I just make sure I don't leave my game up for more than 2 days that way it is able to clear out the RAM. However, if it does happen, which still does from time to time, I minimize the game. I go to my Electronic arts > Sims 3 > Saves folder. I move all my saves to a different folder all together. Usually just move it to a different partition of my harddrive. Then I exit the game. I go through and clear my cache and featured items folder like I always do before loading the game. Then I move all my saves back to its Saves folder and reload the game. So far it has worked make sure you don't close the game before moving files because they will be lost.
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Well, your cpu is an older generation, but still... you have 3 cores and adjusted at 3.3Ghz, that is more than enough to run a large town. TS3 can't use more than 2 cores anyways. The thing is, mods really do play a big factor in the game. If you are using NRAAS SP, that would need more computer resources than how many sims you have. The question is, when you say 150-170 sims, are you only referring to the residents? Or the whole town? I'm running an i7 and the largest my total population got to was 1000 sims, but only about 230 residents. Now, those 1000 include the deads in the grave yard, animals on the adoption list, etc... many which are inactive. It also included the NPCs - maids, firemen, taxi drivers, carpool drivers, etc.. etc.. I think your CPU and RAM could definitely handle 150-170 residents even with NRAAS SP, given the world itself is not too huge and you don't have too many heavy resourced mods. But generally, 100 residents is ideal, which would give you a total population around 500. The bigger problem with a larger town is not really lags, but you will run out of RAM when you save and getting error 12 or 16. ---- The RAMdisk option is actually extremely helpful, especially on older systems. However, I can see how it would require some background knowledge of computers to set it up. If you have a friend who can help you out, that would be ideal. I can try explaining some of it here, but it won't be as helpful as an actual person helping you. So TS3 actually caches (read/write) to your harddisk(HDD) while you play the game. So while you play, you may have noticed your HDD lights blink. So the HDD will affect how smooth your game runs. People with Solid State Drives(SSD) have the best performance. Today's regular HDD runs at 7200 RPM, which is pretty fast. Older HDDs may be running at 5400 RPM. So you can imagine, while you play, if your HDD is slow and the game is constantly reading/writing from it... it would pause the game sometimes to let the HDD catch up. Now the breakdown of your RAM. TS3 can use max of 4GB RAM. Your Win7 requires at least 1GB of RAM and another 1GB for background programs/services. So that means when you are playing TS3, you are using a total of 6GB (4+1+1) of RAM out of your total 8GB. What is happening to the extra 2GB? They're just setting there, doing nothing. If you open other programs while you play, such as a webbrowers, then your system will use those extra RAM. A RAMdisk is a program that will convert those extra RAM into harddrive (HDD). However, it is like 10 times faster. It is even faster than SDD since it is direct memory access. So what that thread is, is a tutorial on how to set up the Softperfect RAMdisk (it is a free RAMdisk software), then it shows you how to move your cache files and thumbnail folder to that RAMdisk. So instead of reading/writing from your HDD (which is slow), it will read/write from a RAMdisk at 10x the speed. At this rate, your game won't need to pause for the caching (read/write) to catch up. This helps anyone's game even those on high end gaming computers. On my i7, the game still lags and pauses during ultra speed mode (game going too fast the HDD can't read/write fast enough). So when I moved the necessary files/folders to the RAMdisk, ultra mode was smooth. |
I watched a few youtube vids, so I think I got a disk on there mounted. I am stuck at this part of the steps. makes absolutely no sense to me what so ever on what I am supposed to do:
"5) Optional: check "mount as removable" if you want to manually mount the RAMdisk after boot up.
* Checked: Frees the RAM until you want to play TS3. RAM disk is unmounted after shutdown.
* Unchecked: Automounts the RAMdisk even after shutdown, more convenient.
RAMdisk:
Like before, take your total RAM and subtract what you need (either 6 or 7GB), whatever is left can be made into your RAMdisk. I recommend at least 1-2GB.
Folders:
Delete the 2 folders
In a cmd prompt under admin priv, type this format:
mklink /j "source" "target"
* source = where your original folders are
* target = your ramdisk"
I did the unchecked part of step 5. wasn't sure which one would be better so I chose unchecked. I know what it means in the next part on figuring out how much ram you need. But I don't understand from then on. I know where the cache files are and thumbnail files but don't know if those are what it means to be deleted? or what this cmd prompt is.
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Nraas Overwatch however, has done my game some wonder! I get the notice every 3am sim-time, telling me how many random cars were deleted from the neighborhood. Throughout the sim day, it says what unroutable sim was found (and reset-but it doesn't say that bit) and what sims were stuck in aging error (usually rabbithole bosses), etc.
When that happens, I lag for just a few seconds, but that's way better than the 4am 5-7 minute lag I was getting before... Apparently, the fruits and vegetables spawn at that time, and I had made a community harvestable garden, with a few dozen plants, that was kicking my game's butt. Also, I notice that when it's snowing, the game lagged quite frequently.. Plumbobs and Z's and sparkles would still be moving, but my sims would be still and the game time would be stuck.. I reduced the Winter season and I Don't have that problem nearly as much... With Seasons installed, it seems like all the weather wants to do is rain and snow, but the system doesn't like that very much.
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Try this: Reduce / Eliminate Error 12 It is experimental though. I needed more people to test it and give me more data on it's effectiveness. Currently, I have modified my cache size as in the link and it does help. Error 12/16 are related to memory, if your TS3 uses more than 3.4GB+ of RAM, your save is pretty much dead. There are other "tricks" to help save, but I have found none of them to work if the RAM usage is above 3.4GB. A bit part of it is actually mod related too. The game itself is not designed to exceed that memory limit, but certain mods will override that and push the memory that far. Most notable is NRAAS SP. The only real solution is to save every 30 min to 1 hr of play. However, keeping your game clean helps a lot. I only have this error when I play my homeworld during winter. In any other world, I've played for hours without saving and it is fine. For example, I play the full 2 weeks of university semester without saving. You want to delete (or move to your RAMdisk) CompositorCache.package and SimCompositorCache.package. If you move them, move them to the root directory (Eg. not into a folder, but in the drive itself such as G:\) Then you want to delete or move the "contents" of Thumbnails folder like you did with the two files. (Eg. If you moved it to your Ramdisk, move the files in Thumbnails to your RAMdisk, eg - G:\) Click Windows Start and find the Run option: Make sure it says "Admin Privilege" and then type CMD: Then in there type your command for each cache file and folder: Instead of "nitomon" type your Winlog on ID. Instead of G:\, type the drive of your own RAMdisk. Repeat for for the cache files. Remember for files, don't use "/j" (Remember if you delete the cache, TS3 will need to refill them when you start playing again, so you won't see the benefit until the caches are filled) |
Ok, thank you, I think I got it Took me back in time of MS Dos lol sure makes you feel old lol. I've loaded the game since I did this and then checked my new drive and those files are showing up The cache and thumbnails is the only thing to have go in there rt? I haven't played very long yet, just a few min so don't have much feedback on how it is doing thus far. Stuttering still but haven't played long enough to see if it does it longer than stuttering.
Posts: 2,200
Thanks: 37050 in 294 Posts
Posts: 2,200
Thanks: 37050 in 294 Posts
Hey no prob. Remember that stuttering early on is normal since it is refilling the cache files again (unless you moved it). This is why normally you don't want to delete the cache unless you have problems, though periodically cleaning it will help with corrupted scripts. It is highly noticeable in CAS/CAST-- when the cache is empty, you'll see all your CC thumbnails blank while the game generates them. Once the cache is filled, it will load seamlessly. SimCompositorCache - stores the sims data in your town. CompositorCache - stores the object data in your town. RAMdisk disappears if you shutdown your computer, so it will erase those caches again. However, if you want to maintain the cache files after shutdown, follow the options given in the tutorial thread. If you like the performance, you may also allocate more space for the folder Worldcaches. This is only for PC users and from what I know, it stores the cache for custom worlds used with NRAAS traveler. --- My game pretty much runs seamlessly, however "routing lag" is something I simply haven't been able to solve. If you are playing a custom world, it is likely to have routing lags and the only suggestion most people have is to use NRAAS Overwatch to reset stuck sims periodically. |
How do you know if the lag is caused by "routing lag" and not from something else? I didn't create any new folders in the ramdisk, the instructions said it was an option but not required. If I wanted to allocate more space for the folder worldcache, do I have to give it its own folder in the ramdisk? I gave the ramdisk 1.5g of space. Didn't know you weren't supposed to clear out your cache. I always did because that was the most common answer to several posts online to help with lag, by clearing out some space. The one that really bugs me is the featured items. It fills up so fast sometimes and I've had 2k items in that folder before.
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