I'm just hoping it'll make my job easier on the one hand, and my gameplay more fun on the other.

It's ok! Even if this tool doesn't "dramatically speed up" the game, it might help someone else create it later down the line! Anyway, you are making a new discovery, so it's all good. I'm with the others, don't be nervous.

Honestly, even if this mod halves the lag instead of getting rid of it entirely, I'd consider it a success. You gotta release it soon

Yeah, between the age of my laptop (going on 7 years) and the amount of mods that I have, I wouldn't be surprised if things aren't perfect. But every little bit of help is still something to be excited about and definitely still appreciated. You're putting more thought into fixing the issue than EA did since their solution was to just say "fuck it" and make a sequel where half the features are gutted out.

A gutted sequel that doesn't even run all that much better, you mean. And my PC's only coming up on its third birthday, but it's also not handling the workload well. To be fair, I'm doing a bunch of stuff that the game was never built for. Having this mod would've been amazing a few months ago when I had to suffer through days and days of setting up shots and sitting through crash after crash. Hell, the end result isn't even that great, the game could've at least given me an easier time.

Oh, 4 isn't as improved in terms of running as it was sort of advertised?! I got the base game when it was free for that week. It seems to run pretty well compared to 3. But I keep talking myself out of buying packs. And for whatever reason, I'm too lazy to download any mods. Keep loading up the mts download page. Only to exit a bit later.

Also to keep on topic I'm beyond excited for the amount of effort you've put into what I'm sure will become a must-have mod!

I've only ever played it with 3 expansions, 3 game packs and maybe 7 stuff packs, and it was clearly already struggling. I can't really imagine running it with all the packs that are out now. It must be a total lagfest.

Well I'll keep that in mind anytime I start thinking I want packs, thanks! Makes me wonder how it's running for my sister, bought her one of those 3 in 1 packs for her birthday. But she got the xbox one version, so it might be different.

It's a very annoying and time consuming combination of lag and long loading times, especially in CAS. That's why OP seriously needs to let us try this out, so I can enjoy playing Sims 3 again

Shoot. I think we scared Simmy away

I was talking about TS4. I personally don't give a shit how TS4 runs, but TS3 I care about a lot.

Sorry for not replying. I got depressed for a while. Some days, I just felt completely miserable to the point that I avoided this thread. I need to take care of my mental health...

Anyways, it's alive! *cue some dramatic music*
Since I just *know* that a terrible system-breaking bug will happen if I release it to the public directly, I'm going to start a closed beta.
Feel free to reply if you're interested!

I hear ya about that depression, I deal with it myself as well. It sucks, I completely understand. Always take care of yourself before anything else.

As for testing, count me in.

I wouldn't necessarily call it depression but I definitely relate to a certain lack of willpower. I consistently overestimate how much I can realistically get done within a week or so, even though I know I could easily get it all done if I were motivated.

Off topic, but trust me when I say that it's the worst feeling you could possibly experience on a near constant basis. All of your excitement, ambitions, you name it, just go away. Empty doesn't even begin to describe it.

And mental health is so stigmatized. You wouldn't believe how many people have told me to "just get over it" like I'm making it up or something.

Don't sweat it. Your health should always come before cleaning up EA's messes. And I can't thank you enough for the amount of time and effort you put into this. Consider me interested in testing this thing out.

You guys have no idea how fucking good I would be at making stuff if I ever actually felt like doing it.

I am very very very interested and would like to have a closed beta version even if it blows up my pc. Is there any way we can help you test this and that and troubleshoot and whatnot?

I feel like this is a millennial issue that doesn't get talked about much.....but yeah, it's off-topic. I just got done setting up the beta version of the mod and I'm going to test it in my game now.

Anyways, forgot to say thanks for all the hard work on all of this simmy. No matter what, the amount of work you've put into this project is to be commended.

Ooof Depression is the worst. Suffer from it myself. Used to talk to middle school and high school students about Depression and suicide, when I volunteered at a youth crisis line, it was always starling how many students were suffering.
I'm glad you know your taking care of yourself! That always comes first!

Also, thank you so much for all your hard work on what I'm sure will become a must-have mod for all of us.

I'd like to test it out

simmythesim, I really hope you're not putting too much pressure on yourself (I got the feeling you are a perfectionist). And do not dare to apologize for anything! You owe us absolutely nothing. Instead, the sims community should be forever grateful for all the stuff you have already done for us. If you just wanted to walk away without an explanation, I wouldn't blame you at all. Frankly, I'm amazed how patient you have been given how much off topic discussion your thread has here and how some people are outright telling you what to do with your mod. I also saw how some users on reddit felt entitled to criticize how you should work on your mods. I personally would not have the mental energy to deal with it. But good on you still dealing with the public but perhaps it is coming with a cost after all.

Also, when it comes you to feeling stressed about possibly overpromising, you very clearly stated on the title "I think I may have found a way". If people become dissapointed or possibly angry that the mod isn't what they expected, well that's on them. Why expect so much from one person who is doing all of this for free? They can instead start to develop their own mods.

I agree with you up to a point. I am completely on board with simmy's mental health being a priority over anything created for a game. No one should ever have to feel obligated for something they are doing in their spare time.

But I'm not exactly sure where the "entitlement" is coming from. Most of the responses on this thread have been very supportive, and rightly so. Simmy is putting forth much more effort than EA apparently ever had time to. If you're referring to the discussion about license agreements a few pages back, that was actually in response to someone who said that Simmy himself had no right to develop this in the first place, whether he wanted to or not. Which quite frankly makes no sense, because there's nothing illegal about it. He's certainly not distributing any game files, and this tool is no different than the myriad of other tools created by other people, like S3PE. Other than that, I don't think most if any of the replies here have demanded that he release anything.

Bottom line, I understand most of what you're saying and actually agree a fair bit. Simmy's health and well being comes before all else. If anything, I'd say most here just have enthusiasm for the project than a feeling of being owed something. And if anyone knows what Simmy is going through with those bouts of depression, that'd be me. Despite what other people think, it's not a "Well I'm just not feeling it today, so I think I'll just do nothing because why not" feeling. It's called mental illness for a reason. I understand that all too well and what it does to your own enthusiasm. So whatever he decides is fine with me.

Yeah I'm actually kinda confused by that. i can't speak for Reddit but this thread has been pretty chill and free of entitlement or, for the most part, rudeness.