Hi everyone,
I decided to return to the Sims 3 after some time and I loaded my old save. However in spite of stable fps (limited to 60 by fpslimiter) the game has terrible freezes - it looks like sim is making one footstep - freeze and magic teleport - next step.
- My graphic card is Nvidia GreForce 970 GTX
- processor AMD Phenom of II X4 940
- 8 GB RAM
- In Nvidia settings:
• Power management mode - prefer maximum performance
• Triple buffering - off
• Threaded optimisation - ON
• Vertical Sync - Adaptive
- I use fps limiter+3booter
- I use nraas mods to keep my city clean (like overwatch)
- I have AMB/LN/GEN/Pets/Showtime/SP/IP Expansions
- Razer Cortex: Game Booster (just for sure)
- Sims 3 installed on SSD
I have some mereged packages, but I remember that I selected them really carefully and test before my game. Downloads contains a few files like some store stuff. Does somebody have an idea why it is happening?

I don't know what causes the freezes, but you have better specs than me and still have them. That makes me feel better about my laptop. Maybe you should use delphy's dashboard and make sure nothing is conflicting? Also, check your downloads, as some glitchy objects and CAS items can sneak in through lots and sims. Hope it helps any!

Well, you could try using a Save Cleaner to freshen up your savegame or NRaas MasterController Reset Everything interactions.
You should NOT be having freezes with those specs, but TS3 is a weird game.
It could also be that the game is not detecting your hardware correctly. I'm sure someone will tell you how to fix this.

I used delphy's dashboard to test mods before merege and for cleaning game caches (form time to time). I tried to reset everything, it helps a bit but only for few minutes, so I guess it is not caused by some stucked sims or city problems. I made Sims 3 recognize my graphics card manually (because game couldn't do it). Yes, I'm playing with Island Paradise expansion, but not on this world.

I tried to make some "optimisation" things in my city, like removing baskets for the washing and machines to don't let sims to put dirty clothes everywhere. I'm also using "no-spawn" mods, like no wild flowers or animals. Sims / animals number is also limited (5 animals, 80 sims max). I also turn off memories and don't do photos, etc.

There's no straight answers to these lags/issues things imo.., let's say your OS and its drivers were properly installed, you may also have followed the technical guide as is posted here http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title...Graphics_Issues as I did in the past, so I assumed you don't have related technical issues, and your mods/cc are clean or good ones or maybe even no mods/cc installed, and then test the game with a new game, simple starter house for your sims, at one point.. one way or another, the lags/freezes still happening..

I personally did some test and research few months ago.. by customizing the main TS3 package files as far as I can understand how the engine game read and execute them while the game is running, so I made some changes to them to manipulate how the game engine reads and executes its database, but that also didn't improve so much in gameplay performance as I would have expected in my own understanding.., though it does helps reducing loading time for new game or saved game or stuff in CAS, this helps reducing loading time in general the game needs to load.. but it didn't make the gameplay performance free of lags/freezes..

I have all the EPs (except for SN and ITF) with all SPs and about 3gb mods installed but no cc, I convert all cc into package and put them combined with other mods I have, when Pets were not installed.. it's a bit better but lags/freezes still happening sometimes, so I decided to keep Pets Installed since is no big difference..

So I did everything in my own personal customization to make the gameplay better, but still it didn't goes as I would have expected (except for loading times), and then when I start moving out EA's default worlds and give the game another test and do some research with almost empty custom world I made, so I moved out all EA's world, and for WA and UN as its default vacation world replacement (because both EPs needs its world to make traveling possible) I also put two different empty worlds for them, and the game just run like TS3 BG stand alone with no EPs and SPs with my home world is almost empty like the world in the beginning with Adam and Eve with some stray cats, dogs and horses.. no lags.. no freezes..

So with those as my experiments when testing the game as the results, I put back the WA and UN worlds for vacation worlds, and only put Sunset Valley and Starlight Shore as my two home worlds (so my sims are still able to move to another town), I also made changes to all of the 4 worlds so it's not as complex as it were, the 4 worlds I used for my TS3 are the ones with routing fixed from Ellacharmed, I also converted about 70-80% playable sims family into NPCs family, convert their houses and other buildings into decorations houses and buildings with the help of LN hidden marker room, fixes all the houses and buildings I planned them to be playable.., so basically with these changes, the only playable sims including my sims family I'm playing with.. it's only about 20-30% of its total populations..

The main mods I used for my game is; Awesomemod, NRASS MC SP ET and some others also from NRASS, No Memory for GN EP, and most of other core mods for the game, all of these mods I have, combined with the changes I made to the game package files and its world help improves the gameplay performance, it certainly didn't make the game 100% free lags/freezes, because it's the nature of the game when the world over populated and keep populating with no ends, so I just try to keep my game from over populated.. in order to avoid or delay the lags/freeze when the world is over populated..

I don't know about you guys handle them in experiencing these lags/freezes we all having when playing TS3, but to me, I think the main problem why the game in some point will experiencing lags/freezes is because how the EA's world created, I think maybe it's too complex altogether with the playable sims placed in the world and vacation worlds .. especially in the interior houses design or buildings, secret places like tomb, its routing etc.., but anyway.. I hope this would help the OP to find solutions in how improving the gameplay..

Thank you all for your comprehensive responses

Naus Allien - I forgot about Save Cleaner, it made my save file 50% smaller

Alchemist - I delete caches when there are really big freezes after loading the game. I noticed it helps for this. Plants can be some problem, but I think in my city there is about 50 of them - I have 10 on my possession and there is no garden-parcel in my city (but places as graveyard propablly have some by default). I checked items in MC, I had 128 diplomas, so I guess overwatch and other cleaing-stuff do their work. 1 Ice cream car
At the beginning I thought I have fps problem and I read on Nvidia help-forum that i should disable tripple buffer and you use V-sync, so the most probably someone made a mistake on forum.

PapaEmy - When I will have a bit more time I will try to use your methods with cities. You said that you put only SV and SS as your homeworlds, how did you delete Appaloosa Plains (from pets) for example? You mean you deleted everything to the ground or...?

DeviceConfig:

I didn't deleted them, but I moved them (Twinbrook, Bridgeport, Appaloosa Plains and Island Paradise) from where it was installed to temporary folder, I just move these world files to somewhere else and just put any of them back if I want to play it as my world, this way the TS3 engine will only have 2 home worlds recognized in the TS3 main menu.

The reason I did this because since the patch 1.67 were introduced, the sims have the ability to move to another town, and I think.. somehow that affecting the game that the worlds in the background are not so passive as it seems, I mean in a way.. like how sims memory from GN EP works that causing the lags, so by moving all of them and just leave 2 as home worlds, there only one world in the background for the sims to come to move in or to move out to another town, and not only that, I disabled the EA's story progression and replace it with NRASS story progression (and just activate it for blood relatives and sims friends only), and I also disabled the cat, dog, horse, vampire, and celebrity to populate from the TS3 main menu, this helps improving the gameplay performance because the total population in my game was reduced to as low as possible but still realistic to play. This will not removed the features that came with each EP, only their worlds.

To have the lowest (and to simplified the complex interior design of houses or buildings) of total population from Sunset Valley, Starlight Shore, China, Egypt, France and University altogether, I edited each world in CAW for most of the changes (to the layout, routing, houses and buildings into decoration houses and buildings with the help of hidden room marker), so I don't have to reedit them all over again before starting a new game, but to convert playable sims to NPC I did them in edit town from the game (not in CAW), and just saved them to the bin and just put them back to their decorative houses in edit town before starting new game, and just back up the library folder in case I need another changes in the future..

Hi, I'm just coming back to Sims 3 after a couple years hiatus. I used to do a good amount of world building, and one thing you learn from that is how godawful the routing is on EA worlds. The worst one I saw was Isla Paradiso, but I love that world , so I used the Nraas Error Trap to isolate which sims were repeatedly getting stuck. Then I manually fixed(either removed or relocated sims) the repeat offenders. I also had to fix or delete some lots(the ones crossing the water line, mostly). I used another Nrass mod to eliminate the wildlife, as they constantly get stuck, too. I used Overwatch, Master Controller, Register and Awesomemod in my endeavors. Finally, after the world ran smoothly and torment free, I made a save, which I then used to start every Isla Paradiso game I played...I still have a copy.

I was able to play 8 expansions on a dual core Dell with 6GB of RAM. I did a number of other performance enhancements as well, but the routing issues were the biggest problem...