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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 3rd Apr 2020 at 10:10 PM
Default PORTS from Life Stories
Hi guys,

many of you probs have the UC. I tested a rather big lot (I don´t have any CC in my game) and it ran slow in the Sims 2 UC. I got around 20 FPS on that lot.
I exported the lot, installed it on Sims 2 Life Stories and I get 60 FPS on that very same lot.

Can someone explain to me, why this is happening, and if we could port some files from The Life Stories, so that maybe The Sims 2 could read that - cause they both use the same engine.

Thanks!
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Mad Poster
#2 Old 3rd Apr 2020 at 10:51 PM
You should NOT use lots made with the UC in your Stories games because they DON'T use the same game engine. AL/M&G runs on a somewhat different engine than FT and below, and houses made with these do not work properly with lower-EP games. They could end up being rather bork-inducing, and have caused game crashes and the like for regular TS2 gamers who've attempted to install these houses in their non-AL/M&G games.

While TS2 and Stories seem like they should be compatible, they aren't on all points, especially on large things like neighborhoods and lots. You shouldn't export lots between Life Stories and TS2 (or opposite), and not neighborhoods either. There are a lot of differences between the games, and you could end up causing borkage. I think (but I'm not sure) that the Stories games run on the Seasons game engine, but the games are reduced in load and there are still differences between them.

Safest way to deal with lot conversions is to take a lot of pictures and then rebuild them from scratch in the other game.

You can use some types of CC between the games, but it's on a case-by-case basis. Some clothes, hair and other "basegame-compatible" things ike simple furniture and such, some low-EP content seem to work, and the occasional mod, but think of it as largely unsupported. Anything requiring Bon Voyage and above should probably be avoided for all the Stories games.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 3rd Apr 2020 at 10:56 PM
Well, I just did that - I exported the lot and it worked - but that isn´t what I wanted. I play Life Stories and noticed that it was WAY smoother than Sims 2. So I´m wondering why that is.
I think there are some .package files which Maxis optimized prior to publishing it - they question is just which files.

Quote: Originally posted by simmer22
While they do seem like they should be compatible, they aren't on all points, especially on large things like neighborhoods and lots. You shouldn't export lots between Life Stories and TS2 (or opposite), and not neighborhoods either. There are a lot of differences between the games, and you could end up causing borkage.

Safest way to deal with lot conversions is to take a lot of pictures and then rebuild them from scratch in the other game.

You can use some types of CC between the games, but it's on a case-by-case basis. Some clothes, hair and other "basegame-compatible" things ike simple furniture and such, some low-EP content seem to work, and the occasional mod, but think of it as largely unsupported. Anything Bon Voyage and above should probably be avoided for all the Stories games.

If you have Bon Voyage or anything above, especially if you have AL or M&G, you should not use lots from your TS2 game in Stories (Bon Voyage and above could have issues because of SecuRom, while AL/M&G use a different game engine so lots made with these installed tend to not work with up to anything lower than AL).
Mad Poster
#4 Old 3rd Apr 2020 at 11:01 PM
The Stories games are meant to be easier on computers - they were optimized for laptops, and have some functions removed or eased up from the regular games, adn there are some significant differences between them. That's why the games are technically not quite compatible with the TS2 files in several areas.

I'm not at all surprised you see better performance with Stories (it is essentially an ultra-light version of TS2 without EPs), but again - you shouldn't be using lots made with AL/M&G installed (or other lots made in TS2, for that matter) in the Stories games.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#5 Old 4th Apr 2020 at 6:22 PM
Btw - I´m not talking about porting houses or so - but system files from the game. Sims 2 - for some reason - runs really bad on newer computer. Life Stories and Pet Stories run amazingly well. It must be something in the coding, how the computer reacts to some files.

Quote: Originally posted by simmer22
The Stories games are meant to be easier on computers - they were optimized for laptops, and have some functions removed or eased up from the regular games, adn there are some significant differences between them. That's why the games are technically not quite compatible with the TS2 files in several areas.

I'm not at all surprised you see better performance with Stories (it is essentially an ultra-light version of TS2 without EPs), but again - you shouldn't be using lots made with AL/M&G installed (or other lots made in TS2, for that matter) in the Stories games.
Mad Poster
#6 Old 4th Apr 2020 at 6:59 PM
Your first post said you tested a lot on the UC, and then exported and installed it to Stories. Which is something you shouldn't do.

My point is that Life Stories and Sims are essentially two different games with the same esthetics, and it's not a good idea to try to boost performance by copying files from one to another, because it will most likely bork up either one or both games.

The UC is the full TS2 game with all the EPs and SPs. The Stories games are about as heavy as the basegame and maybe one or two EPs in addition to be more optimized for laptops (files are removed or have a lightened load) - so if you are seeing better performance, then no wonder. I'm pretty sure you'd see something similar if you compared just the basegame with the UC.

I've had very few issues with the full CD game on my old laptop, and (when I'm not getting pink-hell or crashing due to unsolved issues - still working on that) the UC seems to run okay on my new computer, too. Often the performance comes down to the computer/laptop you're using.
Scholar
#7 Old 5th Apr 2020 at 10:47 AM
Life Stories is based on OFB, Pet Stories on Pets EP and Castaway Stories on Seasons. Unfortunately none of them are lightened versions and, particularly Castaway Stories contain a lot of junk they can't use. Castaway has all of the careers, vehicles and outfits etc. that can't ever be used. They run smoother because they are just basegame + a few EPs, have a lot less sub-hoods and sims than the UC. Also you're not likely to have a big download folder in any of them.

Castaway's lots are clearly different to Sims 2 lots as they don't require roads and can be placed randomly under water but the other two are compatible provided you have the items that are used on the lots from the series installed. Generally placing lots from a newer EP to a lower EP neighbourhood won't work and is inviting trouble but lots from older EPs to newer EPs is OK. Lots from Life Stories or Pet Stories don't run faster in Sims 2 than any other lot though (I do use several of them).
Test Subject
Original Poster
#8 Old 5th Apr 2020 at 3:07 PM
Chris, my native language isn´t english, so I´m gonna try to explain this once again.

I opened TS2UC and loaded the biggest lot I could find. I got 20-30 FPS (I have an RTX 2060, AMD Ryzen 6 and 16 GB of RAM - witch graphics rule and everything, the game runs ok).
I exported that lot - no cc, no nothing, all the things that TS2 Life Stories also have - and installed the .sims2package file in the Teleport folder of TS2 Life Stories. I places the lot in the free to play neighborhood and got 60fps on that very same lot.

I don´t have any CC in any of those games. My PC is a gaming pc. I run The Sims 3 with all expansion without any problems.

My thesis is, that Sims 2 (together with the expansions) has some problems with the package files, which are better in the Life Stories and so on. So I was trying to find out which one could be changed to achieve better performance.
It would be weird to me, that Maxis published 20000 expansions for the game and knew, that it would run 20fps on a bigger lot. That just doesn´t make any sense.

Quote: Originally posted by Chris Hatch
Life Stories is based on OFB, Pet Stories on Pets EP and Castaway Stories on Seasons. Unfortunately none of them are lightened versions and, particularly Castaway Stories contain a lot of junk they can't use. Castaway has all of the careers, vehicles and outfits etc. that can't ever be used. They run smoother because they are just basegame + a few EPs, have a lot less sub-hoods and sims than the UC. Also you're not likely to have a big download folder in any of them.

Castaway's lots are clearly different to Sims 2 lots as they don't require roads and can be placed randomly under water but the other two are compatible provided you have the items that are used on the lots from the series installed. Generally placing lots from a newer EP to a lower EP neighbourhood won't work and is inviting trouble but lots from older EPs to newer EPs is OK. Lots from Life Stories or Pet Stories don't run faster in Sims 2 than any other lot though (I do use several of them).
Test Subject
Original Poster
#9 Old 5th Apr 2020 at 7:31 PM
UPDATE:
I figured that the Base Game (just like Pet and Life Stories) DON´T have pool-reflections - which really does slow down the game.
I just deinstalled UC and installed the base game. Everything works fine - 60fps. I installed Seasons - fps drops when pool on lot - to around 30fps or 20fps.
Pools are a problem. Turning off reflections saves the day.

Installing UC again to disable reflections to look is it going to change anything.
Mad Poster
#10 Old 5th Apr 2020 at 10:49 PM
Shaders and effects (reflections, pools, shadows, bump maps, etc.) can make the game prettier, but they can also be a huge resource hog.

On my oldest laptop I had to turn off all of these to be able to play, as reflections and shadows would cause unbearable lag (well, that and CC...), and I don't think shaders were ever enabled there. I think it's because the graphic card I had back then was just an integrated chip, and it was considered low-end by the game so shaders weren't enabled (and I had no idea they didn't work until I spotted fish in pools and fish tanks when I switched computer - but I've had shaders enabled since and without having to do much, so I think my graphic cards after this were more able to deal with shaders).

It's possible to turn off shaders either in the cheat window or via the userStartup file by making a line that says
boolProp useShaders false

It's also possible to edit it in the GraphicRules file, explained here: http://www.modthesims.info/wiki.php...aps_and_Shaders

Keep in mind this is for TS2.

I don't know if you can do this for Life Stories, but I don't doubt it.
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