The sims 4 plays better than sims 3 «12...Next Go

AmySims09

I've been switching between sims 3 (cos I have pets) and sims 4. While I was on sims 3 I turned up the graphics a little so the pets tails wouldn't keep disappearing and they wouldn't be fluffy when I zoomed out and also so the horses manes look real and stuff.

But then it started to lag but not unplayably lag just mini pauses. Then after deleting the save file I started a new family but then the screen flickered twice and the game froze but the music was still playing.

While I'm on sims 4 I get no lag, except for the occasional glitch. I don't play around with the settings so they are at default or whatever they were at when I first started the game.

Its just an observation I have made.

PsychoSimXX

I bought my desktop to work with TS2 so it wasn't up to par all that much for TS3. After adding stuff packs, expansion packs and CC, it started to have issues. Bought a laptop moved it all onto to my laptop and I have zero issues with TS3. I only have issues with TS4 if they are bugs within the games itself.

aaronrulz

At one point with the Sims 3, I could not even play anymore. My computer was just dragging with all the Sims 3 EP's. Freezing, lagging, and crashing. However with Sims 4, I RARELY ever have lag or crashes. And when i say rare, it's happened once or twice

Aeriexo11

I know a lot of people say they didn't experience lag with open world, but not everyone has an awesome computer (or can afford one) to run the game seamlessly. Im sure we would all jump at the oppurtnity to have this, but unfortunately no Thats why I'm not mad about open world because TS4 never lags on me. I have a brand new pretty decent computer and before I installed TS4, I tried TS3, and the lag wasn't completely awful, but enough to make me fed up with it. After that, I went to TS2, then decided to give TS4 a try again, and shortly after toddlers came out (literally the only reason I wasn't playing anyway). Now I only play TS4, and i am completely happy with it lol.

MidnightAura

I'm sorry your pc wasn't capable of running the game OP. I had similar issues a few years ago. I now have a high end gaming pc and the game runs perfect. Smooth as butter. I love being able to play on max settings and I don't have lag.

AfterMidnight

My computer's pretty hefty but even it had some lag issues with TS3. You know that town that came with Island Paradise? Couldn't play in it at all. A bit of a waste of money, sadly. c':

DeservedCriticism

Honestly I find both of them to be in unacceptable condition. I don't want them to feel like they get a pass for all the bugs in Sims 4 just because the game crashes less than 3.

liliaeth

GoddessSims wrote: »

I bought my desktop to work with TS2 so it wasn't up to par all that much for TS3. After adding stuff packs, expansion packs and CC, it started to have issues. Bought a laptop moved it all onto to my laptop and I have zero issues with TS3. I only have issues with TS4 if they are bugs within the games itself.

I bought my current computer specifically to play sims 3 on it. When I bought it, I showed the store owner specifications of it, and asked for a computer that could handle it and more, with the assumption that the game would require more and more, as expansions were added on. I had problems with the game from the start, that grew worse with every single expansion pack. I had memory added to my computer, had my computer beefed up, had it virus cleaned as often as possible and so on, no matter what I did, Sims 3 kept freezing up on me and causing me trouble. After a while, I couldn't play for more than half an hour without the 🐸🐸🐸🐸 thing freezing up on me, or just as bad, letting me play, and then refusing to save the game I'd been playing when I stopped.

Yet since I bought sims 4, a few rare glitches aside, I have not had a single problem with the game freezing on me. And when I do have issues with a glitch, I either just click 'repair' on the sim or item in game, or in the worst case, save and restart the game, and the problem is generally dealt with without losing any of the game I'd been playing.

liliaeth

AfterMidnight wrote: »

My computer's pretty hefty but even it had some lag issues with TS3. You know that town that came with Island Paradise? Couldn't play in it at all. A bit of a waste of money, sadly. c':

Yeah, I couldn't even open CAS after I installed Island Paradise, the game froze whenever I tried to create a new sim, and God forbid if I tried to create a mermaid.

Nomiko13

In my experience 4 does run better than 3, however, 3 ran better when I figured out what was causing my game to run slow at times: cache and Featured Items images from the folder. The only thing that bugs me about 3 is that it takes ages for the launcher to pop up after clicking it if you have store content installed on it and it does take much longer to load than 4 (which only takes a good 1-2 minutes on my laptop). Only thing is I gotta invest in a hefty, top notch desktop soon to keep my Sims 4 legacy at bay since it's starting to lag/freeze after playing hours at a time.

Tentacrocacles

Sims 4 has almost always worked perfectly for me. I only started experiencing glitches and whatnot when I started using CC but I was aware this might start happening, modding any game can sometimes cause a few issues.

I found Sims 3 difficult to measure. On the one hand, the game did sooooort of run alright on my laptop and I haven't had an opportunity to test it on my PC, I'll have to ask my fiances little sis if I can see how it runs on hers to get a good measure. But I did find that the older my save file got the more lag I'd experience, I liked the open world and most of the EPs (Into the Future seemed a bit of an odd choice though). But I really disliked my lag problem. I also noticed what might have been a graphical glitch (not really sure what it was) with the pets, but basically I could see through their fur on the really fluffy ones? I'm not sure if that was something wrong with my graphics settings or just that my eyes too keen but it was really off putting anyway.

Also I also found the sims didn't really look that good in Sims 3. The style just was kinda meh.

JMConcept

Of course, that totally makes sense due to the fact that the game is much smaller and the sims have clay hair.

Besides, before I built a custom desktop I played on a 2012 laptop w/o a graphics card. And back then TS4 would lag like crazy on my laptop while my sims 3 never froze or crashed. I made a thread on it last summer. So I guess it really depends on your specs.

sallysimnamon

The total glitch-fest and dreadful lagging was exactly why I decided to give the Sims 3 a break. I can't fault the game itself because, to be fair, we got some very good expansion packs for it but I was tired of fighting with my computer (which I personally think is a pretty alright quality one) for it to work. My biggest problem with the Sims 3 is that a lot of us have to rely on fans and their self-made mods and fixes for our games to work when that should have been EA's responsibility from the beginning. Now those of us who still have a soft spot for the Sims 3 are left with a bugged game which is evident from what people have said in this thread. So far I haven't experienced anything wrong with the Sims 4 and I'm glad that I gave it a chance considering the negative feedback about the game. The only thing that bothers me is the constant loading screens because honestly, sometimes I'm dying of boredom from loading screens every five minutes but I can deal with it if it means that I'll get to play a lag-free game.

PsychoSimXX

liliaeth wrote: »

GoddessSims wrote: »

I bought my desktop to work with TS2 so it wasn't up to par all that much for TS3. After adding stuff packs, expansion packs and CC, it started to have issues. Bought a laptop moved it all onto to my laptop and I have zero issues with TS3. I only have issues with TS4 if they are bugs within the games itself.

I bought my current computer specifically to play sims 3 on it. When I bought it, I showed the store owner specifications of it, and asked for a computer that could handle it and more, with the assumption that the game would require more and more, as expansions were added on. I had problems with the game from the start, that grew worse with every single expansion pack. I had memory added to my computer, had my computer beefed up, had it virus cleaned as often as possible and so on, no matter what I did, Sims 3 kept freezing up on me and causing me trouble. After a while, I couldn't play for more than half an hour without the plum thing freezing up on me, or just as bad, letting me play, and then refusing to save the game I'd been playing when I stopped.

Yet since I bought sims 4, a few rare glitches aside, I have not had a single problem with the game freezing on me. And when I do have issues with a glitch, I either just click 'repair' on the sim or item in game, or in the worst case, save and restart the game, and the problem is generally dealt with without losing any of the game I'd been playing.

My desktop I spent a pretty on and had it custom built. TS3 ran pretty good when I didn't have any of the CC or added textures to CASt. My laptop isn't custom built and I did buy it off the shelf. Which I hate but I didn't have the money for the custom one I am wanting to get or to fix my desktop my ex destroyed with viruses.

SimplyJen

Even on the best gaming rig, you can still experience issues with Sims 3... But the same can be said about Sims 4. Both have their own set of issues. Not everyone will experience the same things. With that said, it doesn't help when game requirements are not met. Packs and even patches add to the game requirements.

I play other games much more demanding than sims and my desktop is custom built for that so in theory I shouldn't have any issues.

Sims 4: FPS drops (low 40s-60) with v-sync but other than that, it plays ok. Load time from menu to save a little over a minute with all of my custom content and mods. (20 seconds without) I only use mods to add more options or make the game harder. I haven't had many game bugs but then again, I haven't put very many hours into this game yet. Very rarely crash but it has happened.

Sims 3: V-sync is a must and I prefer to play with a string of NRaas mods to keep things running smoothly. Average FPS 58-60. All saves have a separate folder only installing additional store content and custom content as needed. In return the launcher starts up almost instantly. Load time from menu to save is average 2-4 minutes. Sure I have to wait a little under 5 minutes at most but I have an open world. I crash if I use the Windows key to tab out too often otherwise very rarely.

I know people argue open world is the cause of lag and mods shouldn't be a requirement just to play the game. However I have no problem using mods and it's worth the effort because my open world runs just fine. Some lucky folks say they run the game mod free and it runs like butter. Not in my case but it's definitely not unplayable to me and still manages to kill hours before I'm bored.

UnrealRoot

I have a gaming PC which runs The Sims 4 on ultra, Far Cry Primal on ultra and The Division + Overwatch on I believe ultra. The Sims 3 however.. don't get me started The Sims 4 improved so much in my opinion with the way it handles everything.

Simsister2004

AfterMidnight wrote: »

My computer's pretty hefty but even it had some lag issues with TS3. You know that town that came with Island Paradise? Couldn't play in it at all. A bit of a waste of money, sadly. c':

I would say, at the time with the computer I had, Sims 3 was totally waste of money, compared to Sims 4. AND waste of my patience, too. I even bought a brand new and better graphic card, just to see the fish under the water. Lots of crashing and other trouble, especially with the long waited and wished Island Paradise, made me finally leave the game. I dragged my feet, starting to play the Sims 4, but I have never been playing a better running simsgame since the early Sims 1 days. Sims 4 has brought all my enthusiasm back, and I am so happy to play this wonderful game.

Shan

It's not a surprise that TS4 works better than TS3 - and it's not even just a matter of having an open world. People who have played generational games (or have just stayed in one world longer than a few sim weeks) in 3 will know that eventually, no matter how good your computer is, the game will start to stutter due to memory issues. Good thing is that you can solve a lot of issues with 3 just by installing overwatch and errortrap. Sadly often to make TS3 capable of standing up under its own weight you'd have to get community made fixes, you'd even have to install fixed versions of EA made worlds.
If I remember right, Sims 2 had memory leaks as well but it seems like they've finally learned something with 4. Here's to hoping it lasts :P

deadhaus123

Unfortunately with the Sims 3 you have to baby it and coddle it perhaps a little too much for it to work properly. I realize there are people out there who lack the time, patience, or computer know how, for that and just want a game they can play without the hassle. I too was disheartened with the way the Sims 3 was playing for a while, but only ever had problems in custom world's I made, never EA ones or community made fixed ones. After some time I have finally been able to SOLVE most of those problems with mods and better routing, so playing the game on ultra high settings with NO lag is all I could ask for. The open world experiment along with terrain editing is a real joy when it works, and a nightmare when it doesn't. For now, everything is stable, here's to hoping that lasts!

simplysims25

I'm one of the lucky ones. Both my Sims 2 & 3 games (with every expansion) play perfectly for me. (on a laptop)
I still play them a lot -but have been having fun with my toddlers in Sims 4 too.
I miss having Pets & Seasons in Sims 4, so play Sims 3 mostly where they are available.

Uzone27

Shortly after launch I cast a side eye at some of the many complaints pouring into the forums over issues people were having with TS3.

My laptop was fairly new at the time, and I could run the game on mostly high settings with very little lag except on a few of the public lots.
So I was pretty skeptical when people started claiming that their computers were new (sometimes even top of the line was the claim) and they weren't using mods or CC.

I never did experience heavy lag (in terms of frame rate) through my TS3 experience...
Over time though as I started adding packs store items and later CAP swatches the game became extremely heavy
Response times beagn to slow, loading times for swatches became a time sieve and toward the end launch times for the game topped the double digits in minutes...(15-20 mins atm)

I also suffered through the agonizing game of Russian Roullette hoping beyond hope that I hadn't waited too long between saves because the out of memory error became fairly routine in my game.
I stopped adding stuff to TS3 after Seasons...my poor puter was at it's very limit and so was my patience if I'm being honest.

I do experience slow response times and lag in TS4 on occassion if my lot size is too big. (I'm using the same computer)
However when I'm on smaller lots it runs like butter.
Response times are quicker than I'd ever seen them before..so fast in fact that it caught me completely off guard at first.

All of my money is tied up in my DAW which is a lot more important to me than the Sims.
Some day though...I'll get a computer that can run both flawlessly and I'll finally be able to download TS2 to this machine.

AmySims09

simplysims25 wrote: »

I'm one of the lucky ones. Both my Sims 2 & 3 games (with every expansion) play perfectly for me. (on a laptop)
I still play them a lot -but have been having fun with my toddlers in Sims 4 too.
I miss having Pets & Seasons in Sims 4, so play Sims 3 mostly where they are available.

Same though I never had seasons. I went back to sims 3 to play with horses but after it started flickering and freezing I went back to sims 4.

foussi

True , Sims 4 is way more stable than sims 3.
It doesnt kill itself when you download a broken cc or mod.
I have some lag in sims 4 but its not so bad like in sims 3 where your game goes buiscuit when you have a family with 4 sims.
Also i think you unleashed the wrath of raging sims 3 fans with that title .*whispers*run, they are coming

ladybreid

I never had issues with TS3 I did not own island paradise or into the future because those didn't interest me. I do have a ton of CC though.

Amiutza

Sims 4 definitely runs better for me, but it still has fps drops and I'm plagued by san myshuno stutter. If only we'd get Directx 11 compatibility, I think it would really help sort out that issue for the higher end pcs *shrugs* Now as far as Sims 3 goes.. I can't get it to work after installing all the mods, editing all the sgr files and bending over backwards. I'm still salty about that, I just find it insane that I can't play it on my super expensive custom built gaming pc.

Candyd

When I only had TS3 especially after Generations was released, it was very laggy but my computer was largely under-powered for anything more than the base game. I bought a much better computer and now I can play practically lag-free on ultra with all add-ons and plenty of CC, and without important bugs, the only one I've sometimes experienced recently is the UI disappearing after spending hours in building mode.
But the same machine is incapable of running TS4 without lag and crashing all the time, no matter the graphics, no matter the quantity or absence of CC, it loves crashing. The only thing that makes it crash a bit less is capping the FPS to 30. Yes, that low. It still doesn't avoid everything.
The two games are unstable now, with their EPs.