How do I make my game run faster?

starburstcece

I had a topic similar to this one before, talking about how it took 12-15 minutes to load. But it didn't help much. So other than deleting cache and DCBACKUP files, what else can I do?

The following is stuff I have already tried and still didn't work-
~deleting files in FEATUREDITEMS.
~deleting files in WORLDCACHE
~deleting files in DCBACKUP
~deleting the 5 cache files in the Regular Sims 3 folder
~Fixed graphic setting in game to the lowest as possible! (grammar check please?!)

I am currently merging all my package files so no need to worry about that..
But I am not sure if it will exactly work..

So what do you do to make your game run faster?
I am a windows (7) user and my computer is very fast. I use game booster to boost my game and everything on my computer is updated.

Now that I think about it, my problem is very hard to solve..

GAME PLAY
When in game, it is constantly freezing and I get lots of lag spikes and just plain old lag! It even lags when my Sims are just going somewhere. Then, in ultra speed it goes slower than normal speed because of the constant lag spikes. Like i was just pressing play and pause constantly.

So, if you have the same problem, please let me know!

Also, if you have a solution or a way to make it a little bit smoother, then definitely let me know!

Thanks a bunch!

colton147

Everything runs very fast in my game already.

All loading screens are only a few seconds (with the exception of Bridgeport; that takes around two-three minutes).

Have you tried clearing your cache and the userpreset cache?

Cayzi

http://woohootycall.tumblr.com/post/57395820221/how-to-make-your-game-run-smoother-solve-crashing

This helped me. Mostly the upping the ram usage.

TreyNutz

To combat lag I followed most of the suggestions here:

http://sims3.crinrict.com/en/2011/04/bug-lags-intermittent-freezes.html

Combining CC helped loading time a little, but not a huge amount. One of my saves take 7+ minutes to load but it's an old game. I'm coming to the conclusion that you can only play a household for so long before the game can't handle it and it's just time to start new.

For lagging and freezing the biggest culprit for me was NRaas Story Progression, and I just turn the speed on that mod down a notch and the lag went away. I also don't play neighborhoods known to have routing issues, like Bridgeport (and I don't have IP yet).

I also use Overwatch and Error Trap.

TadOlson

I use AVG PC TuneUp to turn off any background programs that are always causing the computer to get slowed down and any startup programs that shouldn't be running on booting up the computer.I also turned story progression's speed to the slowest speed though it's not necessary to do that to stop lagging in my games.

ldmarko

In the save folder itself there are also two package files that can be deleted. One says TravelDB, the other looks like the game file but with exportDB at the end. (Both will say PACKAGE file to avoid confusion)

Also rename your save at least once a playing session. Use "save as" and just add 1, 2, 3, etc. to the end. This creates a fresh file which helps avoid corruption.

NRaas Overwatch mod helps too, but you'll get about a 5 minute freeze every sim night while it cleans up your game. It does make a difference, though. Story Progression mod can help with population control, and Register & Traffic mods can help reduce stray animals, unnecessary NPCs & excessive taxis that can slow things down.

igazor

ldmarko wrote:

NRaas Overwatch mod helps too, but you'll get about a 5 minute freeze every sim night while it cleans up your game. It does make a difference, though. Story Progression mod can help with population control, and Register & Traffic mods can help reduce stray animals, unnecessary NPCs & excessive taxis that can slow things down.

All of us who use Overwatch do get the freeze at startup and at 3am while cleanup is taking place. But 5 minutes suggests something might be wrong; this is not typical behavior. The folks at NRaas might be able to help you work out why this is happening and what steps you can take to improve your game save if you wish to pursue this.

I've been playing my current game for years, it has worlds in it with resident populations over 200, and the 3am freeze is usually about ten seconds. The startup routine is longer as it does many more things, but it's impossible to measure how long that takes because other game related things are happening upon startup at around the same time.

SugoiSimmerr

First of all, you should post your dxdiag. This is how other simmers can learn your information about your computer and can tell you if you need update drivers- or if your computer even meet minimum requirements. You can find this information by hitting start and typing dxdiag in the search bar. Click on the program. Then once it opens hit the button save all information and save it to the desktop. Copy and paste ALL the information here.

In the meantime here are some steps that I do to make my game run faster.

1. Delete your cache files. These are totally safe to delete, they regenerate after each game play. It's a good idea to routinely clean them out- I actually like to clean them out almost every time before I start to play. These files are:

simCompositor.cache
scriptCache.package
compositorCache.package
CASPartCache.package
These are located in Documents>Electronic Arts>The Sims 3 and they are near the bottom.

Also, you can delete all the files located in your DCBackup. Make sure to only delete the files inside and not the actual folder itself.

2. If you like to use CC and put them in your mods/packages folder then LadyEmillye posted a great tutorial on sims 3 forums!! (I can't post links)
This will allow you to merge your CC into one file- making loading times a lot faster. When you have a lot of CC in your packages folder, your game needs to load each and every file separately. When you merge it into one package- then you only have one package to load.

3. Go to your control panel then to add/remove programs. Find programs that you no longer use or are unneeded and remove them. It will help clear up some space for you.

4. Defrag your computer. This is also something that should be routinely done. It will keep your pc in nice working order. To do this hit the start button and type in disk defragmenter.

5. I like to have this program, ccleaner. It will help find unnecessary files that are taking up space on your computer and delete them. Also, it will help find/fix missing registry files etc. Also, it's a handle tool to use to uninstall items from your computer (it makes for a cleaner uninstall rather then your computers uninstall program)

6. Another program that I recommend is game booster. Another simmer recommended it to me, and I have since fallen in love. What this program does is it allows you to turn on a 'gaming mode'. What this does is that it stops all unnecessary tasks running in the background- resulting in speeding up your system so you have more power for your game.


I hope this helps! :smiley:

igazor

@SugoiSimmerr - None of your suggestions are bad or anything but I do have a couple of things to add.

1 - There is one file inside of DCBackup called ccmerge.package that should never be deleted. Doing so will cause all EA Store premium content items to stop functioning.

4 - I would add the warning to never try to defrag an SSD, which are slowly becoming more common, if you have one rather than or in addition to a traditional hard drive. Defragging an SSD will damage it.

Yes it would have been nice to get a dxdiag from the OP at the time and your response may help others. But just wanted to point out the this thread was from a year and half ago and the OP has not been on the forums since then.

We have a comprehensive collection of things players can try to improve their game's performance that I believe was still a work in progress back then. Some of them are mod related, others are not.
http://nraas.wikispaces.com/Tips+For+Better+Game+Performance

aifoseni

Something that i found that Really helps to reduce loading time without having to install or delete anything is undisabling the interactive loading screen (the one where an image of different expansions appear on the loading screen and you hace to seek for items from the game on the image and you gain lifetime points)
I've noticed that having done this reduced about 3-5 minutes from loading time depending on how big is the world i choosed.
So how do you do this? It's Really simple.
-Load your game till you are on the main menu (where you choose the world you want to play in)
-Click the button on the bottom left corner and from the menu that displays, choose options.
-A window will open up and choose the section on the top called "General settings" (the third one, with 2 gears)
-On the bottom it should say "Enable Interactive loading screens" and uncheck the box on the left.

And that's it! As a little disclaimer; this will only reduce loading time (maybe) but it will not improve the lag, freezes or speed of the game. Hope it helps someone! :)