Does TS3 on Mac still have issues? (iMac 5k Retina)

Dexter_XBA

Hi everyone,
I'm just about to order the new iMac 5k Retina (maxed out specs) and I'd like to use it to play The Sims 3 on it (my 5 year old laptop didn't do the job very well). But after doing some research I've found many many posts/discussions that say that The Sims 3 performs pretty bad on iMacs, no matter how much RAM/GPU these have. So I'd like to know if this is still the case? Or have there been updates to the game or Cider that allow the game to run smoothly? Will it be possible to play the game (incl. all add-ons) with max. settings (and 1080p or 2k or even 4k/5k resolution) without any lag?
And is there (still) a performance difference between running it on MacOS or bootcamp with Windows?
Thanks a lot in advance for any replies! :)

Tremayne4260

Hello, yes Sims 3 does run on a Mac. There are a few things we need to do to keep the game running smoothly though.

Check out the first page of this thread.

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/748338/a-mac-users-best-friend-please-read-before-posting-any-new-problem-threads#latest

Dexter_XBA

Thanks for your reply! These tips should be really helpful. Is it better to run it on bootcamp or is the performance similar to macOS?
And on what graphic settings & resolution can I expect to run it?

Tremayne4260

I run my game in the Mac OS and currently have mine on the highest settings.

Brenden

I have a 5k, i7, maxed out with RAM and videoRAM. I cannot get the sims 3 to work. I cannot set the screen better than 4k even though there is the option to set it at 5k. It starts up quickly but after I select a world it takes forever to continue to start up—and there is an <enormous> delay after any click. The graphics look good but the game is impossible to play. The newly upgraded, X version, of the video card is not listed as compatible and, I am guessing, they need to do some kind of update on TS3 to get it to work. Bummer.

Brenden

Also the controls are really tiny at 4k and would be almost impossible to see at 5k!

friend_in_hand

TS3 runs like a well-oiled machine on my iMac. Highest resolutions/settings etc.

Dexter_XBA

> @Brenden said:
> I have a 5k, i7, maxed out with RAM and videoRAM. I cannot get the sims 3 to work. I cannot set the screen better than 4k even though there is the option to set it at 5k. It starts up quickly but after I select a world it takes forever to continue to start up—and there is an <enormous> delay after any click. The graphics look good but the game is impossible to play. The newly upgraded, X version, of the video card is not listed as compatible and, I am guessing, they need to do some kind of update on TS3 to get it to work. Bummer.

Thanks for the info. That doesn't sound good :/
But it runs fine on lower resolutions?
Are you playing on MacOS or bootcamp Windows?

Tremayne4260

I play in Yosemite on a 27" iMac with quad core (not sure of the graphics card). If you could give us a little more information like what kind of Mac you are running on, your graphics card, your processor (dual or quad). That would help us give you more specific help.

Dexter_XBA

This is the iMac I've ordered and it should be the same as the one Brenden has:

27-inch with Retina 5K display:
Processor: 4.0GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 4.4GHz
Memory: 32GB 1600MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 4x8GB
Graphics: AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4GB GDDR5

Tremayne4260

It plays just fine. I run in Yosemite. Hope that helps.

Brenden

I ran it on my 2010 iMac using Yosemite and it worked fine. I cannot set it to lower resolutions. If I try the screen goes crazy. Some times when I see the start up screen, I can hear the game is actually working behind the screen. Very wierd. I haven't tried bootcamp yet. I have Sims4 but I got bored with it quickly. I will try bootcamp with Windows 7 in a few days when I have the time to set it up. I am also planning to reinstall Sims 3 to see if that works.

BluebellFlora

If the game recognises the video card then the game will always run better in Windows because it is a Windows game running in its native environment.

If you're running the game in OS X you will still need to purge your RAM when playing in order to stop crashes, no matter how much RAM your Mac has.

Dexter_XBA

[quote="Brenden;12897304"]I ran it on my 2010 iMac using Yosemite and it worked fine. I cannot set it to lower resolutions. If I try the screen goes crazy. Some times when I see the start up screen, I can hear the game is actually working behind the screen. Very wierd. I haven't tried bootcamp yet. I have Sims4 but I got bored with it quickly. I will try bootcamp with Windows 7 in a few days when I have the time to set it up. I am also planning to reinstall Sims 3 to see if that works.[/quote]

Did you play in windowed mode? And did you free up enough RAM as BluebellFlora mentioned (forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/658546/latest-mac-help-threads-guides-please-start-here-before-posting-a-problem-updated-27-07-14/p1)?

BluebellFlora

Windowed mode is a definite. And purging is a must if you don't want the debug error message. The game can only access up to 2Gb RAM. Your Mac will allocate masses but the game can't access it. The bigger your saves become, the busier your town becomes, CC/mods if you use them, these are just 3 of the main things which hog RAM. I always play tiny little worlds which helps minimise the crashing too.

Brenden

I have not tried windowed mode but I did get it to work on my 5K iMac. I put the settings on default and ran it at 2560×1440 at 60 Hz. Sims3 seems to work well with no problems. I am going to be fiddling with the settings and see what happens. There is a useful article on ExtremeTec: Analyzing the iMac 5K Retina display: How do you squeeze 5K out of a last-gen GPU? (updated)

Brenden

OK. I got it to work. Yeah. I set the whole computer to 5K by using the display control in settings (the far right setting). Now 5K works well. It starts up normally, has no delay with a click, and is fast. Also georgous. However the controls in the lower right are so small I cannot see them without a magnifying glass! So I am going back to 2560 x 1440, which is the default. And still excellent. Remember the 5K works at 30 Hz, whereas 2560 x 1440 works at 60 Hz. I read a review of the iMac on the Verge which was very helpful.

Brenden

BTW. While I was experimenting, sometimes TS3 would take forever to load so I forced quit. I would then throw out the ...Cache.package files in the Sims 3 folder and things would improve greatly.

BluebellFlora

@Brenden you will find loads more tips here:

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/748338/a-mac-users-best-friend-please-read-before-posting-any-new-problem-threads/p1

Dexter_XBA

Glad to hear that it's working now Brenden :). How many EPs have you installed? And does the iMac get hot / the fans get noisy when you're playing for a while? And can you perhaps post a screenshot when playing in 5k so we can see how tiny the menu is there?
Thanks for keeping us updated

naszilla

> @friend_in_hand said:
> TS3 runs like a well-oiled machine on my iMac. Highest resolutions/settings etc.
^THIS!
I run TS3 & LN. Some custom content, but not too much. I only run into issues if I go overboard on custom content. Which might be because they don't cooperate well together, but still. CC in moderation :wink:

Dexter_XBA

So I finally received my iMac and I've installed TS3 without any problems. It runs fine with all the settings on max and highest resolution. The fans get noisy though but there is no lag. When playing in highest resolution the menus are really pretty tiny so I downscaled to 3200x1800px. Here is a 5k screenshot:

www11.pic-upload.de/28.11.14/hrz35lko5lck.png

Is it possible to alter the size of the menus without reducing the resolution?

Tremayne4260

I run at 1600x900 everything on max. I can read the menus fine.

Dexter_XBA

> @Tremayne4260 said:
> I run at 1600x900 everything on max. I can read the menus fine.

If I run the game at 1600x900 the menus are big in my game as well. I think the higher the resolution the smaller they get since they game probably isn't optimized for such a high resolution :neutral_face:

WinMacSims3

Be advised that TS3 has problems recognizing newer cards such as the AMD R series (e.g., R7 260X) or Intel Iris cards on Windows or Mac since it tries to look for it in the database. Since EA won't be updating The Sims 3 further, this can be a common occurrence a couple years from now.