Possible Work Around for Time Freeze Bug

MDianaSims

I think I may have found a way to "avoid" the time freeze bug. http://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-4-Bug-Reports/BUG-Time-freezing-amp-Resetting/td-p/3806607

This week it was the first time it happened on my new pc (which I have had for more than 2 months now, but I have spent less time Simming than I used to). As I knew what was happening, I didn't panic, I also didn't save - that may have been a stroke of either luck or genius, because when I reloaded and started playing again, no freezes happened. Now this only worked for me so far, I haven't tried it more than once, but somehow I think it helps (and I really hope it does because it would make the game more playable while they are working on fixing this). I can't guarantee anything, but I think it is worth a try for anyone who finds themselve in a similar situation.

I'll just copy what I wrote on AHQ:

I said I would go back into my game and see what happened. As I said, I saved before the party and didn't save when the freeze happened, so I loaded the save from before the party.

My Sim threw the same type of party, with the same guest (I think) but of course different party goals, I had no influence on that. Anyway, my game didn't freeze! Standard smile I have played, I think, another Sim week or so and everything went smoothly. So, I kind of feel like I have found a sort of work around that works for my game/my computer (I am nevertheless knocking on wood).

I can't say it will work for everyone (it probably won't), since I remember my old computer reacting somewhat differently. Maybe someone has already mentioned this, I haven't read the entire thread, I've only been actively monitoring this bug since it started happening on my new computer. I also don't know if it will work in the long run, but for now the following has worked for me:

• Start a new save game, save often, like, at least every Sim day so you won't lose too much progress. Be sure to "Save as..." the first time!
• The moment the freeze occurs for the first time, try to sit it out (I haven't tried this yet (and hope I won't need to), not sure if it actually crashes my game by default or if it were my actions that caused it to crash).
• Then exit the entire game without saving.
• Repair the game in Origin.
• Write about your exact experiences in this thread (that's what I've done anyway, not an obligatory step of course), or submit a video, screenshot or the autosave (if that has saved the game after the bug occured). (ETA: I mean the bug report at AHQ, but you'd be very welcome to post it here as well )
• Restart the game, load your original save, not the autosave!
• Continue playing and save often.

No idea if this works for others, it has worked for me in one instance. If anyone wants me to, I could test it with the other save game that I didn't save when it froze earlier this week.

I think, and I am speculating here, the key is to keep your game "freeze-free", so never save once it occurs, and always repair the game before going back in. I think that once you've had a freeze and saved, it will keep happening.

On a side note, my computer has pretty high specs, well above the recommended specs. I can't imagine this working on my old laptop which was just above minimum specs. I see a noticable difference between the two - on my current pc a freeze hits and it hits hard; on my old laptop it sort of seeped in, tiny (barely noticable) freezes at first which later on become bigger and more frequent - I think it is a lot harder to keep good track of them in that situation. But that's just my experience so far.

I really hope this helps people - I know it's far from ideal, but if it keeps your game freeze-free for some time, I think it may be worth the effort.

It probably only works on a new save, so that's why I explicitly mentioned that. If you use this "technique" I am really eager to hear about your experience. I'll definitely try to figure out if it also works in my other save (as mentioned).

I'll just tag a few people who might be interested in reading this: @crinrict @rosemow @luthienrising @SimGuruJanitor

DeKay

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I haven't had this bug in a while. It could be cuz I have used save as a few times.

Yeah, I think it's best that when one gets this problem, they shouldn't save and just restart the game instead.

I also realize that it usually happens when a sim that is not in the household wants to talk to my sim but they're quite far away and my sim would be standing there waiting for them, and then I cancel that action before they get to speak, it will cause the sim to freeze. So what I suggest is don't cancel the "listen to..." (or any other social interaction) task in the queue. It's pretty random too, most of the time, cancelling these actions doesn't cause any glitches, but at times, they do.

Another workaround is that if your active sim is not at the house lot and you have other sims at home, you can click on those sims' icons and "switch to them". This is the only way to get to a loading screen and avoiding having to restart the game. Of course, this workaround isn't the best as all your sims might be on an active lot and you can't do anything or maybe you only have one sim in the household, etc. But if anyone is stuck in this particular situation, there's a quick solution for it.

rosemow

Thankyou for sharing your experiences @MDianaSanders. It is helpful to know what has helped in your game. It is a good idea to not save if the freezing occurs.
Thanks for posting about it

rosemow

Thanks for posting about what has sometimes caused the issue in your game DeKay.
It is also a helpful tip that you posted, to try to switch to another member of the household if they are on another lot.

For other simmers that are having this issue, this is a link to a thread about the issue
http://sims4.crinrict.com/en/2015/08/time-freezereset/

MDianaSims

Thanks for commenting

@DeKay I haven't noticed the 'talk to...' thing, but the freezes only just started happening on this computer and it has been some time that I used my old one. Although I don't recall it happening there, but then again, apparently the issue consists of several issues/causes, so it may work differently for you. And the switching to another Sim doesn't cause the game to crash entirely? Because I can imagine that is what would happen if I tried it on my machine (since just saving or exiting while the freeze is occuring tends to crash it as well).

I did a bit of testing in my other save and the not-saving worked again. Here's what I wrote on AHQ:

I tested my other save and was unable to replicate the actions I did before (because I really don't remember, I lost quite a bit of progress in that one). At a certain point, the game froze, under circumstances very similar to the freeze that occured previously. My Sim was again at the Hermit's house and tried to place her tent near the tree by the Hermit's house at around 10 or 11 PM. So I waited for the freeze to pass, was able to exit the game normally, then repaired the game and rebooted. I did one thing differently (aside from saving the game a couple times more) and that was place the tent in the same spot but during the day. Nothing happened, my Sim was able to go fishing, befriend the Hermit, eventually sleep in her tent, put her tent back in her inventory in the morning etc. etc. I don't know why the specific combination of placing a tent there at night causes a freeze, but changing things slightly kept the game running smoothly. I played a bit more and there were no freezes.

rosemow

I am glad that the freezing issues are not returning to your game after the initial freezing occurrence. Thanks for posting your testing results.

DeKay

MDianaSanders wrote: »

Thanks for commenting

@DeKay I haven't noticed the 'talk to...' thing, but the freezes only just started happening on this computer and it has been some time that I used my old one. Although I don't recall it happening there, but then again, apparently the issue consists of several issues/causes, so it may work differently for you. And the switching to another Sim doesn't cause the game to crash entirely? Because I can imagine that is what would happen if I tried it on my machine (since just saving or exiting while the freeze is occuring tends to crash it as well).

I did a bit of testing in my other save and the not-saving worked again. Here's what I wrote on AHQ:

I tested my other save and was unable to replicate the actions I did before (because I really don't remember, I lost quite a bit of progress in that one). At a certain point, the game froze, under circumstances very similar to the freeze that occured previously. My Sim was again at the Hermit's house and tried to place her tent near the tree by the Hermit's house at around 10 or 11 PM. So I waited for the freeze to pass, was able to exit the game normally, then repaired the game and rebooted. I did one thing differently (aside from saving the game a couple times more) and that was place the tent in the same spot but during the day. Nothing happened, my Sim was able to go fishing, befriend the Hermit, eventually sleep in her tent, put her tent back in her inventory in the morning etc. etc. I don't know why the specific combination of placing a tent there at night causes a freeze, but changing things slightly kept the game running smoothly. I played a bit more and there were no freezes.

No, switching to another sim won't cause it to crash. I've done it a few times. The game will work fine after you do that.