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3 Reasons to AVOID new patch - 10% performance reduction!
TOLKIEN
Posts: 1,594 Member
So call it unlucky but I re-installed the Sims 3 today as I also reinstalled my computer and ended up downloading the "new" version of the Sims 3 launcher.
Well this turned out to be a horrible idea for 3 reasons. Reasons why YOU should avoid the new patch too.
EDIT:
So after installing the new digital 1.69 version first (as said above) then uninstalling it - then reinstalling the disk version for comparison, then patching it back up to 1.69 (for re-comparison) I can SAFELY say that the performance of The Sims 3 via patch 1.69 on MY machine is certainly evident.
Some things are not effected, like load times and even animations - but camera rotation and edge scroll, as well as screen tearing suddenly ALL become very present (where before they were not in any form). This is not a computer issue, I can run Assassins Creed Unity without problems (if you know what I'm talking about you KNOW what I'm talking about).
I'm sure some people they won't be effected by this (computers are funny that way) but overall from what I've read from others accounts and personally experienced my advice is to avoid 1.69 at all costs unless you can't. See below why...
1. Every time you want to play the Sims 3 you NOW need to login and have the launcher PLUS origin running in the background.
This means launching the Sims 3 has turned into a 3 step process from a 1 step. (I feel there is a joke here somewhere...)
aka Launch and login to origin - launch sims 3 launcher - launch sims 3.
EDIT: You CAN close the Sims 3 launcher after the game launches - however Origin can't be closed (unless you do it via forced task manager). If you force close origin it will reload itself for a few seconds after you exit the game - so I'm not sure what actually effects this will have (force closing origin) on the sim3.exe file in-game since its clearly doing more then just launching the game. I've also noticed the Sims 3 launcher sometimes closes itself and other times stays open. Not sure why so random.
2. The new launcher will DESELECT ALL my expansions/packs when I load it after I make any changes to my Sims 3 doc folder - meaning if I don't recheck them the game would load without them - a nightmare of epic "save" proportions waiting to happen. I now need to check this tab EVERY TIME I launch the game. (so actually a 4 step process to play the game...)
EDIT: This is directly related to deleting cache files, updating mods and sometimes (this is random) removing/adding store content. Doing so WILL uncheck all your expansions/packs in the launcher. This seems completely random though or rather the reason why they become deselected, messing around in general in your Sims 3 doc folder seems to deselect them and sometimes not. My advice is to always check to see they are all checked before launching regardless.
3. Performance issues. This is a big one that directly effects the Sims 3 performance and goes back to reason 1. Origin and the Launcher now sit open in the background (though the launcher sometimes closes - sometimes doesnt) and don't they leave a small memory footprint as they are constantly "working' in the background (such as downloading thousands upon thousands of thumbnails that will fill your FeaturedItems folder and origin constantly calling home).
EDIT: So there might be more to this performance issue, after some trial and error it appears Origin is well and truly encoded into the new TS3.exe beyond just acting as a launcher (which the game runs from now - NOT TS3W.exe like it used to. Now TS3W launches the launcher) as Origin calls home to EA servers during and AFTER game play unless you play offline.
My memory usage with them has gone from 14% pre-patch to 26% post regardless.
I'm also thinking the new launcher/ts3.exe might have slightly altered how it saves games, as save times have doubled for me and might relate to the new launcher "check" boxes (not sure about this though).
If you can play disconnected I HIGHLY advise it regardless.
EDIT: I've also noticed if you login to origin offline and load Sims 3 - Origin might crash after exiting the game. FUN!
Unlike the Sims 4, the Sims 3 was not built from the ground up to work well with Origin and more so the Sims 3 is not optimized well overall - meaning any further layers on the basegame resource draw just slows things down.
IF you can avoid downloading the new patch I advice doing so at all costs, unfortunately if you just bought the Sims 3 or reinstalled it from Origin you will be stuck with it, because the new digital Sims 3 download is pre-patched to 1.69.
Well this turned out to be a horrible idea for 3 reasons. Reasons why YOU should avoid the new patch too.
EDIT:
So after installing the new digital 1.69 version first (as said above) then uninstalling it - then reinstalling the disk version for comparison, then patching it back up to 1.69 (for re-comparison) I can SAFELY say that the performance of The Sims 3 via patch 1.69 on MY machine is certainly evident.
Some things are not effected, like load times and even animations - but camera rotation and edge scroll, as well as screen tearing suddenly ALL become very present (where before they were not in any form). This is not a computer issue, I can run Assassins Creed Unity without problems (if you know what I'm talking about you KNOW what I'm talking about).
I'm sure some people they won't be effected by this (computers are funny that way) but overall from what I've read from others accounts and personally experienced my advice is to avoid 1.69 at all costs unless you can't. See below why...
1. Every time you want to play the Sims 3 you NOW need to login and have the launcher PLUS origin running in the background.
This means launching the Sims 3 has turned into a 3 step process from a 1 step. (I feel there is a joke here somewhere...)
aka Launch and login to origin - launch sims 3 launcher - launch sims 3.
EDIT: You CAN close the Sims 3 launcher after the game launches - however Origin can't be closed (unless you do it via forced task manager). If you force close origin it will reload itself for a few seconds after you exit the game - so I'm not sure what actually effects this will have (force closing origin) on the sim3.exe file in-game since its clearly doing more then just launching the game. I've also noticed the Sims 3 launcher sometimes closes itself and other times stays open. Not sure why so random.
2. The new launcher will DESELECT ALL my expansions/packs when I load it after I make any changes to my Sims 3 doc folder - meaning if I don't recheck them the game would load without them - a nightmare of epic "save" proportions waiting to happen. I now need to check this tab EVERY TIME I launch the game. (so actually a 4 step process to play the game...)
EDIT: This is directly related to deleting cache files, updating mods and sometimes (this is random) removing/adding store content. Doing so WILL uncheck all your expansions/packs in the launcher. This seems completely random though or rather the reason why they become deselected, messing around in general in your Sims 3 doc folder seems to deselect them and sometimes not. My advice is to always check to see they are all checked before launching regardless.
3. Performance issues. This is a big one that directly effects the Sims 3 performance and goes back to reason 1. Origin and the Launcher now sit open in the background (though the launcher sometimes closes - sometimes doesnt) and don't they leave a small memory footprint as they are constantly "working' in the background (such as downloading thousands upon thousands of thumbnails that will fill your FeaturedItems folder and origin constantly calling home).
EDIT: So there might be more to this performance issue, after some trial and error it appears Origin is well and truly encoded into the new TS3.exe beyond just acting as a launcher (which the game runs from now - NOT TS3W.exe like it used to. Now TS3W launches the launcher) as Origin calls home to EA servers during and AFTER game play unless you play offline.
My memory usage with them has gone from 14% pre-patch to 26% post regardless.
I'm also thinking the new launcher/ts3.exe might have slightly altered how it saves games, as save times have doubled for me and might relate to the new launcher "check" boxes (not sure about this though).
If you can play disconnected I HIGHLY advise it regardless.
EDIT: I've also noticed if you login to origin offline and load Sims 3 - Origin might crash after exiting the game. FUN!
Unlike the Sims 4, the Sims 3 was not built from the ground up to work well with Origin and more so the Sims 3 is not optimized well overall - meaning any further layers on the basegame resource draw just slows things down.
IF you can avoid downloading the new patch I advice doing so at all costs, unfortunately if you just bought the Sims 3 or reinstalled it from Origin you will be stuck with it, because the new digital Sims 3 download is pre-patched to 1.69.
Post edited by TOLKIEN on
37
Comments
"Love will Fight, Love will Win and Love will Survive."
In this case its an issue of physical memory usage and less CPU process. Origin is BY FAR the worst launchers I know compared to battle.net, steam or even uplay. The Sims 3 was never optimized for it.
There is NO reason for this patch - its clearly just another layer of DRM we didn't need. We won't be seeing any optimization patches either.
I know it's meant to allow users to "select" expansions but WHY install a expansion you don't want to use anyway?
This patch breaks more then it fixes.
"Love will Fight, Love will Win and Love will Survive."
Me playing games like: Sims 3, Animal Crossing New Leaf, Pocket Monsters 3DS, Sims 4
⍟ᴥ⍟ i watch my sims sleep
Now I have to decide if I'm gonna uninstall everything and reinstall my discs...sigh so much work.
"Love will Fight, Love will Win and Love will Survive."
Downloading files into the Featured Items folder is not a new issue. It's well documented how to prevent that.
Having to double check that all EPs and SPs are checked each time you launch is pretty horrible. I'm surprised the new Launcher doesn't remember your previous settings.
As for Origin causing performance issues, that probably depends on your PC. Every other game I own is off of Steam, and that client is always running in the background. If I update to 1.69 I sort of assumed Origin would be similar. OTOH, it's EA, not Valve.
"Love will Fight, Love will Win and Love will Survive."
Regards the launcher, you CAN close the Sims 3 launcher after the game launches - however Origin can't be closed (unless you do it via forced task manager). If you force close origin it will reload itself for a few seconds after you exit the game - so I'm not sure what actually effects this will have (force closing origin) on the sim3.exe file in-game since its clearly doing more then just launching the game. I've also noticed the Sims 3 launcher sometimes closes itself and other times stays open. Not sure why so random.
As for double checking the EP's- I've discovered this has to do with changes to the Sims 3 doc folder, like deleting cache files.
Regards origin, while I agree this is part PC is also part code optimization. I have uplay, steam AND battle.net launchers installed (no i don't run them all at the same time lol) and I find by far Origin is the worst (battle.net being the best overall and Steam the most functional if not a little bloated now).
Thanks for the comment. I've never run Origin concurrently with a game before. I have all digital versions of...everything really, all on Steam except for TS3. I stopped buying disks in 2007 I think. From what I heard if I reinstall the base game now it will come patched to 1.69 already. It looks like running through Origin is in my future sooner or later.
Oh no. If that happens every time you delete caches (and a lot of people delete them every game play session) that's going to be a huge issue.
I'm not sure, I'm about to uninstall my "digital" version and reinstall my discs - however I do own ONE stuff pack via origin, so I'll see what happens when i try to install it.
After to break my TS2 Store Edition savegame with TS2 UC "latest update" which fix nothing and is useless,
now they release an update for TS3 which break your game.
Both these updates only add Origin features, break your game and never fix the existing issues.
I can say it's the worst updates ever done.
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The Sims 4 General DiscussionThank you. I think I might just hunt for the EPs that I want in disc form
I wish I could reinstall with the original files I bought from Amazon Downloads, which downloaded it from Amazon, not Origin, but they don't work anymore. The only reason I have a disk with the base game on it is because when I decided to get LN, I bought the starter pack on sale from Amazon. It was cheaper than buying LN from Origin.
Slightly off topic, but how do you bypass the launcher? Apparently it causes a lot less lag? Maybe, I'm not really sure
Go to the game's program files. If you have Windows 7 and installed the game from Origin, this is how to find it: Program Files (x86) > Origin Games > The Sims 3 > Game > Bin. Find the TS3W.exe file. Make a shortcut to it on your desktop, or in your quick launch. Use that to open the game. If you installed from a disk, it would be under Electronic Arts in the program files folder. I you have a different OS, I don't know where you'd find it.
If lag is your only concern, you can close the launcher once your game is open. The reason I do it is because it saves on loading time.
*Fairy Jared and Vampire Connor*
It appears built into the digital Sims 3 install now, it never updated it via origin after install. To double check I looked at the actually install files date stamp to see if the launcher time stamp was made before or AFTER the game was installed (if it was updated after then that would imply an update was made post install) and they all have the same stamp. Reaffirming that its built into the new digital version.
Slightly related and unrelated, as I mentioned in my topic post if you DO patch to 1.69 the game will no longer be able to run from the TWS3.EXE file but a new TS3.exe. Assimilation to origin is unavoidable!
Go to the top left corner and click on "Origin"
Click on "Application Settings" (it's the 5th option from the bottom)
Scroll down to "Updates"
Uncheck the "Automatically keep my games up to date" box
Also, make sure the "Ignore non-mandatory game updates" box is unchecked as well
Finally, go to your "Sims3" game (as if you're about to play) and press the "X" on the "Update is Available" bar
Top blue bar will go away and should not come back
EDIT: Also those of you with Sims4 will find an update waiting for you