@Bettyboop55 I originally found the game ( as well as a Sims2 deluxe) at a Goodwill for $1.50 each. I later bought the Nightlife bundle after talking to my granddaughter and going over the differences. I'm glad I have 3 now...I'm still keeping my eyes out for any other games or expansion packs when I'm out thrifting!
What a bargain Good luck in finding more packs, there are quite a few for this game.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
@JoAnne I agree with this BUT one thing many of us has demanded that they almost always fail to deliver on is the games optimization.
Imo if they make a weak and unstable base it will bog down when you pile on pack after pack. Yes ts3 was a laggy mess but the sims 4 is no better and has frame pacing issues that can be patched but they don't do it.
The way I see it, they rather focus on releasing pack after pack instead of making sure everything works and that is a strategy I can't support so they have to listen to some of the complaints and wants because optimization is more important than the screams for better hair textures imo.
@JoAnne I agree with this BUT one thing many of us has demanded that they almost always fail to deliver on is the games optimization.
Imo if they make a weak and unstable base it will bog down when you pile on pack after pack. Yes ts3 was a laggy mess but the sims 4 is no better and has frame pacing issues that can be patched but they don't do it.
The way I see it, they rather focus on releasing pack after pack instead of making sure everything works and that is a strategy I can't support so they have to listen to some of the complaints and wants because optimization is more important than the screams for better hair textures imo.
I don't think asking for more optimisation is unreasonable. Certainly if the company ever offers an upgrade to TS3 which involves a rewrite then it should be possible to consider it. Many companies use feedback to improve their games and the communication between the gurus and the TS4 community is certainly better than it ever was for TS3. So I should imagine your request has been heard along with everyone else's Only the company can decide the priorities and we have no knowledge of what the schedule looks like and how much, if any, there is room to manoeuvre.
From your comments I imagine you have already moved on. Was it due to the lagging and bugs in TS3?
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
@JoAnne I agree with this BUT one thing many of us has demanded that they almost always fail to deliver on is the games optimization.
Imo if they make a weak and unstable base it will bog down when you pile on pack after pack. Yes ts3 was a laggy mess but the sims 4 is no better and has frame pacing issues that can be patched but they don't do it.
The way I see it, they rather focus on releasing pack after pack instead of making sure everything works and that is a strategy I can't support so they have to listen to some of the complaints and wants because optimization is more important than the screams for better hair textures imo.
I don't think asking for more optimisation is unreasonable. Certainly if the company ever offers an upgrade to TS3 which involves a rewrite then it should be possible to consider it. Many companies use feedback to improve their games and the communication between the gurus and the TS4 community is certainly better than it ever was for TS3. So I should imagine your request has been heard along with everyone else's Only the company can decide the priorities and we have no knowledge of what the schedule looks like and how much, if any, there is room to manoeuvre.
From your comments I imagine you have already moved on. Was it due to the lagging and bugs in TS3?
No I still play the sims 1, 2 and 3. The sims 3 I fixed myself and it actually runs better than the sims 4 for me so that is why I am questioning the guru's "excuses" for removing so much from the sims 4 since it still performs badly on gaming rigs. A i7 4770k, 16 GB ram and a 980 ti should not have to settle for medium/high and still experience fps drops on a game that looks like the sims 4 so I don't think they heard us about the optimization. Every gaming rig I have tried the sims 4 on only runs it "okayish" once I tick down the graphics to medium/high. Ultra lags and stutters on every pc I tried it on. To me that is a game that isn't capable to utilize hardware properly and that means it isn't coded to do just that.
@sikasika18 I can't really comment on TS4 because I didn't play it very much before I decided it wasn't for me. I will say that I gave it several goes over a long period of time before I made that decision. I do understand that the original TS4 was only 32 bit and that there is a way in Origin to get it to run as 64 bit. Presumably this somehow improves performance.
It sounds like your rig specs are roundabout the same as mine. The only real issue I had was to do with the fps for the game and that is now fixed. I will say it went better when I initially loaded it on the SSD but I only have a small SSD and the OS hogs over half of it I am glad you managed to fix things so that they work properly for you. I am also glad to hear you are playing all of the games except 4. You are getting the best of all worlds
One of the biggest issues which no one is keen to talk about but does have a considerable bearing on performance for both TS3 and 4 is the number of people who want to play the games on machines not up to spec. As a consequence EA has tried to accommodate them in order to keep the sales base as wide as possible (IMO). I know that a decent computer is beyond the reach of some players but most hobbies have some expense, some considerably more than a sims game. How EA resolves this issue I don't know but I sincerely hope that it is not a major consideration when or if the company ever offers an upgrade to 64 bit for TS3.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
It is funny how a pc that match the recommended requirements runs the sims 4 more consistent without stuttering and fps issues than a pc with expensive gaming components lol. It is time they'd stop catering to that spectrum of players, honestly.
Yeah I am happy with the first 3 games but still am bothered that they messed up 4 so much.
Also, 64bit and more ram doesn't increase fps or performance in that way, it only prevents the game from crashing due to low memory. What would cure the fps problems is if they made the game in dx11 or dx12 and allowed the game to utilize all of the CPU cores efficently. I can't wrap my head around why they decided on dx9 in 2014! =S
@JoAnne I agree with this BUT one thing many of us has demanded that they almost always fail to deliver on is the games optimization.
Imo if they make a weak and unstable base it will bog down when you pile on pack after pack. Yes ts3 was a laggy mess but the sims 4 is no better and has frame pacing issues that can be patched but they don't do it.
The way I see it, they rather focus on releasing pack after pack instead of making sure everything works and that is a strategy I can't support so they have to listen to some of the complaints and wants because optimization is more important than the screams for better hair textures imo.
Basically agree with you there, though Sims 3 seriously is no 'laggy mess' for me. It just isn't. The game has its fragile moments (which is why I always save as so I can return to previous saves if something goes wrong) and ever since I use mods I make sure to clean my cache files before playing, but my game has never lagged. There is some stuttering in my IP world (after making adjustments to it that prevents worse) but it's more than acceptable/playable. Bugs have always been my issue, not performance.
The part where I agree with you, is that they shouldn't have delivered borked worlds with severe routing issues like Bridgeport and IP. Because I can't imagine they weren't aware. China freezes up at one point as well when you play there long enough but for that one I can imagine that took them by surprise (because it's just two lots causing that and it's easily fixed too) plus it was one of the first open worlds they created.
And the part where I also very much agree with you: I can't get my head around the fact Sims 4 as well is causing serious issues when you start adding DLC. Is it possible by the way that this whole game-depending-on-DLC strategy might be the real problem here. Since I've heard EA is pretty unique with that set up, other franchises don't develop their games like that. I've always thought it was a given, a necessity, but is it?
100% agree with your last sentence as well. Graphics, light falling through windows, hair structures, yippee yi yay but not really what it's about for me.
@JoAnne I agree with this BUT one thing many of us has demanded that they almost always fail to deliver on is the games optimization.
Imo if they make a weak and unstable base it will bog down when you pile on pack after pack. Yes ts3 was a laggy mess but the sims 4 is no better and has frame pacing issues that can be patched but they don't do it.
The way I see it, they rather focus on releasing pack after pack instead of making sure everything works and that is a strategy I can't support so they have to listen to some of the complaints and wants because optimization is more important than the screams for better hair textures imo.
Basically agree with you there, though Sims 3 seriously is no 'laggy mess' for me. It just isn't. The game has its fragile moments (which is why I always save as so I can return to previous saves if something goes wrong) and ever since I use mods I make sure to clean my cache files before playing, but my game has never lagged. There is some stuttering in my IP world (after making adjustments to it that prevents worse) but it's more than acceptable/playable. Bugs have always been my issue, not performance.
The part where I agree with you, is that they shouldn't have delivered borked worlds with severe routing issues like Bridgeport and IP. Because I can't imagine they weren't aware. China freezes up at one point as well when you play there long enough but for that one I can imagine that took them by surprise (because it's just two lots causing that and it's easily fixed too) plus it was one of the first open worlds they created.
And the part where I also very much agree with you: I can't get my head around the fact Sims 4 as well is causing serious issues when you start adding DLC. Is it possible by the way that this whole game-depending-on-DLC strategy might be the real problem here. Since I've heard EA is pretty unique with that set up, other franchises don't develop their games like that. I've always thought it was a given, a necessity, but is it?
100% agree with your last sentence as well. Graphics, light falling through windows, hair structures, yippee yi yay but not really what it's about for me.
Actually, i worded that bit wrong, the sims 3 was a laggy mess for some, me included but since then I have fixed the game myself. It runs better than ts4 for me now, believe it or not lol.
It is funny how a pc that match the recommended requirements runs the sims 4 more consistent without stuttering and fps issues than a pc with expensive gaming components lol. It is time they'd stop catering to that spectrum of players, honestly.
Yeah I am happy with the first 3 games but still am bothered that they messed up 4 so much.
Also, 64bit and more ram doesn't increase fps or performance in that way, it only prevents the game from crashing due to low memory. What would cure the fps problems is if they made the game in dx11 or dx12 and allowed the game to utilize all of the CPU cores efficently. I can't wrap my head around why they decided on dx9 in 2014! =S
Again I can't really say anything about what might improve fps for a TS3 upgrade. My knowledge and understanding of IT is pretty poor. All I can suggest is shouting very loudly should they ever offer us that upgrade. I am sure the more knowledgeable players here would support you. The discussion of IT came about when posters here started mentioning what they could do if computer technology advanced so much that it was no longer possible to play TS3. For some, such as myself, it was a simple thing, like the removal of optical drives from most modern computers. I do appreciate there are currently external drives but without the demand there will come a time when there are not. Others wondered about future OS. So we settled on a discussion about a theoretical upgrade because as things stand most of us would not move on at the moment.
It would be good to get the computer spec issue sorted both for a potential upgrade or a future version. The onus is on EA to find a way to do this without alienating the younger, less affluent part of the fan base. It had crossed my mind that as the sims are moving more into the mobile market people without the means of buying a decent computer could be encouraged to use mobile as an entry point to the franchise. I understand the games for X Box and PS are as expensive as PC.
As for TS4 some customer expectation management would have been useful around the launch. Part of me does see that some change is necessary to keep things new and fresh for the players but it needs to be effectively communicated. Why so much of the good stuff had to go remains a puzzle but after making the concious decision not to play TS4 I am not bothered as I once was. TS3, even if it lags and has bugs, has enough to keep me happy for sometime to come
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Before I started this thread the idea of an upgrade had not really occurred to me. The idea of an UC had been muted in other threads but I had dismissed it on the grounds that it would be a digital download only. I use disks to play.
So I have seen lots of great posts about a theoretical upgrade which shows how thoughtful this community is about the game it supports most loyally. It has certainly set me thinking about my own wishlist and also, as some of you have said, the deal breakers.
After having CAW crash on me for the second time this evening I am going to put improvements to CAW at the top of my wishlist. I came to world building late but the more I use it, the more frustrated I get and the more I want to create something special. I would certainly like to see an easier way of moving the world between CAW and the game. EIG is an absolute pain.
CASt. This does need an overhaul. I know some people found it difficult to use but I think a lot of practice helps. It is, however, unstable and needs either limitations placed on it in terms of colour/textures or perhaps even taking it outside the game. I do not favour either option but clearly it struggles even on the best of computers.
CAS/Build/Buy this is an idea which was posted in this thread and I think it is a good one. A proper, logical filter system. Most of us by now have all the packs and a lot of store content, not to mention cc and we need a quicker way of finding things. If not then definitely a better way of hiding things or only including selected items from packs or store sets.
The sims. I think the TS3 sims are lovely in their natural state. If not you can do a tremendous amount with the sliders and even more again with cc. That said they are somewhat dated when you compare them to avatars in more modern games so I think they should receive a face lift. I know not everyone likes the idea of more realistic sims but with other games moving that way and the increasing presence of humanoid robots on film etc perhaps the idea isn't so frightening as it once was. And while we are on the subject of the sims a pet peeve. If cc can be made for really long hair why can it not be included in the game?
Optimisation. I do not fully understand the term but if it gives the player more choices for their game then I am in favour of it. After all this is a sandbox game and the original idea behind the sims series was to give the players the tools to create their own game. As much as I love Supernatural I do detest having to use one phase of the moon or have fences and greenhouses everywhere to keep the zombies off the gardens. One small box which excludes them from my game would be much, much appreciated.
Cars. I am sure it is now possible to write a programme which allows us to travel with the sims in their cars. We have gorgeous open worlds for our sims and it would be lovely to see more of them from the sims viewpoint.
Anyway I am going to stop now because I don't want to be boring. I would love some of these things to be considered as part of an upgrade. The only problem then would be how the upgrade might be offered. If it is in digital form then I would not be interested. I have my TS3 disks and I am not moving on from those unless I absolutely have to in order to keep playing.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Now we have two simmers in the family, so there's always going to be something going on in the Sims 3 worlds on my new PC, even if I myself get bogged down with some real world responsibilities from time to time.
It's so funny to see my daughter playing. Even though she was at my side as a toddler when I created CC for Sims 2 (I was an active contributor for several years on the MTS2 community) and was my "co-pilot" in testing worlds for CAW artists for Sims3, actually playing out the life of a sim for herself is all new to her. She had a few limited experiences when she was about 8, but she mismanaged her sims and got so upset that she quit.
I just could not convince her it was a bad idea to start out filling a house with cats and fairies and with free will. So of course they ran amok! But now she is a little older and wiser and having a lot of fun. Her reactions to the shenanigans of her sims are priceless! She was just complaining that her sim forgot to pay her bills and the Repo man had the nerve to hit on her and ask her for a date after repossessing her toilet! My daughter, if she were a sim, would have the Dramatic trait, so she gave me an entertaining account of her sim's misadventures with financial mismanagement.
It is so much fun talking about Sims 3 with her. She now understands that weird urge to click real people's noses a few clicks up or down, or widen or narrow a jaw. Or the feeling of amazement when you go out in public and see someone who looks uncannily like a Sim in your game! Or the crazy wish to point a mouse at one's furniture or clothes and change it to any color a girl could wish for!
I think the only thing that could cause us to abandon Sims3 at this point is some technical issue that renders the game unplayable.
I even have an old 2004 Compaq laptop that I bought when my daughter was an infant and it has all of the Sims1 disks loaded onto it. I have the game all set up, I even tracked down old CC accounts and added them in and played Sims1 a few years ago. I never did get to move into one of the Making Magic towns so that's still on my bucket list! But I can't say I find Sims 1 immersive anymore. It is comical, yes. I appreciate that about it. It did have charm.
I would love also to pull all my old Sims 2 files off of my old desktop and return to playing Sims2 again someday, because I do remember that game as being immersive and the relationships being a lot of fun. But I remember there was some sort of controversy about the DRM software destroying people's computers. I would need to research that. For now I just want to enjoy Sims 3 again. I love the open world, and the ability to drive or ride a bike and see all of the beautiful scenery. It sounds like I would be sorely missing that if I were to go to Sims 4 exclusively.
I enjoyed Sims 3 gardening and wow, I was really astonished and happy to see a tractor and a chicken coop added to the store. I had found that I still had sim points in my account and my husband let me purchase around $80 worth of points so I could buy more things and I am still finding things I have yet to buy! Wow.
As for lag, mostly where we notice it is in build mode, when trying to recolor objects. Then the cursor lags horribly and there can be massive delays in reacting to mouse input. Gameplay hasn't been too bad, thankfully. This PC is supposedly capable of handling VR gaming. So I was surprised to encounter any slowdowns of any kind. I'll go check out the tech info. One thing we have now, that we didn't when I was last actively simming are the You Tube resources. I do still prefer written information. I process that better than audible information.
The only things that would motivate me to upgrade from The Sims 3 would be Create-a-Style and Open Worlds.
Looking through the thread a lot of TS3 players feel the same
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
@Bettyboop55 I have been thinking about what you said earlier when I said they should make an open world again but not as big as in the sims 3 to which you responded that a lot of simmers seem to want bigger. All I can say to them is that throughout the years I have come to expect less from the devs cause to me they have proven that they are not capable to achieve that. I would rather have a no loading screen town like pleasantview size that is stable and lag free and without routing errors than a huge world that craps on itselft with routing errors and lag. Also, there would be less empty spaces with no purpose in a more compact town:)
@Bettyboop55 I have been thinking about what you said earlier when I said they should make an open world again but not as big as in the sims 3 to which you responded that a lot of simmers seem to want bigger. All I can say to them is that throughout the years I have come to expect less from the devs cause to me they have proven that they are not capable to achieve that. I would rather have a no loading screen town like pleasantview size that is stable and lag free and without routing errors than a huge world that craps on itselft with routing errors and lag. Also, there would be less empty spaces with no purpose in a more compact town:)
When I got TS3 and launched it for the first time I was amazed at the open world. It is one of the biggest reasons why I love TS3 so much more than TS2. To me the big empty spaces do serve a purpose, they provide a gorgeous landscape for my sims. Whenever I got a new world I would send my sim out to explore, not entirely without purpose because they would be looking for collectibles as well. The I love scenery thread is one of my favourite threads on the forum. So you see we are coming from opposite directions. I will say it can slow the gameplay, Sunlit Tides is particularly bad for that and some worlds the routing is totally plum, namely Isla Paradiso. However other clever simmers have come up with fixes and I am about to investigate one such which uses no mods.
As for bigger worlds I'm pretty content with the size they are now but we do have a lot of creatives who want to take bigger. I can't really comment on the current devs other than to say, with a few notable exceptions, most were not around when the worlds and the CAW tool were being created. Maybe that is part of the explanation as to why the open world system was junked from TS4. Given what you have said about TS4 performance maybe creating quick loading screens might be an issue as well ?
What I have seen from my nephew's Assassin's Creed is the scenery opening up in front of the avatar when he is out on the street and closing behind him as he moves along. I have absolutely no idea what this is called but suggest it might be a compromise which suits you while allowing others to create/use the bigger world they want. Perhaps it could be part of the optimisation ? Either way it remains academic for the moment. The company has not expressed any interest in making an upgrade for TS3. So we have TS3 with open worlds for now.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
(Without reading previous comments) I want to answer: "Yes, I will pass on if I can not handle the extra AWESOMENESS!!!"
But seriously, lack of time in personal life and technical failures (with the computer / game) are the causes actually keeping away from playing... so if anything....
Can't do anything about lack of personal time other than sympathise but I do hope you get your computer problems sorted out. Then you can spend what limited time you do have simming
Thanks @Bettyboop55 I'm working on it and I think it's getting better
@sikasika18 , @james64468 I don't pretend to even speak IT but if you are suggesting this game deserves the best then I totally agree. I see however that a new version of Vulkan was launched in March (or is it an it?). All I can say then is the company probably would not go for anything which pushes the purchase price or reduces the profit. I am assuming that Vulkan like all new technology is expensive.
The other thing point is the company will probably wish to reach as many players as possible and this includes those with less purchasing power such as teenagers. Given this is where each new generation of simmer comes from then the company is bound to look for a more acceptable compromise which might mean mobile/tablet/console only. That would not be acceptable to more established players with their gaming rigs and I would suggest most of us would simply continue to play TS3.
I appreciate this sounds rather negative but it would be a very brave executive in the company who gave the go ahead knowing that it might alienate a sizeable chunk of the player base. However should the opportunity ever present itself to use more modern technology I will happily support you in suggesting it. As I said this game deserves the best.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
@sikasika18 , @james64468 I don't pretend to even speak IT but if you are suggesting this game deserves the best then I totally agree. I see however that a new version of Vulkan was launched in March (or is it an it?). All I can say then is the company probably would not go for anything which pushes the purchase price or reduces the profit. I am assuming that Vulkan like all new technology is expensive.
The other thing point is the company will probably wish to reach as many players as possible and this includes those with less purchasing power such as teenagers. Given this is where each new generation of simmer comes from then the company is bound to look for a more acceptable compromise which might mean mobile/tablet/console only. That would not be acceptable to more established players with their gaming rigs and I would suggest most of us would simply continue to play TS3.
I appreciate this sounds rather negative but it would be a very brave executive in the company who gave the go ahead knowing that it might alienate a sizeable chunk of the player base. However should the opportunity ever present itself to use more modern technology I will happily support you in suggesting it. As I said this game deserves the best.
It free and open source. Just like OpenGL Linux and Macos use that. There is game that used it the newest Doom game out there. I do want them to make it better. I played with code but even my knowledge of that is very limited. They would have to build their game engine in house like what they did for Sims 2 and Sims 3. It could be costly to make a new engine. That could be why Sims 4 has bits and pieces from Simcity 2013. If they did it right they could make millions of dollars on top of the cost of making the new game engine and game.
@james64468 should we ever be offered an upgrade then it would be good if the company would take advantage of this technology. As things stand the life of TS4 has been extended and the company has not expressed an interest in doing an upgrade for TS3. However it never hurts to be ready with your wishlist of requirements
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
If they were to make a sims 5 and it had everything the sims 3 has but better, then I would consider moving on away from playing the sims 3. The sims 2 and 3 to me were the best of the series.
If they were to make a sims 5 and it had everything the sims 3 has but better, then I would consider moving on away from playing the sims 3. The sims 2 and 3 to me were the best of the series.
There seems to be a lot of TS3 players who feel the same as you do Most seem content to carry on playing TS3 until something else comes along which meets all their requirements and some, like me, still have quite a bit to explore in the game so have no incentive for moving on just yet.
I no longer use Origin or My Page. You can find me on YouTube or Twitter as Bettyboop711000. You are welcome to contact me as I explore options for a PC sandbox life simulation game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
The only thing that'd make me move on is if Sims 5 was a combination of all the best things from 3 and 4. I enjoy the open world of 3 and the looks of the sims and houses in 4. The lack of an open world in 4 is the only reason I haven't moved to it.
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What a bargain
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
Imo if they make a weak and unstable base it will bog down when you pile on pack after pack. Yes ts3 was a laggy mess but the sims 4 is no better and has frame pacing issues that can be patched but they don't do it.
The way I see it, they rather focus on releasing pack after pack instead of making sure everything works and that is a strategy I can't support so they have to listen to some of the complaints and wants because optimization is more important than the screams for better hair textures imo.
I don't think asking for more optimisation is unreasonable. Certainly if the company ever offers an upgrade to TS3 which involves a rewrite then it should be possible to consider it. Many companies use feedback to improve their games and the communication between the gurus and the TS4 community is certainly better than it ever was for TS3. So I should imagine your request has been heard along with everyone else's
From your comments I imagine you have already moved on. Was it due to the lagging and bugs in TS3?
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
No I still play the sims 1, 2 and 3. The sims 3 I fixed myself and it actually runs better than the sims 4 for me so that is why I am questioning the guru's "excuses" for removing so much from the sims 4 since it still performs badly on gaming rigs. A i7 4770k, 16 GB ram and a 980 ti should not have to settle for medium/high and still experience fps drops on a game that looks like the sims 4 so I don't think they heard us about the optimization. Every gaming rig I have tried the sims 4 on only runs it "okayish" once I tick down the graphics to medium/high. Ultra lags and stutters on every pc I tried it on. To me that is a game that isn't capable to utilize hardware properly and that means it isn't coded to do just that.
It sounds like your rig specs are roundabout the same as mine. The only real issue I had was to do with the fps for the game and that is now fixed. I will say it went better when I initially loaded it on the SSD but I only have a small SSD and the OS hogs over half of it
One of the biggest issues which no one is keen to talk about but does have a considerable bearing on performance for both TS3 and 4 is the number of people who want to play the games on machines not up to spec. As a consequence EA has tried to accommodate them in order to keep the sales base as wide as possible (IMO). I know that a decent computer is beyond the reach of some players but most hobbies have some expense, some considerably more than a sims game. How EA resolves this issue I don't know but I sincerely hope that it is not a major consideration when or if the company ever offers an upgrade to 64 bit for TS3.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
Sim enim est vita
Yeah I am happy with the first 3 games but still am bothered that they messed up 4 so much.
Also, 64bit and more ram doesn't increase fps or performance in that way, it only prevents the game from crashing due to low memory. What would cure the fps problems is if they made the game in dx11 or dx12 and allowed the game to utilize all of the CPU cores efficently. I can't wrap my head around why they decided on dx9 in 2014! =S
The part where I agree with you, is that they shouldn't have delivered borked worlds with severe routing issues like Bridgeport and IP. Because I can't imagine they weren't aware. China freezes up at one point as well when you play there long enough but for that one I can imagine that took them by surprise (because it's just two lots causing that and it's easily fixed too) plus it was one of the first open worlds they created.
And the part where I also very much agree with you: I can't get my head around the fact Sims 4 as well is causing serious issues when you start adding DLC. Is it possible by the way that this whole game-depending-on-DLC strategy might be the real problem here. Since I've heard EA is pretty unique with that set up, other franchises don't develop their games like that. I've always thought it was a given, a necessity, but is it?
100% agree with your last sentence as well. Graphics, light falling through windows, hair structures, yippee yi yay but not really what it's about for me.
Actually, i worded that bit wrong, the sims 3 was a laggy mess for some, me included but since then I have fixed the game myself. It runs better than ts4 for me now, believe it or not lol.
Again I can't really say anything about what might improve fps for a TS3 upgrade. My knowledge and understanding of IT is pretty poor. All I can suggest is shouting very loudly should they ever offer us that upgrade. I am sure the more knowledgeable players here would support you. The discussion of IT came about when posters here started mentioning what they could do if computer technology advanced so much that it was no longer possible to play TS3. For some, such as myself, it was a simple thing, like the removal of optical drives from most modern computers. I do appreciate there are currently external drives but without the demand there will come a time when there are not. Others wondered about future OS. So we settled on a discussion about a theoretical upgrade because as things stand most of us would not move on at the moment.
It would be good to get the computer spec issue sorted both for a potential upgrade or a future version. The onus is on EA to find a way to do this without alienating the younger, less affluent part of the fan base. It had crossed my mind that as the sims are moving more into the mobile market people without the means of buying a decent computer could be encouraged to use mobile as an entry point to the franchise. I understand the games for X Box and PS are as expensive as PC.
As for TS4 some customer expectation management would have been useful around the launch. Part of me does see that some change is necessary to keep things new and fresh for the players but it needs to be effectively communicated. Why so much of the good stuff had to go remains a puzzle but after making the concious decision not to play TS4 I am not bothered as I once was. TS3, even if it lags and has bugs, has enough to keep me happy for sometime to come
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So I have seen lots of great posts about a theoretical upgrade which shows how thoughtful this community is about the game it supports most loyally. It has certainly set me thinking about my own wishlist and also, as some of you have said, the deal breakers.
After having CAW crash on me for the second time this evening I am going to put improvements to CAW at the top of my wishlist. I came to world building late but the more I use it, the more frustrated I get and the more I want to create something special. I would certainly like to see an easier way of moving the world between CAW and the game. EIG is an absolute pain.
CASt. This does need an overhaul. I know some people found it difficult to use but I think a lot of practice helps. It is, however, unstable and needs either limitations placed on it in terms of colour/textures or perhaps even taking it outside the game. I do not favour either option but clearly it struggles even on the best of computers.
CAS/Build/Buy this is an idea which was posted in this thread and I think it is a good one. A proper, logical filter system. Most of us by now have all the packs and a lot of store content, not to mention cc and we need a quicker way of finding things. If not then definitely a better way of hiding things or only including selected items from packs or store sets.
The sims. I think the TS3 sims are lovely in their natural state. If not you can do a tremendous amount with the sliders and even more again with cc. That said they are somewhat dated when you compare them to avatars in more modern games so I think they should receive a face lift. I know not everyone likes the idea of more realistic sims but with other games moving that way and the increasing presence of humanoid robots on film etc perhaps the idea isn't so frightening as it once was. And while we are on the subject of the sims a pet peeve. If cc can be made for really long hair why can it not be included in the game?
Optimisation. I do not fully understand the term but if it gives the player more choices for their game then I am in favour of it. After all this is a sandbox game and the original idea behind the sims series was to give the players the tools to create their own game. As much as I love Supernatural I do detest having to use one phase of the moon or have fences and greenhouses everywhere to keep the zombies off the gardens. One small box which excludes them from my game would be much, much appreciated.
Cars. I am sure it is now possible to write a programme which allows us to travel with the sims in their cars. We have gorgeous open worlds for our sims and it would be lovely to see more of them from the sims viewpoint.
Anyway I am going to stop now because I don't want to be boring. I would love some of these things to be considered as part of an upgrade. The only problem then would be how the upgrade might be offered. If it is in digital form then I would not be interested. I have my TS3 disks and I am not moving on from those unless I absolutely have to in order to keep playing.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
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this is so awesome !
Looking through the thread a lot of TS3 players feel the same
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
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When I got TS3 and launched it for the first time I was amazed at the open world. It is one of the biggest reasons why I love TS3 so much more than TS2. To me the big empty spaces do serve a purpose, they provide a gorgeous landscape for my sims. Whenever I got a new world I would send my sim out to explore, not entirely without purpose because they would be looking for collectibles as well. The I love scenery thread is one of my favourite threads on the forum. So you see we are coming from opposite directions. I will say it can slow the gameplay, Sunlit Tides is particularly bad for that and some worlds the routing is totally plum, namely Isla Paradiso. However other clever simmers have come up with fixes and I am about to investigate one such which uses no mods.
As for bigger worlds I'm pretty content with the size they are now but we do have a lot of creatives who want to take bigger. I can't really comment on the current devs other than to say, with a few notable exceptions, most were not around when the worlds and the CAW tool were being created. Maybe that is part of the explanation as to why the open world system was junked from TS4. Given what you have said about TS4 performance maybe creating quick loading screens might be an issue as well ?
What I have seen from my nephew's Assassin's Creed is the scenery opening up in front of the avatar when he is out on the street and closing behind him as he moves along. I have absolutely no idea what this is called but suggest it might be a compromise which suits you while allowing others to create/use the bigger world they want. Perhaps it could be part of the optimisation ? Either way it remains academic for the moment. The company has not expressed any interest in making an upgrade for TS3. So we have TS3 with open worlds for now.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
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Let me add to that. Constant frame rates and 64 bit. The most important part is the new game has to have Vulcan and Directx12.
Agree on the API part, be it dx12 or vulkan. It is time to move on from ancient technology for the sims if we want an advanced life sim again.
Thanks @Bettyboop55
The other thing point is the company will probably wish to reach as many players as possible and this includes those with less purchasing power such as teenagers. Given this is where each new generation of simmer comes from then the company is bound to look for a more acceptable compromise which might mean mobile/tablet/console only. That would not be acceptable to more established players with their gaming rigs and I would suggest most of us would simply continue to play TS3.
I appreciate this sounds rather negative but it would be a very brave executive in the company who gave the go ahead knowing that it might alienate a sizeable chunk of the player base. However should the opportunity ever present itself to use more modern technology I will happily support you in suggesting it. As I said this game deserves the best.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
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Yeah 64-bit is a must. It's never fun hitting the ol' memory limit.
It free and open source. Just like OpenGL Linux and Macos use that. There is game that used it the newest Doom game out there. I do want them to make it better. I played with code but even my knowledge of that is very limited. They would have to build their game engine in house like what they did for Sims 2 and Sims 3. It could be costly to make a new engine. That could be why Sims 4 has bits and pieces from Simcity 2013. If they did it right they could make millions of dollars on top of the cost of making the new game engine and game.
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
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There seems to be a lot of TS3 players who feel the same as you do
Wherever I am friends call me Betty
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