Is there a limit for the maximum cc the game can handle?

Zei · May 2020

Hello, I know the answer to this is yes, but let me explain my issue here. I have quite a lot of cc, but I still consider myself a "moderate" hoarder compared to many other simmers. My mods folder is around 5 GB (not counting the Downloads), and my game was loading and playing smoothly until yesterday. By smoothly I mean the initial loading screen at about 1 minute, and the family loading screen at about 5 minutes, depending on the save.

Then yesterday, I downloaded 300 mb of cc (hair and outfits) from Sketchbookpixels (my first time there), and for a while, I was unable to even open up my game. It just stuck at the black screen, trying to load. I tried re-loading couple of times to no avail. Then I did a factory reset but put back all my mods (incl. sketchbook) and this time it managed to get past the first loading screen, but stayed at the second loading screen for more than half an hour. So I just closed it via Task Manager, removed the new Sketchbookpixels cc from my Mods folder, and tried loading up again. This time it loaded, though it still wasn't as fast as it was before, I feel like it took 3-4 more minutes than usual, but I don't know if this has any correlation. I hadn't installed anything extra in between.

So my question is, is it possible that I have reached the top level of cc that my game can handle, and going above it is just killing my game? And if the answer is yes, is there somewhere I can check that limit? If not, why do you think the new cc acted the way it did? Could it be because Sketchbookpixels cc tends to have high poly? (I'm not very knowledgeable about polycounts, and their effects on the game)

Edit: I've just hoarded a bunch of new cc from Ifca sims. I'm waiting patiently to resolve this until I put them into the game. Sigh, this cc addiction...

Thanks for reading through this long post.

Appreciate any insights.

TadOlson · May 2020

I'd check the hard drive to see if it's gotten full because that's why I've not been able to play TS3 recently and I've got external USB storage to move some of that load off my hard drive though my game itself has never been as slow as yours to load even with thousands of package files of CC and over 800 Mod package files on top of that.I've been playing on my 7 year old laptop with that load in my game and still haven't reached my limit though that can be different for each of us.Buying a portable external hard drive and an AC usb hub with switches to turn the power off on the usb plugs like the one I have can really help if the issue is caused by a full hard drive with not much space left empty.

Turjan · May 2020

@Zei: You may have some bad cc. Split the large chunk of new cc into two halves. Take one half out, see whether the game loads. Try the same with the other half, taking the first half out. If one of the attempts loads, but the other one not, you at least have an indication on how to go further. Try to keep creations by one author in one of the halves together, in case it's a systematic issue.

Other than that, the game doesn't like having to process lots of files. You can use S3pe to bundle stuff into single packages, which speeds up loading immensely. Note that there is a maximum size for these files, and try to keep track of what you packed into which file. Other than that, you could use CCMagic to do that for you.

Zei · May 2020

Thanks @Turjan, I should definitely try using S3PE. First I'll clean out any bad mods I have so that I don't accidentally merge them with good cc. TS3 is so much work, and we just don't give up on it!

GraceyManor · May 2020

Sounds like you could have some bad CC.I've downloaded a few from that site and had to remove them as every
time I used it, it would crash my game.

Merging your package files together is very easy and I do all the time now

Best tip would be to create a folder on your desktop and name
it something random, then put all the .package files you want to merge in there, then merge them.

Its recommended that you don't merge patterns, and I wouldn't merge gameplay mods like Nraas and some of those..but that's just me.

Zei · May 2020

Thanks @GraceyManor , I had also downloaded some from SweetDevil recently. Have you had any broken cc from there? Right now I'm in the process of cleaning out my Mods folder, I delete whichever cc I'm not sure of. When I find the culprit and get my game working again, I'll be sure to merge my package files like you said. I even downloaded S3PE already.

GraceyManor · May 2020

I never downloaded from SweetDevil before,so I'm not sure.

Pary · May 2020

SweetDevil is a very good creator, and her stuff is always excellent quality. SBP has some things that are on the high poly side I believe, but they usually make a note of it in the item description as far as I know. A lot of Newsea hair also has quite a high polycount.

When you're moving and removing a lot of stuff out of your TS3 folder, make sure that you clear out your cache files too.

Zei · May 2020

Thanks @Pary , I feel like I'm in safe hands with this helpful community.

I removed all SBP stuff, and converted most of my cc which were in S3Pack format to .Package files, now it seems to be running a bit better but I still have long CAS waiting time and low frame rate. I'm thinking maybe the game is trying to keep up with all the stuff that I deleted, and trying to regenerate thumbs, caches etc for the things I put back (because I did a factory reset) but I'm not sure.

Mikezumi · May 2020

I've never had issues with SweetDevil's stuff but I do remember having some issues with Sketchbookpixels.

When I am installing new CC I only install a few at a time so I can "test" them.

Pary · May 2020

Your game probably will be a little slower while it regenerates things. At least, that's always what I have assumed, as when I delete mine, I sometimes suffer from "white box syndrome" in which objects appear as white squares for a brief moment before rendering, until everything is loaded, and after that I don't have trouble.
Until then next time it's cache deletion day. Some people don't delete them, some do it rarely, but I do mine after every couple of play sessions. It's just one of those "voodoo" things I do to try and keep my game running nicely.

Like @Mikezumi , I also only install a few things at a time, and have a subfolder named _Test_ in my mods folder, so that I know which are the latest testing files, so if issues occur, I know immediately where to go to find the culprit.

From early on, it was apparently determined that some game slowdown ( besides corrupt CC etc ) could be attributed to the sheer amount of package files that the game had to read, which is why merging seems to help I suppose. It was also mentioned that each merged packed be recommended not to exceed 400mb in size, with the "optimum" speculated to be at about 200mb.
Someone more technical could probably determine if that were a hundred percent true, but those are rules I've always kept to, and I have rarely encountered game issues. When I have, it has been either an EA problem, or simply a mod I stupidly forgot to update.

I also keep Save Cleaner, and package Viewer on hand, the latter which is particularly helpful for locating a hair, or object that you might actually want to remove from a merged package. ( This happens to me a lot lol - I just go off things and don't want them anymore )

Mikezumi · May 2020

@Pary I also have a Test sub folder!

Pary · May 2020

Mikezumi wrote: »

@Pary I also have a Test sub folder!

Heh, I think you become wise over the years with wrestling with third party CC in this game, don't you

I remember when I first started using CC, and just chucked everything into one folder.
That got messy really quickly

Mikezumi · May 2020

@Pary Yep! Sub folders for everything now!

Zei · May 2020

Pary wrote: »

Your game probably will be a little slower while it regenerates things. At least, that's always what I have assumed, as when I delete mine, I sometimes suffer from "white box syndrome" in which objects appear as white squares for a brief moment before rendering, until everything is loaded, and after that I don't have trouble.
Until then next time it's cache deletion day. Some people don't delete them, some do it rarely, but I do mine after every couple of play sessions. It's just one of those "voodoo" things I do to try and keep my game running nicely.

Like @Mikezumi , I also only install a few things at a time, and have a subfolder named _Test_ in my mods folder, so that I know which are the latest testing files, so if issues occur, I know immediately where to go to find the culprit.

From early on, it was apparently determined that some game slowdown ( besides corrupt CC etc ) could be attributed to the sheer amount of package files that the game had to read, which is why merging seems to help I suppose. It was also mentioned that each merged packed be recommended not to exceed 400mb in size, with the "optimum" speculated to be at about 200mb.
Someone more technical could probably determine if that were a hundred percent true, but those are rules I've always kept to, and I have rarely encountered game issues. When I have, it has been either an EA problem, or simply a mod I stupidly forgot to update.

Those are all excellent suggestions @Pary thank you!! I will be sure to merge my cc into small batches when I'm done organizing them. I don't know why I haven't tried that in the past 10 years...

"White box syndrome" is happening in my game too at the moment, along with making me wait 40 seconds for CAS to open... I assume it's all normal and will go back to the way it was eventually. I also have a subtly slower frame rate, it's not terrible but it is noticeable.

Zei · May 2020

Mikezumi wrote: »

When I am installing new CC I only install a few at a time so I can "test" them.

I *promise* I will follow this advice when I am brave enough to install new cc. I feel all regretful now for being such a cc addict and killing my game with it. I could have lived without some new toddler hair, couldn't I?...

Mikezumi · May 2020

@Zei I am a CC download addict but very little of it gets installed. I just like hunting and downloading ... just in case I might want it!

Zei · May 2020

Mikezumi wrote: »

@Zei I am a CC download addict but very little of it gets installed. I just like hunting and downloading ... just in case I might want it!

That is actually VERY healthy advice. I might try that sometime if I ever get my game back on its feet...

Goosey · May 2020

igazor · May 2020

@Goosey - This thread isn't about TS4. I'm afraid we do not have a 64-bit version of this game, they never made one for TS3.

Zei · May 2020

igazor wrote: »

@Goosey - This thread isn't about TS4. I'm afraid we do not have a 64-bit version of this game, they never made one for TS3.

Ahh wish we had!

GraceyManor · May 2020

@Pary
Which package viewer do you use?
The one I found deletes the entire .package and not a single item from it.
And CC magic doesn't show all mine.

The Sims Forums

Is there a limit for the maximum cc the game can handle?

Comments