Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 10th Aug 2019 at 9:17 PM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, University Life, Island Paradise, Into the Future
Default Unplayable stuttering only with mods folder installed
I downloaded the framework for the mods folder from this website. When I ran my game, everything worked well and I did not get the sims logo or video upon starting up my game. Mods were working fine the problem was that my game began to stutter so badly that it was unplayable. I removed all the mods from my mods folder leaving only resource.cfg and the empty packages and overrides folders and still got the stuttering. I removed the whole mods folder from my sims 3 folder and the stuttering immediately stopped and my game ran smoothly again. I tried redownloading the mods folder but continued to get the same issues. I really would like to play with mods so I want to find a way to figure this out.

My game was able to run the sims 3 with all expansions and stuff packs quite smoothly before adding the mods folder and continues to run smoothly only if I remove the whole mods folder so I know my specs aren’t the problem. I run the game in bootcamp on a 2017 4K iMac running Windows 10.
Advertisement
Mad Poster
#2 Old 11th Aug 2019 at 1:18 AM
Eww, another Mac user. Okay no, just kidding, but isn't that still the expected response on forum boards?

Your setup sounds just like mine except I only just recently upgraded from a Bootcamped 2011 iMac running Win 7 to a 2019 model running Win 10. Let's start with some non-system specific troubleshooting if we could and then from there we can move into device driver and other such potential system issues.

-- When you added/removed mods from Mods\Packages, did you clear (delete) the five cache files on the top level of the TS3 user game folder in Documents? It's possible that removing the Mods folder entirely triggered more of a helpful update/refresh of these recurring cache files than just moving the package files themselves in and out did but it's a best practice to clear these five cache files occasionally and certainly whenever the contents of Mods\Packages changes in any way.

-- We know your Framework is (was) working well since the two test mods worked with no issues, or am I not understanding that part correctly? What was the nature of the mods that you subsequently added in and then removed, besides the two test mods?

-- Did the incessant stutter happen a newly started test game or only already in progress ones and which world(s) are you playing in?

-- Have you tried repeating the test with a new, no content added TS3 user game folder? If you pull the current one out of Documents or rename it, a new such folder will spawn on the next startup. Your already in play content, installed worlds, saves, etc. will no longer be there but they will all be safe in the pulled out folder as usage of the clean game folder is just for testing.

-- What kind of game install is this, Origin, Steam, retail store discs, from some other source?
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 12th Aug 2019 at 8:01 PM
Thank you for all of you suggestions! Yeah I prefer Mac for everything but the Sims which is why I have one. I’ve heard Windows runs the sims way better than Mac though, hence the windows partition.

1. I cleared the five cache files you suggested but it did not resolve my issue
2. Yes the mods I put in as well as the test mods worked well. The other mod I installed was a lighting mod by Burnt Waffles.
3. The stutter happened with a saved game but I started a new save and still had the same amount of stutter.
4. I dragged out the TS3 user game folder like you suggested and it regenerated after running the game but I still had the same problem.
5. It is a steam install
Scholar
#4 Old 12th Aug 2019 at 8:47 PM
there's a Mac version of wine (it's BSD under the hood, anyway) - both in official paid form and just the one (the 2nd is a bit more complicated to install).* It's - as reported - working quite well with (among others) the game, so - maybe it would be worth a try? You can always throw it right out the Windows (pun intended), if something.

*
[ https://www.davidbaumgold.com/tutorials/wine-mac/ ]
though before installation I'd first separate bottles for each program instance instead installing everything into default one
in terminal:
WINEPREFIX=[path_to_already_existing_folder!!!!] WINEARCH=win32 wine wineboot

and then running installation:
WINEPREFIX=[path_to_the_same_folder_as_above!!!!] WINEARCH=win32 some_setup_exe_file_name

the same way you'll run the game


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Mad Poster
#5 Old 12th Aug 2019 at 11:55 PM
This is the first time I have heard of TS3 running properly, or at least well enough, through Wine. Although the notes mention that the Launcher and online features of the game will not work, the CDs will not authenticate, a few other things, and no mods were tested. I don't think any of this is really going to help a Steam install though, which is what the OP has going (as do I). The Steam client for Windows needs to be present for authentication even if we don't use it to start up the game each time, so that would have to be run through Wine as well if it can be.

I would recommend finding out what is interfering with operations here instead. There is no reason that the mere presence of a properly configured Mods folder should ruin game performance as described.

For the OP,

1 - Which world(s) are you playing in?
2 - Getting more into system specifics now rather than game setups, what does your iMac have for a graphics card, have you capped its fps, and what do you get for actual framerates while trying to play? Ctrl+Shift+C to bring up the cheats console, type fps on (enter). As you play and move the game camera around, the fps should stay under the refresh rate of your monitor which would be 60 fps for the built-in iMac screen, so 60 Hz. To make the fps display go away, cheats console again and fps off (enter).
3 - Are you using anything more than the built-in Defender for anti-virus on the Windows side?
4 - It's possible you are suffering from some late-breaking effects of the Win 10 Creators Updates, but let's leave exploring that for later as it seems less likely at this point. But does running in windowed mode vs. full-screen make any difference?
Scholar
#6 Old 13th Aug 2019 at 3:02 PM
well, it is definitely working well (any version) under *ux, and since the internal software architecture is still more (or less) POSIX compliant there should not be any obstacles of such kind; though the apple's hardware is a peculiar one, so it may be very different case.

If the network would be properly passed (and there's no reason why it should not to be, on the other hand: it's Apple) instead of installing the game, you just install Steam into instance and then proceed normally, the same with Origin (taking into account it's own tendency to f*ck things up), the drive (CD/DVD case) should be mounted into the bottle first ofc. so the wine actual "windows" instance would see it. If the normal one would not work for any mysterious Mac-reason, usb-connected should (you can still connect normal external CD/DVD drive to the Mac, right? Even if in the "dongle way").

Anyway: if some of the Mac users would feel particularly adventurous, the report might be quite educational.


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Back to top