No, I don't think that anyone was saying that your machine was too weak, it's just that lack of processing power is the major reason for crippled sim autonomy. As my computer is perhaps a bit better CPU-wise (i7 3770 at 3.4GHz) but weaker GPU wise (GTX570) and I don't have the impression of sluggish autonomy or lack of idles, maybe it is just that, i.e. your perception or rather expectations of what you want the game to be.

@parrot999 & babele44: You both have better Graphics Cards than me as I can only afford a weak GeForce GT430 at the moment. I also only have an i5 2500 at 3.0 Ghz and 8 Gigs of RAM but I can still run the game flawlessly as long as I keep Anti-aliasing (Edge smoothness) low but everything else is set to max. Screen resolution is only set to 1440x900 though.

Also as GnatGoSplat said Traits matter a lot.

My SIM is also a Brooding loner so he enjoys solitude, reading a lot, playing videogames and taking a "Brooding shower" every now and again

I have the same CPU, i5 3350P with a 3.1GHZ processor and 12GB RAM but my graphics card is weak, AMD Radeon HD 7570. I need to stop being lazy and order/install another power source so I can get a fancy graphics card. Anyway, I don't know if Parrot999 is running mods that are fully optimized and might slow down the processing of the game. I know I had to turn off certain stories of Nraas SP and that let my game run smoother. Stop all the notifications helped a lot.



I love having that trait in a household with a hot headed sim, kind of keep them from being so perfectly in love. I like when the brooder wants to talk about feelings and the hot headed sim yawns then insults them, like I don't give a flahooty about your feelings right now. Later when woohooer kicks in and they start with all the flirting foreplay, I imagine this is for make up. Sometimes it just don't work out.

What's your power supply rated? There are lots of cards out that don't require a cold fusion reactor in the basement to power them. It's not like you need some dual core Titan to run TS3, or even 4, on. I'm using a 660 GTX, which was a mid-range, mainstream graphics gaming card when I got it, and as I'm running at 1920X1080, it's more than sufficient not only for TS3, but games like Crysis 3, Bioshock Infinite, and Far Cry 3, on high settings (not max by any means).

And the game engine is far from optimized. I'm on an i7 at 3.4/3.7, and 16 GB RAM, and still get glitches and stutters. So as I've posted before, throwing lots of hardware at it won't improve game play beyond a certain point. Still, I do not have my sims with high autonomy just standing around staring at nothing. They're always up to something, typically trait related. Which, for a flirty, great kisser, artistic, bookworm sim, can be varied and entertaining. Not much input at all from me for them to keep their fun and social needs fully green. If only they wouldn't wait to the last second to get to the bathroom.

And yes, Lewis, make up woohoo in game always warms my heart when it happens. Talk about projecting.......................

I think it's 460 watts psu but I am not sure, I have to check on my page at Dell. I know it will take a GTX460 comfortably but I wanted to go higher. Will my power source work with the GTX660?

LOL, yeah at the projecting.

As long as you have a free 6 pin power connector, which I'm sure you do if you're thinking of a 460, you should be fine. I believe the minimum spec is a 450W power supply. And Dell is pretty conservative with their power ratings, so your psu should handle the load without a problem..

Just thought I'd do a quick update... I have reinstalled, and am enjoying it so far... Downloaded Los Aniegos (Which I am speechless at how amazing it is), and made a morally ambiguous, timetraveling witch. She stole stuff from a family in the future (she's a kleptomaniac), and cheated the lottery, not once, but twice... The game is running a tad slow, but I'm working to fix that, and it's not unbearable... So, overall I am having some good fun... The sims don't seem nearly as robotic as I remembered them being, which is good...

Another thing of note, is that I used SweetFX to up the vibrancy, and give it a subtle cel-shaded effect (after lots of tweaking), which in my opinion, greatly improves the game's aesthetic... Might take some pictures, and post them tomorrow...

If Los Aniegos is playing well, you're golden. It's one of my favorite worlds, but has lots of routing issues, and can be problematic once the town progresses for a while. Even the latest version, which reportedly had some issues addressed, is still less than stellar in performance. It is nice to hear you're getting enjoyment from the game. The truth is, despite the headaches, it can be a really fun game to mess around in.

As to things running slowly, are you using Overwatch? It really does help clean up a town like LA during the nightly unroutable sim sweep.

I never play without a good chunk of NRAAS mods to fix it, and Awesomemod's story progression (I do notice that NRAAS StoryProgression slows my game down more than Awesome...). So, I already have Overwatch, Traveler, Master Controller, and others that help fix potential issues that arrise from playing a world...

Edit Here's some comparison pics of my SweetFX settings (Though not 100% accurate because there was some artifacting when fraps took the pictures):