This is pretty exciting stuff I discovered. It currently only works with the base game, but could 100% work for all EPs and SPs.
Video showing smooth BG 1.69 Gameplay

Notice how the gameplay is much smoother and lags a lot less. It also reduced load times for my Sunset Valley save to 20 seconds.
It's more of a proof-of-concept at this stage though.

Just for this thread looked up this relevant reddit post I remember that should be helpful nevertheless. Url self explanatory for what ideas it entices: https://www.reddit.com/r/thesims/co...dingsave_times/

Yeah I've read that post before. Didn't do much for me. I usually play for about 10 sim weeks then start a new save. I want to test my approach with all EPs and SPs, and then see how fast the game loads. That'll be the ultimate stress test!
No, scratch that. Playing Isla Paradiso without lag would be the ultimate stress test.

Honestly, would be cool If there was a thread (*hint hint for renaming*) with the innovative Share your ideas/ways to improve the game's performance! type of deal. Might even turn into pinned, but I digress.

Also, by any chance you're referring and the mod portrayed in the video is this one: http://modthesims.info/d/354281/the...iplier-mod.html ? Well actually that doesn't seem to it.

Nope! It's entirely new stuff I made. Oof. Sorry, didn't notice there wasn't a thread dedicated to performance! Shows how often I wander into the TS3 forums here. :p

No no, that's not what I meant. I said it would be cool If there was one, but I'm just derailing :D

Not to pee on the party, but that video is sped up by a factor of two. The camera behaviour is less floaty than default, with faster zoom than I've ever seen. It also appears to be a CC-free, base game only install. These things considered, nothing about this video seems to be out of the ordinary. It looks much more believable at half-speed, setting aside the fact that this plays the video back at 30 fps where the gameplay itself is probably rendering in the high 50s, or considerably more if uncapped.

Speed three, but it runs smoothly. Thought it's a joke, but the name sounds very familiar.

AGuyCalledPi, trust me, this video was not edited in any way. If you wanted to, I could host a livestream showing it off.

This thing is real, unlike some other stuff I've seen over the years. Remember Project Vie? That supposed "sims competitor" that was just a hoax? This is 100% real, unlike that... thing or whatever it was.

Yeah though, why game camera is in sych with the game's spped. Hosting a livestream would be a great idea, but then you would need to compile with someone's/collectives suggestions to proof it's not pre-recorded.

Yeah. I can do that. I can have my sim do specific stuff to prove that it's not prerecorded. If I can pull that off, it will definitely prove that it's true. Either that, or I can read people's minds.

I'm just wondering why you're running a base game install, on what appears to be the same morning every new save starts in, in a notoriously lightweight world, with no apparent CC or script mods. And particularly how, despite this, your game camera and sound effects deviate from the vanilla game, but how playing the video back at half speed seems to cancel out both of these irregularities.

Do feel free to prove me wrong, of course, I do hope you're onto something, but I can't think of a whole lot of ways to make that video less impressive than it is. Maybe get a bigger world, a few gigabytes of CC, a bunch of graphics mods and then show us how it runs? It'd be something we'd all be a lot more thankful for than vague 20-second videos and pointless whataboutism.

The mod is very... hard to make, unfortunately. It took me days to convert the TS3 Base Game files to be faster. S3PE is not very good at handling a lot of files.

I'm currently developing a set of tools to automate this "conversion". It took me about 12 hours just for the last file to convert.

Without knowing anything about your process, I've seen you do some pretty cool things before so I imagine you're definitely onto something here. It's pretty hard to get the base game to lag, but a few minutes of regular gameplay would certainly win me over. Are you seeing any improvement in terms of loading in and out of CAS, going to Edit Town, going into and coming out of Build/Buy from Edit Town, and switching families? It'd be pretty damn exciting if you could optimize any part of it, really, but I imagine regular Live Mode gameplay won't really show much of a difference on video.

I have issues with that in a more visual sort of way, recordings of the game usually don't do it any favours. All the beautiful nuances are left out, be it simply because of the compression or the fact that there is no direct control of the gameplay. I personally go out of my way to record, render and upload in the highest quality possible.

Good points. I'll convert the rest of the packs I own. I only have Ambitions, Generations, Into the Future, Late Night, and University Life though. Maybe I should buy Island Paradise just to test the lag there.

See you when I finish my toolkit!

Super interesting- please keep us posted!

I always wondered if there were ways of simplifying the base game packages- there's definitely some bloat in there.

I really wish MTS would already post up a guide on keeping the game clean. This topic is yet another "talked to death" topic that we keep finding ourselves repeating. Much of what is in that reddit link explaining that video is either already well known or completely outdated. There is only so much we can do with this old 32-bit game, some of which no mods can fix unless you do a complete overhaul of the game engine.

To improve your game:
1) System:
CPU: Though the game can run on much simpler systems such as a duo core, but to get the most out of it, you want at least a quad core so 2 cores can be dedicated to the game. With a good setup with the hardware below, a min of 3.0GHz is recommended, but lower than 4.0GHz, which might bottleneck.
GPU: A dedicated GPU is recommended b/c an integrated GPU shares resource with your CPU and RAM. The recommended GPU is Nvidia Level 5 or equivalent.
RAM: Min RAM should be 8GB, leaving a lot of headroom to run your OS and should you also surf the web. However, with the increase demand of RAM from modern web browsers, 12-16GB is the new recommended standard unless you close all programs while running TS3.
Drive: SSD is most definitely recommended to both increase game load time and "in game dynamic" loading time to reduce loading/bottleneck lag.

2) Mods/CCs - Keep mods and CCs down to a min. The more CCs you have, the more it bloats your game and increase chance of error 12. Mods, on the other hand, are not all the same. Some mods are heavier than other mods. Some mods will reduce performance greatly, while others may not. It all depends on the function of the mods. It is recommended you use CC Magic or other methods to combine your package mods, or convert sim3pack to package, and reduce the number of packages in the mods folder to a few larger files.

3) Keeping your game clean - Keep your game clean with NRAAS errortrap, overwatch, master controller. Routinely delete SNAPS with Kuree's savegame cleaner or do it manually. Also routinely delete jigs, placeholders in the game with MC. Keep your game clean and lean. However, after several generations it will still bloat. You'll either have to start a new game, or... use MC to delete all the "mini-sims" in the game. This will essentially destroy the family trees. However, you do not need to delete all of them. Just delete the ones pertaining to household you do not play. You may keep the minisims of your player controlled household (or any you choose) so you keep the family tree of only relevant families.

4) Various Game Improvement tips:
FPS Limiter - Nvidia Inspector or other FPS limiter to prevent runaway FPS. This is more for not burning out your GPU than for lags, but some have reported without FPS limiter it would create pulse lag. (Link to Recognize GPU) (Link to FPS Limiter)

Unpark your CPU - Parking CPU is a relative new thing that came out after TS3. It interferes with TS3 game operation by creating latency, which reduces performance. Unpark your CPU so all the cores are always available, this dramatically increases game efficiency and performance. (Link)

Using a RAMdisk - TS3 uses dynamic cache system for their cache files and thumbnails. You can greatly improve the game by putting these files on a RAMdisk. Also, DO NOT delete the cachefiles unless your game is damaged or broken. Removing the cachefiles after every game only means the game needs to regenerate them, which slows and lags your game until the cache are fully regenerated. You can also increase the cachefile size for your basegame worlds. (Link)

Routing Issue - Ellacharm's fixed routing worlds can fix some of this issue. However, generally this is one issue which cannot be resolved. NRAAS Overwatch helps by resetting stuck sims, but every now and then you're going to run into some. The worst kind are the water taxi/boat which is stuck unloading/loading passengers. This can literally bring a game to a dead freeze. NRAAS GoHere can remove water travel on certain worlds to prevent this. Other issues such as Latenight building shells with hidden rooms on the bottom can trap sims. It is recommended you remove all those hidden room markers, put in a public marker, paint it black, and provide a door for sims to walk out.

5) In Game suggestions:
Plant life - Lags can be created by harvestable plants. Do not have too many harvestable plants in your game. Even during winter when the plants are suppose to be dormant, they still runs scripts. I don't know what they do, but they grow I guess, if you have around 80-100 harvestables, it will seriously pulse lag your game. But anything less such as even 40 in the game will create some lag.

Detail Lots - This one is one I have not really considered until recently. TS3 is stupid in the way it is coded in this regard. When you are playing 1 lot, all the other lots around you up to 8 can be "loaded in detail," this doesn't just mean the outer shell is loaded, but every freakin' object placement is loaded. Case in point, it is actually smoother to play ONE 64x64 huge lot that is in the middle of nowhere than 9 (your lot + 8) smaller lots packed together in a tight downtown. The game actually loads ALL 9 lots. Reducing detail lots reduces the loading each time you visit a lot AND uses far less RAM, which reduces error 12.

Notable outdated:
1) DO NOT delete your cache!
2) That increase RAM thing is not what it means at all. If you are patched, your game already uses the max 3.4GB of RAM. There is no way around this limitation.
3) Vsync is to reduce visual tearing, but it doesn't really improve performance. In fact, vsync "reduces" performance often by increasing smoothness. If you game visual does not tear, you don't need vsync. Vsync is also not a FPS limiter. There are specific areas in Nvidia Inspector which limits FPS and/or use programs that can do this specifically.

Oh, I'm definintly will try this out as my laptop overheats and just see how much more I can upgrade the performance. Thing is though, might hard do so as I'm not savvy enough to know the technical details of what my rig is/has, therefor dunno how much to tweak things and what things refer to what. You could serve post this stuff in sites like sims wiki under Game Guide or whatever to give it some more transparency since it's really helpful info.

For FPS limiter idea, do I utilize two methods (recognize CPU and install fps limiter for reduce fps? Guess no point in saying that, when I just did that. I am hesitant to download and install the limiter, as I seen report in that MATY thread that it doesn't work for windowed mode of the game. I just don't like playing sans in that mode. Nevermind again.... I should have clicked and check what's the link about before making an assumstion Though my driver is intel, than nvidie, so what limiter would be applied for me?

ETA: Yeah, the step I followed help me through. A few days ago efore this, I also GraphicsRules file. I can say it gave the results I need. I didn't seem to pause, with the exception of one instance, when sims change their clothes as they no longer stand there idling hours as they use to be (despite wearing the outfits not once). Also, I manage get 5-6 sims to come and stay on the lot that I been struggling to create such scenarios). I'll have to experiment with more, but thank you a lot for this tips

In your deviceconfig, you are running on the Nvidia? If you have Nvidia, you should run the Nvidia as Intel is integrated and slower. If you have Nvidia, you are lucky b/c inspector has a built FPS limiter. Follow that link in my previous post.

Post your device config, we can see more what your system is doing




I highly recommend laptop users to buy a cooling pad. On Amazon you can find some as cheap as $15. Mine cost about $30. These aren't bad ones either, they're in the top 10 best cooling pads. The $100+ ones are just ones with more functions you don't need such as monitoring the fan speed etc...

Also if you are playing in window mode or on dual monitor it is recommended you monitor both your GPU and your CPU temperature using GPU-Z and CoreTemp.

uh... if it is on PGA (not soldered) I'd change the CPU and add another 4GB RAM ASAP. You probably cannot fit anything better than N2940 there (the same chip but 4 cores) but it will be worth it.

You use iGPU now. If it's the only option or not, you really *need* max memory in double channel configuration (4+4GB in this case).

// anyway, I never thought I'd say some like this, but... it's not really Sims3 capable machine. This is xULV starter line with 7.5W TDP, no matter what it will throttle like hell seriously breaking any power of this not very powerful chip at all.

Thanks. Yeah, I thought it wouldn't. The machine does somewhat manage to run it decently, but that's it. Well, I guess I could give it a break and return playing the game at the last machine's days before switching to a new affordable gaming tech.

Yeah that machine is definitely up to spec for playing TS3, at least not beyond the base game and a handful of EPs. Based on my own experiences I'd say the minimum you'd want to go with is a recent i3 or any non-ancient i5 (I had a 3rd gen one until 2015, for reference), with 8 gigs of RAM and maybe a GTX 560 or some rough equivalent.....I had the competent but ultimately unsophisticated GTX 650 and it was a pretty solid card at the time. Pretty comfortable to run TS3 on, I'd say. Only had one gig of VRAM though which I think became an issue. If I were any wiser when it comes to clock speeds or the general existance of motherboards I'd have opinions about that as well but I'm actually not that knowledgeable for a PC gaming nerd.

the problem there is the chip TDP limitation (and probably the thermal solution in the machine, there's a reason why someone put that particular chip there). If you feel desperate you may try undervolt the CPU to try to bypass these limitations, but there won't be wonders. Even old TS2 might have sometimes a hard time (with certain amount of CC) on this.
And if the game works "decently enough" for you on this hardware, apparently your standards are seriously below mine

OK, so let's see.

1) Do you have a Nvidia? I misread what you wrote earlier. I read "and" instead of "than."

With Intel HD, you will need to follow the link above to get the Intel HD recognized. Don't worry about FPS limiter as your Intel HD will never be fast enough to have runaway FPS. You can check this in game with "fps on" in the cheat command.


2) The CPU is a big problem, being someone who owned a Celeron before I know. However, for the moment let's just put that aside and look at what we can actually do. 4GB of RAM is also a big problem and it is something easy to resolve if you have a few bucks to spare. Pretty sure your laptop can be upgraded to at least 8GB of RAM. RAM these days are not really expensive on eBay, you can probably get 8GB for $30, 4GB for $15.

You can give us your laptop information and we can help identify what kind of RAM you need or the easiest is to open up the RAM replacement slot, usually at the bottom, and look at the sticker on the RAM. It is also good to open it up and see how much is installed. If you have 1 single 4GB RAM, all you need is to buy a 2nd 4GB RAM to add to it. If you have 2 2GB RAM, then unfortunately, both have to be replaced. (I think you need DDR3L 1333 RAM, based on your CPU. Can I get a verification from someone on this? If 1666 is cheaper, it will still work? The system will simply use it as 1333?)

Remember, do NOT touch the ICs on the RAM stick. Also, touch "metal" to discharge your body's electric charge before even touching anything under the laptop covers.

4GB on Intel HD is almost unplayable. Your system resources on Win 8 takes up at least 1-2GB of RAM, leaving 2GB for the game and Intel HD will take up anywhere from 300-500 MB (low-med setting). And Win OS cache limit is 1GB, your game will constantly be caching with the virtual RAM.

Memory: 3978MB
Free memory: 498MB (<-- this is actually how much you have when you started TS3)

If you cannot upgrade at the moment, then you need to free up as much RAM as possible before you run the game. I've ran this game before on 768MB of RAM, you have to disable all unnecessary programs, background programs, etc... do not run Chrome. Turn off antivirus, etc... free up as much as possible. (Follow the link above about FPS limiter, there's more about how to clean your system)


3) Your CPU needs to share with the GPU at 7W TDP, that's just not really possible. You have to decide and test for yourself, which one you want to emphasize on... do you want a steady GPU? or steady CPU?

- So in your power settings, you can choose "max performance" and even manually set the "processor min/max state" to prioritize CPU over GPU if you choose to do so. It will try to maintain the 2.6 GHZ turbo as much as possible over base freq 2.16 GHZ. But if I know Celeron... it might even drop lower than that.
- Otherwise, if you want to prioritize the Intel HD, you go to the Intel Control Panel and set it to "maximum performance" so the GPU will be placed above the CPU. It will try to maintain the burst freq at 792 MHZ as much as possible over base freq of 311 MHZ

(If you want something more advanced, you can download Throttlestop and control the power distribution manually, but it is more for people who know what they're doing)

On Intel HD and this CPU and RAM, it is recommended you run everything on low since your VRAM comes from your RAM. Or you can follow this graphics guide: (Neoseeker's TS3 Graphics Guide) (With 8GB, you can run some medium b/c you have more RAM to use as VRAM)

Also it is highly recommended you unpark your CPU especially if you are running Intel HD as removing the latency will improve the Intel HD performance as well as the CPU.


4) I honestly do not think it is possible to replace the CPU. Just checked, your CPU is BGA1170 which is soldered on the board.

----


Summary:
To squeeze the most out of your current system:
1) Free up as much RAM as possible
2) Choose and prioritize GPU or CPU, but only 1 of them
3) Unpark your CPU

If you want to upgrade for a budget cost:
1) Upgrade RAM to 8 GB first. It is the easiest and maybe cheapest.