#The sims 2 create a sim lag

[mathmodder]

GetWildMOD & OceanLifeMOD Launch FOR FREE on my Patreon

I'm thrilled to finally announce the official release of GetWildMOD & OceanLifeMOD, after lots of testing and fine-tuning!

Get Wild Mod: Unleash the untamed beauty of the wilderness with the "Get Wild" mod. This mod transforms your gaming environment by dynamically spawning a variety of animals, from graceful birds that soar through the skies to fascinating ground-dwelling creatures. Immerse yourself in a vibrant ecosystem as you explore the map, encountering wildlife in unexpected and breathtaking moments. The "Get Wild" mod breathes life into your gaming world, creating a dynamic and immersive experience. Know more clicking here

Ocean Life Mod: Dive into the depths of your virtual oceans with the "Ocean Life" mod. This mod introduces a stunning array of marine life that populates the vast waters surrounding your in-game world. From majestic whales to colorful schools of fish, the oceans come alive with the addition of this mod. Explore the depths, witness the beauty of underwater ecosystems, and encounter the wonders of oceanic biodiversity. The "Ocean Life" elevates your gaming experience by adding a new layer of realism and excitement to the aquatic realms. Know more clicking here

What's New:

This version brings fully optimized spawners, so animals now appear much more efficiently! The best part? It's 100% compatible with Smooth Patch, meaning no more CAS issues or lag. While I may still need to tweak a few small details, the mod is ready to enhance your virtual worlds starting today!

How to Install:

Main Files:

Place the file "GetWildMod & OceanLifeMod Override Folder (Math Mod)" in the Mods/Overrides directory.

Place both "GetWildMod and OceanLifeMod Animals Package File (Math Mod)" and "GetWildMod Spawner Package File (Math Mod)" in the Mods/Packages directory.

Optional Addons:

For additional features, you can also install the three optional addons:

GetWildMod Addon 1 - Enhanced Butterflies spawns Wildlife too!

GetWildMod Addon 2 - Enhanced Will-o'-the-wisp Butterflies spawns Wildlife too!

GetWildMod Addon 3 - Enhanced Fireflies spawns Wildlife too!All optional addons should be placed in the Mods/Packages directory as well.Important: If your PC doesn’t have a lot of memory, I recommend not installing all optional addons at once to avoid performance issues.

Support My Work:

If you enjoy the mods and would like to support me in continuing my projects, please consider subscribing to my Patreon. Your support motivates me to keep creating and improving these mods, and it helps bring more content to life for all of us. 💖✨

Important Note:

Though this is the full release, I still appreciate any feedback or reports on issues you may find. Your input helps refine the experience for everyone! Feel free to reach out to me on Tumblr or Patreon.

I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and see how GetWildMOD & OceanLifeMOD brings your worlds to life! 🌿🐠✨

Head to my Patreon to download the official release now for FREE!

Math Modder | The Sims 3 Mods and MO-MO-MORE! | Patreon

[martassimsbookcc]

Hello guys! First of all happy new year ! Hope you had a great time out there :) 🎆

Today I'm writing this to explain why decimation of Sims 4 meshes is paramount while converting stuff. You know me, I don't like to make statements as english isn't my first language and I find it difficult sometimes to actually write things down - even in italian I struggle sometimes lol. BUT I think this would be useful to all the cc converters and creators out there. So please, take this as an advice, for the sake of our oldie and beloved Sims 3.

Little backstory: I was casually browsing tumblr the other day and stumbled across a beautiful food set converted from Sims 4 - which I immediately saw was high quality. Just for curiosity I downloaded it, checked the polycount of a random object (if you're new here it's the total number of polygons found in a three-dimensional model) and it had way too many polys: 28k vertices - 34k faces + 4096x4096 textures.

Sims 3 is quite an old game now. Every player had experienced lag and glitches at some point so it's very, very important to make the stuff you create/convert from other games suitable for it! Here comes to the rescue a super useful tool in blender called decimation. It basically "allows you to reduce the vertex/face count of a mesh with minimal shape changes", as said on blender website. In just 2 minutes and with not so much effort I was able to reduce those polygons down to 8,4k vertices - 7,4k faces. Do you see any difference? I don't honestly.

Optimization is the key. Converting from sims 4 is not just taking the mesh and textures and putting them all in Sims 3. I wish it was tho!

You're free to put whatever you want in your game but you have to think about the game performance as well. There are people who still play the game and as an ex player I got really upset when I had laggy gaming sessions.

Having said that, here's a tut about blender and the decimation tool, done by @simaddix and which I think covers every important aspect of that useful tool.

If you read this all, thank you! Now I can go back to convert new stuff :D

-Marta

[egelskop]

i am so interested in ur hlvrai au can we get a rundown

oh boy, this is going under a readmore.

fair warning, this is a LONG read because (1.) i am not a competent writer and (2.) i can't for the life of me keep things brief. sorry and or good luck.

ACT I

The Black Mesa incident: Gordon Freeman is provided an opportunity to do an informal beta test for a combat training simulation program that's in development in the Research & Development department of the Black Mesa Research Facility. (Read: He knows a guy in R&D and said guy knows Gordon likes video games and VR stuff, so he was like "hey you should come check this out when you're on break.")

The combat sim would be a revolutionary training simulation using artificial intelligence to enhance and realize the experience for the ‘player character’.

The test goes wrong, and Gordon can’t seem to disengage from the simulation and odd, unscripted things start happening; he has to ‘play the game’ to its full completion before he is able to exit the simulation safely. He has suffered a brain injury throughout the process, eye damage due to prolonged exposure to the headset and is generally traumatized by the simulation experience he at some point could no longer physically and emotionally distinguish from the real world. The project as a whole is shut down and Gordon is put into a rehabilitation program. Black Mesa covers up the incident as best it can, but whispers of it still echo around the facility.

Below is a page for a two-page comic i never finished detailing said events.

ACT II

The rumors reach the ears of a particularly tech-savvy researcher named Clark, who steals the project documentation and anything else he can get his hands on from a storage. At home, he looks into the project, reads about it, and gets curious about the simulation’s files themselves. They’re on a drive he plugs into his computer, and suddenly his system’s performance lags, windows open and close until a txt. file opens up. He comes into contact with one of the simulation’s AI that has somehow entered his operating system. He tries to keep it busy by having it poke around as he reads up on the simulation and its ultimate shutdown. When the AI reveals it can see him through the webcam, he panics and rips the drive out of the port. The invasive AI and the other project files seems like they’re gone from his system, he does a checkup but sees nothing odd running or otherwise. The next day after work he does another checkup. Finding nothing, he surmises he’s in the clear and starts up an online game. The slumbering, corrupted data of the AI sees its out, and disappears into the game.

ACT III

The transition/journey to the game is a rocky one, and the already corrupted data of the AI known as Benrey splits and gets even more fragmented. The largest fragment embeds itself into the game’s files to keep itself running. Without the foundation of the game to support it, it’d be lost to a dead void and slowly die out. Somewhat stable, it learns about the world around it; the game seems to be an exploration sandbox game. For now (and clarity), I’ve chosen to call this bigger, embedded fragment ‘Data’. (so this is the big benny with the right eye/one big eye in my art)

Data splits off a smaller fragment of itself, intending it to be an avatar or ‘player character’ but this grows into its own awareness and becomes who we’ll call ‘Beastrey’ (the smaller benny with the left eye and tail in my art).

The fragment ‘Beastrey’ wakes to a dead void, so Data uses its knowledge to create a private server for Beastrey, an empty world. Beastrey’s existence is an extension of the bigger part, with more freedom of movement to parse through the game and move freely within it, with the caveat that it can’t go ‘too far’ away from the host. Beastrey can visit other servers and relay information. Data learns and slowly starts building up the world/private server, at some point settling for an aquatic world because it reminds it of itself (something something sea of data). It's important to note that Beastrey retains little to no memories of the events of canon VRAI.

Data makes it easier for Beastrey to move around, and they grow to have more reach with time. At some point Data can alter the basic structural elements of the game, so it plays around with making things that are reminiscent of the memories it has of Black Mesa and Xen. At one point, it gains access to parse through the player base of the game, and takes note of an email address: ‘g.m.freeman@gmail.com’, attached to a player account. The name is somewhat familiar to it.

It sends an invite to join the server to the player account.

ACT IV

Gordon tries going back to work at Black Mesa after rehabilitating, but he has trouble separating his experiences with the simulation from reality, to a breaking point where an altercation with a security guard drives him to quit. He seeks professional help for his PTSD and anxiety, but still experiences dissociative episodes, migraines and somatic flashbacks localised mostly in his right forearm. Despite this, he is determined to continue living his life as normally as possible. He applies for a part-time job teaching physics at a local high school, the one where his son Joshua goes to, and remains relatively stable from there.

Joshua is 15 years old. Regular teen. After an impressive amount of pleading he got a VR-headset for his 14th birthday from Gordon (much to the disapproval of Gordon’s ex), and he’s been captivated by an exploration sandbox game since it came out a few months ago.

He gets an invite to an unnamed private server, and he accepts.

He is struck with awe as the world he enters seems completely different from the ones he’s seen so far in the game. Different flora, different fauna. Most of it uninteractible, though, or otherwise just retextured from its base game variant. Even the new enemy types, after a scare, can’t actually hurt him, it seems. He stumbles upon Beastrey, who is just as surprised to see him and wants him out until Joshua says he was invited.

Joshua commends Beastrey (who introduces himself as 'Ben-') on ‘modding’ everything in, but admits that he was disappointed to find that everything was just surface-level stuff. Beastrey inquires about what he’d like to see. Data is always watching, unseen, and decides to alter the world in the way Joshua described when Joshua leaves.

Joshua starts appearing more often, if only for a few hours at a time. He marvels at the ways the world shifts and grows with each time he plays, and takes to exploring it with Beastrey at his side, for whom strangely enough a lot of things are also new. Joshua teaches both Beastrey and Data about the outside world, thinking Beastrey is just a somewhat reclusive but likeable weirdo.

Joshua tells Gordon about the new friend he made, ‘Ben’, and the adventures he’s been having with the other. Gordon is happy to hear Joshua is having a good time, but is otherwise none the wiser. Joshua starts losing track of time in the game, but chalks it up to being invested.

During one play session, Beastrey confesses he isn’t the one who did all the ‘modding’, and invites Joshua to meet Data. Data, or at least its ‘physical’ in-game manifestation is deep within the world, past the aquatic twilight zone and strange, drowned ruins of an unknown facility. Data, for the first time, really sees Joshua, and the resemblance sparks something within it. Joshua is drawn closer to it, and just before he reaches it-

Joshua wakes up lying on the floor with Gordon hunched over him in his room, pleading with him to wake up. Joshua unknowingly got drawn into the game much like Gordon had been, and Gordon urges Joshua to never touch the headset again, taking it away. Gordon opens up about his experiences with the simulation a bit more. They both agree to not touch the game or the headset again.

ACT V

Gordon comes into contact with an old coworker from Black Mesa, and he inquires about the combat simulation project, if anything happened to it after it was canned. This is where he learns that an employee had taken the project files from storage and was consequently fired. He comes into contact with Clark, and Clark explains he had no idea he accidentally unleashed the AI unto the game. Gordon asks if anything can be done to prevent what happened to Joshua and himself from happening to other people. Clark confesses he doesn’t know, and that it’s up to the developers of the game to find anything out of place and make sure it gets fixed. Gordon decides to leave the matter where it lies, not wanting anything to do with AI and simulations anymore and to safeguard his son.

Some time passes.

Joshua starts getting repeated invites and messages, at one point he gets into a conversation with ‘Ben’ via a platform’s messaging system. Ben says he can explain everything, that he’s sorry. Joshua decides he would like one final goodbye. He finds the headset stashed away somewhere in the house, and, while Gordon’s gone, he turns on the game and enters the server.

Beastrey (Ben) is surprised to see him, urging him to log out and turn off the game, but it’s already too late and Joshua can no longer leave. Beastrey helps Joshua attempting to ‘exit’ the game by going as far away from Data’s reach, but Data stops Beastrey and traps Joshua, determined to wait to the point that he assimilates into the game completely.

Gordon eventually finds Joshua comatose with the headset on, and he panics. He considers calling the emergency services, but he’s afraid they’ll take the headset off or that removing Joshua too far from the game will hurt his son like what happened to him. He calls Clark, urging him to help in any way he can. This results in Gordon and Clark going back to Black Mesa to retrieve the project files and the other gear they can get their hands on to get Gordon into the game to free his son.

Gordon enters the private server with Clark’s player character, and thwarts any attempt from Data to impede his progress and trap him as well. Beastrey’s awareness is overridden by Data as a last ditch effort to deter Gordon and Gordon is forced to destroy Beastrey before he can reach Data. As Beastrey is taken over, Data gains Beastrey’s awareness, and finds his other, littler half never wanted to trap Joshua in the first place, and the way it hurt him to hurt both Joshua and Gordon to this extent.

At this point, Data wavers in its intention to keep Joshua trapped, even more so with Beastrey now gone, and recognises whatever it is that is driving Gordon forward in the game is outside of his control to manipulate, so he lets Gordon destroy it as well. In a way, it also feels as a fulfillment of its intended role as the ‘villain’. The server crashes, the world breaks apart. The ‘game’ is completed.

The final boss is defeated and both Gordon and Joshua wake up. Joshua luckily wasn’t exposed long enough to have suffered any lasting damage, except for what seems to be a minor headache and some light sensitivity (and a vow from Gordon to get him checked out by a doctor as soon as the clinics open).

--

The whole ordeal results in Clark, Gordon and Joshua sitting in a Denny’s at four in the morning, eating pancakes somewhat solemnly, completely exhausted but also still reeling from the virtual battle. Joshua learns that ‘Ben’ essentially died, and he can’t help but cry for his friend.

“Honestly, I don’t think he’s gone,” Gordon admits, picking at the last bites of his pancakes. "I think he- or whatever that was, has a hard time staying dead. Like a cockroach, you know? At this point I’m just wondering when he’ll turn up again.”

Clark hums in agreement. Joshua seems somewhat reassured by his words, wiping at his eyes with the scratchy napkin as he settles into the squeaking diner seat.

“But,” he starts with a sigh, pointing his syrup-covered fork upwards to the ceiling in a decree, “One thing’s for certain…”

He thinks back to a time rife with virtual gunfire, caging walls and hysterical laughter echoing through the halls of the Black Mesa research facility. Five sets of footsteps and a whisper of his name.

“…No more VR. No more headsets. Ever.”

--

TL;DR: Gordon got trapped in VR and then Joshua also got trapped in VR. Benrey is there but also not.

thank you for reading. here. ( x ‿ o ) 🫴

[simmingelitist]

eight's Hood Tracker For The Sims 2

Here is my most recent hood tracker! It's somewhat of a work in progress, but it's completely usable as-is. It's primarily meant to be used with Lot Sync Timer.

Feel free to use/copy/edit/share/etc. To use, simply make a copy of the spreadsheet where you are the owner. More info under the cut.

Settings & Customization:

Anywhere it says "Main Fields" is a settings field where you can/probably should edit the value. Anywhere it says "Automatic Fields" is a formula that isn't meant to be edited. On the main page, the default settings are the vanilla settings for the game (with some guesstimation). You will want to change it if you're using a non-default aging system. The pie charts shouldn't be messed with. If you ever load the spreadsheet and the position looks off, it's just a visual bug and it'll fix itself eventually. You will be warned if you're editing a field that might break the spreadsheet but if you're adding/deleting or moving rows (perhaps if a Sim dies) it's safe to ignore.

Sim & Household Tracking:

In Sim tracking, there is a section to be used with my Personality Coder. In Household tracking, this is mostly where you manage your rotation. I have more to say about it below, but I also think it's neat to have it automatically track family members.

Time Tracking:

Day 0 is assumed to be a Monday, because that is the date that Sims first move into households. When you play premade hoods this way, it gets pretty interesting. The rotation day and day of the week will glow when your household isn't caught up to the rotation, simple as. However, I'm still working on the calculation for this so if you have a household significantly behind or ahead in your rotation it may throw an error.

The Timeline:

This is the most work-in-progress part of the sheet, but it's also my pride and joy. I'm trying to figure out how to make events more customizable, and adding some too. It's currently messy but still functional. I recommend experimenting with some of the different events to see how they can be filled out. I just personally find it interesting to play through a few rotations, then look back on the timeline to see how the story played out.

Changes:

Aug 4th, 2023:

First released version, I think?

Jul 4th, 2024:

Lots of stuff added. More stats in the Overview tab, a section for relevant links, better age tracking

~1000 rows to start with was reduced to ~300 to reduce lag. You can always add more if that's a problem

Formulas were streamlined, it's less laggy and easier to add rows

Some information in the Overview tab will auto-fill to the game's defaults if you don't put anything in there

Added a short guide on how to use the sheet and its tabs

Layouts were changed so it doesn't look as ugly when you add rows

Finally herded llamas out of the coliseum

In the future I'll clean up and release the sheet for creating timeline events.

Older preview pics for reference's sake:

[strangledwires]

The Sims 2 Console Prototype Masterpost (part 1)

Here is everything I've found in The Sims 2 M4 20 / July 29th build so far! This is part 1 'cos I'm still playing the game, and I might find new stuff later! (I did today!) It just takes me a while 'cos this game tends to be pretty unplayable due to being very unfinished :') It's prone to randomly freezing (due to Captain Catastrophe!) and terrible lag!

Blue Ring

The circle ring around other Sims are blue. In the Final Release, they're green!

Added 100 to kill level

This beta is very prone to random occurrences with no triggers at all. This dialogue box popped up from nowhere whilst I was playing today! I have no clue what "kill level" is supposed to be, nor do I believe it's ever been in the Urbz. Sounds out of place for a Sims game!

Bustin' Out Jobs & other Sims leftovers

Although this prototype is brimmed with scrapped Urbz content, there are some from Bustin' Out. The Newspaper offers the jobs from Bustin' Out rather than the ones from Sims 2.

The Repair(wo)man uses a sim from the first Sims(?) as a placeholder icon.

Leftover Urb Characters

I've already talked about Kiki Blunt and Captain Catastrophe a few times on this blog! To avoid the image limit, you can view them on their own posts here: Kiki Blunt & Captain Catastrophe GIFS.

But to add a little more to Captain Catastrophe; before I was confused as to what triggered him, playing this again -- it appears as though he just randomly pops up at times, and whenever he does, it's in the same place (middle of the lot?) and he always has the same behavior; completely freezes the simulation except for himself, who only twitches. Whenever he appears, the game must be restarted. (Remember to save often whilst playing the beta!)

In Freeplay, when you look into the available families to move into lots, there is a family named "Bradley" -- they use J.J. Bradley and Bobo Hobo's icons from the Urbz. Although when played, they are both clones of the default male sim.

Despite this, they still have the icon & even the same name of the characters in gameplay!

People probably already know that with the cheat gnome, you can summon the pets from the Urbz in this build. They lack a model, cannot really be interacted with, and causes the game to slow down. (Curiously, they still create puddles / "pee" on the floor like they do in the Urbz) but did you know that they can just randomly appear without you using the cheat gnome ever? So far, it seems like the Monkey is the only one with this behavior -- as whilst I was playing, he was the only one to randomly appear in both Freeplay and Story Mode.

The maid also uses J.J.'s portrait. (She's VERY broken here lol!)

The ability to change grandparents?

In the final release, you can randomize your sim, and it'll randomize the grandparents & parents' portraits to help choose your sim's appearance. But in this prototype, after randomizing the sim, you can move up to the portraits and choose whichever "grandparent" you want. I don't know if this is a scrapped feature, or simply a debug feature for the devs to test the randomization in this build.

Different Designs

The Montys had slightly different designs in the prototype compared to the final release. Isabella wears a different jacket and Patrizio's shirt is set to a different material. He also has no glasses, but that could be the result of him being unfinished. (Isabella has the same hair, it's just broken)

The Sara Tonin material on the default shirt was originally pink, not black.

The comfort icon curiously shows a cat on it.

Other Broken Sims

What looks like a regular firefighter sim came to visit the lot. His textures are broken just like Captain Catastrophe's -- but unlike the Captain, this sim can be interacted with like a normal sim. I'm unsure what he was supposed to be or if he's just a random placeholder sim.

I'm not sure who or what this is supposed to be? This sim is broken similar to Kiki Blunt. But I'm pretty sure this is a Sim model and not an Urb model. I also can't really tell what jacket(?) he has on or if he's a pre-existing premade character at all. Since he was just walking down the sidewalk, I could not interact with him to learn more information.

The infamous & elusive Paul Holder exists in this build, but their name is Placeholder 4.

Random Breaking

This game is very unstable and is prone to graphical glitches, even when they were fine before. Here's the Kiki model, but just in bits! Even though in the GIFs I've shown before, she was completely fine. (Except missing textures, but she misses those by default)

Crispin Sim randomly getting a hole in his chest despite his model being fine throughout most of the gameplay...

Unused Object?

Whilst I haven't noticed anything else different when going through the lots in the build (other than many of the lots being unfinished) I did notice this one in Sunset Canyon. Although I already posted about this one, thought it was interesting enough to include in this masterpost. This looks like something to hang someone with. I have no clue if this was gonna be functional, or if it was meant to be pure decorative (since Sunset is supposed to be a movie set) Either way, it was likely scrapped for being too morbid.

Other details not mentioned on this post

CAS has a lot of differences in this game that it would go past Tumblr's image limit, and it would take a very long time to explain them all. ^^; Most of it's just broken meshes, though. I have recorded myself looking thru every single piece, so I might just upload that to YouTube.

There are also a lot of unused dialogue boxes, most of which are just Urbz leftovers. But I put them all in a few pics (as to not reach tumblr image limit LOL!) and post 'em here, or also just record them all. (Which I may have already done?)

And then there are very miniscule differences that I didn't think were all that interesting. Those being prices of various objects differ from the ones in final release, the needs bars do not work (needs lower but the bars never actually show this -- making it difficult to play properly) many wants are broken (note the X's in the images) Many objects do not work or function differently (painting always cycles through every painting possibility before giving you the Best Painting even if your sim has low creativity skill)

The Prototype has "The Sims Theme (Lemon Jelly Remix) in it, which never appears in the final release. I think it's in place of Arch of the Sims (Lemon Jelly Remix) but I can't quite remember. It also plays music every time you pause the simulation, gets annoying fast!

Along with the Monkey, Kiki Blunt, and Captain Catastrophe -- other NPCs tend to randomly appear for no reason. The Repairwoman will enter the house and repair the TV... even if the TV isn't broken. The Newspaper boy seems to appear to place down a newspaper, even if it's not 7am. More will likely appear, but I haven't seen them yet!

Final note

I will be (TRYING) playing more! Hopefully I can find more interesting stuff. But as of now, this is everything I've discovered by playing the game normally. When I find enough new stuff, I will be making a part 2 to this post!

[theozma]

i have no idea who these tots are! the obsession still goes strong this year. 4 days w/o internet bc we moved (away from my passive aggressive/aggressive narcissistic stepsister and her horribly spoiled and immature children) and the wifi didn't work at our new place.

but we have wireless fibre and OMG SO FAST. i wish my computer could handle more mods. i need to cut down about 2gb all over again. it still lags w/4.5gb. i'm at around 6.6gb. i want nice things! i want fancy houses! i want to find the dream 100 baby sulani home that is equal parts small but just big enough to play w/multiple cribs everywhere and also not super modern. i want ones that incorporate the island living pieces on the roof and outsides.

why would i want a modern mansion in hawai'i? why? i'm living there to NOT have a modern house. duh.

i only want 3 bedrooms and 2 toilets. but the 50x50 are too big and 40x30 seems way too small.

it's bloody goldilocks. i want a great zemfer residence. i just need someone to figure out what the looks like and then make it for me w/o cc. i only need it to be perfect.

getting maybe 1 day of play in before back surgery. i miss my VeryBlondes 2.0 and i am looking forward to creating a nordic dynasty in modern day sims w/ancient names ty wikipedia

[l-1-z-a]

2️⃣0️⃣ 20 HIDDEN DETAILS You Missed in The Sims 2!

The video titled "20 HIDDEN DETAILS You Missed in The Sims 2!" reveals intriguing and lesser-known features about the game.

1. Aging Genetics: Each Sim ages uniquely based on their face template, affecting how they and their offspring age.

2. Family Album Faces: Early versions of Sims had different appearances, leading to some uncanny family photos.

3. Creepy Bios: Some Sims from Veronaville have unsettling backstories that add depth to their characters.

4. Viola Monty: A character mentioned in the game's code but not present in the game, sparking curiosity about her story.

5. Secret Memory: A cut memory involving a genie that could make elders young again was never implemented.

6. Unlocking Catalog Content: Players can access locked items by modifying game files, enhancing gameplay options. Here's guide about unlocking hidden catalog content:

7. Genetically Incorrect Sims: Some pre-made families do not share genetic traits, despite being related.

8. LGBT Characters: The Sims 2 introduced LGBT premades, marking a milestone for representation in the series.

9. Roof Rain: A cute detail where raindrops roll down the roofs during rain.

10. Religious Easter Eggs: Items in the game reference real-life religious symbols and locations.

11. Same Face Problem: Many Sims share similar faces, creating a repetitive appearance in neighborhoods.

12. Newborn Cut Scene: Newborns also receive a cut scene during their birthday transition.

13. Gay Unions: The game allows for unions but lacks formal gay marriage, reflecting the time of its release.

14. Lag Issues: Players face lag regardless of computer performance, especially when switching between lots.

15. Building Assistance: Helpful indicators appear when placing walls and roofs, showing space measurements.

16. Default Replacements: Custom content can replace original game content without changing thumbnails.

17. Elf Face: The unique elf face template is not generated for towns, making certain families stand out.

18. Face Blending: Players can blend faces in Create a Sim for more customization.

19. Marshmallow Hosting: Sims can host marshmallow gatherings, adding a fun activity to gameplay.

20. Refrigerators as Lockers: In Strangetown, refrigerators creatively represent high school lockers.

[akitasimblr]

I'm reading your "who are the Harper's?" post and the bit about growing so attached that you let them live forever makes me feel a lot better about my own attachment to mine! There's some that I've made immortal through various methods, and being able to see them around makes me so happy!

awww thanks ravingsockmonkey!!

i confess that my initial intention - when i started the challenge - was to eventually have my sims pass away.

i could have just turned aging on for the non-active households and my founder theresa would have eventually met the grim... but i was so attached to her that i said to myself. nope. let's keep the sadness away 😊

until 6/7 generation i had all previous harpers in the same savefile. nowadays i no longer do because it started causing me lagging issues. currently i play the active generation and keep the 2/3 generations previous.

but seeing an harper walking by as my active sim travels around is always so pleansant!

i am thinking of creating a very cc-lite save file with all the harpers in it...

and by the way, never feel bad about your sims, as long as they give you a sparkle of happy moments, they are worth it <33

happy simming and send hugs to bo!!

[thesims4blogger]

The Sims 4: Official Laundry List (July 9th, 2024)

Earlier this week, EA released a new Laundry List for the next game update for The Sims 4. If you don’t know the term, that’s a list of bug fixes that will come on a patch.

Laundry lists are usually shared one week before the update comes to both versions of the game (PC/Mac and consoles), but the release date has not been confirmed.

It is also unknown if the patch will bring anything new to the game. Maybe this is when players will get one of the two free updates promised on the latest roadmap. And it may or may not included the long promised new hairstyle made in collaboration with Dark and Lovely.

Read the full blog post, with all the bug fixes, below.

Sul Sul Simmers!

Welcome to this month’s Laundry List, where we share the top community concerns we’re currently investigating and aim to resolve in an upcoming patch.

To stay on track with the goal stated in our previous Laundry List, the team continues to dedicate their time to prioritizing more fixes to include in each update.  This is our second release in this series, with the next scheduled for roughly 2 months from now. This time, we are tackling over 60 issues to make for a better gameplay experience.

As always, the list below is just a top list, and there are more topics that we saw reported by players that are not listed here but may still be in the process of being solved. Some topics can be tricky and require an extended investigation on our end, so even though we are actively reviewing, it’s not a guarantee that we’ll have an immediate fix for it in the upcoming patch.

This list is primarily generated by leveraging the player reports via Answers HQ. Thank you to everyone who continues to help our work of improving the user experience via their reports.

Here’s the list of community concerns we’re investigating for the game update this month:

Console :

(Base Game) Reduced processing lag occuring a few minutes after launching the game that resulted in stuttering Sims.

(For Rent) [PS/XB] You can now enter ‘Rent per day’ amount with a controller.

(For Rent) Change floor up/down can now use the d-pad instead of bumpers on Residential Rental display in world select view.

Gallery

[DX11] Placing a lot from the Gallery will no longer display building lot screen with an incorrect overlay effect.

Base Game:

Sims will no longer receive a “Break-Up“ want when they have a High Romantic Relationship with that sim.

[DX11] Now able to switch windows in Fullscreen mode using Alt+Tab.

When a Sim changes path without stopping (canceling & changing their route) they will no longer teleport to their final destination.

Toddlers will receive Top Notch and Happy reward traits after achieving required skills.

Stair Railings will no longer disappear when one tile is placed next to one tile room.

When leaving CAS, the makeup sliders will stop reverting to their default settings and will remain how they were set.

When two Sims are on a date, other NPCs on the lot will stop trying to join a conversation; causing awkward conversations.

Fixed many cases of Fingernails warping when worn with certain outfits.

Fixed many cases of Fingernails getting warped when applied to female physical frame for male sim and vice versa.

Enchanting and Flirty Interactions are not available if not correctly aligned with gender preferences. Previously, they were incorrectly appearing regardless of preference.

All ‘Mega Double Doors’ swatches now include Transparent Glass.

“Make a Move” interaction is now available between Married Sims created from CAS.

Toenail option for toddler is no longer is missing in the Accessories menu.

Hair texture no longer changes when ‘yfTop_SDX021BinderRacerback’ tank top is applied to a female sim.

Can now place large curved walls on large curved platforms.

Cellar stair trim will no longer extrude down to the basement floor when the basement floor is removed.

Stair drop wall will no longer disappear when in ‘walls cutaway view’ mode.

The Knowledge of a Sim’s Sexual Orientation and their Sim Profile will now remove outdated information when that Sim changes their Sexual Orientation in CAS.

Upon learning a Sim’s woohoo interest and opening their Sim Profile, the Sim Profile will no longer say “No One“ when the sim has a woohoo interest in Men/Women.

When multitasking two books being read, the Sim will no longer skip the first book. Now they will read it, put it away, and then go for the second book.

Teen Sims will no longer feel jealous around a previous teen romantic partner who has aged up.

“Skinny dip with…“ interaction is no longer available on pools when no other sims are nearby.

Sims will now kneel instead of sitting cross-legged when wearing one of several CAS costumes to prevent strange visual stretching.

Bust the Dust

Sims will no longer get multiple Dust System negative buffs at the same time.

Cats & Dogs

Sim clothes will no longer remain on when entering Sim tattoo mode in CAS after using Pet Paint Mode on coat colors or patterns.

Cottage Living

Foxes will no longer appear in Manage Households looking like creepy rag dolls.

Finchwick Fair submissions will now properly return to sim’s inventory or to their household inventory after the fair is over. 

Dine Out

Sims no longer get stuck when a running restaurant venue is replaced with another restaurant from the Gallery.

Special NPCs (like Michael Bell) are no longer available to be hired for restaurants, because they will show up inconsistently or not at all.

NPCs will now leave the restaurant after completing the eating of a grand meal and will no longer wait untill restaurant is closed.

Equipping ‘ymTop_GP03Vest_SolidBlackBlue‘ outfit no longer causes round grooves to appear in the middle of all the fingers.

Sims will drink their drinks and eat their food autonomously when both are ordered at a restaurant. Previously they would only drink.

Discover University

Professors will no longer run away when attempting to take them on a date.

For Rent

The name of the residential rental lot will stop reverting back to its default name.

Rent amount should display consistently based on the unit size and amenities.

Tenant Relationships now appear in the Business filter tab within the Relationship Panel.

Get Famous

Color and texture will no longer change on the pockets and coat lining when pairing any tall boots with ymBody_EP06CoatLong.

Get Together

Interactions will finish and fully complete when using the Get Together closet to Woohoo/Try for Baby interaction.

“Make Out With…“ will also work in this closet.

Growing Together

Haughty Herringbone Tile, Floor, and Wall have appropriate swatches.

High School Years

Teen Sims can now Sneak Out to a College Party to complete their aspiration goal by using the “Ask About College Parties“ phone interaction with other Teens and then “Sneak Out“ through an openable window.

When wavy ombre hair is applied, a gray shadow will no longer appear in the sim’s eyeballs

Benchmark Seating Icon displays pink when viewing the pink swatch.

Horse Ranch

The three descriptions of features for Chestnut Ridge are now included at World Select.

Improving Horse locomotion at 2x or 3x speed to look better and stick better to routing paths.

Foals turn around instead of going backwards now which fixes several visual glitches when interacting with objects and routing.

Horses should no longer occasionally overshoot the end of their paths when running and taking several tiny steps before coming to a stop.

Horse will slow down when routing through gates and no longer hit locomotion lags.

Horse will no longer teleport to their end destination when routing backwards in 2x or 3x speed.

Journey to Batuu

Fingernails no longer clip through the Journey to Batuu full-body outfit gloves.

My Wedding Stories

Cakes at a wedding will contain a reminder tip that only the Sim who plans the event can select the wedding cake.

“Call off the Wedding” is available on both the Sim and the wedding arch while performing the vows interactions– it’s not too late to call it off!

Sims with a low hunger motive will not eat the wedding cake until instructed to do so.

Sims not from Tartossa can travel there to marry at the Town Hall.

Sims will not sit on the floor from “Please Take Your Seats” if there aren’t enough chairs. They will continue to stand now.

Occult Packs

Occult rank status for non-household occult sims can now be seen in the SIm Profile.

Linked Form occults will properly apply CAS across forms using the apply all button.

Urban Homage Kit

Assets ‘ymBottom_SP50Track_SolidBlack’ & ‘ymBottom_SP50Denim_AcidBlue’ are now correctly tagged as masculine.

Riviera Retreat Kit

‘Essence of Bergamot’ Planter no longer has an unexpected transparency.

Seasons

‘Ain’t That A Slate Toilet’ now has the appropriate two-tone swatch color.

Sims can use an indoor pool in freezing conditions. Outside temperature doesn’t affect inside pools, and all interactions on the pool are available and will no longer appear grayed out. Outside pools can be used by user-directed interactions but not Sims will not autonomously interact with them.

Toddler Stuff

Toddler full body outfits now match the swatch without grainy textures.

Werewolves

A few nose rings were not intersecting properly with some noses. That has been fixed.

Sweater ‘ymTop_GP12SweaterDecal’ arm no longer distorts for male sims at low LOD.

Sweater ‘ymTop_GP12SweaterDecal’ arm will no longer distort for male sims.

Our team is dedicated to continuing to tackle concerns that affect your ability to enjoy the game, so please continue to report any issues you experience via Answers HQ. This remains our primary source for information to troubleshoot player experiences, and any and all details are helpful for our team. As with every patch, please remember to remove any external game mods and custom content if you are experiencing issues, as they may conflict with the updates.

Thank you once more for working with us to continue to improve on the experience of our Simmers, and for making this game the best it can be.

We’ll catch you in the next Laundry List – Happy Simming!

[pudding-parade]

Old Capa's Forest by Vany

I hesitated to overview this one, for reasons which I'll go into under the cut, but in the end, I do think the world is beautiful and deserves some attention, so here we are.

As usual, the title of this post is a link to a page that has the world up for download, and also as usual I have re-uploaded a .world file here, just in case the linked paged vanishes. (The .world file goes in your game install files at GameData - Shared - NonPackaged - Worlds.)

There is also a German-language forum thread here in which the creator describes the backstory of the world and shows in-progress pics, etc. My German is extremely rusty, but sufficient to understand that the backstory is about Native (North) Americans, a famine, and grizzly bears, and then settlers moving in. That being said, much of the world looks very German/Alpine/central European, and while that's very pretty, it doesn't fit as American in any sense, native or otherwise. But as a German/Alpine-inspired world created by a German-speaking creator, I think it's wonderful. In any case, I did manage to glean from the forum thread that the world uses all EPs up to Generations and also the SPs that were released up to that point except for the Outdoor one but I'm too lazy to look up what SPs those would be. Sorry.

BUT ANYWAY! There are several reasons for my hesitation in overviewing this one. Among them…

1) In general with these overviews, I want to feature worlds that are complete enough that you can drop in some sims, maybe let Story Progression create some other families, and just play, without having to do anything else. With this one, you can't do that because the residential houses are all empty, some of them not even partitioned into rooms inside. In order for Story Progression to put families in them, you'll need to go through and put at least a fridge and beds in them, plus cribs if you want families with toddlers to move in.

(But speaking of families, many of the houses are tiny one-bedrooms on teeny-tiny lots, which is a huge minus for me, but I suppose may be a plus for others.)

2) There are a ton of trees and other plants. There are so many that it makes it hard to take pics of the lots, frankly. And even though the playable area of the world is relatively small, there are so many trees that I fear the world will lag when it's fully populated and played, unless they are thinned out. And arguably, they should be thinned out on the lots because many of them intrude into the buildings and/or would make playing more difficult because the "plantings" are so dense. Like so:

Now, it is supposed to be a forest-type world, of course, so there ought to be lots of flora, but I think it's a bit excessive. Many of the lots make me want to pull out a chainsaw and a giant weedwhacker, but maybe that's just me.

3) The blurb on the download page (again in German) says the world uses the rabbithole rugs/doors by Jynx, and there's a link to them. I don't normally use that set, but I went ahead and downloaded them and then installed them in the folder that I use to take pics for these overviews. However, they still don't function as rabbitholes in the world. I don't know what's up with that. So when it comes to many of the community lots, I am uncertain as to what they are supposed to be. Some of them are obvious -- one is called a school (in English, so this may be a lot that the creator downloaded), one is called the Krankenhaus (German for hospital), and one is called Wissenschaft (German for science), and one looks like a military base with a barracks and exercise equipment, etc. -- but there are others that aren't so obvious, and I'm not going to go through them and offer my guesses. So, that will require some fiddling if you want to play this world.

4) The world uses store content, at least some of which I don't have -- particularly doors and windows, as you'll see in some of the pics -- so I can't tell you what all might be needed. Other than the rabbithole rugs (which as far as I can tell don't work even if you have/download them, as I said), it doesn't have or require CC, though.

5) Some of the lots are very, very large. There are a couple that are entire mini-villages including both residential and commercial spaces on one lot, so the size is justified, but some of them are just danged big single-purpose lots. Personally, I don't like huge lots at all unless it's livestock-related, so this is a minus in my book, but of course YMMV.

So there are the big downsides, as I see them. On the up side, the world is gorgeous. For reference, this is the world where I took the pictures for this little 'story.' It's big, but not too huge, and the distant terrain makes it feel larger. I'm guessing it's 2048x2048 (but don't quote me on that), but the playing area is fairly small, so it shouldn't take a long time for sims to get from place to place.

What makes the world unique, IMO, is that, as you can see in the first pic of this post, it's created at high elevation with most of the surrounding distant terrain sitting lower than the playable area, increasing the feeling of height. The height allows for, among other things, some truly massive waterfalls, three big ones and a couple smaller ones. Adding to the feeling of altitude (as well as moisture from the massive waterfalls) is the use of fog emitters, so that you feel like you're up in the clouds.

Layout-wise, the world is broken out into discrete sections, which I like. There is an "old town" area with remnants of walls/gates and small residential and community lots built close together, reminiscent of a German/central European town that dates back to the Middle Ages. Then there's a "newer" part with small, densely-packed, more modern-style lots. Then, larger lots are spread around the rest of the world, mostly on roads that are big circles.

The lots are all original, as far as I can tell. As I said, in my game, many are missing doors/windows because I don't have a lot of build content from the Store, but if you have that stuff, this probably won't be an issue. The world has some, but certainly not all, of the "standard" community lots. There's a library, two gyms, a graveyard, a couple dive bars, a vampire lounge, a nectary, and several markets as well as a couple of "real" rabbitholes, namely the movie theater and the police station.

Overall, I feel this world has some excellent bones to it, and it has some truly spectacular scenery. So, I think it's a excellent world to have if you like to finish/renovate lots but not build them from scratch, especially if you like the architectural style. With finishing and, in my opinion, taming some out-of-control flora, this would be a completely gorgeous world that (hopefully) would run well. Or, if you want to take some beautiful, atmospheric scenery pics, it's good as-is. But, it's not as "plug and play" as I'd generally want for these world overviews I do. I do think it deserves a feature, though, just for the world sculpting/decoration and the prettiness of many of the lots.

But enough talk! Time for pictures. Since the rabbitholes don't work, I'm going to dispense with the usual map view and Edit Town pics and just post a bunch of random pics.

[mizumech]

My Deaf Ethoslab Headcanons 2: Electric Boogaloo

I like to think Etho has a ‘mute icon’ tattooed just behind his right ear and and ‘low volume icon’ behind his left ear. Depending on what kind of mask he’s wearing, you might be able to see them.

When he drinks things like coffee, water, potions leisurely, he has a reusable bendy straw on his person so he can keep his hands free to sign while drinking, which has definitely seen better days since Bdubs’ mud/coffee shop opened.

Since the first open mic night, he’s attempted some ASL poetry with beta reading and suggestions from Joe. It’s difficult and a little unnatural to him, so used to either providing information plainly or concealing it, but he’s slowly getting it.

He writes about the jungle often, writes about dancing and music that flow like vines and footfall like rain.

Doc gave him his original sign name (mainly E-Fox), which started mutating from person to person like a nickname.

While Etho would rather only deaf friends give him sign nicknames, there are exceptions. For example, Bdubs isn’t deaf/hard-of-hearing, but is still allowed to give Etho a sign nickname. (Also allowed to call him ‘Ladder-fox’ the same way Pause and Beef do sometimes when they’re not using their Team Canada ones like ‘Canada-mother’, ‘Canada-bean’, ‘Canada-friend’ etc.)

When he absolutely has to go to Xisuma (He normally defers to Tango/Joe first if he can’t speak.) for server-side issues regarding his cybernetics (voicebox, eye, etc.), they used to use pen-and-paper because Xisuma took up BSL to complement his Admin Studies while Etho uses ASL. Nowadays, while they still do that, the server does have standardised ways to sign important things like ‘cybernetic’, ‘player data’, ‘malfunction’, ‘lag’, ‘glitch’, ‘chunk load’, ‘danger’, ‘it’s just redstone, don’t worry’ etc.

Between the redstoners of Hermitcraft, they started to fear a rift in communication between Deaf/HoH BSL and similar-using redstoners, Deaf/HoH ASL and similar-using redstoners, and redstoners of other nationalities like Doc during season 7. Even for hearing redstoners, redstone is loud. Pistons pushing, redstone and explosives fizzing, and occasionally exploding. This made verbal communication unviable at times, eventually prompting them to create server-standard terms for hoppers, dispensers, tripwires, and other redstone components and terms.

This may or may not also have been because Etho kept using the sign for ‘vagina/pussy’ to sign about hoppers (most sign schools do not provide signs for redstone terms as they can be quite regional) and forgetting to update his cybernetics (He keeps thinking he saved the sign and forgets to fingerspell it too) causing many accidental swears.

(Example dialogue between Xisuma and Etho [his hearing aids are still really crappy at this point and they met in the shopping district without paper on hand. His cybernetics are working. [They also thought they would be able to make it through this interaction without text.]

Etho: Hey, X! Do you have pussy I can borrow? (He means hoppers. He wants hoppers.)

Xisuma: *visibly confused, mentally rifling through possibilities*

Etho: Did I sign something wrong?

Tango, just casually passing by: *starts to sim-com while getting some hoppers out of his redstone box* I mean, I have had both…(I headcanon him as transmasc and proud about it)

Etho: *look of realisation* Oh! I meant H-O-P-P-E-R! Sorry, X! Anyways, never mind, I think Tango’s got what I need!)

Etho once asked Impulse why he used the sign name ‘Watch-G’ (Hermitcraft players have many nicknames, even in sign, and Etho thinks its fun to find out how nicknames correspond) to refer to Grian.

(‘Watch’ as in the verb, as signed by Liz Harris (also how I sign it; with an x-hand on the cheekbone) when talking about watching movies, because I’ve seen different people sign it differently).

Impulse said he got it from Mumbo, who accidentally signed up for ASL classes in school instead of BSL and also refused to elaborate on the reasons behind the nickname.

Impulse also recounted how Scar tried to reproduce the sign, instead signing it too high up and then trying to cancel it, wiping his hands on his pants.

“That’s like the sign for desert,’ Impulse had told him, showing him the right way to sign ‘desert’. Scar had let out a huff at the explanation.

Etho never really thought about it until Double Life. Only then did it really hit him.

He spectated that fight with his own two (?) eyes. And yet, while he had almost forgotten it, the two fighting in question had never quite left the desert.

In Limited Life, when he accepts Grian’s sword, he can feel Grian’s stare boring into his back. Maybe that’s why Mumbo nicknamed him so.

It feels like such a contrast to his and Doc’s practice conversations in ASL when conversation roulette inevitably comes back to how he will mess with Grian and the achievements of the hivemind. Doc’s nickname for Grian is ‘Boy-Bird’, ‘Bird-Boy’, and sometimes ‘Boba’ because the mouthing is similar in Doc’s opinion. Etho uses ‘Boba’ a lot more, especially when around Doc, because he thinks its funny. Ariana Griande is sometimes nicknamed ‘Strawberry Boba’ by them both.

Doc’s sign-nickname for Ren is the sign for ‘Spiderman’ followed by the sign for ‘Dog’. Etho reasons it’s not really referring to the superhero part, but instead to the handshape and Season 8. Because of this, it feels a little wrong to copy the sign-nickname, at least to Etho. He uses ‘Story-Dog’ instead.

Etho has jokingly nicknamed Iskall ‘Money-Tree’ and ‘Sugar-Darling’, the latter of which never fails to make Bdubs sputter.

“At least you didn’t use ‘Sugar-Omega,” Bdubs had muttered sourly once, which Etho had to pretend not to hear.

Xisuma’s one of the only Hermits to have an agreed on nickname, which is ‘Mother-X’, the same way most Deaf/HoH hermits agree Hermitcraft’s sign name is ‘Crab-Craft-X’.

That’s some of the only things Deaf/HoH hermits agree on when it comes to sign names. Even season names, other than the numbers can differ from hermit to hermit (Season 8 is still similar among most though, due to the main event being the only real big event. There is an exception for those who sign about defying gravity).

Some sign ‘Vex-Food-Season’. (My headcanoned ASL Minecraft sign for vexes is the sign for ‘spirit’ but the top hand is a ‘V’ instead of an ‘F’). Etho signs ‘Jungle-Found-Season’.

Some sign ‘Colour-Button-Season’. Etho signs ‘Mushroom-Game-Season’.

Some sign ‘E-fox’. Etho; when he’s alone and on the rare occasions he wants to refer to himself when talking to himself, says ‘Love’, the same way the Universe does to him in the faintest tinges of his memory.

After all, what’s in a name?

Part 1

[samkat10423]

Sunset Vally

So today I finally tackled that Roomies lot. I've been putting it off, because I hate CAS. No lie!

Anyway, I found this remake of their lot over on Youtube by Powersims. At least, I think that's the name. It was late. I was binging Chinese dramas and drinking wine. What can I say?

The ground floor consists of 2 garages and a laundry room. Then the next floor up is the apartment where the 3 girls now live with their cat Grumpy. And the top floor is where the guys call home. I did remove all the furniture that was in it and redecorated it with the sims who live here in mind. But otherwise, the shell is hers - his? I don't know.

Here are the original sims after I took them into CAS. Mostly all I ever do is give them custom skins, new hair and make-up, and new clothes. I did put Emma Hatch on a diet - she's actually very pretty. Not sure why EA f'd with her. The other 2 girls now work as firefighters. I had more than enough cops and athletes in this town and no firefighters, so they drew the short straw. Tamara is a safety instructor while Blair is at the bottom of the career ladder. To help her advance though, I gave her the coward trait. I'm nice that way. Other than change out his skin, I left the sim with the weird name alone - mostly because he's sort of iconic.

Then - since I had room in the guys' apartment, I added this sim. He was originally hired as a gene therapist at the hospital, but again, I have more than enough doctors in this town. So, I made him a conspiracy freak who works as a ghost hunter. He shares a room with the weird guy, and they are BFFs. Birds of a feather and all that jazz. That ghosthunter van is his. (I found it over on Mod the Sims in case anyone is interested).

Then - where that Working Girls apartment was - I placed the town salon. It's called the Body Shoppe - because I used Sandy's signage and that's what it says. Anyway, this build came from Mod the Sims and was called Ink and Dye. I changed out all the windows, used new siding, and relandscaped the place. Inside, I tweaked the furnishings to cause less lag and prevent stupid routing issues because sims be DUMB!

On the other side of their apartment - where the spa was - I placed Lili's Washboard Laundry. Inside, I used Sandy's Laundry set - THANK YOU, Sandy! In that little pink part of the build is a tiny cafe where sims can hang out while they're waiting for their clothes to do their thing.

Then - where the art museum was - I built this emergency services lot. Since I'm super lazy and proud of it, I used EA's firehouse lot, skooched it over to the one end, then plunked down that hospital RH from Supernatural, then landscaped it so they look like they go together. In the back of the lot, there's room for a couple of ambulances to drop off patients. Although in the mystical land of EA, gunshot victims, poisoned sims and ladies ready to pop out their worms all drive themselves to the hospital - as one does in a medical emergency. Stupid EA.

Across the street - where the original hospital was - I put Lili's modern art lot. The fountains and planters were there, but I added all the rest. That garbage from Katy Perry actually works good for "modern" art. Who knew! Inside, I got rid of her basegame art and replaced all of it with stuff I have. I have Arsil's generic desk on the ground level so I can assign a sim to be a security guard.

And finally, this is the new gym. I think this was created by someone called Plumbob - again from over on Youtube. Inside I cleared areas so I could use Twinsimmings spin stuff and Olomaya's Get Pumped mod. Where that Americana house was, I put a separate Yoga gym for Twinsimming's yoga set. Thanks to both modders for their lovely addition to the game.

And that's all I got done today. Because as I tell you guys, over and over, I'm lazy.

[thesims3help]

The Sims 3 - optimize the game, lessen lag, improve performance, reduce loading time, prevent corruption and file bloat.

In this section, we will compile tips and tricks in optimizing your game for a much better gameplay experience. Post is divided into following categories: clearing cache, essential mods, saving, cleaning saves, in-game tweaks + tips & tricks.

Before starting, we wholeheartedly recommend a thorough reading of the Steam community's Guide on the game's performance below:

Steam Community :: Guide :: The Sims 3 Performance & Bug Fix Guide 2023

Steam Community :: Guide :: The Sims 3 Enhanced Vanilla Graphics

Steam Community :: Guide :: The Sims 3 Enhanced Vanilla Game-Play

WARNING: Before attempting anything, we suggest backing up your The Sims 3 folder somewhere safe, in case of irreversible actions. Backing up is performed by copying your The Sims 3 folder, and pasting it somewhere safe (Desktop, another drive, external drive, etc.). Carl's Tutorial on Backup & Restore.

1. Clearing cache in The Sims 3 folder.

Caches are temporary files and folders created by the game, which contain the information to help your game load faster. Their accumulation over the time can be attributed to slower loading times and/or gameplay. These files are regenerated each time the game is started, so it is absolutely safe and normal to delete them.

In the following post, we thoroughly explained which files and folders are cache, and can be deleted:

Clearing cache

2. Essential mods for better gameplay

With the amount of official game packs, store and other custom content, a laggier & slower gameplay is inevitable. If you do not have a Mods folder, please refer to Carl's Guide on making Mods folder.

For a better performance and a long lasting save file, we're going to list absolutely necessary mods + what they do:

nraas - ErrorTrap - a core-mod intended to catch and correct data corruption errors that can render a save-game unloadable.

nraas - Overwatch - performs periodical clean up, usually around 3am in-game. Turns off unnecessary electronics, clears up inactive cars piling up, recovers missing Sims and wandering toddlers, checks stuck age-up problems and more.

nraas - MasterController - allows more advanced functions in-game. MasterController Cheats module is necessary for the ability to reset town in longer game sessions (City Hall > NRAAS > Master Controller > Town > Reset Everything). Action takes 5-10 minutes and resets every Sim and every object in town, contributes to resetting anything (or anyone) glitchy. We recommend once-a-Sim-week reset, and saving after such reset.

nraas - Register - allows the player to disable certain NPCs (service and role Sims) in the town. We suggest it for the ability to disable paparazzis, tourists, homeless Sims, stray animals, unicorns, wild horses, etc.

nraas - Traffic - ability to control (and reduce) the traffic (taxis, limos) and special trucks (Food truck, ice cream truck, pet ice cream truck).

nraas - Traveler - created in purpose of catching and correcting bugs and problems in EA's travel code. Allows the possibility of traveling between worlds players have installed.

nraas - Saver - a Saving prompt that comes up every 30 minutes by default. More explained in the Saving section below.

Mod The Sims - Smooth Patch 2.1 - created with intentions of smoother gameplay, less lag, shorter loading and smooth UI. IMPORTANT NOTE: SP versions 2.0 and up are NOT COMPATIBLE with NRAAS mods! For those who wish to use both, we recommend using SP versions 1.x with NRAAS mods + compatibility file provided by LazyDuchess.

Optional mods:

Mod The Sims - No (or fewer) automatic memories - Memories cause a huge amount of save-file bloat. There are three options to combat them: completely disabling memories in-game (below in in-game tips), using a flavor of this mod. Or using NRAAS Master Controller with Cheats (City Hall > NRAAS > Master Controller > Sim > Intermediate > Remove Memories).

Mod The Sims - simler90's Gameplay Core Mod - a core mod set to fix numerous in-game bugs. However, this mod IS NOT COMPATIBLE with several NRAAS mods such as: StoryProgression, GoHere, Traffic, Tagger, Careers, Traveler. To make CoreMOD work with NRAAS Overwatch, players need to follow (Step 4 of this guide) and properly edit the compatibility file.

3. Saving the game

Continuous use of the option Save over the same save-file (overwriting the data) quickly leads into file bloat and eventual corruption, and can help invoke ill-fated "error-code 12". Helping prevent these issues can be combatted by retorting to usage of Save As every often, and changing the save-file name. A way to do it is by writing (Town Name)(Household Name)(Number of save in order) - eg. Sunset Valley Smith 1. This also allows players to keep specific saves they deem important. nraas - Saver is a handy mod that prompts users to save the game under a new name every 30 minutes by default.

On another note - keeping the Saves folder (within TS3 folder) under 4GB is crucial for game performance. Our advice is to keep a minimum of saves in that folder. Others need to be transferred onto a hosting site, or an external device. All saves ending in .bad should be immediately deleted.

4. Cleaning save files

Cleaning save files is a step that should come after all of the previous ones. It's crucial to clean a file every now and then to rid it of unnecessary data, and prevent error-code 12 & 16 and/or corruption.

Mod The Sims - Regul Save Cleaner is currently the fastest, most reliable cleaner. After downloading it, unzip it and open the program. Within the program, open your Save file, check which boxes you wish to clean and click Clear. IMPORTANT NOTE: Back up your Saves before messing with any data within it. Step-by-Step cleaning is also described in step 10 of Steam Guide.

Another, albeit experimental, mean to clean your game using s3pe (from simlogical.com). This heavily detailed nraas - How to use S3PE to clean up your save-game guide shows you how to remove excess data piled by photographs, paintings, memories in-game. We repeat to back-up your save-files before doing anything to them.

5. In-game tweaks and settings

Settings and configurations in-game have a big impact on the gameplay. Depending on player's gaming system, tweaking their settings could speed up their performance. These can be found in game's menu (three dots) > Options. There are several tabs which have adjustable settings.

Graphics - this tab is meant for visual representation of the game. For faster, smoother playback, we recommend keeping the options to Medium (lower if the system can't handle it). Enabling Advanced Rendering, Enabling Animation Smoothing and High Detail Lots being set to a higher number can cause slower playback - adjust the boxes and number to your system's performance.

Sounds - audio options that entirely depend on the player.

General Settings - Things like edge scrolling, 12-hour clock and types of camera are player's choice. But we advise to disable shop mode, usage sharing, memories, lessons and Interactive Loading Screen. Latter can take up double-digit minutes of time in loading.

Game Options - in-game Sim & Pet autonomy and lifespans. All are player's choice.

Video Options - entirely dependent on the player and if they wish to capture anything in-game.

Music Options - list of in-game music.

Online - options to log in the game's website online and connect with other players. We recommend disabling online notifications and disabling Keep Me Logged In option.

Season & Environment - depending on which packs players have, this tab shows configurations for Seasons and Supernatural lunar cycle. The number of days per season can be changed, so can certain Seasons be disabled. Weather can be in Celsius or Fahrenheit. There are four types of weather offered - rain, hail, fog and snow. All but fog have a big impact on the game's performance, so players should disable them, or adjust them accordingly. Active Lunar cycle doesn't have much impact on the gameplay... except for those pesky Zombies during the Full Moon. That's why there's an ability to set the Lunar Cycle to one phase of player's choice, or keep it active per number of selected days.

Advanced Demographics Options - offer the ability to enable or disable built-in EA Story Porgression. Underneath that, depending on which packs player has, there are different categories to enable or disable. Vampires, Witches, Werewolves, Fairies, Pets, Horses and Celebrities. We recommend the player disables what they don't need in their current gameplay, or eventually everything if these Sim types are unneeded. Another option below is to Opt Active Household out of Celebrity System, which doesn't allow active household to gain celebrity points.

Guides we found useful to follow:

Sims 3 Options Overview (carls-sims-4-guide.com)

The Sims 3: Graphics and Performance Guide | Asilee Sims (wordpress.com)

Steam Community :: Guide :: The Sims 3 Performance & Bug Fix Guide 2023 (Bonus Step: In-game Options - Optional)

6. In-game tips & tricks

Many issues can also be combatted from the gameplay.

Frequent town reset with NRAAS Master Controller + Cheats,

Keeping less to no items in personal inventory + frequent clearing out of townies' inventory with NRAAS MC (City Hall > NRAAS > Master Controller > Town > Object Stats > Inventory).

With rewards like Collections Helper, Tears of Horus, it's best to keep their selector to None.

Items like Sultan's Tabernacle, Axe of Pangu and random relics are known to be stuck in inventory, and cause traveling issues. It's best to not purchase the items, or delete or sell them before traveling.

Speaking of travel, any trip to World Adventure countries, the Future or any other world with twallan's Traveler, it's best to pack light! Less to no items in personal inventory that could cause corruption.

Should your Sim visit a WA country once and never go back - you could remove the .nhd file, remembering you'll lose everything you had related to that country (relationships, etc) - back-up your save before doing this.

Gameplays should not last longer than a couple of hours. After at least two hours, it's time to save as, then quit. Clear your cache, remove unnecessary save files and leave the last one in. Restart the game.

Never go from one save into main menu and then open another save. This is a fertile ground for memory leak and early corruption.

Clearing saved Styles and Presets should also be done for faster loading of CAS/CASt, but back-up your previous files before this.

Regularly check and remove/uninstall custom content you don't need anymore.

Regularly re-download mods and replace them in the Mods folder, in case of possible corruption.

Move your Saved Sims from same-named folder to somewhere safe, then delete the originals.

Captured media (screenshots, videos) should be removed from their respective files to somewhere safe often.

Too much custom music can slow down the game. Files should be in .mp3, no more than 320kbps and in limited amount.

Save files and content files from Downloads folder should be backed up on external drives and cleared from The Sims 3 folder.

Some tips taken from nraas - TIPS FOR BETTER GAME PERFORMANCE, but we recommend reading it all through - they connect The Sims 3 folder, in-game options, your device options and how your device can be affected to cause problematic gameplay.

[my-reality-my-rules]

list of sites and apps i recommend for designing your DR shenanigans

part 2 - building a house

- - -

˚✦•·················• ✼ •·················•✦˚

LIST INCLUDES:

games:

Minecraft

The Sims 4

professional apps:

Coohom

˚✦•·················• ✼ •·················•✦˚

Coohom

WHAT: 3D visualization to realize your interior design fantasies, improving work efficiency and design quality for the best 3D presentation! [lifted from the official Coohom website]

PROS: it's very detailed, for one. the user only needs to know their dimensions and what materials they want to use. offers a wide range of things to add to the room. has a render feature; with images in perspective, panoramas, and video processes of the render itself.

CONS: it might be a bit overwhelming to first-time users, especially with the amount of controls. also requires mid to high speed internet for the experience. limited amount of render saves. also has a pro version, but that's only if you're unwilling to subscribe.

PERSONAL EXAMPLE:

≿❈≾

Minecraft

WHAT: Minecraft is a 3-D computer game where players can build anything. The game which has been described as like an 'online Lego' involves building blocks and creating structures across different environments and terrains. Set in a virtual world the game involves resource gathering, crafting items, building, and combat. [lifted from Webwise]

PROS: stimulating, both as a game and for problem-solving skills. due to its sandbox nature, it allows for vast amounts of creative potential, and is not limited to real-world material constraints (e.g., fantasy objects, plant life). you don't need to worry much about missing materials—it's constantly being updated, not to mention there are countless tutorials online for building certain things. also has the option for customisable avatars.

CONS: purchased, not free. also contains in-app purchases. servers can lag. social interactions are included, if you're not into that or because of cyberbullying, but i highly doubt you need to talk to other people just to make your DR house.

PERSONAL EXAMPLE:

[NOTE: download TLauncher for desktop, and HappyMod for mobile; lmfao lemme be real with y'all and say my game's fuckin pirated]

≿❈≾

The Sims 4

WHAT: The Sims 4 is a social simulation game developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It is the fourth major title in The Sims series, and is the sequel to The Sims 3. [lifted from Google Search]

PROS: like minecraft, it's a game. it's meant to be stimulating and functional. the sims 4 in particular has the best graphics and details out of all the games in the series. for desktop players, they can create almost anything and everything they want for a DR house. the base game is also free.

CONS: the base game is just that—the base game. that's not to say it's not fun, but it simply doesn't offer the full experience without the extension packs. you can download custom content, but it's definitely a long process, especially if you accidentally download broken or corrupted files. it's also...incredibly tiring to play, especially if you're on some kind of limit on your game.

PERSONAL EXAMPLE:

[NOTE: you can also use The Sims for creating your DR self, family/families, S/O's, and et cetera; also, I'm using mods and custom content in my game]

˚✦•·················• ✼ •·················•✦˚

[simlicious]

Just curious: Your Downloads and Mods folders are huge! How long does the game load for you?

hi @cas-sims!

I have not played Sims 3 in a regular world for years, mainly because I also had trouble with heavy lag and it ruined the fun 😥 If I actually want to play, I need to do a lot of optimization beforehand! My test save that I use for testing and making screenshots for my CC is on a CAS world which has only 4 lots on it and loads pretty quickly. The drawback is that there is no scenery at all for outdoor pics and it does look very bland. It's just a flat green grass area with a road on it, that's it. It takes just under 5 minutes to load the game and the save (I actually timed it). My game runs on a PCIE4 M.2 SSD, I bet this definitely helps with the loading times! I also have a good chunk of CC as merged packages. I also use the HQ mod for my screenshots, and because of it, my game is lagging very badly, especially when applying CASt patterns to objects (which makes actually decorating/making the previews for my patterns a game of patience). I do have the smooth patch, but I think my game has a lot of optimization potential still.

stead of having 3x the amount of CC installed in one game.

I know from some gameplay simmers that they often get rid of store stuff they do not use and disable some EP's and SP's they rarely use (like ITF and Island Paradise, which are known to be especially laggy). I'm sure you know this, but in case people read this who are new to TS3, the AnyGameStarter tool at MTS has this functionality and can create profiles so you can have several "separate" games with different mods and CC. Gameplay simmers tend to pay attention to how CC performs in-game/they look at polycounts beforehand, and also reduce their amount of mods. They also tend to play in worlds that have optimized routing. Also, merging CC is a must. It might also be a good idea to make 2 or 3 different profiles with AnyGameStarter and play with different CC in all of them and if you get bored, you can switch over to another profile and play a different save with different CC. My game is definitely overdue for a refresh, and I plan on using the Sims 3 Performance Guide on Steam to get it into a more playable state. It is one of the best performance guides I have come across, so maybe it will help your game too?

[serioussimming]

Los Santos - Progress Report 2022 - Part 2: The loneliest apartment in the world

Since I don’t want to get lost in stuff that isn’t visible at first sight, like furnishing buildings, this apartment is the very first and only fully complete building in the entirety of Los Santos.

I made this because creating a world involves constantly testing around in game. The “edit in game mode” doesn’t really provide a working live mode, so if you want to see progressing time, sims interacting with the world, simulation lag, and all of that you need to export the world, close caw, install the world, start the game, move in a sim to a lot, and finally test things. 

This is where 12 Residue Apartments come in. They act as a refuge for my testing sim where he can get some rest from all the testing. Finally Test Sim doesn’t have to sleep on empty lots anymore.

While they look cheap, dirty and rusty on the outside, they look even cheaper on the inside! But jokes aside I really like the grungy dirty look.

If you have ever dreamed of having an avocado bathroom this might be the place for you!

Test Sim is especially glad that his bed is in a room and not on a completely empty plot of land anymore. Now he can finally get some action without breaking the law.

But beware. Don’t forget to close your curtains or else everybody is going to know what you’re doing in bed at 12 Residue Apartments:

Aside from being a refuge for Mr. Test Sim the lot offers a kind of inspiration and guideline as to how the buildings should generally look when they’re done. You can see this house as kind of like concept art for the art direction if you will.

Let me know if you like this kind of content about Los/Sim Santos. Also if you want to see more of 12 Residue Apartments. I feel like this kind of stuff is what keeps me going with this project at all.