How is Sims 3

[Ofdimaelr]

How is Sims 3 these days, is it fixed and you can play without lag, or corrupt save ? Even if you play for a long time, with a lot of sims ?

How hard it is compared to Sims 4 for sex mods ?

[Omicr0n]

I would say that if you run it with all of the typical performance optimizations and bug fix mods then you'll probably experience very little lag on a modern computer while playing just the basic game. That will definitely change however if you start adding script-heavy mods like NRaas StoryProgression, or Kinky World. Even more so if you run them both simultaneously like I do. So you'd have to experiment and figure out what your personal tolerance is for script lag when it comes to running heavy mods like those.

 

Regarding save corruption, I haven't had any issues with that. What can happen though if you run with a lot of high resolution custom content on lots of sims, in a large world with many objects, is you'll potentially get an Error Code 12 message when you try to save your game due to high memory usage. So it's something to be mindful of.

 

I switched back to playing Sims 3 after playing Sims 4 for a long time because I found Sims 4 gameplay to be too shallow, but you do have to manage your expectations when it comes to performance if you're going to be running script-heavy mods. Sims 4 definitely beats Sims 3 when it comes to performance, and there's no contest.

[landess]

5 hours ago, Omicr0n said:

you'll potentially get an Error Code 12 message

 

As you say. Wanted to add when a save starts to become 'unstable' due to high memory usage, using the Create a Sim/Build-Buy features causes the game to load more assets will in my experience, trigger the error. It's like Russian Roulette - how many changes can I make before the game: Crashes to Desktop, Locks up, Endless loading from CAS, Error 12 . . . 

Edited April 29, 2024 by landess

[FreakyRufus]

The thing that always impacts both the performance and the memory usage in my game always seems to really be the size of the town population. Don't let it get too large, or you can run into situations where the game will just suddenly exit. No crash dump, no messages, it just exits and you are back at the desktop without a clue what just happened. This usually happens when I'm playing some legacy town where my sims have had lots of kids over several generations, and the town population has grown because of that.

 

The game that I had that really became a problem with a big population, I was able to lower my memory usage by lowering my resolution down from 2560 down to 1920, and lowering some of the other graphics settings. I eventually gave up on it though, it was just too laggy for me eventually. I tried using some of the nraas settings to lower the population, but didn't want to let it do that one that moves sims out of town, as it completely deletes them when it does that.

[Otti]

I have an very old PC with a core2 duo Processor and 3 GB Ram.I use Sims3 with All EP/SP and Lots of Mods and OKW.

It loads like an old 8 bit Game from Datasette and needs more then 10 min till I can play,but after that it has only little Lags.

 

The Lags happend if NPC Sims get stuck somewhere or new built,like Taxidrivers and service Sims.

I try to keep the Population under 100 Sims,and delete many Clutter in the Towns,but I get CTD due to Memory problems.

Mostly due to CAS changing of Sims like Landess said.

 

Try Sims3 out, and maybe you don´t go back to Sims 4,because Sims 3 feels more real.