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View Full Version : Stop-Go Freezes, suspect routing problem or stuck sim?


BailaBaila99
20th Jun 2012, 09:13 PM
First of all, thanks for taking the time to read and/or offer your help. I just have the base-game installed, and I believe it's running the latest patch. I have some CC, but it has never given me any problems before this, and I haven't installed any new CC besides one lot. The game even ran fine with the lot installed for quite a while, until I kicked the inactive household out of it and moved my active household in.

The issue started when I decided it was time to move my sim family into a new home. I downloaded a lot designed for Recurve Strand, and edited it to my liking, then resumed game and saved up money for my sims to move in. By the time I had enough money saved, and used the cell-phone to move my sims to the new lot, another family (that I didn't create, in fact I've only created the one household in my entire game since installing) had moved into the lot I designed. So I relocated them to an empty house, and moved my sim family in.

After moving them into the new lot, a short time later, the freezes began. It happens at random in the middle of seemingly any action, a brief, 5-15 second pause, during which all graphics and sounds continue as normal, including the plumbob or sleeping z's, but my sims are frozen in place and time has stopped. Pretty standard freezing, from what I've read.

There have been a few instances of my sims getting stuck on this lot, complaining about not being able to find a path and stomping their feet. These instances were caused either by an object, such as a chair, that was poorly placed with the MoveObjects On cheat, or by a very interesting problem that occurs when they try to go to work. The street that my lot is on is very far away from the lot, (if you're not familiar with Recurve Strand, take a look and you'll see what I mean) and the closest street is actually a dead end on a cliff above my lot--this is where the carpool appears, and my sims are not keen on scaling a cliff to get to the carpool. They'll complain about not being able to find a path, give up on going to work, and then I'll have to run them to the road and have them take a vehicle or taxi to go to work.

Honestly, the lot is pretty complicated, because it's so well landscaped/decorated... there are some areas that I can't build on because the game "cannot flatten terrain," and pathfinding may be a bit complex in areas. There are a lot of rocks that were placed with moveObjects on around the edges of a pool to create a kind of natural spring, and I'm worried that the sheer number of them or their placement might have something to do with it, but they haven't given my sims any trouble and the pool works just fine. So far, in fact, aside from the few misplaced objects that I've had to reposition for functionality so my sims wouldn't get stuck, I haven't encountered any other weird pathfinding problems.

I only have two sims in this household, and the game freezes still occur even when they are both out on the town. From what I've read I suspect it's poor routing on the lot or some sim somewhere in the world is stuck? Am I on the right track? What can I do to fix the routing, and how can I find the stuck sim and get him unstuck? Or perhaps it's derelict cars or homeless overpopulation or something? I'm just thinking it has to do with the new lot I moved into, since the problems didn't occur until I kicked the family living there out and moved my sims in.

I am also fairly certain the issue is not caused by or related to overheating, as I have had overheating problems in the past and am very familiar with them. Overheating freezes or lags are very recognizable to me, after having tried to play through them for a long time before finally opening up my laptop and cleaning out the fan, vents, and heat sink. This solved my heat-freeze problem, and the game ran beautifully afterward, until now.

One last thing, I read that the CFF Explorer helped someone with a similar problem. Should I try that?

BailaBaila99
20th Jun 2012, 10:47 PM
Update: I ran the CFF Explorer, and the Sims 3 exe was already allowed >2GB, so I un-checked and re-checked it and saved. I also modified my operating system specs to allow applications extra memory. I then installed the no-automatic memories mod, and deleted some of my sims' memories (if I could delete them all, I would, I really don't care about this and am frustrated that it might be causing my game to freeze). They only had around 64/300 memories though, I don't know how that reflects on the rest of the town. Anyway, none of this helped, the freezes are still happening.

I'm still wondering what kind of poor routing might be causing this, and how I could fix it. Also curious if there's a stuck sim somewhere in my game and how to find him/her.

joandsarah77
20th Jun 2012, 10:55 PM
I've had freezing troubles since installing Show Time. What I read has helped but not iliminated.
Deleted all cache files.
Moved out my cc.
Lowered settings
Deleted bad saves

Next I am going to try another thing I have read. Type into the cheat window resetsim * Not sure if there is a gap before the asterisk or not, not having tried it before. That should clear any stuck sims.

BailaBaila99
21st Jun 2012, 12:12 AM
I installed the Overwatch mod, and so far it has removed over 100 derelict cars, turned off a few TV's and stereos, and run 7 homeless folks out of town, but it hasn't reported detecting any stuck sims. There's plenty of rando's who show up when I visit community lots, so it doesn't appear that the town is very out of whack. When my own sim got stuck due to a table next to a bed, I reset him and everything was fine. Except the freezing. Despite everything, it is still persisting, often as ever, if not slightly more often. I don't know what to try next. I don't see how CC could be the problem considering that it worked fine before, and I sort of suspect that the lot on Recurve Strand has something to do with it. Maybe not, though. At any rate I'm getting pretty sick of this problem, don't understand what I'm doing wrong.

BailaBaila99
21st Jun 2012, 07:51 AM
Update: Because I only had one sim family, I chose to save their lot and move them to a fresh game. It deleted all of their friendships and promised wishes, but everything else is in tact. It also seems to have stopped the freezing. I just hope it doesn't start again. Any ideas on what might have caused it?