Set game to automatically clear cache when I play?

[kwohld89]

So I admittedly don't delete cache files etc. nearly as often as I should so forgive me if I'm a little dense but the game  I just played was super laggy and game startup does take a while so I'm going to try to remember to start doing so more often. After making sure I meet the game requirements and updating my game driver, also I deleted "DCBackup" files and "FeaturedItems" files  I came across an article from CS3 http://www.carls-sims-3-guide.com/technicalhelp/slowgame.php  about setting the game so that every time I play all the unnecessary cache files are deleted. That's great, but I do not understand some of the computer lingo I got up to "copy and paste specific cache file links into notepad, then it says something about changing the directories path, and I have no idea what that means, and it says something about playing one game instead of another game to change said directory path for that game, but I have a really good pc and graphics card so I run all 9 at once.
Anyway I am somewhat computer illiterate so anyone who might be able to dumb it down for me would help out very much. THANK YOU!!!

[grimsoul]

It's been awhile sense I even thought about that batch file.
But the part on changing the directories path is referring to the location of the exe file used to start the game. The game uses the Sims3Launcher.exe file to start the game from the newest expansion released you have installed so you want to change the path going to that file to start the game.
The expansions that came out and the order they where released are:
World Adventures
Ambitions
Late Night
Generations
Pets
Showtime
Supernatural
Seasons
University Life
Island Paradise
Into the Future

The path to the file used from the page you linked pointed to the Sims3Launcher.exe in the Ambitions folder because at the time that was the newest expansion I had installed. Whenever you install a newer expansion you have to change that line to point to the new directory
So if you have Into the Future installed that line would read as  start /d "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Into the Future\Game\Bin" Sims3Launcher.exe
But if the newest expansion released you have installed is Season it would be  start /d "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Seasons\Game\Bin" Sims3Launcher.exe

I hope that helps to clear it up some. If not let me know and I'll try again.

[kwohld89]

Ahhh you are the person who helpfully pointed this out in the original article, what are the chances lol! Thank you SO MUCH for replying!  Ok it seems like I was making it out to be more complicated than it really is, and after referring to this post and the article I feel I am SO  CLOSE! So what I did was I copied and pasted the following into notepad:
 
@Echo off
del "C:\Documents and Settings\My Computer\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\CASPartCache.package"
del "C:\Documents and Settings\My Computer\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\scriptCache.package"
del "C:\Documents and Settings\My Computer\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\compositorCache.package"
del "C:\Documents and Settings\My Computer\My Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\simCompositorCache.package"
start /d "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Ambitions\Game\Bin" Sims3Launcher.exe

On every line, I changed "My Documents" to "Documents" as I am running Windows 8, and changed "Ambitions" on the last line to the most recent game I have installed which is "University Life". Saved as Clean Sims.bat, changed "Text Documents" to "All Files" and I saved to my desktop. It is now on my desktop, the icon has 2 blue gears on it and the file is named "Clean Sims". But when I clicked the file, a small window appears which reminds me of command prompt with the black background, and a box pops up saying "Windows cannot find 'Sims3Launcher.exe'. Make sure you typed the name correctly, and then try again." So I did that again, making sure to change My Documents to Documents and the file directory that needed to be changed, and I had the same result. Again, I am so very close!

Also, when I do have this set up, do I click on "Clean Sims" every time I want to clean out those files? And then the game launcher pops up?

[grimsoul]

If your getting a message saying it can't find the Sims3Launcher.exe file it sounds like there is a problem with the path in the last line.
Go to the folder and make sure the Sims3Launcher.exe file is there and that the path is correct.
And if you make sure it is deleting the files like it should, after you run the batch file go to the directories and see if the files where deleted.

Yes, Once you have it work you can click on "Clean Sims" anytime you wan to clean out the cache files and the launcher should open open up to start the game. Myself I use it every time to I start the game so I always have them cleaned out. I have to click on something anyway to start the game so I figured why not always use the batch file to do it.

[kwohld89]

I actually do not have an Electronic Arts folder under "Program Files" or "Program Files (x86)" I do, however, have the "Origin Games" folder. I ended up finding the   Sims3Launcher.exe file under Program Files (x86)--->Origin Games--->University Life (the newest-released game I own)--->Game--->Bin, and so I changed
start /d "C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 Ambitions\Game\Bin" Sims3Launcher.exe

to


start /d "C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3 University Life\Game\Bin" Sims3Launcher.exe

 I clicked on the Clean Sims icon, and Origin followed by The Sims 3 Game Launcher popped up, and the game started loading. But it closed out, and a message popped up saying "A problem caused the program to stop working correctly. Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available." Aaargh!
Then I decided to speak to someone at EA who provided the following steps:
-Run game as administrator
-Repair game, then Check For Update
-Allow a program in Windows Firewall

The given instructions for Allowing a program in Windows Firewall were:
Allowed a program in Windows Firewall:
-Go to Start Menu
-control Panel
-system and security
-Windows Firewall (select Allow a program through Windows Firewall)
-select Origin
-click OK
However Origin was not even given as an option, and the "Allow Another App" button was grayed out and not clickable.

 I then restarted  my PC, installed the latest patch, clicked on the Clean Sims icon and, after several attempts to play the game before, the game loaded all the way and I entered game play without the game closing out and error message appearing. However, after playing the game for a few minutes, I decided to close out for just a second to see if the cache files were deleted. They were not! So I gave up. I'll just have to remember to delete them every few weeks.

[kwohld89]

I do appreciate your help though... and even though it didn't work, you have provided a variety of different ways to improve game performance which I've seen throughout CSG3 and now after using yours and other peoples tips, game startup takes roughly 2 minutes as opposed to 5 minutes before, so that alone makes me happy.
I don't think it'll be a big deal to delete all these files every couple of weeks or once a month. First world problems.

[kwohld89]

Just noticed the thread on here called "Tips for Crashing, Lag and Other Misc Tips". Will make sure to refer to that as well! 

[grimsoul]

To check to see if the files are getting deleted you need to look in the folder before the game starts. Once the game starts the files will be recreated so they will be there when you exit the game.
You could remove the last line so the batch file doesn't start the game. Run the batch file and see if it cleared the cache files. If that's working right you can put the last line back in and let it start the game again.