Sims don't respond, Commands disapear from queue

[gjammer]

I've only been playing the game for the last four months, and in that time I've encountered issues I've never experienced with TS3. The problems concern the way sims respond to commands. In three of my household the sims simply don't respond. They stand around like statues, not even responding to auto-solve. In those families even whims can't be fulfilled. This misbehavior is erratic.  Commands disappear from the action queue far more frequently than they did in TS3. In TS3 I can understand why some commands aren't executed but in this game there's no rhyme or reason. I wonder whether my game is broken. Whatever the cause of the problem it's frustrating.

[MrsFlynn]

This is a common bug/issue. In the post linked below are some tips that may help:

Sims will not respond to commands
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=28965.msg470101#msg470101

[gjammer]

The solution is geared to simmers who use mods and CC. I use neither. However, I did notice that I can get my sims to behave briefly if I press ESC and then dismiss the menu. I'll probably just end up not playing the families that have the problem. Perhaps EA will come up with a bug fix but I won't hold my breath.

[Tynynounours]

apparently cluttered inventories and house are often cause for lag. You can try to empty some inventories.

the factory reset and repair game helped in my cc/mod free games, so you can try them even if you don't have any mods. Same for the evicting/reset families, I never tried it, but it isn't CC/mod related.

[gjammer]

I discovered that by changing venue the issue corrected itself. For example, a toddler refused to move from in front of his bed, ignoring all commands to do otherwise. I took him and another sim to the park. When they returned home he started responding to all the commands I threw at him. I don't understand why changing the venue would have this effect but it did. Now, when my sims don't obey commands I change the venue and move them back.