Help - Extreme lag in specific save file? (UNSOLVED)

[tedntaz]

Hello everybody!
Before I explain the problem, I'd just like to say that I've read through numerous threads, watched many tutorials and attempted many solutions for this problem but to no avail. Nothing works, and the problem just persists (it actually seems to be getting a bit worse, but that could just be my imagination.)
So anyways, here's what's going on...
(Everything leading up to the problem, skippable info I guess)
I recently bought both Generations and Ambitions for my game, and everything seemed fine; I started in Twinbrook, I made a sim who eventually married a townie, they had a kid, I brought in another custom sim (a fairy) to focus on the chemistry skill so that I would be able to get a potion for the kid's imaginary friend.. everything was just fine! Oh, and I hadn't downloaded any custom content (like mods) in a long time.

(Actual problem)
But then, all of a sudden, whenever I tried to get my sim to invent something via the worktable, there would be a lag of about 4-6 seconds. At first I thought nothing of it, and just replaced the work table, but the problem persisted. It wasn't just the worktable anymore, it was pretty much any object. Then, it was just the whole game. It would freeze for about 10-12 seconds, then I'd be able to control it for about 3 seconds, then it would freeze again.

The weird thing is, that whenever I went to the town view, the lag was waaaay less severe, only freezing like it would normally. Also, if I changed the active sim (my original) to the guy she married, the lag pretty much went away. So naturally, I tried just killing the original sim off since it seemed like she was causing the lag, but after I did the same thing happened to the sim's husband, who was now my main active sim. So that didn't work.

Then I figured I'd check with my other save files and they worked just fine! No lag whatsoever! I searched for similar problems and their solutions and I found a few. I ended up getting Twallan's Overwatch (which, though my game registered it at the main menu, didn't seem to clear and "cars" whatever those are [apparently it's supposed to? I don't know]), Twallan's Master Controller (used it to reset everything, played around with it a bit), and clearing the DCbackup from the sims 3 folder, and nothing worked! The save file still lags no matter what!

I don't know what to do, I would just erase that save file and start over but (a) I don't want to lose all that progress because I was really enjoying that family and (b) I want to know what to do for a future reference, because it's likely that this is gonna happen again. So does anyone know what I can do about this? I just wanna play my game 

I'm sorry if this is similar to another solved thread that had already been posted, I searched through a lot of them and they either didn't work or didn't relate to my problem, and I may have missed a couple.

[Wai]

You do not say whether or not you have tried the eviction trick. 

Sorry, if you have, if not, try this:

• Go to edit town and evict the family to the clipboard; then. return the family from the clipboard to their home.
• If this does not work, evict the family as above. Copy the empty house to the library. Bulldoze the house and replace it from the library. Replace the family.
  

The above will frequently cure a glitched sim or a glitched house.

[tedntaz]

I actually haven't tried that (can't believe I didn't think of that...) so I'll try it now!

Thanks, I'll see if it works!
(Fingers crossed!)

[tedntaz]

I tried evicting them and putting them back into their house, evicting them and removing/replacing their house then putting them back in AND moving them to a new home, but it's still extremely laggy! 

Thanks for the suggestion though!

[Pam]

Welcome to our Forum.

Would you mind detailing all the things you've tried.  There are a lot of things we could suggest, but I think it would be easier if you tell us what you've already tried.

[tedntaz]

Of course!
So far, I've tried clearing the DCbackup in The Sims 3 folder, which made my other save files smoother, but not the one causing the problems.

I tried using the "resetsim *" code, which didn't help.

I downloaded Twallan's Overwatch, which did nothing (like literally nothing, I don't think it's working but that's a problem for another thread).

I reset everything using Twallan's Master Controller, which also didn't do anything.

I tried what was mentioned by Wai (evicting then placing back, evicting, removing and replacing the house then returning the family and moving the family to a different home), which didn't work either.

I tried getting rid of the sim that seemed to be causing the problem (it only occurred when I used her), but then it started happening to one of the other sims in the household.

All this was only happening to one household in one save file. Worst case scenario, I could just delete it, but I'd like to know how to solve the problem for future reference.

Also, I've been playing sims 3 for at least over a year now, with quite a few expansion packs (pets, late night, seasons, supernatural), as well as with a lot of CC (no overrides, just things like hairstyles and clothing, nothing downloaded in the past month or so) and experienced no problems like this, but after a few hours of playing with Ambitions and Generations newly installed, this happened. Could it be a problem with the expansion packs?

-UPDATE-

I tried to save that specific family then open them in a new save file, STILL lagging and freezing. So it's a problem with the family I guess? This is so frustrating!

-NEW UPDATE-

I tried a factory reset, then I brought that family back into the new Saves folder of the new The Sims 3 folder and the problem still persists. I also lowered almost all of the graphics settings (which I knew wouldn't help, but it was worth a shot) and it didn't help.

And I also tried removing any mods/CC I had, which still didn't help.

[Niqeyu]

I had the same problem.
I fixed it by deleting/removing all items in the sims inventory.
I´m guessing it was a bugged item in the inventory.
I just figured it out though, I have no idea if it´s a permanent fix.

[Seekhunt]

I had the same problem.
I fixed it by deleting/removing all items in the sims inventory.
I´m guessing it was a bugged item in the inventory.
I just figured it out though, I have no idea if it´s a permanent fix.

OH THE MAKER :-O
I just fixed my sim with doing this. Apparently it was the "scrap" i had in my inventory that bugged my game and sims :-O
Thank you so much Niqeyu, you have just fixed my game, for something no other forum could help me with. I am so happy, if this has complete fixed my game. And as of now. It surely looks like it :-D

[LivvieLove]

And I also tried removing any mods/CC I had, which still didn't help.

That can also cause lag majorly!
Be careful when you just pull CC/Mods out of games like that. When the game gets used to interacting with the mods/CC, if you pull them out it will start to create major error files that will build up in your game until it creates a huge lag problem.

What I suggest is this: Save the family to the Family Sim Bin. Start a new neighborhood in a new save file. Put them down on a lot, empty their inventories/change their clothing. Save them to the Family bin once more as the newly cleaned and emptied family. Start a NEW neighborhood again and then place them down and try it.

The middle neighborhood was being used as a cleanup. If your Sims had CC on them, or were using mods in a game they could have the errors attached to them. The best thing to do is to clean them up completely in this town before saving them as totally Clean Sims to start a new neighborhood.

Also, try to avoid minimizing and restoring your game frequently if that is something you do. I've found out recently that it can start to build up invisible error logs that will bog down your game over time. So if that's something you're doing (on top of mods/CC removal/addition) it can definitely give you a serious case of lag!