Is it my computer or is Sims 4 just awful? *Resolved*

[sone]

I've been a longtime player, and this has to be the worst sims I've ever played.  I'm really hoping there is something wrong with my computer, because I can't even enjoy playing anymore.  It's been a week since I bought the game, and I'm seriously considering returning it.

1) It's taking sims 3-4 hours to do simple things like taking a shower.

EDITED 11/1: After repairing the game, interactions are taking a normal amount of time.

2) I don't get the notifications to go to school/work until 2-3 hours after they are supposed to have gone, and the game won't let me send them because it falsely says they don't have work for another 22 hours, despite it being highlighted as a work day.

EDITED 11/1: Found a workaround, if I save/access the menu, when I return to regular game play the notifications update and sims are able to go to school/work after returning to game play.

3) If I play on any time other then one speed, it sometimes jumps ahead 5-7 hours, then when I hit one speed again only an hour has passed, and the clock jumps back.

Edited 11/1: It's a known bug, so I'll just stay on standard time with frequent pauses and short sessions, and hope that a patch will fix it.  Thanks @MrsFlynn and @Playalot  for the extra help on this one.

4) LAG.  I've played island paradiso, so i'm accustomed to lag in the sims, but I can no longer tell if my sims is stuck or just an idiot when it takes them over an hour to move from one task to the next.  They just stare at nothing, then finally get a relationship boost or laugh then go onto their next task.

Edited 11/1: Lag is much more tolerable now, and doesn't even happen sometimes after updating NIVIDIA,
CC cleaner, moving/deleting all screenshots, and disabling Origin.

5) Aspirations not registering.  My sims are already at the career job level when they leveled up their aspiration, but the game still says get to career level 5, which they have been at since the last level.

EDITED 11/1: After getting promoted to the next level, level 6, the aspiration completed.

6) Soulmates is broken.  Booth sims are at 100 love and 100 friendship, but are still lovebirds despite being married and best friends.

EDITED 11/1: After doing repair game in Origin, when aspiration was re-selected, soulmates registered, and relationships updated.

[Indira]

It's is most probably your computer. The problems you listed above doesn't happen to my game even after many hours of playing and not making a save file.

Have you compared your computer specs to the minimum requirements for Sims 4? It might be a clue.

I hope you get to really play Sims 4. It's a good game.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Dellena]

Something is definitely wrong with the installation or your computer.  I haven't experienced any of the problems you're describing.  Can you post your computer spec?

How To: Find System Specs - Windows 10, 8 & 7
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,21030.0.html

[Sonshine]

I experience the lag/freezing up, but that's usually when I have 10 other windows open or about 4 other facebook games going. When you see the sims just standing there and the clock moving and then suddenly jump back, that is b/c the game is frozen for a bit, but the clock keeps moving. When it starts again, the clock will jump back to the point where the game froze. Kind of weird! Try upgrading your comp and having other programs/games/windows closed to see if that works.

[BigMud]

I've experienced small amount of lag with the library in particular, nowhere near what you're describing, so it's probably your computer. However the soulmate problem is one I've encountered before. It's a known bug that occurs when relationships have decayed, they don't register properly when the bars fill back up again.

edit: something that helps me deal with lag is to pause the game for a few seconds, and not play on higher speed settings for a little while. If the lag is as bad as you say though, that may not help... Also, and this might be a no-brainer, but make sure all other windows are closed when you're playing. It makes a big difference, in my experience.

[dodi90]

I'll try to answer some of your problems.
1) It's taking sims 3-4 hours to do simple things like taking a shower.
Was it 3-4hrs in game has passed before they eventually got to shower or is it really taking that long to take a shower? Even with the crappiest shower in game, it only took as long as 1 sim hour to shower.
2) I don't get the notifications to go to school/work until 2-3 hours after they are supposed to have gone, and the game won't let me send them because it falsely says they don't have work for another 22 hours, despite it being highlighted as a work day.
Try selecting the career tab and click on the big job / school icon on the top left. Usually even with autonomy off, sims go to school or work on their own unless you were queuing some actions (or it was caused by no.1 glitch)
3) If I play on any time other then one speed, it sometimes jumps ahead 5-7 hours, then when I hit one speed again only an hour has passed, and the clock jumps back.
This is known bug.
4) LAG.  I've played island paradiso, so i'm accustomed to lag in the sims, but I can no longer tell if my sims is stuck or just an idiot when it takes them over an hour to move from one task to the next.  They just stare at nothing, then finally get a relationship boost or laugh then go onto their next task.
Never experience this and routing and pathing has improved in sims 4 and you will rarely see stuck sim.
5) Aspirations not registering.  My sims are already at the career job level when they leveled up their aspiration, but the game still says get to career level 5, which they have been at since the last level.
Known "feature". Sometimes they did this so you don't pick an aspiration and auto complete it when you select another aspirations. If it is tech guru career, I believe they have fixed this on recent patch
6) Soulmates is broken.  Booth sims are at 100 love and 100 friendship, but are still lovebirds despite being married and best friends.
I also remember this one fixed on latest patch

Also it would really helpful if you also include the specs of your computer so we can determine which one caused lag on your system.

[Dellena]

I experience the lag/freezing up, but that's usually when I have 10 other windows open or about 4 other facebook games going.

I think you may have stumbled on what's causing your lag.  Knowing your computer spec could confirm this.

[sone]

Here's what the Direct X Diagnostic gave me.
I'm playing with nothing but the sims 4 open, and no longer using anything but normal speed.  Also, I'm fully patched.  I downloaded the game directly from origin instead of buying the actual physical copy, if that's a factor at all.

Operating System: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit (6.3, Build 9600) (9600.winblue_r3.140827-1500)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
       System Model: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
               BIOS: BIOS Date: 07/29/14 21:31:31 Ver: 04.06.05
          Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) CPU G3258 @ 3.20GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.2GHz
             Memory: 6144MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 6080MB RAM
          Page File: 2198MB used, 10024MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.03.9600.16384 64bit Unicode

[MrsFlynn]

@sone Your specs are looking good so far. What is the specs for your video card?

This information will be located in the same dxdiag file as you shared above, under display devices

Display Devices:
---------------
Card name:
Manufacturer:
Chip type:

Display Memory:
Dedicated Memory:
Shared Memory:
Current Mode:

Also, have you tried turning off Origin in-game and clearing the game cache?

-- Delete Game Cache
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php/topic,21899.msg401662.html#msg401662

-- Deactivate Origin in Game -- Open Origin, Select Origin > Application Settings > Origin In Game and deselect to disable Origin In Game.

Hope this helps,

MrsFlynn

[sone]

@MrsFlynn
I'm not sure where to find that, my computer was kind of custom built by a friend.  The DirectX lists the windows as System, Display, Sound 1, Sound 2 and input.  The only memory it shows on DirectX  on System is:

Memory: 6144MB RAM
Page File: 2198 MB used 10024 MB available.

Under Display it gives me:

Approx. Total Memory: 4018 MB

It doesn't have it listed in the format you listed

I haven't tried turning off Origin yet, I'll try that on my next play through.  Also, I hadn't thought about the game cache, I'm back to a single save file, but I'll give that a whirl too.

[sone]

@MrsFlynn
After saving it all, I found it.  I'm a dunce, sorry.

Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti
       Manufacturer: NVIDIA
          Chip type: GeForce GTX 750 Ti
           DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
        Device Type: Full Device
         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_1380&SUBSYS_37513842&REV_A2
     Display Memory: 4018 MB
   Dedicated Memory: 1970 MB
      Shared Memory: 2048 MB
       Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)

[MrsFlynn]

The video card is definitely not an issue. We've got the same one, and Sims 4 runs just fine.

MrsFlynn

*Edited to add* Are the video card drivers up to date?

[sone]

I haven't the foggiest.  How do I check that?

[Metropolis Man]

I haven't the foggiest.  How do I check that?

MrsFlynn might have a suggestion for an easy utility. I like SlimDrivers.

[Ferretmania]

In the DirectX diagnostic tool when you go to the Display window, it should tell you what driver and which version of it you have installed.


Edit to add : Do you have  Geforce Experience installed ?