Game Speed Changing Frequently

[Steellace]

Hi!  I'm hoping someone might have an answer for this recent? problem.  I play on Fast speed (#2).  The "normal" has been that when all Sims sleep or are gone, the game automatically bumps to #3 and then to #1 when someone gets up or comes home.  A while back, the game also started dropping to #1 (slowest) speed when someone's phone rings.I HATE this, but at least it makes a sound and I know to push the 2 key again.  (Oh, and I won't keep tents on the properties because it always drops to slowest when someone gets in or out of one.)    I've looked many times but not found a way to lock in the speed (with or without mods).

My recent problem, however, has been since the toddler patch.  Now when I play, the game is automatically dropping to the slowest speed randomly.  At first I thought maybe it was tied to some toddler action, but it even does it when toddlers are sleeping soundly and in households without toddlers.  There doesn't seem to be anything in particular that is always happening when it slows down (like a phone ringing or someone getting up).

I do play with mods, but I started experiencing this immediately upon downloading and playing with the patch before I activated mods.  Updating and adding the mods back in didn't impact the occurrence of the automatic speed decreases.  Has anyone else experienced this?  Any clues as to why it's happening?  And does anyone know of a way to lock in the speed or a mod that will do it?  Thanks!

[Playalot]

I haven't experienced this as in my game 3x and the fastest speed that activates when all are asleep is still working normally even with toddlers. I'm not sure what to suggest other than removing all mods and cc, deleting the localthumbcache.package file from your The Sims 4 folder and testing again. It is quite possible that out-dated cc could be causing this rather than mods as if your cc does not support the new toddler animations then it could be causing issues. (Think cc furniture here.)

I couldn't find any bug reports about this either, so I guess it most probably is related to broken cc or a mod. Sorry I can't shed anymore light on the issue for you.

[Steellace]

Thanks for the reply, Playalot, but it's not related to my cc or mods.  As I said originally, I began experiencing this with a fresh download before putting any of the extras back in the game.  I forgot to mention that I'd also cleared out the cache and deleted the localthumbcache.package file because I do that every time I play, so it's automatic. 

My daughter plays on a separate computer, and I just asked her if she's experiencing this, and she said she is, too.  Since the game has been doing the "slow down" thing when phones ring or when sims get in/out of tents, I'm guessing some people may not realize it's doing it in addition to the previous causes.  I just wish I could figure out what's triggering it as it seems totally random.

[Playalot]

I wonder if it triggered by those bugged empty events that spawn and then nothing occurs?

[Steellace]

Hmmm ... That's definitely a thought.  Since I can't seem to find anything triggering them, despite watching very closely, that would make sense.  I did discover that festival notifications also slow the speed to normal.  I'll keep watching though ... maybe I'll figure out something else that's causing it.

[Playalot]

Yes, the festival notifications slowing speed actually really frustrates me, that and the endless txts to tell me I have become good friends with my own toddlers etc. 

[Franki]

I've had the same problem since before Toddlers came into play.. always assumed it was just one of those quirks of the game...

Sorry, i don't have an idea to lock it, but at least you know it's a widespread problem versus just in yours or your daughters games.

[Playalot]

@Franki  do you also have City Living?

[Franki]

@Playalot  yup, I have every pack so far, but I've had the same issue since the base game, as I said, I just put it down to a quirk of the game.

[Playalot]

Thanks for the fast reply! There have been weird time issues all along, as you say, I always find it super weird how they present a little differently across everyone's game. At least it is not utterly game-breaking regardless of how irritating.

[Steellace]

I've been continuing to do some research on this speed-changing issue and thought I'd post an update.  There are many other people noticing the increase in auto-slows to normal speed when playing on fast or ultra speeds.  No one can determine what is causing the extra speed changes.  Thanks to Deaderpool at Mod the Sims' site, I learned that the speed changes are part of the core program, so there isn't any way a modder can make changes to the behavior (to fix or give us options to override).  It was brought up that this happened before after a different content addition, and EA fixed it.  Hopefully they will be doing that again soon. 

[Playalot]

Thanks for the additional info. It's a pity it is such a big problem but, like you say Maxis have fixed it once so I dare say they will again.