Sim times

[pallyndrome]

I hope this is the right board...

I am having a apparently-subtle problem with my sims game. I first noticed that my sims did not have enough time in the day to finish their homework, eat dinner, and get to bed in time. Then I noticed that everything seems to be taking more (sim) time - changing the baby's diaper and putting her in the crib takes 2 sim hours? Making mac and cheese takes at least 2 sim hours to make (let alone eat)?

I have discovered one possible reason - my computer was too hot - and when it cooled down, the ultra-speed (which seemed slow also) was working normally, but from what I can see the problems in the previous paragraph have not been fixed. But, I'd appreciate some help from fellow sim players to work out whether it really is slow compared to others' games.

How long does it take your sim (in sim hours) to make mac and cheese?
How long does it take your sim to leave home to go to work (from the moment you tell them to go or they get the action in their chain until when they enter the car).

I would appreciate these figures to compare with my own game. Thanks

[Pam]

My Sim is in Al Simhara.  She's got level 10 cooking and has completed the skill journal challenge that makes her prepare meals "significantly" faster.  She's also got a food processor that she used to make the Mac and Cheese, as well as a high quality stove.  From the time she opened the refrigerator until she set the finished bowl on the counter was 1 hour, 3 minutes.

[pallyndrome]

hmmm perhaps I am jumping to conclusions then. But it really did seem tedious. Anyone else able to give me some times?

[project_s2]

I made a sim just for this question, so here goes :

The time sim take to enter a car when going to work, well, of course it depends on how big is your house, how big is your front lawn, how many stories is your home. so i can't test that, it will be useless. right?

And for the Mac and Cheese test, all test done with fixed variable :

-The distance between fridge, stove and food processor are just 2 tiles maximum.
-All the sim are without Challenge reward (cook faster)
-I stopped the clock when the sim take the pan and it change shape to a bowl.

trivial : when i did this test, the stove actually burst into flame and i have to wait for the fireman to extinguish it.

A sim with 10 cooking skill, No related trait, without food processor, with most expensive stove : 45 Minutes
A sim with 10 cooking skill, No related trait, with food processor, with most expensive stove : 36 Minutes

A sim with zero cooking skill, No related trait, without food processor, with most expensive stove : 1 Hour 3 Minutes
A sim with zero cooking skill, No related trait, with food processor, with most expensive stove : 50 Minutes

A sim with zero cooking skill, No related trait, without food processor, with cheapest stove : 1 Hour 6 Minutes
A sim with zero cooking skill, No related trait, with food processor, with cheapest stove : 59 Minutes

A sim with zero cooking skill, Natural Cook Trait, without food processor, with cheapest stove : 1 Hour 14 Minutes
A sim with zero cooking skill, Natural Cook Trait, With food processor, with cheapest stove : 50 Minutes

not all variable are tested but i hope this give the figures you need. i think sim with natural cook with 10 cooking skill will be faster. i hope i can help you more.

[Leto85]

The point with the time is that as you may know EA desided to make one sims minute one real second, so one minute here will be one hour in the sims 3. Besides that, you can't make a good meal in just 2 minutes I believe, but in 2 simhours it definatly make sence.
Besides that, ofcourse it wouldn't take you 15 minutes to walk down the stairs (if you are healthy I mean) but EA probably didn't find another way to spread out a day in the sims.
Ofcourse they could make it 'one minute here is one minute there' but than we should need more than speed 4 to make this game interesting. And now already not every computer can handle speed 4.
The only thing they could do was the ability to give sims orders, than traveling 5 minutes or so into the future (sims future) to see how they have handled those 5 minutes. But that will take to much processor power also I believe. And besides that, you won't be able to help a sim through that 5 minues without making it boring for yourself sometimes.

I hope this made sence.

[pallyndrome]

I hope this made sence.

Not all of it, but no worries!

@project_s2 - thanks so much for testing that! It was very helpful. So kind of you to go to all that trouble!

I am going to have to play extensively to see whether this is still a problem once I get a fan to cool down my computer. And perhaps I will need a new laptop - this mac is at least 3 years old now. I will of course have to be certain that it can't handle sims and the expansions before I replace it. Not even sure I should replace it just for sims anyway.

[Leto85]

@pallyndrome: You use a laptop you've said? I personally will advice you to use a desktop instead. It is much more convenient. And it will be more practical for you to update your hardware. Like having a motherboard which supports more than one graphic card for example.

[Pam]

I have to agree with Leto.  If you're going to replace your computer with a better one for playing Sims 3, you'd be better off with a desktop model that has better capacity for running the game. 

[pallyndrome]

Really? I like laptops because you can close the lid on them, plus take them around with you (on holidays, etc.). But I will have to think about it. My dad's a computer programmer - he should be able to tell me what's best for sims. But as I said, I'm not sure I would get a new computer just because I can't play sims on my old one. It will depend on whether my parents are willing to get me something for my birthday in february.

[Pam]

You're actually quite lucky that you can run Sims 3 on a laptop, Pally.  They are notorious for being difficult with this game. 

[pallyndrome]

whoa really? I had no idea. I've only ever played sims on laptops. Sims2 on a pc, and now sims3 on a mac. It was working fine up until now.

[pallyndrome]

1 - my game is working fine now. Still need to get a fan to keep it cool, but other than that it's working fine

2 - I told my dad what you said about laptops, and he said that was the reputation laptops used to have, but they're a lot better now. My old pc laptop is the equal of our old desktops, and my mac laptop (and his - he has the same model) are a lot better than that, and my brother's brand new laptop (pc) is way better than our macs.

[Lilygirl]

@ Pally: I play most of my Sims on my Mac laptop (one year old) and without difficulty. The only times I have problems, such as slow game running rates, are when the laptop has been on all day and I've been playing the Sims almost all day. My husband has a computer-speak explanation for it that I can't remember to repeat. When this happens, I admit to having enough Sims for one day, upload all my screen shots, and update my Dynasty thread.    Then let the computer sleep over night.

My husband also plays his online game, Eve, on the Mac laptop when I claim the PC, and, other than a lag of about 1 sec, it runs that just fine as well.

[Leto85]

1 - my game is working fine now. Still need to get a fan to keep it cool, but other than that it's working fine

2 - I told my dad what you said about laptops, and he said that was the reputation laptops used to have, but they're a lot better now. My old pc laptop is the equal of our old desktops, and my mac laptop (and his - he has the same model) are a lot better than that, and my brother's brand new laptop (pc) is way better than our macs.

Oh yes, laptops are indeed better these days (oh now I sound old), but it remains that desktops can be used longer because of the update capabilities. Rendering is mostly the case with sims I can tell from personal experience. I like to play big houses with a huge family but my laptop didn't like that at all.
It is a fine machine, but not for The Sims 3. I guess it is to old now (2008) so I can just be glad I could actually install the game.
But my desktop is much more capabel of doing stuff like 3D editing while playing the game in the background without lack on speed.
So yes, although you are absolutely right about the transportality with laptops, I still keep staying with my old thought: use a desktop.

[Castastic]

Oh yes, laptops are indeed better these days (oh now I sound old), but it remains that desktops can be used longer because of the update capabilities. Rendering is mostly the case with sims I can tell from personal experience. I like to play big houses with a huge family but my laptop didn't like that at all.
It is a fine machine, but not for The Sims 3. I guess it is to old now (2008) so I can just be glad I could actually install the game.
But my desktop is much more capabel of doing stuff like 3D editing while playing the game in the background without lack on speed.
So yes, although you are absolutely right about the transportality with laptops, I still keep staying with my old thought: use a desktop.

But the thing with desktops is that they usually don't have batteries, do they (at least as far as I know)? So if power goes out, you lose your game right away but with a laptop you have the power left in the battery to go on. Not to mention that it's super easy to bring your laptop with you anywhere and play Sims 3. I played with desktop computers more than 5 years (close to 10, I'd think) until 2 years ago when I got my laptop. Sure, it might not have as good a processor but it's so incredibly flexible and feels much more comfortable rather than a couple of big unmovable boxes of computer with lots of wires/cables occupying your desk. I'm sure the situation with desktops are better today than when I last played one, but laptops feel much easier. And cozier, somehow, but that's just my opinion.