Sims won't move or take forever to follow commands.

[Livvie_2416]

My sims won't perform tasks or do any commands and if they do its after they've stood in place for quite a while. I thought this could be because of a mod or CC but I took all of my mods and CC out and they issue continues. I repaired my game files and that did nothing. I am not sure what could be wrong but I would really like it fixed. I would like to avoid deleting the game and reinstalling. If i have to do that is there a way to save my files and all my sims? If so, then I wouldn't mind reinstalling the game if that would help. This is a fairly recent problem and I've tried all that i can think to do. Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[MrsFlynn]

If you haven't already, try these tips:

1. Deleting the game cache and the localthumbcahche.package file from The Sims 4 folder helps with troubleshooting problems with the game. Regardless of the use of mods or custom content.

Delete Game Cache Files (What and How-To)
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=29288.msg401662#msg401662

Please click the spoiler tag below if you use Mods and/or Custom Content.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

However, if you do use mods and custom content, move your mods folder to the desktop, delete the game cache as well as the localthumbcache.package from your Sims 4 folder. [C:\Users\Username\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4]

Try a new save to test to see if your issue goes away. If so, you will need to go through your mods folder to see what need to be replaced.

Game updates can cause issues with mods and custom content. These may become outdated with each new game update.

Please check with the creators to see if there are updates to the mods and cc you use.

Please see link below if you need help fixing the issue.

How-To: Fix Problems with Mods/CC
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=25031.msg426156#msg426156

--- If the problem still continues even in a new save, you can save the Sim and their house by saving both to the library.

How To: Saving Sims to Library
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=26325.msg439597#msg439597

How-To: Save A House/Lot To Library and Sharing it to Gallery
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=26324.msg439569#msg439569

2. Try a new household and/or house to make sure neither of them have become corrupt some how.

3. Try resetting your Sims 4 folder.

Do this by moving or renaming the Sims 4 folder in the Documents folder [C:\Users\Username\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4]

The game will create a new Sims 4 folder next time you launch/play the game.

Try a new game to test. Do not add any saves or mods back just yet. You want to make sure it plays okay first. If it doesn't, then do not save. But if it does, start copying back the files and folders described in the link below:

Files and Folders To Add Back In
http://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=29292.msg401669#post_FF2AB

Read more about resetting the Sims 4 folder below:

Try a Sims 4 Factory Reset - (What & Howto)
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=29292.msg401669#msg401669

This issue may be somewhat related to the time-freeze-reset bug that has been in the game from nearly the launch of the game.

https://sims4.crinrict.com/en/2015/08/time-freezereset/

It was first reported in 2015 (if not very late 2014)  and occurs in vanilla games more than not. It is (as crin say) NOT caused by mods or cc.

If none of these tips are helpful, please report the bug or issue to AHQ Sims 4 Bug Forum. Let them know what you've already tried. - https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/bd-p/The-Sims-4-Bugs

Here's a current bug report on the issue - Click the Me Too button under the first post and/or share your experience

Sims Not Responding
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/Sims-not-responing/m-p/7965502#M93019


More Tips:

Autonomy and Simulation Lag
https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/WORK-IN-PROGRESS-Autonomy-and-Simulation-Lag/m-p/6918287

[Playalot]

This issue is affecting my game as well. I've found that once you've checked to make sure it's not user error (broken mods/cc etc) that switching to a different sim in your household seems to unfreeze the stuck one. It used to be pausing your game to let a mood change occur was the issue but these days it just seems some sort of sim-specific lag that isn't easily solved.

[Livvie_2416]

I tried a factory reset and that did help that temporary sim to work perfectly, so I tried adding my main sim family to the factory reset files and it seems to have helped a little? I guess it could be because its a household of 7 with a biggish house, but this same family was working perfectly a few days ago. I can't pinpoint whats caused this, or if its just my computer. I don't have the best computer but it was doing just fine before. I have tried switching between sims and that doesn't seem to do much for me. The sims are frozen, thy are just staring idle with thought bubbles and still moving in place. Thank you for the reply.

[MrsFlynn]

Just because it was doing fine before doesn't mean it will continue to work fine, specially when you have a lot of Sims in the household, a big house and lots of stuff in the house and/or on the lot.

Empty Sims personal and family inventories - Or delete extra items. Often too many items in the inventories can cause issues. - Also, having a large house with a lot of landscaping and a lot of furniture and decor will cause lag after awhile.

Have you tried a new save to see if the problem continues? Try a smaller household in a smaller house with not as much stuff in the house or on the lot.

[Livvie_2416]

I will try taking items out of their inventory but I don't think they have much. I will get rid of decorations or even just move them into a different home for now and see if that changes anything. This isn't a problem that started slow and got worse, I did noting to change my files, household, house, or even add any new sims. This just started happening. IM trying all of the suggestions I receive. Thank you for you help.

[scoed]

I too am experiencing this. I have no mods or CC. My lot is small, five or less items in the inventory f any sim, only four sims (a young adult, a teen, a cat and a dog), am living in a pre-made in game starter house with no real adds to the amount of items in the house, and no decorative items other than the mouse hole and a mirror. It seems to have started started after I added the laundry day stuff pack. The work around I use is to reset the sim. It works after at least for a while.

Please note in my game it seems to only hit one sim at a time that gets caught in a non responsive stuck state and switching sims and pausing the game to allow the game to catch will not always fix the sim in the stuck state but some times works. Using cheats to reset the sim in this stuck seems be the best answer.

As far as I know this is a new and different issue then the lag caused issues of the past. Before the game would lag not just one sim. Give the utter lack of mods or CC on my system, we can rule that out. Given the minimalist house and inventory of my sims, and how this wasn't happening before to me in the same everything but with bigger inventories. I suspect this is a new bug.

I tried clearing the catch and repairing the game to no effect. I have not tried resetting the game to factory defaults. It affected multiple game saves as well.

[Playalot]

Bug report here although the OP seems to think it is related to the ep cats and Dogs Click


My game is only two sims in a small starter home with nothing in the inventory apart from one homework book and the other has a small stack of plasma. But I think this bug is related to how long you have played a save rather than the usual size of lot/number of items etc.

This issue started, it seems to me, with sims being frozen when they try to leave for school but seems to have migrated to sims just randomly being frozen at any time. I never had sims frozen while going to school, still don't but constantly have them frozen at random times. tbh there are so many bugs that I'm sort of used to it and just sit and wait it out.  Eventually the sim moves again. Sometimes you have to cancel the action and then reorder it. Shift clicking with testingcheats on definitely works too.

[MrsFlynn]

I'm not finding much in the bug report list at AHQ on Sims not follow commands. (that isn't mods/cc related)

This bug may not be pack specific. It maybe a version of another gameplay bug. As it sounds from how it's being explained it the animations just freeze and the Sims can't/won't do anything until the game catches up. If I am understanding this correctly, it maybe a good idea to report the issue on AHQ's forum and ask if they need any game saves to test the issue.

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/bd-p/The-Sims-4-Bugs

[scoed]

@Playalot I have experienced this freeze on a fresh, never saved, less then an hour old game. I don't know what triggers it, but it started happening when I downloaded Laundry day stuff pack. Maybe it was around Cats & Bogs, and maybe I never noticed it because of all the other bugs that came with that one. Sadly I am so used to glitches and bugs, that I have gotten used to playing around them. I keep "testingcheats" up to reset glitching or bugged items and sims. It is for the same reason I have become obsessed with saving my game. It wouldn't be a sims game without a billion or two bugs. Half the time I think figuring out the work around is the real game.

[Playalot]

Welp there goes that theory @scoed  lol I also play with testingcheats on these days and just shift click sims to stop annoying behavior. Works especially well on those super annoying townies who insist on walking right across the map to come talk to my sims. Although the reset also effects my played sim it is far less annoying than having to wait for the townie, do the intros just to find and say goodbye... shift click is 100% quicker than that.
 Shift click also 'fixes' the freeze. Although, like I mentioned above, I've found the switching control to another sim in the same household also seems to help the freeze for me.

[CuriousSim]

The game has always seemed to have certain performance issues & if something doesn't seem to be happening when it should, I usually pause the game, to give it time to catch up. Often, it just seems to be a case of game delayed action. Without knowing the cause, I really wouldn't know how to specifically minimize it. However, you might try optimizing your drives, to see if that helps. It seems a bit odd, that a modern game, running on a modern computer, would have any sort of performance issues, that aren't specifically part of the gameplay. Memory, disk space, and processor speed, really shouldn't be that much of an issue these days, since many rigs these days are designed to play much more intensive games at very high frame rates.

[scoed]

@CuriousSim This isn't that. That has been happening forever in this game. This in just one sim getting stuck and I tried the pause thing and it didn't work. And I paused it while I took a real life bathroom break and got me some lunch so it was at least a 15 minute pause. This is new.

Also I noticed a new bug involving vampires. I will post about it if repairing the game doesn't fix it. Figure out on glitch or bug two more replace it. But I guess this is half the fun. New bugs equals new challenges after all. You almost have to look at it that way or pull out ones hair and rage quit.

[scoed]

Repairing the game fixed the vampire glitch restricting vampire interactions. Looks like it was a just a glitch.

[Playalot]

The game has always seemed to have certain performance issues & if something doesn't seem to be happening when it should, I usually pause the game, to give it time to catch up. Often, it just seems to be a case of game delayed action. Without knowing the cause, I really wouldn't know how to specifically minimize it. However, you might try optimizing your drives, to see if that helps. It seems a bit odd, that a modern game, running on a modern computer, would have any sort of performance issues, that aren't specifically part of the gameplay. Memory, disk space, and processor speed, really shouldn't be that much of an issue these days, since many rigs these days are designed to play much more intensive games at very high frame rates.

Thing is there are still a lot of desktops and laptops that can't play games, as they weren't meant to play games. Specially the lower end/cheaper desktops and laptops (think lower end processor and lower end graphics or integrated graphics).

We can't really compare games to other games due to the way they were created and optimized. Some games are created and optimized better and others aren't.