23 replies to this topic

[grandmajam_of6]

I got sims 3 for my birthday. I've put off buying it since it came out because I loved sims 2. I've been through the tutorial and even created a family to play...but the game seems slow to me by comparison. The tasks which need accomplishing takes twice as long. The interaction being available is great but the energy level of the sims disappate too quickly to be able to get what needs to be done and interact with other sims.

Maybe it's just me trying to get a new learning curve, but there seems to be way too many things to watch and do with sims 3.

Grandma

[oldmember_lucianna88]

I've heard people say online that it is slow even with a good computer that meets all the specs. I don't know if that's true but I personally prefer the Sims 2, I have Sims 3 but I don't play it, it was slow on my computer and there are a lot of reasons I don't like it as much as the previous two. Each to their own I guess.

[sheridanhoughton]

I found the same when I first started playing both sims 2 and sims 3. Once you get going, you will find you can leave them more, and do more interesting things with them. I find with sims 3 that it is much more feasible to take one sim in the family to do something (eg take the teen on a date at the local pool), and let the rest of the family do there own thing. they will feed themselves, go to the toilet, and look after the young ones, without any input from me, while I control the date.

the things I find that help them get everything done are:
• make sure they can easily get wherever they want so there are not too many route failures - eg not putting the dining room table too close to the kitchen benches, stove or fridge.
• getting them expensive beds - that will fill up their energy more quickly
• if I have too many sims on too large a lot in too large a town, then my game gets laggy, which results in my sims standing around as the time passes. so they run out of time to do things.
• save things like going to the pool, library etc for the weekends. during the week, like us, they usually only have time for meals, work or school, homework, and a bit of interaction with the family.

and really, you don't want to be able to do everything with your sims all at once, or you will run out of new things to do.

[sim_man123]

I agree. I much rather prefer the way I can focus in on one sim in TS3 for long periods of time without having to worry about the rest of the family. And it's nice to be able to walk away from the game while it's loading and then come back and have sims that aren't dead I think that once you play it a few times, you'll get used to it!

[grandmajam_of6]

My game is not slow as in laggy as much as i takes so much time to accomplish anything.

[sheridanhoughton]

I know they seem to take ages to cook a meal, for example. But at least they don't take as long to eat it as they did in sims 2. And they seem to take forever to put the babies and toddlers to bed. I suppose we just get used to it. and adjust their days' activities accordingly.

[spladoum]

I used to think the same, grandma, but after I got used to playing the game and coordinating the sims' days, I don't even really notice.

The big issue I had was that the sims tend to queue badly, but there are "no route fail" type mods out there that force sims to reroute immediately instead of tangling into a knot and tapping their feet endlessly.

[grandmajam_of6]

Yes, all of that is true. I created a sim out of the Martinex family and she became a family sim. One boy, twin boys, boy and 2 girl triplets and she wants to have more? Thankfully her husband died. It's insane trying to coordinate that many sims at the same time. Toddlers take forever to learn without the smart milk of sims 2. Having to get them out of the crib instead of a toddler blanket on the floor wastes time. Even though I built a fairly large house for them they are still tripping over themselves and none have the clumsy streak.

[sheridanhoughton]

you can get a mod for faster toddler training. I am not sure whether it was from mod the sims, or if it comes with twallan's master controller.

[Sonshine]

I believe it (the faster toddler training mod) comes from MTS. Also, you don't *have* to give them their every wish. A family sim only needs to raise 5 children to teens. That's it! I never let my family sims have more than 5 unless they accidentally have twins on the last pregnancy w/o me planning it.

Also, if you go to Twallan's site, he has many mods to make the game easier. There is also an Awesome mod made by JMP from sims 2. I hope linking to his page is OK. If not, then mods please remove it. Thanks.

Edited by frisbud, 09 May 2012 - 03:41 AM.
removing direct link to site that does not meet with our policies

[daisylee]

I cheat a lot. Turn on TCE and you can drag the needs bars or shift click on the mailbox to make all happy and you do not have to worry about the needs. You can even make them static if wanted. Check MTS for the many mods available.

[chedderprime]

Here is a faster cooking and eating mod
http://www.modthesim...ad.php?t=465485
modthesims have plenty of other mods just make sure they are compatible with your game version

[littlelambsy]

I just want to add to Sonshine's comment about raising 5 kids to teens. I had a sim who's grandmother had built a time machine and she inherited it. She was a ya and got married to another ya. They had 3 kids within 3 days from the time machine one after the other - a teen, and two ya. Interestingly, I noticed that these kids counted toward their raising children to teens. So they only needed 2 more to fulfill their ltw. I actually put the time machine in their family inventory because they woohooed all the time in it.

[chedderprime]

I believe in population control for the sims 3. I find the more sims I have running around the neighbourhood the more issues start cropping up. For example if I had to many children or teens it takes them all morning to get into school. I tried putting a 2nd school into the neighbourhood, thinking I was being clever. All that happened was all the sims went to the new school instead of splitting between the two.

[sheridanhoughton]

I agree with chedderprime about population control. I use twallan's SP mod to put a limit on the total number of sims in my town. The problem is that the sims I play keep on wanting to have babies, and I don't have the heart to stop them.

[grandmajam_of6]

I'm not sure how to download CC from other sites yet. The ones from here is a start launch recognition so it's easier. It seems if I put it in my download folder, it doesn't upload into my game, but then again I've only got the first EP.

[spladoum]

I'm assuming that you're actually installing the downloads with the launcher, and they're not showing up in your game even after you've gotten the "installation succesful" screen?

[chedderprime]

grandmajam_of6, on 22 May 2012 - 01:36 PM, said:

I'm not sure how to download CC from other sites yet. The ones from here is a start launch recognition so it's easier. It seems if I put it in my download folder, it doesn't upload into my game, but then again I've only got the first EP.

Are you getting confused with packages or mods which go into the mod folder and the sims3pack that go into the download folder?
Also if you have too many sims3packs in your downloads folder the launcher won't pick them all up. If you keep the original rar folder just delete the sims3packs from the launcher, in the downloads section. Otherwise you better pull them out manually. Eventually you will spot the content you want.

[grandmajam_of6]

chedderprime, on 22 May 2012 - 04:13 PM, said:

Are you getting confused with packages or mods which go into the mod folder and the sims3pack that go into the download folder?
Also if you have too many sims3packs in your downloads folder the launcher won't pick them all up. If you keep the original rar folder just delete the sims3packs from the launcher, in the downloads section. Otherwise you better pull them out manually. Eventually you will spot the content you want.

Didn't know about the mod folder. Still trying to figure out this new game. It's so much different than sims 2 or even sims 1 for that matter. Will try putting it into the mod folder. Thanks

[chedderprime]

grandmajam_of6, on 23 May 2012 - 02:50 PM, said:

Didn't know about the mod folder. Still trying to figure out this new game. It's so much different than sims 2 or even sims 1 for that matter. Will try putting it into the mod folder. Thanks

Oops I should have told you need to set the folder up not just create a folder. This page will tell you how but most importantly they already have the folder set up to download.
http://simswiki.info...Setup_and_Files