Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Inventor
Original Poster
#1 Old 4th Dec 2018 at 8:10 PM
Default Can TS3 run as fast as TS4? Watch video...
It appears that as PCs get faster and faster and more people upgrade theirs, The Sims 3 is finally running great for the average simmer.

YouTuber moresimsie recently upgraded her PC and tried TS3 for the first time in years. She plays TS4 for the most part, but thanks to her new PC, TS3's performance is very similar to TS4's. In fact you can see on this video how loading a custom world (6:31) and travelling to China (14:41) takes less than 50 seconds. Second time she load the CC world it took exactly 33 seconds! (16:34 - 17:07). She has all EPs, SPs, most Store content and some CC. Settings mostly maxed out (except AA and reflections strangely).

At 9:40 she claims TS3 in fact loaded faster than TS4 (if you have a lot of CC). I can concur on that. My niece has like 5 GB of CC and an average but newish PC and it takes at least a minute to load TS4's main menu. I don't know if she has waaaay too much CC, maybe TS4 has a limit, or maybe some CC is broken. But certainly there are some circumstances that make TS4 not as fast as advertised.


So what do you guys think? Is 2019 the beginning of a new era for The Sims 3? Will TS4 players finally give this amazing game a chance now that the average computer can run it with good performance? Will this affect how they perceive The Sims 4? One of the few things TS4 has going on for it is the fact that it's faster than TS3. But what if TS3 has a similar performance now running on new hardware?
Advertisement
Scholar
#2 Old 4th Dec 2018 at 8:17 PM
I no not know for me Sims 4 demo loaded and worked slower than S3, sooo ...


favorite quote: "When ElaineNualla is posting..I always read..Nutella. I am sorry" by Rosebine
self-claimed "lower-spec simmer"
Mad Poster
#3 Old 4th Dec 2018 at 9:21 PM
I've watched a bit of that video and yeah, that's how it plays for me. Has been like that for some years now, it's nothing new. TS4 is getting laggier and laggier with each expansion pack and without upgrades to the engine, it's going to run worse than TS3 before long.

insert signature here
( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
Trainee Moderator
staff: trainee moderator
#4 Old 4th Dec 2018 at 9:37 PM Last edited by TheSweetToddler : 4th Dec 2018 at 9:39 PM. Reason: forgot to add "not that big"
My brother said to me recently that the newest EP for Sims 4, Get Famous, is around 22 GB or something. In one way I don't believe him, and that an EP can be that big, but if it really is that big, then holy cow, I could imagine Sims 4 lagging like hell with that, but then again it probably is fake that it's not that big.

- When one gets inspired by the other, the one inspires another - Anything is Possible.

You can view some of my WIPs and other stuff for TS3 on my Twitter here ---> https://twitter.com/SweetSavanita
Inventor
Original Poster
#5 Old 4th Dec 2018 at 9:40 PM
Quote: Originally posted by GrijzePilion
I've watched a bit of that video and yeah, that's how it plays for me. Has been like that for some years now, it's nothing new. TS4 is getting laggier and laggier with each expansion pack and without upgrades to the engine, it's going to run worse than TS3 before long.


Yeah, TS3 runs perfectly fine for me, but FINALLY the average Sim player, those who don't know much about computers or how to improve their game's performance, are able to enjoy TS3 without much hassle. This is a big deal because it means that from now on most people who try Sims 3 won't have to go through hoops to make their games run smoothly and load faster. Provided they run it on modern hardware, TS3 will JUST work (to quote a famous developer). This could finally influence people to give TS3 a try and see how amazing it truly. It concerns me that some people think TS4 looks better, because for the most part it doesn't (it actually looks AWFUL in my opinion) but at least they'll see how engaging TS3's gameplay is. Who knows, if they experience a functional, lag-free open world, maybe they'll DEMAND it for future Sims games. I think TS3 running well for the average simmer could be a game changer.

▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔

Quote: Originally posted by TheSweetToddler
My brother said to me recently that the newest EP for Sims 4, Get Famous, is around 22 GB or something. In one way I don't believe him, and that an EP can be that big, but if it really is that big, then holy cow, I could imagine Sims 4 lagging like hell with that, but then again it probably is fake that it's not that big.


My niece has every single piece of DLC and the whole Sims 4 folder is around 35 GB or something like that. TS3 is around 34 GB but it has 11 EPs, vs 6 for TS4. I don't know what's going on but it's possible TS4 files are not very well compressed or there's a lot of useless trash. Assets are certainly not better in quality.
Lab Assistant
#6 Old 4th Dec 2018 at 9:51 PM
I get higher FPS than 4, but there are a few moments where the game stalls and the plumbob keeps rotating and snow falling, but I can't do anything and other various lag spikes. I still find ti preferable to 4's simulation lag though, where your sim just stands there and smiles.
Mad Poster
#8 Old 4th Dec 2018 at 10:14 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Naus Allien
Yeah, TS3 runs perfectly fine for me, but FINALLY the average Sim player, those who don't know much about computers or how to improve their game's performance, are able to enjoy TS3 without much hassle. This is a big deal because it means that from now on most people who try Sims 3 won't have to go through hoops to make their games run smoothly and load faster. Provided they run it on modern hardware, TS3 will JUST work (to quote a famous developer). This could finally influence people to give TS3 a try and see how amazing it truly. It concerns me that some people think TS4 looks better, because for the most part it doesn't (it actually looks AWFUL in my opinion) but at least they'll see how engaging TS3's gameplay is. Who knows, if they experience a functional, lag-free open world, maybe they'll DEMAND it for future Sims games. I think TS3 running well for the average simmer could be a game changer.

Not to soil the party or anything, but this girl is running an i9-9900 with an RTX 2080Ti. That's the very, very latest in high-end gaming hardware and it's not even close to average. Makes my rig look like an Amiga or something. Not that I'd ever diss Amigas.

insert signature here
( Join my dumb Discord server if you're into the whole procrastination thing. But like, maybe tomorrow. )
Inventor
Original Poster
#9 Old 4th Dec 2018 at 10:28 PM
Quote: Originally posted by GrijzePilion
Not to soil the party or anything, but this girl is running an i9-9900 with an RTX 2080Ti. That's the very, very latest in high-end gaming hardware and it's not even close to average. Makes my rig look like an Amiga or something. Not that I'd ever diss Amigas.


Really? I knew she bought a new PC but I didn't know her specs. Well, I have an average gaming PC by today's standards (i5-4690K, GTX 960 4 GB, 8 GB RAM, SSD) and TS3 runs perfectly well. So my point still stands, I think. You don't need the newest, most expensive hardware to run TS3 well.
Mad Poster
#10 Old 4th Dec 2018 at 11:10 PM
Since it was talked about before Sims 4 came out I can't remember all the specifics but I remember commenting that the recommended minimum computer specs for Sims 4 was above my computer specs. (I think I remember seeing that at least an i5 was a recommended minimum and I have an i3. )

I don't have the best computer specs out there and don't have the ability to upgrade. Sims 3 runs lag free most of the time (if I don't modify Isla Paradiso it lags, but after I make modifications to it it doesn't lag.)
Scholar
#11 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 4:06 AM
The very first comment on that video is soo ridiculous. They're complaining about how Sims 3 has too many choices and that's bad somehow. Like what!?

If you like my mods. Consider supporting me on Patreon
Check out my website for updates on my mods and other work PuddingFace.wixsite.com
Check out my Youtube channel for tutorials(modding tutorials) and other content Youtube

Follow me on Twitter Instagram Pinterest Tumblr
Scholar
#12 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 4:33 AM
That's amazing quality...
Didn't know it could look that good.
Scholar
#13 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 5:18 AM
Quote: Originally posted by pretenshus
That's amazing quality...
Didn't know it could look that good.


Don't worry someday you'll(and me) also have a computer that powerful

If you like my mods. Consider supporting me on Patreon
Check out my website for updates on my mods and other work PuddingFace.wixsite.com
Check out my Youtube channel for tutorials(modding tutorials) and other content Youtube

Follow me on Twitter Instagram Pinterest Tumblr
Forum Resident
#14 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 5:21 AM
Quote: Originally posted by PuddingFace
The very first comment on that video is soo ridiculous. They're complaining about how Sims 3 has too many choices and that's bad somehow. Like what!?

Yep. I think that was one of the points I mentioned in my "Things you don't understand" thread. Still don't get it. Are people seriously saying now that more choices is a bad thing? I know some people get overwhelmed easily, but seriously...

I think what it boils down to is that for some people they just prefer simplicity. That's fine. But learning the ins and outs of TS3 is not rocket science. You can get as involved or as casual as you'd like with your game. But you can't take away what was never there. TS4 is still starving for content even now, and sentiments like this only fuel the idea that EA can get away with putting the bare minimum effort into their content.

You have been chosen. They will come soon.
Inventor
Original Poster
#15 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 3:27 PM
Quote: Originally posted by pretenshus
That's amazing quality...
Didn't know it could look that good.


With settings maxed out and couple of mods, TS3 can be quite the looker:



It's kinda crazy The Sims 3 is going to turn 10 next year. It still holds up pretty well; way better than TS2 in 2014 if you ask me. I wish some of the technology introduced in Medieval had been incorporated into The Sims 3. And Medieval has, hands down, the best looking Sims ever:



I'd take TS3 / Medieval's graphics and aesthetics over TS4's any day. I don't understand why they made such a FUGLY game:



And some people say The Sims 4 looks AMAZING. I just want to ask them: are we looking at the same game? How could they possibly think TS4 looks decent for a 2014 game, let alone AMAZING?
Scholar
#16 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 4:14 PM
but TS3 is uuuugly and full of puddings and if you like it you suck!!!

Yeah, I'm rather sick of reading bullshit negative comments about TS3 wherever I go. Especially on the Sims subreddit (I don't know why I keep visiting it, extreme boredom maybe. The content is usually crap). Nobody can make a remotely positive post about the game without idiots rushing in to effectively say "but it sucks". Someone called TS3 sims boring and lifeless, which is hilarious when you consider that TS4 sims react in the same way to just about everything, they roll the same boring whims and there's barely any traits. And I'm no TS4 hater by any means - I actually like the game. I'm just sick of people never letting up on how apparently terrible TS3 is when someone commits the crime of being positive about it.

But that's all off-topic and just me venting, lmao. Performance is certainly the big thing people use against TS3, often valid, but it sounds promising as the machines get better. Sadly I can't claim to have the best loading times/performance ever, but I'm also carrying 11.5GB of mods/CC that I'm trying to cut down on (god help me), on a fairly average laptop. I bet most people on high end machines claiming TS3 still runs badly for them haven't got it to recognise their graphics cards, because if I can get decent enough performance out of this laptop, they certainly can.
Inventor
Original Poster
#17 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 4:47 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Nat 619
I'm also carrying 11.5GB of mods/CC that I'm trying to cut down on (god help me), on a fairly average laptop.


Guuuurl... I hope you at least merged those packages into larger files. My mods folder is 4,5 GB, but I only have 100 files or so. I merge package files (except script mods) into larger files of up to 990 MB. It definitely improves loading times and overall game performance. Beware of files with certain symbols like []. TS3 doesn't handle them properly. Ideally only "-" "_" and letters and numbers should be used.
Scholar
#18 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 4:53 PM Last edited by Enjoji : 5th Dec 2018 at 4:55 PM. Reason: Cannot spell, much disgrace...
I upgraded to a shiny new PC for my 40th birthday last month (finally after 10 years lol), and the first thing I did was reinstall TS3 and run it vanilla - no mods, no CC. Just the EPs (minus Pets for the moment), just to see how well newer tech could run it. My old laptop struggled to run it before, and it would take up to 5mins (or a bit more) to load up a world, not to mention it would take longer to load a subhood like University or one of the vacation worlds...

So now I'm in love all over again.... <3 <3

Of course, I haven't got NRASS or anything else running in it - and I'm procrastinating with downloading CC cos there's so much I want/need to put in, but it's such a daunting task (I'm LGR levels of lazy) - but I am looking forward to actually being able to play the game and have it run beautifully. Having everything on max/ultra is not necessary for me, but it's just so lovely to have that option and to be able to see the game at max graphics; the way I would have wanted it to be when I bought it almost 10 years ago. I know I'm gushing, quite stupidly, but I'm just so happy to be able to express my glee here at how gorgeous TS3 really is (and always has been, really).

Ok, I'll shut up now...

...Titanium white...
Scholar
#19 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 4:55 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Naus Allien
Guuuurl... I hope you at least merged those packages into larger files. My mods folder is 4,5 GB, but I only have 100 files or so. I merge package files (except script mods) into larger files of up to 990 MB. It definitely improves loading times and overall game performance. Beware of files with certain symbols like []. TS3 doesn't handle them properly. Ideally only "-" "_" and letters and numbers should be used.

Thankfully a lot are merged, but I also merged things I didn't really want and it's biting me in the ass. I managed to track down just about all of the hairs I really need and cut it down from nearly 5GB to 2.23GB, so actually that 11.5GB figure is more like 8.7GB when I do come to replace the hair folder. I haven't touched clothes yet. And thanks for reminding me about symbols!
Scholar
#20 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 6:31 PM Last edited by mithrak_nl : 5th Dec 2018 at 6:50 PM.
I did not watch it completely and when scanning the vid I could not find it. So I wonder, did anyone see her use the pattern tool in build mode? I mean, the game moves fluidly in live/buy mode for me too. But sometimes when using the pattern tool, the game slows down to a crawl for me. I never save custom patterns for build mode btw. I only do that sometimes for clothing.

Anyway, when using the pattern tool, TS3 sometimes slows down, with the pattern tool lagging behind the actual cursor position. I am still not sure what exactly triggers it. At first I thought it maybe was when the CASt panel was outside my lot and on a neighbour lot. So that I had to move the pattern tool over the neighbour's lot to get to the patterns(I hope this is understandable ) Maybe this could cause the patterns from the next lot to get loaded (as bug?). But the slowdown does not always happen and so far I can't find a pattern :p. But when it does, the only way to get rid of it is by switching back to live and then build again. As if the game then flushes a cache. I also wondered if the camera has anything to do with it (angle, zoom distance).

Other slowdown thing I notice sometimes is when rotating the lot with mouse. But if I then use the keybinds, it just rotates normally. I had this with all mice I used for TS3.

Edit : I found a passage. https://youtu.be/RiIL-U5lna8?t=2973 She has the pattern tool lag too when copying swatches, but her PC is so fast that it is less noticable. I am very jealous about that :p
Inventor
Original Poster
#21 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 7:39 PM
Quote: Originally posted by mithrak_nl
Anyway, when using the pattern tool, TS3 sometimes slows down, with the pattern tool lagging behind the actual cursor position. I am still not sure what exactly triggers it. At first I thought it maybe was when the CASt panel was outside my lot and on a neighbour lot. So that I had to move the pattern tool over the neighbour's lot to get to the patterns(I hope this is understandable ) Maybe this could cause the patterns from the next lot to get loaded (as bug?). But the slowdown does not always happen and so far I can't find a pattern :p. But when it does, the only way to get rid of it is by switching back to live and then build again. As if the game then flushes a cache. I also wondered if the camera has anything to do with it (angle, zoom distance).


Create-A-Style works well for me, though it's true sometimes it lags really bad when you're trying to drag patterns from one object to another. This only happens like once every hour and it's quickly fixed by switching to build mode from buy mode, or viceversa. I defenitely noticed an improvement after upgrading to an SSD. Something I discovered recently is that game caches to your drive CONSTANTLY when you're using this tool. It creates hundreds of _IMG and CCHE resources inside compositor.package or files inside your World Caches folder if you're playing in a custom / store world.

It's just the way CASt was designed, unfortunately. Since they were limited to only 2 GB of RAM (originally, before TS3 was made large address aware), they had to find ways to keep RAM usage to a minimum and they decided to cache to your drive the way your OS does when it doesn't have enough virtual memory. This problem will probably disappear (or be almost imperceptible) as SSDs become faster and faster. As we transition from SATA SSDs (500 mb/s) to PCIe SSDs (1000-2000 mb/s), I see huge potential for even better performance in the future. TS3 was truly ahead of its time... maybe to its detriment. I don't think any other games have attempted to do what Sims 3 did with CASt.

Quote: Originally posted by mithrak_nl
Other slowdown thing I notice sometimes is when rotating the lot with mouse. But if I then use the keybinds, it just rotates normally. I had this with all mice I used for TS3.


I don't know what you mean. Have you checked your FPS? If FPS are stable the game is not lagging. I'm noticed some times when I right click to follow a Sim, the game appears to lag but it's just the camera not being very smooth. FPS show game is stable at 55-60 FPS.

Quote: Originally posted by mithrak_nl
Edit : I found a passage. https://youtu.be/RiIL-U5lna8?t=2973 She has the pattern tool lag too when copying swatches, but her PC is so fast that it is less noticable. I am very jealous about that :p


Yeah, that's kinda how it lags for me too (when it lags, which is not very often). She has WD Blue SSD, which is pretty average for an SSD. I bet with a more powerful PICe SSD (2000 GB/s) lag will be practically gone.
Lab Assistant
#22 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 8:19 PM
Quote: Originally posted by Naus Allien
With settings maxed out and couple of mods, TS3 can be quite the looker:



It's kinda crazy The Sims 3 is going to turn 10 next year. It still holds up pretty well; way better than TS2 in 2014 if you ask me. I wish some of the technology introduced in Medieval had been incorporated into The Sims 3. And Medieval has, hands down, the best looking Sims ever:



I'd take TS3 / Medieval's graphics and aesthetics over TS4's any day. I don't understand why they made such a FUGLY game:



And some people say The Sims 4 looks AMAZING. I just want to ask them: are we looking at the same game? How could they possibly think TS4 looks decent for a 2014 game, let alone AMAZING?


Okay, I think TS3 is the better game, but just vanilla, I definitely TS4 looks better. They have better textures, lighting, post processing efffects, etc. I also love the cartoon-y look of the sims! The clay hair and smooth skin looks great in my opinion. I find myself modding TS3 to look more like 4 all the time, with more cartoon-y skins and vibrant lighting mods. What don't you like about TS4's aesthetic?
Inventor
Original Poster
#23 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 9:37 PM Last edited by Naus Allien : 6th Dec 2018 at 12:57 AM.
Quote: Originally posted by chocoberrychoco
Okay, I think TS3 is the better game, but just vanilla, I definitely TS4 looks better. They have better textures, lighting, post processing efffects, etc.


This is FACTUALLY incorrect. Only lighting is better in TS4. Neither has good post processing effects: both have basic antialias, both lack native texture filtering, TS4's SSAO doesn't work properly, TS4's has a very poor implementation of blur / depth of field. Lighting at release was terrible in TS4, but thank God they at least improved it post release. I do think the way lights and shadows work is probably the ONE thing TS4 did right graphically speaking.

Textures are TERRIBLE in TS4. Even though most texture have a decent enough resolution (512/1024*512/10214), they have a very low frequency (difference of contrast between pixels), i.e. lack detail. There's also an issue in the way TS4 renders textures which makes them look even worse than they are. Combine these terrible textures with obscenely low poly meshes for objects and scenery and you end up with a very bad looking game for 2014's standards.

No amount of pretty lighting and post processing effects can fix low quality assets.

You may PREFER TS4's art style and the way Sims look, but there's no question that overall the game's graphics are subpar for the year it was released.

Let's not forget that Bioshock Infinite (another stylized game) was released a year before Sims 4:



Now tell me again The Sims 4 looks good for a 2014 game.
Mad Poster
#24 Old 5th Dec 2018 at 10:02 PM
I've only got one EP and practically no CC for TS4, and it often plays very slow (when I can bother to play at all - haven't for a while now because it's slow and buggy). Before my TS3 game stopped working (faulty EP cd, possibly), I had all EPs and some CC, and while it was a bit slow and laggy (IP was the worst world because of all the water), in comparison it ran much better than TS4. TS2 runs better (with all packs and plenty of CC) than either of them. For me, that is.

I think it's mostly got to do with whichever computer specs, expansions, CC, and whatever else might be different between computers and game setups that decides how fast or slow the game(s) are for each of us. To really compare you'd need two new computers of the same type, with the same setup, with the same expansions - and even then you may see some small differences. A new computer with the 'best' specs you can get may not even be the best for each of the games, because those specs may be newer than what the game can recognize and work with, and so you'd need to do some tweaking to the game and/or the computer to make it work properly.

As for loading times, you have to consider that the loading time from power-on to inside game and playing may be slower than when you've already played the game once that run (possibly also with no cache files deleted), and then going ingame. This is often faster, because there will be files the game won't have to load up or loads quicker than from a just powered-on standpoint. I've noticed this is true for TS2 and TS2 Bodyshop, and some other programs as well. First load takes ages, but second load (even with cache files deleted) is always fast.
Lab Assistant
#25 Old 6th Dec 2018 at 12:32 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Naus Allien
This is FACTUALLY incorrect. Only lighting is better in TS3. Neither has good post processing effects: both have basic antialias, both lack native texture filtering, TS4's SSAO doesn't work properly, TS4's has a very poor implementation of blur / depth of field. Lighting at release was terrible in TS4, but thank God they at least improved it post release. I do think the way lights and shadows work is probably the ONE thing TS4 did right graphically speaking.

Textures are TERRIBLE in TS4. Even though most texture have a decent enough resolution (512/1024*512/10214), they have a very low frequency (difference of contrast between pixels), i.e. lack detail. There's also an issue in the way TS4 renders textures which makes them look even worse than they are. Combine these terrible textures with obscenely low poly meshes for objects and scenery and you end up with a very bad looking game for 2014's standards.

No amount of pretty lighting and post processing effects can fix low quality assets.

You may PREFER TS4's art style and the way Sims look, but there's no question that overall the game's graphics are subpar for the year it was released.

Let's not forget that Bioshock Infinite (another stylized game) was released a year before Sims 4:



Now tell me again The Sims 4 looks good for a 2014 game.


Dang, that other game looks awesome, you've convinced me. I don't think any of the games had particularly impressive graphics for their time though lol.
Page 1 of 2
Back to top