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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 23rd Jun 2009 at 2:16 PM
Default Possibility of modding game speed
Hey guys, just found this site, it's awesome. Let me first thank everyone for the awesome mods/tips/community you have here!

Now, I want to get into modding the game, I'd like to add some stuff I have thought about (meshes/textures/objects/etc), mainly artistic stuff. But I was wondering, since I've never done a "core gameplay" mod (scripts or what have you), is it possible to mod the rate at which minutes go by in the game? (Sims 3). It's one of the things I've thought about, but I'm not sure it's even possible. I just think that they go by too damn fast, the day ends way too quick. And then, when you try to speed it up to ultra, it goes aufully slow, leading to whole blocks of time just staring at the monitor (all sims are working/school/sleeping).

I was thinking something like normal gameplay would be 50% slower, and ultra speed would be about 500% faster. Thoughts?

Thanks again

P.S.: Apologies if this is not the correct sub-forum, I didn't seem to find one specifically for modding!
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Test Subject
#2 Old 23rd Jun 2009 at 3:06 PM
Hi, and welcome to the site. I think it's awesome too

I don't really know anything about the game speed and stuff you're asking about, but it's been discussed.
You should try the search function before starting a new thread, so the forums don't get cluttered with a hundred different threads on the same subject.
Just remember that in the future, ok?

Now, here's one thread you could have a look at:
http://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=343503
Test Subject
#3 Old 23rd Jun 2009 at 3:17 PM
I think different people are having different experiences with ultra speed. To me it seems about the same as Sims 2 but others are telling of experiences more like yours, suggesing that there might be a problem with the way the game runs on certain systems. The impression I got was that modders were waiting to see if an official patch levelled things out a bit before addressing this.

As for the normal day going by too fast - that's just like real life isn't it?
Test Subject
Original Poster
#4 Old 23rd Jun 2009 at 6:54 PM
Quote: Originally posted by feefa
As for the normal day going by too fast - that's just like real life isn't it?


I guess, but I'd like to be a bit closer to reality. Most people don't really take 20 mins to take a leak, that I know of of course!

Let's just wait and see what happens then
Instructor
#5 Old 23rd Jun 2009 at 7:11 PM
May be the ultra speed is depend on CPU power. Since the CPU still need to calculate the rest of the townie AI. When our sims in sleep and work, it doesn't mean the CPU is idle.

But make the ultra speed faster, it's a great idea too.
Eminence Grise
#6 Old 24th Jun 2009 at 12:06 AM
All these discussions about game speed are rather confused, because there are two separate issues that get conflated.

One has to do with the speed differential between fast and ultra-fast speed. That has to be a hardware-related performance issue. On my computer it's about like Sims 2 as well, but other people apparently have a different experience. That has no real gameplay consequences, though. But as a performance issue, it might be addressed in a patch (assuming there really is some way for the processing to be optimized more than it already is).

The other has to do with how long it takes to do things in the game, that is, how many actions can be performed in a day. How many clock ticks it takes to pee or whatever. How many animation frames are played. This is really a gameplay balance issue, since if you see the Sims as a resource management game, time is the only really limited resource there is. Making actions take less game time would be a significant nerf.

That is probably something that could in principle be addressed in a mod, but afaik it would have to be one of those "core" mods, not something you can do by messing with the xml tuning files.

However, if the goal is just to have the sim spend less time peeing etc, there are already a lot of tuning mods out there that slow need decay, along with various other nerfs. For instance, Carrigon's Slow Motive Decay. Link to that and lots of other timesaving gameplay nerf mods here: http://www.yggsims.com/
Test Subject
Original Poster
#7 Old 24th Jun 2009 at 1:44 AM
I don't really think it's a nerf. I mean, when the sims "bump" into each other, they can sometimes stand still tapping their foot for some 30 minutes. Things like recycling those 7 or 8 newspapers I always forget to throw away, takes about 1 hour, because they do it one by one. If the sim is left alone for a bit, it will most likely go pick up a book, then sit on awkward chairs, that means, going to the bookshelf, picking up a book, walking back to some random chair, and sitting. Takes about 1 hour. Then if you decide you DON'T want them to read some useless book, it's about half that just to make them return it to the shelf.

An increase of at least 50% game time would be desirable I think, although it might have consequences for sims that are out of manual control (a sim with a bad mood going to work for twice the normal time would be awful for performance, for example!).

It's all about experimenting anyway, right?
Eminence Grise
#8 Old 24th Jun 2009 at 2:51 AM
It makes the game easier, so by definition, it's a nerf *shrug*. Anything that gives the sims more time makes it significantly easier to fulfill any of the game's goals in less game time. You could max a skill or career or achieve any LTW faster, and make a lot more money in a sim lifetime.

I am not saying I oppose it. I have no problem with any kind of mod whatsoever; people should play any way they want. Many players don't see the game as a strategy game at all; they see it as a canvas on which to paint pictures, and that's great. Terms like "nerf" and the concept of balance aren't relevant for that kind of gameplay. Judging by the mods that are already out, that's what people want... almost all of them make the game significantly easier, and of course most folks apparently make liberal use of the built-in cheats as well.

Sims 3 out of the box is significantly harder than Sims 2 was. Accumulating money is a genuine challenge, and with no more permanent platinum mood, the game retains significant challenge even after a sim fulfills a LTW. Making Ambrosia the right way takes high levels in three skills and 12k for teh recipe, while in Sims 2 any sim could get Elixir of Life after a few game days. Personally I really appreciate that difference.

So I probably wouldn't use a speed mod personally, unless the game was rebalanced by also adding features which reintroduced some of the challenge a speed mod would remove... introduce additional tasks for a sim to perform (laundry, to cite a frequently raised example, or vacuuming!), and/or make money harder to get by raising bills or reducing income.
Test Subject
#9 Old 24th Jun 2009 at 10:45 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Mormoran
Most people don't really take 20 mins to take a leak, that I know of of course!

Only if they are at work and accessing MTS with a smart phone (looks guilty)
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