Perpetual Time Lag & Missing Worlds. [SOLVED]

I'm pretty sure I've made a topic about this before, but the issue was never resolved. This is kinda a last ditch attempt to fix this issue since I've given up on The Sims 4 already. If I can't fix it, I'll just delete Sims 4 and probably grab Sims 3 instead.

Basically, I have horrendous time lag (and I'm definitely not the only one, from google this is a wide-spread issue) resulting in x4 Speed not working and sleep/work taking forever to complete. I know how dramatic I sound, but the game is literally unplayable.

Essentially when asleep, the clock will go at the 4x speed, reach 8am and then I'll reset to 1x Speed. The time will suddenly jump back like 5 hours, so I have to do this weird dance of 4x, 1x, 4x, 1x etc. until I reach the correct time. Same with when my Sim is at work. It's such an annoyance that I just don't want to play. Which sucks cause I'd really like to.

Similarly, some actions take forever to get my Sim stuck. The bathroom was the worst offender with my Sim idling in front of the toilet for hours unless I reset them. Computer interaction menus also take several seconds to open after clicking on the computer.

I've tested the game with and without mods, and the issue is still there. Even giving Sims 4 more Memory doesn't help.

I'm considering deleting everything Sims 4 on my laptop (if someone could tell me how to do it so I don't leave any trace of it thatd be amazing) so its a clean slate, then redownloading and reinstalling the base game and all the add-ons. However, I don't wanna bother going through literal hours of work, just for the same issue to crop up again. I thought maybe a redownload and install could clean the issue (since maybe it was due to a bad install or something) so any advice?

Honestly I just want to play Sims 4 again without issues. As far as I remember, these issues didn't occur initially, so there must have been some mod or patch or DLC that messed something up. I just dunno what.

Thank you for any help offered and I hope I haven't managed to miss a pinned topic on this subject or something aha.

Any advice?

Like, even if its just "Yeah, delete everything and redownload everything and you should be good".

Looking through more online discussions, this Simulation Lag is still an issue; how hasn't EA fixed it after 3 years?

On the topic of uninstalling, how's best for me to completely remove any trace of Sims 4 from my laptop entirely? I don't want any files or settings to be left over that just make the issues occur again. Heck, I'll even play without any CC (I only ever used like half of it and most clothes don't fit into the art style anyway) if it'll mean the game doesn't lag.

Hi @slicedhomos ,

It seems that there's no reply because I think no one here really knows a working solution (not even myself) and thus we don't want to give 'half-hearted' answers. What I do know is that this lag has been going around even in the legit game and I don't think EA has fixed this yet.

Essentially when asleep, the clock will go at the 4x speed, reach 8am and then I'll reset to 1x Speed. The time will suddenly jump back like 5 hours, so I have to do this weird dance of 4x, 1x, 4x, 1x etc

I had this similar issue as well, which in truth can be quite annoying, especially when the timing seemed to fast forward and you can't pause/stop it. But then when it finally ends, only 1 minute has passed. (Exaggerating I know lol). It's a rare occurrence but still annoying. 

Similarly, some actions take forever to get my Sim stuck. The bathroom was the worst offender with my Sim idling in front of the toilet for hours unless I reset them

This, if I'm not wrong, and by not wrong I mean I read it at the EA forum, can be 'fixed', or at least a workaround is to switch off the autonomy for your sims. I personally like to control my sims (lol) and rarely uses the 'free will' function.

At this point, I'm not sure if you should update to Cats & Dogs, since it seems the pack itself is pretty buggy. But if you'd like to re-install the game, perhaps up till Fintess, then you can use Your Uninstaller Pro! here:
https://games4theworld.org/downloads/

I'm sure you also saw ZLOrigin going around. If you'd like, you can use that instead, since you can choose which DLCs you'd like to install.
https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t30092-zlorigin-made-simple

Ageha wrote:Hi @slicedhomos ,

It seems that there's no reply because I think no one here really knows a working solution (not even myself) and thus we don't want to give 'half-hearted' answers. What I do know is that this lag has been going around even in the legit game and I don't think EA has fixed this yet.

Essentially when asleep, the clock will go at the 4x speed, reach 8am and then I'll reset to 1x Speed. The time will suddenly jump back like 5 hours, so I have to do this weird dance of 4x, 1x, 4x, 1x etc

I had this similar issue as well, which in truth can be quite annoying, especially when the timing seemed to fast forward and you can't pause/stop it. But then when it finally ends, only 1 minute has passed. (Exaggerating I know lol). It's a rare occurrence but still annoying. 

Similarly, some actions take forever to get my Sim stuck. The bathroom was the worst offender with my Sim idling in front of the toilet for hours unless I reset them

This, if I'm not wrong, and by not wrong I mean I read it at the EA forum, can be 'fixed', or at least a workaround is to switch off the autonomy for your sims. I personally like to control my sims (lol) and rarely uses the 'free will' function.

At this point, I'm not sure if you should update to Cats & Dogs, since it seems the pack itself is pretty buggy. But if you'd like to re-install the game, perhaps up till Fintess, then you can use Your Uninstaller Pro! here:
https://games4theworld.org/downloads/

I'm sure you also saw ZLOrigin going around. If you'd like, you can use that instead, since you can choose which DLCs you'd like to install.
https://games4theworld.forumotion.com/t30092-zlorigin-made-simple

Thank you for the indpeth respone @Ageha . I completely understand there being no fix; its a shame EA have just ignored this issue that affects so many players

Thanks for the uninstaller link! I'll try that out then reinstall everything. I'm a bit wary of using ZLOrigin since it seems kinda complicated and I'm more used/comfortable with the normal install and download. Plus, I'll be getting every DLC anyway since I like having everything I can.

Thanks for the heads up on Cats & Dogs, I'll hold off on that. Luckily, I never really utilized the Pet expansion of 3 so I'm not missing much.

Hey @Ageha one question. You say to install up to Fitness pack, since Cats & Dogs is buggy. Should I not install Toddler stuff then? Is that also bugged? Since Toddler Stuff is after Fitness but before Cats & Dogs

So I just reinstalled The Sims 4 and all DLC up to, and including, Toddler Stuff. Launched the game for the first time and everything went well. Loading quickly, I made a Sim with no issues and all DLC (excluding Cats & Dogs) was shown as present and active. However, after finishing my sim, I cannot select a world to move into, since none are shown.

This is a screenshot of said page: screenshot

Restarting the game or trying with another Sim still caused the issue to appear.

Exploring my files, I can see in EP03/Worlds/Areas there are 5 .world files; ArtsQuarter, CentralPark, Docklands, fashionDistrict, Uptown.
Other Worlds folders have similar .world files, but theres far too many to list.

I followed all the instructions given (like renaming the game folder so now I have a Game_ folder and a Game Folder) (also moving The Sims 4 folder to Program Files so I can run the 64bit version) so there shouldn't be an issue, so I'm kinda confused whats going on. Any advice?

Hi @slicedhomos ,

Sorry for the belated reply and also I've merged your topics and edited the title for you. It seems I lost track of the DLC names. Hahaha. I actually meant to say to install up till Toddler's stuff (must be getting old). But seeing that you've already installed up till Toddler's stuff, then *wipes sweat*. 

Before the Cats n Dogs update, there's a error code 3 fix which fixes the missing world for some of the users, even myself. I'll send the fix later for you in PM if you do not wish to update to Cats n Dogs. It seems the 'buggy' part of Cats n Dogs mostly revolved around those using mods/CCs. If you're using neither or perhaps no scripted mods, then you can safely install the update, and the error code 3 fix will be redundant, this fixing the missing world problem as well.

Ageha wrote:Hi @slicedhomos ,

Sorry for the belated reply and also I've merged your topics and edited the title for you. It seems I lost track of the DLC names. Hahaha. I actually meant to say to install up till Toddler's stuff (must be getting old). But seeing that you've already installed up till Toddler's stuff, then *wipes sweat*. 

Before the Cats n Dogs update, there's a error code 3 fix which fixes the missing world for some of the users, even myself. I'll send the fix later for you in PM if you do not wish to update to Cats n Dogs. It seems the 'buggy' part of Cats n Dogs mostly revolved around those using mods/CCs. If you're using neither or perhaps no scripted mods, then you can safely install the update, and the error code 3 fix will be redundant, this fixing the missing world problem as well.

Hi @Ageha ,
 
Thank you SO much for your help. After installing Cats & Dogs (and the patch) the Missing Worlds bug fixed itself like you said it would.

As for the overall gameplay, its far smoother than my previous install. 4x speed is working as it (mostly) should and overall lag/idling is faaaaaar better.

Thanks very much for everything!



Mod edit: problem solved, topic closed. Feel free to get back in touch with us again anytime!

- The_gh0stm4n