coolspear

I'll take a look, but since creating the invite 100 sims on phone, I haven't really used it much. I did it because I was testing a CC venue and needed ever increasing numbers of sims without having to keep quitting game to edit the zonedirector xml every five blooming minutes. - it worked back then for that scenario -  but don't need it so much presently. (I actually forgot I even made it till reading your post.) The other reason I don't use it so much is because there is also another change to the game that seems like a core altered thing that was not the way of things a little over a year ago. Invited sims come, mill about for a hour, then all leave. Even if using the mod to make visiting sims stay indefinitely. That was an old Shimrod TS4 mod that I kept updated all this while. Not much to the mod to maintain, actually. About three or four lines of code only. But now does not seem to work and Maxis have made no changes to the role XMLs that I can see, so they've faffed with the core is my reckoning. Probably because of Growing Together and the stay over and family visiting scenarios that came with that EP.

Regarding ping pong, I recall making an adjustment to that on/off mod but don't think I uploaded it. It's because juice pong is broken, and sims will play it autonomously no matter what on/off setting is in action. Even if game's own autonomy is switched off. I couldn't get to the bottom of the forced autonomy so got heavy-handed and drastic with it, and gutted the juice pong autonomy completely from the game, so juice pong can only be activated by player command. I guess that's what you're seeing in game, sims going at juice pong like there's no tomorrow even with table switched off. I hope to be uploading the on/off mods as there's always been more added to the set since last time I uploaded, (also Maxis making kitchen and bathroom sinks on/off interactions redundant now with their new options on sinks.) and of course juice pong autonomy is extinct from the game in that on/off set and my sims never play ping pong in my game when table is switched off.

Have been looking into another core thing Maxis has faffed with, - for no logical reason - that made "put down strategies" for coffee tables utterly useless. Have you noticed how sims will now not put anything down on a coffee table any more? Not to save their own lives, avoiding them like the plague. Only if it's the only surface object on the lot, will they "maybe" use it, as even then they'd prefer dropping stuff on the floor more often. And they will, will, will go ten miles out of their way to use another surface on the lot if available rather than the coffee table right in front of them. Yep, Maxis patch a game for ten years, this is what you end up with all over the shop. Every last element of the game with a glitch.

Though having said all that, the fix mod I made the other day has them happily using the coffee tables again if it's the nearest surface to plop down the slablet after using (my CC version of slablet that is not designed to be put in inventory), or the tray of freshly poured Globe Bar whiskey. No more going on frikken hikes across the lot to place the slablet on a mystery surface where I'll never spot it again, or just drop it on the floor very near to the coffee tables - as if the sim really did try but Maxis scuppered them on last bit of the attempt - so as no sim will ever use the slablet again. (On community lots they just don't pick them up from the floor. They just don't. It stays where it lays until player goes into build mode to pick it up, place it on surface, till the next sim drops it on the floor again.) That was really getting on my goad, all because Maxis decided late last year that coffee tables should be nothing more than decorative objects. (I guess because they've now made a few end tables that are the same height as most coffee tables and they don't want our sims to get confused over which is which, so just inadvertently banned put downs on coffee tables with their untested and idiotic alteration to the core put down strategy coding.)

If you've noticed same with your coffee tables in game, there's a mod coming for it soon. 

I'd say probably not. I haven't used this mod or looked at its XMLs in a very long time, and I'd guarantee Maxis has tweaked something around in all that time. So even if the nap function were still available, something newer wouldn't be. Off The Grid would be missing or something. For Rent water boiler coding, all that kinda thing.

@RosewinAye, though it is going to swing back around for the next gen of kids growing up. As a microcosm example, my three sisters (one older by a year, two younger by several years.) absolutely do not play video games. If the whole industry disappeared overnight they would not bat an eyelid. Yet they have always been around it, from their two male siblings, (my brother and myself) to their own partners and children, and are aware of its importance because of the happiness it brings to those around them. They just simply do not partake in any meaningful or even casual way. EA would be hard put to sell the Sims franchise to them no matter what marketing, lifestyle choices, they wrap it up in. Hence a generation of women just not interested in perusing the academia nor the "vocation" career. Perhaps not until they get older, find they do enjoy certain games, take up a hobby of creating CC, love it to bits, wish they'd chosen it as a career path years ago, then find a rare door into the industry open to them where most doors would be firmly shut.

But the next gen, as seen with my nieces, playing games every bit as much as the boys. With so many different types of game on offer, of course there're games for all curious minds. The phenomena that is Minecraft. Kinda reminds of that game in a Star Trek episode that everyone became addicted to and was controlled by it. Maybe that's why I don't touch Minecraft. Jokes aside, they'll grow up with the deep connection and sentimentality of it and many will take it seriously as an academic pursuit going into future career, vocation path (Potential to make more money out of it than Hollywood. Lucrative, hence serious.) and colleges and universities will massively increase in female attendance again.

Why did female attendance drop off so drastically? Maybe girls dream of saving the REAL world, where boys dream of destroying fake ones in games. Who knows. But it will change and soon. The next generation is definitely heading that way.     

@kevinnclayI too have those mods, forcing sims to leave, both MC and LMS versions. LMS' door locking mods and phone "where are you" mods are just the best. Can't play without them.

I don't think I'm having problems forcing sims to leave. I do recall doing it once the other day for an unwanted visitor, using the MC cheat to make them leave. The sim quickly left. Though I really haven't played the game as a player much since patching to 1.105. Many hours in game, but all for testing updated mod purposes, not really much like casual playing. Quite annoying at times, actually. More like Groundhog Day nightmares for the poor sims I'm using for testing. But such is modding.

What I can say is, most of that type of stuff circles around lot (venue) behaviors and coding. And with For Rent patch altering much of venue coding, perhaps some outdated stuff might be lurking in your game. It's good that you're confident that you keep a clean mods folder, so if it is an overlooked bad mod it shouldn't be hard to locate with need of drudging through a 50/50 process.

Concentrate on looking into any mod that is related to venues. That's where I'd start the hunt. 

If no joy, it could also be a remnant of a mod behavior remaining since patching, even if mod is removed. Try rebuilding your Sims 4 folder, see if that kicks it out.

Remove essential save files folder, mod folder and any settings ini files you want to keep. Tray folder too, if anything in there of value. Delete The Sims 4 folder. Start game, let it rebuild Sims 4 folder. Quit game. Put saves folder and settings ini back in.  Only add a few mods to test, such as MC and LMS force to leave. Test if they work. See if sims leave, then try all other mods, see if they still leave when commanded. Great, clean Sims 4 folder. No bad remnants.  

Well, without coming across a misogynist and/or chauvinist pig - which I am certainly not. At the cost of having some women, and men, take to disliking me after what I say next, evolution is evolution.

With everything, there is an evolutionary system in play. To find out how something arrives a point Z, you trace its evolution back to point A.

When TS4 released ten years ago, Maxis also put out some handy information about the game and who the "new" Maxis were themselves. The Maxis team for TS4 was a completely remade Maxis, with very little of the old Maxis remaining.

That information they put out had many statistics. TS4, at release, had nearly four times as many files in the game as all previous iterations put together. (And that just increased by ten thousand, didn't it?!) Lots of game stuff like that.

Of new Maxis themselves, they boasted that in the industry, for TS4 Maxis, they are the most prolific employers of women to be found anywhere, on the dev team that is. Not to be confused with the Social Media SimGurus. Nearly fifty percent of the dev team were women, back then. As to what the percentage is currently, I don't know. But I cannot imagine it's dropped significantly. Quite the reverse, most probably. On the surface, no bad thing. Equality in the workforce. I am all for it. But the questions regarding Maxis' and TS4's evolution, are first why, and then how.

Why? Well this game does have a very strong feminine pull. Since the advent of the first Sims, a phenomenon in the industry occurred that a great many girls/women who would otherwise never touch video games (all full of violence and war) were queuing up to purchase and play the all new dollhouse entity called The Sims. Families, babies, jobs, household management, vacations, parties, lots of shopping and fun, giggles and humor to round it all off, yeah, that's the appeal right there. Barbie re-imagined in a massive way. But, of course, heterosexual males like myself also fell for its charms. Not that I had qualms with Barbie originally, (And with three sisters, I was once up to my eyes in Barbies and Cindys. Thank god for the Action Man toys.  ) but with The Sims, I'm sold. I can join this gang.

My brother and son, gamers both, have actually scoffed at me for my love of this franchise. "It's a girly game, what ya doing?" Definitely not the market EA could rely upon for selling any iterations of the franchise to. With much less need for concern for them pirating the game either. No chance. Not that I'd condone that. I'd happily buy them the game if they were seriously interested. (Yeah, I know base game is free now. And even that won't entice them.) Like I did for my ma a few years back. She loved TS4, I got her into it. And another great bonding avenue as I would visit and it was something to talk about. I do miss those days. 

Right, so jumping forward to TS4, EA will estimate the amount of new males they can entice to the franchise will remain its average. But that still largely untapped resource of girls/women who will still not touch video games is the bigger market to aim for. It worked before, so let's try even harder. And what better way to do this than to bolster the dev team with as many women as possible. A game by women, for women, though without that being an official slogan, lest they alienate the males whom they've already brought into the fold.

What they perhaps did not see occurring, what with it being a male dominated industry previously, is with that many women on the team, women who bring their families to work with them more so than men do. Not literally, but sentimentally. Women whose average age is thirty-something. Whom most have already started families, with children at home average age of preteen, half of them girls, what EA did not see coming, is a game by women for women, becoming a game by mothers for preteen daughters. What I wouldn't have given to have a job where I could bond with my kids all those years ago. Like Billy Crystal in the City Slickers movie, the jobs I had back then would've bored the kids to tears trying to tell them about it. You work for Maxis, on The Sims 4, coming home to your kids and talking about it. Wow, what a great bonding experience. Wow, how much influence those kids will have on those sentimental devs. (And I am rather jealous. But those years have gone for me. Kids all grown up now.)

Evolution. A game historically known for is mild adult humor and themes, usually crafted and aimed at the young adult market, now flips to be one aimed at 12s. EA may not have seen this coming, but they rolled with the changes and now make more money out of it than ever before. Good... for EA.

Now to the How. Nearly 50 percent of women on dev team ten years ago? My, my, what a boast for the industry. What an achievement. Putting all other seemingly-misogynist, or seemingly-chauvinist dev teams to shame. But are you really, though, new Maxis? Why is no-one else in the industry doing same? Well let's take a look at how many professionally trained, college educated, university educated, industry-standard-trained women there are today, in 2024, compared to 2014. What? Still very low? Less than 10 percent compared to male attendance. Higher than what it was ten years ago, sure, but still very, very low. Colleges, universities, computer programming classes, still seeming like boys only institutions to this day? Young women still avoiding this education path like the plague even to this day. Come on ladies, those geeky, nerdy boys in college and universities would love to have you join them. The most non-chauvinist, non-misogynistic men on the planet. What, you just don't see the appeal of computer programming at that stage in your lives? Branching off into video games later down the line? No, you want to do something else. Then years later, play The Sims, think it's the coolest thing ever, learn how to make CC, then get a job with Maxis. Fair play. Obviously doable. Why not?

Evolution. TS4, made for 12s. Broken as shit as if made by unqualified nonprofessionals. It's in the Game.

1 - I would love more qualified, professional, industry-trained women on the team. 2 - I would prefer the  game to be less 12s orientated. 3 - But most of all, I would love the game to be far, far less broken. How do we achieve that after ten years? (As Mr. Myagi would say, go back to rule number 1.) Nope, taking to calling me a misogynist, chauvinist pig after reading this will not do it. You'd be very wrong on both counts. Doing things right and fair and balanced, egalitarian, I'm all for it. Doing things wrong, ill-conceived and ill-planned, for not-so-bright reasons, nah, I'm not much for it. But what can you do? Evolution is what evolution is and it's already evolved. And as far as TS4 is concerned, perhaps is should already be extinct. 

 

@mercurialgrrrrlYou just reminded me of a recent factor - that could be responsible for a lot of these recent woes - I'd completely forgotten about until you mentioned the game taking longer to load.

I did intended to have one of my classic whinging rants about this at the end of last year. But completely forgot to when the For Rent patch came out and was the worst thing ever. Stole my every thought regarding TS4.

So now, thanks to your memory jog, let the whinging beginging... 

I'll tell you exactly why the game is taking longer to load - and maybe all these other problems - and the utter bumbling idiocy behind it. In a very recent pack, I can't remember which one, (Chef Hustle I think) Maxis - probably one mindless dev - committed a cardinal sin for this ten year old game already fit to bursting with 60-odd? DLCs.

This might get a little technical, but not too much. Since the game released, certain XML type files have had to have a corresponding SimData file to corroborate data. Trait XMLs have always had the two file rule. Buffs also. A good many more, but not all. About three years after release, Maxis then made Recipe XMLs need the corresponding SimData file. That irked me at the time as I did a lot of food and drink mods back then that now needed extra attention due to extra file. Anything craftable has a Recipe XML, from food, to books, paintings, photos, woodwork, you name it. Now they needed a SimData file too. But that was seven years ago or there abouts. Plus, as numerous as Recipe XMLs are, for all the craftables they cover - right up to recent gem jewelry pack - in the grand scheme of things they are still in a minority of file types. By far the largest majority of file types would be, in second place, Interaction XMLs. But taking top slot, by the many, many thousands, would be Object XMLs. (All that stuff in build/buy, all those many, many hidden debug objects, every little tool, gizmo or utensil a sim uses during animations such as cooking. The object in a sim inventory, an apple, is not the same object as when it's in their hand, not the same object as when it's in a tree. The sheer amount, on and on. Even sims themselves. Objects.) Neither of these mega file types, for very good reasons for these ten years, have needed corresponding SimData files. Can you image the massive volume of file bulking if any of these two mega file types where forced to need a SimData file? Early TS4 Maxis knew, so they made sure these particular XML file types were single entities only. No SimData file pairing, ffs no!

However, one mindless dev working on a recent pack could not imagine. More like they just didn't give a flying fuck. And they went ahead obliviously and set up a state where all Object XMLs, in the many, many thousands, will all now need a corresponding SimData file. Simply because the one or two new objects they were working on, for a very recent pack, had a line of code, a new in game function, that needed a SimData file to back it up. Now think of the implications of that. One or two objects need it, so ten thousand others get it for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Those are the rules of XMLs and SimData, files, "one in all in." You give it to one, you have to, have to, have to give it to all others of that same XML type. Exactly what early TS4 Maxis were avoiding in the first place regarding Interactions and Objects.

Now ask yourself, did that dev give a flying fuck? Did they even know the project - its mechanics and limitations - they were working on? Did they envisage that ten thousand more files will be generated once they push the button for their own two objects to have SimData files? "Only two more SimData files, no biggie." 'clicks' button. Process takes longer than expected. Finally 10, 000 new files batch generated. "Oh shit, I forgot about the one-in-all-in rule. I only wanted two! If only I went to University to learn how to do this properly. But Maxis opened the door for the likes of me where no other triple A dev studios would dare, so in I came." Whoops... Shrugs shoulders. "Ah well, I just won't say anything. And neither will the rest of triple A Maxis nor triple A EA. A triple A job well done methinks. What is this fucking game anyway? Some children's game or something? Triple A, my ass. Who cares? Oh how I dream to work on some quadruple A war game blowing things up. Oh, Ubisoft, if only they would hire me. But now with my new Maxis C.V? Nah, no chance. They'll see that for what it is, a free-pass Lucky Bag for the unqualified inept." And what you just did isn't blowing things up?!

Now ask yourself, could it be that these ten thousand otherwise pointless, pointless, utterly pointless files to all other objects but two, be problematic to the game? Beyond forcing the game to take longer to load which would be the first obvious sign?

I know what my answer is. And I think the heavily, pointlessly overburdened, file bloated game and all its recent laggy-crappiness is confirming my suspicions. You simply cannot bulk-bomb that many new, extra files on an already bloated ten year old game and expect cool runnings thereafter. 9,998 utterly pointless files at that! Impossible. Idiocy. Reckless, mindless idiocy.

And to the dev who did all that at the push of a button. Maybe the video game industry isn't for you. Join the army. You can push buttons and blow things up all day long there. Folks may even thank you for your service. But what you did to TS4 very recently, NO THANK YOU! TERRIBLE SERVICE! You got one thing right though, dev. Triple A, my ass.

And if my mathematics isn't totally, imbecilic wrong, (usually is) here in 2024 at patch 1.105, that would now make SimData files as being the most vast amount of files in the game. And the vast majority of those serve no good or functioning reason whatsoever. No messing, that's where we'ere currently at. Longer game loading time anyone? A dramatic increase in odd, aberrant game behavior anyone? Awww, Muxis, you done muxed it up again...

  

Turbodriver's mod does not effect the simulation lag at all. Its only purpose it to prevent a bug when particular interactions that can misfire and lock up the game completely. The infamous helping kid/teen with homework being the first type of that glitch when the game released. One sim helps with homework, something bugs out during interaction, every sim in the area locks up and is permanently stuck in current action. Finding the sim that initiated the bugged interaction and forcing a debug reset on them was the original way to end the lock up. And with thirty or forty sims on the lot, that was a real PITA to find the instigator. Many more of this lock up type bug had been introduced to game by the time Turbo made the mod to prevent the lock ups.  So now helping with homework, and many other interactions, are now safe. Not at all the same thing as pushing sims to enter into interactions faster. So you really won't see anything different in moment to moment simulation lag using Turbo's mod. It's not for that. But you won't see horrible homework lock ups either, which is exactly what it's for.

As for mods working on the moment to moment simulation lag, yeah, I can believe the trouble players have getting one that works for their game. None ever worked for me, other than creating more negative aspects than positive, so I just made my own. Especially as using MC to slow time. I simply had to make my own in order to be compatible with MC slower time and also handle consecutive autonomous actions (like collecting numerous dirty dishes autonomously) without going nuts, or go without. And after reveling in the delight of seeing sims move their butts and do things faster, I was never going to be without again. That's why I made the promise to keep that mod updated, even if I retire (again) from modding, because I know how much of a delight and sheer relief it is for players to escape the drudgery of default Maxis simulation lag. The game changer of game changers, not to put too fine a point on it. But if it doesn't work in anyone's game, I am so sorry to hear that. I understand it, as I've been down that same road. But it's working for most users and myself, so I can take some satisfaction in that, while continuing to hope that it finally takes hold in those games, for those players, it may have failed to work previously, if they opt to try it again.

I won't say happy hunting, as that would imply I hope you find it in your game. No, I hope you never find it in your game. But you'll know when you do, as the game is not only noticeably laggy but your eyes will not like the experience either as a constant 12 fps is just "bad noise" in the eye. So don't force your eyes to look at it too long. Not healthy!

That's a very healthy fps rate margin. And it should, under normal circumstances, stay that way for the game session. Perhaps varying to lower regular rate depending on how much on the lot has to be rendered. Busy mansions with many sims will invariably get lower. But as long as it cruises around the 50-60 fps, all well and good.

Try messing about with many UI functions, opening sim panels, going in and out of build mode, all sorts. And if it tanks to 12 fps and stays at that low rate, bang, you got the bug. It's in every game, as it came in patches from Maxis and the game engine they built, so I can say it is an inevitability to hit in every game session sooner or later.

As seen on Youtube, even a James Turner vid on the issue, and on the EA Help forums, it matters not to pc or console, it matters not to high end, mid range or potato laptops, it matters not to mod-free games or those jammed with mods and cc, it matters not to whatever Windows or Mac settings you do on your pc to make games run smoother, it will happen to anyone and everyone because it's a UI bug in anyone's and everyone's game who has been patching for the last four years to present. Cheers Maxis.

Photography is another cause of it. Get one sim to take photos of another sim, it goes into photography UI, when coming back out into live mode it will usually hit, tanking to 12 fps. The game is rotten. And as far as my experience goes, hitting ESC key has always been 100 percent successful at cleaning it up, but only with photography. James Turner does mention something about Maxis fixing this for photography in his vid last summer, but my game has always done it, back then and with every patch since. Always tanks after photography. Perhaps he was talking about the build mode tanking. Which they did fix. Temporarily.

When Maxis addressed it two years ago, when build mode was a direct culprit, after that patch - and an Origin Game Repair - it was gone. Somewhere on a thread in these forums, you will read a very rare and bizarre post from me actually praising Maxis for the long-awaited fix. (WHAT???!!! Never?)

But that did not last long, as the UI is still bugged, and now more than build mode will cause fps tanking to happen and hitting ESC key seldom helps. That's where we're at for TS4 and 1.105 and Shopping Carts slapped on a problematic UI - that somehow irks me more than is should. Fix the UI (again) and I'd be much more tolerant of the otherwise irreverent (mocking, taking the piss) Shopping Cart, I'm sure.

FPS Tanking is the game, the video card and monitor, normally plays close to 60 fps (frames per second) which is the ideal rate for the human eye to see rendered motion (video games, cgi, monitor screens, normal television, going to cinema to watch movie, all that visual jazz) in what looks like real time. The movement appears natural to out brains.

When the fps shifts lower, (the correlation between video card and monitor screen) movement in the game renders lower, so it seems to our eyes and brains as lag. But not just the movement of a sprite (Sim) but everything. Your eye (brain) has trouble following everything on the screen, even for you to look from one side of the screen to the next on an image of a still background is wrong to your brain. Jarring, and can and does cause discomfort in the eyes. In extreme cases, epilepsy.

Now you must remember the time when going into build mode would cause an fps drop. Because the game, to the human eye, was rotten afterwards. Maxis acknowledged this problem and indeed patched it.  Which did work, for a short while. Now it's back, and happens without provocation.

If you open the cheat panel, and type in "fps on," in bottom left corner of game screen you will get a display of what fps your game is running at. Healthy margin for human eye/ brain will be 50-60 fps. Game plays lovely to human eye. Then at some stage - is what all the complaining is about including me - that will tank to around a constant 12 fps, never getting higher, and the human eye/brain will then have difficulty following the on screen action. To our brains it will be lag, and nothing on the screen, whether it's a moving sprite or static object will be pleasant to look at. All gone Fuzzy as the brain determines what the eyes are looking at. To the video card it will be lag also, now out of sync with the monitor screen.  So lag in the brain and lag in the device and it's just awful.

Maxis are aware of it, they fixed it once, and now they say nothing even though since last patch it is more prevalent in game than ever before. Although that might not be accurate. It may have been more prevalent when going into build mode (about two years ago) caused it. However, back then, hitting the ESC escape key to open Options panel kicked the fps back to normal rate. It worked about 95 percent of the time. Making what could have been a terrible game-breaking annoyance into a mild annoyance. Now ESC key might work only 5 percent of the time. Now, the fps tanking HAS become a terrible, game breaking annoyance. To the point I can't play until it is addressed. (Again.)

As of now, the only way to get rid of it is either wait for it to kick out naturally during play. Which could take 20 minutes. (In which time you may give yourself an epileptic seizure straining your eyes and brain at a constant, stuck 12 fps. Certainly don't try this in dimly lit, dark rooms.) Or save, quit, reload. But then it's only going to strike again and soon, as I have experienced since latest patch. Since patching, I estimate two hours is the longest I've gone before it hit. And I'm just fed up saving, quitting, reloading.

And if you say you don't experience any of that whatsoever, from the build mode fps tanking a while back, to the current state of affairs, then you must be on some miracle machine with miracle video card and monitor, not to mention miracle human eyes and brain that work differently from the rest of human ocular sensing. A super human in our midst, with a super computer, video card and monitor to boot.  

(If Maxis don't bring you and your computer in for questioning and examining, the Men In Black just might.  On the flip-side, you might soon be getting your invitations to join the Avengers, the X-Men or the Justice League, whichever universe be your preference.  If your preference be the universe in which "The Boys" operate in, as is my preferred universe, then run. Run, run, run, run, run. And don't look back. Especially in a constant 12 fps. Ouch!)

Another test you can try for your own ocular range, is if you don't have your video card directly controlling what the game is doing (Such as tweaking the NVidia options for governing the TS4 exe - as I do.) and leave that up to the game itself, then open in game Options panel, set the FPS rate to something low and ridiculous. If your eyes don't start twitching and watering and your brain cleans up the fuzz, on something like a constant 40, 30 or 20 fps, then your visual acuity really is something quite, quite unique. Probably something closer to a cat or a dog's visual acuity. No joke. (Can you see in the dark?!)

It could be that Maxis are trying to retrain our visual acuity to see better in 12 fps, for the Project Delores game they're currently working on. A dark and moody game, as the name suggests, where we will need to ACTUALLY see in the dark to interpret what's on the screen. (If we don't all collapse in brain seizures in the meantime.) Scary. Hmmmm? Okay, I'm done. No more nonsense for today.

But in all seriousness, I cannot believe out of the millions of players, and for the length of time this fps tanking has been occurring, that some kid, half asleep, in a dark room, forced themselves to endure the 12 fps, and not one person had a brain episode and didn't take legal action against EA? I just don't buy it. The again, settling out of court, complete with gagging order, would be EA's MO. Yet to prevent more legal cases, EA would have pushed Maxis to clean it up. Again.

Ahh, TwistedMexi's Better Build mod? I did try that mod a long while ago when it was pretty new on the scene, but it messed things up in my game and I haven't tried it again since. Although many thousands of current users - including yourself - can't be wrong, though, I guess. Maybe I'd give it another try. But not until Maxis deal with the fps tanking. Honestly these last two weeks playing the game I've had it hit about thirty-odd times. Many different scenarios, from busy households with mansions filled with goodies, to a small lot with single sim and no other sims around (Thanks to my empty neighborhood mods) no house, just empty 20x30 field and three items of build mode objects I was testing for mod updates. I got hit twice with fps lag on that small lot with practically nothing else going on. It's just rampant now and without a word from Maxis who continue to avoid it all, I'm just done with it.

@RedMalliewhat mod blocks it?

 

Edit - is it the one by SimMattically?-  https://www.patreon.com/posts/hot-fix-remove-99382396

Hmm, though I have concerns if that would conflict with weerbesu's UI mod.

Then again, you said it was a mod you were already using, just get the updated version. (weerbesu's UI mod?) So I doubt that's the single-purpose, standalone SimMatically mod? Right?

Because the strangest thing, I patched to 1.105 about two weeks ago. Got weerbesu's latest UI mod update that same day. I did not see the Shopping Cart on my UI for that first week and assumed weerbesu is preventing it. Jolly good. But then a week later it is now in my game, has been this whole week.

So then, what mod is stopping it?

Ha, ha. Good one. Ides of March. But I now wonder who is soon to be the mercilessly stabbed to death Caesar in this scenario?  

Just something from Maxis. Anything. More than the "we're looking into it" dead end we've had for far too long. It mocks us that they say nothing more on the matter all this time. And even if they cannot clean it up thoroughly, surely then an alternative workaround in the meantime. A dedicated key that is highly successful at kicking it out each time. (Like there used to be, albeit inadvertently, yet it was there.) Something, anything. It's just occurring so frequently now, and so hopeless for so long. And "we're looking into it" is nothing more than shrugging their shoulders at us in ignorance, avoidance and mockery while giving us a Shopping Cart button on same bugged UI, and is just boiling my blood at this late, late stage.

For the best part of the morning, I've been looking over many mods on Nexus regarding Cyberpunk and Withcer 3. Truly gearing up to get stuck into them. The last time I did that I retired from modding TS4 and didn't touch the game for two years. Is this going to be the same thing? I know one thing, for as long as I feel EA and Maxis are mocking us beyond reason now, (We say, "we need a fix for the longstanding UI fps tanking bug!" They say, "yes, here's a Shopping Cart button. Now the UI is much better. Fixed.")  I won't touch the game ever again. This last week, ten days, every time it has hit my game, and it has tanked A Lot, my eyes go straight to that Shopping Cart button and I say "fuck this for an abusive relationship." I can't do it any more.

For the longest time City Skylines had the same issue, UI tanking fps. I do believe modders helped more with addressing the issue than the devs did. But what the devs did not do is insult the frustrated player base by sticking a fucking Shopping Cart on the beleaguered UI while smiling obliviously at the disquieted masses.

Ha! Has anyone tried hitting the Shopping Cart button to see if it kicks out the UI bug when it strikes? That would be a delicious irony, wouldn't it? Something along the lines of "two wrongs don't make a right, but two odds always make it even." Nah, too poetic for cack-handed Maxis. 

I'm doing my best to fix mods and keep things maintained, and generally trying to enjoy the game while doing all that. But this old, old, old bug is now hitting my game so frequently with little-to-no UI interaction provocation,  it truly is unplayable. Remember the good, old days, when you went into build mode, and the FPS tanked down to the 12s, and you hit the ESC button to open Options panel and that kicked out the crazy UI bug shit and FPS went back to normal? Remember the good old days when that worked? Remember the time when Maxis said in their patch notes that they finally, finally fixed it? Remember when players responded to that patch note saying no you didn't, I still get the bug? Remember when a player, NOT MAXIS, suggested you need to do an Origin Repair Game after patch, then it should work. (Remember Origin???) Remember when you got the patch, then did Origin Repair, and the horrible UI FPS tank bug was actually (finally, finally, at long last!)  gone from the game? Remember that fix only lasted for about four or five months before the bug crept back in? Ah, they were the good, old days, when this broke as shit game worked, kind of.

Now, I can't get ten minutes in without my FPS tanking down to the laggy 12s, and I don't even touch the fricking UI for any reason to provoke the batty bug. Open Motives Panel? No, it might trigger it. Open Inventory Panel. No, it might trigger it. Open Relationships Panel? No, it might trigger it. Open Options Panel to switch Autonomy back on? (The six, yes SIX, clicking maneuvers it takes to get there, and two, yes EIGHT, clicking maneuvers in total it takes to get there and back in game!!! Who the fuck designed that idiocy? That needs to be turned on and off on the fly, not something almost as insufferable as going through another load screen.) No, it might trigger it. The UI is a deadly minefield now! With the previous ESC key trick now having little-to-no effect any more, given that opening Options Panel can now, yes, trigger it. As I write this I've just three times, three fucking times, had to save and quit to clear the bug, and once again, fourth time in forty minutes, the FPS fucking tanked to shit again. It's been doing this since I patched to 1.105 and I just can't take it any more. I've saved and quit just now, enraged, and I just can't bear to load up again just for ten more minutes of 50-60 fps of play before inevitable tanking to shit.

Going to EA Help is ridiculous as there are individual reports of this too many to count. How many I gotta hit Me Too on, ffs? And if the darling of sims, James Turner's video having a meltdown on this very issue - albeit a mild and polite rant - last summer still isn't enough to get Maxis to fix what they already stated they fixed (Remember?) Then I just don't fricken know.

I'm going to have to back off from this broken game until I hear something more positive from Maxis about what they're doing to fix it. Saying "we're looking into it" for all this time just isn't cutting the mustard any more. What the heck, they already said they fixed it once ffs. And if I remember modern TS4 Maxis like we all should, they never go back and fix anything twice.  Ha! Lucky enough to get the first fix.

Well, that's my rant done, but I don't know If I can face the tanking again. I'll calm down soon enough, but I know I'm not rushing to face that tanking again until Maxis pull their finger out and give some useful feedback on it. Time to dust the cobwebs off Cyberpunk I think. See what its big update and EP last year was all about. Better not be any tanking fps in that now!!! I'll sell off my computer otherwise. What's the point?!

So, TS4, I don't know what else to say until the FPS tanking is addressed.  And I do mean when they give us a fix for this UI bug, not a stupid Shopping Cart button to make us hate the UI even more. (Wouldn't be at all surprised if the addition of the Shopping Cart button is what has made the UI bug worse.) Until then, I guess.

Update March 2024 1.105 - Again Maxis make a minor change a year later. (Always for month of March. Coincidence much?) In fact a line of code they put in for High School Years for (annoying) phone idle autonomy rates was removed. Such was the level of player complaints about sims being excessive with their phones, out the coding comes. I needn't have bothered updating last March ffs. Anyway, that's all it is for 1.105. (Practically going back to something similar to the 1.96 version, ffs Maxis get your act together.) No biggie.

I did check this mod after 1.105 patch last week and there is one change made on the latest xml file, but would not effect the game in the way you describe. A single line was removed by Maxis, that they included a while back for the High School Years patch. In fact the last update I did to this mod was to include that line, but now Maxis has taken it out. (Nitwits) I shouldn't have bothered updating the mod back then. Maxis removed the excessive push for the sims using phone idles, that everyone has been complaining about since HSY released. Now it's gone like it was never included. So yeah, Maxis pissing off modders with their silly coding malarkey, Polly put the kettle on, Sookie take it off again. (Nitwits, nitwits, nitwits.)

I'll be uploading that latest versions with crap removed soon. But even so, that does not effect what you're describing. Though never say never, it might help. I'll try to upload it in a few days, just so much testing to do with so many mods because 1.105 messed with a lot.

Sorry for the late reply on this. I've purposely been avoiding patching the game since last December and the For Rent save breaking patch. And every patch since has just come with more rotten errors. It's only very recently does it feel like it is at last safe (safer) to trust that Maxis has tidied up the worst of their mindless patching flaws. So I've taken this short window of opportunity to  patch to 1.105 before Maxis release any more future patches and the guaranteed sense of dread and foreboding for more of their silly, game breaking errors that are sure to come with future patches.

Been spending the last two days updating mods to 1.105 and I'll sure get round to updating this one too.

In the meantime, thanks to @Menaceman44 for providing the update since December. You're a braver simmer than I to have risked the slew of rotten patches and potential for broken save files since last December.

But I'm back in the game now and things are getting sorted, so on we go. (Quick time, before the next Maxis patch ruins it all again, because you know they will.)

@DaAlphaSupremeKeep in mind I have not updated this mod in a while. The files used in it are ones Maxis very rarely - next to never - change. "Loot XMLs," with very little data on them. However, I haven't added newer loot files for newer objects in an age, so this mod will not cover most newer objects. Probably new objects after Eco Living, or Cottage Living, round about that period, are not covered. So if newer stuff is still breaking down, it's not because the mod is broken, it's just because they've yet to be included.

One of the many things still on my "to do" list.    

Unfortunately I had to remove that lot due to a horrible Maxis bug that made it unusable. About two years ago Maxis did something odd with mannequins that made the game crash if trying to place a lot that had mannequins. Despite my efforts trying to fix this, there was nothing that could be done. Even when using a tuning mod to turn mannequins into nothing but decor objects, the Magic HQ lot was stuck with the bug and even removing decor only mannequins from lot and saving lot without mannequins, it still cause crash because the Maxis bug just stuck to lot. (Cheers Maxis. They often break the game worse than modders could. The For Rent patch being yet another recent example. I haven't even patched my game because of it. My game is still pre-For Rent patch. Hence I'm currently unable to update mods.)

The old mannequin glitch would not cause game to crash if lot was already in your game before Maxis caused the bug. But would cause crash for anyone trying to newly place lot after Maxis caused the bug.  Ergo I removed Magic HQ lot - and a couple of other lots with same glitch - to prevent mannequin glitch crashing game for anyone trying to use the lots for first time.  Sorry, but that's Maxis for you. (And I'm not even sure if they've even fixed the mannequin crash glitch yet! I think most lot builders just avoid using mannequins now, just to be safe.)

However, one last trick I did try with the Magic HQ lot did work out. After removing all mannequins and saving lot. I then placed lot in an old computer that has older version of the game. It did not crash. Then I saved that version of lot on old computer, moved it to my newer computer with recent version of game and again it did not crash. That is to say it has not crashed yet. I'll test it a bit more, and if it remains free from crashing, I'll stick in a rar folder for you to download. What a rigmarole, eh? Good, old Maxis. Keeping us on our toes. Though - Catch 22 -  I will not be able to do this until Maxis patch the game fixing the For Rent patch so it no longer corrupts save files. I simply will not patch until that's been confirmed. And seeing as the Magic HQ lot will most definitely need updating because of For Rent messing with all lot types, then I will not be updating mods until Maxis get their act together and stop For Rent patch corrupting save files.  

Go back a page and read through the comments made here since last June, you should find the solution. A "newish" setting added in WW options. If you haven't played for a while, that would be the most likely thing you need to look at.

Bundle rar of mods coming soon. I know I last said it'd be a couple of days, but as I was compiling the rar folder, moving mods into it, all the while the thought of the upcoming EP patch was grating on me. I'll be putting loads of stuff into the Bundle rar, including CC venue mods never released before. (Probably gonna include my own main save file so folks can see what those venues are all about from the way they are in my game.) And the idea of the next patch being relative to venue coding, it could very well break everything a week after upload it all. Not to mention other mods I just know it will break. So it's on standby, - again - waiting till after patch. Waiting till after fixing the handful I know it will break, and possibly the venue mods it might also throw a spanner in the works.

But should still be uploaded before Christmas. A Bundle rar Christmas pressie, great. Even get to play my Save file for a while, see what the heck I've done to the game. (Yeah, there's a lot of CC venue shenanigans. Best if players just use my save file temporarily to experience them, rather than me writing novels to explain them.)

 

     

Hi all. Yesterday, after uploading new cafeteria mod, I was looking into making a start at updating some older mod threads. But instead, - (Put off by the large amount of mods but small amount of spare time.) - I just started organizing mods together to do yet another bundle rar to upload here. I'll have that uploaded to a new thread very soon, day or two, once organized.

Once that's uploaded, we can talk there in that thread about anything new or unclear about all the familiar or unfamiliar mods that'll be in it.

 

Self-Service Cafeterias

 

 

These new objects are a mix of a fridge, a buffet table and a drinks tray all in one. Self service cafeterias where no NPC workers are required to be stationed.
 

 

 

The serving options are -

1 - Drinks.

Currently a small selection of cafeteria drinks to suit venues such as high school or uni cafes. Much like the Drinks Trays, just select the ones you want and six of that kind will appear in the nominated spots, near to where each model of cafeteria has a decorative drinks dispenser built into it. Not so "decorative only" now, eh?

 

2  - Pizzas

Six flavors of large pizza to spawn in the nominated spot. (Those from base game and University EP. None from the most recent SP and its Pizza Oven.)

 

3 - Buffet style large meals.

A selection of large meals, most of which are ones from the High School Years EP. Though some are from base game. Using meals to best suit those decorative foods that are hard baked into the object models. Such as Pancakes, Ramen and Salad.

 

 

4 - Fridge style.

This method is the same as getting a single meal from a fridge. Click the "Get Single Cafeteria Meal..." option and a drop down menu appears, just like a fridge, and there will be a selection of High School Years meals to choose from. Not all the same meals as the Buffet types, as Maxis made a few HSY meals as single only, no large version, so the fridge method is the best (only) way to get those unique foods into this mod. (No screenshot pic as the game just will not take a damn screenshot with a fridge drop down menu open. It used to. But don't anymore. Cheers Maxis.)

 

5 - Other info.

Sims do not create drinks or large buffet meals autonomously. They can use the grab fridge meal interaction autonomously.

Both Cafeteria objects are standalone clones having no effect on the Maxis originals. They can be found in Appliances/Fridges. Not anywhere else, so be mindful and don't make the stupid mistake I did a couple of times. Getting the Maxis models from Appliances category and then moaning to myself why the mod does not work. The Maxis ones are not found in Fridges category, my ones are. Good to remember for everyone, myself included.

The High School Years model is the Alpha mod and holds all the important files. The University model requires the Alpha mod to be installed to function correctly.

Both High School Years EP and Discover University EP are required installs for the object models and food types to appear in your game. I suspect Spa Day GP may also be required for some of the Drink Tray functions to work, and Get Together EP for the espresso coffee resources.

All files used in these mods were made by me using Sims4Studio so should not conflict with anything else.

These Cafeteria objects are based on my Cornucopia Fridge mod, and there is a tie-in with that fridge mod in a set of High School career mods I'm working on. However the Cornucopia Fridge mod is not strictly required for these Cafeteria mods to work. Though there are a couple of Cornucopia features on these objects where that mod would be needed. Firstly the Tooltip description box when placing mouse cursor over Cafeteria objects. That Tooltip box is from the Cornucopia Fridge mod. So I guess it would be blank if you don't have Cornucopia Fridge mod installed. I'll tidy that up later and give the Cafeteria objects their own Tooltip box. Secondly the On/Off switch to block or allow sims to autonomously use the Get Single Fridge meal from object. If you want to switch off that autonomous element of these Cafeteria objects, then the Cornucopia Fridge mod will be needed. (Would only stop sims using the grab fridge food interaction. Would not stop them grabbing buffet food or drinks if there are any available.)

Also, the screenshot pictures above were taken at the High School venue in my game. However, the modded Cafeteria objects here are not suitable to outright replace the default Cafeteria for ordinary, unmodded High School venues. To successfully use at High School as outright replacement, other mods will be required to first stop the NPC cafeteria worker from coming to the school and to further direct students to get food from these new self-service objects at lunchtime or modded after school activities. All part of my high school mods. If you're interested in those school mods, just let me know and I'll upload them.

(The pictures taken were not during school hours nor during school scenario. Just a bunch of werewolf teens visiting the venue outside school hours. And I have to say, well-behaved for a bunch of rowdy teen werewolves who may otherwise have trashed the place. Seeing as they are not actually allowed to school normally because of their unpredictable - aggressive/destructive - werewolf dispositions and an eager willingness to devour the cafeteria station object just as equally as the food and drink upon it. Thankfully that did not occur.  Not a full Moon, I guess.) 

 

cool1_food&drink_CafeteriaStationHighSchool_SelfService_(Clone)_Alpha.rar - New for November 2023

cool1_food&drink_CafeteriaStationUni_SelfService_(Clone).rar - New for November 2023

 

Happy simming and cafeteria eating, folks. 

 

 

 

 

And if I stop being so forgetful and find the time to upload, there's even more new shiny trays and objects coming soon. 

How do you fancy theses bad boys?

(I'll move these sample pics to the actual new mod thread once I create it. But, of course, there's the latest 1.102 patch to look into first. Though from the patch notes I don't think there's any real threat to most mods of this type.)

Been testing them in my high school and they work a treat. No staff required. Fully self service. Many drinks, pizzas and foods to spawn for the hungry teens. And no more cluster fuck madness inundating the poor worker npc. There is no more worker npc anymore! Lunchtimes much, much more smoother. And the drink part of each object? No longer just decorative. Now functional, get drinks from it. (Same function as those drinks trays.) How cool is that! 

Edit - Yay, finally had  spare time to upload them. Found here - https://simsasylum.com/tfm/index.php?/topic/16581-dispensers-self-service-cafeterias-new-for-november-2023/