Half of Bridgeport Sims stand around, doing nothing..

[anaelir]

I know something similar has been talked about in a recent thread, however this doesn't seem to be related to Rabbit Holes, nor have any solutions been listed there.

I think this has been going on for a while. At first, I'd notice a sim or two (who for some reason showed up on map view) hanging around Bridgeport Sports Zone. I thought nothing of it, until I noticed that one of those sims just stood there next to the building for days on end, until finally he went home when my sims visited his wife. I thought maybe he was moonlighting as a mixologist or something, I didn't check. However, for a while now I've trying to get a butler to work for me and, like with many other players, my butlers would (literally) run away from home after a few days (they'd also never return). Using Master Controller, I found them standing next to Bridgeport Sports Zone. I eventually typed "radar all" (or w/e) in the console, and a few strange things have been brought to my attention.

1. There were quite a few sims hanging around a few spots in town at all times for many days: http://i53.tinypic.com/wwaqs8.jpg
2. Zooming in revealed the sims outside the bar were just hanging around, doing absolutely nothing: http://i53.tinypic.com/9sbc4x.jpg
3. Everybody at City Hall was, ahem, taking a tour of the building: http://i54.tinypic.com/1zd0uhg.jpg
4. Some (up to 5, I didn't count) sims at Sports Zone were had "Doing: " in their information box, although nothing followed the colon: http://i54.tinypic.com/17uur8.jpg
5. Apparently I could join a protest, although there were no sims outside the city hall protesting: http://i51.tinypic.com/15qx10z.jpg
6. As soon as I unpaused the game and sent one of my sims to Bridgeport Sports Zone to dismiss their butler, the Sports Zone became a hotspot, and all sims who were weirdly hanging around in City Hall and the cinema immediately moved their butts outside Sports Zone, resulting in even more Sims just hanging outside the bar. I have the anti-swarm option off, so it might be just the game stalking my sims, but still, what's with all the sims there standing around there, for days? http://i54.tinypic.com/k9ds1d.jpg

[J. M. Pescado]

Sims locking up is often a sign that your computer has exceeded maximum load and is unable to process the AI routines for the sims, so the trailing part of the population gets locked out of receiving any processor time.

[anaelir]

Is that so? I don't know what to say, it's not like The Sims 3 hogs all of computer's memory since sometimes I can run other applications a-ok.

I temporarily changed households, and this is what I found:
http://i56.tinypic.com/28c0rq9.jpg
Bar situation hasn't improved either: http://i54.tinypic.com/23kcls0.jpg

But I suppose you're right and that's the same reason service sims have been acting up, too. As in, they just show up to my house and then leave without their cars just so they can charge me at the end of the day.

[Skadi]

Out of curiosity, what are your computer specs?

[Narmy]

Out of curiosity, what are your computer specs?

Barely enough to run the game, judging from the pics.

[jsader]

I have an Asus with an intel i7 core, an ATi HD 5730 graphics card with 1gb mem, and this happened to me as well.  It only happened in Bridgeport, and fixsim took care of any sims I wanted to play that were stuck.  I've dumped Bridgeport, and am having no such issues in any other town.

My build mode graphics are kind of funky, but they changed after the latest patch, before I installed LN.

[anaelir]

Out of curiosity, what are your computer specs?

2GB RAM, 2.00GHz (I run on Win7, so I guess I should have more), but I'm not sure about my graphics card etc. I'll have to find my user manual.

Out of curiosity, what are your computer specs?

Barely enough to run the game, judging from the pics.

I run on low quality graphics to, you know, improve performance (make the game move faster).

I've dumped Bridgeport, and am having no such issues in any other town

Exactly.

[J. M. Pescado]

[Zazazu]

Hell, on XP you should have more.

[Narmy]

Out of curiosity, what are your computer specs?

2GB RAM, 2.00GHz (I run on Win7, so I guess I should have more), but I'm not sure about my graphics card etc. I'll have to find my user manual.

Start>Run>Dxdiag>Display

[jezzer]

You don't know what graphics card your computer has?  If you're using whatever came with the computer, odds are it's using an integrated chipset instead of a standalone card.

[anaelir]

Yes, I am using whatever came with the computer. So I guess it IS an integrated chipset.

Hell, on XP you should have more.

Surprinsingly, Win7 runs much better than XP on my computer. (and, by this, I mean the game itself also works better)

[Kazoona]

Surprinsingly, Win7 runs much better than XP on my computer. (and, by this, I mean the game itself also works better)

Looking at those specs, this is probably just your imagination. Your non-moving Sims clearly prove that.

[anaelir]

Ok, let me revise that: it worked much better before I installed LN. Happy now?

[Narmy]

Yes, I am using whatever came with the computer. So I guess it IS an integrated chipset.

Hell, on XP you should have more.

Surprinsingly, Win7 runs much better than XP on my computer. (and, by this, I mean the game itself also works better)

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Computer-Games-on-Laptop-Graphic-Cards.13849.0.html
Select TS3 as the filter. Your graphics chip is at the very, very, very bottom of "just barely playable".

Ok, let me revise that: it worked much better before I installed LN. Happy now?

LN also increased the graphics of the game.

[jezzer]

I would never recommend using an integrated chipset for playing anything more graphic-intensive than Solitaire or Farmville.  You're going to need a video card.  You can get one for fairly cheap on sites like Newegg.  I got the Nvidia 9500 GTS for around forty bucks.

[Lt. Vasquez]

Just because he can buy a new Graphics Card for a good price doesn't necessarily mean he would have a slot to place it in his laptop, I myself have a Intel Integrated graphics card, and sadly am stuck with what I have, as all my other internal ports in my laptop are taken up with various necessary components. some of us just have nowhere to put the new card. It's sad how laptop companies leave no room for new components.

Proof read for the sake of Proofreading.

[Narmy]

I would never recommend using an integrated chipset for playing anything more graphic-intensive than Solitaire or Farmville.  You're going to need a video card.  You can get one for fairly cheap on sites like Newegg.  I got the Nvidia 9500 GTS for around forty bucks.

It's a laptop... she's stuck with it.

Even if it were a desktop most non-gamers have cheap shit like Dell which may not have the PSU wattage, case capacity, or proper slots to upgrade.

It's sad how laptop companies leave no room for new components.

It's not that they don't leave room, because even if they did nobody makes retail laptop graphics cards anyways. Laptops have to draw a specific amount of power and generate a relatively low amount of heat; they have to be built around the graphics card, not the other way around.

They're not meant for gaming anyways.

[jezzer]

Oh, wow.  I missed the part where it was a laptop.  Yeah, laptops aren't generally recommended for gaming.

[wizard_merlin]

Oh, wow.  I missed the part where it was a laptop.  Yeah, laptops aren't generally recommended for gaming.

I missed the part about the OP using a laptop also, even after re-reading I still can't find where they say they are actually using a laptop, unless people are assuming a laptop given the specs.

Beats me why people buy regular laptops for gaming, then complain when they discover the specs are too low to run the things properly, even desktops, people cut corners, opt for the cheapest they can get their hands on, then bitch and moan when the specs are too low.

[jsader]

I don't know if the op has a laptop, but mine is.  It's a "gaming" laptop, I made sure I got the best damn graphics loaded laptop I could find.  Well, without going "Alien", anyway.   I've pretty much built (ok, had my husband build) every desktop I've had for the last ten years around a high quality graphics card.   

At least now I know the whole 'gathering of sims' can be blamed on my graphics card now...  Guess I'll stay out of Bridgeport, which isn't really an issue. 

[Lt. Vasquez]

I would never recommend using an integrated chipset for playing anything more graphic-intensive than Solitaire or Farmville.  You're going to need a video card.  You can get one for fairly cheap on sites like Newegg.  I got the Nvidia 9500 GTS for around forty bucks.

It's a laptop... she's stuck with it.

Even if it were a desktop most non-gamers have cheap shit like Dell which may not have the PSU wattage, case capacity, or proper slots to upgrade.

It's sad how laptop companies leave no room for new components.

It's not that they don't leave room, because even if they did nobody makes retail laptop graphics cards anyways. Laptops have to draw a specific amount of power and generate a relatively low amount of heat; they have to be built around the graphics card, not the other way around.

They're not meant for gaming anyways.

That is a good point, I, myself, have only messed with the innards of a desktop only once, and that was solely to replace a graphics card on a ten year old piece of junk. so I wouldn't know as much as some of you do, but I can attest to the high quality that Nvidia makes their GPUs with.

[jezzer]

Yeah, before I got my new computer, I did the research into how upgradeable it could be.

By "research" of course, I mean, "Ask Skadi." 

[Narmy]

Yeah, before I got my new computer, I did the research into how upgradeable it could be.

By "research" of course, I mean, "Ask Skadi." 

Pshh, forget that and build them yourself. It ain't hard, it's like Legos.

[HomeschooledByTards]

Yeah, before I got my new computer, I did the research into how upgradeable it could be.

By "research" of course, I mean, "Ask Skadi." 

Pshh, forget that and build them yourself. It ain't hard, it's like Legos.

Building your own can get tricky. Sometimes it's easier to pay a premium to someone who knows what they are doing to make a gaming machine. I <3 my Alienware desktop. Yes, I spent a LOT of money on it. Yes, I probably could have gotten the exact same box for a lot cheaper. But, it's worked perfectly since I pulled it out of the box. The one time it didn't work perfectly, a quick call to tech support resolved the issue (my video card died, I had a new card two days later).

I can't say the same for any of the computers I've ever built, or the computers my husband has built. Both of us have been building computers for about twenty years now, but none of them has been as hassle free as these boxes we bought from a gaming machine builder.

(HEY JEZ, HOW BIG IS YOUR MONITOR? I HAVE FORGOT.)