What really drains system resources on a lot?

[simmiecal]

I have a pretty good set-up on my computer so even with very large and full lots, I don't have a problem playing them. (Sorry - not trying to brag.....) But I am wondering when I'm designing lots for use in shared neighborhoods or to be uploaded, what are the things that most effect the playability of a lot? I'm interested in the "technical" aspect of it not the layout aspect of playability, ie, what causes the lot to lag or not load.

I've heard that "large" size lots are hard to play. Obviously a 5x6 lot is a large lot, but what would be the cut-off?

I've also heard that more than two stories will also slow down a lot. I know that it will take forever for them to walk up and down three flights of stairs, but will the third (and fourth, fifth) levels effect the performance of the game?

Any truth to certain objects having such "high advertising" that they adversely effect the lot - like the bubble blower?

Anything else you know to adversely effect a lot (from a resource standpoint)? 

Thanks. 

[BlueSoup]

On my system, I can play a very large lot with only a little lag, but if it has more than one story, I definitely notice the slowdown.  When I built the bloodstainedkisses lot, it got slower the higher up I went with stories.  I've played a lot of Legacy families on large lots, but with only one story, it seems to run just fine.

I have never had a bubble blower or a Myshuno game on any of my lots, so I can't tell you about those things. 

[Sagana]

Too many objects, too much lighting (especially outdoor lighting), anything with high mesh counts (especially more than 1 - life 4 bedrooms each with a high poly bed) and particularly lots of plants. When a house is slow for me, I remove plants and then lights and usually it works fine.

It's interesting to have a furnished and an unfurnished option for the same lot and to compare. (Several people have been offering lot uploads this way more recently.) I guess it'd be clearer if there was something wrong with the layout, height, or size of the lot if it still won't play well even with no furnishings. But my computer isn't very good and I can play the largest two lot sizes without an issue as long as the lot just doesn't have too much on it. I never have more than 2 stories tho.

[MissDoh]

The only part I can tell is that items with constant animation slow down lots, example:  dance sphere, aquarium (but not very much) and fountains.

When I go on community lots that have fountains and/or dance spere the lot lags a bit.

I never play with lots with more than 2 floors.

[cwykes]

Another poster told me fences really slow things down.  DK why.
If it's a community lot, stick to one NPC to help things along - that's about visitor numbers as well as playability

I guess the number of objects and their complexity is key - the graphics card has to work harder to draw lots of objects with lots of vertices.  On a small lot, you don't move far, so you're adjusting the current pic.  On a big lot, you move further and the picture has to change a lot. 

Opinion based on my limited knowledge of tech - sounds plausible but could be wrong!

[eaglezero]

Before I got more RAM, I had difficulty playing lots that were larger than 4x3. Fences slowed lots down TONS, although I don't know why. I never played lots with more than three floors, but I didn't notice any speed difference from one to three stories. Lots of objects or people on the lot really slowed it down though, to where it was impossible to play (at that time, I couldn't have families larger than three or four for fear of complete game meltdown). Also, plants on lots, especially shrubs and flowers. Flowers slowed the game down reaaaaaaaally badly.

[jrd]

Fences and half-walls apparently are hellish to pathfinding, and environment score calculations (a half-walled or fenced in area counts as a separate room).

Multiple floors and object hiding set to "off" are also troublesome.

[LFox]

I'm not sure about objects but i do know these things can cause massive slow downs.

Reflections turned on - this does a massive slowdown.
Large lots - Anything 4x4 and up will generally cause lag.
Multiple floors - Having more than 1 floor will slow down the lot ALOT.
Alot of sims - Having more than 3+ sims in any one family or on screen will generally lag the game.
Shadows and Lighting - It can lag it quite a bit.

As for objects probably anything that has long constant animations an example is the sphere thingy (forgot name) you can have your sim bounce round in.

[JenW]

Big trees will also put a hurting on your performance.

[gypsylady]

Fences are a big cause of lag. When I first got TS2 my system would really lag on the Goth's and Plesant lots until I got rid of the fences.Since then I have done a major upgrade to my system and they play just fine even with both Ep's installed but I still get rid of the fences on any lot I have. Also ghost's and haveing a lot of plant's are bad for causeing lag.

[fff]

I remember reading somewhere that flower beds can cause slowness, mostly because they generate butterflies etc. The biggest pain in the butt for my computer is trees - I never, ever have a tree on any lot.

[aussieone]

Nothing to add but I must say this is really interesting reading. I had no idea that so much basic stuff could cause so much lag!! 

So having a sim live in a cardboard box on a desert plain would no doubt have your game run like a Formula One racing car eh? 

[Li'l Brudder]

TREES!  trees...trees...trees...

*rocks back and forth, apparently having a break down

High graphics, having all the video graphics on high makes the game slow to a crawl.

[Ancient Sim]

This is interesting, because it's just occurred to me that the lots I find slower all have fences around them.  The Pleasant lot isn't too bad, but the Goth lot is definitely one of the slowest.  I'm intrigued to know why fences would cause slowdown, though.  I have one in my old Pleasantview which was really slow and I never really knew why.  It was a large lot, but I had larger ones that played better and there were only 5 Sims resident on it.  Anyway, this lot had a huge iron fence all around it, lots of flowerbeds, trees, plants ... I would never have guessed these were to blame for the slowness.

[Regina]

I don't have a lot to add here but sure want to concur with everyone else's postings.

Before expansions I could do a 5x5 lot with a 2+-story house and quite well furnished as long as I kept the number of sims down to 6 or less.

Now that I have both expansions, a 3x4 one-story lot will get laggy with the more ornate furniture and 5+ sims.

I also notice bad slow-down if I have more than one sim at a time take a shower or bath.  In large families I may have four bathrooms and if I want the game to come to a crawl all I need to do is get three sims simultaneously showering.  Ugh!

Otherwise I think everyone's hit the nail on the head with the flowers (happy little animated bugs), outside lights and lots of plants.  Basically the squarer something is, the easier it is on performance.

[skandelouslala]

I haven't noticed much since installing NL...honestly...I  have no idea why but once I got NL the game ran so much better..yeah don't even know how that works but that's the way it's been.  Hey...I'm not complaining.

Things that still slow it down though:

Fences..as noted. Small ones are okay...the larger ones cause the most problems.  If I try to fence in a whole lot, unless it's a small lot, noticable lag takes place.

Multiple stories..it really just depends.  I rarely play 2+ story lots anyways just b/c I get annoyed of keeping track of everybody and switching between floors to direct somebody to use an object on another story or what have you.  2 is generally okay if I must use another story....3 definite slow down starts happening.

A load of plants..granted it takes A LOT...mostly flowerbeds will eventually cause slow down if there are a ton, I think b/c of the butterfly and other random bug animations.

Foutains, but only the giant one, if placed on an already large & busy lot..which are basically the only type  of lot that have room for the giant one anyways.

Making large ponds with the water tool...the larger/deeper it is it seems to slow the lot down a bit, especially between lighting periods morning/night ect b/c of the lighting shadows adjusting for the water I suppose.

None of these things wreck havoc or considerably slow the game down for me, but enough at times that I imagine it could be bad for those with lower comp specs.

Oh yeah..I've never noticed any slow down with bubble blowers and other things of that nature.

[Emma]

Wow-fences! That is interesting...I fence everything off! I think I might remove the fences on some of my larger lots because I have noticed slow-down while playing.

[Renatus]

Fences - it makes sense that they can cause slowdown. Take however many polys a fence section is and multiply it by however many tiles it covers, and the result could be quite a lot. With that ornate iron fence at the Goth lot, it's not a surprise that it slows down!

[jrd]

It can really be helpful to use the debugging cheats to show paths if you're tracking slowdown problems. Any time you see a path being redrawn multiple times check for trouble spots in the area: fences, half walls, diagonal walls, diagonal doors (avoid if at all possible), stuck invisible doors, etc.

Pathfinding appears to be the most processor-hungry part about Sims (which is why free will off will also speed them up: only your directly controlled Sims will be walking about).

[Inge]

I think fences might slow the game down because they are spline objects, so each time it wants to render one it has to work out how high it is and if it slopes.

[Pegasys]

I can testify that lots and lots of cockroaches can make a lot crawl (yes, pun intended!).

I was trying to do the Death by Flies, rather unsuccesfully, I might add, and after enough steaming piles of garbage I had to call it quits and boolprop the death. The slowdown was unbearable. (Not to mention the stench.)

[Emma]

Oh yes Pegasys, I have noticed that too! In fact, alot of the time slow-down is the indicator that I have roaches because most of the time I play without being able to view the front of the lot.

[sintrinity]

NL made a  HUGE difference on my puter for some reason.  Pre-NL I didn't buy lighting or landscaping and slowed to a crawl if I tried to go to a community lot.  The Summerdream house was just about unplayable until I stripped it.

Now though, same 'puter (a really low end e-machine, default graphics card from Walmart) but I don't ever have to worry about how much lighting I have (except those flashy changing color ones that hang from the ceiling) and I haven't run into a problem with landscaping yet.

I do a few things though - leave all lights on all the time (not only does it help environment score even during the day but the worse slow down I would see was the turning on and off at dusk and dawn) and I have a tree hider.

I also just figured out that I don't have very many graphics goodies turned on.  When I installed I assumed the game would check out my system and set them for me but.... I recently changed the detail to high and something else to high and WOW, a whole new game to see and my 'puter seems to handle it just fine.

On items - the only thing I won't let my Sims buy is the dance sphere.  Even if someone is using it on the third floor I can tell while I am playing on the first.

I think the biggest problem is the number of Sims.  I always move the Oldies in with the Pleasants when I start a new Pleasantview and I am not sure if it is the rebuild of their house or the extra peeps but it slows down till they croak.  Ironically though, I can have many Sims in one house as long as they are not all teen+.  I guess the kids and toddlers don't cause the pathing lag so much.

The very worse problem I have is not anything to do with me but the fights.  UGH.  That little ball of scrapping really seems to hog the resources and in a big dorm I just have to sit it out.

[angelyne]

Fences - it makes sense that they can cause slowdown. Take however many polys a fence section is and multiply it by however many tiles it covers, and the result could be quite a lot. With that ornate iron fence at the Goth lot, it's not a surprise that it slows down!

I suspect so too.  People should read Baratron's excellent tutorial on poly count : http://www.moreawesomethanyou.com/smf/index.php?topic=2216.0.  It helps you a lot in understanding the concept.

What would be an interesting test, would be to replace that ornate iron fence or picket fence, which is probably pretty high poly, with something like the brick fence and see if that makes a difference.

This thread is very interesting.  It's good to know what to prioritize when you are remove objects from your lot.

I do know that lots of trees slow my machine down a lot.  Some people who make lots are a little too liberal in their use.  But a tree hider!  what a good idea.  I'll try that.

Oh and one thing I found to make a difference is neighbour view. That lags me, especially if there are lots of houses around.

[Muisie]

My bad lots all have fences, flowers, water and more than one floor.  What do you know!  This is very helpful.