Write book gets stuck in task bar

[crinrict]

@Ish-Idk Since you're saying it you have the issue with multiple tasks, I'm merging this in the general threads.

What other interactions do you have the issue with ?

Could you post the following info
- DxDiag
- Config.log
- A Video.

Thanks

[simmerorigin]

Product: The Sims 4
Platform:PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.85.203.1030
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? discover university, eco lifestyle, get famous, get to work, get together, seasons, jungle adventure, parenthood, spa day, strangerville, perfect patio
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Wait for the AI to automatically add an action to an idle sim's queue, such as using a toilet downstairs. In this example, you try to cancel the action as you are on the second floor of the house and want to use the available toilet right next to you, but your sim will still walk over to the downstairs toilet and stare at it for a moment. They won't use the toilet as you cancelled the action, but they will route over towards it.
What happens when the bug occurs? Your sim still walks over as if to perform the original action added to the queue by the AI even though you cancelled it.
What do you expect to see? I expect for the Sim to not walk over to the object when I delete the action in my queue. 
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? No

‌

Product: The Sims 4
Platform: PC
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? 1.85.203.1030
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? discover university, eco lifestyle, get famous, get to work, get together, seasons, jungle adventure, parenthood, spa day, strangerville, perfect patio
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? Wait for the AI to automatically add an action to an idle sim's queue, such as using a toilet downstairs. In this example, you try to cancel the action as you are on the second floor of the house and want to use the available toilet right next to you, but your sim will still walk over to the downstairs toilet and stare at it for a moment. They won't use the toilet as you cancelled the action, but they will route over towards it.
What happens when the bug occurs? Your sim still walks over as if to perform the original action added to the queue by the AI even though you cancelled it.

What do you expect to see? I expect for the Sim to not walk over to the object when I delete the action in my queue. 
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? No

If you also have this issue with routing and action queue management, please press the "Me too"

[rlc77]

This is especially annoying because things I put in the sim's queue will just disappear but I can't cancel things that the game gives them to do.  I want control over MY sims.

[simmerorigin]

@rlc77 Yes, the AI, action queue, and routing system needs some serious help in the Sims 4. In my opinion, the Sims 2 overall had the superior system. Sims 4 took some steps forward with multitasking but also took many steps back

Looks like my bug report got merged with yours @corenren ...from 2019! This is alarming. It's now 2022. I haven't read through this entire thread. Has anyone who works at EA commented on this issue? @crinrict 

The last official EA post appears to be from 2020 @SimGuruNick. Is this issue unfixable?

[xochiquetzl_xkvn]

I've noticed this too. It's worst in my household with the worst Simulation lag. I've been busily deleting things right and left, as they have bad Simulation lag on their home lot and were perky and responsive on Batuu, and are fine on other lots. We might have to just move.    Bulldozing the lot and replacing it with a gallery lot helped, but...

Sim: Decides to "chat"

Me: No, go write a book for your job's at-home task.

Sim: queues book-writing but continues their VITALLY IMPORTANT conversation

Me: Oh, for... *cancels conversation*

Sim: Continues SUPER VITALLY IMPORTANT conversation for maybe another hour or two unless I reset object on them

<I digress? might be relevant>

FWIW, I'm defining Simulation lag as:

• Cannot switch active Sim by clicking unless I hammer the button maybe 50 times. The space bar works but is kind of slow, and I have to count or it skips past the Sim I want.
• Sims pause when given instructions and think about it (five seconds our time?)
• Instructions take a very long time to end up in their queue (five to ten seconds our time)

Framerate is fine. Sims are just slow to respond. They're not Children of the Corn any more, as I've apparently deleted enough objects off the lot that they're playable, but they're not zippy at home, either.

At least it doesn't look like my game is paused any more, now that I've bulldozed the lot?

[edit] https://youtu.be/U2-173q1fU8

I queue the Sim in the bathroom to go to bed and it takes him a full minute and twelve seconds to actually do it. Meanwhile his housemate is doing Children of the Corn next to the bathroom and his wife is washing a dish in the bathroom sink as per normal.

</I digress? might be relevant>

[simmerorigin]

@xochiquetzl_xkvn Yes, it's a complex and entangled issue of sim responsiveness, action queue management, the AI, and routing. There have been issues since I played the base game on release in 2014.

[xochiquetzl_xkvn]

@simmerorigin  Yeah, I'm sure it's super hard to track down, because there can be so many possible causes. I went on my inventory and object deletion kick after seeing SimGuruPopcorn suggest it in a livestream, and it does seem to help, but there also might be something else up. It really does seem to be this specific lot.

(Er. We had THOUSANDS of Death Flowers in one Sim's inventory. I'm trying to clobber any item that says 99+ in addition to general tossing.)

Also, people use the word "lag" to mean different things which would also have different causes.

They were so zippy on Batuu, but they didn't have their family portraits (I'll cry if those are the issue and have considered downloading Sims 4 Studio to try to turn them into CC), their large garden, the city hubhub (they live in Torendi Tower, but it's a very small building with a very large garden by MsGryphi and I probably need to delete more decorations in favor of those beloved family portraits; I already reduced the number of plants), etc.

I will say... my Sims have maxed photography and every time someone moves out we take beautiful portraits of them first, and... I put a stack of like 30 portraits into a chest to get them out of personal inventory, and dragging them was as slow and "gluey" as dragging 100 Death Flowers in a stack. So I do, with a heavy heart, wonder if they're an issue. We have 18 displayed around the house, and 6 paintings from reference. Just in case, I did make copies and put them into the Plumbob Pictures museum, as most of them are Global Superstars. LOL. And I suppose we don't HAVE do display our "FOR THE HOARD" accomplishment of every single collection plaque? sniff... but I'd rather wander around and delete clutter I don't care about and keep my family portraits!

[siirysiir]

I think I'm seeing this too. To me it seems like it's due to lag. I've noticed this happening on some bigger lots with large houses and 8-sim families. It helps when I restart the game. Kinda as if when you play for a while some background processes start clogging the game engine in some way. I've understood that the game does some checks for the sim population at certain time of the day on certain days and that's when I notice massive lag and this kind of behaviour worsens where sims won't cancel commands (or they do cancel eventually but it takes way too long) unless I reset them.

[xochiquetzl_xkvn]

@siirysiir  Yes, this. My worst household is 4 adults, a Servo (who probably counts as another adult), and 2 pets. They're fine when I start playing and get slower over time.

They seem fine on other lots. They have a fake business on Sulani where they go when Super's conservationist hubby goes to do his thing and that lot is fine. Vacations are fine. It just seems to be... our home lot.

[simmerorigin]

@xochiquetzl_xkvn I’ve also noticed that actions that the AI queues tends to have the most issues when it comes to routing and cancelling