Are the Sims 3 Seasons and Sims 3 Generations Worth Buying in 2021? [ Edited ]

[Lola18790]

Hello,

Alright so I have been playing the Sims for over 8 years and began with the Sims 3 in maybe 2012-2013. I soon became obsessed with the game and received it and a bunch of packs for Christmas the following year I fell in love with it. However, once the Sims 4 came out, I started playing that and have been ever since. Someone who I know sells video games, so since I didn't play the Sims 3 anymore, I gave them to him to sell. Obviously, I don't have them anymore. Now, a few days ago, I jumped back into the Sims 3 and remembered how good it is. But, since the game has not been updated in so long, it's very laggy and has sluggish performance. It crashes for no reason, (I think it has something to do with me having the Sims 3 Pets installed) it takes forever load items in CAS, etc. I was thinking about purchasing the Sims 3 Seasons and the Sims 3 Generations again, but I was scared that it would make the game's performance even worse. My question is, should I buy the packs, or don't risk it? I am playing on a 2020 MacBook Pro (macOS Catalina 10.15.5). It has plenty of storage and 8 GB of RAM. In my game, I have all the Sims 3 Store worlds installed, a few CAS and build mode items from the store as well. I have some CC, but hardly any. I will attach my deviceconfig.log here for more info about my game. For privacy reasons, I have changed my name to REMOVED in the file.

Thanks.

=== Application info ===

Name:            Sims3

Version:         

Build:           Release

=== Rating info ===

GPU: 3 GPU Memory: 5 CPU: 1 RAM: 5 CPU Speed: 1400 Threading: 3

Adjusted CPU: 2380 RAM: 8192 Adjusted RAM: 7680 Cores: 4

Card Found in DB: 0

=== Machine info ===

OS version:      Mac OS X Version 10.15.5 (Build 19F101)

OS prod type:    0

OS major ver:    10

OS minor ver:    15

OS SP major ver: 0

OS SP minor ver: 0

OS is 64Bit: 1

CPU:             MacBookPro16,3

    Brand:       Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8257U CPU @ 1.40GHz

    Family:      8

    Model:       7

    Cores:       4

    HT:          1

    x64:         1

Memory:          8192MB

Free memory:     277MB

User:            REMOVED

Computer:        REMOVED-MacBook-Pro

=== Graphics device info ===

Number:          0

Name (driver):   Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645

Name (database): Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 [Found: 0, Matched: 1]

Vendor:          Intel

Chipset:         Vendor: 8086, Device: 3ea6, Board: 00000178, Chipset: 0001

Driver:          macOS Metal driver, Version: 0.0.0.0

Driver version:  0

Monitor:         00000000

Texture memory:  1536MB

Vertex program:  3.0

Pixel program:   3.0

Hardware TnL:    0

=== Options ===

AnimationSmoothing 0

LightingQuality 1

GeneralReflections 1

TextureQuality 2

VisualEffects 2

TerrainQuality 1

EdgeSmoothing 0

ObjectHiding 1

AspectRatio 0

ForceSquarePixels 1

SimQuality 2

TreeQuality 1

DrawDistance 2

MaxActiveLots 1

NumMaxActiveLotOptions 6

AdvancedRendering 1

AudioQuality 1

AudiutputMode 1

VoiceLevel 255

SoundFXLevel 255

MusicLevel 255

AmbientLevel 255

FocusMute 1

VoiceMute 1

SoundFXMute 1

MusicMute 1

AmbientMute 1

EdgeScrolling 0

EdgeScrollingWarning 0

SupressOpportunityDialogs 0

SuppressOpportunityDialogsWarningProducts 513

SimWhileMinimized 0

TwelveHourClock 1

ShowPlacementGrid 0

AutonomyLevel 1

DisableAutonomyForSelectedSim 1

PetAutonomyLevel 2

AgingInterval 2

EnableAging 1

EnableTutorial 1

EnableIntroTutorial 0

EnableTombResets 1

EnableInGameStore 1

EnableTelemetry 1

EnableMemories 1

AgingStageLengthBaby 2

AgingStageLengthToddler 14

AgingStageLengthChild 14

AgingStageLengthTeen 17

AgingStageLengthYoungAdult 42

AgingStageLengthAdult 25

AgingStageLengthElder 20

EnableInteractiveLoading 1

AgingStageLengthPuppy 0

AgingStageLengthDogAdult 0

AgingStageLengthDogElder 0

AgingStageLengthKitten 0

AgingStageLengthCatAdult 0

AgingStageLengthCatElder 0

AgingStageLengthFoal 0

AgingStageLengthHorseAdult 0

AgingStageLengthHorseElder 0

LunarCycleLength 3

LunarPhaseLength 0

EnableLunarCycle 1

EnableLunarPhase 0

EnableStoryProgression 1

EnableVampires 1

EnableWerewolves 1

EnablePets 1

EnableCelebrities 1

EnableFairies 1

EnableWitches 1

EnableHorses 1

EnableOptOutCeleb 0

ReceiveConnectTNS 1

ReceivedDevGift 0

PostFilterFlags 0

RequireLoginBeforeLoad 0

SummerLength 7

FallLength 7

WinterLength 7

SpringLength 7

SummerEnabled 1

FallEnabled 1

WinterEnabled 1

SpringEnabled 1

IsCelcius 0

FogEnabled 1

RainEnabled 1

SnowEnabled 1

HailEnabled 1

InvertHorizontalRotation 0

InvertVerticalRotation 0

VideoCaptureSize 1

VideoCaptureQuality 2

VideoCaptureSound 0

VideoCaptureTime 60

VideoCaptureHideUI 1

=== Default Options ===

AnimationSmoothing 0

LightingQuality 2

GeneralReflections 1

TextureQuality 2

VisualEffects 2

TerrainQuality 1

EdgeSmoothing 0

ObjectHiding 1

AspectRatio 0

ForceSquarePixels 1

SimQuality 2

TreeQuality 1

DrawDistance 2

MaxActiveLots 1

NumMaxActiveLotOptions 6

AdvancedRendering 1

AudioQuality 1

AudiutputMode 1

VoiceLevel 255

SoundFXLevel 255

MusicLevel 255

AmbientLevel 255

FocusMute 1

VoiceMute 0

SoundFXMute 0

MusicMute 0

AmbientMute 0

EdgeScrolling 0

EdgeScrollingWarning 1

SupressOpportunityDialogs 0

SuppressOpportunityDialogsWarningProducts 0

SimWhileMinimized 0

TwelveHourClock 1

ShowPlacementGrid 0

AutonomyLevel 2

DisableAutonomyForSelectedSim 0

PetAutonomyLevel 2

AgingInterval 2

EnableAging 1

EnableTutorial 1

EnableIntroTutorial 1

EnableTombResets 1

EnableInGameStore 1

EnableTelemetry 1

EnableMemories 1

AgingStageLengthBaby 3

AgingStageLengthToddler 7

AgingStageLengthChild 7

AgingStageLengthTeen 14

AgingStageLengthYoungAdult 21

AgingStageLengthAdult 21

AgingStageLengthElder 17

EnableInteractiveLoading 1

AgingStageLengthPuppy 0

AgingStageLengthDogAdult 0

AgingStageLengthDogElder 0

AgingStageLengthKitten 0

AgingStageLengthCatAdult 0

AgingStageLengthCatElder 0

AgingStageLengthFoal 0

AgingStageLengthHorseAdult 0

AgingStageLengthHorseElder 0

LunarCycleLength 3

LunarPhaseLength 0

EnableLunarCycle 1

EnableLunarPhase 0

EnableStoryProgression 1

EnableVampires 1

EnableWerewolves 1

EnablePets 1

EnableCelebrities 1

EnableFairies 1

EnableWitches 1

EnableHorses 1

EnableOptOutCeleb 0

ReceiveConnectTNS 1

ReceivedDevGift 0

PostFilterFlags 0

RequireLoginBeforeLoad 0

SummerLength 7

FallLength 7

WinterLength 7

SpringLength 7

SummerEnabled 1

FallEnabled 1

WinterEnabled 1

SpringEnabled 1

IsCelcius 0

FogEnabled 1

RainEnabled 1

SnowEnabled 1

HailEnabled 1

InvertHorizontalRotation 0

InvertVerticalRotation 0

VideoCaptureSize 1

VideoCaptureQuality 2

VideoCaptureSound 0

VideoCaptureTime 60

VideoCaptureHideUI 1

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@Lola18790  Seasons is the second-most-demanding pack, after Pets, and having it installed may cause more performance issues.  On the other hand, while I've seen a lot of complaints about Pets from Mac users running the 64-bit version, I haven't seen much about Seasons causing lag.  So it may not have much of an effect for you.

The pack's content is highly popular, with many people saying they'd never want to play without Seasons in place.  I think there are very few people whose computers can run it who choose not to.

Seasons does also come with an annoying graphics issue, namely that when the snow depth is greater than zero, snowy roads show through buildings:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-64-bit-Walls-floors-cut-away-to-display...

Generations is a mild pack and shouldn't cause any lag or other problems with performance.  It's also one of the lower-rated expansions overall—many people think it doesn't have enough content for a full EP.  (It has a lot more than Sims 4 EPs do though.)  Other people like it a lot, so it's more a matter of taste.  If you used to like it when you played before, you should still like it now, and it certainly has a lot of fun elements for family play.

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@Lola18790  Seasons is the second-most-demanding pack, after Pets, and having it installed may cause more performance issues.  On the other hand, while I've seen a lot of complaints about Pets from Mac users running the 64-bit version, I haven't seen much about Seasons causing lag.  So it may not have much of an effect for you.

The pack's content is highly popular, with many people saying they'd never want to play without Seasons in place.  I think there are very few people whose computers can run it who choose not to.

Seasons does also come with an annoying graphics issue, namely that when the snow depth is greater than zero, snowy roads show through buildings:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-64-bit-Walls-floors-cut-away-to-display...

Generations is a mild pack and shouldn't cause any lag or other problems with performance.  It's also one of the lower-rated expansions overall—many people think it doesn't have enough content for a full EP.  (It has a lot more than Sims 4 EPs do though.)  Other people like it a lot, so it's more a matter of taste.  If you used to like it when you played before, you should still like it now, and it certainly has a lot of fun elements for family play.

[Lola18790]

Hi,

Thanks for your feedback. I will definitely consider buying the packs now.