Problems on 2019 iMac with AMD Vega GPU [ Edited ]

[kgillis097]

I have a 2019 Retina 4K display iMac with Catalina (Version 10.15.6). 32GB memory, 3.2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7 processor and Radeon Pro Vega 20 4 GB graphics. Experiencing similar issues. Game loads up perfectly fine as it did before but as soon as the game lags slightly, the whole game freezes, gets the rainbow wheel and often requires me to force quit or even restart the entire computer. When it freezes the world and the house seem to black out and sometimes the whole screen goes red.

Have tried every fix I can think of, all mods were updated before updating the game, removed mods after this started occurring, tried repairing game twice and removing cache file. Game is practically unplayable after this and does not appear in the "My Home" menu in Origin. Did not happen before patch.

Edit - split from 16" MBP thread and edited title, Bluebellflora

[Bluebellflora]

@kgillis097

I've moved your thread as it is very specific to 16" MacBook Pros. There seem to be issues with the Vega GPUs. iMac Pro users have reported it here - https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/CPU-max-usage-and-system-crashing-on-IMac-Pro/td-p/94... and 15" MBP users have reported it here - https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-game-glitches-on-2019-model-15-quot-Mac...

[parelworld]

Have the same configuration and the same issue reported in the latest patch update.

I tested by running just Origin and the game with all other apps closed and still the same issue.

Tried everything listed in this thread and the Macbook 16" thread, nothing is working as of now. The game gets stuck every 15 minutes.

Even Big Sur update didn't help.

[groenroos]

Disabling Origin had no effect.

Given that the issue seems to be triggered by rotating the camera, I tried playing with the Sims 3 camera. I had very occasional rainbow wheels and framerate drops (on a fairly simple lot) when zooming and changing stories, but overall I was able to play normally for 46 minutes.

Around the 30 minute mark I switched to the TS4 camera, and 15 minutes later while dragging to resize a room, the cascade of freezes began and I had to save the lot and quit the game one painfully slow click at a time.

I don't know if the TS3 camera was significant, but anecdotally I was able to play for a lot longer than before until needing to shut it down.

[aromanticace]

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@groenroos wrote:

Disabling Origin had no effect.

Given that the issue seems to be triggered by rotating the camera, I tried playing with the Sims 3 camera. I had very occasional rainbow wheels and framerate drops (on a fairly simple lot) when zooming and changing stories, but overall I was able to play normally for 46 minutes.

Around the 30 minute mark I switched to the TS4 camera, and 15 minutes later while dragging to resize a room, the cascade of freezes began and I had to save the lot and quit the game one painfully slow click at a time.

I don't know if the TS3 camera was significant, but anecdotally I was able to play for a lot longer than before until needing to shut it down.

---

I play almost exclusively with the Sims 3 camera and tbh am not surprised the Sims 4 camera was worse. After trashing my Options file, the game defaulted me back to the Sims 4 camera and it was a catastrophe—almost instant freeze on loading a lot. I had to close and reopen my game before I could change the camera setting.

I now find that if I have all other apps on my computer closed, I can just barely manage to stream or record the game with OBS if I am gentle with my camera movements and don't try to place large/full rooms from my library onto a lot. For example, I placed a room full of harvestable plants on a lot while streaming and almost crashed my entire computer. I dropped 0.1% of my frames (I normally drop 0), my bitrate tanked, and of course I had to close the game to fix it.

[znijnz]

Hellom 

I'm experiencing the exact same issues on my 2019 iMac since the September patch. Before that, The Sims 4 was running very smoothly...

My specs:

Model iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019)

Operating System MacOS Catalina 10.15.6

Processor 3,2 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7

Memory 32 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Graphics Card Radeon Pro Vega 20 4 GB

I have all the packs except for the Journey to Batuu GP

Things I did to try and resolve the issues, but failed:

• removed all mods and cc (I was still in the process of reintroducing updated mods after the patch)
• trashed Sims 4 folder
• disabled Origin in-game
• disabled online features
• changed resolution, graphics settings, edge smoothing (usually off, but putting it on low/medium/high didn't change anything)
• deleted and reinstalled Origin Client
• deleted and reinstalled The Sims 4 and all packs

The issue most severely happens in Build mode, but even in Live mode I get the occasional glitch (like a horizontal line that flashes once across my screen), short freeze with beachball. Mostly when I'm turning the camera or zooming in or out. I seldom have any other application running while playing The Sims 4, except for Safari sometimes.

It happens in existing saves and new games.

[aftksims]

The Sims 4 has been working fine up until the recent update and installing the Star Wars pack. 

It seems that the game will have short periods of freezing/unresponsiveness, sometimes bouncing back to working and other times outright freezing and becoming unresponsive. Sometimes the screen becomes scattered with black dots and has even turned red. I am forced to shut down my computer. I don't get any error messages/last exceptions.

There is no rhyme or reason to it either - I could be putting a sim on a treadmill, sending a sim to the restroom or doing something in build mode. Sometimes it doesn't happen for 30 minutes, sometimes it happens in 10 minutes. 

I initially thought it was my save game but this happens across different save games and persisted despite removing all mods, repairing the game and finally doing a reinstall. 

In my several months of playing on this computer this has never happened. No game settings have been changed either. I have had the same graphic settings for months (ultra).

My Mac specs are as follows:

Mac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2019)

3 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i5

16 GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Radeon Pro Vega 20 4 GB

Also to note: I typically have Origin in offline mode, and basically have everything turned off (e.g., in game Origin, notifications etc). 

Anyone else with this issue or some insight?

[Bluebellflora]

@aftksims

Seems to be a problem with the AMD Vega GPUS. Merged your post into this thread. It's also affecting 15" MacBook Pros and iMac Pros with Vega GPUs.

[aftksims]

I just made a post about my recent issues and I tried switching to Sims 3 camera. Been playing for a few hours and no issues! I haven't switched back to Sims 4 camera yet. Personally I am not a huge fan of the camera but at least that's a workaround for the time being. There seems to be an issue with Sims 4 camera since the update. Hopefully EA addresses this ASAP.

[aftksims]

Thanks. I did some more reading... I saw someone switched to Sims 3 camera and so far that's solved the issue for me. Not a fan of Sims 3 camera though so hopefully EA is aware and fixes this issue.