I <3 the new 64-bit and Metal Sims 3 [ Edited ]

[Arual7296]

@puzzlezaddictInteresting that your game is using less RAM than before. I don't know that much about computers, but I find it a bit odd that our RAM usages are so similar, although the circumstances are quite different. For context, I got the 1,5 GB usage when playing just base game in Sunset Valley in a save game that was just a couple of hours old (few objects, few sims) and no parties.

Do you think the gameplay would be less choppy if the game used more RAM? Or are those things unrelated?

[puzzlezaddict]

@Arual7296  I did test in Sunset Valley and didn't hit 2 GB with all packs installed, but I don't remember exactly how much the game was using because I was testing something else at the time.  It would be interesting to compare though; I'll check it out again later today.

It looks like the game is able to call as much memory as it needs; the question is how much it needs.  Having enough RAM free for Sims 3 is critical and will make it run more smoothly, so make sure you're not running much in the background, or anything if you only have 8 GB installed RAM or less.  You can also check the Activity Monitor (in Applications > Utilities) for total system memory use; definitely leave Sims 3 at least 5 GB if you can, so your OS doesn't start to compress files to save memory.

The other factor is whether you have a dedicated graphics card or not.  (Please forgive me if you've already posted your specs; they're all running together now.)  I have a dedicated card with its own dedicated memory, so it doesn't borrow from main memory like an integrated chip would do.

[Arual7296]

@puzzlezaddictI have 16 GB RAM and nothing running in the background, so I guess that isn't the issue. However, I do have the Intel Iris Plus 645 1536 MB graphics, which, as far as I know, is an integrated chip.

But what puzzles me is that when playing Sims 3 on my 10-year-old mediocre PC laptop (with less RAM and integrated graphics), I do not experience the same in-game intermittent freezing as on mac. The gameplay on that pc is quite laggy and at low fps, but it does not freeze for 30 seconds at a time every 1 or 2 minutes, like on mac.

When the game doesn't freeze on mac, the game runs very smoothly with no lag or stutter. I will try and see how many fps I am getting.

If this issue with freezing could be fixed, my game would run pretty much perfectly, apart from a few (minor) issues with graphics.