Serious lag after last game update

[Half-rose]

@JeanVW  oh pff, i thought it was about the stuttering. I got the pin thing resolved since it didn't even had one.

[puzzlezaddict]

@Sean_Theriault  Thanks for the info, that's really helpful.

@Half-rose @LadyDarkSorrow and @JeanVW Does adjusting the mentioned settings make a difference?

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@Sean_Theriault wrote:
@puzzlezaddict Thanks for your reply! I have been playing around with the graphics settings today to see what was causing it. It seems me that the reflection quality (especially when there are a lot of mirrors in a build), post-processing effects (makes the fps go down depending on the direction the camera is facing. Worlds like Windenburgh and Brindleton Bay suffers a lot from this) and uncompressed sims textures causing issues with inconsistent frames rate.

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Please let me know either way,  Even if you don't want to play on lower settings, it's useful information.

[Half-rose]

@puzzlezaddict 

No changes from me even removing reflections and post processing. Which i was not surprised because mine stutters like that even without loading into any world, by just staring the world it does it.

[Half-rose]

@puzzlezaddict 

 I have discovered my issue but i am puzzled on how to 'fully' resolve it

 The frame rate goes to absolute smooth normal when i unplug my internet, it goes imediately to stuttering the second i plug my internet cable back.

note: it continues to stutter if i disable internet features ingame, it only goes to good framerate if I disconnect my entire pc from the internet.

[puzzlezaddict]

@Half-rose  Yeah, that's a known issue.  I guess I should have asked, but I was thrown off by the mention of lag, which is usually a system issue separate from the low fps when connected to the internet.

Unfortunately, there's no reliable fix for this issue.  You could try a different connection, e.g. your phone (using data) as a hotspot rather than your ethernet cable.  That's not a permanent solution, but at least you'd know whether it was a router or ISP issue rather than something with your computer.

Other than that, people sometimes fix it by reinstalling Windows.  That seems like a huge hassle though, and it's not guaranteed to work.

Thanks for the update.

[Half-rose]

@puzzlezaddict 

 I started checking for simialr issues with the internet and i saw around about reinstalling windows which is, indeed a huge thing to do. Unfortunately my internet situation is not the best, my room doesn't get wifi well it is really unstable hence the use of ethernet. So I suppose I'm sorta stuck on this now until, some other solution gets found.

 but thanks for the assistance, I'll keep looking to see if I can find another solution.

[LadyDarkSorrow]

@puzzlezaddict   sorry for late reply, sleepiness took over me. I read the first post to me and did what you ask , updated ICue, ect, even windows 10 jumped in on the fun,  went to play Sims after. game went back lagging like before, nothing changed. I then read your next Post about turning off post-processing effects as @Sean_Theriault  mentioned . now something did changed. seems I can move about in build mode then back without lagging me to death for 30 sec or more. infect I been playing for 2 plus hour and still no lag.

I never touched the post-processing button

but confuse on what it does ?

[puzzlezaddict]

@LadyDarkSorrow  Post processing adds a distance blur to faraway objects, to give the effect of our eyes not being able to focus that far away.  When done right, it's a nice effect, although I personally don't like how Sims 4 does it.  (I think the blur is too much and starts too close to the camera, but that's an entirely different conversation.)

But what's clear is that in almost all games where it exists, having the setting enabled puts more demands on the graphics card.  From what I've seen, the effect is negligible in the majority of cases, often has a very small effect (a drop of less than 10 fps), and occasionally a much larger drop of around 15-20 fps.  I only tested a few places though, and not with all packs installed, or more than one sim in the vicinity, or inclement weather, or... point is, even with a very fast GPU, the game engine can reach its limit, and post processing only adds to that.  So if you don't miss the effect, you'll only help your game run better by disabling it.

[LadyDarkSorrow]

@puzzlezaddict  thank you, that clears up a huge gap in my understanding. I keep hearing Simmers and other people talking about it in post and threads and never understood it. big help today. AND I got my GAME BACK!  4-h play, no lag. 

[Half-rose · Accepted solution]

@puzzlezaddict 

 I fixed my issue

I'm unsure which of those steps fixed for me, so I'll just list all of them.

I updated Realtek ethernet drivers, and drivers in general.

Cleaned any temp files

scanned system files

cleaned registry(used CCleaner)

erased all internet data, aka, cookies, stored files etc

like i said, I don't know which did(I think it could have been the registry) but whichever was, it fixed the framerate issue

Note: I ran the cleaner several times to make sure