Sims 4 Lagging, taking forever to load, not responding

[drummergirl231]

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? 1.54.120.1020
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Seasons, Get to Work, Get Famous, Get Together, Cats and Dogs, City Living, Parenthood, Outdoor Retreat, Toddler Stuff, Perfect Patio Stuff
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? I'm not sure if you can. I think it's just happening with my computer.
What happens when the bug occurs? It takes forever to load, and everything's in slow-mo. Sometimes the game just stops responding. Sims don't do anything I tell them to do, and when I click on things, it takes forever for the game to act like I did something.
What do you expect to see? I expect to be able to play the game again.
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Never used.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? No

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When I click on the icon to open the game, it takes a while for anything to happen. Then it takes several minutes of loading just to get to the main menu. Now even the title is lagging (the opening sequence with the green gem and the Sims 4 letters). It takes a long time to load my saved games after clicking on "Load Game," and it takes a long time to load my saved game once I've selected one. And if I click on a household to play, it takes even longer. We're talking ten or more minutes just to get to some gameplay. Then playing is impossible. I click on an item or another sim, and the option bubbles don't pop up for a while. I try to switch to a different sim in the household to control, it doesn't switch over to them for a long time. I give my sims a few tasks - clean up dish, use toilet, go to sleep - and they just stay sitting at the kitchen table. I give another sim some friendly and flirty interactions to do with the visiting sim, and they just stand there in front of each other not doing anything. Time passes in the game, and they're not frozen (they have those subtle movements all video game characters do so you know they're not statues), but they're all stuck. Their tasks don't drop down and they never start doing them. Then it takes forever to exit the game, too, until it says Sims 4 is not responding.

This started randomly, not after a download or anything. I had two sims hanging out and things just got glitchy and laggy for a second, but then it got a tiny bit better (though still laggy), so I kept playing. But then it got bad. With each attempt I've made to fix the issue, it's gotten worse. I've tried switching to 32 bit, emptying the trash on my desktop, restarting my computer, completely shutting down my computer and turning it back on, repairing the game, going offline, etc.

And no, I don't use mods and I don't have any custom content.

[BlackjackWidow]

Hi @drummergirl231 - This sounds incredibly frustrating! There are a couple of possibilities here. First, double-check your antivirus and firewall settings to be sure that TS4_64.exe and Origin.exe are both still on exception lists. Sometimes when my antivirus program updates, it decides to forget things I've allowed before and can block some programs.

Even though you said you've already tried it, I suggest you repair your game again, using these steps:

• Exit TS4 and Origin completely.
• Save a copy of your Saves folder to your desktop (or somewhere else safe, to use as a backup)
• Move your Mods folder to the desktop
• Delete the file localthumbcache.package Default location is C:\[YourUserName]\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4  Instructions with pictures are here: https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2014/09/delete-cache-files/
• Launch Origin "As Administrator" (Right-click Origin.exe, choose Compatibility tab, Check the box next to "Run this program as administrator")
• In Origin, right-click The Sims 4 icon and choose "Repair". Origin has to be online for this to complete. Let the repair run until completed, on the game and any add-ons that are installed
• Launch The Sims 4 and check to see if the issue is fixed.

If it's still really laggy and the repair didn't seem to help, try disconnecting your Internet connection (even if you have great wifi or a fiber connection). It's important that you totally disconnect, don't just choose to go offline in Origin. Pull the network cable out of your computer or disconnect from wifi, just to test if that helps.

If you still have the problem, please reply back with a copy of your dxdiag.

How to DxDiag

To post your DxDiag:

1. Select the 'Choose file' button below the post box

2. Find the DxDiag file and select it - hit Open

3. Add text to your post and hit Submit

[ObliquityWrites]

The save file may be corrupted. This has happened to me a few times now and making a new save file with the same sims and lots makes it move again. Very annoying, of course, but saving and backing up often will stop you having to completely go back to the beginning.

[flannixx]

I’ve had a similar issue. Basically i can open the sims 4 game itself completely fine, no problems, but when i’m loading into a household, it takes forever(or a really long time) to load and actually get into the game play. And when i load up my game and finally get into the household it’s laggy at first but then fine, but everything keeps lagging and freezing. my biggest issue is when i’ll tell my sims to do something, or if they’re already doing something or even if they’re doing nothing, the time will freeze and whatever speed it was in they’ll do a little motion in that speed. this problem used to not last that long and stop on its own and i could play, but it’s gotten worse so if it stops on its own it take very long and now it doesn’t even stop. so i’ll try to leave the game and save it and when i’m saving it my game will crash. also saving takes forever and when i’m trying to do things will this lagspike is happening, everything his really slow.

[puzzlezaddict]

@flannixx  Are your sims celebrating or have they recently celebrated Winterfest?  It sounds like this might be your issue:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Bug-Reports/CURRENT-ISSUE-Game-Freeze-Extended-Loading-Times-Save-Game/td-...

If so, let me know, and I'll merge your post with that thread.  You can also try the suggestions here:

https://sims4.crinrict.com/eng/2020/11/game-time-is-freezing-patch-1-68/