Weird lag in build/buy mode and sometimes in Live Mode too

[puzzlezaddict]

@MadPeachyTV  That is great to hear, and an interesting development.  I do remember one person a few months ago with Razer software who had mouse lag in-game, but it was all the time, starting as soon as the game loaded, and partially responsive to other interventions, so I didn't think it was related.  Or it may just be a coincidence.

@JeanVW has a Corsair mouse and keyboard, not Razer, but it's always possible there's some Razer software left over from a previous peripheral device.  Or maybe Corsair software is interfering in the same way.  I guess the point is, another clean boot may be in order, this time with additionally disabling pretty much everything that can be force-closed in the Task Manager.

[cruser43]

I'm experiencing the same issue, and clicking the '...' button fixes the lag for me as well until the next time I enter build mode. (Thanks @MadPeachyTV, before you pointed that out as a workaround, I thought the only way to stop it was to save the game.) Lag is as others have described, it drops from a smooth 60 fps to a juttery 1-5 fps. 

Specs:
6 core 12 thread Xeon E5-1650 v3 @ 3.5GHz

128 GB DDR4 PC 2133 Buffered ECC RAM

Nvidia GTX 1080 GB

Samsung NVME SSD

I wonder if it has something to do with the quantity of content? Some algorithm in the UI not scaling well to the number of items. I have all of the packs/expansions/etc except for paranormal.

[puzzlezaddict]

@cruser43  One person fixed this by uninstalling their Razer software.  Another player reported a similar issue went away with a couple of tweaks to graphicsrules.sgr:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/CURRENT-ISSUE-Incredibly-Low-FPS-when-connected-to-Int...

As noted in the next post below that one, you don't need to edit your original version; simply make a copy and stick it in ConfigOverride.  The game will use that copy when it's present, but if you don't like the effects of the edits, it's easy to delete that second copy with no harm done.

[cruser43]

Thanks @puzzlezaddict ! I'll give those a try.

My theory about it being an algorithm that doesn't scale in build mode was wrong btw. I can make the lag inside build mode go away by clicking '...' just like I can make it go away outside of build mode by clicking '...'. That suggests that a state is flipped when transitioning between the two modes causing lag, and hitting '...' unflips it so everything works well again. There is nothing in build mode or live mode that is lagging on its own.

[JeanVW]

What I can't fathom, is that it's not reproduced yet. SO many players are experiencing trouble with this. And for a good while too, to add.

[Psychotps]

I think most people aren't reporting it because it's such an OLD problem, most people have given up on it being fixed.

I've had the problem myself for years. On MULTIPLE computers.

Most of the time, hitting ESCape and going back in resolves it temporarily. When it happens, I go into build/buy mode and my framerate drops from 50+ to ~10. I had it go down to 7 (SEVEN) fps just this afternoon. I hit ESCape twice and it rocketed back up to 55. Problem is, it tends to stick in build/buy mode. Once I return to Live mode, I can hit ESC twice and it's back to almost normal temporarily.

[Psychotps]

@oaana

Wonderful!

I've been having this problem for a while, 50+ most of the time, and <10 in build/buy mode. I decided to test your ECO theory, and IT WORKED!

I disabled ECO and now my game is now 100% locked at 60fps ALL THE TIME.

Man, ECO basically DESTROYS the framerate! With NAPs all horribly broken, obliteration of framerrates, I'm amazed it was even released!

I would recommend to EVERYONE to disable ECO immediately! It's not worth it!

[JeanVW]

@Psychotps That's great, but it doesn't work for me. This problem was there LONG before Eco pack arrived. So that can't be the issue. There is something wrong with the algoritm of the game.

[Psychotps]

@JeanVW

ECO very likely includes a massive FPS drop. If a computer is already a little on the slow side, it may have been there earlier. Laptops are naturally a lot slower than desktops and people seem to like them for some reason. My Intel NUC is very new and quite fast. So, removing ECO gave it a much needed speed boost.

I tested this by putting ECO back in and removing Paranormal. I got a speed boost, but not nearly as big as removing ECO.

If you have a computer that's more on the slower side, I'm willing to bet if you disable more packs, it would run better. Some packs will naturally include a bigger game lag than others. ECO's lag is just very large.  I'm willing to bet if you disable Seasons, the game speed would increase a LOT. You would just have to decide which packs you can live without if you seriously want a speed boost.

It makes perfect sense. The Sims 3 was the same way. They released so many packs that the game got so bad, it would barely even run if you had them all. They even designed the game launcher so you could Choose to disable some packs on the fly if you wanted better performance. It got so bad that the game was unplayable unless you disabled half the packs. The Sims 3 had less packs than 4 but it was a bigger problem because Sims 3 was Open World. Every pack included a massive game lag. Sims 4 they removed the Open World so they were able to release more packs before they started effecting performance. But it was bound to happen eventually.

I wouldn't be surprised if a launcher change was coming in a future update before long.

[JeanVW]

Well i have a rtx 2060, i5 7500k and 16 gigs of ram.. Sims 4 has for a while now and long before eco living, had this issue for me. And more people with me.. Idk if eco made it worse, but it was definitely already present.