In The Sims 4, the speed settings let you control how fast time moves in the game. Ultra Speed is great for speeding things up, but sometimes it doesn’t stay active. A few things can cause it to slow down or stop.
System Performance
If your computer’s hardware doesn’t meet the game’s requirements or if there are other programs running in the background consuming resources, the game may struggle to maintain Ultra Speed smoothly.
As your Sims’ household grows or if there are numerous activities happening simultaneously (like parties or events), your computer may struggle to keep up with Ultra Speed due to the increased computational demand.
Game Updates or Mods
Game updates and mods can mess with Ultra Speed if they’re not playing nice together.
If you use mods, make sure they’re updated for the latest patch. Some older mods may not be compatible and can cause weird time-related bugs.
Check the creators’ pages (ModTheSims, Patreon, Discord, etc.) for updates.
If a mod hasn’t been updated in a while, try removing it and see if Ultra Speed works again.
Particular Game Situations
In “The Sims 4,” there are several situations where the Ultra Speed function may not work as expected. One common scenario is when there are ghosts, pets, or townies present at your Sims’ house.
When a ghost is haunting your Sim’s household, the game may prioritize certain interactions or animations related to the ghost’s presence. This can disrupt the flow of time and prevent Ultra Speed from functioning correctly.
The game won’t stay on ultra speed if there’s an event happening, like:
- A festival (in City Living)
- A fire
- A burglar (For Rent DLC)
- A phone call or pop-up notification
Save File Size
Over time, as you play and accumulate more content in your save file, it can become larger and more complex. This can lead to longer processing times between game ticks, causing Ultra Speed to lag or slow down intermittently.
The Sims 4 keeps a bunch of old save backups. Delete the ones you don’t need.
Too many objects, Sims, or large lots with tons of detail can slow things down. Try deleting extra items, and reducing household inventories — they get ridiculous sometimes.
If things feel sluggish overall, use the Repair option in the EA App. It cleans up corrupted files.
You can also delete the localthumbcache.package file from your Sims 4 folder. This clears out old data that might be causing conflicts.
⇒ Quick Solution
- Switching to another household and back again can be a solution to issues with Ultra Speed in The Sims 4.
When you switch households, the game may reset or reinitialize certain aspects of the simulation, including the processing of events, interactions, and AI behaviors. This reset can clear any bottlenecks or conflicts that were hindering Ultra Speed.