An object limiter is a software restriction on the number of objects that can be placed on a lot. Object limiters exist to prevent game crashes due to excessive memory usage and to ensure the game performs reasonably well on console hardware. A limiter is present in all console versions of The Sims prior to The Sims 4, as well as The Sims Social. Console games are usually limited to about 100-150 objects. In The Sims Social, players can place up to 800 objects.
The object limiter will warn the player if they are nearing the limit.[TU:SITC][TS2C][TS3C] In The Urbz: Sims in the City, this is done by means of modal alerts. In most games, a meter appears which visually represents the object limit, which fills as more objects are added. This meter is represented with an icon of a house on fire in most games starting with The Sims 2 for consoles.
In The Sims 2: Castaway, the game will compensate for going over the limit by setting one of the items in the house on fire.
Object limiters are not present in Windows/macOS/Linux games (excluding The Sims Social) as consoles tend to have less memory and fewer resources compared to PCs. For example, the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 both have 512MB of RAM (with the PS3 having its RAM split 256MB for graphics and 256MB for general usage).[1][2] The Sims 3 on PC/Mac requires 1/1.5GB[3] of RAM. Because of this, The Sims 3 for console has the object limiter, whereas the PC version does not.
The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One consoles, which The Sims 4 is available for, has a similar amount of RAM to the system requirements of the PC version, and this may be the reason it was not included in the console version of the game.
The Sims 3 (Windows/macOS)[]
The Sims 3 has no hard limit on the amount of walls (Neither on lengths or on individual walls that don't touch each other), though the loading times to enter or leave Buy/Build Mode begins to get much longer past the "1,000 individual walls" point, with leaving from Buy/Build Mode to Edit Town reaching almost 2 minutes around the 2,500-walls mark. Lag in placing new walls also becomes present around the 800 mark, and wall shadow generations begin to struggle around 2,100.
There is said to be a limit of around 500 objects per lot, though this has not been properly tested.
Trivia[]
- In The Sims 2 for PSP, the object limiter is known as Feng Shui. However, it simply does not allow the player to buy more stuff, rather than setting the object on fire.
- It was also used in The Sims, The Sims Bustin' Out and the GBA version of Pets.
- The object limiter in The Sims 3 for console is similar to the Feng Shui although it is still referred to as the object limiter.
- In The Sims and The Sims Bustin' Out, it was known as the Feng Shui. For unknown reasons, it was called the Fire Code in The Urbz: Sims in the City, The Sims 2 and The Sims 2 Pets, although some versions still use the original name. In The Sims 3 and The Sims 3 Pets, it was renamed to Fire Meter.
- If a console game is played using an emulator, there will still be an object limit regardless of the host system, as the data and programming of the base game is not changed by emulation.
References[]
- ↑ Querycat: How much RAM does the PS3 have?
- ↑ Chacha: How much RAM and cache does the Xbox 360 have?
- ↑ 1GB is required for Windows XP and 1.5GB is required for Windows Vista and Windows 7 and 2 GB for macOS.