Finally managed to access the Reddit thread about my project, and saw that many people are confused as to what I'm doing here. Sorry for the confusion, let me explain:
The Sims 3 is a 32-bit program, with "Large Address Aware" since patch... IDK, but quite some time ago. So, on 64-bit Windows, it can (and does) access nearly 4 GB of RAM.
However, the memory management of The Sims 3 is horrible. Objects got created and deleted, but the latter often didn't happen, polluting the memory until the game gets confused -- Crash to Desktop.
The game does try to fix things up during save. Its strategy? Make a list of all objects (data structures) being used in game, create a new list... then do a DEEP COPY of the objects to be stored in EA's proprietary DBPF format. If the game had leaked enough memory -- Error Code 12.
Finally, the lags. The game is "minimally threaded"; nearly all processing use only a handful of threads. That, on itself, is not a serious problem... if they access a proper thread-safe database. But nooo... the threads are all accessing this messed up in-memory structure (see explanations above) that necessitates some kind of "Global Semaphore". Meaning, even when a thread wants to just "read" the data, it's not allowed because some other thread is busy updating 2 or 3 objects.
So, what I had in mind is to create a 'wrapper' around TS3, that will 'hook' onto some internal facilities (using DLL injection, in-memory patch, and other Magic Stuff™) and replace those internal facilities with better-built ones.
And hopefully, while doing that, provide a better framework for modders to more easily create mods.
Yes, this project will mostly be coded in .Net, except critical paths like the intercepts
No, .Net does not automatically mean it's going to be slower
Yes, this will take some time
Yes, this will be an Open Source project. (Keyword is 'will')
No, I can't do it faster. I don't have a powerful enough computer at home, and the office computer, well, need to be timeshared with office work, so...
Yes, I gladly accept assistance. But let me play around first :D
I am 100% certain that the Great Modders that have moved on, they also had the same idea originally. But the game kept being patched, and patched, and patched, either via SuperPatches or through EPs/SPs, that they have given up the approach. Now that EA had certainly abandon TS3, I believe the code is now Considered Stable™, and more suitable for my kind of approach. But the Great Modders... oh, how they battled the bugs, assisted the users, trying dastardly to fix new breakage that EA introduced every iteration... finally, they burnt out.
I'm greatly indebted to the Great Modders for YEARS of fun and (relatively) fatal-bug-free gameplay, that I want to 'donate back' to the community.
And hopefully, by providing an open-source, more sensible and accessible way to develop mods, rekindle the flame that once stoked up the Great Modders...
I hope I've clarified the project enough for you... feel free to fire me a question!
(I tried logging into Reddit, but I've forgotten my password, and I'm still waiting for the password recovery email...)
