Vote on Future of Modsby's Instant Pie Menu & Auto-Pausing
There’s a bug in v5 that causes outdated menus to appear even after they should have been refreshed.
Previously there was an automation error when Sims would stand idle and do nothing.
Sadly they are interdependent or in other words: its one or the other.
The logic is solid: IPM needs to cache for the sim, but it can not do that while the sim is actively free-thinking and roaming around. The only solution is for IPM to Pause the game when the menu is open, that is when IPM works best and still keep it compatible with Smarter Pie Menu. Please vote if you want this
Okay here is what beta has proven so far:
Instant Pie Menu can not passively save updated option when its not paused, automation suffers as a result if its done during play time, it should not force you to pause the game and wait 20 minutes. Thats unfair of me. I made ipm compatible with auto-pause before and i myself used it for a while while testing, so i never noticed the automation glitch. After i got angry with auto-pause's timings and compatability issues with other Smarter Pie Menu, i removed it and long after we noticed the automation errors creep in. Why is that? In short: While IPM is baking it is blocking your sims only thought. It does not do that on pause. Yes but why? Because sims think on a single thread: One thought -> Another thought -> Blocked thought -> no thoughts -> no thoughts -> no thoughts -> etc
I can't wait to get into automation myself and look more closely but i dont want IPM to touch automation at all. More compatability issues. i've discovered that the only solution to this problem for now is this: Make Instant Pie-menu pause the game
PROS:
1) IPM caches when game is paused
2) Most of you use an auto-pause mod, those who don't have your reasons.
3) Most auto-pause mods are NOT compatible with Smarter Pie Menu. Which is a hardcore so most people dont use auto-pause. (a reason to #2)
4) IPM is compatible with Smarter Pie Menu.
5) IPM will continue caching while you're playing so you don't have to pause to optimise ipm more.
CONS:
1) It's not optional, once you click the game pauses so you can browse the menu, menu closes and you continue.
tldr: IPM needs to pause the game as part of its functionality to work bug free but you can not turn it off without turning off IPM with it.
I'm going to sleep its 2am, if the poll answer is yes when i wake up, the next release will have it
Edit (23 Oct 2026): Thank you everybody ( results were 77% vs 23%) it seems like Auto-pause feature will be integrated in the next release, unless someone has a good reason why it shouldn't. I'm sorry to anyone who is disappointed but it'll be fine :D and maybe down the line we can figure out a better way to bypass automations getting stuck without pausing the game. It's work in progress after all
Comments (11)
Hi! Personally and in my opinion 🙏: I’d prefer it if the game didn’t automatically pause when opening the pie menu, as i feel it takes away that sense of freedom for the player. That said, i don't think it's a huge issue that it pauses for now—it's something most of us do anyway. It’s just that not having the choice feels weird, not necessarily bad, just weird. I guess it’s easy to get used to, but if possible, I’d love to see this addressed in an upcoming update :o, maybe as a toggleable option to turn on or off. Either way, we know this is a work in progress, so i have no doubt you'll get it sorted in the future 🙌
I remember there was a mod that paused the game when the pie menu was open. However it conflicted with smarter pie menu where I could search stuff up which I NEED!!! So in the end I got rid of it but I did like the pause feature of the other mod. If IPM can pause the game when the pie menu is open and still work with other pie menus then I am all for it. I welcome it with open arms.
I literally ALWAYS pause the game whenever I open an interaction menu. I play with free will enabled for my Sims, and the menu is SO huge (considering I have over 1,000 mods installed!) that playing without pausing just isn't an option. So I'm absolutely THRILLED that you're adding this feature to your mod! ❤️
I will say imo it seems like we're a great team even though I do nothing other than playtest and provide scattered feedback xD But yes to auto pause - and I love having a creator who seems to be on the same or very similar timezone as me xD
If the mod is not compatible with instant pie menu it's a hard no for me, I love this mod it has been a game changer for me!!
I'm so lost because I don't have smarter pie menu or auto pause mods and I'm still having issues with menus updating 🙈
That's not related ;) It's just that we have to choose a way to cache the options, and because of the nature of the game, there will be "trait offs" (such as pausing, which isn't a trait off for many people)... with this feature, however, it will have time to cache without you having to notice too much because you'll be paused a lot while looking for things to do next. That's my understanding, anyway. ;)
I like to queue up multiple actions at once, so I typically manually pause anyway. This will actually be an improvement for me. The bug with the menus not updating however, is driving me crazy. Thank you for telling us. I play with an obscene amount of mods, so I wasn't sure what was causing it.
I have a pause mod and smarter pie option in my game - and when i had your mod in before i switched to the drop down i don’t remember ever having a problem . But i definitely think the game being paused when you click ( as i play now ) isn’t a big deal
So do I. I also pause the game everytime I click on a sim or any interaction. It just makes it easier to play
I pause the game every time i click on the menu anyway so this will actually make things way easier for me! thank you!