Load screens and graphic glitches

[Bluebellflora]

@LeccaLovesYou

Thanks! I've merged your thread into this ongoing one for 16" MacBook Pro users. These models have had issues ever since they were launched a year ago. There are some suggestions on page 1 in the solution, give it a go and see if it helps

[LeccaLovesYou]

@Bluebellflora After a combination of the suggested fixes and trial and error it appears to be working again!! Thank you!!

[yaykebab]

@Bluebellflora This makes so much sense. I thought it had to do with the graphics card or VRAM. I just got the computer 3 weeks ago.

AMD Radeon Pro 5300M 4 GB
Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB

Upgraded to Big Sur AFTER I had issues. with the game.

Have tried to repair game via origin
have tried to remove mods
Have tried to uninstall/reinstall origin
Have tried to uninstall/reinstall sims 4
Have tried to go into the library and apps to delete the file.

[cebart73]

Macbook Pro (16-inch, 2019)

Processor 2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9

Memory 32GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Graphics AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB

MacOS Big Sur 11.0.1

I have two Macbook Pros:

1.

Macbook Pro (16-inch, 2019)

Processor 2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9

Memory 32GB 2667 MHz DDR4

Graphics AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB

MacOS Big Sur 11.0.1

2. 

Macbook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012)

Processor 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7

Memory 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3

Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1 GB

Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB

MacOS Catalina Version 10.15.7

I have Sims 4 installed on both Macbook Pros, and I have every expansion pack, including Snowy Escape and the Star Wars one.

Sims 4 plays just find on #2 even with everything installed -- including the latest 11/17/2020 patch. 

Sims 4 WILL NOT PLAY on my newer laptop #1 with the latest patch. It gets stuck in loading and crashes. OR, the game will load, I'm able to open neighborhoods, but it gets stuck in loading households (or just lots without Sims in it when you try to edit them via build mode). 

It's very frustrating that Sims 4 will still play on my old computer, but it won't play on my newer, faster one?!?

Any word on a fix for this?!?

[cebart73]

FYI, repairing the game via Origin does not work as a fix for all Macbook Pros.

I have two Macbook Pros:

1.
Macbook Pro (16-inch, 2019)
Processor 2.4 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9
Memory 32GB 2667 MHz DDR4
Graphics AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB
MacOS Big Sur 11.0.1

2. 
Macbook Pro (Retina, Mid 2012)
Processor 2.6 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7
Memory 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M 1 GB
Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB
MacOS Catalina Version 10.15.7

I have Sims 4 installed on both Macbook Pros, and I have every expansion pack, including Snowy Escape and the Star Wars one.

Sims 4 plays just find on #2 even with everything installed -- including the latest 11/17/2020 patch. 

Sims 4 WILL NOT PLAY on my newer laptop #1 with the latest patch. It gets stuck in loading and crashes. OR, the game will load, I'm able to open neighborhoods, but it gets stuck in loading households (or just lots without Sims in it when you try to edit them via build mode). 

It's very frustrating that Sims 4 will still play on my old computer, but it won't play on my newer, faster one?!?

Any word on a fix for this?!?

[Bluebellflora]

@cebart73

Yes, there have been known issues with 16" MBPs and the game since they were launched over a year ago. Please see the solution on page 1 for a possible workaround.

[ceb6973]

@Bluebellflora Just wanted to report back on how I finally got the game working properly on my Macbook Pro 2019!

For a little background, I've had this new computer for a few months and never had any of these issues playing the sims before. The only issue I ever had recently was the game not recognizing it was in Fullscreen mode (so that edge scrolling wouldn't work), a few times. No vanishing floors, etc. I was even able to play Journey to Batuu a little without any problems.

ALSO, I have no mods or custom content that might be causing issues. And I check for updates and repair the game every single time before I attempt playing.

The last time I successfully played was 11/15/2020 with no problems, and I played within a main game lot AND I traveled to Batuu without problems.

I only started having major problems after the 11/17/2020 patch. They included the crashing when trying to load a house, and the invisible floor, etc. Curiously, I had a sim saved in Batuu and that opened and played fine...

After finally realizing this was an ongoing problem I'd never had before even with this new computer, I tried all of the fixes on Page 1 outside of the game -- disabling iCloud Drive, turning off the battery switching, resetting NVRAM, etc. None of it helped the crashing.

Then I tried the in-game solutions. I brought the sim in Batuu (the game I was able to load without crashing) home to his lot -- miraculously it loaded! But there was the vanishing floor reflecting the sky issue I'd read about.

So I tried switching off the retina display as suggested. It did not resolve the issue. So, I turned off laptop mode, which required a restart. I decided to save this guy in his house in a new file to test things out and restarted the game.

Once restarted, the lot loaded without issue! Awesome! But I was curious -- was the issue the retina display toggle or the laptop mode toggle. So I toggled them both back on, and restarted again.

Yup, the crashing issue was back. So, I restarted the game, toggled laptop mode off again, but left the retina display option on. I closed out, restarted once again and success!

I've been playing for a few minutes now and so far so good. I'm gonna try loading other houses etc. with laptop mode off but retina display still on and see if it works.

I'll post again if I encounter problems, but hopefully we'll find a no news is good news situation!

Thanks again for your help!

[cebart73]

@Bluebellflora FYI, the game works fine (FINALLY!) with laptop mode off, but everything is a bit sluggish compared to how it used to play before the 11/17/2020 update. I used to be able to switch between the game and a browser to look things up like cheat codes etc. quickly and easily, but now everything takes longer, like I'm playing on an older computer... I'm not sure if that has to do with the laptop mode being off or not, it's just noticeable that things lag, both in the game and when outside of the game while it's still running.

There are also placement issues I'm finding, although I'm not sure if these are new bugs or old ones as I've never experienced issues like this playing Sims 4.

The placement issues are finicky things that aren't always true.

For example, I kept getting the "object failed to place" trying to place stairs in an area where there was no blockage -- which I'm sure of, because I was able to place them one spot over, then expand them into the area where I wanted them, then reduce them into the spot where I wanted them. And sometimes I could add railings to the stairs, and sometimes I would get the "obj failed to place" message. But if I moved those exact same stairs over one slot, then I could place the railing?!

And no, there were no windows, or interior walls inside the building yet to get in the way. Just a wall that was exactly the same from one spot to the other. AND, if I place the railing while in the spot where I didn't want the stairs, then moved the stairs to the spot where I DID want them, then the railing would stay?!

Also with placing gates on fences kept telling me I needed a fence where there already was one. The problem seemed to be that I'd completed the fence all the way around from one side of the house to the other, creating a "room" inside. When I removed one tile of the fence, I could place the gate wherever I wanted. But if I completed the fence, the gate would then disappear. BUT not in every spot. I wanted it in one spot, but it wouldn't stick. So I moved it over one spot, completed the fence and the gate stayed.

There's other stuff like that, too. And there seems no rhyme or reason to it happening. Let me know if I should make a new topic for these issues, and if they're Mac specific, or if they're possibly related to the laptop mode not being on issue.

Thanks again!

[Bluebellflora]

@cebart73

This is the Mac tech forum, gameplay bugs should be in the bug forum I'm pretty sure there are already reports for the issues you've raised and most of them are platform related. None of them will have anything to do with laptop mode being enabled.

What happened when you disabled automatic graphics switching? Did you try gfxCardstatus?

[cebart73]

@Bluebellflora Gotcha! I haven’t had bugs like this since I played Sims 3, so I’m rusty on how this all works!

By platform-related, do you mean only gaming system players are experiencing them? Or that game bugs should be reported based on whether you’re a Mac, pc, or system player? Lol, I’m old and have been playing since Sims 1, so I don’t have the terminology down!

I’ll research to see if I should post the bug problems, or add to other posts.

Meanwhile, my stability issues—I played this session with the automatic graphics switching disabled (I always play corded not on battery power, so I was hoping that wouldn’t matter).

Should I try reenabling it while keeping laptop mode off and see if that helps? If so, I’ll give it a shot later today.

I’m not sure what gfxCardStatus is or how to check it. Let me know and I’ll check it later today!