Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

by puzzlezaddict
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Original Post

Re: Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

★★★ Apprentice

@puzzlezaddict It only happens when placing a bin lot from expansion packs - base game lots seem to be fine. It causes severe graphical glitching that doesn't go away until I quit the game. If I restart the game and delete the lot in question and then restart the game again, the graphics go back to normal.

Message 21 of 49 (1,680 Views)

Re: Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

[ Edited ]

@icecold0913  Great, thanks for letting me know.  And that's quite an interesting find.

 

Edit:  I tried to replicate this and couldn't.  I wonder whether it's due to your having an integrated graphics chip; my computer has a dedicated card.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 22 of 49 (1,670 Views)

Re: Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

[ Edited ]
★ Guide

can i actually ask what graphics my Mac should be set on? i have not played the Sims 3 in like 10 years and I'm planning on getting a PC next year for gaming but here are my specs...I did upgrade my Mac's processor/graphics when I bought it to the highest available but I don't want to put TS3 on a setting that isn't viable...or maybe the tearing/graphic issues are still being sorted out

Message 23 of 49 (1,638 Views)

Re: Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

@fififoofoo3123  You should, in theory, be able to play on ultra settings.  I have the same Mac as you (although not with the upgraded CPU) and play mostly on ultra in Windows.  In practice however, water and high-detail lots have always been hard on the game engine, and it's best to turn those down to "mirrors only" and 2, respectively, unless you're taking screenshots.  The framerates were also a lot worse in macOS than in Windows, although that should have improved somewhat with the new version.

 

I haven't had much of a chance to test this particular aspect of performance, but I remember in the previous version of Sims 3, putting tree detail on the highest setting had a startlingly large effect on fps.  Perhaps it's something about how the trees wave in the wind, I don't know.  Point is, try turning that down a notch and see how your framerates look.  That's a good metric for performance, that is if your Mac can cool itself properly and isn't throttling performance.

 

What settngs you should use will also depend on the packs you have installed, and (if you have Seasons) what the weather is like.  Rain, snow, and hail are more demanding than a sunny day; pets are stressful, and long-haired pets and horses especially so.  You may need to turn down the graphics to adjust, but you'll need to experiment a bit to find out.

 

To see your in-game framerates, bring up the cheats console (now cmd-shift-C) and enter "fps on" without quotes.  A number will appear in the upper right corner of your screen, and you can use it as a rough comparison.

 

The screen tearing is real, and difficult to deal with.  Try different resolutions in both fullscreen and windowed modes; in fullscreen, be sure to use only resolutions with a 16:10 aspect ratio, the same as your screen.  Unlike most of the other settings, you can change these with a save already loaded and not worry about restarting.

 

If you do settle on your preferred settings, I'd love to know what they are, along with the packs you have installed.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 24 of 49 (1,629 Views)

Re: Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

[ Edited ]
★ Guide

@puzzlezaddict wrote:

@fififoofoo3123  You should, in theory, be able to play on ultra settings.  I have the same Mac as you (although not with the upgraded CPU) and play mostly on ultra in Windows.  In practice however, water and high-detail lots have always been hard on the game engine, and it's best to turn those down to "mirrors only" and 2, respectively, unless you're taking screenshots.  The framerates were also a lot worse in macOS than in Windows, although that should have improved somewhat with the new version.

 

I haven't had much of a chance to test this particular aspect of performance, but I remember in the previous version of Sims 3, putting tree detail on the highest setting had a startlingly large effect on fps.  Perhaps it's something about how the trees wave in the wind, I don't know.  Point is, try turning that down a notch and see how your framerates look.  That's a good metric for performance, that is if your Mac can cool itself properly and isn't throttling performance.

 

What settngs you should use will also depend on the packs you have installed, and (if you have Seasons) what the weather is like.  Rain, snow, and hail are more demanding than a sunny day; pets are stressful, and long-haired pets and horses especially so.  You may need to turn down the graphics to adjust, but you'll need to experiment a bit to find out.

 

To see your in-game framerates, bring up the cheats console (now cmd-shift-C) and enter "fps on" without quotes.  A number will appear in the upper right corner of your screen, and you can use it as a rough comparison.

 

The screen tearing is real, and difficult to deal with.  Try different resolutions in both fullscreen and windowed modes; in fullscreen, be sure to use only resolutions with a 16:10 aspect ratio, the same as your screen.  Unlike most of the other settings, you can change these with a save already loaded and not worry about restarting.

 

If you do settle on your preferred settings, I'd love to know what they are, along with the packs you have installed.


thank you so much for this reply! i currently have Sims base game with late nite and loft stuff pack (included with metal) installed. i’m going to install supernatural but i don’t think i’ll ever want seasons/pets, so hopefully that’ll help with frame rate! 

 

edit: i also have a cooling fan under my Mac just for longevity :-)

Message 25 of 49 (1,627 Views)

Re: Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

★★★★★ Novice

Have no idea what to do. Haven't played the game properly yet as I can't seem to remove the black borders from the game that are either side of the screen, could someone help? There isn't a fullscreen option so I can't just make it fullscreen either, would appreciate the help.

Message 26 of 49 (1,554 Views)

Re: Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

★★★ Apprentice
@ItsDylann Hi. Have you tried adjusting screen size? On my 13-inch macbook pro, the first 16:10 option in the drop down menu fits. Hope this helps.
Message 27 of 49 (1,528 Views)

Re: Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

@ItsDylann  You're already in fullscreen mode, and the black borders are there because the in-game resolution you're using is very different from the resolution of your screen.  So instead of stretching the game window to fit, the black borders get added.

 

As @Arual7296 mentioned, you can try a different in-game resolution, although be sure to pick one that has the same aspect ratio as your screen.  (To see it, click the Apple icon in the upper left corner of your screen, select About This Mac, and click the Displays tab.)  As an example, my screen's native resolution is 2880x1800, which is a 16:10 aspect ratio, so I use other 16:10 in-game resolutions when in fullscreen mode.

 

Or you could try windowed mode.  Click cmd-enter to switch back and forth between fullscreen and windowed.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 28 of 49 (1,518 Views)

Re: Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

★★ Apprentice

I am having odd graphical issues now that I've actually tried to begin playing the game.  The issues include:  inverted camera/view behaving erratically.  For example, I will be holding the scroll wheel on the mouse and be panning in one direction, and it will automatically start panning in the opposite direction.  I have tested different mice and the issue remains.  Next, I am seeing occurrences where the entire viewing area of the screen (aside from the console menus) are flashing/pulsing red, and it will not go away unless I scroll completely in to an unplayable degree.  Also, when that is not happening, I am seeing elements in the game showing as red (see screenshots of this).  Finally, I am unable to edit terrain colors/paints.  I can use the painter to change the terrain for only the amount of space within the circle, but as soon as I begin moving the painter, the terrain reverts back to how it was (I tried to replicate this behavior as shown in the screenshots).  Any help would be appreciated, as the game, while marginally playable, is really not enjoyable with these issues.  I have tried clearing cache, adjusting graphical settings, making sure that macOS graphic switching is disabled so it will entirely use the dedicated graphics, and lastly I have tried completely uninstalling and reinstalling the game & repairing files via Origin.  This is fresh install and I did not carry over any previous saves.

 

Screen Shot 2020-10-31 at 3.43.54 PM.pngScreen Shot 2020-10-31 at 3.44.01 PM.pngScreen Shot 2020-10-31 at 3.43.05 PM.pngScreen Shot 2020-10-31 at 3.44.27 PM.png

 

Device Info:  macOS Catalina version 10.15.7, 16-inch2019, 2.3 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9, 16 GB DDR4 Memory, AMD Radeon Pro 5500 M 4GB Graphics.

 

Deviceconfig.log:

 

== Application info ===
Name: Sims3
Version:
Build: Release
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 5 CPU: 4 RAM: 5 CPU Speed: 2300 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 3910 RAM: 16384 Adjusted RAM: 15872 Cores: 8
Card Found in DB: 1
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Mac OS X Version 10.15.7 (Build 19H2)
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 10
OS minor ver: 15
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1
CPU: MacBookPro16,1
Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-9880H CPU @ 2.30GHz
Family: 8
Model: 7
Cores: 8
HT: 1
x64: 1
Memory: 16384MB
Free memory: 3809MB
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): AMD Radeon Pro 5500M
Name (database): AMD Radeon Pro 5500M [Found: 1, Matched: 1]
Vendor: ATI
Chipset: Vendor: 1002, Device: 7340, Board: 0000020f, Chipset: 0040
Driver: macOS Metal driver, Version: 0.0.0.0
Driver version: 0
Monitor: 00000000
Texture memory: 4080MB
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 0
=== Options ===
AnimationSmoothing 1
LightingQuality 2
GeneralReflections 1
TextureQuality 2
VisualEffects 2
TerrainQuality 3
EdgeSmoothing 2
ObjectHiding 1
AspectRatio 0
ForceSquarePixels 1
SimQuality 2
TreeQuality 3
DrawDistance 2
MaxActiveLots 2
NumMaxActiveLotOptions 6
AdvancedRendering 0
AudioQuality 1
AudiOopsutputMode 1
VoiceLevel 255
SoundFXLevel 255
MusicLevel 255
AmbientLevel 255
FocusMute 1
VoiceMute 0
SoundFXMute 0
MusicMute 1
AmbientMute 0
EdgeScrolling 1

 

Message 29 of 49 (1,573 Views)

Re: Poor graphics/low-resolution/graphics glitches (TS3 64-bit)

@ew2013  A couple of these issues have already been reported.  It would help if you could click Me Too and post in these threads:

 

Red flashing:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/CURRENT-ISSUE-TS3-64-bit-red-flashing-game-window/m-p...

Terrain paint:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/Terrain-paints-not-applying-TS3-64-bit/m-p/9667984#M1...

 

Please create one new thread each for the mouse control issues and for the red houses in your screenshots (I'm not sure whether that's related to the red flashing or not).  And please include the first 40 lines of deviceconfig there, as you did here; you can stop where the "Options" section starts.

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I don't work for EA. I'm just trying to help fellow players with their games.
Message 30 of 49 (1,560 Views)