Sims 3 64 Bit Mac - UI/Resolution too small

[sophiemonz]

Hello,

I have played Sims 3 on my Mac with no problems up until now (I play on the 64 bit metal version via origin) I launched it today and the UI size is far too small- as shown in the attachments. It happens on the loading screens too.

I tried reducing the resolution, but instead of many options of resolution in options I am only given 2- of which neither of them help (this is both in fullscreen and windowed). 

I have tried the following with no success:

• Reducing the resolution, but as said, I am only given 2 resolution options.
• Tried both fullscreen and windowed options.
• Turned down some of the graphic details to low and restarted the game.
• Deleted the options.ini from the documents Sims 3 folder in finder. 

I have no idea how to solve this and it is very annoying as it happened very suddenly with no problems previously. Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[puzzlezaddict]

@sophiemonz  The size of the UI is dependent only on the in-game resolution, not any other factors.  What options do you see for fullscreen and windowed modes?  Please check both modes.  Please also let me know the specs of your Mac: everything under About This Mac except for the serial number.

[sophiemonz]

Thank you for the reply.

So for resolution options both for fullscreen and windowed are the two following:

1. 2048 x 1280 
2. 2560 x 1600

The first 2048 x 1280 is the one it is currently set to, while the other just makes it even smaller. These are the only two options given. 

My specs are as follows:

MacBook Pro, 13 inch, M1 chip, 2020

macOS Monterey, version 12.4 

8 GB memory 

[puzzlezaddict]

@sophiemonz  That's strange.  I have a 16" MacBook Pro and ten options for resolution in both fullscreen and windowed modes.  Do you use any system accessiibility settings, for example making the images on-screen larger?  Have you set a scaled resolution?  You can check in About This Mac > Displays > Displays Preferences; either the "Default for Display" or the "Scaled" option will be active.

If this isn't relevant, or you don't want to mess with your system settings, you can test in a new admin user account.  When you create it, just use the default settings for everything rather than adjusting them or importing your current account's settings.  All I'd want to know is whether you had more in-game resolution options than just the two you've listed.

[sophiemonz]

@puzzlezaddict It is strange indeed. As I say, I've played this for a while with no problems and all of a sudden this happens.
My display makes no difference unfortunately. I also tried with a new user account and the same occurred.

I'm wondering if it's something to do with the recent software update I did on my Mac? But surely this wouldn't change the settings on a game. Running out of options here. I also just tried uninstalling the game completely and installing it again, but the same results again, which is incredibly annoying.

[puzzlezaddict]

@sophiemonz  It's certainly possible that the OS update you installed is causing this issue, but I'd expect to see more reports than just this one.  I haven't updated in a while (and I should probably do that), so I can't compare either.

The only thing I can suggest is choosing the lower resolution available, then quitting and restarting the game.  Sometimes this forces a resizing of the game window that works out a lot better than what you see immediately after changing the settings.

[sophiemonz]

@puzzlezaddict Unfortunately still no luck when trying with the lower resolution.

I can carry on for now, but just means it's not as comfortable playing and I have to do a lot of squinting to see features in the game! I hope EA pick up on this if it is to do with the software update. If anything changes, I'll be sure to update this thread.

Thank you for your help though, you have provided more suggestions than EA live chat did.

[Jangobunny]

I've only had this issue since updating my Mac software too :/ 

[puzzlezaddict]

@Jangobunny  Interesting.  I'll ask around to see whether other people are having the same issue.  And to be clear, this happened after you installed Monterey 12.4?  What OS were you running before?  If you're not sure the exact version, just let me know whether it was Monterey or an older OS.

[Jangobunny]

@puzzlezaddict Hi, sorry for the delay! Yes this was after updating to Monterey 12.4 from the previous Monterey (I think it was 12.3.1)