Gameplay crashes

[amrenthebat]

My sims game won't let me actually play the game, it will let me do things in CAS and in the map, but playing a household makes it crash. I took out my mods and it still did it, I've reinstalled and repaired the game, my driver is updated. I only have Cats and Dogs. What should I do?

[puzzlezaddict]

@amrenthebat  Please move your entire Sims 4 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop.  When you launch the game, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  (Your saves and other content will be intact in the folder you've moved but temporarily not read by the game.)  Don't add anything to this folder yet; just see whether you can get to live mode in a new save.

If you get another crash, please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

[amrenthebat]

@puzzlezaddict I got another crash. 

[puzzlezaddict]

@amrenthebat  From the errors in your dxdiag, the next step is to either update the graphics driver or, if you already have the newest one offered by HP, do a clean uninstall and reinstall of the driver.  But I can't find the correct download page for your laptop by myself.  So please go here:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/laptops

Enter your laptop's serial number, choose the operating system if necessary, and you'll land on the driver download page.  Please link it here; that page doesn't contain any information about your own laptop, just the overall model.

[amrenthebat]

I think this is it? https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-14-df0000-laptop-pc/23201152/model/24575823?sku=... 

[puzzlezaddict]

@amrenthebat  Yes, that's the correct page.  You do in fact have a newer driver than the newest one listed, so you'll need to do a clean uninstall and reinstall.  Your laptop may update back to the driver you currently have, but that's fine, the point is to remove this particular driver in case it's become corrupt.  Download Display Driver Uninstaller from here:

https://www.wagnardsoft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=3513

On the HP download page, grab the Intel driver dated June 4, 2020; it's version 27.20.100.8280 Rev.S.

Next, take your computer completely offline—disable wifi and/or pull the ethernet cord—and double-click the DDU.exe.  Take note of where the file will land, and click Extract.  If it's easier, you can copy the path and then paste it into the address bar in a File Explorer window.  Open the folder and then launch Display Driver Uninstaller.exe, and you'll get a message that you're not in Safe Mode.  Click OK, then go to Options and enable Safe Mode dialog.  Here's a screenshot of what your options should look like; make sure the box in red is checked:

Close options, and the DDU, and then open the DDU.exe again.  For launch options, choose "Safe Mode (Recommended)," and then click Reboot to Safe Mode (you'll need your password, so find it before rebooting).  Once you login, you'll see this:

In the blue box, choose GPU, then Intel if it's not already showing.  Then click Clean and Restart (red box).

Once your computer has rebooted, now back in normal mode, run the driver install .exe as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator."  Restart again afterwards.

Again, don't worry if your laptop wants to update; it should be fine.  Just let me know how the game runs.

[amrenthebat]

I don't think I did it right, I got a message saying the driver wasn't compatible with this OS, and the game was okay the other day. I can go into safe mode, which I'm in right now, but a regular startup of my computer gets me a black screen.

[amrenthebat]

Actually, in safe mode my computer is almost normal, I can do things. It's got the incredible brightness, though. I can go into Sims, but it tells me the card isn't compatible.

[puzzlezaddict]

@amrenthebat  That's pretty unimpressive that HP would list an incompatible driver on its page for your laptop.  Regardless, there's a button on the same download page to let HP automatically detect and download a driver for you, so try that.

[amrenthebat]

@puzzlezaddict It doesn't seem to be working, it gives me a list and none of them change anything.