Pixelation in Sims 3

[emilygal]

Hello

I have an original copy of the Sims 3 game.  Played it only a couple of times on my old computer ages ago and I remember it working OK.

Now I'm trying to play on my newer PC and everything is incredibly pixelated!  The town view is very very blocky then when I view Sims houses the whole house furniture and sim seems a bit pixelated and blocky.  Even message text isn't particularly smooth.

Im not sure what I need to do or download to resolve this issue!  I've updated my graphics driver with no result.

Thanks

Emily

------------------

System Information

------------------

Time of this report: 9/16/2012, 09:22:54

       Machine name: EMILY-PC

   Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.120503-2030)

           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)

System Manufacturer: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

       System Model: To Be Filled By O.E.M.

               BIOS: Default System BIOS

          Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) II X4 640 Processor (4 CPUs), ~3.0GHz

             Memory: 4096MB RAM

Available OS Memory: 3840MB RAM

          Page File: 2605MB used, 5071MB available

        Windows Dir: C:\Windows

    DirectX Version: DirectX 11

DX Setup Parameters: Not found

   User DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)

 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)

    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled

     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

---------------

Display Devices

---------------

          Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 7025 / NVIDIA nForce 630a

       Manufacturer: NVIDIA

          Chip type: GeForce 7025 / nForce 630a

           DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC

         Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_03D6&SUBSYS_03D61849&REV_A2

     Display Memory: 1912 MB

   Dedicated Memory: 248 MB

      Shared Memory: 1663 MB

       Current Mode: 1600 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)

       Monitor Name: Generic Non-PnP Monitor

      Monitor Model: unknown

         Monitor Id:

        Native Mode: unknown

        Output Type: HD15

        Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvd3dum

Driver File Version: 9.18.0013.0623 (English)

     Driver Version: 9.18.13.623

        DDI Version: 9Ex

       Driver Model: WDDM 1.0

  Driver Attributes: Final Retail

   Driver Date/Size: 8/30/2012 20:14:00, 18229096 bytes

-------------

Sound Devices

-------------

            Description: Speakers (VIA High Definition Audio)

 Default Sound Playback: Yes

 Default Voice Playback: Yes

            Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_1106&DEV_4397&SUBSYS_18490397&REV_1000

        Manufacturer ID: 1

             Product ID: 100

                   Type: WDM

            Driver Name: viahduaa.sys

         Driver Version: 6.00.0001.7700 (English)

      Driver Attributes: Final Retail

            WHQL Logo'd: Yes

          Date and Size: 11/25/2009 22:06:02, 1276928 bytes

---------------------

Sound Capture Devices

---------------------

            Description: Front Mic (VIA High Definition Audio)

  Default Sound Capture: Yes

  Default Voice Capture: Yes

            Driver Name: viahduaa.sys

         Driver Version: 6.00.0001.7700 (English)

      Driver Attributes: Final Retail

          Date and Size: 11/25/2009 22:06:02, 1276928 bytes

Description: Stereo Mix (VIA High Definition Audio)

  Default Sound Capture: No

  Default Voice Capture: No

            Driver Name: viahduaa.sys

         Driver Version: 6.00.0001.7700 (English)

      Driver Attributes: Final Retail

          Date and Size: 11/25/2009 22:06:02, 1276928 bytes

Description: CD Audio (VIA High Definition Audio)

  Default Sound Capture: No

  Default Voice Capture: No

            Driver Name: viahduaa.sys

         Driver Version: 6.00.0001.7700 (English)

      Driver Attributes: Final Retail

          Date and Size: 11/25/2009 22:06:02, 1276928 bytes

------------------------

Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives

------------------------

      Drive: C:

 Free Space: 185.5 GB

Total Space: 376.9 GB

File System: NTFS

      Model: ST350041 8AS SCSI Disk Device

      Drive: D:

 Free Space: 84.8 GB

Total Space: 99.9 GB

File System: NTFS

      Model: ST350041 8AS SCSI Disk Device

      Drive: F:

      Model: DTSoftBusCd00

     Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.01.7601.17514 (English), , 0 bytes

      Drive: E:

      Model: TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-S223C SCSI CdRom Device

     Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.01.7601.17514 (English), , 0 bytes

[crinrict]

This solution is for ATI cards but you might be able to fix your issue with the same settings on the nVidia card. Can't tell you where they are exactly:

https://help.ea.com/article/i-see-overly-boxy-or-blocky-graphics-in-the-sims-3

If that does not help, please post a picture of your issue.

[emilygal]

Hi Crinrict

Thanks for the suggestion.

The Antialiasing 3D setting was set to 'Application controlled'.  I tried switching it to each of the options (2x, 4x, 8xS) and tried running the game on each but no result for any of them - it just looked the same.

Ive captured some screenshots here - its hard to demonstrate but the edges of sims and buildings actually flicker a bit as well as looking a bit blocky.  Hope that makes sense...?!

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/aorksqi09axf1s6fehmi.jpg

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/y53broox7o0t6fugx9n.jpg

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/8vs3fohl0nb7ivny94qo.jpg

http://www.imageurlhost.com/images/m4kyjpagealspzgqhb6.jpg

Thanks

Emily

[crinrict]

Do you have advanced rendering turned on ? It's a ingame graphic option.

[emilygal]

That setting was turned off.  I turned it on and restarted the game but no change.

[crinrict]

I looked into that graphic chip you have there a bit and I think, it's just not good enough for the game. Maybe you had b better card on your old computer ?

Is this a laptop you're playing with ?

I don't know a whole lot about graphic cards though but maybe someone else has a thought on this.

[emilygal]

Thats a shame; my friend built the computer for me (it's a desktop PC) and added the card because he said it was especially good for gaming.  (He knew that my partner would be on this pc gaming quite a bit.  Which he has been and so far he has not experienced any graphical issues with his games - which generally seem far faster, smooth and realistic than Sims; so Id've expected them to give the graphics card more of a challenge.)  The last computer I had was a very old iBook Mac laptop.  Could that potentially be part of the issue - that I used to play the game on Mac then converted to use on the PC?  I really appreciate all your help and suggestions so far.

[crinrict]

OK. I only found an article where it said that was a chip. Also according to your DxDiag it does not have a whole lot of dedicated memory.

Do you maybe have a dual system in your computer ? I really don't wanna tell you something that's not true and as I said I don't know much about graphic cards.

Maybe have your friend take a look ?

Did you move over your user files from the mac ? Have you tried a completely new game ?