The Sims 3 Graphics Issues

[tropicalicz]

Recently, I have purchased a new laptop, and this laptop has a dedicated GPU, which I have selected for The Sims 3 to use as opposed to it's integrated one. Upon my entry of various worlds, I have graphics issues that I have never seen online, and would like to resolve. I have screenshots attached to this post. 

To attempt resolving these issues, I have:

- Registered my GPU, fixed nothing.

- Tried other worlds, doesn't change anything.

- Rebooted my device + TS3, to no avail.

These graphics issues are rendering the game unusable. First of all, the water moves with the camera, and it's a distorted, 2d view of the town in Map View. In Riverview (with custom lighting), the sky is as dark as it is at night. Without custom lighting, the issue is the same as in Isla Paradiso. If anyone has any ideas or tips on how to fix it, I would greatly appreciate it. 

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@tropicalicz  Did you ever edit either graphicscards.sgr or graphicsrules.sgr?  Your card isn't recognized, but interestingly, its VRAM (texture memory) is, which is unusual for newer Nvidia cards.  Either way, if you have an Origin install, please repair the game in Origin: open your game library, right-click on the Sims 3 icon, and select Repair.  If you have a different kind of install, please let me know what kind, since repairing the game files needs to be done differently as well.  The Origin repair will revert the .sgr files to their original state, just so you're aware.

Within the Nvidia Control Panel, please restore the settings for Sims 3 to default, if you've done anything at all to change them.  If you're using GeForce Experience to optimize your settings, please undo that as well.  The point is to remove the effects of any adjustments either tool is imposing on the game.  Please test in a(nother) clean Sims 3 folder, so there are zero effects of the previous times you loaded the game.

It would be interesting to see how the game looked with the water graphics setting turned down to the minimum as well.  As always, be sure to change the setting at the Main Menu and quit to desktop before reloading.

If none of this helps, please try playing in a clean boot, again with a clean Sims 3 folder.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-clean-boot-windows-10

[EA_Darko]

Hey @tropicalicz to start with let's grab a DxDiag so that we can take a look at your system: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

Darko 

[tropicalicz]

My DxDiag results are attached. @EA_Darko 

[tropicalicz]

I tested in Create a Sim, seeing if there was any difference there. I have these (see attachment) graphic anomalies which only appear when I zoom in about half way. @EA_Darko 

[puzzlezaddict]

@tropicalicz  The dxdiag can't be read yet; it looks like the site's virus scanner is busted.  Could you upload it to a free filesharing site instead and link it here?  It would also be helpful to know the graphics settings you're using.

The screenshot from CAS looks like it's just a poorly rendered version of sun coming in through the window on the left.  For the others, please test with zero mods or custom content, including lighting mods.  You can use a clean folder if you've already set up your existing folder the way you want it: move the Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and a new one will spawn the next time you launch the game.

Please also test with the laptop plugged in, and with energy use set to maximum performance with the laptop plugged in.  You can see the setting by right-clicking on the battery icon in the lower right corner of your screen.

[tropicalicz]

@puzzlezaddict | DxDiag link, Google Drive: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BQX1ZQaI0iGOIo7plxY0cE_f5oxURd_i/view?usp=sharing

As for my graphics settings, I have attached them as a screenshot to this post. Currently, I have no mods and/or CC in my game, including lighting mods.

In addition to changing the power setting to best performance, I have forced the GPU to run when I am on TS3, and used the NVIDIA recommended settings for my chip. The game still has the mirrored image in the water, and CAS isn't resolved.

[puzzlezaddict]

@tropicalicz  A low-resolution image in Map View is not unusual by itself, although there's clearly something odd going on in Riverview.  Try changing your in-game resolution to 1920x1080, the native resolution of your screen, or a supported scaled res (anything with a 16:9 aspect ratio is worth trying).  Please also test in fullscreen mode—graphics rendering can be a bit different in windowed mode, especially for older games.  It doesn't really look right on my machine, although fullscreen is fine.

I don't know whether having draw distance at the max setting would help, but it's not a particularly demanding setting relative to some others, so it's worth trying.  In fact, you could max out most of the settings briefly and see how the game looks.  Your framerates might be low, but you'd at least get a good idea of how the game looks on max settings while the camera isn't moving.

If you don't notice any difference, delete options.ini from Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 and let the game generate a new one.  When you change graphics settings, do so at the Main Menu, and quit to desktop before launching the game again.  Sims 3 doesn't respond well to most graphics settings being changed on the fly, although fullscreen/windowed and the resolution are both fine.

If these steps don't help, try reinstalling the 2005 VC++ runtime and DirectX 9, both of which Sims 3 uses.  Both crashed at least once, and while that might be related to the game itself and not the underlying resource, it's worth being thorough.  DX9 is easy: you don't need to uninstall anything, just download the installer from Microsoft and run it.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-US/download/details.aspx?id=8109

For the VC++ runtime, hit Windows key-i. select Apps, scroll down to the Microsoft 2005 Visual C++ Redistributable (x86), click on it, and Uninstall.  (Don't touch any of the other runtimes; your computer needs those for other purposes.)  Then download and install a new copy from Microsoft.  You only need the x86 version.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=26347

If none of this makes a difference, please copy and paste the first 40 or so lines of deviceconfig.log, also in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3, into a reply here.  You can stop when the "Options" section starts.  This shows how the game rates your hardware.  Your user and machine names are about 25 lines down, so delete those if you want, but nothing else in the file is personal information.

[tropicalicz]

@puzzlezaddict Neither of those solutions worked, unfortunately, and it is worse off than when I started. Initially, I was only able to play Sunset Valley without graphics anomalies, however, the water is now completely broken in Sunset Valley as well. Furthermore, I have changed all the settings to the max, and to no avail. 

I will note, there is no rendering of water in my game whatsoever. The fountains, rivers made with terrain tools, etc, all act the same. 

DEVICE CONFIG LOG:

=== Application info ===
Name: Sims3
Version:
Build: Release
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 3 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2371 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2761 RAM: 7600 Adjusted RAM: 7088 Cores: 6
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Windows 8 6.2.9200
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 6
OS minor ver: 2
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1
CPU: AuthenticAMD
Brand: AMD Ryzen 5 4500U with Radeon Graphics
Family: 15
Model: 0
Cores: 6
HT: 0
x64: 0
Memory: 7600MB
Free memory: 3210MB
User: Nicholas
Computer: LAPTOP-JIJO8AEF
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): NVIDIA GeForce MX350
Name (database): NVIDIA GeForce MX350 [Found: 0, Matched: 1]
Vendor: NVIDIA
Chipset: Vendor: 10de, Device: 1c96, Board: 10921043, Chipset: 00a1
Driver: nvldumd.dll, Version: 26.21.14.4166, GUID: D7B71E3E-5FD6-11CF-B563-9C301BC2D735
Driver version: 4166
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 2048MB
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1

[puzzlezaddict · Accepted solution]

@tropicalicz  Did you ever edit either graphicscards.sgr or graphicsrules.sgr?  Your card isn't recognized, but interestingly, its VRAM (texture memory) is, which is unusual for newer Nvidia cards.  Either way, if you have an Origin install, please repair the game in Origin: open your game library, right-click on the Sims 3 icon, and select Repair.  If you have a different kind of install, please let me know what kind, since repairing the game files needs to be done differently as well.  The Origin repair will revert the .sgr files to their original state, just so you're aware.

Within the Nvidia Control Panel, please restore the settings for Sims 3 to default, if you've done anything at all to change them.  If you're using GeForce Experience to optimize your settings, please undo that as well.  The point is to remove the effects of any adjustments either tool is imposing on the game.  Please test in a(nother) clean Sims 3 folder, so there are zero effects of the previous times you loaded the game.

It would be interesting to see how the game looked with the water graphics setting turned down to the minimum as well.  As always, be sure to change the setting at the Main Menu and quit to desktop before reloading.

If none of this helps, please try playing in a clean boot, again with a clean Sims 3 folder.

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-clean-boot-windows-10

[tropicalicz]

Turning repairing + reflections off resolved the issue. Thank you for your help!