Sims 4 flickering after June 19th patch [ Edited ]

[Emmylerose]

Hi, after updating my game on the latest patch on June 19th my game has been flickering and glitching out on the main menu, and all in gameplay. During the loading screen, there are little black dots.

I've tried repairing, removing custom content, putting all the settings low, turning off edge smoothing (and changing each setting as some say this could work) but nothing is working. 

I've had sims for a year so it isn't my laptop - which is MacBook Pro 13inch - so I don't think it's the graphics card. 

Thoughts on how I can fix this? Thanks!

[puzzlezaddict]

@Emmylerose  It would still be helpful if you could post your computer's specs.  They're probably fine, but it doesn't hurt to check.

gather mac specs:  https://answers.ea.com/t5/The-Sims-Mac/READ-FIRST-Sims-3-Mac-Help-Guides-and-Troubleshooting/m-p/475...

It's always possible something in your TS4 game folder was corrupted by the patch.  You can test this by dragging the entire folder out of Documents and onto your desktop.  When you launch the game again, a clean folder will spawn; if you can play using this folder without seeing the issue again, you can move your saves and other content into it from your old folder.

You can run the Origin reset tool for macs, on the off chance that Origin's the source of the problem.  It's also worth trying to play with Origin disabled in-game.

https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/how-to-reset-origin-on-mac/

[Emmylerose]

Unsure if I'm doing this correctly but my specs are:
Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro12,1
Processor Name: Intel Core i5
Processor Speed: 2.9 GHz
Number of Processors: 1
Total Number of Cores: 2
L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB
L3 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 8 GB
Boot ROM Version: MBP121.0176.B00
SMC Version (system): 2.28f7
Hardware UUID: 18B2DD6F-35FD-55CB-A135-4C5A976B0561


If it helps, the same day I updated my laptop as well as the sims 4 patch. That could have something to do with it possibly.

I've tried both of your suggestions there and neither helped.

[Bluebellflora]

@Emmylerose

I edited the serial number of your Mac out of your post, you should never reveal it publicly

The link that @puzzlezaddict gave in her previous post explains all of the information we need to help you, please can you provide it?

If possible, please could you post a video of the issue?

Could you also set up a new user account on your Mac and try to play a brand new, clean game without any of your saves/CC etc. from your current user account. Does the issue still persist?

[Emmylerose]

Oh, my mistake! Thank you for that.
Version: 10.11.6
Model: MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)
Processor: 2.9 GHz Intel Core i5
Memory: 8 GB 1867 MHz DDR3
Graphics: Intel Iris Graphics 6100 1536 MB


I do have an antivirus, it's Avast.

My expansion packs are:
Outdoor Retreat, Vampires, Spooky Stuff, Holiday Celeb, Cool kitchen stuff, parenthood, get together, get to work, city living and cats and dogs.

I have CC but it's all been removed, the problem persists.

I tried making a new user and sims 4 but it made no difference, in fact it got worse. 

It isn’t letting me upload a video, it won’t support the format. It’s quick flickers throughout the whole screen (on individual words so it’s difficult to read) it’s mostly on the options menu 

[Bluebellflora]

@Emmylerose

Hummm. Let's get your graphics settings back to default first of all, go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 and trash the Options.ini file. Load the game and then go into the game options and set to windowed mode, don't change any other graphics settings. If it persists is it in just the game window or the whole screen, including the menu bar at the top?

[Emmylerose]

I did what you said, going into window mode the flickers are just on the game screen. It flickered worse and got black spots - I attached a photo of them. 

Since i’m unable to post a video, the glitches on the second photo is what is happening but repetitively and all over the screen. 

My gameplay is quite slow now, assuming my laptop meets the requirements since you didn’t mention anything wrong? 

[Bluebellflora]

@Emmylerose

Eww, that looks horrible!

Can you move your Mods folder to the desktop, repair your game in Origin then try again. Try toggling Edge Smoothing on and off too.

If it's still not working please try this:

1. In your Applications folder right click on the Sims 4 app and select Show Package Contents.
2. Navigate to Contents > Mac OS.
3. Right click on The Sims 4 and select Move to Trash. Don't drag the file as it will only move an alias and leave the original in place. If there is another file in the folder, The Sims 4.par, leave it alone.
4. Now open Origin, click on The Sims 4 in your Games Library and click on Download.

[Emmylerose]

I tried doing both those things and unfortunately, it didn’t work. I even uninstalled and reinstalled Origin.  My game seems to be flickering even more - and now those black dots are on full screen (it wasn’t previously) 

Not sure if it means anything but before I downloaded it it said “download size: 12.90GB and size after install 13.52GB” 

By the way, thank you for helping me try figure this out! I can’t think of anything more that will help fix it. 

[Bluebellflora]

@Emmylerose

We’ll get there!

Let’s start with a clean slate. Can you completely uninstall the game then redownload and install just the base game? Make sure to move your Sims 4 folder with your saves, Tray etc. to your desktop beforehand so you don’t lose them. After uninstalling restart your Mac then open Origin. Go into your Origin settings and disable automatically downloading and installing games, we just want the base game installed for now. After installing the base game load it and play for a bit to see if the problem persists.