Sims 2 Graphics Issues

A

AshtonM

Bit poster
I'm trying to play the Sims 2 Apartment life on my Paralells VM, but I'm experiencing problems which, according t help forums, can be traced back to graphics card inadequacy (flashing neighborhood screens, low resolution scren size, and the like.) I think I have a rather good graphics card. I was wondering if there was any way to make the game recognize that my graphics card is adequate for the Job.

I have:
Processor: 2.7 GHz Intel Core 15
Memory: 4 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics: AMD Raedon HD 6770M 512 MB
Software: Mac OSX Lion 10.7.2. (11C74)
 
here's how I made it work

Pardon me if this has already been posted somewhere. I've searched and googled, binged and alta vista'd for days and ended up working out most of it by trial and error


Do this under Windows

1st you have to find the right file to edit. Depending on how many packs you have you'll have a bunch of files called "Graphics Rules.sgr". The one to use is under the folder corresponding to the CD/DVD you use to run Sims2 (Apartment Life perhaps?) Under C:\Program Files\EA Games\.... I think. It could be under C:\Program Files (x86)\EA Games\... if you're running 64 bit Windows.

Copy the Graphics Rules.sgr (save it in case you break it)
just click on the file and Control-C Control-V to create Copy of Graphics Rules.sgr

Edit Graphics Rules.sgr using Notepad

find this section
Code: 
#############################################################################
#
# Determine if gfx device is supported, force software rendering if not
#

scroll down past all the if (match and elseif (match statements looking at various card vendors

look for

Code: 
else
   # unsupported/unknown vendor
   setb useSoftwareRasterizer true

replace it with

Code: 
[COLOR="Blue"]elseif (not match("${cardName}", "Parallels *"))[/COLOR]
   # unsupported/unknown vendor
   setb useSoftwareRasterizer true


Almost there ... this kinda works but I found Sims/Parallels was a bit of a memory pig (to the point of freezing my macbook). Turns out Parallels is reporting some 900mb+ of textureMemory. More than we need. More than is healthy. Certainly with only 4GB of RAM

So search for
Code: 
#############################################################################
#
# Apply gfx device specific workarounds

scroll down to here
Code: 
   endif

   intProp deviceLocalVideoMemorySizeDefault ($textureMemory * 1024 * 1024)

and change it to

Code: 
[COLOR="Blue"]   elseif (match("${cardName}", "Parallels *"))
      if ($textureMemory > 128)
         seti textureMemory 128
      endif
[/COLOR]
   endif

   intProp deviceLocalVideoMemorySizeDefault ($textureMemory * 1024 * 1024)


almost done

now to get sims to use the full screen width

find
Code: 
#############################################################################
#
# UI Options

scroll down to

Code: 
option ScreenModeResolution


and change the medium and high settings to something like
Code: 
   setting $Medium
      uintProp maxResWidth      1280
      uintProp maxResHeight     800
      uintProp defaultResWidth  1152
      uintProp defaultResHeight 720

   setting $High
      uintProp maxResWidth      1280
      uintProp maxResHeight     800
      uintProp defaultResWidth  1152
      uintProp defaultResHeight 720


good luck to you and all who sail in you
 
Hi! This was very helpful and worked for the first EP I installed onto the base game. This was sims 2 university. I then tried to install apartment life and I got flashing walls. when I search for graphic rules.sgr in the apartment life folder there are two results that come up.
One of them is in C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Apartment Life\TSData\Res\Config and that one is 33.3kb. The there one is in C:\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Apartment Life\TSData\Res\CSConfig and is 29.8kb. Which one should I edit? or should I do both?

My graphics card is Intel HD Graphics 3000
 
both should be ok

Assuming both files have the sections/information as I posted, then there's no harm doing both.

You could of course try one then, if that doesn't work, try the other.
Post your results here.

Don't forget to save the originals first ;)
 
Hi,

I registered just to say to confirm that J Man's solution does fix the blinking textures issue. I still find the game runs choppy unless I put all my settings to low. Not a big deal for this game but still a bit of a letdown. I also had a few slight glitches remaining after the fix, such as blinking sections of the screen when I shift the camera or when zooming out. Game is still playable though.

The only expansion I have running is Home and Garden Stuff, so the file I needed to edit was located in C:\Program Files\EA Games\Sims 2 Home & Garden Stuff\TSData\Res\Config. Just wanted to put that here in case anyone stumbles across this post in the future. Like I said, follow The J Man's directions and you'll do just fine. Thanks for finding that fix!
 
gillettc9 said:
Hi,

I registered just to say to confirm that J Man's solution does fix the blinking textures issue. I still find the game runs choppy unless I put all my settings to low. Not a big deal for this game but still a bit of a letdown. I also had a few slight glitches remaining after the fix, such as blinking sections of the screen when I shift the camera or when zooming out. Game is still playable though.

The only expansion I have running is Home and Garden Stuff, so the file I needed to edit was located in C:\Program Files\EA Games\Sims 2 Home & Garden Stuff\TSData\Res\Config. Just wanted to put that here in case anyone stumbles across this post in the future. Like I said, follow The J Man's directions and you'll do just fine. Thanks for finding that fix!
Click to expand...
Thanks for the clarification
 
gillettc9 said:
Hi,

I registered just to say to confirm that J Man's solution does fix the blinking textures issue. I still find the game runs choppy unless I put all my settings to low. Not a big deal for this game but still a bit of a letdown. I also had a few slight glitches remaining after the fix, such as blinking sections of the screen when I shift the camera or when zooming out. Game is still playable though.

The only expansion I have running is Home and Garden Stuff, so the file I needed to edit was located in C:\Program Files\EA Games\Sims 2 Home & Garden Stuff\TSData\Res\Config. Just wanted to put that here in case anyone stumbles across this post in the future. Like I said, follow The J Man's directions and you'll do just fine. Thanks for finding that fix!
Click to expand...

Interesting stuff to read. Keep it up.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I used this guide to get the Sims 2 Ultimate Collection to work on my M1 MacBook Air! All the pink flashing was completely gone when I loaded the neighborhood and the frame rate was supper smooth. Unfortunately only after a few seconds, the ENTIRE parallels desktop crashes. I have no idea why. I am thinking that the parallels desktop thinks that it might be using too many resources so it automatically shuts down after a few seconds of launching the game perhaps? If anyone knows why this is happening or how I can figure out myself, then please let me know.
 
J DOGG'! Your a GOD mate this is absolutely the 100% FIX to get sims 2 working on Win 7 64 bit VM on parallels. I have been at it for like a month and you are a god send brother. Thank you. I'm going to try this on Win 10 VM now let you know the result.
 
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