I've just installed The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection on Windows 8.1 through Parallels 9, for the most part it works well and I have no issues with lag. However town backgrounds and houses glow in red and purple. The graphics otherwise aren't great quality either. I went through the steps outlined in this earlier post: http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?210407-Sims-2-Graphics-Issues, but had no luck. A simple uninstall/reinstall also has not worked. Specs: Processor 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 Memory 4 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 Graphics Intel HD Graphics 4000 Software OS X 10.9.4 (13E28) Is there anything that I may be able to do to fix the issue? Thanks in advance.
Intel's integrated graphics has never been the greatest... but I don't think that's your issue. There are two easy solutions: The first is to install the Mac version from the same or alternate install disc from the Windows version. Certain games are multi-platform games, and last I recall The Sims 2 is one such title. The second (albeit somewhat costly) solution, is to buy the Mac OS X version of the Sims 2 collection, "The Sims 2: Super Collection" off of the Mac App Store. Though, it'll be a 7GB+ download. When a Mac version is available, that is the version you should be using. Running a game in a VM should normally be reserved for titles with no mac version available. When running a game in a VM or through WINE, you are likely to encounter rendering anomalies or glitches specific to those environments. Though not as bad in a VM, since it is actually Windows you are running it on, the virtual graphics card isn't perfect and isn't a 1:1 copy of your graphics card's actual capabilities.
