Graphics card incompatibility?

[Santizla]

I just installed the Sims 2, but when i load up the game it takes forever to actually get anywhere. Often the screen will lock up, but eventually (talking 10 minutes) it will get to the family/neighborhoods screen. Even if it does get that far, its very choppy looking. Basically, its "working" but its also unplayable.

System Specs: Geforce 7800 GT OC, 1 GB ram, AMD athlong XP 3000+, 2.1 ghz. I have also tried reinstalling direct x to no avail.

I read on other forums that the 7800 is not supported, and on yet another forum i read that it was supported. Is my graphics card incompatible, and if so, is there a patch or something that can help me? Or am i having a completely separate problem?

Any help would be very appreciated :)

[dangerousgem]

Yes, its compatible. I've attached an image from this site. (http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=ODU1LDg)

[Jill Valentine®]

Hi, how are you ?

Well, I don’t know if this will help you, but let’s try to update your graphics card’s drivers ?
I think you’ll not have to uninstall the game, but if the problem is specific to TS2, maybe this is a good idea too.

Ok, now that you’ve uninstalled the game, do the following:

1- Go to “control panel – add/remove programs, and uninstall the graphics card drivers currently present in your system;

2- The setup will ask you to restart your system, do that, but…;

3- Before Windows is loaded up again, hit F8 to enter security mode. This is necessary, because the system may recognize your graphics card again if the system is loaded up even without the drivers installed. This happens commonly because of INF files that are left by the uninstallation of the drivers. Depending on the system, files other than INF may also be the problem. So you’ll enter security mode to clean up your system for any leftovers of these out of date drivers;

4- In security mode, you can execute a software such as the “driver cleaner (http://www.drivercleaner.net/)”, to clean up unwanted drivers for ATI or Geforce and other number of drivers. Unfortunately, this software is currently a payware only, but I have the last free version they had at the website if you want. Or you can try to find a similar software online;

5- Then you need to manually clean up the windows system a bit. Some or all of this cleaning will have nothing to do with the graphics card's drivers, but it is for the safe side, as anything that you install or uninstall leaves a trace in the system. Before you begin, make sure that you highlight the option “show hidden folders and files” in “control panel – folder options” and then “exhibition mode”. Now, before the manual clean up, open IE’s properties and hit every “clean-up” button there is, both on the "general" and the "content" tabs. Now, open the windows search assistant, and type in “geforce”, then “nvidia” and then “forceware”. Remove anything that is related to these, but DO BE CAREFULL, because the results may not all be related to the graphics card. Now, go to “C:\Documents and Settings\USERNAME\local configurations\” and clean-up manually the folders TEMP, HISTORY and TEMPORARY INTERNET FILES for all the “USERNAMES” you find in the “documents and settings” directory. (Usually there are 3, ALL USERS, DEFAULT USER and YOURUSERNAME). Also, clean-up the cookies folder in every USER folder. If you have installed the IE7, the cookies folder will be only presented in the DEFAULT USER directory;

6- Now, you have to run two softwares, one to clean-up your system a little deeper and other to clean-up your windows registry. I use the ANTISPY and the REGCLEANER found in “Marcos Velasco Utilities (http://www.velasco.com.br/)”. It’s a Brazilian programmer, he usually does his softwares in English too, but I don’t know about the latest versions. You can always try to find similar softwares online;

7- Now, after you cleaned up everything with these softwares, you go to “START – RUN”, type in “REGEDIT” and then hit ENTER. Now you can delete any leftovers from nvidia, geforce and or forceware in the registry. BUT BE EXTREMELY CAREFULL when browsing the registry keys and values. Do nothing if you do not know what you’re doing. OBS: If you also want to clean-up the things you searched for with the search assistant, ‘cause the “Regcleaner” from MV does not do that, you can go to “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Search Assistant\ACMru\” and then delete the folders 5603 and 5604, or the values found within the folder 5603;

8- Now, you open the “taskbar and start menu properties”, and in the “start menu tab” choose “customize”, and hit “clean list” on both “general” and “advanced” tabs. This is just to clean-up the system for the latest things you did (shortcuts), like registry cleaning, both via software and manually;

9- Now, defrag your hard drive if you want. If you want, you can clean-up the defragmenter shorcut following step 8 again before going to step 10;

10- Now you can exit security mode, and when prompted by windows that you have a new hardware to install, click on cancel. It will say that “your new hardware installation failed and may present problems” or similar, don’t bother. Double click the EXE file for the updated drivers, and install them.

You can find the drivers in NVIDIA (http://www.nvidia.com/content/drivers/drivers.asp) official website, or Guru3D.com (http://www.guru3d.com/). But Guru3D is safer for ATI users, not nvidia users, because there’s too much pre-releases in guru3D of nvidia drivers, and even if a driver is named, for example, “ForceWare 170.25”, it may lead you to false knowledge, ‘cause most people will think “well, in the official nvidia site, the latest drivers for winXP32 is “158.19”, so I’ll download this from guru3D". But, when this happens, it means that the guru3D version will be an “alpha” or “beta” version, or even a “leaked” version which surely is also a “hacked” one. So always stick with the version number from the official website even when you download from GURU3D.

So always do this to update your drivers for the graphics card, or even as a preparation for the system to install the most updated driver on a new reinstallation of windows (when you format the HD, then you can follow these same steps from 3 to 10).

Regarding Directx, it will never be an issue in most of the cases, specially if you have XP or Vista. People who have trouble with Directx usually messed up with it in some way. When a new version of it comes, you can install over the older one, so there's no need to mess with it. Since you already did, I hope it is working as it should do.

See ya !!!

[Santizla]

I tried all of that, but to no avail. My driver is certainly up to date. Also, i am able to play other, more recent games such as BF2 and Rainbow Six: Vegas.

I tried playing again today, and it actually crashed. So i went into the logs, and this is what came up. Ill bold the parts that look like the problem...

_______________
Log generated on 4/27/2007, 16:19

=== Application info ===
Name: The Sims 2
Version: 1.0.0.1022
Build: ReleaseSRT-P
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Windows NT 5.1
CPU: 2104Mhz, Name:AuthenticAMD, FPU:1, MMX:1
Memory: 1024MB
Free memory: 700MB
User: Do Not Use
Computer: SEWINGROOM
=== Sound device info ===
Name: Unknown
Driver: Unknown
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GS
Name (database): NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GS <<NOT FOUND IN DATABASE!>>
Vendor: NVIDIA
Chipset: Vendor: 10de, Device: 00f5, Board: 1fa419f1, Chipset: 00a2
Driver: nv4_disp.dll, Version: 6.14.10.9371, GUID: D7B71E3E-43B5-11CF-DA5E-AE3F03C2CB35
Driver version: 9371
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Monitor aspect: 1.333333, 4:3
Screen mode: 1024x768x32BPP,60Hz
Texture memory: 256MB
HW T&L: Fixed function:1 Programmable:3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Texture stages: 8
AppControlledAA: 1

Global properties
-----------------
boolProp allowCustomContent true
uintProp AmbienceVolume 100
boolProp animationLOD false
uintProp antialiasingQuality 0
uintProp AudioPerformance 1
boolProp autoCentering true
boolProp autoLogin false
boolProp bumpMapping false
boolProp CameraDriftCamEnabled true
boolProp CameraSpecialEventEnabled true
boolProp carsOnRight false
boolProp checkForPatch true
boolProp constrainFloorElevation true
boolProp creatingLotTemplate false
uintProp cutawayMemorySize 3
boolProp cutawayOutside true
boolProp deviceVsynch true
boolProp displayLookAtBoxes false
boolProp displayPaths false
uintProp dynamicRenderStrategy 0
boolProp edgeScrolling true
uintProp edithConfigFlags 0
boolProp effectLODSoftChange true
floatProp effectMaxTimeDelta 0
uintProp effectPriorityLevel 3
boolProp enableSnapshot true
boolProp freeWill true
uintProp FXVolume 100
floatProp geomBoneInfluenceThreshold 0.01
boolProp geomCheckGeomDataIntegrity false
floatProp geomGeneratedTangentSpaceNormalLineLength 0.1
uintProp geomGenerateTangentSpaceNormalLines 0
boolProp geomGenerateTangentSpaceSxT false
uintProp geomMaxBoneInfluencesPerVertex 4
sintProp geomMaxMorphTargetDeltasPerVertex 4
floatProp geomMorphTargetDeltaThreshold 0.001
floatProp geomPerBoneBoundBlendWeightThreshold 0.9
boolProp guob true
floatProp horzedgescrollrate 0.5
boolProp interrupt false
stringProp lastLoadedNeighborhood
uintProp lightingQuality 3
boolProp lightOpenGLStyle false
boolProp liveCameraConstraints true
boolProp livePIP true
uintProp lodOverride 0
boolProp lotInfoAdvancedMode false
stringProp lotWindowFillColor (0,0,0,1)
uintProp maxParticlesTarget 10000
uintProp maxTerrainGrade 5
boolProp morph true
uintProp MusicVolume 40
stringProp neighborhoodWindowFillColor (0.5,0.5,0.5,1)
boolProp nhoodWaterReflection false
boolProp NoLegacySounds true
boolProp noStupidIFFUnlocking false
boolProp optimizeMeshes true
floatProp particleDamping 0
floatProp particleDensity 1
uintProp particleLODOffset 0
floatProp particleScale 1
floatProp particleSizeThreshold 1
boolProp perfAddLights true
boolProp perfEnableMorphing true
boolProp perfEnableSkinning true
boolProp perfLightCaching true
boolProp perfRenderParts true
uintProp propertyRevision 6
boolProp quickTips true
boolProp reduceBoneWeights false
boolProp reflectionWithExtraViewer false
boolProp renderInsideObjectOnlyOnSelectedSimLevel true
uintProp renderInsideVisibleObjects 1
boolProp renderOpaqueUI false
boolProp renderSelectedSimLevel false
boolProp rotateCameraSims1Mode false
boolProp ShowLotPackageFilename false
boolProp ShowTutorialWelcome true
boolProp simInBackground false
boolProp simShadows true
boolProp sleepInBackground true
boolProp snapObjectsToGrid true
uintProp snapshotPictureQuality 2
uintProp snapshotPictureSize 2
uintProp soundDetail 2
boolProp SoundMasterGroupAmbienceEnabled true
boolProp SoundMasterGroupFXEnabled true
boolProp SoundMasterGroupMusicEnabled true
boolProp SoundMasterGroupVoxEnabled true
boolProp specHighlights true
stringProp startingNeighborhood Pleasantview
boolProp unevenTilesFloorable true
boolProp useEffects true
boolProp useLODs false
boolProp usePixelAspectRatio true
floatProp vertedgescrollrate 0.5
boolProp videoCaptureAudioOn true
uintProp videoCaptureMaxRecordingSeconds 60
uintProp videoCaptureQuality 1
uintProp videoCaptureSize 1
uintProp VOXVolume 100


Device 0
--------

Options
-------
uintProp MaterialDetail 3 #default: 3
uintProp ObjectDetail 3 #default: 3
uintProp ObjectHiding 0 #default: 0
uintProp Shadows 3 #default: 3
uintProp OpaqueUI 0 #default: 0
uintProp Reflection 1 #default: 1
uintProp EffectsQuality 3 #default: 3
uintProp LightingQuality 3 #default: 3
uintProp SoundQuality 3 #default: 3
uintProp DirtyRect 2 #default: 2
uintProp FullscreenFadeEffect 1 #default: 1
uintProp Turbo 2 #default: 2
uintProp SimulatorControls 3 #default: 3
uintProp LightingOptimizations 3 #default: 3
uintProp AnimationSamplingLevel 2 #default: 2
uintProp LivePIP 1 #default: 1
uintProp SpecialEventCamera 1 #default: 1
uintProp ScreenModeResolution 3 #default: 3

Option properties
-----------------
sintProp activeDeviceNum 0
boolProp animationFrameSampling false
uintProp AudioPerformance 2
boolProp bumpMapping true
boolProp chooseCameraSpecialEventEnabled true
uintProp defaultResHeight 768
uintProp defaultResWidth 1024
uintProp dynamicRenderStrategy 2
uintProp effectPriorityLevel 3
boolProp enableSnapshot true
boolProp floorAndWallNormalMapping true
boolProp guob true
boolProp heightMapShadows true
uintProp imageDataSizeReductionOnLoad 0
boolProp incrementalLighting true
boolProp lerpLights true
boolProp lightingEnabled true
boolProp livePIPDefault true
uintProp lodOverride 0
uintProp maxNumOfVisitingSims 8
uintProp maxParticlesTarget 10000
uintProp maxResHeight 1200
uintProp maxResWidth 1600
boolProp nhoodWaterReflection true
boolProp objectShadows true
boolProp optimizedDiffusion true
uintProp optionAnimationSamplingLevel 2
uintProp optionDirtyRect 2
uintProp optionEffectsQuality 3
uintProp optionFullscreenFadeEffect 1
uintProp optionLightingOptimizations 3
uintProp optionLightingQuality 3
uintProp optionLivePIP 1
uintProp optionMaterialDetail 3
uintProp optionObjectDetail 3
uintProp optionObjectHiding 0
uintProp optionOpaqueUI 0
uintProp optionReflection 1
uintProp optionScreenModeResolution 3
uintProp optionShadows 3
uintProp optionSimulatorControls 3
uintProp optionSoundQuality 3
uintProp optionSpecialEventCamera 1
uintProp optionTurbo 2
floatProp particleDensity 1
uintProp particleLODOffset 0
floatProp particleScale 1
boolProp portalLighting true
boolProp reduceBoneWeights false
boolProp reflectionWithExtraViewer true
uintProp renderInsideVisibleObjects 0
boolProp renderOpaqueUI false
boolProp simShadows true
boolProp specHighlights true
boolProp useDirtyTiles true
boolProp useEffects true
boolProp useLODs false
boolProp useTurboRect true

Device properties
-----------------
boolProp activeDeviceUseSoftwareRasterizer false
uintProp antialiasingSupport 3
uintProp configParserErrorCode 0
boolProp createNVidiaWorkaroundTexture true
uintProp deviceLocalVideoMemorySizeDefault 268435456
boolProp enableDriverMemoryManager false
boolProp enumerateMultisampleLevels true
boolProp presentWorkaround false
boolProp useRenderTextures false
boolProp vs2LoopsFunctional true

[ManagerJosh]

Did you install any suspicious applications, like spyware?

[Santizla]

Nah. Just ran ad-aware SE to be sure and it didnt find anything other than a few cookies.

[Mirelly]

Try disabling custom content. There may be a rogue hack causing your slow running problem. (You'll have to to reload the game after disabling it - the option is in the Miscellaneous section of the game menu). If it works come back and I'll help you find it. :)

[Santizla]

There was no miscellaneous tab, but when i clicked on "game options" it had something about turning custom content off. I turned it off, quit, and restarted the game. Nothing changed :(

[dangerousgem]

Do you have any expansion packs or just the base game?

[Santizla]

I have just the base game.

I tried following these steps below that i found on another forum and had some success. The loading still takes a while, and theres quite a few graphical glitches (nothing i cant live with). The problem now is that it crashes to desktop with no warning or error message fairly frequently.

1. Set the display to 16-bit color. To make this change, follow these steps:
a. Click on the Start menu and select Settings, Control Panel, and then double-click on Display. If using Microsoft Windows* XP: Click on the Start menu and select Control Panel, "Switch to Classic View" if the category view is shown, and then double-click on Display.

b. Select the Settings tab.

c. Change the Color Quality (Color Depth) to 16-bit color.
2. Run the game with the -w switch which forces the game to run in a window. To add this switch, follow these steps:

a. Right-click on the The Sims 2 game and left-click on Properties. You can do this either on the game's shortcut on the desktop or on the game's entry in the Start menu.

b. Add a space and -w to the end of the Target field, so that it looks like this:

Note: The actual path may vary depending on where the game was installed. Make sure that the -w goes outside the quotation marks and that there is a space between the last quotation mark and the -w.

c. Click OK.

[Jill Valentine®]

Too bad :(

Once I had a similar problem you're having, and the problem were the drivers. Of course, we are playing the guessing game, so, I really can't advise you with a 100% sure solution. Since you already tried what I said before and that didn't work, this problem is really hard to figure out. And with Mirelly and Josh both giving extra support after you tried to clean your system as I described, makes for an even harder guessing game.

But here's my guess then, the drivers. Instead of using the most updated drivers for your nvidia, try using a old one, very old. Like, two years ago. Go to guru3d and see what you can find.

When I had a geforce, and updated to the latest drivers, the game "URU - Ages Beyond Myst" showed very bright and blank highlighted textures instead of shadow textures. So the textures were "blank", not really showing at all. When I tried to run it again with the previous drivers, it did it, problem solved, only that it cured URU, but the other games could have used the "power" of the latest drivers.

Well, it's your call whether you want to try this or not, and if it works for you, then ask yourself if you're willing to sacrifice the performance of other games for the sake of TS2.

See ya !!!

PS: Of course, to do this, you'll have to follow those steps again... registry cleaning and everything else.

And I could be wrong about ad-aware, but any anti-virus I tried until today gets it as a virus... don't remember the type, if it was spyware or what. So, maybe you do have a suspicious application as Josh asked you. I really don't know, but I never reinstalled ad-aware again after Norton, AVG and a third one (which I don't use no more, so can't remember the name) implicated with it.