Graphical Problems I'm having two problems. I'll keep them seperate for you though, since one is for me on my computer, and the other is on my friend's computer. The first problem is mine. I've installed the Sims 2, and a few of the expansions, but every step of the way, I have been un-able to change my resolution above 800x600. My normal desktop resolution is 1280x800, so I should be able to go higher, and it makes me very sad to see all the extra space that my friend has, while I'm always missing some sort of information on my screen. My computer is an HP Pavilion zv6000, with an AMD64 3500+ processor, and a Radeon XPress 200M graphics card. I have all the most up to date drivers, but it still doesn't work. I've tried setting the shortcut to use the command -r1024x768, but it did nothing. Any other suggestions? My friend's problem is a bit more difficult to explain. He has a dual moniter set up, although I don't think that it influences his problem, since even when he doesn't use both moniters, it still happens. I'm just saying that in case there are known problems with dual moniters that might be causing it. The problem is that after twenty or so minutes (sometimes after just five), his video card stops sending a signal, and his screen goes blank. The game is still running, the sound is still going, the keyboard signals are still going through, it's just that the video is no longer sending output. If he is running full screen, then alt-tabbing out fixes the problem, because it resets the cards output. When he runs it windowed though (as he prefers, so he can chat and do other things also), there is nothing that we can do (that we know of) to fix it, so he has to restart the computer. Not an opprotune solution. So, if anyone has any ideas for how to fix these two problems, please help.
Resolution is tied to the computer's ability. If it's not giving you the ability to change to higher resolution, then your computer won't show those as available. You can cut back on other graphics options if you really want to see it at a higher resolution, but it may not be worth it. I'm not sure what is going on with your friend's computer. It almost sounds like there is an overheating issue going on. You haven't mentioned your friend's specs, which can make a difference, as can the card being used.
It's not a problem with my computer's capabilities. I have another friend with my same computer, and a slightly slower cpu, who runs the Sims 2 at 1024x768 with no problem. In fact, she has a slightly low framerate sometimes, and I was even thinking that mine might not do that. My system runs it just as well as hers when we are both at 800x600, but she has the option to change the resolution. I've tried seeing if setting down all my graphics options would fix the problem, but even at the lowest settings possible, my only option is 800x600. On the other hand, my friend with the desktop has resolutions selectable that his moniter doesn't even support, that are way to high to even run at a decent framerate even if his moniter did support them. As to the second problem, with his computer, it seems to have gone away with an update to his videocard drivers.
Does your friend have exactly the same video card, RAM and the like? You'd be surprised what can change things. For instance, RAM comes in multiple types. You can have "1 gb" of RAM, but that might be fast RAM (like PC3200 or better) or it can be slower RAM (such as PC133). They might add up to the same, but they behave differently. Seemingly identical stats for two different graphics cards may behave entirely differently as well. Since your friend with the "same machine" has a slightly slower CPU, it could be that there are other differences as well. Or maybe it looks on paper like it's a "slower CPU" but in reality it's one that works better. Yours also appears to be a laptop as opposed to a desktop. Laptops can be problematic when it comes to TS2. That's why they are going to put out a stripped down version called Sims Stories, specifically for laptops. Sometimes the graphics cards look better on paper than they actually perform in practice. Sometimes the "most uptodate driver" is not the best one. It depends on why they did the update. Sometimes rolling back to a previous one helps. (As your other friend has seen, the wrong driver can cause some odd problems. It's nice that an upgrade fixed his problem.) I don't know what else to tell you. Your computer probably should have the same settings available that your friend has on their computer. I've given you the reasons that I've seen cause that. Other than that, I don't know what to say.
As I said, I have two friends that I am talking about. One with a desktop that had the video card problem that is now fixed. I have another friend that bought her laptop from HP at the same time I did, and with all the same options as me, except for the processor. We have the same ram, video card, and everything else. Hers is the one that I was comparing mine too, and saying that I should be able to at least have the resolution that she has.
