Bump Mapping works with my Gforce 6800GT & Nightlife.

[MokeyHokey]

If you don't get it by default, you can try first editing the GraphicsRules.sgr (it's in Program Files\EA Games\The Sims 2\TSData\Res\Config). 

Scroll down until you see this line:

# disable shaders by default for NV3x generation, only enable for high end cards
if ($maxVertexProgramVersionHWMajor = 2)
boolProp useShaders false


Change "useShaders false" to useShaders true"


Keep scrolling down until you see this:

# since we don't do bumpmapping on less ps2.0-capable hardware, eliminate tangents
# from the vertex data
# also, the presence of per-vertex tangents in the vertex data stream causes
# "exploded" polygons on the Radeon 9000, even if the data is ignored by the shader
if ($maxPixelProgramVersionMajor < 2)
boolProp skipTangentsInVertexData true


Change "boolProp skip TangentsInVertexData true" to "boolProp skipTangentsInVertexData false"

Save file.  Note that the path is different if you have expansion packs installed.  You'll need to edit the GraphicsRules in the Config folder of your latest expansion pack.

[witch]

Cool, I've found out the answers to lots of things in this thread, particularly how to edit the config file. I still have one question left unanswered, what's a Rivatuner?

Also someone asked about square pixels, that intrigues me too. Anyone know what they are and why we might want to turn them on or off?

[MokeyHokey]

RivaTuner is here: http://www.guru3d.com/rivatuner/.

You only needed it for upper level GeForce cards, since the game evidently didn't realize that the cards are in fact capable of rendering bumpmaps.

[Baa]

I've also wanted to know what "square pixels" were. It sounds so odd. I thought pixels WERE square.

And if anyone wants to know, what object hiding is:

If it's on, when you're on the first story of your house, the objects on the second story dissapear until you go up to the second story to play. It saves memory on behalf of your computer. If it's off, all of the objects stay where they are whether or not they are near. It's a good idea to have them off, really, considering there's no use in having objects just sitting up there if your camera's not up there.

[witch]

RivaTuner is here: http://www.guru3d.com/rivatuner/.

You only needed it for upper level GeForce cards, since the game evidently didn't realize that the cards are in fact capable of rendering bumpmaps.

OK. Is a GeForce 5700 with 256Mb RAM an upper-level card? I know in the manual for my card, it said I could turn on tweaking features if I wanted but couldn't guarantee stability. Is this tweaking/overclocking the same stuff the rivatuner accesses?

Oh, PS, Thanks MokeyHokey
*goes off to learn some manners*

[MokeyHokey]

You are welcome, Witch.  (That sounds vaguely deragatory!  )  I'm really not smart about technical stuff, but I've been reading and absorbing a lot of this crap since Sims2 came out. 

Now, I believe that the RivaTuner applies only to the 6600 and upwards cards.  I'm not about to try to tell you how to overclock your card; mine came overclocked and I've no idea how to go about it. 

[nectere]

video cards are sounding more and more like hotrods every day...and now you need a tuner too!

overhaulin.....

[brat]

I don't mean to sound like an idiot, but am I going to need this tuner thing? I have a Geforce 6600 PCI Express 256 mb just sitting here. I am afraid to install it with all the hype I've been reading about different cards. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Motoki]

Could someone tell me how to enable bump mapping? Is there a cheat that works?

Braveheart if you get that new ATI card of yours working you should have it without any cheats as I've played the game with several ATI cards (including a 9700 which is pretty close to your 9800) and always got bump mapping.

[veo-veo]

I got bump mapping all right, but I never got object specularity.  Now, no wonder all my objects look a tad shade darker than in the thumbnails. Is there any way to enable that though?

[sanmonroe]

Here is a nice guide to tweaking your 6800 (although it works for other cards too)

Some people have been having problems with the 6800 and 7800 and Sims 2. No hard reason why locked down though.

Sigh... I just realized I didn't provide the link...

http://3dgpu.com/archives/2004/08/09/geforce-6800-tweak-guide/