sim tv not displaying

[Jade]

I have problems with the television and computer sequences not displaying.  I just get a black screen when they are on.  It does make the sounds of the tv programs, but no picture.  Has anyone had the same problem?  I know for sure that they haven't worked at all since BonVoyage, but I am not sure about before, I wasn't letting many of my sims have tv for awhile.

I have all the expansions and stuff packs, and none of the custom tv channels.

[jsalemi]

Have you checked your graphics options since installing BV?  EAxis is sometimes too conservative on what they think a video card can handle, and installing a new EP/SP sometimes resets your graphics options to lower settings.

[Jade]

I have checked, and my settings are maxed.  Looks very nice too, except for the wierd lack of tv shows

[Jade]

I still have found no solution to this problem.  Is there supposed to be any files in the documents/EAgames/TheSims2/Movies folders anywhere?  I assume you only have files in there if you have custom movies, but I just thought I would ask.

[ZiggyDoodle]

You said you have no custom t.v. channels, but what about custom televisions?  Are you using the vanilla sets that come with the game or a custom set?

Can't help you with the files question right now; will check my rig later if no one responds by then.

[Invisigoth]

I have no files in that directory, although I do have folders. One is called Broadcast, which has an empty folder for each channel, for commercials, and tv_weather_summer (and the other 3 seasons of course), and one labeled "static". The other folder is Games which also has empty folders in it. If you go into C:\Program Files\EA Games\Any EP that added tv stations or games\TSData\Res\Movies you will find folders with files inside of them.

[Bruce Banner]

  Have you tried playing any video files lately ? Try playing some avis and mpegs if not and see if they play ok . The default videos in the game have the .MOVIE extension although I'm wondering if they're avi based seeing as they are the types of custom videos that the game plays . If your avis don't play correctly it could be a damaged codec possibly ? 

[Jade]

Yes, I've ruled out any normal codec being corrupt, I can play avi files with no problem.  I have tried without custom content, with no luck.  All tv's base game or custom and all computers don't display any moving pictures, just a black square.  I too have vista, but I did have tv's working fine under vista when I first installed (90% sure about that anyway). 

[ZephyrZodiac]

I just had a look in the Movies folder for my (Seasons) game.  Both folders (Broadcast and Games) are there, but they are not exactly empty, as there are a number of empty folders in each one.  I can't exactly see a reason for them being there, but there they are, and maybe they need to be there for tv and computer screens to work properly.

[Jade]

I should have been more clear in my original post I think

I do have plenty of empty folders inside both broadcast and games (in my documents folder), all the ones that would be expected.  The same file structure is in place in the installed files (on C: drive), with the .movie files present, which would seem to rule out any install errors. 

Are the .movie files supposed to be playable outside of the game?

[selzi]

What type of graphics card do you have? Mine is an ATI Radeon HD 2600, and I've got the very same problem. I've tried it both under Vista and XP, and with both ATI and Omega drivers. My TVs and computer screens still stay black, no matter what I change.

There's a similar thread in a German sims forum, and all the people posting there have the same graphics card (that Radeon 2600), so my guess would be it's the graphics card's fault!

[Gwendolyne]

I have the same problem and I have a Radeon 2900XT. I have the newest driver, so that can'tbe the problem. So maybe it is not the 2600 alone, but Radeon in General?

[Simsample]

Not all Radeons, as my X1600 works fine. You could try downloading the On2 VP6 codec that the game uses, and installing it again:
http://www.free-codecs.com/VP6_download.htm
http://www.fourcc.org/codecs.php
Or else try forcing the game to use a different codec. This is from the readme:

Advanced Tips: All the video capture settings default values are in an .ini file that you can edit. You can modify things like capture frame rate, default folder to capture to, file naming, capture size, max bit rate, and preferred codecs. Want to capture in a different codec? Just install the codec and then make it the preferred codec. The file is located here: My Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\ConfigVideoCapture.ini.

Probably the most sensible thing to try first would be to delete that ini file so that the game recreates it from scratch, in case that is the issue.

[Jade]

I can create movies just fine, just the ones that would displayed in game don't show up.  I tried taking the config file out, and it regenerated, but it didn't change the situation.  I also installed the codec, but that doesn't seem to help either.  If the codec was working should my computer recognize .movie files as video?

I have vista and a radeon 2900XT as well.

This is such a wierd problem 

[sewinglady]

Got a new computer for Christmas (Santa was very nice to me this year).

It came with dual radeon 3850 video cards.

Finally got it to the point where I could install and op-check the game last night.

The game was crashing every time it tried to 'touch' the custom content files (such as when you're trying to change appearance in a mirror) and my tv and computer screens are black.

So I have a super duper fast high-end gaming computer that won't run this game properly...heavy sigh. At least it's great for my work...whee.

[jsalemi]

No, it sounds like you have a bad piece of custom content, so you should go through your downloads and do a binary search until you find out the offending item.

[sewinglady]

all content in the downloads folder is the same on both my old computer and my new computer.

Old computer TV works just fine and I'm not having the issues with the change appearance (more on that in a minute).

New computer - tv is black.

Now as for the issues where the change appearance causes the crash.  I think I've figured that out.  The game is trying to touch every file in my downloads folder and for the very first time... so I restarted the game and in CAS I just paged through every hair, make-up, clothing item.  Yes it was tedious as all Hell.  BUT, after that the crashing when a sim goes to change appearance stopped.

For some reason though, this computer seems to have a touchier constitution and the game has crashed to the desktop over odd things - like sims making a phone call, etc.  Hoping that I can sort this all out soon...

My husband (that would be Santa) wants to look tonight and see if he can find updated drivers and is hoping that will solve the black tv/computer screen problem - I'm not holding out much hope, but truthfully, so long as THAT doesn't cause a crash, I can live with it - would be even happier if I didn't have to listen to it as well...

[witch]

Check for video codecs, especially if the computer and TV aren't working properly.

[sewinglady]

is that this ccc.exe thing that keeps saying it can't shut properly when I shut the computer off or restart it?

[witch]

No idea mate. Google it, just as it is.

[sewinglady]

hubby did...he says it's something to do with the video cards.  He knows all that techno-speak.  Me?  I just use and abuse computers. He's talking about fixing that and also fixing the fan speed on these video cards - something about they don't run fast enough when you're playing high end games (I think this would be something with much higher refresh rates than sims2? or not?)

I was finally able to get all the way through having the computer 'touch' every stinking file in the downloads folder (only took 3 tries as it would go so far and crash). 

So about an hour ago, I restarted the computer and started the game and was able to play a family for an hour without the thing crashing.  I didn't let any of my minions watch TV and even with the birth of a baby, toddler growing into adulthood and the father getting a promotion, there was no crashing.  So Whew! I think I'm past the worst of it. May just have to have a TV FREE neighborhood.  sure wouldn't hurt my feelings.  If I hear that sports channel noise one more time...

[witch]

I'm glad for you.

That sport TV noise is so irritating! I don't like it in real life and I don't like it in the sims. Most of my sims don't own TVs. 

[guedesrs]

Hi guys

With me happend the same problem and i have the same graphic too(Ati Radeon 2600 XT).

Anyone solved this problem??? I had tried everything, including i reinstalled the codec "VP6"  and it is not working

Plz anyone help us!!

I send a email for support to EA, but i'm not hope they respond with a solution!

[KatEnigma]

This is a "known problem" with the game and 2xxx and 3xxx cards. If there's a solution, I haven't found it yet. 

[cyperangel]

add yet another one waiting for a way to cure this. got a 3XXX card, and no tv.