More Awesome Than You!

So I have been noticing, ever since I got WA my game will dim in the middle of me playing.  I also added on all the store stuff and HELS and it still does it but not as much.  The weird thing about it is that it will dim, be like that for about 30 seconds or so, then go back to the way it was.  Any advice on what's going on?

Too much power being used? I'm guessing.

Does it always happen at a particular Sim time?  I'm just wondering if it coincide with the 5am slow down. 

No it doesn't happen at any particular time.  When the game goes dim it looks like the whole game is going to crash.  But it doesn't, it just goes back to normal and I can continue playing.  It's odd. :-\

Are you using a laptop? I know when I'm on my laptop the screen dims to adjust to the power saving settings I have on it, much like Erry said.

Nope. PC.

Loose cable?

No.  It's the game itself.  It freezes when it dims, like the music and the cursor and everything just freezes.  It's odd.

Sounds like a graphic card power issue.

Do you have an LCD monitor with integrated speakers that you are using?

When the dimming happens and the action and sound freezes, does it resume from where it froze (as if everything stopped) or do the Sims jump to a new location (as if you missed what was happening)?

That's what I was thinking. Rig stats?

The dimming looks like when you enter in cheats for one.  And I think it MIGHT be my video card.  I have a NVIDIA GeForce 5200 I believe.

Could be your problem.  I can't remember for sure, but I don't think that card is supported, if it is supported, it is at the lowest end of the scale, so that may well be the problem.

No, that card is below the minimum supported NVIDIA card.

So, to sum up:  an entire thread has been generated and wasted on something that could have been solved by reading the damn "ReadMe" file that came with the game.  Thank you, and good day.

I apologize for wasting everyone's time.  Like I said, it only happened after I had installed WA, and doesn't do it as much since I installed HELS.  So I had no idea what was going on, because my game didn't crash just dimmed like it would when you enter a cheat, stay like that for less than 30 seconds, then I went right back to playing.  But thank you to all who did help out.  It was appreciated.

For future reference, when you're basically trying to run a new PC game on a rock, chances are- and stay with me here, this might be difficult- your SHITTY ASS GRAPHICS CARD MIGHT BE THE FUCKING PROBLEM.


How dense can you possibly be? "Hm, I can barely run the fucking game, and I'm getting GRAPHICAL ERRORS! GOSH GOLLY GEE WILLIKERS WHATEVER COULD BE THE CAUSE?"

Umm, thanks but I'm sorry I'm not as computer savvy as most of you people on here.  I understand that it is my graphics card, yes it's shitty, and I joined this damn site for computer savvy people to HELP me, not to put me down and make me sound like an idiot.  And I can run the damn game, it just dims once in a blue moon which did not make any sense.  THAT is why I posted this damn topic, because it only did it AFTER I had WA installed and stopped doing it when I installed HELS.  Mind you I play the damn game as much as everybody on here.  So if its my video card how come it doesn't do the dimming thing all the time?  I would think that it would be doing it at least every time that I play and it doesn't.  THAT IS WHY I POSTED.

It's not our fault you look like an idiot. We aren't making you post "Hey guys, I'm having graphical issues with my graphics card that runs the game on all low settings at 10FPS, could it be my graphics card?"

Don't feel bad.  They do not know what your problem is any more than you do.  There simply is not enough information about your problem and your system to draw a definite conclusion.

While I do not know what your problem is, I don't think that "SHITTY ASS GRAPHICS CARD" really addresses the main problem.  This feels like a software problem to me.

If it was Sims 3 WA that was causing the problems and HELS fixed it, then you would be justified in leaving well enough alone and just enjoy the game. That said, if you have an FX5200, I would definitely upgrade it anyway.  The game looks and runs MUCH better if you have a decent graphics card.  It is a shame to waste the game on an FX5200.

Claeric is new to MATY and kind of an ass (as in, even for MATY), so don't worry about him, itz_kukuchka.

I still say there might be some sort of power issue. Yeah, the graphics card isn't listed as supported. However, I ran TS2 and three expansions on a machine that didn't have a supported video card and I didn't have issues with graphics. You never posted full specs.

Without an FPS limiter controlling things, the game is probably driving the graphics card harder than it needs to, which may be causing problems.

As has been mentioned, without knowing the full specs of the system, and the power supply, we are only able to offer a best guess as to the potential problem.

With a graphics card that crap, I don't think an FPS limiter would DO anything since the card is incapable of delivering the performance needed even at full power.