More Awesome Than You!

I've only had NL a few weeks, and I've noticed some odd graphics glitchs.  I have an Athlon64 X2 4800+, dual Nvidia 7800 GTXs in SLI mode, and 2 GB RAM.  I just updated the Nvidia drivers this morning AND completely reinstalled the game, all EPs, the Holiday pack, and the NL patch.  I backed up my My Documents\...\The Sims 2 folder and let the installation create a new one.  At this point I have no custom content.  I deleted the C:\Program Files\EA Games\...\The Sims 2 (EP) folders after uninstalling, and before reinstalling the game too.

So, playing the Beakers in Strangetown, Loki's goatee is not blond, but red:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c120/TreyNutz/goatee.jpg)

Other goatees seem fine, and other colors seem ok too.  The problem occurs on other lots.  If I turn down Texture Detail from High to Medium or Low - that particular goatee disappears completely, although it's selectable in the Change Appearance window, and looks fine.  At Medium Texture Detail other facial hair is fine.  Maybe this particular goatee is screwed up.  Actually, if I select another facial hair, then change appearance again, that goatee looks fine for about 5 sec then goes red as Loke walks out of the bathroom.  The thumbnail portrait on the left, and the pic in the control panel on the bottom show the red goatee too.

Newspapers now come in different colors:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c120/TreyNutz/newspaper.jpg)
I've seen purple and blue too.  Sometimes one color fades to another.  The first time I saw this I thought it was a new NL game feature - ooooh! the newspaper now comes in rainbow colors!  ::) The angle of the camera seems to affect color intensity and at some angles it appears normal.

The big thing is the cowplant:
(http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c120/TreyNutz/cowplant.jpg)
With the cake on the tongue, the cowplant stops looking normal.  This one is outside, which may have something to do with it.  I put one outside on Don's lot, and that was fine with the cake until morning.  Then I got the same bright green/yellow thing going on.

Since the cowplant looks fine until the candle on the cake shows up, and the newspaper changes colors at different angles, to me this appears to be a graphics issue of some sort related to the way light strikes certain objects.  I did not have any problems before installing Nightlife.  Choosing different Video options does not appear to change things (expect for Loki's disappearing goatee already noted).  Feeding the cowplant doesn't fix the graphics glitch either, but mabye a day/night change might do it temporarily.  I have another cowplant indoors on another lot, but haven't noticed anything wrong with it yet - but I haven't played that lot much since NL either. 

Has anyone had similar issues, or have any idea how to correct these?  I'm all out of ideas.  I thought it might have been related to a vampire hack I was trying out - but now I don't think it's hack related at all.  The goatee and newspaper aren't such a big deal, but the cowplant is a problem.  And I'm concerned other issues might crop up.

Thanks for any help.

The green/yellow textures have to do with the latest NVidia video drivers. Try going back to version 77.77. The newest version caused the same problems in my game.

Ok, thanks.  I hadn't thought to go back to an older version.  I'll try that.   ;D

edit:  no can do.  When I rolled back to 77.77 the game wouldn't launch.  It froze on the start up screen.   :(  Going back to 6.66 nForce drivers didn't help at all either.  The only thing that worked was removing a card so I was running only one.  When I went back to 81.95 graphics drivers and the 6.70 chipset drivers, everything worked again in SLI mode.  So I'll just tolerate the graphics glitches and hopefully Nvidia will correct that in a later release.

The game was working at one time with the 77.77 drivers.  I don't know why it's not now.  But I'm tired of rebooting with no end in site.   >:(

I've got a similar question. Kind of.

Is this particular painting wonky in anyone else's game since NL, or do I have a graphics problem?

(http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c207/zippythebushkangaroo/snapshot_709dd3c8_70a770e7.jpg)

All my sims even with maxed creativity paint it like this now. It looks like a crappy bleedy watercolor.

That's just one of the standard Maxis sim-painted canvases. My sims paint those all the time, as well as about 5 or 6 other images.

I know. But didn't it used to look nicer? Not like somebody threw water on it?

It looks like an incomplete version of it or something.

I swear it was prettier before, but I could be hallucinating yet again.

I don't think I've ever seen a version of that painting that didn't look watered, not that I remember anyway!

Ah, I found a picture of all the default painting here: http://www.modthesims2.com/showthread.php?t=82329

So I guess that is how it normally looks.

Maybe pre-uni it was different? I bet no one can vouch for this, and I look stark raving MAD!

I thought it looked more like complete pipes or something before. And just...clearer.

Wow, that sounds like a nice computer. Is the Athlon processor loud at all? My Pentium is so obnoxiously loud when the game fires up that I'm thinking of switching to an Athlon in a bit, provided my motherboard'll allow it. W/ the lower speeds, it wasn't really a problem. But w/ my 3.2 - just 3.2!! - it's like a jet engine. Really annoying.

You'll have to get another motherboard if you want to switch to an Athlon CPU.  But you could just look at replacing the heatsink/fan assembly.  There are probably some quieter ones out there.  I invested in a Koolance liquid cooling system to get rid of the fans altogether.  The system is quieter, but I've had to put decent case fans in to exhause the hot air from the RAM/motherboard/other components.  For a long time I thought that heat was the cause of most of my issues, but I've been monitoring the case temp, and it's around 40 at idle.  I can get it lower with another fan in the front - a project for the Xmas break.

Bah! I knew the processor hinged on something. Drats. Not going to switch mobos so soon, that's for sure. Is there a lot of work involved in replacing the heatsink/fan? Cuz I'm really not a techie, and right now I don't have the time to deal w/ any overly complicated procedures.

Yeah - it's not something that should be rushed.  You'll need to get good heatsink compound (Artic Silver 5 for example), be wary of static electricity, be careful with the force you use to attach the heatsink.  I've done it lots of times, and have never screwed up a CPU, but I was very nervous the first time I did it.  I'm lot sure if your Pentium has a metal cover over the CPU or not (forgot the technical term).  New CPUs (both Intel and AMD) do now so you aren't covering the actual CPU with heatsink compound.  Anyways, the research to find the 'perfect' heatsink/fan is the most time consuming.  http://www.zalmanusa.com/ is known for their quiet heatsink fans.  If they fit on your motherboard you could probably get a shop to swap it for you for not too much money.  I don't know though - I'm pretty much a do it yourselfer.  As much as I regret it sometimes.

So what exactly determines the 'perfect' heatsink? Any beginner's guides around anywhere? I've never gone shopping for this stuff b4. But the noise is really bothering me, so I'm left w/ no other choice.

That's odd, did you uninstall the previous drivers before installing the 77.77 ones? Just a few weeks ago I tried a couple of different version of the NVidia drivers, but none of the new ones worked as well as 77.77, so I went back to them. I always uninstalled the other version before installing another.

The perfect heatsink is the one that's large enough to hold the massive fan. As for the noise, the correct level of noise for your computer should depend on the components being cooled.

As a rule of thumb, a case fan should sound like a jet engine, and a smaller fan like for CPUs and graphics cards should sound like a power drill or saw. If you can still hear yourself speak without shouting, IT'S NOT POWERFUL ENOUGH. If you can stick your fingers in them and not lose them, you NEED A MORE POWERFUL FAN.

I continue to be impressed by how a single person can be so tremendously helpful, and yet at the same time be of no help at all.

I uninstalled everything (display and chipset), then used Drive Cleaner Pro to delete anything left behind.  The game just froze on launch.  I was very relieved that it worked when I went back to the 6.70 nForce and 81.95 display drivers.  I was thinking I was going to have to give up the SLI (and one $500 graphics card).

As for the perfect heatsink - it depends on what you are looking for.  First you have to get one rated for your CPU, then you want to look at the noise level - not a standard measurement and reviews are hard to come by, then you have to make sure it will fit on your motheboard.  Massive heatsinks cool better but space can be a problem.  I know Tom's Hardward used to review heatsinks regularly, and Silent PC Review is totally focused on very quiet components.  FrozenCPU is a vendor that sells a huge selection of heatsink/fans and often includes noise ratings but that info is from the manufacturer so you probably can't compare one manufacturer to another, but comparing products from the same manufacturer is probably move valid.  Usually I look for a model that appears promising then do a google search with the model name or number and the word 'review' to see if anyone's taken a look at it, or even better if it's been part of a round up.

Two rules: do all computer assembly naked, to minimize static electricity, and use beer as coolant. Or possibly vodka -- haven't tested that yet.

I installed the new nvidia drivers a while back and got exactly the same problem.  It is the drivers. I installed an old version of the drivers and the problem was solved.

So much for maxis saying "update your drivers"

Nakedness?  Vodka?  You don't need a computer with those items you silly, you need a Twister mat.  :o

I'll look and post a pic if it's better.  I don't have any EP's - roll on Open for business

I'll say you weren't crazy as it looked cleaner to me. I've recently upgraded my graphics card and put the settings way up and am noticing a whole bunch of stuff that I never saw before in the game. Is it possible that at a lower setting maybe the "watercolor mess" isn't as apparent. I know I used to think - hey that's not a bad looking picture and hung a couple of those on the walls. But looking at the picture you posted above, I know I wouldn't have hung that picture if that's what I saw in my game.