More Awesome Than You!

OK, I've been to other Sims-related forums, but no one can figure out what the problem is.  I've done to routine things:  defragging and clean up (not an idiot; this is something I do every day), dusting the case and parts, checking the temp on the fan (stays between 47 to 52 degrees while gaming), toyed with different drivers (I was one of the unfortunate ones who needed the 84.21 driver for Nvidia after OFB came out because of the damn blue screening), pulled out downloads to see if they were the issue...you name it, I've done it, and I still have problems.  I added Seasons, which will play, but I still have the same problem --

After about 10 minutes of play, the game stops functioning in bits and pieces.  First, random objects and sims become highlighted in yellow or red.  Sometimes I lose objects and walls, being left with what I can only label as "outlines" of where a house used to be.  I can escape from the game and pop back in, and everything is fine.  Then several minutes later, it starts again.  After a few times of this, the game exits by itself.

I haven't figured out if this is still a driver problem, a memory problem, a problem with my FX 5500 (that card is probably on its death bed with these games), or if it's still some damn object that's causing a problem.  I haven't been able to play the game in months because of this (I'd thought it was a card problem, so I was waiting to afford a new card).

Has this happened to any else?  I've searched, and I haven't found anyone with a similar problem.  I hope someone here can help (because I know that this is where the bright people are).

Some specs before anyone asks:

Processor:  AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3500+,  MMX,  3DNow, ~2.2GHz
Memory: 1024MB
Page File: 324MB used, 2136MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (85Hz)
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0010.9131 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 6/1/2006 17:22:00, 4529408 bytes
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled

If you need anything else, let me know.

I wish I had something helpful to say. Cross your fingers. Help will be here soon.

Did the game used to run ok? If so, when did it start acting up?
Any significant changes (or any you remember at all) that were around the time things started getting weird?

Well, OFB had a few problems for me with that blue screening issue, but that was solved.  Where things really started to screw up is with Pets.  I haven't really been able to play the game since then.

Last time I was able to play for hours was last October.

Googled your problem.  Here are two of the very many links that popped up surrounding that card.  The nVidia forum has an interesting post about crippling the card.

http://www.techspot.com/vb/all/windows/t-22644-Please-help-am-having-problems-with-GeForce-FX-5500-graphics-card.html

http://forums.nvidia.com/lofiversion/index.php?t2161.html

Gotta be frustrating.

Yeah, I tried the "force 2.0" card-crippling technique a while back, to no avail.

I think I'll stay away from Nvidia after this.  Now if I can figure out what a good ATI card would be for this system.

Also, I hope it's just the damn card that's the problem and nothing else.  That would actually be a relief.

Things that helped me:

adding memory--most helpful with my problems

removing unneeded programs

defragging

turning shaders off (I don't need to, but this fixes issues for others)

regularly removing groups.cache and cigen.cache; not realted, but will eliminate other issues while you are testing

experimenting with in-game video settings (I can run the highest, but the game slows dramatically as a result, and could even crash if I get too excitable while swooping around the lot and taking high-res large pix, though that hasn't happened lately)

checking downloads folder for dupe files and conflicting hacks; removing unnecessary items (see S2HDetect, Clean Installer, and Paladin's SimCat)

and removing a driver Geek Squad installed that was not for laptops, and which borked my settings.

Some of the drivers online are not going to work with your system; some people have reported success with older drivers.

See also the Major Geeks fora, and MTS2's NVidia Suxx0rz thread.

As Lorelei says, try turning the shaders off.  In case you need to know, just type

boolprop useshaders false

into the cheat menu on the Neighbourhood screen.  This did work for me after many months of frustration.  I had the appallling black screen of suckitude after installing OFB and precisely nothing else worked.  Good luck and I hope you do find a solution.  Personally I was close to acquiring a lovely new set of Sims disk coffee mug coasters.

I've done this and even done the trick to force the card to do Pixel Shader 1.4 (whatever it was, can't remember now) because I'd thought it was a shading problems, but alas, did nothing for me. :(

I've tampered with different game settings, too, but the weird stuff still happens.

I know memory might help some things, but my husband isn't convinced since another gamer told him that this pc should be able to handle the game and its EPs just fine.  :-\

Up until a few months ago I was using a Nvidia FX5200 and had to keep going back to 77.?? drivers... when ever i installed a later driver I had basically the same probs as you... Flashing hoods, reboots, missing bits... going back to the 77.?? drivers always solved my probs...

You might try going to www.guru3d.com and get 3dmarkSE2001 (don't get a later version) and test your card with that... it might show the same probs... if it does, roll back or uninstall and install an earlier driver..

good luck

Well, originally, I think I had the 84.21 drivers and then had a 78.01 driver, but upped it to 91.31 to play another game.  77, huh?  Any recommendations?

I'm trying the program, too, by the way.  Thanks for that.

Try 77.77. They seem to work for a large variety of different nVidia cards, while various newer drivers seem to work okay for some cards but not others.

I'm pretty sure I was using 81.something drivers before I swapped to an ATI card.