Hi there! You are currently browsing as a guest. Why not create an account? Then you get less ads, can thank creators, post feedback, keep a list of your favourites, and more!
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#26 Old 20th Jul 2018 at 11:57 AM
Quote: Originally posted by s4rts4
Glad to hear that you got it sorted out, kinda! I should update and try the newest windows 10 build too. I keep postponing it since I'm afraid that it will mess things up again x)


Maybe try preparing a system restore point before you do the update. :P

Oh and update: Community lots in the main neighborhood worked without a problem. So did Downtown lots.
Advertisement
Mad Poster
#27 Old 20th Jul 2018 at 1:26 PM
Yay! I will drink to that
Trainee Moderator
staff: trainee moderator
#28 Old 20th Jul 2018 at 1:30 PM
I'm glad everything's in good order now.

Catalogue of Custom Neighborhoods for TS2
All Hood Building Group neighborhoods are available here
Want to get rid of EA's sims in neighborhoods? Check out my Clean and Empty Steatlh Hoods and Clean and Empty Neighborhood Templates
My Simblr
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#29 Old 24th Jul 2018 at 8:29 PM
Well that didn't last that long:

Update: One of my sims was on a date, everything was going fine until his date started flashing pink. Zoomed out and some of the objects on the community lot were also flashing pink. I minimized the window as that sometimes help refresh the graphics a bit. Went back in after a while and as the screen was loading the game just crashed. Logs show 'Access violation', as usual...

However, this hasn't happened for a while now, so at least it the game and graphics worked well. I've had sims come and go to community lots the last couple of days or last week and everything was fine. :/ I'll try to replay the date again and see how it goes... -_-
Link Ninja
#30 Old 24th Jul 2018 at 9:47 PM
I hate how it's so random. Like yesterday I loaded the game, there was no flashing pink, but after five minutes of decorating, I got a crash. Restarted, reloaded, and everything was pink and flashy at the start. Restarted, reloaded and then everything was fine and didn't get a crash. I saved diligently for about 45 minutes while decorating the same lot the same way, and then quit the game on my terms.

I went to the same sub hood, same lot every single time after starting the game.

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Mad Poster
Original Poster
#31 Old 24th Jul 2018 at 10:02 PM Last edited by M.M.A.A. : 24th Jul 2018 at 10:23 PM.
@Charmful - Can you try patching your game again with the 4GB patch? I kinda wanna test something here. I feel like the 4GB patch works, but it somehow doesn't seem to always stick or apply properly.

The way I made my game function properly for a bit was play with compatibility mode during testing, which obviously reset the 4GB patch. Then, I removed compatibility mode, re-patched with the 4GB patch and then it worked fine, but only for a while...

ETA: Almost forgot! Try deleting caches and thumbnails. I'll have to do this myself as well.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#32 Old 24th Jul 2018 at 11:34 PM
If anyone is on a Radeon with crashing/pink flashing it is also related to how much CC you have. I could have played and saved my game if I had kept cc down to about 2 1/2 Gigs. Didn't matter what CC it was and there was nothing actually wrong with my CC, only the card could not handle it. For me, it happened when saving but others seem to have more general crashing. I only once had the pink flashing. All the stuff I did through troubleshooting with Gina helped a bit, since I managed to up the cc from about 1.8 to close to 3 Gigs and I could see it struggling to save as I gradually increased it. So if a particular lot is an issue it could be the amount of CC. I know it was the card because the day I got my new Nvidea was the day my game was fixed.

@Charmful are you on a Radeon and by decorating do you mean adding lots of CC?

I know a few people on Nvidea have had issues, but it's mostly Radeon due to the updates that AMD put out that broke DirectX 9 games.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Link Ninja
#33 Old 25th Jul 2018 at 12:13 AM
@M.M.A.A. - I have not done that, because I never got a clear understanding if applying that when you already have done the CFF explorer method to your M&G exe file will screw with it or not. The CFF explorer method was something I did a while back, maybe three years ago to force the game to read 4 GB of memory, which I understand the 4 GB patch does as well. It worked very well and stopped crashing I had back then. I don't know what you mean by playing in 'compatibility mode' - is that something special you have to adjust before starting the game?

@joandsarah77 - I am on Nvidea 1060 which I got April 2017. I used to use Radeon and it was garbage, IMO. I DO have a metric f-ton of CC (14 GB?) and I'm not actually decorating with CC because it's for the cc-freeish apartment contest. I haven't added new CC in a a month or two now and actually took a chunk out, figuring that's what caused it. However about 3 weeks ago I was playing without all the IMMEDIATE flashing pink and crashing randomly like it is now and my CC count is virtually the same as before when I didn't have this problem. I would get pink flashyness but as soon as I restarted the game I was good for a solid hour or two without it showing up OR the game crashing, now it's random and I can get pink flashy as soon as I enter the game and crashing within 5 minutes - it's very random what it decides to do.

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#34 Old 25th Jul 2018 at 12:21 AM
I wonder if the 1060 is too good for Sims 2. I decided on the 1050TI since I was told the next one up was overkill which is what you have. You have to be sure your other components work with it. I had to go up with CPU to compensate for extra cores and up with the power source.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#35 Old 25th Jul 2018 at 12:22 AM
Quote: Originally posted by Charmful
@M.M.A.A. - I have not done that, because I never got a clear understanding if applying that when you already have done the CFF explorer method to your M&G exe file will screw with it or not. The CFF explorer method was something I did a while back, maybe three years ago to force the game to read 4 GB of memory, which I understand the 4 GB patch does as well. It worked very well and stopped crashing I had back then. I don't know what you mean by playing in 'compatibility mode' - is that something special you have to adjust before starting the game?


By 'compatibility mode' I meant setting the game to run under a different version of the OS. You can set it by right-clicking on the .exe > Properties > Compatiblity.

Oh, my bad! I thought you might have used the 4 GB patch. Well, tbh, I'm not sure if I actually did the CFF method before, I don't remember. However, I did try to do it a short while ago, only to find out that it's already set to >2gb, so I just left it as it is.
Link Ninja
#36 Old 25th Jul 2018 at 1:55 AM
@joandsarah77 - NVM I have Nvidea 1050 TI, the same one you do. I recalled incorrectly but now I am at my desktop and looked it up.

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Link Ninja
#37 Old 26th Jul 2018 at 5:15 AM
Sorry for the double post but I have an update: I think I fixed it. I did the memory allocation fix Jessa had suggested in her vid/post. The thing that threw me was that it never happened to me back in April when the bug first happened so I never did it. Anyway, I just loaded after freeing up standby memory and no flashing pink. So far, no crashing. Fingers crossed this was the answer.

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#38 Old 26th Jul 2018 at 9:10 AM
Oh good to hear Charmful. I have all of the above (graphic rules+4gb patch+memory allocation) and my game has been running really well.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Scholar
#39 Old 26th Jul 2018 at 12:17 PM
TL;DR
Just a tip for you laptop users here: Do not update your drivers (graphics or otherwise) from anywhere but the LAPTOP manufacturer's website. The drivers can be very specific for laptops. Windows 7 drivers usually work fine on Windows 10, so don't worry if you can only find Win 7 drivers.

That said, if you are still having issues after trying everything (uninstalling old drivers, reinstalling from laptop manufacturer) you CAN try the drivers from the graphic card manufacturer. But these are usually not as optimized for your system. Just some hard-earned lessons.

Paladins/SimWardrobes downloads: https://simfileshare.net/folder/87849/
Link Ninja
#40 Old 26th Jul 2018 at 2:32 PM
Game did end up crashing, but a good 2 hours later instead of 5 minutes in so iI am satisfied with the fix. I've learned to be a diligent saver so nothing was lost.

Uh oh! My social bar is low - that's why I posted today.

Mad Poster
Original Poster
#41 Old 26th Jul 2018 at 7:45 PM
@Charmful - That's good to hear! 2 hours is waaay better than 5 mins. Congrats!

Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
Oh good to hear Charmful. I have all of the above (graphic rules+4gb patch+memory allocation) and my game has been running really well.


By "graphics rules", what exactly are you referring to? The GRM or a file from Leefish? If it's a file you've downloaded, which one? Can you please link to it just in case? I noticed that there are different versions of it at Leefish and some are posted several pages into a discussion.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#42 Old 9th Aug 2018 at 1:21 AM Last edited by M.M.A.A. : 9th Aug 2018 at 2:20 AM.
*Sorry for the double post, but it's been a while and this thread got pushed back a few pages...*

I noticed something about the pink flashing and that sometimes, if I'm building a community lot, certain items in the catalogue will start to flash pink as I'm placing them, even their thumbnails might show up with pink parts. And then certain things on the lot will start flashing pink also. Residential lots seem to be a lot more stable. Community lots, though, those seem to be more prone to it. The game was running just fine for a while now, and the pink flashing is back. I also noticed it happens on certain community lots more often than others... Plus, it doesn't happen as much in university or vacation community lots, just the main neighborhood community lots.

Oh, and of course, my game crashed here and there while building my laundromat. Crashed a second time as I left that lot, after going back in again to finish it up, upon trying to load up another community lot I built. Logs show the usual: access violation. *sigh* :rollseyes:

I thought deleting thumbnails and caches would help, but it doesn't seem like it. Maybe I should try to reapply the 4GB patch? :/

ETA: Update: Okay, so I reapplied the 4GB patch, but the didn't help, since visiting the community lot I had a date on again for the second made the pink flashing worse. So, what I did was, set the texture details to low, and then to medium and back to high. That seems to have helped solve the issue for now. No more pink flashing at the restaurant, date went fine.
Needs Coffee
retired moderator
#43 Old 9th Aug 2018 at 3:34 AM
I did up mine with Gina helping me with stuff, so I think she gave me the link and it wasn't Leefish-doesn't mean it wasn't the same thing though. I'll ask her tomorrow to come over to your thread, see if she can help.

"I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives." - Unknown
~Call me Jo~
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#44 Old 9th Aug 2018 at 5:39 PM
Quote: Originally posted by joandsarah77
I did up mine with Gina helping me with stuff, so I think she gave me the link and it wasn't Leefish-doesn't mean it wasn't the same thing though. I'll ask her tomorrow to come over to your thread, see if she can help.


Thank you so much! Any help is appreciated! :lovestruc

Right now, I'm simply trying to document what's happening in my game and what I'm doing to rectify the issues. Could be useful for others.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#45 Old 31st Aug 2018 at 7:47 PM
*Sorry again for the double post, but it's been a while and this thread got pushed back a few pages...*

Yes, I'm back and I'm flashing pink!

A few questions, though:

-So, I've been reading some posts over at the stupid/random questions thread about the game being preferably installed in a folder other than program files. It makes sense but, I'd like to go one step further: Is it possible that the reason the game can't seem to handle/register enough graphics memory is because it's installed on an SSD? On my previous laptop, I didn't have an SSD, just the HDD, plus it was W7, and the game worked fine.

-simsample was very helpful in pointing out that the temperature of my CPU or GPU could have been the problem and I managed to adjust the fan speed from 'Auto', which wasn't really powerful I guess, to 50-75%. That seem to have helped for a while, only the for the pink flashing to return. I should point out that I did have Voielle's water overhaul mod installed for better pond/sea water graphics. I would really love to use these texture replacement mods for the water. :lovestruc

A while back, I used Moi's water mod, before discovering Voielle's water overhaul mod. I removed that mod and test played the game without it and, IRCC, it was running fine. I shall test it again and see how it goes without any of them. Which brings me to my third question:

-Lots that don't have any water in them seem to be affected by pink flashing as well. So, perhaps the problem isn't the water mod all by itself?

-Is there an issue between Sims 2 and multi-core systems? (I have four apparently).

Thanks in advance!
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#46 Old 31st Aug 2018 at 8:00 PM
Sims 2 will only use a single core, so set your processor affinity accordingly:
Game Help:Dual Core Issueswiki
I have mine set on startup by using a batch file which does this and also deletes caches.

I think I asked you before @M.M.A.A. but do you have any mods override the default EA textures? Such as this one:
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=588607
If so, test without as these can push up the computing overheads.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#47 Old 31st Aug 2018 at 8:04 PM Last edited by M.M.A.A. : 31st Aug 2018 at 8:17 PM.
Quote: Originally posted by simsample
Sims 2 will only use a single core, so set your processor affinity accordingly:
Game Help:Dual Core Issueswiki
I have mine set on startup by using a batch file which does this and also deletes caches.


Oh interesting! I'll look into it then. Thanks! :O

ETA: Is there a tutorial for the batch file? In case this works.

Quote: Originally posted by simsample
I think I asked you before @M.M.A.A. but do you have any mods override the default EA textures? Such as this one:
http://www.modthesims.info/download.php?t=588607
If so, test without as these can push up the computing overheads.


Nope, I don't use anything like that. Just the water mod(s).

Not sure if it has anything to do with my problems, but I do have the Radiance mod that comes with Scriptorium though...
e3 d3 Ne2 Nd2 Nb3 Ng3
retired moderator
#48 Old 31st Aug 2018 at 8:43 PM
Quote: Originally posted by M.M.A.A.
ETA: Is there a tutorial for the batch file? In case this works.

No tutorial, but you can copy mine if you like, but you'll need to change the file paths to match yours and also set what resolution you need, or remove the windowed bit altogether if you play fullscreen.

Copy the following into a text file and rename it to have a .bat file extension. Mine is called 'Sims2.bat'.
Code:
del /q "%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\*.cache"
del /q "%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\cigen.package"
del /q "%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\ContentRegistry.*"
del /q "%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\logs\*.*"

C:\Windows\System32\cmd.exe /C START "The Sims 2" /high /affinity 1 "C:\Games\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Mansion and Garden Stuff\TSBin\Sims2EP9.exe" -w -r1280x1024

The bits you need to customise are:
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2 may be called something different if you play in a different language or have the UC;
The batch file deletes the caches and the logs- you might want to remove bits or add bits to suit your preferences;
C:\Games\EA GAMES\The Sims 2 Mansion and Garden Stuff\TSBin\Sims2EP9.exe This needs to be changed to the install path of your latest EP/SP;
-w -r1280x1024 That bit is telling the game to run windowed at 1280X1024 to suit my old old monitor- change this to suit your own monitor resolution, or delete that bit including the -w if you wish to play full screen.




Also, @Simmer22 reminded me of this earlier - delete your thumbnails folder from \Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2 so that the game regenerates it.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#49 Old 31st Aug 2018 at 8:59 PM Last edited by M.M.A.A. : 3rd Sep 2018 at 10:36 PM.
@simsample - Wonderful! Thank you so much! And, yes, I've gotten into the habit of deleting caches as often as I can.
Mad Poster
Original Poster
#50 Old 3rd Sep 2018 at 10:46 PM Last edited by M.M.A.A. : 3rd Sep 2018 at 11:48 PM.
Default New Issue with GRM
*Sorry for the double post!*

Before I begin rambling: Update: Game still flashes pink even without water texture mod. :')

Right, okay, so the game was flashing pink on me as I was casually playing, so I thought I'd fiddle around with the graphics rules maker and see if I missed something from when I used it a while ago. I decided to save each file individually, the graphics rules and the video cards.sgr. Unfortunately, it only made things worse, because for some reason, on the second time I opened the program, the program would no longer recognize the Video Cards.sgr file (even though the file is there and it has all the necessary info, but in GRM, it shows up as blank with a few lines of text, unlike the graphics rules.sgr) and as I load neighborhoods, the entire thing is flashing pink (except the roads, and the sea/ocean is no more (invisible)). GRM itself keeps asking me to add my graphics card to the database when I click 'Save Files', yet if I check 'In Database', under Device Info, it shows up as 'No'. Clicking 'Add now' doesn't seem to do anything. Also, the resolution has reverted to 800x600. I'm not sure what I messed up TBH. This game is killing me. XP

ETA: My config-log.txt file says:

=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060
Name (database): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 <<NOT FOUND IN DATABASE!>>
Screenshots
Page 2 of 3
Back to top