JohnL83 wrote: ↑

February 24th, 2019, 2:27 pm

Okay, I'm a tad bit lost again. Copy and paste it where?

I did open this file to see what is there and I'm sorta confused. Under "rating info" it says Windows 8 6.2.9200
which isn't my current computer. My old PC was Win 8.1. Does this mean something?

That means nothing. Win 10 was released after TS3 went out of active development, so it always sees the operating system as "Windows 8.6".

What sittingbear meant was copy the first 40 lines or so of the DeviceConfig.log (not the long lists of game options that follow, the parts above that) into a reply here so we can read and help interpret them.

igazor wrote: ↑

February 24th, 2019, 1:52 pm

In case this helps clarify at all, the contents of the CurrentGame folder only change when a Save (of any kind) has been completed, successfully or otherwise. The game actually runs from that which is loaded up in RAM, not from the contents of that folder. When we save, the elements of the game that have changed since the last time will be extracted from RAM into the CurrentGame folder, and only then copied back down to Saves.

I wouldn't recommend copying things out of a stuck CurrentGame folder once the game has crashed, unless we're in an all else is failing desperate to try anything kind of situation, and not without all of the warnings heeded about working off a copy of the game first that Sara_Darkees has mentioned.

It's really a method for the desperate, when someone playing for a long time, saved it and suddenly the game freezes or crashes during the save. It's actually the most hurtful thing. I didn't know in what order all these things were happening, so thank you for the clarification. Besides, I specifically mentioned that we need to make a copy of the town, change its name under a different name and only then do all these manipulations. Even if something goes wrong, we still have the original file of the last save.

JohnL83 wrote: ↑

February 24th, 2019, 2:32 pm

Yes. I've used it on all my save files when they get over the recommend file size.

The recommended size is relative. But I believe that your computer can process and read data faster than mine. I have heard that often the problem is RAM, because by default the game does not allow you to use it according to the capabilities of your computer. What about changing the MemoryUsageLimit in the Sims3.ini? Or this method doesn't work?

TS3 is a 32-bit based program. It can address no more than just under 4 GB of RAM on Windows (actually ~3.7 GB) without crashing or producing Error12s, which are just as bad. And as of Patch 1.17 long ago, it will reach for that much RAM as it needs to. Changing that setting in the .ini file does nothing helpful, it is set to 20 GB by default (not 2 GB as is so commonly reported) and does not do what it may appear to do.

=== Application info ===
Name: Sims3
Version:
Build: Release
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 1 CPU: 3 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2808 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 3344 RAM: 16259 Adjusted RAM: 15747 Cores: 6
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Windows 8 6.2.9200
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 6
OS minor ver: 2
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1
CPU: GenuineIntel
Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz
Family: 6
Model: 14
Cores: 6
HT: 0
x64: 0
Memory: 16259MB
Free memory: 12882MB
User: jla
Computer: JLA-PC-2019
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti
Name (database): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti [Found: 0, Matched: 0]
Vendor: NVIDIA
Chipset: Vendor: 10de, Device: 1c82, Board: 8465103c, Chipset: 00a1
Driver: nvldumd.dll, Version: 25.21.14.1881, GUID: D7B71E3E-5FC2-11CF-D574-6BA41BC2D435
Driver version: 1881
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 32MB <<OVERRIDE>>
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1

And this is my new PC's spec's, IDK what 5GPU memory means (from above) since my PC says I have 16GB, but I really don't understand much so call me clueless. I'm going to assume there's no "sensitive info" in the above post, but IDK that either.
System:
Processor: Intel (R) Core(TM) i5-8400 CPU @ 2.80GHz 2.81GHz
Installed Memory (RAM) 16GB (15.9 GB usable)
System Type: 64-bit Operating System, x64-based processor

That's a rank from 1 to 5 on the GPU, not a direct measurement. GPU means Graphics Processor Unit, not RAM. Your RAM is being ranked as a 4 (from 1 to 4 in that case), as it should.

Anyway, your graphics card is being used but it is not formally recognized by the game and you are getting the 32 MB texture memory override, both of which are typical for the newer cards. We can help you fix that. But much more important is the fps question that seems to have gotten lost in the shuffle here. Have you arranged for vertical sync through the Nvidia Control Panel? Unlike more modern games, TS3 has no functional built-in fps limiter. To see the frame rates you are actually getting in-game, ctrl+shift+C to bring up the cheats console then type fps on (enter). As you play and move the game camera around, the displayed fps rate should never exceed the refresh rate of your monitor. Most are 60 Hz, so that would be 60 fps, some can run higher. To make the rate display go away, cheats console again and type fps off (enter).

Wildly high frame rates can lead to graphics gltiches, lag, crashes, and can ultimately burn out the hardware if not corrected.

igazor post_id=63876 time=1551049866 user_id=6716 wrote: Anyway, your graphics card is being used but it is not formally recognized by the game and you are getting the 32 MB texture memory override, both of which are typical for the newer cards. We can help you fix that.

Sounds great! Thank you so much.
I did the FPS test and it was ALL over the place! When the game started, the camera was on the sims sleeping and the FPS was at 89. As I panned the camera it went down as far as 40. I played for about 20 minutes and it moved up and down very quickly from 80-145 range most of the time. But I think once or twice, when I had a lot of sims in view, it got a bit higher. But that was the main range of numbers I was seeing while moving around and doing everyday sim stuff.

BTW: Most of my setting as far as graphics are in the medium to low range. Basically the default settings, but I did up sim detail to medium when I got the new PC.

There will be rises and drops in the frame rate, this is normal, but it needs to be capped to the refresh rate of your monitor.

If you haven't already gone through these steps, use the Nvidia Control Panel to set up a profile for TS3w.exe (with the "w" because you are on Patch 1.67/Steam, those on 1.69 should use TS3.exe). You will need to Add then browse to where the executable is to add a new profile. Set vertical sync to On or Adaptive (whichever one works) and turn Triple Buffering on. See the link below for an illustration, under the first spoiler.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discus ... t_16540301

Vertical sync arranged this way only works in full screen mode. If it doesn't lock things in or if windowed mode is required, then we move on to Nvidia Inspector, which would need to be downloaded and installed first, where we explicitly set the frame rate limit to 60 (or again, whatever the refresh rate is of your monitor). This is illustrated in the second spoiler on the link above.

Many players on Win 10 find that they need to stay in windowed mode. Windowed Borderless Gaming is a good workaround for this.
https://westechsolutions.net/sites/Wind ... essGaming/

Thank you Igazor. I found the settings easily enough, set them so vertical sync is 'adaptive' and triple buffer to 'on' and we shall see how it all works later today. Got a few errands to run. I also downloaded the windowed borderless.

Okay, so I did all the things you said and now things look weird. I figured out how to make the info screens bigger by changing the screen size, but the ground around town, whether I'm up close or not, looks very strange. The snow is blinding and no longer has any detail and same for the grass, it's just green. But the sims, trees and houses have very nice details. What setting affects the rendering of the ground details?

JohnL83,

What does your DeviceConfig.log say now? Is it still showing the following near the top:-

JohnL83 wrote: ↑

February 24th, 2019, 5:51 pm

GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 1

If so, you may need to do the following tweak as well but wait to hear from igazor, first. He knows more than me.

Edit the GraphicsRules.sgr (usually found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin). Your installation path will probably be slightly different as I believe you have an Origin installation - igazor will know what this is if this step is indeed necessary.

Look for the following lines:-

• seti gpumemLevelUber 4
• seti gpumemLevelHigh 3
• seti gpumemLevelMedium 2
• seti gpumemLevelLow 1

Change them to:-

• seti gpumemLevelUber 4
• seti gpumemLevelHigh 4
• seti gpumemLevelMedium 4
• seti gpumemLevelLow 4

Save and close the GraphicsRules.sgr file.

Hope you get this sorted out soon!