Re: [FIXED] Problems playing Sims 4 on the 16" MacBook Pro
Product: The Sims 4
Platform:Mac
Which language are you playing the game in? English
How often does the bug occur? Every time (100%)
What is your current game version number? The most recent
What expansions, game packs, and stuff packs do you have installed? Most of them
Steps: How can we find the bug ourselves? It sounds like you probably can't without buying a MBP 16 inch
What happens when the bug occurs? It started with the floor disappearing (adding floor tiles creates an empty void), then black triangles appeared from the centre of the screen, there were flickering black lines across the screen at one point, black triangles appear increasingly depending on the angle a lot is being viewed from, black shapes began appearing in map view too. Now, I can't even load a lot without the game immediately crashing. I can't even access lots to get the error again now. I've included a number of images (sorry that some are low res - I took those photos from my phone).
What do you expect to see? A solution
Have you installed any customization with the game, e.g. Custom Content or Mods? Not now. I've removed them.
Did this issue appear after a specific patch or change you made to your system? No
Specifications:
macOS Big Sur version 11.2.3
MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)
Processor 2.6 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i7
Memory 16 GB 2667 MHz DDR4
Graphics AMD Radeon Pro 5300M 4 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB
***I've attached an image with the specs for the graphic cards
I am playing the normal version, not the legacy version. I'm not running any antivirus. I elevate my laptop while playing so it stays cool and I've never had ANY issues playing for long periods of time. The computer never overheats. I did not update/download anything when the error initially occurred, either on the Sims or my system. It began after I fiddled with the graphic settings in game (lighting and edge smoothing). I always run the game on low/medium graphic settings and I have never had a problem. Even with so many packs and with custom content, the game still played at 150-180 FPS. It has been the smoothest simming experience I have ever had on any of the games. All of a sudden tonight, after changing the graphic settings (for not even five minutes before changing them back because the frame rate dropped from 180 to 40) the game has gone crazy and is now unplayable.
I've taken the following steps to rectify the problem and everything has been unsuccessful:
- Restarted computer
- Repaired game
- Removed all CC, save files, options file
- Moved The Sims 4 folder to desktop
- Completely uninstalled and reinstalled every pack (which took almost 3 hours)
- Disabled origin in game
- Disabled iDrive in System Preferences
- Tried a variety of different graphic settings (all options on lowest, disabled retina display, enabled vertical sync, enabled PC mode and windowed mode, tried different resolutions etc.)
- Download gfxCardStatus and set to 'discrete only'
- Reset NVRAM
Edit - also tried:
- Started computer in diagnostic mode to see if there were any errors it could find. There were not.
- Removed all Sims and Origin content from my laptop and reinstalled just base game - problem still persisted
- Called Apple customer support to troubleshoot - they confirmed that graphics card is in full working order
I'm really frustrated about this. I've been sitting at my laptop for the last EIGHT hours straight, trying proposed solutions I found online and reading as much research as I could. Nothing has helped. I only bought this laptop last year and since it's new there's virtually nothing on it except the Sims. I always run the Sims while all other programs are closed, I elevate it so there's air circulation, and I have NEVER had issues playing. I get great frame rate (150-180) with all my packs and mods installed. I've spent a lot of money on this game (and on this computer) and it doesn't make any sense to me that it can go from perfect functionality to unplayable in the space of 5 minutes with seemingly no solutions that actually works to fix it. I even wondered whether my graphics card had somehow been burnt out (I don't know how this sort of thing works or if this is possible) so I downloaded PlanetCoaster from Steam and put all the graphics up as high as they would go and it worked without any problems. If there was permanent damage to my graphics card (which shouldn't be possible after 5 minutes on higher settings with no excessive heat or fans going) then surely the other game should have been impacted to. It seems to be a problem exclusive to the Sims.
I'm really hoping someone can help because I'm at my wits end and don't know what to do. I can't afford to buy another laptop when I've just bought this one and I'm going to be devastated if I can't play the Sims, especially after all the packs I've bought recently and haven't had a chance to actually play through yet. I know that other people have had endless issues with 16 inch MBP and the Sims, but I haven't had any issues. Like I said, everything has run incredibly smoothly. If it wasn't running so well, I wouldn't have kept adding new packs and CC. It just makes no sense to me that the game could go from that quality of functionality to seemingly irreversibly unplayable in the space of minutes. And given how many people seem to be impacted by similar issues, this is clearly something that needs to be addressed.
Please, please help! I don't know what to do.
