The Sims 2 failing to open in the new EA APP ( DirectX 9.0C error )
Hi everyone!
I have run into a DirectX 9.0C error problem (the usual) and I haven't found the solution to it this time as it's possibly something caused by EA App which is very new.
Today, March 1st 2023 the Origin app, which I had been using to play my The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection with, told me there's no more going back and forced me to install EA App. Which I did, considering I knew the news about Origin being replaced. However I had a feeling that as soon as I would be transferring my game to the new app, things would go south.
I have tried everything - Graphics Rules Maker, manual Graphics Rules editing, trying to open the game in windowed mode thru the Desktop shortcut (which... doesn't work because it opens up EA App instead so I guess it doesn't actually read anything into the windowed mode option), run as administrator... you name it, I did it and I have ran out of solutions since the EA App hasn't been an issue to others and is fairly new, no videos or threads about Sims 2 problems with EA App.
Any suggestions what to do and what to look into? A step by step guide to get rid of the DirectX 9.0C error, would be much appreciated.
I have Intel i7-8750H CPU (2.20GHz) and a lousy Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 Ti
Appreciate all the help!
@blooberryxkrpie Thanks for the screenshot. The settings look good.
Since you mentioned manual Graphics Rules editing, please save these tweaks in GRM once again to make sure the game uses the exact settings listed here. I don't know what you might have edited manually, but even a single typo in the Graphics Rules file will break it and trigger the DirectX 9 error. GRM will override that with settings from your screenshot.
As for Windowed mode, which is one of the possible fixes for the error, you will have to add the -w command into the EA App; for whatever reason, the app ignores any commands added to game shortcuts.
To do this, go to your game library in EA App, click on three dots on The Sims 2 game tile -> View Properties, and add -w to Advanced Launch Options, then save.After this, try launching your game.
Finally, since your PC has both NVIDIA and Intel Graphics, it would be a good idea to check which one the game runs on. The Sims 2 sometimes has a tendency to prefer Intel Graphics unless you intervene. Once your game is able to launch, go to Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection\Logs and look for the file named something like this: [DESKTOP/LAPTOP name]-config-log.txt. Open it in Notepad and check if NVIDIA is listed under Graphics Device Info.
