Short story: For anyone who's not been following the poll thread, @Naus has figured out the issue with Sims 3 graphics, which started (for me) in early December and for others at various times. It causes terrible pixilation and color banding in the Sims 3. Instructions say just fill out the form as best you can.Link to form:https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSewHJk1xP-C5elLBRCDLTLpNQZ9eiefrdZmUGP9hMCN6gKssA/viewformLong story: This issue has something to do with 'dithering' that Nvidia disabled. I don't understand it completely. For the post explaining it click HERE. And there are several posts after that by Naus with more information. There are a load of pictures of this issue in that thread. (Ignore the pictures of the cheap fridge. That was a red herring. They all look like that.) HERE is the link to InfraGreen's post at Nvidia if anyone else would like to contribute. In the comments is a link to the Nvidia survey that I linked above.

It says "Sorry unable to open page." :(

@SPARKY1922 Don't know the answer to that. I think I remember in the beginning of this AMD cards were affected too, but there was some kind of Nvidia update that Windows had forced? I don't remember details and I'm not a techie.Is anyone else filling out this survey? Sims 3 lovers unite!!

Hi @ZeeGee Not only did I do the form filling I got in touch directly with Nvidia customer services to explain what the apparent issue was and how it had ruined my game not to mention the hours/days/weeks/months I had spent trying to fix my digital game over and over in one way or another..They told me they will look into it and get back to me but I wont hold my breath I have a case number so I will leave it a little while and if they have not got back in touch within 2 weeks I will be getting back in touch with them :) I consider myself to be reasonably techie minded but I need time without other distractions to reinstall my S3 digital game through Origin then work my way through all those steps to see if I can fix my game and to be honest if i do that and it does not work I think it will send me into madness the amount of times I have tried to fix my game issue lol I will keep you updated as I go..Hi @GraceyManor Heck that must have you so frustrated and me explaining I know how it feels is not going to help any. I did once have a card issue way back around 2012 when I just started to have desktop PC's built so i could play sims 3 with less issues however with me it was a sims graphical error (as always for some reason) and when the card got changed my issue went away. Is it possible (perish the thought) you could be unlucky enough to have 2 bad graphics cards in a row? I can only go by my own experience of changing and updating Nvidia graphic cards 3 times since 2012 after the one bad card experience and all my issues appear to have been since I updated to windows 10 from 7 which only got worse with each upgrade for whatever reason. I can play 3 fine on disc on a separate win 7 hard drive installed in my same desktop build which I do not allow to connect to the internet so if I can play okay on 7 it appears my issue with the game could be with 10 or something that touches the internet somehow. (which I have been unable to resolve to date) or otherwise i would expect it to effect my win 7 game? Could you follow the same instructions for Nvidia graphic cards as @ZeeGee outlines in the above post as that could provide you with a process of elimination although I am not sure what brand of graphics card you are currently using? If it's not Nvidia I would say your only choice is to try and resolve the issue with Windows 10. I sincerely hope you mange to get it fixed as it's awful when we spend our available time constantly trying to fix the game rather than being able to enjoy just playing it :)

Hi @GraceyManor Can you test the new card on any other game you could play previously without issues to see if that game suddenly has any issues you were not experiencing before? That might provide a clue re another bad card?A lot of players with newer cards also get their cards recognized by the game have you tried that at all? If not take a look at the following link for an explanation. It did not work for me but it has helped others players.https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=26753.0There is an easier method to get your card recognized but as the download was from another player I would prefer to ask permission to see if i can link the download if you want to go that route. Once downloaded this small program will adjust your graphic card settings so the game recognizes your card. The links I am talking about are in @zeegee's post above in this thread but I will post the links for you to read here.Display Driver Feedback Form. this is the form we are using to send Nvidia information about our sims 3 game issues. A player somewhere was experiencing the same issues as we are and thought he/she had tracked the issue down to a Display Driver issue specifically withing Nvidia graphic cards. https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSewHJk1xP-C5elLBRCDLTLpNQZ9eiefrdZmUGP9hMCN6gKssA/viewformthis link is a further forum thread discussing these issues.https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/17636333/#Comment_17636333the 3rd link is a Nvidia forum discussing the same issues with some further links and when I get some further uninterrupted time i am going to reinstall my origin 3 game and try work thorough everything bit by bit in the hopes of resolving my own graphic issues which is on my sims not my worlds or other objects. https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/geforce-graphics-cards/5/395894/horrible-color-banding-texture-handling-and-dither/I hope that might provide some insight into this Display Driver issue that may or may not be creating your type of issues. My advice especially as a migraine sufferer is to read a little at a time where you are able then try a few fixes that are shown to see if they help and if they do great and if not it's possibly back to the drawing board unfortunately.

Nvidia survey: please fill out for graphics issues!

28 Replies

sparky1922
5 years ago
Hi @ZeeGee

While we are waiting for Nvidia to do the right thing do you know if there is a work around fix we can do ourselves?
graceymanors
Legend
5 years ago
"ZeeGee;c-17662026" wrote:
@GraceyManor I'm sorry you're having so many troubles but it is definitely the game and not your computer. I have 2 desktops and 2 laptops (technically half of those are hubby's), powerful gaming ones, and they all have the same issue. Naus has figured it out. Now we just need a fix from Nvidia. The more people who fill out the survey, the higher the chance that they will do something about it.

I determined that to day.The first desktop though, it happened in all games and the screen had tearing as it would boot up.So I assumed something was wrong.Second one was doing the same, and that graphics card had thermal paste all over the wires and card.
But this one doesn't seem to have issues except the sims 3.

Its weird because I have no issues in my 4 year old laptop, aside from color banding, but artifacting and particles don't show up on
my laptop.
ZeeGee1
Seasoned Ace
5 years ago
@SPARKY1922 The reshade option that Archivist posted in the main thread helps my game.
graceymanors
Legend
5 years ago
"ZeeGee;c-17662091" wrote:
@SPARKY1922 The reshade option that Archivist posted in the main thread helps my game.

I will have to take a look as someone on the Nvidia forums said my issue was reshade not artifacting.
sparky1922
5 years ago
Thanks @ZeeGee

I know what to go looking for now :)
SimLibby
5 years ago
"GraceyManor;c-17661530" wrote:
I take it back I didn’t get it fixed says matched 0 found 1

@GraceyManor,
I have not read this thread so maybe what I'am about to say is already suggested. Maybe not. I just glanced the latest comments of this thread and saw matched 0 found 1 which I recognized because a while back I had the same. I fixed it with below YouTube film.

The Sims 3 | How To: Recognize your Graphics Card!

Edit: If you edit something, backup the original files first.
KevinL5275
Seasoned Ace
5 years ago
I recently replaced my card with a GTX670, and Sims3's latest drivers are for the GTX660. I found the solution here:

https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=26753.0

I downloaded the GTX1660ti.zip file attached to that post, renamed my original graphicscards.sgr and graphicsrules.sgr, and copied the files in the zip to the game directory. Now I have Found: 1, Matched: 1 again! :D
graceymanors
Legend
5 years ago
So puzzleddict suggested swapping outlets like moving my desktop temporarily to another room, while I can't do that unfortunately.
I did swap out how I plugged in.Monitor is now on bottom outlet and tower on top.

https://scontent-mia3-2.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/119461954_639561510301438_6218229401263236760_o.jpg?_nc_cat=102&_nc_sid=07e735&_nc_ohc=GgcEL_mdJecAX98_nDU&_nc_ht=scontent-mia3-2.xx&oh=3b46d71d0fc9fbbd187fc42060c3723a&oe=5F81E87B
Before

https://i.postimg.cc/7L5fKPSv/Screenshot-3.jpg
After.

Forum Discussion

Nvidia survey: please fill out for graphics issues!

28 Replies

About The Sims 3 General Discussion

Recent Discussions

When is Pets expansion coming to Mac?

Daily Deal (DD) 2018 Rotation List and Sales Help

Bring The sims 3 for playstation 4/5 (the PC version)

I'm doing build/buy

I Need Friends!!!!