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Bluebellflora's avatar
Bluebellflora
Hero+
5 years ago
Solved

[CURRENT ISSUE 64-bit] red flashing game window

Users have reported that the game screen can sometimes flash red for a second or until they interact with the game window again. Reports so far state that it can happen:

  • going up/down floor levels
  • zooming in/out
  • changing game screen resolution

Sometimes the game may crash after this happens. If you are experiencing this please post here and attach the DeviceConfig.log file to your post. You can find this file in the Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3 folder. Please also explain exactly what you were doing in-game when this happened, whether it disappeared and what you did to make it disappear, or whether it crashed the game/your Mac.

I experienced this when changing screen resolution in windowed mode, it would flash red for a second when switching resolutions.

mac
technical issues
  • ashbymcdonald's avatar
    ashbymcdonald
    5 years ago

    I am pretty sure the red flashing screen issue has to do with the number of objects that need to be displayed at one time.  This is why on large lots with a lot of objects, the problem only occurs when you zoom out or increase the number of viewable floors on the buildings (go up a few floors), which causes more objects to have to be rendered. 

    So the solution I have found is to go to options>graphics and check the "enable object hiding" box.   This should fix the problem even if you have maxed out graphics settings.    

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  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @ba0ef18cb8c3b02d  Try enabling object hiding, which is an option on the game page as the other graphics settings.  Change the setting at the Main Menu, then quit to desktop before loading the save.

    In terms of why this happens, I believe it has to do with certain objects being two floors down from where the camera is currently focused.  So having a single-story house would get around the problem, as would happening to not have any of those objects present.  But it's been more than two years since I last tested, and I was never able to completely explain the issue, only describe the context where it would happen.

  • ba0ef18cb8c3b02's avatar
    ba0ef18cb8c3b02
    2 years ago

    @puzzlezaddict  Hay, thanks for the reply. I have other houses that are two floors, such as the one my character lives in, and some other public ones that I have built that have a lot of stuff in them. so I'm curious how it can be ones with more than one floor. but I will try the thing you suggested. I will let you know whether or no it works.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    2 years ago

    @ba0ef18cb8c3b02d  I was a bit vague in my earlier reply because I'm not entirely sure about the trigger for this issue.  In my experience at least, it seemed to only happen when a build had at least three floors, but two might be enough, or two plus a foundation.  The problem isn't the multiple levels so much as having a certain item two levels (or perhaps only one level) down from the floor you're viewing, so whether a given build had the issue would depend on the objects used.  It also seemed to depend on where the camera was centered and how zoomed out I was.

    Anyway, checking the box to Enable Object Hiding was a reliable fix for me, and I hope it fixes the issue for you.

  • LottiePotts123's avatar
    LottiePotts123
    8 months ago
    I was having the same issue but managed to fix it by not only checking the “Enable Object Hiding” box, but also turning the “Texture Detail” slider down to low and un-checking the “Enable Advanced Rendering” box.

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