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cameron0133x's avatar
cameron0133x
3 years ago
Solved

Missing graphicsrules.sgr file

I recently downloaded the sims 3 on my macbook (64bit)  and have been dealing with some terrible graphic issues. After doing some digging it appeared that the game does not recognize my graphics card. I started looking around for the graphicsrules file and cant find it at all. I've looked all over including the package contents and the resources folders. I even did the cmd+shift+(.) shortcut thinking it was hidden and got nothing. Am I missing something? Is there anyway I can download this file from somewhere? Also, how would I go about getting the game to recognize my card? All of the codes seem really confusing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Here are my specs:

Model Name: MacBook Pro

  Model Identifier: MacBookPro16,2

  Processor Name: Quad-Core Intel Core i7

  Processor Speed: 2.3 GHz

  Number of Processors: 1

  Total Number of Cores: 4

  L2 Cache (per Core): 512 KB

  L3 Cache: 8 MB

  Hyper-Threading Technology: Enabled

  Memory: 32 GB

Chipset Model: Intel Iris Plus Graphics

  Type: GPU

  Bus: Built-In

  VRAM (Dynamic, Max): 1536 MB

Thank you

mac
technical issues
  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    3 years ago

    @cameron0133x  Okay, first, add your card to graphicscards.sgr.  Open the file and search for Intel , which will bring you to these lines:

    vendor "Intel" 0x8086
    card 0x0042 "Havendale"
    card 0x0046 "Havendale"

    Under the line that contains "Intel," copy and paste this:

        card 0x8a53 "Iris Plus Graphics"

    There should be four spaces at the beginning of the line, as with the ones below it.  Save, close the file, and open graphics rules.  Search for Havendale , which will bring you here:

    elseif (match("${cardVendor}", "Intel"))
    seti intelShadowColorFix true
    if (match("${cardName}", "*Havendale*"))
    seti cardLevel $cardLevelMedium
    seti isCardMatched true

    Change Havendale to Iris Plus Graphics (exactly that), but don't change or delete anything else, not even the asterisks.  This will rate your card as Medium.  You can change the graphics in-game as you like; the rating doesn't matter so much.  But if you want to rate the GPU as high, change the Medium to High (be sure to capitalize the H) in $cardLevelMedium .

    Launch the game and quit, then check deviceconfig again to see whether your card is now found and matched.

5 Replies

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @cameron0133x  The graphicscards and graphicsrules .sgr files are pretty buried.  Open these in sequence:

    The Sims 3.app [Show Package Contents] > Contents > Resources > The Sims 3.app [Show Package Contents] > Contents > Resources

    Yes, it's the same sequence of folders twice, probably because of the way the game was made to run in 64-bit.

    If you want to get your graphics card recognized, I can help with that, but I need the device ID from your GPU.  Please open deviceconfig.log, which is in Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3, and post the ten or so lines between "Graphics device info" and "Options," about 30-40 lines down.

    I'd also like the Rating info at the top of the file.

    However, I will say that this won't solve some of the graphics issues with Sims 3.  For example, the game has some pretty severe color banding, shadows are quite pixelated, and eyelashes are just blobs, all intrinsic to the 64-bit version no matter what system you're using.

  • cameron0133x's avatar
    cameron0133x
    3 years ago

     @puzzlezaddict Thank you! I was able to find the file. Here is everything else you asked for

    === Rating info ===
    GPU: 3 GPU Memory: 5 CPU: 4 RAM: 5 CPU Speed: 2300 Threading: 3
    Adjusted CPU: 3910 RAM: 32768 Adjusted RAM: 32256 Cores: 4
    Card Found in DB: 0

    === Graphics device info ===
    Number: 0
    Name (driver): Intel Iris Plus Graphics
    Name (database): Intel Iris Plus Graphics [Found: 0, Matched: 1]
    Vendor: Intel
    Chipset: Vendor: 8086, Device: 8a53, Board: 00000211, Chipset: 0007
    Driver: macOS Metal driver, Version: 0.0.0.0
    Driver version: 0
    Monitor: 00000000
    Texture memory: 1536MB
    Vertex program: 3.0
    Pixel program: 3.0
    Hardware TnL: 0 

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @cameron0133x  Okay, first, add your card to graphicscards.sgr.  Open the file and search for Intel , which will bring you to these lines:

    vendor "Intel" 0x8086
    card 0x0042 "Havendale"
    card 0x0046 "Havendale"

    Under the line that contains "Intel," copy and paste this:

        card 0x8a53 "Iris Plus Graphics"

    There should be four spaces at the beginning of the line, as with the ones below it.  Save, close the file, and open graphics rules.  Search for Havendale , which will bring you here:

    elseif (match("${cardVendor}", "Intel"))
    seti intelShadowColorFix true
    if (match("${cardName}", "*Havendale*"))
    seti cardLevel $cardLevelMedium
    seti isCardMatched true

    Change Havendale to Iris Plus Graphics (exactly that), but don't change or delete anything else, not even the asterisks.  This will rate your card as Medium.  You can change the graphics in-game as you like; the rating doesn't matter so much.  But if you want to rate the GPU as high, change the Medium to High (be sure to capitalize the H) in $cardLevelMedium .

    Launch the game and quit, then check deviceconfig again to see whether your card is now found and matched.

  • puzzlezaddict's avatar
    puzzlezaddict
    Hero+
    3 years ago

    @cameron0133x  Try playing in a clean user folder.  Move the entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents > Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and when you open the launcher, a clean folder will spawn with no content.  Don't add anything to it yet; just let me know whether you can get far enough to start a new save.

    If you can load a new save, have a look around a bit to make sure everything works, then quit and start moving over your existing saves and other content. Test your mods and custom content first, if you have any, then proceed with the rest.  In cases where the game has created a new file or folder, it's best to leave that in place and only copy over the data that the game won't regenerate, for example your saves, or your saved households and builds (in Library).

    If you can't start a new save in the clean folder, please let me know how full your iCloud Drive is and whether you use a third-party antivirus.

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