Re: No shadows and graphic card not found

I put every graphic setting on the highest possible, and im playing on Starlight Shores, the The Sims 3 Showtime world.

@LegendaryJoca  What's the weather like in those screenshots, that is if you have Seasons installed?  It looks cloudy to me, but maybe I'm imagining things.  I'm not totally familiar with the weather effects, but maybe the shadows are dependent on whether the sun is out.

Please also post the rating info at the beginning of deviceconfig, just so I can double-check that the game is recognizing all of your hardware correctly.  It looks something like this:

=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 2 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2900 Threading: 2
Adjusted CPU: 2500 RAM: 15861 Adjusted RAM: 15349 Cores: 2

And let me know if you've edited either graphicscards.sgr or graphicsrules.sgr in any way other than the edits to get your card recognized.

By the way, having high-detail lots at 8 is especially taxing on the game engine, even on hardware that can handle the setting.  I keep that at 2 when I'm playing.  I also turn water down a notch or two, since it's also more taxing than it's worth.  The other max settings should all be fine on your card.

@LegendaryJoca  What about the weather in-game?  If it's cloudy, do you see shadows when the sun comes out?

And did you change any settings in graphicsrules?  There's a shadow setting within that file, that's why I'm asking.

Hi! 
I have the same problem with the same graphic card. But I had not found any solution. 
I tried everything and searched everywhere, and no solution. @puzzlezaddict I followed your step for graphic rules, but still not resolved. I send you my 40 first lines of my graphic rules. I even have edited this: 
"prop $ConfigGroup ShadowMapSize 7680"
but still nothing. 


log "Parsing configuration script"
set ConfigGroup Config
include "GraphicsCards.sgr"
if (not $isCardFound)
set cardName $cardNameText
endif
setb textureMemorySizeOK true
if ($textureMemory == 0)
seti textureMemory 32
setb textureMemorySizeOK false
endif
seti cpuLevelUber 4
SETI cpuLevelHigh 3
seti cpuLevelMedium 3
seti cpuLevelLow 3
seti cpuCutoffLow 2500
seti cpuCutoffMed 2900
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3700
seti adjustedCPU $cpuSpeed
setb cpuAMD false
setb cpuIntel false
setb pentium4 false
if (match("${cpu}", "*AuthenticAMD*"))
setb cpuAMD true
seti cpuCutoffLow 2200
seti cpuCutoffMed 2600
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3400
endif
if (match("${cpu}", "*GenuineIntel*"))
setb cpuIntel true
seti cpuCutoffLow 2300
seti cpuCutoffMed 2700
seti cpuCutoffHigh 3600
endif
if ( match("${cpu}", "GenuineIntel") and ($cpuFamily == 15) and ($cpuModel >= 0) and ($cpuModel <= 6))
setb pentium4 true
endif
if ($cpuCount >= 2)
if ($pentium4)

@allis121187  Please post the first 40 lines of your deviceconfig.log, inside Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3.

=== Application info ===
Name: Sims3
Version:
Build: Release
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 1 CPU: 3 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2904 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 3472 RAM: 16326 Adjusted RAM: 15814 Cores: 6
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Windows 8 6.2.9200
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 6
OS minor ver: 2
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1
CPU: GenuineIntel
Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-9400 CPU @ 2.90GHz
Family: 6
Model: 14
Cores: 6
HT: 0
x64: 0
Memory: 16326MB
Free memory: 12541MB
User: windows 10 pro
Computer: DESKTOP-UI836QF
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): Radeon RX 5500 XT
Name (database): AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT Series [Found: 1, Matched: 1]
Vendor: ATI
Chipset: Vendor: 1002, Device: 7340, Board: e4231da2, Chipset: 00c5
Driver: aticfx32.dll, Version: 27.20.14501.28009, GUID: D7B71EE2-3000-11CF-7B13-86FC7EC2D635
Driver version: 28009
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 32MB <<OVERRIDE>>
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1
=== Options ===

@allis121187  Your graphics card is found and matched, but the game isn't recognizing its VRAM, or "texture memory" as it's called in the deviceconfig.  It's easy enough to fix that though.  In graphicsrules.sgr, look for this, 8-10 lines down:

if ($textureMemory == 0)
  seti textureMemory       32
  setb textureMemorySizeOK false

Change the 32 to a 1024, and put a # and a space in front of setb, so it looks like this:

if ($textureMemory == 0)
  seti textureMemory       1024
  # setb textureMemorySizeOK false

Save, close the file, open Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3, and delete options.ini.  Then test the game to see whether you get shadows.  Make sure the weather is sunny, since you may not see any shadows otherwise.

Here, a screenshot in the game. We can see the shadow barely visible under the chair. 

@allis121187  Did you edit graphicsrules.sgr in any other way, aside from getting your card recognized and changing the VRAM setting?  If so, please let me know what you did.  And if you have any lighting mods, remove them for now.

Please also take a look at your sims, outside, and see whether they have proper shadows.

Yes I put a HQ mod and for shadows 8k.
Like this:

seti cpuLevelUber 4
SETI cpuLevelHigh 3
seti cpuLevelMedium 3
seti cpuLevelLow 3


And this (I edited 7680): 
setting $High
prop $ConfigGroup ShadowMapSize 7680
prop $ConfigGroup RenderShadowsEnabled true
prop $ConfigGroup InteriorLightProbeCount 20
prop $ConfigGroup LowDetailLightmaps false
prop $ConfigGroup ShadowColorFormatWorkaround $intelShadowColorFix
prop $ConfigGroup HighRezTranslucency true

I will try to remove the lightings mod and I will tell you. Also, I tested with my sims and they don't have shadows, even not a little.

I just tried to play without my mods and I put the graphic rules as it was before, while keeping the edit of the graphic cards but still nothing. That's not worked. I noticed that my old saves (used on my previous PC) in the main menu, my sims have kept their shadows on the family picture. And on the new family picture which I have save in the new PC, have no shadows. If that can help. 

@allis121187  What graphics card or chip does the old PC have?  It's possible this is an issue with newer AMD graphics cards and/or their newest drivers, although the sample size I have here is small.  I noticed you have the newest optional driver installed; you could try rolling back to the last one you had before now, or doing a clean uninstall and reinstall of an older driver.  If you'd like to try and want instructions, let me know, and I'll post them.

Yes fortunately I kept the device config of my previous PC, I copy you the first 40 lines:

=== Application info ===
Name: Sims3
Version:
Build: Release
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 1 CPU: 4 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 3392 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 4123 RAM: 16267 Adjusted RAM: 15755 Cores: 4
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Windows 8 6.2.9200
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 6
OS minor ver: 2
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1
CPU: GenuineIntel
Brand: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz
Family: 6
Model: 12
Cores: 4
HT: 1
x64: 0
Memory: 16267MB
Free memory: 12048MB
User: User
Computer: DESKTOP-74770N3
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970
Name (database): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 [Found: 0, Matched: 0]
Vendor: NVIDIA
Chipset: Vendor: 10de, Device: 13c2, Board: 29783842, Chipset: 00a1
Driver: nvldumd.dll, Version: 27.21.14.5730, GUID: D7B71E3E-5082-11CF-904D-76091BC2D635
Driver version: 5730
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 32MB <<OVERRIDE>>
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1
=== Options ===


The problem is that I need of this new driver because I'm working with graphic softwares 3D, etc... I don't know if that will change something for my work.
I make also machinima with the sims3 and other software like blender for the animation 3D and working without shadows it's annoying. Unless I buy another computer less strong for the graphics card. 
Now I want to be sure that I will have no problem. But it seems to me that there was this shading problem on the old driver. However, I can try if I can revert to the new driver. 

@allis121187  It's quite simple to update a driver, so if you rolled back to an older driver, or clean installed an older one, you could reinstall the new one whenever you wanted.  I definitely wonder whether this is an AMD issue; if this problem were happening with Nvidia cards, we'd hear a lot more complaining.

Anyway, if you do end up experimenting, please let me know what you find.

I reinstalled the driver in an older version, by recognizing the card and still nothing. 
I even attempted to try to play without driver and always nothing. What must I do now? 

@allis121187  You could go through the AMD control software to see whether tinkering with any settings helps.  Unfortunately, I can't help you because I don't have access to the same software—while my Mac has an AMD card and is Bootcamped, the Windows GPU driver is different, as is the control app.  If you're not sure which settings to mess with, feel free to list the options or take a couple of screenshots, and I'll try to figure out what they do.  Or you could try them all, and if you get shadows, revert a few at a time until the shadows disappear again, and go from there.

If you want to double-check that the issue is your GPU or its driver, and not something else on the system, you could temporarily install the GTX 970.  You'd want to download the newest Nvidia driver, take the computer offline, uninstall the AMD driver, shut down and swap cards, then install the Nvidia driver before going back online.  I can confirm that unless something happened in the last couple weeks, Nvidia cards do render shadows correctly in Windows 10 with the latest (or close) driver installed.

So, I analyzed with some parameter of my AMD Control Software, but nothing happened. I have the impression that my software is not compatible. For example, under game compatibility there is:  "requirements not available for this application." Also on performance report, there is written: performance metrics are not captured. 
I don't know if it matters. I can't make screenshot of my software because it's in french (unless you know French). And also on the software on "games" and "compatibily", there is written: "Oops, something went wrong". It's normal?

Unfortunately, I can't test my old graphic card gtx 970, I had a problem. But I will try to buy a new graphic card type nvidia and replace it. I think I tried everything. 
I show you one of my screenshot of my video on the previous computer in comparison, with the new computer, with the same place. The shadows are gone.

First picture GTX 970: 


RX 5500 XT:

 

@allis121187  It might be normal for the AMD software to not know what to do with Sims 3, since the game uses older runtimes and other resources that the software may not be able to account for.  I mean, it should be fine, but perhaps the software isn't as comprehensive as it ought to be.  You could post a screenshot of the software if you wanted; the French isn't an issue.  (I could probably figure out what most of it means easily enough.)  But if you didn't find any settings you could change to try to fix the issue, then it's a moot point.

That's it! Finally, I found the solution. I tried to search another solution in the web and I found a mod who recognizes the new graphics cards.

This is a mod for the new GPU 2020 and I finally found my shadows thanks to this software. 
The problem is finally solved. @puzzlezaddict Thank you for your help! And I hope that it can help other people who have the same problem. 

@allis121187  It would be best to remove the download link; mod links aren't allowed on this site.

If the mod is just for getting your graphics card recognized, you already did that.  Did it make any other changes to graphicsrules.sgr?  I'd be interested to know what they were.  The download page doesn't seem to list the changes it makes, other than getting a card recognized.

@allis121187  I'm not the one who cares about mod links; I just didn't want you to get reported for posting one.

Anyway, those sections of graphicsrules aren't going to make a difference.  The changes in the first section were covered in this post earlier in the thread:

https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-PC/No-shadows-and-graphic-card-not-found/m-p/9872828#M244248

and the second section is for Intel graphics chips, so adding or deleting that section wouldn't affect your card.  But I should probably just download the files and poke around a bit.  Thanks for looking.

Gosh, I wonder what fixed his game. I am in the same situation where changing everything did NOTHING for me. I am so sad I do not get to experience this game in its full glory.