Re: Pixelated Graphics Problem

Thanks for your reply, @puzzlezaddict 

I was never affected at all. I installed the game in 2020 and had great graphics since then, until now. I've already tried uninstalling and reinstalling the game, starting a fresh game without cc (and removing the Sims 3 documents file), clearing cache files, and switching to another custom skin.... repeatedly. I would have noticed if the game was this pixelated a long time ago, so I was fine with graphics until recently.

I've already seen this discussion while looking for a solution. Sadly most fixes were for NVidia cards (I have AMD) or didn't help. I suppose I have to keep troubleshooting or this is my game now, which is frustrating since this has never happened before until now. It's strange.

@3c4b3e290220f593  Please run a dxdiag and attach it to a post.

https://help.ea.com/en/help/pc/how-to-gather-dxdiag-information/

@puzzlezaddict I  the dxdiag to this reply. I hope it helps. 

Sorry for the late reply

@3c4b3e290220f593  Are you getting BlueScreens or sudden while playing Sims 3?  Your dxdiag lists several BSODs, but there isn't a way to tell the context from the info provided.

It's also worth updating your graphics driver to the newest one from AMD just in case there's an issue with the current one.  You can get the new driver, dated February 14, here:

https://www.amd.com/en/support/graphics/amd-radeon-5600-series/amd-radeon-rx-5600-series/amd-radeon-rx-5600-xt

Run the installer as an admin: right-click on the download and select "Run as administrator."  Restart your computer after installing and before trying to play.

@puzzlezaddict the blue screens of death never happen when gaming. I don't remember it happening when playing Sims 3. It's usually isolated from every game, and happens mostly when browsing chrome or when the PC is idling sometimes. Even when they happened, my graphics have still remained great and non-pixelated until now. Since they didn't happen when playing ts3, I didn't think to connect the two.

But thank you for the driver link!!! 🙌 The pixelation is still there and it's annoying, but the sims are a bit less grossly pixelated than before! It's strange that it never happens in CAS, though. How they look in CAS was how they used to look in-game.

I've attached some pictures of different Sims for the difference between live mode and CAS. It seems more noticeable to me in-game than in screenshots though.

 Sim in outdoor lighting (pixelation on face)

Sim inside (Much better than before, but still around eyes and mouth)

3rd Sim, outside at night. Mouth, nose, and eye areas has the odd textures...

@3c4b3e290220f593  I'm glad you're seeing some improvement, but I don't know how much better you'll be able to do, unfortunately.  There are certainly individual settings you can change within graphicscards.sgr that affect how sims appear, for example this one from the same thread I linked initially:

https://forums.thesims.com/en_us/discussion/comment/17966641/#Comment_17966641

Scroll up if you want to see examples of the effects of this setting.  You might also look into HQ mods, which are mostly just edits to this same .sgr file.  And if you haven't already, I'd turn down high-detail lots to 1 or 2, which should free up more of the game's very limited (800 MB) VRAM budget for the active lot.

Another thing you can try is Lazy Duchess's Shader Tweaks.  Third-party download links aren't allowed on this site, but google should take you right to the Patreon page, which includes screenshots.  The download itself is free.  I haven't tried this one, but I've been using the Smooth Patch (which I highly recommend) version 1.0 for 18 months now with no negative consequences.  As a side note, I would stay away from any version 2.x because its CAS changes conflict with NRaas MasterController, but 1.4 is still available for download and doesn't conflict at all.