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ElenaLoyd's avatar
2 years ago

Sims 3 Flickering Screen Unable to Start Game

So On this same laptop, I was able to play SIms 3 with no issues, several months ago. Took a break from playing and now when I launch Sims 3 I get this weird screen glitch and am Now unable to go past the main screen. 

I originally started the game on the Monitor but started having the issues. Unplugged from Monitor and ran solely on laptop same issues.
- cleared cache
- repaired game
- Deleted options.ini as I saw in one suggestion

Unable to attach video, Uploaded to youtube instead.. May be uploading still
1. https://youtu.be/Ec1RJbQLy8I
2. https://youtu.be/deaU3u_6E-g

1 Reply

  • @ElenaLoyd  Thanks for all the documentation; it makes things a lot easier for me (and I hope for you as well).  First, please try launching Sims 3 in windowed mode.  Go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 3, open Options.ini, search for fullscreen , and set it to 0 (zero).  If this helps, you can try going back to fullscreen at the Main Menu, but please also make sure the in-game resolution is set to 1920x1080 to match your laptop screen.

    If the game runs fine in windowed mode but not in fullscreen, one workaround is to use Windowed Borderless Gaming, a free download that works well with Sims 3.  The Smooth Patch from Lazy Duchess has a Borderless option as well if you want to add it for performance reasons, but I'd hold off on that until the game is running properly overall.

    If windowed mode doesn't help, please uninstall ONE MSI or MSI Dragon Center, whichever is installed on your computer.  A component of it is crashing repeatedly, according to your dxdiag, and this software does affect how the system runs games.  Restart after uninstalling and before trying to play, and make sure the app doesn't reinstall itself.  If it does, you can try killing it in the Task Manager, which should last at least until you restart your computer again.

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