@yankikkie I can help you get your graphics card recognized if you want, but it's unlikely that has anything to do with your save not loading. All it would do is tell the game what default profile to use for your card. If you want to try anyway, please post the section of deviceconfig between "Graphics device info" (about 25 lines down) and "Options" (about 40 lines down). I'll write out the lines you need to add.
What's more likely to help is trying to load the save in a clean user data folder. Move your entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop, and when you launch the game, a clean folder will spawn with no content. Please try starting a new save, just to make sure it works; if it does, you don't need to play it, just quit and then copy over the backup version of your existing save, nothing else. Let me know whether it loads.
While having a dedicated graphics card is generally better than not, an Intel UHD 630 is actually something like 500% faster than an Nvidia GT 210. The 210 is over a decade old and was never all that fast to begin with, and while a UHD 630 isn't going to run the game on anything resembling ultra settings, it does run it. If you did want to add a dedicated card to this computer, which may be but is not certainly possible, it would be better to get something resembling a modern card, but of course that would cost money, maybe $150 U.S. (or a bit higher in other countries) for an entry-level gaming card.
It would be nice to know the defaults, I'll leave them at the end of this reply. And the backup file won't load again even if I try the method you said...
Also I thought so too, using the old one is not a good idea comparing to the new one even if it's onboard, but I just worried because of the things i read there. Then, I'll continue to use UHD 630 for now.
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630
Name (database): Intel(R) UHD Graphics 630 [Found: 0, Matched: 1]
Vendor: Intel
Chipset: Vendor: 8086, Device: 3e91, Board: 317617aa, Chipset: 0000
Driver: igdumdim32.dll, Version: 26.20.100.6860, GUID: D7B78E66-7DD1-11CF-D66E-1211BBC2D735
Driver version: 6860
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 32MB <<OVERRIDE>>
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1
=== Options ===
AnimationSmoothing 1
LightingQuality 1
GeneralReflections 0
TextureQuality 1
VisualEffects 1
TerrainQuality 1
EdgeSmoothing 0
ObjectHiding 1
AspectRatio 0
ForceSquarePixels 1
SimQuality 1
TreeQuality 1
DrawDistance 1
MaxActiveLots 1
NumMaxActiveLotOptions 6
AdvancedRendering 0
AudioQuality 3
Audi🤭utputMode 1
VoiceLevel 255
SoundFXLevel 255
MusicLevel 255
AmbientLevel 255
FocusMute 1
VoiceMute 0
SoundFXMute 0
MusicMute 0
AmbientMute 0
EdgeScrolling 1
EdgeScrollingWarning 0
SupressOpportunityDialogs 0
SuppressOpportunityDialogsWarningProducts 51753
SimWhileMinimized 0
TwelveHourClock 1
ShowPlacementGrid 0
AutonomyLevel 2
DisableAutonomyForSelectedSim 0
PetAutonomyLevel 2
AgingInterval 2
EnableAging 1
EnableTutorial 1
EnableIntroTutorial 0
EnableTombResets 1
EnableInGameStore 1
EnableTelemetry 1
EnableMemories 1
AgingStageLengthBaby 3
AgingStageLengthToddler 7
AgingStageLengthChild 7
AgingStageLengthTeen 14
AgingStageLengthYoungAdult 21
AgingStageLengthAdult 21
AgingStageLengthElder 17
EnableInteractiveLoading 1
AgingStageLengthPuppy 0
AgingStageLengthDogAdult 0
AgingStageLengthDogElder 0
AgingStageLengthKitten 0
AgingStageLengthCatAdult 0
AgingStageLengthCatElder 0
AgingStageLengthFoal 0
AgingStageLengthHorseAdult 0
AgingStageLengthHorseElder 0
LunarCycleLength 3
LunarPhaseLength 0
EnableLunarCycle 1
EnableLunarPhase 0
EnableStoryProgression 1
EnableVampires 1
EnableWerewolves 1
EnablePets 1
EnableCelebrities 1
EnableFairies 1
EnableWitches 1
EnableHorses 1
EnableOptOutCeleb 0
ReceiveConnectTNS 1
ReceivedDevGift 0
PostFilterFlags 0
RequireLoginBeforeLoad 1
SummerLength 7
FallLength 7
WinterLength 7
SpringLength 7
SummerEnabled 1
FallEnabled 1
WinterEnabled 1
SpringEnabled 1
IsCelcius 0
FogEnabled 1
RainEnabled 1
SnowEnabled 1
HailEnabled 1
InvertHorizontalRotation 0
InvertVerticalRotation 0
VideoCaptureSize 1
VideoCaptureQuality 2
VideoCaptureSound 0
VideoCaptureTime 60
VideoCaptureHideUI 1
@yankikkie Here's how to get your graphics card recognized, if you want:
Note: These instructions only apply to and will only work for the original poster's graphics card. If you'd like help getting your own card recognized, please post the same information from deviceconfig and ask for help.
You're looking for a couple of files called graphicscards.sgr and graphicsrules.sgr, which are both located in the Sims 3 program files. For an Origin install, the default file path is:
Program files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin
Other types of installs will put the files in other locations, but you're still looking for Program files (x86)\...\The Sims 3\Game\Bin. Both .sgr files will be there.
Open graphicscards.sgr (Notepad works fine), and crtl-F to search for 8086. That will take you to these lines:
vendor "Intel" 0x8086
card 0x0042 "Havendale"
card 0x0046 "Havendale"
Create a new line under the "Intel" 0x8086 line, copy this text, and paste it in the new line:
card 0x3e91 "Intel UHD Graphics 630"
So you should now see this:
vendor "Intel" 0x8086
card 0x3e91 "Intel UHD Graphics 630"
card 0x0042 "Havendale"
card 0x0046 "Havendale"
(with indents from spaces that this site isn't displaying properly). Save, quit, and open graphicsrules.sgr. Crtl-F and search for Havendale, which will take you here:
if (match("${cardName}", "*Havendale*"))
seti cardLevel $cardLevelMedium
seti isCardMatched true
elseif (match("${cardName}", "*4?00*"))
Create a new line under the "true" in the third line above, and add this:
elseif (match("${cardName}", "*UHD Graphics 630*"))
seti cardLevel $cardLevelMedium
seti isCardMatched true
Add a tab before each seti, to match the formatting with the other entries. Save, quit, launch the game, quit, and check deviceconfig for your graphics card. You should now see a [Found: 1, Matched: 1] next to the name.
Let me know if it doesn't work, and we can tweak the edits a bit. In order to have your graphics settings revert to defaults, you'll either need to delete options.ini, in Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 (which will delete all your settings, for example age stage and season lengths), or go to the graphics settings section of the Main Menu and click the button to revert to defaults. If you do this route, quit immediately from the Main Menu before relaunching and playing.
For the save itself, it might not be possible to recover the save at this point. What you can try though is mixing and matching files from the old save and the new one. Again in the clean folder, start a new save in the same world where your current one takes place. You don't have to play for long: just let it run a few minutes in live mode, with any family, then save your progress and quit.
Inside the folder for any save, you'll see several files, including an .nhd file for each world you've played in while in that save. Make a backup of each save folder, both the borked long-term save and the new one. Now delete the .nhd file from the new test save, and replace it with a copy of the .nhd file of the homeworld in your borked save. Before trying to load the test save, make sure to delete the five cache files in your Sims 3 folder as well:
If the save does load, it should load your main household, with all or most data intact.
If there are vacation worlds involved, things can be more complicated, but this is the first step to try.
Thank you, now deviceconfig recognized the card as "Found: 1"! But still, texture memory says "32 MB <<override>>". Will it cause problems or not? In case the informations are required; our card has 128MB VRAM and total 8266MB memory.
And save won't load again... I guess there's really no way to load it.
I googled this issue and the text that showed up was
What's more likely to help is trying to load the save in a clean user data folder. Move your entire Sims 3 folder out of Documents\Electronic Arts and onto your desktop
now all my saves and mods are gone. Is there any way to get them back and what did i do wrong?
