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eileenator's avatar
eileenator
Seasoned Newcomer
8 months ago
Solved

[CURRENT ISSUE] Objects, lighting and shadows flickering since 14/01 patch

Yeah i don’t know how to explain so here’s the video. It only happens when i zoom in 

Edit - edited title to better reflect issue (Bluebellflora)

  • - Marked as solution for visibility and workaround -

    I think this issue is related to the specific SSAO setting in the GraphicsRules.sgr file. It is the same as the shadows flickering in this thread - Shadows are flickering | EA Forums - 11006914 

    Firstly check you don't have a GraphicsRules.sgr file in the Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > ConfigOverride folder. If you do trash it and then load your game to check if it now works as it should. If it does great, you've fixed the problem. If you're still encountering the flickering there may be a simple fix for this until we wait for EA to (hopefully) fix it in an update. It does not require any changes to the in-game graphics options:

    1. Quit the game.
    2. Right click on the base game app in your Applications > EA Games folder or wherever you have it installed
    3. In the menu that pops up click on Show Package Contents > Contents > Resources
    4. Right click on the GraphicsRules.sgr file and choose Open With... >  TextEdit to open the file
    5. Once the file is open press CMD and F to bring up the Find window
    6. Type SSAO in the Find window. You should get 4 results back (see code snippet below)
    7. Where it says Ssaoenabled there should be a true or false value afterwards. Change them all to True
    8. Save and quit TextEdit then launch your game and see if the issue persists. If it does, reopen the GraphicsRules.sgr file again and check it saved properly after you edited it. 

    Lower graphics options in-game have the SSAO set as false by default. Changing this to true should hopefully fix it.

    option LightingQuality
        setting $Low
    		prop $ConfigGroup NumberCascadeLevels 1
            prop $ConfigGroup ShadowMapSize 1024
            prop $ConfigGroup RenderShadowsEnabled false
            prop $ConfigGroup ShadowDecalEnabled false
            prop $ConfigGroup LowDetailLightmaps true
            prop $ConfigGroup HighRezTranslucency false
            prop $ConfigGroup SsaoEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup NormalMappingEnabled false
            prop $ConfigGroup VolumetricLightScattering false
            prop $ConfigGroup DofEnabled false
            prop $ConfigGroup RenderExternalDropShadows true
            prop $ConfigGroup InteriorSunShadows false
        setting $Medium
            prop $ConfigGroup NumberCascadeLevels 1
            prop $ConfigGroup ShadowMapSize 1024
            prop $ConfigGroup RenderShadowsEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup ShadowDecalEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup LowDetailLightmaps false
            prop $ConfigGroup HighRezTranslucency false
            prop $ConfigGroup SsaoEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup NormalMappingEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup VolumetricLightScattering true
            prop $ConfigGroup DofEnabled false
            prop $ConfigGroup RenderExternalDropShadows false
            prop $ConfigGroup InteriorSunShadows false
        setting $High
            prop $ConfigGroup NumberCascadeLevels 3
            prop $ConfigGroup ShadowMapSize 1024
            prop $ConfigGroup RenderShadowsEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup ShadowDecalEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup LowDetailLightmaps false
            prop $ConfigGroup HighRezTranslucency true
            prop $ConfigGroup SsaoEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup NormalMappingEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup VolumetricLightScattering true
            prop $ConfigGroup DofEnabled false
            prop $ConfigGroup RenderExternalDropShadows false
            prop $ConfigGroup InteriorSunShadows false
        setting $VeryHigh
            prop $ConfigGroup NumberCascadeLevels 3
            prop $ConfigGroup ShadowMapSize 2048
            prop $ConfigGroup RenderShadowsEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup ShadowDecalEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup LowDetailLightmaps false
            prop $ConfigGroup HighRezTranslucency true
            prop $ConfigGroup SsaoEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup NormalMappingEnabled true
            prop $ConfigGroup VolumetricLightScattering true
            prop $ConfigGroup DofEnabled false
            prop $ConfigGroup RenderExternalDropShadows false
            prop $ConfigGroup InteriorSunShadows true
    end

     

48 Replies

  • batbfvo5tkbgn's avatar
    batbfvo5tkbgn
    Seasoned Newcomer
    22 days ago

    Hey everyone. I’m experiencing a glitch where my apartment building exterior flickers and overlays the interior when I zoom in too much, which is incredibly irritating. It’s getting to the point where I can barely play the game. I’ve tried playing around with edge smoothing and playing in windows mode to no avail. Does anyone have any advice? So far, I’ve only noticed the glitch when playing on an apartment lot. 

  • Sahrabayram's avatar
    Sahrabayram
    Seasoned Newcomer
    5 days ago

    Does anyone else have this problem on their Mac while playing the sims that the shadows are flickering even when the game is paused. There is nothing wrong with the game itself but the graphics are not good. I also don't have mods installed. I removed all the mods I have. I alsos tried to uninstall and reinstall the game but nothing changed.See the video. 

  • Sahrabayram's avatar
    Sahrabayram
    Seasoned Newcomer
    4 days ago

    Hii, I still have this problem even though I changed the text to true 

  • Bluebellflora's avatar
    Bluebellflora
    Hero+
    3 days ago

    Sahrabayram​ 

    Odd. Did you correctly change all four instances? I have no idea what your graphics are set to in-game, I don't need to know, so all four should be changed. Make sure you're editing the GraphicsRules.sgr file in Resources and don't have one in the ConfigOverride folder.