Paintings From reference Overexposed
Hello! After the 5/12/2026 patch, I have noticed all of my existing reference paintings are suddenly overexposed. These paintings were already completed and hung on the walls prior to the patch. This is also applying to their copies that I keep in household inventories (due to the previous blank painting issue), as well as new copies made. It is difficult to tell at the moment as I am still experiment, but I think the exposure is ramped up on new reference paintings too. I am still trying to find screenshots that may include the paintings pre-patch, but attached are some of the washed out paintings. All three of these were previously fully defined and easy to read. I have attached the screenshots taken when the portraits were made as a light reference. I track the entire multigenerational family in this save with formal portraits so this is really stressful to see, despite not being game breaking. I really do not want to redo all of this family's paintings, especially since some of the sims have died at this point. I do use limited mods: MCCC and Better Build Buy. I keep both of these updated with every patch as well. Removing the mods does not change the issue.
[PC] Items placed in a room 'flicker' when placing/deleting windows and doors
I don't think I've seen it reported yet but I believe that it started after the newest patch. I noticed while I was renovating a build that whenever I place/delete new windows and doors, all items placed inside a room in all levels would flicker/disappear for a split second along with the windows and doors around the rooms. Upon testing I noticed that it affects all windows and most doors (some doors are fine when placing them and some doors will make the items flicker). Windows/doors placed on a single wall are unaffected by the flickering but deleting them will still affect windows/doors + items placed in a room. I've uploaded an unlisted video of the brief tests that I recorded through the in-game screen recorder here: https://youtu.be/QjQkRtyTcEA The video has my mods loaded in but the same issue also happens when I tested it in a fresh sims 4 folder/new save/newly repaired game. edit: I also discovered that while not a window, "The AirCycler", wall decor object that looks like a wall exhaust fan from Greenhouse Haven kit also causes the flickering issue. Edit By Crinrict: Added platform tag to title.
[RR] Romeo & Juliet Arbor Has Broken Shadows
As you can see in the attached image, the Romeo & Juliet Arbor from the Riviera Retreat Kit displays a shadow which includes both the fabric drapes and vines no matter which swatch is selected. To reproduce the issue, simply purchase and place the Romeo & Juliet Arbor in any open outdoor area. Swatches without drapes will still cast drape shadows, and swatches without vines will still cast vine shadows.Issues since the big update
Is anyone else having issues they never had before the big update? I cannot adopt pets now, I go through the process and when it comes to adopting the pet the sim pick the pet up and just stands there for hours....literally just stands there. The only way I can add pets now is via cheats but then even after the pet is added to the family the tag above the pet says its up for adoption. Before the update I had very few glitches (mainly sims stood on a table when I first load the game up for some reason) but now I'm having constant jumping and glitching. Jumping in bed, floating across the floor instead of walking and I've lost count of how many T poses I've had in the 6 hours I've played since the update. Please EA, fix the adopting and have a look into why there's so many glitches.
Can't place my gravestone from household inventory
My graves sometimes disappear/go invisible when I take them out of the household inventory or the sim's inventory. Usually, it's the horse graves. Going to manage world fixes it, most of the time, but I would like to not lose my graves. 😶 Edit By crinrict: Adjusted Title to fit old bug report.
Flashing stripes on the screen after downloading parcels from the gallery
The problem started for me after the update on May 2, 2026. When I place a house from gallery , its textures initially look very plasticine-like—this is most noticeable with the trees, which look like trees made of Lego Duplo (this phase lasts about 1 minute). Then, once the textures have loaded, stripes start flickering on the whole screen. Sometimes, before the stripes appear, a brief diagram of something like the world pieces (see photo below) This issue isn't caused by my graphics card, because when I play without downloading the parcels, the problem doesn't occur, and it never occurred before the 2.05 update either. It also doesn't happen in other games. I play with mods disabled.
Lighting issues on objects that use the 'Cabinet' shader
For a long time, probably since the game first released, any object that uses the 'Cabinet' shader has some displeasing issues with the way that light works on it. Despite the name of the shader, this issue isn't specific to kitchen cabinets, but to wall objects that are meant to tile together seamlessly (and they use the 'Cabinet' shader to achieve that). This can be the curtain rods from the Desert Luxe Kit, modular shelves from Dream Home Decorator and the Book Nook Kit, or the pegboard from the Comfy Gamer Kit as some examples. I've personally understood that the purpose of this shader is to allow for light to work seamlessly across wall objects that are meant to tile together (which is something that the 'Phong' shader - used by the majority of objects in the game - does not allow for). The floor counterpart to this is the 'Counters' shader, which is used for tileable floor objects such as kitchen counters and modular sofas. Tileable floor and wall objects having their own specific shaders could be because of the difference in the way occluder shadows behave on them. Some CC creators actually use 'Counters' as a shader for their kitchen cabinets (because of how bad the 'Cabinet' shader is), but I guess because of the way occluders behave on a 'Counters' shader, they end up having horrible shadows cast on them when placed above a fridge. To fix this, players have to get a mod that straight up removes occluders from appliances. In the end, right now the 'Cabinet' shader does somewhat do its job (most of the time a row of cabinets on a straight wall in an evenly lit room look seamless) but it's not great, especially when comparing it to the 'Counters' shader. Here's a few examples showcasing the difference: Objects using the 'Cabinet' shader have this incredibly stark lighting going on for no apparent reason, especially when comparing it to how normal the lighting is on objects using a 'Counters' or a 'Phong' shader. I'll add that the above examples were taken with the object directly in front of the light source. When placing the modular shelves or cabinets more to the side of where the light comes, it looks more natural. There also apparent tiling issues on corners, epecially when multiple light sources are involved: All of those cabinets have the same swatch. The lighting just isn't smooth, even though it should be. Building kitchens and using modular shelves have a bit of a sour taste to it, because of how bugged the lighting seems to be on objects using the 'Cabinet' shader. All pictures were taken in a game with the highest graphical settings and without mods or custom visual changes.Normal maps for walls, floors, columns and friezes do not function indoors
I’ve noticed that the normal maps for wallpapers, floor tiles, columns and friezes do not work in interior lighting conditions. This effect that is used to achieve a more 3D look on a 2D surface only works outdoors, or when there is direct sunlight casting through windows and doors. For demonstrative purposes I made versions of these specific assets with a blank grey diffuse texture, so that the effects provided by the normal maps are more easily visible. Here’s the wallpaper, floor tile and column in outdoor lighting: And here in indoor lighting: Here’s a comparison with a frieze: And for some added emphasis I also made blank grey swatches of a tile rug, a fence and a spandrel to show that normal maps do actually work indoors in other types of assets: Here’s another image that shows how the normals of a wall and floor are visible only in direct sunlight coming through a window: This is all rather unfortunate, because the normal maps add a nice touch of extra depth. Especially for flat surfaces such as walls and floors. Many wallpapers for example are designed to be primarily used indoors, and so it’s a shame their normal maps don’t actually work properly. Tested without CC, mods or customized visuals. (Only exception being the images used for conveying the provided information.)
Black Photos & Paintings after update 1.124.54/2.33
Hey Simmers, Today we released an update that addresses the remaining known causes of the black photo issue we’ve been tracking. Because this problem can occur in a variety of situations, we’re still monitoring for any new instances. If you encounter black photos or paintings, please report it here so we can track and investigate it properly. We understand how important these photos and paintings are, and we’re continuing to investigate all scenarios where this issue may appear. If you’re still experiencing it, please share the following details: Is this happening with old, or new photos? Are you using a brand new save, or an old one? What were you doing when this happened? (i.e. taking a photo out of your Sim’s inventory, swapping households, traveling) Are you actively loaded into the lot where the painting/photo is placed? How were these photos taken? (i.e. paintings, with the camera, through the photo booth, or with the phone) For paintings, was this a custom paint from reference, or a normal painting? Was the painting downloaded from the Gallery? Did you add any filters to the photos? What quality is the photo or painting?
