Short story: For anyone who's not been following the poll thread,
@Naus has figured out the issue with Sims 3 graphics, which started (for me) in early December and for others at various times. It causes terrible pixilation and color banding in the Sims 3. Instructions say just fill out the form as best you can.
Link to form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSewHJk1xP-C5elLBRCDLTLpNQZ9eiefrdZmUGP9hMCN6gKssA/viewform
Long story: This issue has something to do with 'dithering' that Nvidia disabled. I don't understand it completely. For the post explaining it click
HERE. And there are several posts after that by Naus with more information. There are a load of pictures of this issue in that thread. (Ignore the pictures of the cheap fridge. That was a red herring. They all look like that.)
HERE is the link to InfraGreen's post at Nvidia if anyone else would like to contribute. In the comments is a link to the Nvidia survey that I linked above.
Comments
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
https://youtu.be/X2eiCUQDNvQ
I have just finally uninstalled the whole of sims 3 from Origin as after having many a player try and help me for months now I simply could not fix the bad sims graphics not matter what i tried not to mention the hours i put into trying lol I was just heading back to the HAS YOUR SIMS 3 GAME BEEN AFFECTED BY THE RECENT PIXILATION ISSUES? thread to explain to @Emily4331 who tried to help me that after I uninstalled S3 from origin completely to try concentrate on my disc game I downloaded steam paid and played sims 3 but my issue was exactly the same. Thank you so much for this new info I will give it a thorough read and maybe try once again to get my digital game working but it does pose the question that not everyone using Nvidia cards appears to be suffering from these issues so I wonder why not if the problem is Nvidia specific?
Is anyone else filling out this survey? Sims 3 lovers unite!!
https://youtu.be/X2eiCUQDNvQ
Hoping its just because of Windows 10 and not my comp again.
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
Not only did I do the form filling I got in touch directly with Nvidia customer services to explain what the apparent issue was and how it had ruined my game not to mention the hours/days/weeks/months I had spent trying to fix my digital game over and over in one way or another..They told me they will look into it and get back to me but I wont hold my breath I have a case number so I will leave it a little while and if they have not got back in touch within 2 weeks I will be getting back in touch with them
I consider myself to be reasonably techie minded but I need time without other distractions to reinstall my S3 digital game through Origin then work my way through all those steps to see if I can fix my game and to be honest if i do that and it does not work I think it will send me into madness the amount of times I have tried to fix my game issue lol I will keep you updated as I go..
Hi @GraceyManor
Heck that must have you so frustrated and me explaining I know how it feels is not going to help any. I did once have a card issue way back around 2012 when I just started to have desktop PC's built so i could play sims 3 with less issues however with me it was a sims graphical error (as always for some reason) and when the card got changed my issue went away. Is it possible (perish the thought) you could be unlucky enough to have 2 bad graphics cards in a row? I can only go by my own experience of changing and updating Nvidia graphic cards 3 times since 2012 after the one bad card experience and all my issues appear to have been since I updated to windows 10 from 7 which only got worse with each upgrade for whatever reason. I can play 3 fine on disc on a separate win 7 hard drive installed in my same desktop build which I do not allow to connect to the internet so if I can play okay on 7 it appears my issue with the game could be with 10 or something that touches the internet somehow. (which I have been unable to resolve to date) or otherwise i would expect it to effect my win 7 game? Could you follow the same instructions for Nvidia graphic cards as @ZeeGee outlines in the above post as that could provide you with a process of elimination although I am not sure what brand of graphics card you are currently using? If it's not Nvidia I would say your only choice is to try and resolve the issue with Windows 10. I sincerely hope you mange to get it fixed as it's awful when we spend our available time constantly trying to fix the game rather than being able to enjoy just playing it
We tried: On the first desktop:
1.Replacing the HDM1 cable
2.Reinstalling the graphics card driver
3.Resetting the PC.
Finally manufacutring told me to send it back to where I got it and have them swap it out, so I did.
Started the game up tonight on it and same thing.I don't see any steps in the above post.
Edit: There's a lot of reading on that thread.
the steps, is there a direct page with the steps on it? Migraines make it difficult to read long posts.
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
Can you test the new card on any other game you could play previously without issues to see if that game suddenly has any issues you were not experiencing before? That might provide a clue re another bad card?
A lot of players with newer cards also get their cards recognized by the game have you tried that at all? If not take a look at the following link for an explanation. It did not work for me but it has helped others players.
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/forum/index.php?topic=26753.0
There is an easier method to get your card recognized but as the download was from another player I would prefer to ask permission to see if i can link the download if you want to go that route. Once downloaded this small program will adjust your graphic card settings so the game recognizes your card.
The links I am talking about are in @zeegee's post above in this thread but I will post the links for you to read here.
Display Driver Feedback Form. this is the form we are using to send Nvidia information about our sims 3 game issues. A player somewhere was experiencing the same issues as we are and thought he/she had tracked the issue down to a Display Driver issue specifically withing Nvidia graphic cards.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSewHJk1xP-C5elLBRCDLTLpNQZ9eiefrdZmUGP9hMCN6gKssA/viewform
this link is a further forum thread discussing these issues.
https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/comment/17636333/#Comment_17636333
the 3rd link is a Nvidia forum discussing the same issues with some further links and when I get some further uninterrupted time i am going to reinstall my origin 3 game and try work thorough everything bit by bit in the hopes of resolving my own graphic issues which is on my sims not my worlds or other objects.
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce/forums/geforce-graphics-cards/5/395894/horrible-color-banding-texture-handling-and-dither/
I hope that might provide some insight into this Display Driver issue that may or may not be creating your type of issues. My advice especially as a migraine sufferer is to read a little at a time where you are able then try a few fixes that are shown to see if they help and if they do great and if not it's possibly back to the drawing board unfortunately.
Editing the files was the first thing I did before going into game.=)
I filled the survey out to the best of my knowledge.Don't really know if Nvidia can reproduce this or not.
I am going to try the card on GTA 5 since that is a graphics heavy game.
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
outrun / blog / tunglr
from what you are saying it looks like we all need a Nvidia and/or win 10 solution then..
@InfraGreen
Good we need as many sent in as possible in the hope they take some notice and at least try to do some testing at least that would be something..
@SPARKY1922 I was on chat for two straight nights for hours with Nvidia when this first happened. They walked me through all kinds of settings and controls and had me change lots of stuff. None of that helped.
@GraceyManor I don't think replacing the graphics card will help as we all have the same issues. What I've found in talking to different supports for different companies when I was first trying to get Sims 3 up and running was that gamers and techies don't understand Sims 3 problems. They all think that it's a 10 year old game and their monster gaming computers should handle it just fine but they just don't get it.
https://youtu.be/X2eiCUQDNvQ
Old games look bad, everyone knows that, and some players of very old games get a little unnerved when they see the effects of a remaster or an HD mod. Sims 3 is different because it isn't nearly that old and because it used to look fine. But I think this kind of low-res look does get filed under "what do you expect out of an X year old game?" for a lot of technical people. So I'm not expecting anything out of Nvidia.
Lets hope someone at least tries to help at Nvidia especially if we got more info on what to do to resolve our issues. I for one would be prepared to follow any rule to get my digital game back to playable.
@puzzlezaddict
You helped me a long time ago if you remember and there was nothing we could do way back then however if I can play my S3 disc game okay on a win 7 hard drive that does not touch the internet with the same graphics card I do for my win 10 S3 digital origin game shouldn't I be experiencing the same problems with both versions of the game across both operating systems using the same graphics card for both? I think that because my win 7 disc game does not touch the internet maybe appears to suggest it is either win 10 that's destroying my digital game or some sort of combination of programs (poss Origin as well as win 10) or am I totally off track here?
It's also possible your game was on the leading edge of this issue, that your system was more updated than most and therefore affected sooner. I don't have a good timeline on this issue, but I do know the complaints started years ago.
On the other hand, didn't you post that your GPU was recognized but rated at 1 rather than 5? That could also explain especially bad graphics—there's only so much you can improve with the in-game settings.
No need to feel bad about it not being fixed at the time it was not your fault but it has frustrated me for along time because I have literally tried everything I can think of since then however i confess to not really understanding dithering much but hoping if it turns out to be something that I can fix my game with. My GPU is always recognized it's the first thing I ever do. If it is a dithering problem can we as players do anything to fix it ourselves now? What I don't understand either is why my Sims 2 graphics are fab??
My issue is always horrible face and saturated skin issues but the worlds and objects themselves are fine.
S3 Pics
Sims 2
I just cannot wrap my head around the fact that sims 2 sims have no saturated skin or lines around the face/eyes etc as this game is way older than sims 3??
Anyways, i can't figure out how to get my card recognized, usually I have someone help me. in the graphics rules
"or match" area what would I put if I had the 1650 super?
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
So I fiddled around with graphics in nvidia control pannel, anything that seemed like shader or anti-aliasing I altered.I managed to get it so Its bearable and not as noticeable, so this leads me to believe it is a nvidia problem with sims 3.
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
https://youtu.be/X2eiCUQDNvQ
While we are waiting for Nvidia to do the right thing do you know if there is a work around fix we can do ourselves?
I determined that to day.The first desktop though, it happened in all games and the screen had tearing as it would boot up.So I assumed something was wrong.Second one was doing the same, and that graphics card had thermal paste all over the wires and card.
But this one doesn't seem to have issues except the sims 3.
Its weird because I have no issues in my 4 year old laptop, aside from color banding, but artifacting and particles don't show up on
my laptop.
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
https://youtu.be/X2eiCUQDNvQ
https://graceymanorsims3.tumblr.com/
I know what to go looking for now