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1.3.24.1 update causing graphics problems.
AlexRoz9
Posts: 309 New Member
I updated my game to version 1.3.24 earlier tonight, and while it definitely delivers several enhancements to the Mac version of the game, there are still some major issues that need to be addressed.
When I go to place the most expensive desk (buy mode) in a house, the desk shows up entirely in black, similar to the "roof problem" people were describing before. I was able to view the desk without a problem in the past. My system specs are as follows:
Mac Pro
- Dual 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel "Penryn/Harpertown" Xeon Processors (8 Cores total)
- 16 GB DDR2 RAM (FB-DIMMs)
- nVidia Quadro FX 5600 Stereo 3-D Graphics card with 1.5GB RAM
My system meets or exceeds the specs for TS3 in every way. It is outright absurd that a $2000 dollar graphics card far more powerful than those "recommended" by EA cannot properly render one item within the game. If there is a fix for this available, I'd appreciate it. If not, I'd appreciate EA adding it to their bug fixes, and adding my graphics card to the compatibility list. I should not have to purchase a second graphics card to play TS3 when my first one is ridiculously superior to those currently recommended by EA.
Ironically, EA said that they "added support for low-end Intel graphics cards," which I'm guessing means the GMA 950 chipset. If EA is supporting "low-end Intel graphics cards," they should be able to support my "high end nVidia graphics card."
Again, any and all help and/or advice is appreciated. Aside from this minor bug though, the 1.3 patch works quite well.
Finally, one "dumb/odd" question. The update list on the TS3 site says the game can now support over 2000 save files, but there are still only four save slots on the main menu. Is there something that I'm missing? Thank you in advance for your time.
When I go to place the most expensive desk (buy mode) in a house, the desk shows up entirely in black, similar to the "roof problem" people were describing before. I was able to view the desk without a problem in the past. My system specs are as follows:
Mac Pro
- Dual 3.2GHz Quad-Core Intel "Penryn/Harpertown" Xeon Processors (8 Cores total)
- 16 GB DDR2 RAM (FB-DIMMs)
- nVidia Quadro FX 5600 Stereo 3-D Graphics card with 1.5GB RAM
My system meets or exceeds the specs for TS3 in every way. It is outright absurd that a $2000 dollar graphics card far more powerful than those "recommended" by EA cannot properly render one item within the game. If there is a fix for this available, I'd appreciate it. If not, I'd appreciate EA adding it to their bug fixes, and adding my graphics card to the compatibility list. I should not have to purchase a second graphics card to play TS3 when my first one is ridiculously superior to those currently recommended by EA.
Ironically, EA said that they "added support for low-end Intel graphics cards," which I'm guessing means the GMA 950 chipset. If EA is supporting "low-end Intel graphics cards," they should be able to support my "high end nVidia graphics card."
Again, any and all help and/or advice is appreciated. Aside from this minor bug though, the 1.3 patch works quite well.
Finally, one "dumb/odd" question. The update list on the TS3 site says the game can now support over 2000 save files, but there are still only four save slots on the main menu. Is there something that I'm missing? Thank you in advance for your time.
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I ask because some people over on the windows side, with quads, seem to be having this problem especially after the 1.3 patch.
Also, I'm planning to buy a pro in a few months. Should I go single or dual Xeon?
I'd go with the dual-core Xeon. My MP is the "Early 2008" model, and I was in an Apple store shortly after the "Early 2009" models were released, (my brother was having his laptop repaired,) and wasn't that impressed with the single-processor quad-core Xeon. It was noticeably slower than my dual-processor system. I moved to a different quad-core model in the store and noticed that the machine was still slower than mine. They didn't have any dual-processor Xeons out for people to try, but I'd avoid the single-processor models--the dual-processor Xeons are definitely worth the extra cash. FCP 6 on the single-processor Xeon felt like FCE 3.5 on my old Mac Mini.
So far my only major gripe with the "Nehalem" based Mac Pros is the lack of Firewire 400 ports. I don't really use FW 800 and I use FW 400 constantly, so I'm really glad I got my Mac Pro before Apple removed the FW 400 ports from the system or I'd be in really bad shape. Aside from that the dual Xeon "Early 2009" models should be fine. I hope this helps.
rainingstars23, could you click on the "" at the top-left hand corner of your screen, choose "About this Mac," "More Info," and then click on "Displays" and tell us what kind of graphics card is in your MacBook Pro? This could help EA potentially diagnose the problem (and hopefully fix it,) and it could also help other members troubleshoot the issue.
I'm guessing this is the Cider/Cedega/WineX abstraction layer gumming up the works again, and that EA will likely fix the issue in a future patch. What irks me though is that I'm trying to "create-a-style" with the desk and I can't see what I'm doing. What's more, I didn't have the problem before the 1.3 patch, so I'm hoping EA fixes this in a future patch. And yes, I repaired my disk permission etc.,etc.
I can tolerate the desk for now, but it's admittedly annoying when everything else in the room is light-grained wood and the desk is jet-black with no texture.
My specs:
iMac 2.4 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
RAM 4 Gb 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro - 256 MB
Mac OS X 10.5.7
Everything is updated up to the latest version.
Game code is 02 - Europe retail, I think.
I reinstalled The Sims 3 from scratch, i.e. after a complete uninstall - I uninstalled even the preferences and plists in the Library, even the hidden files for transgaming software.
No hacks nor mods whatsoever installed.
In short: the game is unplayable, plain and simple.
I then installed (and patched) The Sims 3 in my Bootcamp partition - notice: same machine, same hardware, same saved game - only difference is the OS: Windows XP SP3.
The game plays flawlessy.
I'll show you what I mean.
The game, patched, under Windows partition.
Configuration (everything is at max)
Movie: from the Alto home I double-click on the portrait of a sim, which is going to work at the Military. Once he's entered the building, I double-click on the portrait of Vita Alto, which is waking up at home.
See how everything works normally, the rendering and such.
Now, I play the same saved game, making the same tasks, in Mac. With LOWER settings:
Movies (Two, because it took more than double the time, under Mac).
Please, notice the rendering speed.
When I said "unplayable", it's exactly what I meant.
That obviously hits the processor hard - so hard that I suspect even an ultra-high-end Mac produces a result worse than a cheapo gaming Windows box.
In the end, if you have a Boot Camp setup, it's probably best to run the game with that and be done with it. :?
Well, the cider port is not really an emulation, like VirtualPC and the like. I would expect a difference if I run TS3 in emulation, but this is a port.
Not only; before the patch, I ran TS3 exactly the same both in Mac OS and Windows (in Bootcamp partition): no differences, both with all the graphic settings at the max.
Now, instead, I see a HUGE (really _massive_) difference, even with the newly addeded features (antialiasing and shadows) in Mac turned OFF.
This is not acceptable, at any rate, seeing that I bought a game which is labeled to run on both systems, not to "run on Windows and to work somehow, in a poorly emulated way, on Mac OS".
The game worked fine out of the box, but NOW it doesn't work, thanks to the latest patch. That's the problem, not the emulation or the porting.
And I can't downgrade my game, because the older patches doesn't exist anymore.
That's what I'm doing right now, just for practical reasons, but it's in NO WAY "be done with it", sorry: I am a customer, I paid my money on the game as advertised, an I am fully entitled to have what was advertised.
No, I have the physical DVD, that's why I could apply the patch.
Model Identifier: iMac5,1
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.16 GHz
3 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
I downloaded the latest update and I am so disappointed!
To run my game I have to use at least 2X speed (too fast) to get my sims to move. I have also developed some really ODD bugs, not the least of which is the one where my sim reads, writes, eats and woo hoo's while standing up, sitting down, standing up..Like a yo yo!
Sorry.
Can anyone out there tell from my specs why my game has slowed to a crawl? I am going to decrease all that I can under the graphics, but this never happened before this update. Except for the occasional loss of mouse control, random crash and funky bugs, my story was moving right along.