Options.ini file keeps resetting to default values

cwaddell

For the past two days my options.ini file keeps being reset back to default values.

I can go in and select the options I want and they will stay that way. The problem is I don't remember what I had set some of my graphics settings.

I have copies of older options.ini files but every time I try to replace and use one of them it gets overwritten and set back to default values. This never used to happen.

One solution is that I can open up one of my saved options.ini files and find the graphics setting I had been using. This seems tedious and besides I'd like to figure out what's going on so I can avoid it in the future. The only thing I can think may have triggered this issue is that I had just set every season length to 3 days.

Another solution is trying new settings. Maybe maxing them and then pulling back to what my system can tolerate without causing problems.

Anyone have any idea what's going on or any recommendations for the graphics settings?

Thanks.

igazor

Have you possibly updated your graphics drivers recently? That will trigger a reset of the entire options.ini file and reset all game options every time. If you replace the file with an older one that is expecting to find now older graphics drivers, all of the options will reset again because the game will "think" there was another driver update.

You could meddle with the older file so that it reflects the new driver version, but usually for most players it's just simpler to put the options back where you wanted them (if you can figure out what they were) and move on.

cwaddell

igazor wrote: »

Have you possibly updated your graphics drivers recently? That will trigger a reset of the entire options.ini file and reset all game options every time. If you replace the file with an older one that is expecting to find now older graphics drivers, all of the options will reset again because the game will "think" there was another driver update.

You could meddle with the older file so that it reflects the new driver version, but usually for most players it's just simpler to put the options back where you wanted them (if you can figure out what they were) and move on.

Could be but I'm don't remember any update recently.

I gave up trying to retrieve my old options.ini file and decided to just max out the graphics options. I spent time building a screened porch on my cabin but haven't played enough yet in game to determine if I need to lower some of them.

TreyNutz

If you are on Win 10, an Windows update can also update drivers and cause TS3 to use default settings. I just got the Fall Creator's update and got update graphics drivers as a result.

To reuse a older Options.ini file that you've backed up, you first need to let the game generate a new one. You only need to load the game up to the save chooser screen. Then quit.

Then open the new Options.ini in any simple text editor like Notepad or Notepad++, and look for the line that begins "lastdevice =". It will have some alphanumeric number after the equals sign. This number is how the game identifies your graphics driver version. If the 'lastdevice' line doesn't match the current graphics driver the game overwrite the file with default settings. Once you've found the 'lastdevice' number in the new Options.ini file, copy that line. If you use Notepad++ (which numbers each line), the 'lastdevice' line is line number 150.

Now open up your older Options.ini file (your backup) and paste the new 'lastdevice' line over the old 'lastdevice' line. Save the file.

Finally delete the new Options.ini file with the default values from your Sims 3 folder, and copy your edited backup version to your Sims 3 folder.

This is a bit tedious to do, but it's fairly simple once you get the hang of it. The issue I have with the game resetting the Options.ini file is not the graphic settings but the age settings. I change them every now and then and from game to game and never remember what they are for any particular save. So when the options.ini gets changed back to default I'm always guessing what I had my age settings set to.

cwaddell wrote: »

I have copies of older options.ini files but every time I try to replace and use one of them it gets overwritten and set back to default values. This never used to happen.

This behavior is due to the 'lastdevice' line in your older Options.ini file not matching the current graphics driver version installed on your computer. See above for how to edit your older files with a new 'lastdevice' line.

edit: NRaas has a FAQ on this.

cwaddell

TreyNutz wrote: »

...

This behavior is due to the 'lastdevice' line in your older Options.ini file not matching the current graphics driver version installed on your computer. See above for how to edit your older files with a new 'lastdevice' line.

edit: NRaas has a FAQ on this.

Thank you so much for this useful info. Greatly appreciated.

SemaviLady

Thank you, @TreyNutz !

Like @cwaddell -- Despite backing up my options.ini for reuse, I just needed to learn about the procedure for editing the line for 'lastdevice' in order to reuse my settings, which increasingly vary between different games. Recently OS and driver updates have 'intensified' it seems. All the resetting has frustrating! Thanks again, @cwaddell as well, for asking.

cwaddell

Thanks to @igazor , too. I now realize he was referring to the 'lastdevice' line when he said " the new driver version". But not be that knowledgeable about these things I needed it spelled out.

SemaviLady

LOL, ohhhh, gosh @cwaddell , now it clicks in place for me too. I have that partial rosetta stone down now too, thanks @igazor (as always).

igazor

Even though the total solution is spelled out on an NRaas page (I actually forgot it was there), I'd say the real thanks goes to @TreyNutz. All I really did was point to the source of the problem, not so much how to fix it without manually adjusting the settings after each driver update.

TreyNutz

igazor wrote: »

Even though the total solution is spelled out on an NRaas page (I actually forgot it was there), I'd say the real thanks goes to @TreyNutz. All I really did was point to the source of the problem, not so much how to fix it without manually adjusting the settings after each driver update.

LOL, I forgot it was there too. I had recently explained the same thing to IreneSwift and was searching for that post when I came across an even older post of mine which linked to the NRaas FAQ.

Sometimes I think the NRaas site has a FAQ on everything Sims related; you need only search deep enough.

Sharnajade01

I accidentally deleted my options ini file without realising and had cleared my recycle bin, now my game options keep resetting and I have no idea how to get the options ini file again.

Could someone help?

igazor

Sharnajade01 wrote: »

I accidentally deleted my options ini file without realising and had cleared my recycle bin, now my game options keep resetting and I have no idea how to get the options ini file again.

Could someone help?

When you startup the game with no options.ini file in place, a new one reflecting all default settings will spawn where the old one was. This is not happening? Are you certain that you are looking in the TS3 user game folder that is actually being used by the game?

There should be a file in there called DeviceConfig.log. It might appear as just DeviceConfig. Right-click and Properties, does the modification date/time match the last time you started up the game? If you aren't sure, try starting up. The modification date/time on that file should change instantly if it is actually within the live game folder. If not, or if you don't even have a DeviceConfig file, then you have a different game folder on your system someplace that is being read instead, and that's the one that has the current options.ini file in it.

hw0518

Hi so my sims 4 cc isnt working and i have no idea why. Cc that i downloaded a couple days ago is showing up in my game but it doesnt say that i have downloads in my mods folder so im not sure how cc is in my game if there isnt any downloads in the folder. And when i try to add new cc to my game, all that shows up is the cc that i downloaded a couple days ago that wont show up in my mods folder. I have no clue how to remove that cc because i cant find any downloads in my folder or even in my finder. I just want to be able to put new cc in but every time i add it to the folder, it doesnt show up in the game. Ive already tried making a new mods folder, turning off mods and script mods in the game and it still DOESNT WORK! I could really use some help so if you have any ideas feel free to share them. Thanks so much.

igazor

hw0518 wrote: »

Hi so my sims 4 cc isnt working and i have no idea why. Cc that i downloaded a couple days ago is showing up in my game but it doesnt say that i have downloads in my mods folder so im not sure how cc is in my game if there isnt any downloads in the folder. And when i try to add new cc to my game, all that shows up is the cc that i downloaded a couple days ago that wont show up in my mods folder. I have no clue how to remove that cc because i cant find any downloads in my folder or even in my finder. I just want to be able to put new cc in but every time i add it to the folder, it doesnt show up in the game. Ive already tried making a new mods folder, turning off mods and script mods in the game and it still DOESNT WORK! I could really use some help so if you have any ideas feel free to share them. Thanks so much.

This is the TS3 section of the forum, not TS4. Perhaps you could post this on TS4 so that players more familiar with the game can help. The two games and how they work with CC and mods are very different from each other.