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UPDATE 9-2-20 Has your Sims 3 game been affected by the recent pixilation issues?

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  • ZeeGeeZeeGee Posts: 5,355 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    @Archivist Did you use 2 or 3? I used 2. That’s what most of the Sims 3 reshade install tutorials seem to teach.
  • ArchivistArchivist Posts: 4,375 Member
    ZeeGee wrote: »
    @Archivist Did you use 2 or 3? I used 2. That’s what most of the Sims 3 reshade install tutorials seem to teach.
    I used the latest version on their web site, version 4.5.4. I haven't checked if there are any TS3-specific tutorials available for that version, but I could write out the steps I took if you're interested. Setup is really quick but just requires a lot of clicking on specific checkboxes.
    9d9hOnJ.png
  • ZeeGeeZeeGee Posts: 5,355 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    @archivist Oh yes, please. I would appreciate that very much. Thank you.
  • Icy_LavaIcy_Lava Posts: 5,461 Member
    edited February 2020
    So, I did say I was planning on reinstalling Sims 3 just to show some pics.

    I am somewhat affected by the dithering and banding...but I don't think it is so bad.

    I use the highest settings (ultra) at 2560 x 1600 on an old monitor and GTX 660 1.5gb of vram.



    mQhnX4T.jpg
    Some banding is seen on the lamp, for sure...somewhat low looking textures on couch, but Sims 3 is just full of low quality textures, but not so bad here.



    uKQy4PI.jpg


    tmc3Ro8.jpg


    I see a lot on the back end of the couch..so stark black seem to influence the likelihood of seeing blotchiness, or banding, pixel textures, or however you want to call them.
    2CqOzJ3.jpg


    eJWqxGY.jpg


    I see some on reflective metal textures. https://imgur.com/a/0bnxuj4 for some more pictures on Imgur.
  • ArchivistArchivist Posts: 4,375 Member
    edited February 2020
    ZeeGee wrote: »
    @archivist Oh yes, please. I would appreciate that very much. Thank you.
    Sure, pasting them below. :) Let me know if any of the steps need clarification.


    INSTALLATION:

    1) Visit www.reshade.me and download ReShade 4.5.4 from the top or bottom of the page

    2) Run the file and click "Click here to select a game and manage its ReShade installation"

    3) On the "Select a game or application" screen, select "Sims 3 (TS3.exe)" from the list. If it doesn't appear on the list, you can Browse to where your TS3.exe file is located and click it. (Note that this will install files directly into your Sims 3 folder. I'll include uninstallation instructions at the bottom in case you decide to remove it.)

    4) When it asks "Which rendering API does Sims 3 use?" select "Direct3D 9"

    5) On the "Select effects to install" screen, you can either select everything if you want a lot of different graphic options to experiment with (the complete download size is only 10 MB) or just select Deband for the color debanding effect and SMAA for antialiasing. When ready, press "OK" to install.

    6) The title bar will read "ReShade installation was successful!" ReShade is now installed in your The Sims 3 folder. You can now close the installer.


    HOW TO SET UP RESHADE FOR DEBANDING AND ANTIALIASING:

    1) Run The Sims 3. When the game opens, you'll see a brief notification that ReShade is running at the top of the screen.

    2) Press the Home key on your keyboard to open or close your ReShade options screen any time while in-game. (You can change the key to another key later in the Settings tab, where it says "Overlay key". I use my Home key a lot in-game, so I changed my ReShade options key to F4.)

    3) ReShade will ask if you want to see a tutorial. You can choose to go through the tutorial or skip it.

    4) At any time, click the "Home" tab at the top of the screen. Now you can start selecting the different graphic effects you want to use or experiment with, and unselect anything you decide you don't like. You can basically treat this like another graphics settings screen for the game.

    5) FOR COLOR DEBANDING: Select "Deband [Deband.fx]" from the list. At the bottom of the window, you'll see the heading "Edit global preprocessor definitions". Under it will be a bunch of different sliders. Set "Debanding strength" to High.

    6) FOR ANTIALIASING: Select "SMAA [SMAA.fx]" from the list. You shouldn't need to mess around with the settings for that one, but you can experiment if you want. Any settings you change can be reset by clicking "Reset all to default" for that particular effect.

    7) Press the Home key (or whichever key you've set as your ReShade key) to close the ReShade settings window, and you should see any changes immediately.


    HOW TO TAKE SCREENSHOTS OR RECORD VIDEO WITH RESHADE EFFECTS:

    Be aware that screenshots and videos taken by pressing C and V won't include any of the changes made by ReShade. You'll have to instead use ReShade's screenshot key to take pictures and use separate video capture software to record video (Windows 10 has its own built-in capture tool so no need to download anything).

    Taking screenshots with ReShade:
    1) Open ReShade in-game and click the Settings tab
    2) Under the "Screenshots" heading, you can set the key you want to use for taking ReShade screenshots (PrintScreen by default)
    3) You can also set the folder where you want screenshots to appear. I set mine to the same folder as my other screenshots: C:\Users\(your Windows username)\Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Screenshots
    4) When taking a picture, you'll probably want the user interface to not appear in your screenshots, so press F10 to toggle the UI off or on. I set my ReShade screenshot key to F11 so that they're just next to each other.

    Recording video with Windows 10's Game Bar:
    1) While in-game, hold down your Windows key and press G
    2) The first time you do this, Windows will ask "Do you want to open game bar?" Click the box that says "Yes, this is a game."
    3) Press the record button to start/stop recording a video. The video will appear in your Videos folder under a subfolder called Captures.


    HOW TO UNINSTALL RESHADE IF YOU CHANGE YOUR MIND:

    * To uninstall using the exe file: Run ReShade_Setup_4.5.4.exe, select "Sims 3 (TS3.exe)" and select Direct3D 9. When the installer asks if you would like to Update or Uninstall, click Uninstall.

    * To uninstall without the exe file: Navigate to your Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin folder or wherever your game file is located. Then, delete the folder "reshade-shaders" and also delete the following files: ReShade.ini, d3d9.dll, d3d9.log, DefaultPreset.ini. If you created a preset, there will also be an INI file with the name of your preset. That file is also safe to delete.
    Post edited by Archivist on
    9d9hOnJ.png
  • Icy_LavaIcy_Lava Posts: 5,461 Member
    @Archivist Thanks for the tutorial. :smile:
  • ZeeGeeZeeGee Posts: 5,355 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    @Archivist I did a trial run on my laptop and immediately noticed a difference without even changing any settings. Playing with the different color settings is fun too. The game froze up (a fault of my laptop, not the program) but I'll try it on my desktop when I get home tonight and test further. Thank you for the tutorial! This helped.

    What I noticed before it froze up: Walls were much better and a dark skinned sim's skin was smoother. Wood was still shiny. More later with pics.
  • emorrillemorrill Posts: 8,110 Member
    edited February 2020
    My game has been affected but it doesn't bother me
    OMGosh @Archivist THANK YOU for the tutorial! :star:
    (Nevermind my reply to you in a PM @ZeeGee :p )

    Guess my question is, does Reshade cause your game to lag or crash? And also, will we need to turn off Antialiasing in our NVidia Graphics settings if we have it enabled in Reshade?

    It's pretty sad we have to resort to this because of stupid Windows 10! :angry:
    52607642900_bbbac3a314_c.jpg
  • ArchivistArchivist Posts: 4,375 Member
    edited February 2020
    @ZeeGee @emorrill No problem. :) It's not a perfect solution, but it might be all we have while waiting for Microsoft to be competent.

    Quick note: I forgot to mention in my last post that taking screenshots and videos with ReShade is a little different. The in-game screenshot and video recorder won't capture any ReShade effects onscreen, so you should instead use ReShade's screenshot key and a separate video capture program. I added a section with instructions in my other post.
    emorrill wrote: »
    Guess my question is, does Reshade cause your game to lag or crash?
    So far I don't notice any lag with just Deband and SMAA on, but I'll keep playing around and let you guys know. Some of the more intense effects like depth-of-field take a minute to load and may make the game seem like it's crashing, but after it finishes loading the game still runs the same for me (typically hovering around 60 FPS). If ReShade does create problems, removing it is pretty simple and will restore the game back to normal.

    I should mention I did manage to make ReShade completely bug out once while I was trying a bunch of different shader effects, and it made all my trees and hair visible through walls and Sims. I had to restart the game to fix it.
    And it shaved the raccoon:
    r3dpuqh.jpg
    emorrill wrote: »
    And also, will we need to turn off Antialiasing in our NVidia Graphics settings if we have it enabled in Reshade?
    There's probably no need to turn off NVIDIA's antialiasing, but I did on mine because I thought having them both on would be redundant (and because I'm OCD). But even with both on, I don't notice any lag or other issues, so keeping it on seems okay.
    Post edited by Archivist on
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  • HillyBethHillyBeth Posts: 3,505 Member
    Other. Please explain in comments.
    ZeeGee wrote: »
    A recent Windows update (yes, it has been narrowed down to that) has caused all kinds of crazy pixilation issues in a lot of our games. Have you been affected? I'll put pictures of the issues in the second post.

    If my game has been affected, I actually haven't noticed a difference. I hope everyone else's games get back to normal soon!
    Origin ID
    HillyPlays
    P.A.C.E- Positive Attitude Changes Everything
  • Emily4331Emily4331 Posts: 10,850 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    @Archivist Now if Reshade would let my game launch at all, that'd be great. :neutral:
  • emorrillemorrill Posts: 8,110 Member
    My game has been affected but it doesn't bother me
    @Archivist Thank you for answering my questions. :)

    I tried reshade in my game and I apparently need more help with tweaking the settings as I didn't see a lick of difference made with MSAA and Deband on. I mean I saw a hair bit of a reduction in the color banding, but I could still see colored lines and little pixel blocks on the walls. :( There were still jagged edges on objects and Sims. (And this I could see in my game, not in the After screenshots I took. Thanks for letting me know that Screenshots need to be taken using the reshade program).

    Oh and it made my UI look terribly blurry... :confounded: Then again the only things I had activated were Deband and MSAA. I need further knowledge. :p

    I guess if any of you are willing to jot down all the right tweaks to the settings and share them with me in a pm, that'd be wonderful because I'm not very computer literate. <3@ZeeGee ? :blush:
    52607642900_bbbac3a314_c.jpg
  • ZeeGeeZeeGee Posts: 5,355 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    @emorrill Can you see the difference when you apply the settings? I've been playing with it all afternoon. I don’t know that much about it. I just installed it exactly like archivist did and didn’t change any settings. The main thing I noticed in my game was sims faces were better, and the color banding on their necks was better. Walls were also better. I tried deband on high but it did smooth things out too much for me. You lose some detail. So for me it’s better, not up to pre December 8 graphics tho so still hoping for that fix from Microsoft eventually.

    The fun thing about Reshade is all the special effects. I applied them all to see what they would do.
  • ArchivistArchivist Posts: 4,375 Member
    edited February 2020
    @emorrill Hmmm, that's strange. Did you set your Debanding Strength to High?

    Here's how my banding looks at each Debanding Strength setting:
    y6qOnwE.png

    And my settings:
    hQdOycr.jpg

    For the blurry UI, some effects on the list can bleed onto the UI and make it blurry or weird-looking, but Deband and SMAA don't seem to make mine blurry at all. I'll have to play around with it to understand more. But just in case, double-check that none of the other effects have a checkmark by them.

    Edit: I typed it wrong a bunch of times. Should be SMAA, not MSAA.
    9d9hOnJ.png
  • emorrillemorrill Posts: 8,110 Member
    edited February 2020
    My game has been affected but it doesn't bother me
    ZeeGee wrote: »
    @emorrill Can you see the difference when you apply the settings? I've been playing with it all afternoon. I don’t know that much about it. I just installed it exactly like archivist did and didn’t change any settings. The main thing I noticed in my game was sims faces were better, and the color banding on their necks was better. Walls were also better. I tried deband on high but it did smooth things out too much for me. You lose some detail. So for me it’s better, not up to pre December 8 graphics tho so still hoping for that fix from Microsoft eventually.

    The fun thing about Reshade is all the special effects. I applied them all to see what they would do.

    @ZeeGee Yes, I applied the settings, while I was in game, and didn't see too much of a difference. :confused: I think I need more help on the MSAA settings because yeah I set the Deband on High too and didn't see too much of a difference...

    @Archivist Thanks for showing the difference in pictures. :blush: I had set it to High, but it only seemed like a slight difference to me and I still saw those pixel blocks on the wall in between the color bands. Example here:

    test-pics-after-1.jpg
    ^If you look real closely can you see those little pixel blocks I'm talking about. Maybe I just need to add texture to the wall. :p

    I also noticed that Sim chest hair is pixelated. :( Not super smooth and hair-like like when I first played the game on this computer with it's awesome graphics card... (pre bad December windows update)
    Curse you Windows 10...
    52607642900_bbbac3a314_c.jpg
  • GraceyManorGraceyManor Posts: 20,079 Member
    My game has not been affected
    Has anyone reported the issue to Microsoft? Who do we contact?
  • ZeeGeeZeeGee Posts: 5,355 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    Emily, try uninstalling it, restarting your computer and install it again. That’s the only trick I know when something isn’t working. I do still have some of the banding that your wall is showing on certain things like that fridge and the drum set when it’s white.
  • ZeeGeeZeeGee Posts: 5,355 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    @GraceyManor I reported it to them by right clicking on the shortcut and troubleshooting. When it didn’t work I got to report it and send pictures of the issue, but the troubleshooter made my game worse and I never heard back from them.

    If anyone knows where we can report it I’d be happy to chime in.

    I am wondering if simmers with smaller monitors don’t notice this as much.
  • Icy_LavaIcy_Lava Posts: 5,461 Member
    @emorrill

    Do you know what skin your Sim with the purple hair has? It looks like a good skin to me. Also nice sim! :)
  • emorrillemorrill Posts: 8,110 Member
    My game has been affected but it doesn't bother me
    Icy_Lava wrote: »
    @emorrill

    Do you know what skin your Sim with the purple hair has? It looks like a good skin to me. Also nice sim! :)

    Oh why thank you @Icy_Lava :blush:

    The skin is Eskin Fresh. I use the default because the skin colors on the non default look awful to me. :p

    I guess my game looks much better to others than I think it does, I've actually had a couple of folks tell me as much, so I think I need to just let this all go and keep praying Windows fixes this.
    52607642900_bbbac3a314_c.jpg
  • emorrillemorrill Posts: 8,110 Member
    My game has been affected but it doesn't bother me
    @GraceyManor Try calling the number listed here and follow the prompts. I'm gonna try it (again) too. Last time I called it was a bad connection and the rep couldn't hear me so he had to hang up on me. :neutral:

    https://numberforliveperson.com/microsoft/


    ***C'mon everyone! Let's put up as much of a stink about this as we can and get Microsoft to listen and do something about it!***

    Power to the people! :mrgreen:
    52607642900_bbbac3a314_c.jpg
  • matthewst10matthewst10 Posts: 47 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    I just installed ReShade with TS3 and debanding on high really did help! :smile:
    Before Debanding:

    kUxG6h0.jpg

    After Debanding:

    4CrofHA.jpg
  • ZeeGeeZeeGee Posts: 5,355 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    emorrill wrote: »

    https://numberforliveperson.com/microsoft/


    ***C'mon everyone! Let's put up as much of a stink about this as we can and get Microsoft to listen and do something about it!***

    Power to the people! :mrgreen:

    Amen, sistah! Let’s light them phones up!

  • Emily4331Emily4331 Posts: 10,850 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    Well, I've tried every single solution I could find regarding a game not launching with Reshade installed. Nothing worked. I guess I just give up and stick with making it look slightly better with the options available to me in Nvidia Freestyle. Messing with this is very frustrating when everyone else has gotten it to work right away. :confounded:
  • ZeeGeeZeeGee Posts: 5,355 Member
    My game has been affected and I'm upset
    @Emily4331 I’m so sorry you can’t get it to work. :'(

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