Forum Announcement, Click Here to Read More From EA_Cade.
The Sims 3 Is Too (ish) Bright
TanisDuncan
Posts: 48 Member
When I launch TS3 everything becomes too bright (not overly bright but too bright for me to enjoy playing), this started a few months ago after a Graphics Card update or a Windows 10 update (I'm not quite sure which) but it persists after numerous updates for both.
However, I can temporarily fix it by changing the in-game resolution (and back again) but it reverts back to being too bright if I minimize the game, and I frequently minimize TS3 so that isn't a feasible solution.
Also, if I minimize it while it's too bright, for a split second it goes back to the original brightness, but that's of no help.
This issue does not affect screenshots, they appear in the correct brightness, so I cannot post one to help explain my issue.
In case it helps, here's some additional information:
I'm not sure if anything can be done to help but it's better than doing nothing at all.I run the game on maxed graphics with all expansions/stuff packs except Katie Perry's Sweet Treats, Island Paradise and Diesel Stuff.
I play with mods but have tested it without, they are not the issue.
My PC specs are:
OS: Windows 10 Pro (64 bit)
Processor: AMD FX-8350 Eight-Core (4.00GHz)
RAM: 32 GB
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon R9 390
Any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks.
P.S. It's 11:00pm (or thereabouts) at the time of posting this so I may be asleep if and when someone responds, I'm not ignoring you I promise, I'll reply in the morning.
0
Comments
Have you tried switching to windowed mode by using Game Options or shift-enter (for some it will be alt-enter) and minimizing using the "-" widget button? Then do the reverse to resume play. It's an annoying extra step in each direction admittedly and takes some getting used to but worth it if it works. I haven't a single stuck to taskbar issue since a colleague at NRaas suggested I try this a couple of years ago and if the same Windows issue is causing the undue brightness then this might help.
Took me a while to get used to switching that way as I had been on the Mac version of the game for years prior. For all of the goofy things Mac users have had to put up with on the crippled version of TS3 we'd been given, this oddly enough was never one of them.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
S3 simblr: http://simplysimming.tumblr.com/
S4 simblr: http://simlogic.tumblr.com/
I just tried minimizing it by first switching to windowed mode (Alt-Enter) and then minimize it, it works as long as it stays in windowed mode but as soon as I switch to full screen I gets too bright again and I have to do the quick fix again. (I have to change the resolution before switching it to windowed mode for it to stay at the correct brightness in windowed mode, just to let you know.)
@Simasaurus09 there are a lot of OS specific background programs and things like McAfee but the most noteworthy would by Steam and Origins but they've always been there and this issue has not. As for it happening with other games, it does not.
That sounds like an effect caused by the Win10 Creator Update's Fullscreen Optimizations feature. It toggles On/Off with Fullscreen Mode. It could explain why you're getting different behaviors in Fullscreen and Windowed modes, and why the negative effects come & go when you minimize/maximize the screen.
Try this step first, its been known to cause various monitor issues:
Disable Night Light
Its been found to become stuck in the enabled status, and to interfere with HDR lighting, monitor brightness, gamma ramping, color profiles, etc.
Linky: How to Turn On or Off Night Light in Windows 10
If that fails to help and/or you're experiencing negative visual effects in other fullscreen apps/games, then consider these steps:
1. Disable Game Mode:
How to enable (and disable) Game Mode in the Windows 10 Creators Update
2. Disable Fullscreen Optimizations in the Compatibility Tab of the game's .exe.
*Its a new property that the Creator Update has added in the app's .exe under the Compatibility Tab.
3. Disable the Windows 10 Creator Update Gamebar.
Turn On or Off Game Bar in Windows 10
*Win10 Creator Update may break vsyn settings in some apps/games, so check your FPS in-game.
As I've said, minimizing and/or fullscreen is not the cause, it just reverts to the incorrect brightness after I've fixed it by switching to a different resolution and back.
EDIT: The FPS for TS3 fluctuates from 60-90 (moving camera) to 120-150 (static camera).
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
Frame rates in excess of the refresh rate of your monitor do not add to quality, they are digital noise that your monitor cannot possibly interpret and can actually do harm to the card over a period of time.
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
The answer may be that you have to play in windowed mode at the altered resolution until this gets sorted out. Having ruled out the other obvious things, it sounds like there is still some kind of disconnect between driver updates (is a rollback to a prior driver version possible?) and windows updates, if not the Win 10 Creator Update itself. Others here may have further suggestions.
Or of course you could reach out to AMD or your computer's manufacturer to see if this is some kind of new known issue, but be prepared to be told some nonsense like TS3 is too old a game to be supported (we've heard this one before).
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
To be honest it's not a main concern at the momant as I'm currently playing the new TS4 content but that might get boring quickly.
It also may fix itself as in the past I've had other problems with games that get fixed after a GPU or OS update. i.e. TESIV: Oblivion stopped working completely for a time but works now as did the steam versions the old school Fallout games.
Also I am getting a new Monitor soon (4K) so that may fix the issue. I recently use a 43inch 4K TV for a monitor temporarily and while doing so both Skyrim and it's Creation Kit were too bright and only those (I hope that same issue doesn't happen on a 4K monitor).
NRaas has moved!
Our new site is at http://nraas.net
@TanisDuncan There is no one video card on the market that can run 4k efficiently. You will get serious fps drops. We have people with a new 1080 card which is the highest card they make. It has issues with 4k. Running 2k is fine. The sims games will not run in sli. most games won't. If your running 4k now, that may be your problem. The sims games don't do well and were not designed to run in 4k
You are better off with 1080p and using lighting moods if your card can handle it.
I though it best to match the TV's resolution otherwise my desktop icons might get jumbled up (from switching from a 1080p monitor to a 2160p TV and back) though I haven't tested it yet, maybe I should first by a long enough cable to reach the TV and see before buying a £300 monitor that may not be necessary.
Also, I am not currently running on 4k.
Check the Television settings for your GPU, try turning Overscan off if its still enabled. Make sure your PC is set to a single primary monitor display scheme.
Honestly there is no one video card on the market that can run 4k. I would not waste my money on a 4k monitor. My son has a GTX 980 ti and an i7 skylake. He has that hooked up to a 1080p 32" TV. He has another 4k TV that he watches 4k TV on.
Talk to user @chesterbigbird when she comes on the forum. She is a computer build expert. Has a 1080 and an i7 skylake. She only runs 2k . She can give you more info on 4k and the problems. I know we had someone in the sims 4 section has to run 4k in windowed mode. It would not run 4k in full screen. These games were just not designed to run 4k.
Brightness issues when gaming on a 1080p TV are common. Overscan messes with the gamma ramping. And the TV may well switch color profiles on you and give it a washed out overbright look. These features/settings may still be active even when you aren't using the TV. So run through your GPU's TV settings. To test I'd set the PC to a single primary display scheme. I'm not familiar with AMD so I'm no help with the details.
Sounds simplistic, but reboot the PC so any changes can take effect.
And at risk of sounding silly, I'd like to be extra clear. That Fullscreen Optimizations in the game exe's Compatibility Tab is enabled by Default with the recent Win10 Creator Update. You'd need to specifically Disable it to see if that's contributing to this.
Ya, BGS games can have odd behaviors with HDR/Bloom. What interface are you using PC-to-Monitor/Television? The interface you're using (HDMI and/or DVI) can effect HDR, try setting it to Full Range. Here's a great read with good suggestions on dealing with a PC to TV setup and accessing the settings. I apologize for throwing a link at you but I'm not knowledgeable on AMDs. Correcting HDMI Colour on Nvidia and AMD GPUs
I don't need to reboot because I haven't changed anything, It is and was always set to a single display (my AOC monitor) and the Fullscreen Optimizations in the game exe's Compatibility Tab is disabled (I looked).
I mean no offense but I am not using a TV, I am using an AOC Monitor so could people please stop mentioning TV solutions.
There are not TV specific options as far as I can tell, at least not while using a monitor.