Closed Sims 2 and Graphics Cards - the fixes.

Thanks Nama.
It looks like the boolProp disableVSyncSupport true # work around flickering UI took, and the sampling didn't. Will do some more searching.

Just for a test - can you try this same card with the Compatibility set to XP and admin, and see if you're still getting the black screen? Thanks.

I am still getting that black screen.

Cool. Thanks.

I should point out that this new laptop is able to run Sims 3 and all EP's (I installed all but ITF) with very little issue, on medium settings. So this is confusing.

Yup. That is because Sims3 has actually been set up to cope with Windows7 and Windows 8. Sims 2 has not been. So that would be a large part of it.

*shakes fist at EA's incompetence*

You would think that they would try to keep Sims 2 updated to work on newer OS systems because so many people still play Sims 2 (there are so many things that I love about Sims 2 that they got rid of in 3, for example).

No. They are not going to do that - because they don't make any more money from the Sims 2 part of the Franchise. They would much rather everyone buy Sims 3 - and the coming Sims 4. It's not incompetence, it's business practice.

If they could charge for the upgrade, then maybe. But although is still many who play Sims 2, they're not enough of us to make it financially viable for them.

Better business practice would be to show that you care for past customers. As an investment, to gain sympathy and a more loyal future customer base! But EA are not doing business; they're simple hoodlums, promising protection, but never giving it, and in the meantime beating all our cash out of us. Common criminals in a suit are they.

That is very true BO. Unfortunately, they are not the only business who have this sort of business model. They try to lock in retention by making forced loyalty - like making things have to be online and connected to a server to play. Micro sales, and releasing goods before they are ready is also a fairly typical sort of behaviour.

They ARE hoodlums, but we are in a world of hoodlums.

I've been searching for a solution to my problem on and off for close to a year now and I'm really happy that I found this thread. I have the (apparently very common) "stuck in 800x600 resolution" problem and also "Smooth Edges" is greyed out. I had tried messing with the Graphic Rules.sgr previously to solve it, to no avail. If you can help me, I'll love you forever!

My operating system is Windows 7, my video card is an AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series. I have a dual video card. I have Sims 2 Double Deluxe, Open for Business, University and Pets installed. Pets is the one I'm using to start the game. I run the game in the Compatibility mode for Windows XP Service Pack 3, as administrator.

I'll post two config logs; the first is with the original GraphicRules.sgr and VideoCards.sgr files, the other is with the files you had posted here (unfortunately, it didn't seem to help). My video card is the same, but I have a different OS so maybe that's the reason why the solution didn't work for me.

The log with the original files:

  config-log.txt (Size: 9.65 KB / Downloads: 543)

The log with the changed files:

  config-log2.txt (Size: 9.65 KB / Downloads: 559)

Let me know if you need any further info. And thanks a lot.