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Test Subject
Original Poster
#1 Old 27th Apr 2013 at 6:36 AM

This user has the following games installed:

Sims 3, World Adventures, Ambitions, Late Night, Generations, Pets, Showtime, Supernatural, Seasons, University Life, Island Paradise, Into the Future
Default Gray hair streaks in CAS & in-game
Hi all,

I've been playing Sims 3 basically since it came out. On my old computer I would run into an issue with hairs having gray streaks, of a sort, but it was only in CAS and I found no one with the same issue so I just bore through it, chalking it up to some kind of issue with my graphics card.

However, I recently bought a new laptop and clean installed the game (plus expansion packs, but the issue was appearing even on a vanilla install, iirc). The issue is back, this time in-game and in CAS. I don't know if anyone has any ideas but it's all welcome. I haven't tried tweaking my graphics settings but I'm using whatever the defaults were. I will try. It's appearing on custom hair, store hair, and default hair.

Here are some images:
http://i.imgur.com/FsMqfs6.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WCSxzot.jpg

Thanks!

Edit: Just tried altering the Sim Detail slider and it didn't help.
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In the Arena
retired moderator
#2 Old 27th Apr 2013 at 4:25 PM
Default MTS2 Staff Reply
  • General - Post System Specs
    We need more information before we can help with your issue.
    • Please post a Quick summary of your System Specs
      Instructions on finding them are here: Game Help:System Specswiki.
    • If you have Dual-graphics, please post your complete DxDiag report in your thread. And put in between [ spoiler ] specs here [ /spoiler ] tags (remove the spaces).

Please post specs for the new system, then...
Do you know what GPU the old computer had?

Can you also take screenshot of your Graphical settings in Options?
Test Subject
Original Poster
#3 Old 27th Apr 2013 at 5:49 PM
Quote: Originally posted by ellacharmed
  • General - Post System Specs
    We need more information before we can help with your issue.
    • Please post a Quick summary of your System Specs
      Instructions on finding them are here: Game Help:System Specswiki.
    • If you have Dual-graphics, please post your complete DxDiag report in your thread. And put in between [ spoiler ] specs here [ /spoiler ] tags (remove the spaces).

Please post specs for the new system, then...
Do you know what GPU the old computer had?

Can you also take screenshot of your Graphical settings in Options?

Sorry about that, I figured it wasn't really necessary since it happened across two computers.

Laptop:
HP Envy m6-1105dx
AMD Quad-Core A10-4600M
6GB DDR3 SDRAM
AMD Radeon HD 7660G Discrete-Class graphics and up to 3053MB total graphics memory

Desktop:
HP Pavilion p6510f
AMD Athlon II X4 630
4GB DDR3 SDRAM
Integrated ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics

I can't get the dxdiag from the desktop because I don't own it anymore but here it is from the laptop:

Screenshot looks a little wonky because I had to switch to Windowed mode, but it's still readable: http://i.imgur.com/NPMbDhO.png

The only common thread I've seen is that both systems are AMD/ATI based, but if that alone was causing the problem I'd imagine others would have experienced it.
In the Arena
retired moderator
#4 Old 27th Apr 2013 at 6:18 PM
Default MTS2 Staff Reply
  • General - Integrated Graphics
    The reason for your issue is that your computer doesn't meet the minimum requirements to play TS2/TS3.
    In particular, you don't actually have a graphics card - you have integrated graphics, which is just a chip on your motherboard. Most laptops come with integrated graphics, as do some desktops; and while salesmen often claim that integrated graphics chips are just as good as real graphics cards, they're not.

    Integrated graphics chips are designed for people who just use their computers to read email, type up documents, and play minesweeper - they are not suitable for high stress games like TS2/TS3. At the very least, playing TS2/TS3 with integrated graphics will mean the game looks terrible; at the worst, you could permanently damage your computer.
    If you have integrated graphics, the other requirements - particularly minimum processor speed - go up to compensate. You can see the increases here, under "If you have a non-T&L capable video card...".

    This FAQ contains tips on things you can do to improve your gameplay, and prolong the life of the integrated chip: Game Help:Onboard Graphicswiki
    This is MTS's recommended minimum system specs Be aware that, even if you follow all the tips in the above article, you will probably have to upgrade or replace your computer to alleviate all problems.

Sorry to say, that a "Discrete-Class graphics" is still not a Discrete GPU in Sims. EA's graphics rules does not care that the integrated chipset is marketed as a "Discrete-Class graphics" by the manufacturer. That is just some PR-spin. The rules only know it does not detect the specs it needs to run the game at optimum render settings. Is that screenshot the default settings or you have tweaked it to your liking?

The info on the Desktop is sufficient, thank you.
Just like the HD 4200 on the Desktop, you're still playing Sims with an IGP in that Laptop. The GPU Device driver is also 6 months out of date; you should check if HP has new versions up on their site.

Others do experience issues with IGPs - their games crashed outright - just search with the term "apu".
Here's some threads re:APU & re:IGP to start you off:
- http://my.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=500235
- http://my.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=480218

So you're kinda lucky the game even started on this laptop. But then again, the AMD APU's do have better IGPs than those from Intel or those of the older generations' processors chipsets. They are just not recommended for long-term gameplay.
But if you still insists on playing with IGP, be sure to lower settings; and also check that Sims is recognizing this card - Game Help:Getting new graphics cards recognized by the gamewiki
Née whiterider
retired moderator
#5 Old 27th Apr 2013 at 6:23 PM
Those grey streaks are shine created by the in-game lighting. They're always there in CAS because everything in CAS seems to be made out of wax; whether or not they show up in-game depends on the lighting in the room, the shader used for the hair mesh, the specular texture, any lighting mods you have installed etc. Your graphics chip still sucks, but this isn't a symptom of that.

What I lack in decorum, I make up for with an absence of tact.
Test Subject
Original Poster
#6 Old 28th Apr 2013 at 4:57 AM
Not to be rude but I don't believe it is a fault of on-board graphics. I've studied computer hardware, I know how to build systems, and I hang around in the gaming community a lot. On-board graphics cannot compete with a dedicated GPU, you guys are right! But glitches like this can't possibly be chalked up to not using a dedicated GPU... or at least, if it was a symptom of it, why wouldn't anyone else have the problem? Sims attracts a lot of rather casual gamers (nothing wrong with that! just, people who are not building gaming rigs), so I'd imagine someone would be having a similar problem.

I will look into the lighting though, try it in different areas & etc. Thank you all for the help, either way.
In the Arena
retired moderator
#7 Old 29th Apr 2013 at 5:01 PM
Anyone else on IGPs have crashing problems and cannot even launch the game, so can't be concerned about the gray streak glitches, perhaps.

Sure...expressing and having opinions is your prerogative. I'm just stating the facts as I know them from answering threads here day in and day out for the past few years. Also, these crashing reports are not just limited to MTS, they are on all the Sims forums there is.

The issue with an IGP is a waiting game, if not sooner than later...while with a dedicated graphics it would most likely be never. Outside of CAS, I don't have to be concerned about lighting to ensure I don't have these gray highlights on a properly-spec'd machine with supported graphics.

It is fine if you're not willing to accept the cause. But don't rule it out totally to the detriment of the machine, or even make others think playing Sims on an IGP is fine when we have so much data to prove that it is not. That (system) is gonna wear out faster than if you don't push it over its limits.
1978 gallons of pancake batter
#9 Old 5th Nov 2014 at 6:19 AM
Kaiko Espurr Mikkusu, did you look at the post dates before you answered? No threadcromancy, please. Thank you.

If gotcha is all you’ve got, then you’ve got nothing. - Paul Krugman
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