I'm not sure quite how to explain my issue.. but a couple days ago I picked up the Late Night EP and found out that it will run smoothly and beautifully up until I decide to create a sim or choose one of the prefab households. As shown in the included .jpg file, the graphics decide to show their desire to go Picasso-esque on me. I've never had any issues with the previous EPs or SPs, so I find this whole issue pretty irksome.

I've taken advice and cleared my mods/hacks/etc.. So I am not entirely positive what could be going wrong.

To offer further help in getting this snot of an issue cleared up, I'll provide what specs I can of my system.

Now, I've also noticed that I get the error that the launcher has stopped working, but it goes right on ahead and launches anyways.

==System==

* Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600)
* System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
* System Model: HP Pavillion dv7 Notebook PC
* Processor: AMD Phenom(tm) II N830 Triple-Core Processor (3 CPUs), ~2.1GHz
* Memory: 4096MB RAM
* Page File: 1845MB used, 5822MB available
* DirectX Version: DirectX 11

==Display==

* Name: ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5600/5700 Series
* Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
* Chip Type: ATI Display Adapter (0x68C1)
* Approx. Total Memory: 2676 MB

* Main Driver: aticfx64.dll
* Version: 8.782.0.0 (English)
* Driver Date: 9/28/2010 5:54:02 PM


==Sound==

* Description: Speakers and Headphones (IDT High Definition)
* Driver Name: stwrt64.sys
* Driver Version: 6.10.6288.0000 (English)
* Date: 8/13/2010 8:42:00 AM


==Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives==

* Drive: C:
* Free Space: 344 GB
* Total Space: 443 GB
* File System: NTFS

• 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 Graphics^wiki
  This is MTS's recommended minimum system specs
  • for each EP/SP in The Sims 2: Game Help:System Requirements/MTS2 Recommendations^wiki
    
  • for The Sims 3: Game_Help:TS3_System_Requirements^wiki
  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.
  
  

Try opening up ATI Catalyst Control Center, and clicking "Return to Factory Default", several other users have already posted similar issues and solved it. See the attached image below:

How strange..

Well, I certainly find this bit of news discouraging. With it being a laptop, graphics replacement is out of the question.

Edit: Your advice cleared the issue perfectly. I daresay you are back on my Christmas list.

Last edited by MistuhMarc : 11th Nov 2010 at 01:52 AM. Reason: I derped my way to success