Pink Poogle Toy Forum

I'm not sure if this belongs here but oh well =\

I just bought The Sims 2, but for some reason the images appear like this...


(The bad image quality isn't part of it =P)

I guess it's because my computer doesn't meet the system requirements but I have NO idea how to check any of the following...



...Help?

First of all, I need to know what kind of Windows you have.

Windows XP.

i don't know much about this stuff but one thing you might want to check is your hardware acceleration thingy cuz it helped me once

just right click anywhere on the dektop and select properties
-from the new display properties window select the settings tab
-then click advanced
There should now be a new window that says plug and play monitor..blah blah...
select the troubleshoot tab
Here you can check you hardware acceleration thingy. If its at full its probably not the problem but if its in the middle or at none then it might be the problem. So drag it to full and see if it helps
It helped me once...
Good luck!

Winter

Do you know what your graphics card is? Or your RAM?

you want to check your system spec?

some of the stuff might be on a sticker on the front of the computer, and some more of it will be:

Control panel
system
your processor and ram will be at the bottom of the general tab

the hard drive bit you can check in my computer

and the cd drive stuff should say on the front of the drive, if not i'm not sure how to check that.

i'm not sure how you can check your graphics card

---

Thanks, that helps a lot. Just one thing. For the Chip Type on the last step, mine says ATI RV100 (QY) So...does that mean it's 100? I guess that's the problem then.

Also, I installed this on another computer and on that one, the graphics show up but as soon as you load a family, it freezes and then restarts the computer. Any ideas why?

---

I guess the problem is with the DAC Type, it's 350Mhz instead of 800 or higher...and others, maybe. I understand about nothing when it comes to computers =\

It's rather hard to find a graphics card with a DAC frequency of 800 Mhz or more. (DAC stands for Digital-to-Analog Converter, and is quite different from your CPU).

Your videocard seems to be rather old -- 32MB points to a couple of years ago, which means that it probably doesn't support the required DirectX API. You can try downloading and installing the newest graphics drivers -- you'll need ATI's drivers.

you can also try reinstalling the game and if you're one of those people that keeps their comps on 24/7 (like me) then reboot your computer. I remember one time I had a similar problem but the red light flickered instead of just staying as red..I ended up just uninstalling the game though =o

anywa, good luck.

Time of this report: 11/18/2005, 18:52:19
Machine name: OEMComputer
Operating System: Windows Me (4.90, Build 3000)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
System Model: Whitney System CR Board
BIOS: Phoenix
Processor: Intel Celeron, ~760MHz
Memory: 190MB RAM
Page File: 132MB used, 1725MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 4.09.0000.0904 32bit


Those are the basics. Now what do I need to run the sims 2? I'm thinking new comp but have not the funds. How about new motherboard, more ram and a new graphics card. Maybe a Gforce MX 4000?

I got the sims 2 for my birthday a week ago and was "devastated(sp)" when I couldn't play. Please help me because my dad is going to buy me what I need. Thanks!

You can see a listing of the minimum requirements on the Sims 2 website:
http://thesims2.ea.com/help/detail.php?help_id=21

I'm not particularly knowledgeable with computer hardware specs (my husband is a computer scientist, he usually keeps track of all that stuff), but it definitely looks like your processor and RAM are well below the minimum requirements (assuming I'm reading what you wrote correctly). Even if they did meet the minimum requirements, I've been told it's painfully slow to play Sims 2 on such a computer.