Hi everyone,

My game suddenly started lagging badly two days ago. I had a 4 hour gameplay earlier that day, when I started getting pink flashing (that has been happening more often lately, not sure why). I decided to do some research on the pink flashing thing, came across the Graphics Rules Maker and thought that would help. Well, after installing it, I tried to changed the amount of memory on it then restarted the game. It loads up fine (takes about 30 mins to boot up completely) but as soon as I get to the 'hood I want, it lags so slowly. Even the lots seems to take forever. Not sure what is causing this at all. I deleted the graphics program because I figured that was causing the problem ,but it is still doing it. I decided to keep poking around until I get some answers, and discovered my refresh rate box was greyed out, which it usually isn't. I also saw the graphics program I installed put something in my sgr file, but not sure if it can be safely deleted. Went in-game again, it's still laggy but now my resolution is only 800x600! I hope I did not break my game. Any help on fixing this would be great. Thanks!

PC specs:
Time of this report: 2/27/2017, 09:02:16
Machine name: SARRA-PC
Machine Id: {2981D4FD-3A98-4043-9213-6A3F3B265420}
Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 14393) (14393.rs1_release.161220-1747)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: To be filled by O.E.M.
System Model: CM1855
BIOS: 1102
Processor: AMD FX(tm)-8300 Eight-Core Processor (8 CPUs), ~3.3GHz
Memory: 16384MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 16304MB RAM
Page File: 6235MB used, 12500MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 12
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
Miracast: Available, with HDCP
Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported


Sound Devices
-------------
Description: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0892&SUBSYS_10438556&REV_1003
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.6722 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 9/4/2012 12:00:00 AM, 4134672 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

Description: Speakers (Avnex Virtual Audio Device)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: {0.0.0.00000000}.{00ad61bf-0848-40f6-b208-d1c5d3ce2694}
Driver Version: ()
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: No
Date and Size: , 0 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: AVNEX Ltd.
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No

Description: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)
Default Sound Playback: No
Default Voice Playback: No
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0892&SUBSYS_10438556&REV_1003
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RTKVHD64.sys
Driver Version: 6.00.0001.6722 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 9/4/2012 12:00:00 AM, 4134672 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Basic
Cap Flags: 0xF1F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 100, 200000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 1, 0
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 0, 0
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: No, No
I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: No, No
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No


Drive: C:
Free Space: 26.6 GB
Total Space: 153.6 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: TOSHIBA DT01ACA100 SATA Disk Device

Drive: D:
Free Space: 781.3 GB
Total Space: 782.7 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: TOSHIBA DT01ACA100 SATA Disk Device

Drive: E:
Model: ATAPI DVD A DH24ACSH SATA CdRom Device
Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 10.00.14393.0000 (English), 7/16/2016 04:41:53, 173056 bytes

Two questions:
Which graphic card do you have? I can't see one in the list.
Do you have a lot of CC/play on big/heavy-CC lots, or with lots of sims on the lots?

The pink flashing happens because the game runs out of memory for (among other things) texture storage. It dumps the memory for older textures to make room for more, and the dumped memory shows as pink flashing. The problems can worsen if the game doesn't recognize or support the graphic card.

And no, having a lot of RAM usually does not help against this particular problem, because the game can only make use of about 2 GB by default. There's a 3/4 GB patch out there that makes the game use up tp 4 GB, but I don't know if it works or if it's even needed for WIndows 10, so you may have to do some research on that.

I do advice you to cut down on CC if you have a lot, use smaller lots with less CC, and to maybe turn settings down if you don't need them on the highest. Shadows, reflections, shaders, and smooth edges are the worst offenders. The best solution if the pink flashing happens is to quit and restart the game, preferably with a little cooldown period in between.

Also, don't save if the game starts flashing pink. I think I did that once, and when I next opened the game, everything flashed pink from startup. I had to reset to a recent backup to fix the problem.

Thanks for the info on the pink flashing. I do have a ton of CC, I will have to go through it and take some out. Thing is, my game was running fine for the most part until I messed it up with the Graphics Rules Maker. I even decided to run the game vanilla, and I am still getting that lag from the start and the oversized resolution....so I am not sure if my GraphicsRules.sgr file is messed up. Any idea on how to fix that? Thanks again.

Something múst have changed your graphicrules file if you suddenly only have 800X600 and before had more resolutions.
When I just installed my game I only had that resolution in-game. I changed something manually in the graphicrules file to have more.
See here for instructions:
https://simsvip.com/2014/07/20/the-...solution-guide/
By the way in case you don't know, change the file from your latest ep. For me that was Freetime.

The Graphics Rules.sgr is the same in all your EP folders. So if ever you'd like to go back to your original version, before the edits, but you did not make a backup of it? Just copy one in one of your EP folder, and replace the one you edited if you think this has messed up your game. Quite possible it did actually.
I tried that Graphics Rules Maker and totally messed my game. (that was a while ago)
I since then have a new computer and just re installed sims 2 a few weeks ago. This time though, i did not download anything, I edited it myself.
I personally followed this . (I have The Sims 2 Store Edition as my *last* EP, so for me, I edit the Store Editon folder, instead of M&G)
Then this , for fixing my BodyShop as well.
Though for my BodyShop, the Graphics Rules.sgr I had to edit was in another EP, Apartment Life. (you'd choose whatever EP you use the BodyShop exe from, and if you aren't sure, right click on your BodyShp shortcut, choose property, and it will show you the emplacement)

I had one run-in with the GRM, and won't be using it again...

On the computer I do have pink flashing, it's mostly when I've been running it very hard, used weather, or used heavy CC-filled lots. If I avoid the biggest lots and turn weather off, I can play for quite a while before it starts making troubles. I do get the occasional flying pink penguin, though...

I had some weird graphic issues on my laptop a while ago (not pink flashing, but blocky neighborhood/missing shaders), but adding my graphics card so the game recognizes it fixed the problem, and I haven't had any issues since. If you have two cards (common for laptops), and the game doesn't recognize the best card, you can get a lot of weird issues.

Thanks for the help everyone! I am going to try all of these tips and see how it goes. I will update as soon as I can

Yay! My game is back to normal! Thanks everyone for your help. I will definitely stay away from GRM...now time to trim down my CC folder