Good afternoon. My Sims 2 UC has been giving me flickering graphics on Windows with Intel HD Graphics.

The specs are:

Intel i5-6200U with Intel HD Graphics 520
8 GB Ram
Windows 10

I have already tried resetting my user files and using the Graphics Rules Maker to no avail. Do y'all think its due to my graphics, or windows 10? It didn't used to do this, but I don't know what caused it all of a sudden.

First off, try toggling the Smooth Edges setting in your in-game graphics options.

Secondly, since you're on a laptop, is the CPU the only graphics adaptor you have? If you have switchable nVidia or Radeon graphics, using that will be a lot better for TS2.

@Nysha

The smooth edges setting is grayed out where I cannot change it. Is there a way to force it to become changeable?

Also, the CPU is my only graphics adapter. Plus, it used to run Sims 2 perfectly until one point.. I do not know what caused it to stop.

This is why I am trying to see if others had problems and see what caused theirs. If I can trace my problems to the hardware (unlikely), it will be fixable in a few months when I can get a better computer. If it is related to Windows 10 (which my gut instinct suspects), I would have to make sure any new computer I buy doesn't have W10.

If you go to Leefish, they'll help you fix your graphics problems. Helped me.

It could be several things - overheating especially if it's winter where you are and you're suddenly using the laptop in a heated room that used to be much cooler when things were working fine. A problem driver etc.

Good luck with that! They're slowly changing to win10, which I don't like the idea of, either.

Your specs are close to mine (i5-5200U, Intel HD Graphics 5500, 8RAM, windows 10), so I'll mess around (once I get everything reinstalled) and see what I come up with. In my little play (which was missing half of the packs) I didn't have any issues you seem to be having. I think the problem is like the ones I had with my other laptop (UI flashes, black boxes and other common things), so I dunno.

I'll let you know if I come up with anything.

@GothicGorilla thanks for checking it out. Do you have M&G / Fun w/ Pets? And would that pack or the lack thereof affect things? (not that I can change that since I use UC)

Update: TS2 isnt the only thing that hates me now. TS3 started with heavily flickering graphics on the loading screen this afternoon. I doubt it's related to rendering 3D (like Sims 2's would be) because it's on the loading screen. And I doubt it's overheating because my computer has been hotter than it is now without flickering graphics. So, do y'all have any suggestions on how I can test each component of my laptop and see if faulty/BFBVFSed hardware is an issue? Thanks.

I would be really really leery of trying to play TS3 on that chip... I know in theory it's supposed to perform on a par with the HD 5600 which is okay for TS3, but given that it's an ultra low voltage model I'd be very surprised if it was actually up to that standard of performance. Maybe someone else knows more about ULV graphics performance than I do, but my instinct is to run away screaming from TS3.

@Nysha it used to work well on low-medium settings. I haven't tried playing it since, but I have encountered a similar issue on a older computer of mine..

That computer would have graphics flickering on loading screen at first boot, but would be OK when restarted.

I still have to remember to switch my graphics profile to the one with vSync because TS3 has none and is known to destroy hardware (especially expensive hardware) without some sort of FPS limiter. (I can't use the good one because I am stuck with 1.69 patch ...)

EDIT: Today, my TS3 only flickered once on the loading screen. And afterward it worked perfectly. I assume last night was a fluke. TS3 is flickering again, even as far as the pick save game screen. (Haven't gone beyond that). So yay, both TS games are shot. It's as if EA is begging me to buy TS4.

BACK ON TOPIC: Is there a way that I can force smooth edges to the max? Also, is there some sort of diagnostic I can run to make sure I have no hardware problems? Thanks.

I don't have M&G or Fun, but I do have Pets. Supposedly the newer ones (AL and M&G) work better, but I haven't come across anything, but I am playing with AL. It might be an issues with one of those. I'm having trouble with the Ikea pack, so I'm trying to fix that.

As for TS3, it works just fine for me. There might be settings to mess with, but I'm not sure.

@AmandieLove, have a look at the post in my signature - I wrote it for UC on Windows 10 but feedback says it works for the disks as well.

@GothicGorilla thanks.

@Justpetro I am about to read the post right now, thanks.

Also, I found the source of my TS3 troubles, so they are gone. What was it? Wait for it... *drumroll*

Classic

Well, excuse me if I'm having a PEBCAK moment, but I cannot find anything relating to flickering graphics like I have in the leefish thread linked in Justpetro's guide. I think my problem is that I cannot change the "smooth edges setting" because it is greyed out. I also cannot even see what it is set on from the settings.

By the way, I have tried the GraphicsRules Maker. It doesn't work for me. It doesn't even enable resolutions beyond 800x600 like it says it does. I am hoping I can enjoy TS2 again even if I have to live with the low resolution, but me and TS2 may just not be meant to be anymore.

I had this exact problem as well and no matter how many times I tried to fix it, research how to fix it etc I just couldn't do it.
Then all of a sudden, I fixed it by going to the GraphicsRules file itself, opening in notepad, changing ALL of the enumerateMultisampleLevels from false to true (had to check it three times), changing the "seti Low, Medium and High" all to 3 and boom it fixed.
I also changed the max width and height for all three options to: 1920 x 1080 so I had more options for resolution to choose from rather than just 800x600.

My apologies if you've already done this..
I'm not very good at understanding and reading..

I cannot change my resolution either, but I haven't tried the GraphicsRules option yet.



Any chance it works to play in minimized, as well?

I should think so?
I'm not sure, I play fullscreen.
I can find out for you though!

Yes, you can play windowed; just add the -w switch to your game shortcut.

@Fyren5 thanks for showing me what to change in GraphicsRules. I'll have to see if that helps. I may also need to make sure my graphics card is recognized and download a fix for GraphicsCards.sgr; I realized last night that I forgot to try that.

Worst case scenario? At least TS3 works and I have a new Dragon Age: Origins addiction

So, I finally got the chance to try @Fyren5's solution and it works perfectly now! Thanks! TS2 working again is a great Christmas present <3.

Elevate your laptop with four 2liter bottle caps under it, at the corners. This'll help it cool down.

You need the RIGHT GR for your video. Ask "Kiri" at LeeFish to help you. There are also supplementary files on LeeFish, that will help. Just ask.

What are your computer specs?

Processor.
Ram.
Hard disk.
Video, and the amount of video ram.