Hi,

I'm having an issue with edge smoothing in Sims 3 that I haven't come across before in my years of simming. I'm pretty sure it's some kind of issue with my graphics card, but I can't seem to find a solution. I do have an integrated graphics card, so I think that may be part of the problem, but I'm not sure. The specs of my graphics card are as follows:

Chip Type: AMD Radeon Graphics Procesor SDI
Adapter String: AMD Radeon HD 8650G
Total Available Graphics Memory: 3200 MB
Dedicated Video Memory: 768 MB
Shared System Memory: 2432 MB

Basically, when I turn edge smoothing on, even at the lowest setting, the trees and plants in-game become all glowy and pixelated. Nothing else looks this way, it's only the plants. With edge smoothing off, everything looks fine, so I've determined that the issue is related to the edge smoothing setting somehow. My other in-game settings are as follows:



This is how my game looks with edge smoothing off:



And this is with edge smoothing on, at the lowest setting:



I've tried messing around with the other settings in game, turning them all the way down with edge smoothing on, but the same error occurs no matter what. Has anyone seen this type of glitch before? And if so, is there any way to fix it?

Sure. Here's the deviceconfig.

=== Application info ===
Name: Sims3
Version:
Build: Release
=== Rating info ===
GPU: 5 GPU Memory: 4 CPU: 3 RAM: 4 CPU Speed: 2495 Threading: 3
Adjusted CPU: 2927 RAM: 5338 Adjusted RAM: 4826 Cores: 4
=== Machine info ===
OS version: Windows 8 6.2.9200
OS prod type: 0
OS major ver: 6
OS minor ver: 2
OS SP major ver: 0
OS SP minor ver: 0
OS is 64Bit: 1
CPU: AuthenticAMD
Brand: AMD A10-5750M APU with Radeon(tm) HD Graphics
Family: 15
Model: 3
Cores: 4
HT: 0
x64: 0
Memory: 5338MB
Free memory: 2601MB
User: Amelia
Computer: AMELIAS-PC
=== Graphics device info ===
Number: 0
Name (driver): AMD Radeon HD 8650G
Name (database): AMD Radeon HD 8650G [Found: 0, Matched: 1]
Vendor: ATI
Chipset: Vendor: 1002, Device: 990b, Board: 222c103c, Chipset: 0000
Driver: aticfx32.dll, Version: 8.17.10.1404, GUID: D7B71EE2-DA4B-11CF-F076-2602BEC2C535
Driver version: 1404
Monitor: \\.\DISPLAY1
Texture memory: 3168MB
Vertex program: 3.0
Pixel program: 3.0
Hardware TnL: 1
=== Options ===
AnimationSmoothing 1
LightingQuality 3
GeneralReflections 3
TextureQuality 3
VisualEffects 3
TerrainQuality 2
EdgeSmoothing 0
ObjectHiding 0
AspectRatio 0
ForceSquarePixels 1
SimQuality 4
TreeQuality 4
DrawDistance 3
MaxActiveLots 3
NumMaxActiveLotOptions 6
AdvancedRendering 1
AudioQuality 3
AudioOutputMode 1
VoiceLevel 255
SoundFXLevel 255
MusicLevel 255
AmbientLevel 255
FocusMute 1
VoiceMute 0
SoundFXMute 0
MusicMute 0
AmbientMute 0
EdgeScrolling 1
EdgeScrollingWarning 1
SupressOpportunityDialogs 0
SuppressOpportunityDialogsWarningProducts 2097151
SimWhileMinimized 0
TwelveHourClock 1
ShowPlacementGrid 0
AutonomyLevel 2
DisableAutonomyForSelectedSim 0
PetAutonomyLevel 2
AgingInterval 2
EnableAging 1
EnableTutorial 0
EnableIntroTutorial 0
EnableTombResets 1
EnableInGameStore 0
EnableTelemetry 0
EnableMemories 3
AgingStageLengthBaby 3
AgingStageLengthToddler 7
AgingStageLengthChild 7
AgingStageLengthTeen 14
AgingStageLengthYoungAdult 21
AgingStageLengthAdult 21
AgingStageLengthElder 17
EnableInteractiveLoading 0
AgingStageLengthPuppy 0
AgingStageLengthDogAdult 0
AgingStageLengthDogElder 0
AgingStageLengthKitten 0
AgingStageLengthCatAdult 0
AgingStageLengthCatElder 0
AgingStageLengthFoal 0
AgingStageLengthHorseAdult 0
AgingStageLengthHorseElder 0
LunarCycleLength 3
LunarPhaseLength 0
EnableLunarCycle 1
EnableLunarPhase 0
EnableStoryProgression 0
EnableVampires 1
EnableWerewolves 1
EnablePets 1
EnableCelebrities 1
EnableFairies 1
EnableWitches 1
EnableHorses 1
EnableOptOutCeleb 1
ReceiveConnectTNS 0
ReceivedDevGift 0
PostFilterFlags 0
RequireLoginBeforeLoad 1
SummerLength 7
FallLength 7
WinterLength 7
SpringLength 7
SummerEnabled 1
FallEnabled 1
WinterEnabled 1
SpringEnabled 1
IsCelcius 0
FogEnabled 1
RainEnabled 1
SnowEnabled 1
HailEnabled 1
InvertHorizontalRotation 0
InvertVerticalRotation 0
VideoCaptureSize 0
VideoCaptureQuality 0
VideoCaptureSound 1
VideoCaptureTime 60
VideoCaptureHideUI 1
=== Default Options ===
AnimationSmoothing 1
LightingQuality 3
GeneralReflections 2
TextureQuality 3
VisualEffects 3
TerrainQuality 2
EdgeSmoothing 0
ObjectHiding 0
AspectRatio 0
ForceSquarePixels 1
SimQuality 3
TreeQuality 3
DrawDistance 3
MaxActiveLots 3
NumMaxActiveLotOptions 6
AdvancedRendering 1
AudioQuality 3
AudioOutputMode 1
VoiceLevel 255
SoundFXLevel 255
MusicLevel 255
AmbientLevel 255
FocusMute 1
VoiceMute 0
SoundFXMute 0
MusicMute 0
AmbientMute 0
EdgeScrolling 0
EdgeScrollingWarning 1
SupressOpportunityDialogs 0
SuppressOpportunityDialogsWarningProducts 0
SimWhileMinimized 0
TwelveHourClock 1
ShowPlacementGrid 0
AutonomyLevel 2
DisableAutonomyForSelectedSim 0
PetAutonomyLevel 2
AgingInterval 2
EnableAging 1
EnableTutorial 1
EnableIntroTutorial 1
EnableTombResets 1
EnableInGameStore 1
EnableTelemetry 1
EnableMemories 1
AgingStageLengthBaby 3
AgingStageLengthToddler 7
AgingStageLengthChild 7
AgingStageLengthTeen 14
AgingStageLengthYoungAdult 21
AgingStageLengthAdult 21
AgingStageLengthElder 17
EnableInteractiveLoading 1
AgingStageLengthPuppy 0
AgingStageLengthDogAdult 0
AgingStageLengthDogElder 0
AgingStageLengthKitten 0
AgingStageLengthCatAdult 0
AgingStageLengthCatElder 0
AgingStageLengthFoal 0
AgingStageLengthHorseAdult 0
AgingStageLengthHorseElder 0
LunarCycleLength 3
LunarPhaseLength 0
EnableLunarCycle 1
EnableLunarPhase 0
EnableStoryProgression 1
EnableVampires 1
EnableWerewolves 1
EnablePets 1
EnableCelebrities 1
EnableFairies 1
EnableWitches 1
EnableHorses 1
EnableOptOutCeleb 0
ReceiveConnectTNS 1
ReceivedDevGift 0
PostFilterFlags 0
RequireLoginBeforeLoad 0
SummerLength 7
FallLength 7
WinterLength 7
SpringLength 7
SummerEnabled 1
FallEnabled 1
WinterEnabled 1
SpringEnabled 1
IsCelcius 0
FogEnabled 1
RainEnabled 1
SnowEnabled 1
HailEnabled 1
InvertHorizontalRotation 0
InvertVerticalRotation 0
VideoCaptureSize 1
VideoCaptureQuality 2
VideoCaptureSound 0
VideoCaptureTime 60
VideoCaptureHideUI 1

I tried changing the GraphicsCards.sgr but that didn't fix it.

How do I turn off Anti-Aliasing in game? Also, in my AMD Control panel, which Anti-Aliasing Method do you think would make the game look best? The options are Multisampling, Adaptive Multisampling, and Supersampling. I already have Anti-aliasing mode to Overwrite Application settings at 4x.

Also, my drivers are already up-to-date.

Sorry, I feel like an idiot but I don't see an in-game setting for Anti-Aliasing. Is Anti-Aliasing the same as edge smoothing?

My AMD settings are on Adaptive Multisampling like you suggested. I already had previously set the Anti-Aliasing setting to override application setting at 4x samples.

Yeah just turn off the edge smoothing option. I'm not sure if it works exactly the same as anti-aliasing, but what it attempts to do is the same thing.

I've had edge smoothing off with my Anti-Aliasing AMD settings as override application settings since the beginning. I guess this is as good as my game is going to look, nothing else I can really do to make it better. Thanks for all the help!

Yes, that's exactly what I meant. I've had my AMD settings set to "override application settings" this whole time. But, the glowing problem only happened when I turned on the in-game edge smoothing. I tried putting my AMD settings back to "use application settings" then turning edge smoothing on in-game to see if that would fix it but the same problem occurred. Even with my AMD settings overriding the application settings, the edges on almost everything in-game looking choppy and not smooth at all. That's why wanted to find a way to fix this so badly, the edges look horrible in my game!

Okay, so I did what you suggested in #1 and checked in-game with AMD settings on and off. I'm a little confused by the results. When I had the AMD settings on, this was the exact way I had it:
anti-aliasing: override application settings
filter: edge-detect
anti-aliasing samples: 24x (highest setting)
anti-aliasing method: adaptive multisampling
anisotropic filter mode: override application settings
anisotrophic filtering level: 16x (highest setting)

With AMD on, my game looks like this:



You can see the choppiness, especially on the door edges, window edges, and roof edges.

AMD setting off (use application settings for all) looks like this:



To me, these two images look virtually the same. But, here's where it gets weird. I took some pictures to show detail on sims with and without AMD settings on. Sim detail with AMD settings off looks like this:



Sim detail with AMD settings on looks like this:



Having the AMD setting on makes a huge difference with sim detail! These two photos almost don't look like the same game, but they are obviously the same exact sim. So, having AMD settings on doesn't have any effect on the look of landscapes (houses, foliage, ect.) but it has a huge impact on sim detail. Am I just going crazy or is this really strange?

Also, what did you mean by MSAA at the end of your last reply? I thought maybe you meant adaptive multisampling. My settings for anti-aliasing method show as multisampling, adaptive multisampling, and supersampling.

Haha, it's okay, you've been a huge help already in helping me try to fix this. I'll try the regular Multisampling as you suggested. The options are 12x, 12xEQ, 24x, and 24xEQ. I didn't try the 24xEQ because I'm not quite sure what the difference is.

So, if I were to use the EQ it might make it look better? I'm hoping that turning on all these high settings for my graphics card doesn't come back to bite me in the butt later, aka a fried graphics card, lol.

Thanks for the tips, you seem to know a lot more about this than I do!

Wow, you could have fooled me! You still know more about it than I do and that's pretty sad on my part since AMD is what my laptop is running :P

Sorry for the late reply, but that absolutely fixed the problem I've been having! If only I had known it was that simple. Thank you so much for your knowledge and help, you've made my game 1,000 times better! :D