the snow xray

[coltraz]

I was sure I saw an option to turn on/off the thing that shows you what's beneath snow in a lot, but i can't find it anywhere in the options. As far as I can tell I don't have a snow xray, so when I tried to turn it on i couldn't figure out where to go... am i just blind or?

[Ashen]

Huh, I have it and it's annoying me to no end. I didn't know you could turn it on/off. Maybe it's a settings (high/medium thing) option?

[bille_182002]

you can turn in off in the where you set the clickable neighbors (not 100% sure) but in there somewhere, I dont like it, but for finding the paper and stuff it helps alot

[Canoodle]

Not a glitch: http://thesims2.ea.com/mysimpage/blog.php?user_id=3104068

[Ashen]

Yup, thanks canoodle:

5) I can't see the xray cursor! My lots are black when it snows! My Sims are black! NOT A GLITCH. Again, this is a video card issue. Check on our minimum specifications page to see that you have a supported video card. Unfortunately, it is likely your card is not powerful enough to play the game.

NOTE: You'll know for sure if your card is not strong enough to show the x-ray cursor if you do not see an option for it in the graphics options menu. This option is completely disabled if you don't have the right card.

So I see it cause my card can handle it, but you don't. It's a settings issue as I thought.

[coltraz]

I don't know how many (@&*$&% video cards i have to go through to find one that does its @)(#*%& job! Sheesh!
It's weird because I know I saw the option before. So unless my video card has deteriorated in two days, i can't see why it wouldn't be there.

[agents71287]

Could someone take a screencap and show us where the option should be??

[TheDuecedFaerie_SC]

It's in the Graphics option table.... I think.. I can't check now, but I saw it just a minute ago. It's around the bottom of the table, too.. :)

[kralore]

I was sure I saw an option to turn on/off the thing that shows you what's beneath snow in a lot, but i can't find it anywhere in the options. As far as I can tell I don't have a snow xray, so when I tried to turn it on i couldn't figure out where to go... am i just blind or?

The "Snow X-Ray Cursor" on/off option is in Game Options in the Lot View section. (same place where you turn on/off clickable neighbors).

If it's not showing then...

boolprop useshaders true

is what your looking for

This can be used either in the cheat console (control,shift,c) or it can be put in the userstartup.cheat file so that the shaders are always on.

With the shaders on It will turn on the Snow X-Ray Cursor. You will also see the fish in the aquariums and the fishing ponds, the water in the swimming pools will have better ripple effects and will also be reflective.

This may slow your game down though. If you find things a bit too slow, there are several graphic/performance options you can adjust.

Shadows- put on medium or off.
Reflections- turn off. You will loose the reflections in mirrors and water reflections in the swimming pools, but will still have the ripple effects in pools.
Smooth edges- less is better performance.

You can play with those settings until you find a setup that your happy with.

Pixel shading seems to be mostly dependant on CPU speed. I have a 512 meg video card and only a 1.4 gig CPU and Sims 2 setup insists on turning off shaders on my system, so i put the boolprop cheat in my userstartup.cheat file so that it's always on.

Use this at your own risk though. In most cases game options are disabled for a reason.

Hope this helps

[coltraz]

thanks Kralore. I had the useshaders false cheat turned on when i was playing. I guess that's why I had no xray showing!

[callum91_SC]

coltraz,Im in tthe same boat as you!
When I installed Seasons,all settings where high,and Xray Cursor was on!
So after noticing my fishies werent there,I put on Shaders. Everything was wonderful
SO I put it in my UserStartup.cheat.
Play for 3hrs today,forgetting to save. I gt that blue screen :O
And the game wouldnt load if the Shaders were switched on! Graphc card lost 'connection' to monitor,so I had to switch the PC off at the switch.
Now I dont have pool ripples, fishies,or Xray Cursor!
Crap-o-rama!

[FeNerd]

coltraz,Im in tthe same boat as you!
When I installed Seasons,all settings where high,and Xray Cursor was on!
So after noticing my fishies werent there,I put on Shaders. Everything was wonderful
SO I put it in my UserStartup.cheat.
Play for 3hrs today,forgetting to save. I gt that blue screen :O
And the game wouldnt load if the Shaders were switched on! Graphc card lost 'connection' to monitor,so I had to switch the PC off at the switch.
Now I dont have pool ripples, fishies,or Xray Cursor!
Crap-o-rama!

I know it will be annoying to have to enter it every time you load up the sims but I suggest just doing that rather than putting it in the user startup bit. At least you will still be able to see the fishes etc.

[jriggs]

My problem is that because I have the 7600 series card that is supposed to be supported but there is a driver conflict that EA says "nvidea and maxis are both aware of this problem and are working on a solution for it but for now the workaround fix is to use the Useshaders false cheat" I cnat fix any of these issue. No cursor option, no fish in my tanks or ponds. This bites because my card is plenty powerfull enough (to much so apparently with 3d shaders) but I have to "dumb it down" until someone fixes the driver issue!