Hi everyone!

A long time lurker here, first time poster!

I got myself a brand new Alienware laptop a couple of days ago an upgrade to my previous Alienware. I'll list the details of the new laptop below:

Alienware m17 R3
10th Generation Intel Core i7-10750H (6-Core, 12MB Cache, up to 5.00GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.09)
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
16GB DDR4 2666MHz

I have attached a notepad file that I got from running "dxdiag" if this helps. If any other information for the laptop is needed, please let me know. This isn't my area of expertise.

On my previous Alienware, I was able to make the following amendments to the game in order to get it to work (and this worked the first time and didn't take very long):

• 4GB patch
• Graphics Rules Maker
• Amending the Graphic Rules document to allow higher resolutions and fix shadows

So far, I have encountered the following issues:

• The game crashing upon start up.
• The Directx 9.0c error message appearing when trying to load the game (screenshot attached)
• If I manage to get into the game, the game crashing if I try to change the resolution to 1920x1080 and click apply changes.
• If I manage to get into the game, a weird, misty (transparent) reflection in neighbourhood view and lot view. Sometimes big, black boxes appear.
• The 4GB patch installs and uninstalls itself.

I have tried the following fixes for the above:

• Turning on the Legacy Components/Direct Play on (I saw this as a way to fix the Directx problem - this is an option where you uninstall programs. There is an option up the top left hand corner to turn Windows features on and off).
• Running as administrator.
• Running in compatibility mode.
• Graphics rules maker - adding my video card into the Video Cards document manually as well.
• Deleting the cache (that's if the game lets me load long enough to generate them).
• Downloading additional DLL files and putting them in the TSBin folder (I found this as a solution someone else tried).
• Installing Microsoft Visual C++ (this was also said to be a way to fix the Directx problem).
• Uninstalling and reinstalling the game. I've also tried updating the game and repairing it.
• I've found various copies of GraphicRules documents online that claim to fix things but they have not worked.

I also noticed issues when I had another monitor attached to my laptop through a HDMI cable. It seemed to not work sometimes unless I had the monitor plugged in.

There seems to be no consistency with any of these issues. I can change nothing sometimes and it will stop working or all of a sudden work.

Also, this is a clean install. I haven't added any Customer Content or mods. This has been occurring just by installing the game through Origin.

If anyone is able to shed any light on this, it would be greatly appreciated. I'll be sure to amend this post with updates if I think of anything else that has occurred or I come across any other problems.

*EDIT*
I finally found a fix. The following Youtube video solved all my problems. I have also included a link to the Fullscreeniser. The game loads in Windows mode, but this lets you go fullscreen just as you should be able to in the game settings.

The Sims 2 Windows 10 Graphics Patch *FIX PINK FLASHING*: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dC...el=TheRageRacer
Fullscreenizer: https://ioboot.in/en/fullscreenizer...hime-bez-ramki/

Thanks again to HugeLunatic and simmer22 for their help!

Are you running in window mode?  I've seen the direct x error pop up when the game is being run in fullscreen.  Does your config log generate?  And does it show your video card is being recognized?

Try without admin and compatibility mode. They work against the 4GB patch.

To make the 4GB patch apply properly to an EXE file if it doesn't want to work in the original folder (because windows is stupid and thinks it's protecting a file), move the file you want to fix to the desktop, apply the fix there, then move the file back and let it overwrite the original file. This usually works to go around the problem.

Do the same for the GraphicRules and VideoCard files if the GRM changes don't properly apply. Also, are you using the newest version of GRM? (downloaded program the past month or so, version 2.0)? If not, download again. They did a couple fixes to the program you'll want to have with that Nvidia card, otherwise you could get the pink-flashy issue when you eventually manage to go ingame.

Windowed mode could help. I don't think I've ever gotten the DirectX issue on previous computers, but I vaguely remember getting that error when I had issues with my game on my new laptop (Nvidia 1070), and it kept struggling with the fullscreen as one of the problems. I'm used to windowed and did it as part of fixing, which seemed to greatly improve the display issues. I don't think that message popped up after. Been a while, so I can't remember the exact order of events (had a lot of trouble...), but it's definitely worth a try.

Yes, I managed to get it running in windowed mode once. But I got out of the game, tried to start it again and the same DirectX error came up. I have attached a copy of my config log and it recognise my card and the 4GB patch seems to be on for now, but the DirectX error still pops up.

Thanks Simmer22! It looks like it has applied for now. I'll see if it decides to revert back at any stage.