Sims2 New Problem

So I got rid of Securom in the hopes that it would allow me to use my dedicated graphics card. That's a no go. Now there's a new problem. When I get to the neighborhood it is just a black screen. I have to use the window key (playing in fullscreen right now) to go back to the desktop and then if click on the window it comes back.

I still cannot make the dedicated graphics card work. Still get error "Direct 3D error E_INVALIDARG". I have seen a few people on here with this card who are having this problem.

It appears to be something with the no cd crack. Basically the first thing you hit, neighborhood or even the tutorial, starts out as a black screen. Does anyone have a better version of the no cd.exe?

Since you're not very specific here, I'll just assume that you're running with the M&G engine. The correct no-CD exe for that is here. Other TS2 packs can be selected from the same page, if needed.

If you're running on UC, I'm not sure if there's a special custom no-CD for that. So maybe you should still try the M&G version in that case. Just rename the existing .exe to something else, and put the no-CD version in its place.

That's the one I have and it does that black screen thing. Luckily I can use the window key, but it's annoying. Honestly I'm almost tempted to put the game back to what it was.

Well, as far as I know, the no-CD.exes on that site are the best ones available. I myself run my game with them.

Hey, it just may be related to the graphics issue... just be patient until @celebkiriedhel has recovered from her illness. She'll help you as soon as she can. In the meantime, just go do a different game for a while. Because frantically going around trying a million fixes that don't help, is likely to only make it worse.

You are so right. I'm pretty sure this is related to the no cd, but I'm not sure how. If nobody else has it then maybe it's something with my game. It wouldn't be the first time a game of mine developed quirks.

Just an update: Changing the compatibility mode to windows 7 seems to have fixed the black screen.

That sounds promising! Do you have any other issues left?

Sorry I've been MIA - been under the weather and have had the focus of a gnat.

@celebkiriedhel No worries sickness can suck.

Yes I do. I still can't get the Nvidia card recognized without the error "Direct 3D error E_INVALIDARG" I have an Nvidia 840M.

I have tried being an admin, compatibility mode, and getting rid of securom. I've tried a lot that others have seemed to with no change.

I got it to work once, and not since. I think I made the mistake of setting the smooth edges to high and now I can't get it back to low, but I'm not sure if that is it or not. I know others with my card have had issues, but it's all over the place so yeah it's hard to tell all that they've done and such.

OK. Let me check on how to get it back down to low.... I think it can be done outside the game.

Right - it is easy enough to be done. I've just checked it in my game, and it works - so it will work for you.

In your Game Folders in your My documents folder - there is a folder called Config

It had a few files in there - you want to change userProps.xml

Open it up with Notepad - to do that you'll need to use the 'open with...' option. I have notepad++ and used that.
The third line down is:

<AnyUint32 key="antialiasingQuality" type="0xeb61e4f7">0</AnyUint32>

Change the bolded number to 0 and save. Going back into the game, you'll have anti-alias set to lowest.

The thing that will be interesting is to find out at what point the game gets the error. 0 is smooth off, 8 is smooth max. I'd be interested to find out if it crashes for non-zero numbers, or for only 8. If you're willing to test that for me?