Sims2 Can't get Sims 2 UC to start - Win10, Intel, Nvidia 1060

Hi guys,

I hope someone here is able to help me. I'm having issues getting Sims 2 UC to work on my new gaming laptop with either the integrated Intel or dedicated graphics card Nvidia GTX 1060. I've read through x threads here and on other websites and tried different things for a week now. I'll try to explain and what I have tried so far below.

Full screen:
Game does not start. I get the "Failed to find any DirectX 9 compatible graphics adapters in this system!" error message with both Intel and Nvidia card.

Windowed mode (adding -w in target field):
- Intel card - Sims 2 starts but is stuck in low resolution (320x300). (See attachment lowresIntel.gif)
- Nvidia - White screen, sims 2 cursor and sound (See winmode_nvidia.gif).

What I've tried:
- Always start as administrator
- Replaced the Sims2EP9.exe file with the noCD version
- Tried graphic rule maker
- Added intel and nividia cards in Video cards.sgr file manually - tried both "NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060" and "GeForce GTX 1060"
- Added 1920x1080 in the graphics rule file
- Installed DirectX 9
- Clean installation (with DDU) of nvidia drivers (new and oldest I could go - 385.28)
- Start in and in no compatibility modes
- Deleted/renamed the sims 2 folder in documents/ea games several times

Thank you in advance!

Attached File(s)

Thumbnail(s)
       

  EMLEE-config-log.txt (Size: 9.55 KB / Downloads: 447)
  Graphics Rules.sgr.txt (Size: 34.16 KB / Downloads: 443)
  Video Cards.sgr.txt (Size: 27.95 KB / Downloads: 512)
  DxDiag.txt (Size: 98.48 KB / Downloads: 463)

Hi there. I noticed you attached these two files as ending in .txt:

.txt Graphics Rules.sgr.txt (Size: 34.16 KB / Downloads: 1)
.txt Video Cards.sgr.txt (Size: 27.95 KB / Downloads: 1)

Do they look that way on your computer also? Because they're NOT supposed to. They should look like this:

Graphics Rules.sgr
Video Cards.sgr

(No .txt at the end.)

I don't think the game can read them otherwise.

No but I couldn't attach the files in sgr format here so had to change them to .txt. They are in .sgr on my computer
Edit: Wanted to add, thanks for the reply!

Ok. I have the game running on a similar (but a few years older) MSI gaming laptop with a dual chipset, so it can be done. (Hopefully.)

A couple of follow up questions:

1) How are you installing the game, and have you tried a reinstall? (If UC, might also be worth trying Origin's repair process, but you will need to replace your .exe and config files afterwards.)

2) Run this 4GB patch on your no-CD game executable: http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php (I'm pretty sure this is non-negotiable now with your version of Windows and your NVIDIA GPU. From what I can tell, this makes far more of a difference than any compatibility mode.)

3) If you wouldn't mind, force the game to run on your NVIDIA GPU (through the NVIDIA control panel), and post another config log? (In the one you posted, it's trying to use the Intel.)

4) After these steps, try again, via the NVIDIA GPU, in fullscreen mode (I seem to recall my MSI doesn't like windowed mode).

For the heck of it, I tried getting my dual-chipset MSI Ghost gaming laptop (GTX860m/Intel HD 5000) to run the game in windowed mode, and it's not having any. It just displays a white window. Tried a few things (I think it used to work in windowed mode on this machine, before the windows 10 shenanigans? not sure). So if nothing else, I guess try sticking to fullscreen for immediate troubleshooting, if you decide to try the steps I mentioned.

I hope it's not an issue I'm piggiebacking this thread, I've got a very similar setup and I've also tried all the same possible fixes

I get the directx 9c error when trying to run in fullscreen, I can run windowed but the max resolution is 800x600, which is unplayably small.

Attached File(s)

  DESKTOP-0DTQB59-config-log.txt (Size: 10.3 KB / Downloads: 387)