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Home / Get Rid of Black Squares Under Sims Sims 2

Get Rid of Black Squares Under Sims Sims 2

The Sims 2
The Sims 2 cover
Developers
Maxis
macOS (OS X) Aspyr Media
Publishers
Electronic Arts
Engines
The Sims 2 Engine
Release dates
Windows September 14, 2004
macOS (OS X) June 13, 2005
Reception
Metacritic 90
IGDB 71
Taxonomy
Monetization Sponsored, DLC, Expansion pack
Genres Life sim
Series The Sims

The Sims 2 on IGDB

The Sims 2 guide on StrategyWiki

The Sims 2 on MobyGames

The Sims 2 on Wikipedia

Icon overlay.png

Icon overlay.png

The Sims
Subseries of Sim
The Sims 2000
The Sims Online 2002
The Sims 2 2004
The Sims Stories (series)
MySims 2008
The Sims 3 2009
The Sims Medieval 2011
The Sims 4 2014

Contents

  • 1 Availability
    • 1.1 Version differences
    • 1.2 DLC and expansion packs
  • 2 Essential improvements
    • 2.1 Patches
    • 2.2 4GB Patch
    • 2.3 Graphics Rules Maker
    • 2.4 Skip intro videos
    • 2.5 Improved view distances
  • 3 Game data
    • 3.1 Configuration file(s) location
    • 3.2 Save game data location
    • 3.3 Save game cloud syncing
  • 4 Video
    • 4.1 Widescreen resolution
    • 4.2 Field of view (FOV)
    • 4.3 Anti-aliasing (AA)
  • 5 Input
  • 6 Audio
    • 6.1 Localizations
  • 7 Issues fixed
    • 7.1 Vista/7 Compatibility
    • 7.2 Can't install the retail version on Windows 10
    • 7.3 Temporarily freezing during launch with certain AMD GPUs on Windows 10
    • 7.4 Failed to find any DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics adapters during launch with certain AMD GPUs on Windows 10
    • 7.5 Fix crashing with Nvidia 1XXX and Windows 10
    • 7.6 Issues on newer CPUs
    • 7.7 Neighbourhoods inaccessible in Ultimate Collection
    • 7.8 Game stuck in 800x600 resolution
    • 7.9 Cannot set shadows to high quality setting
    • 7.10 Black Square Shadows
    • 7.11 Low quality neighborhood terrain
    • 7.12 Stuck Sims/Poorly Placed Objects/Frozen Objects
    • 7.13 "More..." button does not work in conversations
  • 8 Other information
    • 8.1 API
  • 9 Mods
    • 9.1 Official Tools
  • 10 System requirements
  • 11 Notes
  • 12 References

Key points

Large modding community.
The disc version may not run properly on Windows 10 due to issues with SafeDisc and/or SecuROM.[1]

General information

Official Website (archived)
The Sims 2 Official Forums
EA Answer HQ
EA Answer HQ (OS X)

Availability [edit]

SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows Vista and later (see above for affected versions).
The Windows version is no longer sold digitally.
All Origin versions are automatically upgraded to The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection. Contact the EA Support for retail versions.[4]
The Ultimate Collection has been pulled from the Origin store in August 2014.
The Ultimate Collection from Origin no longer uses SecuROM DRM.[5] However, it still requires Origin running to play.

Version differences [edit]

List of all different versions and regions can be found on Wikipedia.

DLC and expansion packs

Name Notes
University Expansion 1

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Nightlife Expansion 2

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Open for Business Expansion 3

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Pets Expansion 4

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Seasons Expansion 5

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Bon Voyage Expansion 6

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Freetime Expansion 7

Windows

Apartment Life Expansion 8

Windows

Family Fun Stuff Stuff pack 1

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Glamour Life Stuff Stuff pack 2

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Happy Holiday Stuff Stuff pack 3. Also known as Festive Holiday Stuff in Europe.

Windows

macOS (OS X)

Celebration! Stuff Stuff pack 4

Windows

H&M Fashion Stuff Stuff pack 5. Also known as Fashion Stuff in Australia.

Windows

Teen Style Stuff Stuff pack 6

Windows

Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff Stuff pack 7

Windows

IKEA Home Stuff Stuff pack 8

Windows

Mansion & Garden Stuff Stuff pack 9

Windows

Essential improvements [edit]

In-game camera and game recording settings.

In-game camera and game recording settings.

Patches [edit]

Retail versions of the game requires patching and installing expansion packs/stuff packs in correct order which you can find here. The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection on Origin is already updated to the last patch.
Although the game's patch site has now gone down, many patches are available from here or here. Patch notes can be found here.

4GB Patch [edit]

Improves stability on systems with at least 3GB RAM by allowing the application to use more than 2GB RAM.

Graphics Rules Maker [edit]

Updates game configuration files to make sure game recognizes your processor, graphics card and screen resolution while improving performance.

Skip intro videos [edit]

Delete or rename video files[6]

For the base game:

  • Delete or rename ealogo_audio.movie in <path-to-game>\TSData\Res\Movies\.

For the Ultimate Collection:

  1. Delete or rename ealogo_audio.movie in <path-to-game>\Fun with Pets\SP9\TSData\Res\Movies\.
  2. Delete or rename intro_eng_audio.movie in <path-to-game>\Double Deluxe\Base\TSData\Res\Movies\.

Improved view distances [edit]

Remove fog[7]
  1. Open cheat console with Ctrl+ ⇧ Shift+C.
  2. Type boolprop dontMergeNHFlora false and uintProp lotSkirtSizeIncrease 120.
Cheats can be loaded on game start by adding them to the configuration file.

Game data [edit]

In-game general settings.

In-game general settings.

Configuration file(s) location [edit]

<path-to-game> changes according to what expansions are installed. For example, the path of Ultimate Collection or all expansions would be ...\Fun with Pets\SP9\....

Save game data location [edit]

System Location
Windows %USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\The Sims™ 2 Ultimate Collection\
macOS (OS X)

Save game cloud syncing [edit]

Video [edit]

In-game graphics settings.

In-game graphics settings.

Widescreen resolution [edit]

The follow utility also addresses common issues like graphics settings that are inaccessible or not getting applied on newer GPUs, as well as black square Sim shadows.
Use the Graphics Rule Maker [citation needed]
  1. Download and install the Graphics Rules Maker.
  2. Open the program and select The Sims 2 in the game dropdown menu. If it doesn't automatically find the game, browse to the latest installed expansion/stuff pack.
  3. Modify the settings under Game Tweaks to apply the desired fixes.
  4. Press Save Files... and click Yes in the window that appears.
If despite using the tool the game cannot run above 800x600 resolution, or the game is locked to 4:3 aspect ratio, see 800x600 resolution fix.
If using the Sim Shadow Fix manual method, the Enable Sim Shadows fix on Graphics Rule Maker will not work.
Alternative [citation needed]
The game's maximum default resolution is 1600x1200. For higher resolutions you need to edit the following file:

Electronic Arts\The Sims Castaway Stories\TSData\Res\Config\Graphics Rules.sgr

Set maxResWidth and maxResHeight to your display's native width and height, or copy/paste the following: 

option ScreenModeResolution setting $Low uintProp maxResWidth 2560 uintProp maxResHeight 1600 uintProp defaultResWidth 800 uintProp defaultResHeight 600  setting $Medium uintProp maxResWidth 2560 uintProp maxResHeight 1600 uintProp defaultResWidth 1024 uintProp defaultResHeight 768  setting $High uintProp maxResWidth 2560 uintProp maxResHeight 1600 uintProp defaultResWidth 1024 uintProp defaultResHeight 768 end

Field of view (FOV) [edit]

Each of the game's cameras can have their FOV set independently using the FOV parameter in their camera settings files, which are located in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\The Sims 2\Cameras\.

Anti-aliasing (AA) [edit]

The Sims 2 cannot determine how much VRAM modern GPUs have. As a result it defaults to its failsafe, which is 32 MB, and prevents edge smoothing.
Raise amount of fallback value [citation needed]
  1. Navigate to the configuration file location.
  2. Open Graphics Rules.sgr.
  3. Find the following section: 
    if (not $useSoftwareRasterizer)    # failed to obtain device texture memory size, force to 32 MB    if ($textureMemory = 0)       seti textureMemory       32    endif
    and set seti textureMemory to the GPU's VRAM.

Input [edit]

Audio [edit]

Alt-tabbing may not work properly during the game's loading screens.

In-game audio settings.

In-game audio settings.

Audio feature State Notes
Separate volume controls Voices, sound effects, music and ambience.
Surround sound Stereo, 4.0 and 5.1
Subtitles No intelligible dialog. All in-game dialog uses the fictional Simlish language.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost

Localizations

Language UI Audio Sub Notes
English
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Finnish
French
German
Greek
Hebrew
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Norwegian
Polish
Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish
Swedish
Thai
Traditional Chinese
Simplified Chinese

Issues fixed [edit]

Vista/7 Compatibility [edit]

Retail release of the game has issues and will show an error message when loaded. Patching the game or installing the expansion packs will correct this.

Can't install the retail version on Windows 10 [edit]

Attempting to install via AutoRun.exe returns an error message: "This app has been blocked for your protection; An administrator has blocked you from running this app"
Disable UAC temporarily[11]
  1. Open the Registry Editor (regedit.exe).
  2. Go to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System.
  3. Double-click on EnableLUA.
  4. Change the value from 1 to 0, and click OK.
  5. Restart the computer to turn off UAC.
  6. Install the game via the AutoRun program.
  7. Once installed, open the Registry Editor again and change 0 back to 1.
  8. Restart the computer again to turn UAC on.

Temporarily freezing during launch with certain AMD GPUs on Windows 10 [edit]

Newer versions of the Radeon Adrenalin driver software cause this issue.
Rollback to Radeon Adrenalin driver v.18.12.1.1
  1. Download DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller).
  2. Download Radeon Adrenalin v.18.12.1.1 or earlier.
  3. Extract [Guru3D.com]-DDU.zip.
  4. Run DDU v<version_number>.exe.
  5. Click on Extract.
  6. Go to the DDU v<version_number> folder and run Display Driver Uninstaller.exe.
  7. Click on the Select device type drop-down menu and select GPU, make sure AMD is selected in the drop-down menu below.
  8. Click on Clean and restart and wait for the computer to reboot.
  9. Run Win10-64Bit-Radeon-Software-Adrenalin-Edition-18.12.1.1-Dec5.
  10. Click on Install and proceed with the setup.
  11. After the setup, restart the computer and launch the game.
Alternatively, use DXVK to circumvent DirectX issues[12]
  1. Download DXVK.
  2. Follow this guide on how to install DXVK for The Sims 2.

Failed to find any DirectX 9.0c compatible graphics adapters during launch with certain AMD GPUs on Windows 10 [edit]

HBCC for AMD Vega GPUs can cause this issue. Open Global Graphics Settings in Radeon Settings -> Advanced -> deactivate HBCC.

Fix crashing with Nvidia 1XXX and Windows 10 [edit]

Apply 4GB fix to the executable[13]
  1. Download the 4GB Patch.
  2. Extract 4gb_patch.zip.
  3. Run 4gb_patch.exe.
  4. Apply patch to <path-to-game>\TSBin\Sims2EP9.exe.
Alternatively, use DXVK to circumvent DirectX issues
  1. Download the newest Version of DXVK
  2. Follow this guide on how to install DXVK for The Sims 2

Issues on newer CPUs [edit]

The Sims 2 was made before the release of multi-core CPUs. It may have issues loading on startup on newer CPUs with multiple cores and hyperthreading.
Use -CPUCount:1 launch parameter.[14]

Neighbourhoods inaccessible in Ultimate Collection [edit]

Remove ™ in registry key [citation needed]
  1. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\
  2. Find the EA GAMES folder and open The Sims 2. Delete ™ from The Sims 2™ Ultimate Collection in the Display Name.

Game stuck in 800x600 resolution [edit]

Occurs because the game fails to detect the video card correctly.
Edit Graphics Rules.sgr
  1. Go to <path-to-game>\Fun with Pets\SP9\TSData\Res\Config.
    2. If you don't have a Fun with Pets directory, the Mansion and Garden Stuff directory should have your game files if you're playing Ultimate Collection.
  2. Open Graphics Rules.sgr with a text editor.
  3. Search for: 
    option ScreenModeResolution setting $Low uintProp maxResWidth      800 uintProp maxResHeight     600 uintProp defaultResWidth  800 uintProp defaultResHeight 600
  4. Replace "800" and "600" with your resolution.
  5. Save and close.
By default you can select up widescreen resolution to 1280x720.To force more widescreen resolutions change the values for the desired resolution.See Widescreen resolution.

Cannot set shadows to high quality setting [edit]

Use a custom config file [citation needed]
  1. Go to the configuration file location.
  2. Make a backup of Graphics Rules.sgr.
  3. Edit Graphics Rules.sgr and paste the content provided here.

Black Square Shadows [edit]

Download Sim Shadow Fix [citation needed]
  1. Go here and download the file that suits your preferences (0.2 shadows are more opaque, 0.4 more transparent and 0.3 are in between).
  2. Extract the .package file inside the downloaded zip file to %USERPROFILE%\Documents\EA Games\The Sims™ 2 Ultimate Collection\Downloads\.
If using an Intel HD Graphics card, the author recommends downloading the xReallyNotMisty versions of the fix.

Low quality neighborhood terrain [edit]

Enable high quality neighborhood terrain
  1. Navigate to the configuration file location.
  2. Open Graphics Rules.sgr
  3. Find the following section: 
                          boolProp simpleTerrain              true
    and change true to false.

Stuck Sims/Poorly Placed Objects/Frozen Objects [edit]

Periodically, a sim may become trapped or a special object may be placed in a bad location, preventing a sim from doing anything. In other cases, a normal object may be improperly tagged as "in use" and cannot be moved, sold, or manipulated.
Use this cheat carefully. Some objects like the mail box cannot be replaced once deleted.
Use moveobjects cheat code [citation needed]
  1. Open cheat console with Ctrl+ ⇧ Shift+C.
  2. Type moveobjects on and enter buy mode.
  3. Move the object to another location.
  4. Restore game back to normal with moveobjects off.

"More..." button does not work in conversations [edit]

This issue is caused by using a mouse when playing on a laptop with a touchpad.
Disable the touchpad [citation needed]
Alternatively, play with the touchpad instead of a mouse [citation needed]
If playing on a desktop PC, it is solved by pressing Tab ↹ when selecting options in the pie menu

Other information [edit]

API [edit]

Technical specs Supported Notes
Direct3D 9.0c
Executable PPC 32-bit 64-bit Notes
Windows
macOS (OS X) Starting with the Nightlife expansion in 2006, the game and all its expansions were made universal binaries for Intel Macs, which continued until the Bon Voyage expansion in late 2007.

The Apartment Life and FreeTime expansions were not released individually and thus require the Ultimate Collection, which is Intel-only. Fortunately, it is fully 64-bit as of 2019.

Mods [edit]

The Sims 2 attracted a large modding community, allowing further customization features. Unfortunately, even properly designed mods could increase the chances of crashes and errors in the game. Mods have a major impact on loading time and stability, and should be used with discretion if issues arise.

Official Tools [edit]

These tools were created by Maxis and formerly hosted on the game's official website.
  • Content Manager - Allows to manage mods and custom content.
  • HomeCrafter Plus - Allows to create custom floors and walls.
  • BodyShop (Demo) - Allow to create custom sims, hair and clothes.
The Sims 2 and the BodyShop Demo should not be installed on the same machine at the same time. Existing save games may corrupt and other issues may arise.

System requirements [edit]

Windows
Minimum Recommended
Operating system (OS) 98SE, ME, 2000 XP, Vista, 7
Processor (CPU) 800 MHz 2.4 GHz
System memory (RAM) 256 MB 1 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD) 3.5 GB 15 GB (with all DLC installed)
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon 7200
Nvidia GeForce2 Series
32 MB of VRAM
DirectX 9 compatible 		ATI Radeon 9600
Nvidia GeForce 6 series
64 MB of VRAM
When the Seasons (or later) Expansion Pack is installed, T&L incompatible graphics chips can be used;[15] however it requires a minimum CPU speed of 2.4 GHz.
macOS (OS X)
Minimum
Operating system (OS) 10.3.8
Processor (CPU) 1.2 GHz PowerPC G4/G5
System memory (RAM)
Hard disk drive (HDD) 3 GB
Video card (GPU) ATI Radeon 9000
Nvidia GeForce FX5200
32 MB of VRAM

Notes

  1. ↑ SafeDisc retail DRM does not work on Windows 10[2] or Windows 11 and is disabled by default on Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 8.1 when the KB3086255 update is installed.[3]
  2. ↑ When running this game without elevated privileges (Run as administrator option), write operations against a location below %PROGRAMFILES% , %PROGRAMDATA% , or %WINDIR% might be redirected to %LOCALAPPDATA%\VirtualStore on Windows Vista and later (more details).

References

  1. ↑ ArQAde: The Sims 2: Please insert the correct CD-ROM
  2. ↑ Not Loading in Windows 10; this will break thousands of - Microsoft Community - last accessed on 2017-01-16
  3. ↑ Microsoft - MS15-097: Description of the security update for the graphics component in Windows: September 8, 2015 - last accessed on 2018-02-16
  4. ↑ Origin - The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection FAQ
  5. ↑ The Sims 2 Ultimate Collection: SecuRom Update - Sims Community
  6. ↑ TS2; skip intro - PC Gaming - Tom's Hardware - last accessed on
  7. ↑ This is how Sims 2 can look in 2016 : thesims - last accessed on
  8. ↑ Forcing The Sims 2 to run in 4K . YouTube - last accessed on 2018-06-16
  9. ↑ The Sims 2 Windows 10 Graphics Patch *FIX PINK FLASHING* - YouTube
  10. ↑ Verified by User:Keith on 2020-04-02
  11. ↑ Blocked, can't start the autorun. [SOLVED]
  12. ↑ https://www.reddit.com/r/thesims/comments/emyybb/psa_dxvk_can_fix_sims_2_totaly_on_modern_systems/
  13. ↑ https://pleasantsims.com/sims-2-windows-10/
  14. ↑ Sims 2, Graphics, Windows 10 - LeeFish forums - last accessed on April 4, 2020
  15. ↑ The Sims 2: Seasons for Windows (2007) Tech Info - MobyGames

Get Rid of Black Squares Under Sims Sims 2

Source: https://www.pcgamingwiki.com/wiki/The_Sims_2