Major (graphics?) issue. Major error recovery.

[~Iris~]

Alrighty...firstly, I do have custom content in my game (roughly 573MB AFTER deleting about 50 - 100+MB this morning) which I have scanned with an up to date virus scanner.  Some hacks/mods, mostly food, some clothes, hair, etc..  I'm running of off Windows XP 2, home edition with tons of space, Pentium 4 processor, and an ATI Radeon 9200SE graphics card.  I usually don't have problems with the game, and have only reinstalled once when I bought the new card about three years ago.

Wednesday when I went to boot up my game, which worked fine for about 20 sim hours, then at 4:29PM, it locked up, crashed to desktop, and told me that the graphic card was no longer responding and has been reset.  This has happened before, no big deal, I said okay but didn't reboot, and went back into the game.  Big mistake.  The computer chugged...and you could hear the game in the background, but the picture wouldn't come up.  I did a CTRL Alt Delete to close out the non responsive game, then shut down, rebooted, started the game, and it locked in the middle of loading the trajectories and what not.  This time, the computer shuts off and reboots itself.  When it finishes, it says that the system has recovered from a major error.  BCCode: ea.  Hmmm....  I remove the files that I had just added, reboot the game and...lock.  I have to turn the power off from the main switch since CTRL Alt Delete does nothing.  When it reboots, it gives me the major error message, but this time, I don't put the game back in, shut down, go about my business.

Yesterday morning I went onto the computer, didn't go near the sims other than to delete a few files through the EA folder, and didn't have any problems.

This morning, I loaded the game, and it worked fine for about 5 sim hours, and at 1:30AM, it locked.  No crash...just locked.  Flip the switch, decide to uninstall and reinstall.  Computer comes back up, tells me about the major error with BCCode: ea.  Fine...I go to copy my game files onto a CD so I can uninstall and reinstall and...it locks, reboots itself, comes back up, tells me about another major error with BCCode: 1000000ea.

HELP!!!  I'm thinking that my graphics card is shot...and I really don't mind because I want a new one anyway, but I don't want to waste money if it's going to keep doing this.  I gave up on that computer for now, so it's just off and quiet for now.  Any help is greatly appreciated.

[tylersada]

My ATI X700 that I bought about 2 years ago started giving me the same type of problem a month ago.  It started with an error saying the video card had stopped responding and had to be reset.  It progressively got worse and the game started to crash. I did not replace the card for about 2 weeks trying to get it to work.  The graphics card finally stopped responding at all and all I had was a black screen(I was able to work out of the windowed mode***I tested that first before replacing the card).  I had to break down and buy a new video card.  I haven't had any problems since.  If this is what is happening to you then I would say the video card may be bad.

[~Iris~]

Thanks Sada.  I was actually HOPING that it was this instead of my computer going bad.  I'd rather spend 1/4 of the cost of the computer lol.  That's actually another question that I had:  does the Radeon Express series work with The Sims 2?

[tylersada]

by express are you talking about the series that begins with X like the X1300, X1600 etc.?  If you are I know the X1300 (this comes in 256 MB and 512 MB versions) work ok with my computer (the 512MB).  I actually have an NVIDIA right now but my daughter has the same computer as I do and has the X1300.  The graphics are great and the price was not too bad.  I have an old computer so I didn't want to spend a huge amount because I know I will have to replace it soon.  The specs for my computer (and my daughters) are 2.20 GHZ AMD processor, 1 GB of ram and I have windows XP Home addition.  Most computers that are running the Sims 2 are faster and better than mine so you should be able to run the X series.  I like the look of their latest HD series but don't want to pay $300 to $500 right now for a video card for an old computer.

[~Iris~]

That's exactly what I meant sada, thanks again.  My computer is about three years old now, but it's pretty high end (got it that way on purpose for the sims).  Would the 256MB x1300 Pro work okay?  I can't seem to find the 512MB one (grr..).  Okay, so I guess it's off to Staples soon.  I can't live like this!!  Lol.  Thanks for your help.

[tylersada]

If you haven't gotten the video card yet.  Check with the geek in the store.  My NVIDIA is a 256 MB but it is a e-GeForce 7600 GS made for HD gaming.  It is adequate but I would still try for a 512 MB if your computer is better than mine and you don't plan on replacing it any time soon.

[~Iris~]

Video card is in (had it since 7/5 but been busy playing lol)!  I got the 7300 NVIDIA GS, and it runs beautifully (never knew the tomb stones and pools had detail lol).  Aside from being a bit slower now, I love it!  Guess the next step is to get more RAM (at 512MB now, going to add another 512MB).  Will this speed things up?  Houses take about 1.5 minutes to load, going back to the neighborhood takes about 25 seconds (not complaining there), and CAS takes roughly a minute.  I have all of the packs installed, minus the stuff packs, nothing running in the background (lots of downloads *blush*), and no spyware (no internet, scan each file that is added to the game).

[caffeinated.joy]

having at least 1 gb of ram is always a good idea, though 2 is ideal. Isn't it amazing to see all that detail you didn't notice before?

[Tenshii~Akari]

Speaking from experience, RAM will probably just save you from random game crashes, and maybe add a little boost to speed.  I just had an extra gig put onto my laptop last Thursday (from 1 to 2GB), and I'm quite satisfied that my game hasn't crashed yet because of lack of memory.  I've seen no difference in my computer's speed at all, though. And not to mention my graphics are still just as funky as ever... (The default "Downtown" neighborhood literally explodes whenever I enter it, and the houses/roads/etc. flash on and off like mad... all this on a barely one year old 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1300... they sure don't make stuff like they used to... :icon9:)  

I think you might want to consider maxing out your computer's RAM one day.  It'll definitely help if you decide to get the next few EPs/SPs.  Also, if you haven't checked it out already, Paladin has an excellent tutorial on his site for optimizing computers for game performance, including how to disable all of the unneeded background tasks and services from starting up.  :angel:

[~Iris~]

Thank you caffinated and Tenshi, and yes, I was shocked when I saw those graphics!  I never had a problem with game crashes, maybe only experiencing about a total of five or six since I have had the game (from the time that it came out, and at least half of them were my fault ).  I do download quite a bit, and just need something that will push it along a bit faster.  Aside from the tutorial that Paladin has provided, is there anything else I can do to speed it up?  Just so no one suggests it, I refuse to use a registry cleaner lol.  Thank you for your help.