The following accessories look weird and nothing like their thumbnails

https://imgur.com/a/sims-accessories-E5yOt08

everything besides
-number of detailed lots
-reflections
-shadows
-trees
is set to high in my settings

Did you try them in game, or stopped in CAS? Do not know why, but TS3 renders differently in CAS. Some EA exec's bright idea? I have those wolf ears, and they are fine in game. Can't speak for other items, but they're probably fine too.

Yeah I tried it out and the wolf ears and the tail work perfectly fine in live mode. Thanks for the tip!
I'm going to try out the elf ears as well sometime, it's just that doing anything in cas is a pain because smoothness patch and nraas dont work together

As I thought. I learned a while ago that you need to try things in game. Some of the things I make use overlapping UV mapping, and look terrible in CAS, but are fine in game. Again, not sure what goes on with rendering. I've also made a few accessories that look ALL messed up in CAS.

Not everything conflicts between smooth patch and nraas. I have both.