I'm very happy to see this working for you! I've added you to the Trophy Case and the Failure Cardboard box.

I'm curious if clearing caches might help the medieval neighborhood that is really large. Could you try that?

Yeah, I feel you on the 8GB of graphic memory thing. Unfortunately, I would guess that the only people still actively developing that part of The Sims 2 with a possibility for that would be the Aspyr people for the Mac with their 64-bit build that's also missing a few expansion packs. That is definitely not a variant we can use anytime soon.

A D9VK enthusiast/developer in their Discord has suggested trying add a file with the filename "dxvk.conf" and the contents "d3d9.maxAvailableMemory = 4294967296" into the same folder as the Sims 2 exe and seeing if you are able to load the medieval neighborhood. No guidance on the Texture Memory thing in graphic memory. Perhaps try different values there as well.

I sent in changes to lower the default to less than half that to even get my game to boot. But maybe it might work for you? Anyway, they ask that you try that.

Thanks for the answer!
By deleting the cache you mean the groups and accessoiry files? Or the Thumbnails? I tried both, but didn't really have any sucess.
I also tried creating the dxvk.conf file, but then my game wouldn't start anymore at all. In the Sims2EP9_d3d9.log file however, it shows that info: d3d9.maxAvailableMemory is set to 4294967296 when I start the game (used to be 2147483648) - the game just doesn't do anything, ie. actually start. I assume this step would make 4 GB graphic memory available instead of just 2GB? However it doesn't seem to work, or I'm doing something wrong.

edit: There are also a couple of warnings in the log-file, maybe this helps:
warn: OpenVR: Failed to locate module
warn: D3D9: VK_FORMAT_D16_UNORM_S8_UINT -> VK_FORMAT_D24_UNORM_S8_UINT

No you're not doing anything wrong as long as it's for SCIENCE! Can't always work. But extremely important to record.

Could you upload the log here. I'll report this back soon.

Here you go.

Thanks! I pointed the guy here. If you haven't already, please remove dxvk.conf.

Hello,

A huge thank you for posting this information and even more thanks to Joshua for creating d9vk!

For a little while I was afraid my Sims 2 days were over by acquiring a new graphics card, but with this library I can keep on playing (windows 10, DX12, RX 5700 XT).

Thanks,
Jermus

Just wanted to address that this don't work for disk based versions of the game. I did everything correctly but whats said in the instructions kinda contradict with the older method i'm used to. Such as making a copy of the Exe file and pasting it in the Csbin folder. I set the the memory to 2048. I do not believe it made any logs as this was mentioned in the instructions, so i gave the folder full permission. But the game will not start.
The task manager shows the EXE of the games activity instantly cancel the application. The Gpu that i use is 1070 gtx.


-----------------------------Update---------------------------------------------


I've just realized what the problem is. The GraphicsRulemaker refuses to add the selected GPU in the database. It's almost as if it's faking the command, which is what i think it's doing.
This possibly explains why couldn't get a resolution, without the compatibility, iv'e learnt that Windows XP service pack works the best for me. But they'll be flashing pinks in my face. XD

Disc based installs are definitely more complicated, but this has worked for a few people who have been using disc based installs, especially once they get over the barrier of adding "Everyone" with Full Control to the TSBin folder and then copy the DLL over. As for the CSBin folder, at least with Ultimate Collection from Origin, only the body shop is in there and I've never seen instructions to copy the Sims2EP9 exe to that folder. That copying might one of the witchcraft "solution" things that may have cropped up over the years and shouldn't have any effects.

That said, I have seen the Everyone permission added to the folder but for some reason the game still doesn't write logs. In that case, we may need to set the game as an Administrator for it to be able to write logs even though it should have permissions already. Ugh, I'm not really sure what or why Windows is doing this. Admittedly I haven't tried Run as Administrator yet as a workaround to get logs. Nevertheless, the game does work, and the emulated graphics card identification detected correctly for who did encounter this issue. Could you set the game to run as an Administrator so it can write the logs?

Also, D9VK really, really isn't compatible with compatibility mode. It will be unable to run the Vulkan stuff.

The 1070 GTX is compatible with all this and might even really need it. With 8GB of VRAM, I imagine it's in the same category as my card and would definitely get flashing.

As for graphics card database, if D9VK is installed correctly, it will identify as a Nvidia Geforce 7800 GTX. No database entry is actually required though if you add one with Graphics Rule Maker it won't hurt; the new entry just won't be used.


All that said, I'm happy to work through the issues with you in the Discord link I linked in the guide. Just mention me. I might not get back to you ASAP but hopefully our time zones will just match up sometime and we can work through this.

Jasmini and I were able to address the issues and improve the guide.

The Sims 2 was launched without granting "Everyone" permission to the TSBin folder. For disc based installs, it is extremely important to grant "Everyone" access to the TSBin folder before launching the game with D9VK. Otherwise, there's a ditch that needs to be gotten out of.



Launching before granting access resulted in UAC virtualization redirecting D9VK's files such as the cache and whatnot to the UAC VirtualStore. D9VK is not compatible with that. Deleting the whole EA Games folder at "%localappdata%\VirtualStore\Program Files (x86)\EA GAMES" and making sure "Everyone" has full control to the TSBin folder made the game launch again.

can i even download this? because i have a 64x bit not a 34 one and do i need to put this in my game for it to work or is there another program for people with the 64x bit?

I'm not sure why you posted this as a separate thread but yes, you can. Please follow the guide closely. If you have any issues, hit up the Discord link and @' me.

There is currently a very subtle bug in D9VK with rendering some of the memory icons.



This should be fixed in the next release version of D9VK.

@Butchwoman Do not start new threads when there is an existing, ongoing, updated one for the EXACT issue.

because i didnt know this one existed btw if i have the 64x bit do i download this Sims2EP9_d3d9.zip?

That's just someone's report that was requested. No need to download that.

Another big goal of this whole endeavour is to see if we can get more technical barriers down for The Sims 2 to be sold via GOG.

https://twitter.com/crazysim/status/1185647198043701248

Unlike previous approaches, this one is actually redistributable.

I know this thread is about The Sims 2, but has anyone also tried d9vk with The Sims 3? TS3 does have better fare with more modern operating systems, but sometimes it also suffers from problems similar to TS2 on Windows 10. If anyone has Windows 10, and Sims 3 not working on it, it would be very interesting to see what happens if d9vk was used in Sims 3 on windows.

(Notice how I say on Windows; I am a Linux user and my Sims 3 Steam setup + Proton and d9vk works great, but this is on LINUX.)

I wonder what those cases would be.

That said, I think the game logic in Sims 3 would fail faster than the graphics. Also, Sims 3 had the benefit of being sold commercially as a Mac port with a Wine-derived wrapper so I think they reigned in the insanity and there is even currently pending release of a new 64-bit and Metal port for newer macOS which probably replaces the wrapper.

Eh, I still think TS3 is one of the best games in the series. Fight me xD

The thing about that wine wrapper was that it was actual shit and it never worked half of the time. The so-called "64-bit port" of Sims 3 Mac is very interesting though, wonder if this will also transfer to the Windows version (which is what most people use anyways)

Although if they push this port as an update, it might also make all of the mods made in the past 5 years basically fucked so IDK xD

Followed the instructions from head to toe. My PC has Windows 10 Pro May Update, 16 GB of RAM and Nvidia Geforce 2060 Super 8 GB and no pink flashing nor crashes after this. It's worth a try!

Great! Added to the trophy case.

Also linking your thread here: http://www.modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=634442

I've been looking to see how I could get rid of the Graphics Rule Maker step in my guide.

Whew, I spent way too much time on this. I went down a rabbit hole trying to figure out why Sims 2 keeps reporting 32MB of Texture Memory in the config log, causing 800x600, no anti-aliasing, and so on, and seeing if there's any way to fix that in D9VK or something. It's still very inconclusive and beyond my expertise but here it goes. In summary, I think it's a fallback after failing to get the reported Texture Memory from the "DxDiag.DxDiagProvider" COM object. I think Sims 2 tries to get it, and somehow fails to interact with the object, and then does that stupid thing of ballooning texture usage until error to get a measurement of Texture Memory. I found some example code online that seem to "screen scrape" the string with DxDiag.DxDiagProvider but it doesn't mean that's how Sims 2 does it (https://www.pascalgamedevelopment.c...-in-a-GFX-card&) but it is at least from the same era. It's inconclusive because I can't get API Monitor to monitor COM objects so I don't know how Sims2EP9.exe is using this. I might try again later.



Also, this is one part where Linux and WINE have a working "DxDiag.DxDiagProvider" COM object for the purposes of Sims 2's usage. Linux users don't have this issue but newer Windows does. For reference, this is how WINE implements it: https://sourcegraph.com/github.com/...n/dxdiag_main.c

D9VK 0.30 has been released! https://github.com/Joshua-Ashton/d9vk/releases/tag/0.30

This includes the fix for the small shader flickering I mentioned in an earlier post: http://www.modthesims.info/showthre...767#post5580767

Users who are recording machinima or just plain streaming, please note that borderless fullscreen is needed to do hitch-free recording. I've updated my guide with that guidance from Urbansims and some fellow streamers: https://twitter.com/XUrbanSimsX/sta...345618667462662.