I've just experienced this problem after installing the new patch today. I don't have any mod manager installed and when I patched, I'd removed all of my mods and had deleted my cache files too.

I'm really reluctant to do a full uninstall/install because of how long it takes for my sluggish net to actually d/l the official patches - the one today took almost 2 hours

If there's anything I can do to remedy this problem before reinstalling, I'm more than willing to give it a shot!

In order to better solve your problem, please go through the following as listed below:

• General - Post System Specs
  We need more information before we can help with your issue. Please post your system specs - instructions on finding them are here: Game Help:System Specs^wiki
  

On occasion you might be asked to do a long FAQ - please make sure you do all the steps and don't just skip over them. You'll often find that these long FAQs have all the details you need. If nothing in the above FAQs fixes your problem you may post again detailing exactly which you have done and which steps failed.

Ok, here goes:

==System==

•Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001)
•System Manufacturer Compaq-Presario
•System Model KQ476AA-ABU SR5403UK
•Processor: AMD Sempron Dual Core Processor 2100 (2 CPUs), ~1.8GHz
•Memory: 894MB RAM
•Page File: 950MB used, 2901MB available
•DirectX Version: DirectX 10
==Display==

•Name: NVIDIA GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
•Manufacturer: NVIDIA
•Chip Type: GeForce 6150SE nForce 430
•Approx. Total Memory: 313MB
•Main Driver: nvd3dum.dll,nvwgf2um.dll
•Version: 7.15.0011.7521 (English)
==Sound==

•Name: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)

Everything worked just fine before the update installation and I've just uninstalled the game and reinstalled it and now even with no updates, no mods or anything, everything outside of an active house is red

Well your computer doesn't meet minimum requirements. Your graphics are unsupported and your RAM and CPU are all under minimums. I'm surprised this is the first time you've had problems. You really shouldn't be trying to play the game on that computer. Continuing to try to do so could shorted its life. It is upgradable, but it would cost almost as money and computer knowledge to build yourself a new computer. Would not be worth it.

When you uninstalled the game did you remove your user and game files? There are two sets of Sims 3 files found in My Docs and Program files. I would try uninstalling again. This time making sure to manually remove those two sets of files. If you don't want to lose your game files, make a backup of the My Docs stuff first. After you've gotten rid of every trace, restart your computer, then reinstall the game. Don't patch, just play to see if that worked.

Yeah, I've tried that twice now and it's still the same. I know my comp isn't up to spec but I've honestly had no issues until after I installed the update. I really want to carry on playing the game but the redness isn't something that can be ignored, it's really noticeable.

Thanks for your help so far though and if you or anyone else can figure out what's causing this, you'll have a fan for life! My little boy loves getting on the game and designing his own houses etc.

I guess I'll start looking around for a new pc in the meantime then =/

The reason I said it might be just your pc is because the red/black problem for TS2 WAS related to unsupported graphics cards. What usually happens with computers that don't meet minimum specs is that they will still work, although usually not perfectly, at least for a time. Over time as the stress starts to wear out components, you get more and more problems. It's quite possible this is simply a coincidence with the patch and your computer has had enough.

If anyone has any more thoughts, I'm sure they'll post.

You may well be right there... oh well, thank you so much for your time. New PC already ordered lol

That was fast. Can I ask what you bought?

Yeah sure, the basic specs are:

•Operating System: Windows Vista Home Basic
•System Manufacturer: Compaq
•System Model: SR5715
Processor Type: Intel. Pentium. Dual Core E2220
Processor speed: 2400
RAM Memory: 2048 MB
Hard Disk Capacity: 320 GB
Graphics Description: Intel. 3100 integrated

Nothing great but I managed to get it pretty cheap and it should at least allow me to play the game without any silly glitches (I hope).

That was an unfortunate choice. That computer does not meet minimum requirements either.

I would recommend having a read through our help stickies here: http://modthesims.info/forumdisplay.php?f=563 They'll let you know what to look for, where to find good deals, and approx how much you should plan to invest.

Hmm, my bad. I'd read through the game requirements on the back of the game packaging and I thought that pc met the minimum requirements It has the memory, so I'm guessing it's the graphics card that's letting me down on then, right?

Oh well, something else to notch down to experience, no point in worrying about it now the moneys spent lol. I can always earn more. Thanks again for your help though.

Actually, you don't have enough RAM. EA requires 2GB but we've done our own research and found that users using less than 2GB in XP and 2.5GB in Vista generally have crashing and other stability issues. Your graphics and CPU BARELY meet minimums - they are the absolute weakest combination the game supports, and probably will not run well. Nobody has reported a good experience with such a combination and people with much stronger have had problems. Your computer may be upgradable (can't tell from that info), but even if it was, it could cost about $300 to bring it up to recommendations. At that point you could almost build a new computer. Is there no way to return it? Most places allow for returns.

I'll look into it - it hasn't arrived yet, so there's a good chance I might be able to still. If not though, it's not so big a deal I guess... as long as it lasts me a few months until I can either upgrade it or get another new one. At the very worst, I can always increase the RAM at hopefully a reasonably cheap cost *crosses fingers*