Sims 2 and Civ IV graphic problems on Vista

These both run (albeit slowly) on my very basic 2 year old Dell XP machine.
Have installed them on my sons brand new laptop - which far exceeds the
recommended spec for both games - even taking into account Vista's hungry
appitite - and they don't run well:

Sims 2 has a pink flashing background in the neighbourhood view - which is
what it did on my very old, under spec, Windows 98 machine.
Civ IV (and Beyond the Sword expansion) just flashes the entire screen as
soon as it is loaded - making it totally unplayable.

Both games are apparently Vista compatible acording to another post on this
website. The laptop is not connected to the internet - so I suspect this is
possibly part of the problem (making it difficult to ensure all patches are
downloaded possibly)?

Anyone experience these problems? Any suggestions? Have searched the web
and comments I've seen imply these games do not need specific Vista patches.

Possibly the standard graphics card isn't up to the job - but I don't want
to buy another only to find that doesn't fix the problem.

As far as I am aware I have installed all patches I can find on the
manufacturers websites.

I should have included the spec of the laptop too!

Fujitsu Siemens Esprimo Mobile V5535
Intel Core 2 Duo T5250 / 1.5 GHz ( Dual-Core )
2 MB - L2 Cache
2 GB (installed) / 2 GB (max) - DDR II SDRAM - 667 MHz ( 2 x 1 GB )
SiS Mirage 3+
Windows Vista Home Premium Edition

You are correct Lol, reinstalling is probably not the problem.

The Pick Background in Sims 2 is synonomymous (sp?) with a video card driver
that is not completely DirectX compatible. There's probably some
transparency routines used in the game that the video card doesn't know how
to display.

SiS video cards aren't the best for gaming, your best bet is to make sure
your drivers are up to date.

Go to fujitsu.com and look up your notebook in the support area and see if
they have updated video card drivers for your system.
http://support.fujitsupc.com/CS/Port...do?msrch=model I went here,
but I couldn't figure out what model notebook you had, so see if you can
figure it out.

You might also try http://www.sis.com/download/index.php - the SiS site has
1 driver for notebooks running Vista, stands to reason that one will work
with your system.

If you get the same problems, then your video card probably just won't work
with Sims 2. Notebooks just aren't made for gaming, espically Fujitsu
notebooks with SiS video card chipsets.

You could ALSO try setting your computer color depth to 16-bit, and see if
that helps, though I think Sims 2 uses 32-bit color, but in the old days
changing color depth sometimes helped these situations.

Lastly, call EA tech support. Don't go to the website, just look in the back
of the manual for a tech support number and call them for assistance.

After contacting Fujitsu help I found the drivers at:
http://support.fujitsu-siemens.com/c...downloads.html

Downloaded the Graphics driver, but still got the same problems on both games.

Changing to 16 bit also didn't work.

That just leave contacting EA, unless you or anyone else has any other
suggestions?

I have asked Fujitsu if this laptop should be capable of playing these
games. Not sure if that's the kind of question they would expect to have to
answer!

Unfortunatly LoL, what EA is going to tell you is your video card isn't
supported by The Sims 2, basically the game is trying to make a texture
transparent, or do something and the video card is staring back going....
What? *drool* so it does what it thinks it's supposed to do, and instead
spits out a pink texture.

So to summerize, you are probably SOL (S*$& Outta Luck).

Here's a link to the official Sims 2 Hardware Requirements page...
http://thesims2.ea.com/help/detail.php?help_id=21

It's an old list, if you do call EA Support, they have a Hardware
Compatibility and Testing Lab (CAT Lab), ask the customer support person to
see if they tested your card and what the results were. They can usually
look up the info.

Good luck, next time stick with ATi or nVidia video in your notebook or
desktop. Proven gaming video cards that just about every game supports.

Sent the fujitsu laptop back and got a toshiba with ATI Radeon X1200 graphics
card. Works a treat with civ iv. sims 2 needs the download patch - DOESN'T
WORK OUT OF THE BOX ON WINDOWS VISTA - but works well after the patch is
installed. Thanks for all your help Andy.

Glad to hear it. Now a days if you want to play games you really sould make
sure you get an ATi or nVidia video card. I have a similar notebook to
yours, and while it's not the fastest card, at least it makes the games look
"correct".

If you like the Sims 2 don't forget to check out the Sims: Life Stories.
They are silly fun, and they are designed for notebooks. They have a bunch
of keyboard shortcuts like, press F to have fun, E to eat, etc.

[champstar]

I am having the same issues with the same 2 games on my new laptop as well.

They call Windows7 and upgrade, but all it does is not run all of the games I love.

HP G60-535DX notebook. Windows7. It's about 6x as better as my old Dell laptop which used to run such games as Civ4 and Sims.

The compatibility mode doesn't work.

I feel your frustration. Totally relate.

It seems like they just want us to go out and buy all new software every few years.