If your computer was purchased in or after 2015, can you fill out this form? It's hard to find up to date information on systems that can run TS2. There are no guarantees - just because a system works for one person doesn't mean it will work for everyone, but this might help. If you have a suggestion to add to this form, let me know. Please don't start a debate about whether it's wise to buy a new computer to run this game here, but if you have tried to run the game on a newer computer without success, please share your experiences.

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)


Operating System


Desktop or Laptop


Graphics Card/Chip


RAM

Size of Downloads Folder

Can your computer run the game?


What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
-Pink Flashing/Purple Soup
-Access violation crashes
-Too Bright CAS
-Other (explain)

Which Fixes are you currently using
-Graphics Rules SGR edited by hand or downloaded at leefish
-Graphicsrules.sgr edited by Graphics Rules Maker
-DVX9/DVXK
-Jessa's memory allocation fix
-Hardware Rendered smooth edges for NVIDIA users

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
-If you have, did it work for you?

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
-If you have, did it work for you?

Anything else you'd like to add?

I use the Ultimate Collection and this is the laptop I use with all of the info- Windows 10, laptop, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 graphics card, 32 GB RAM, 9 GB downloads, and my computer runs the game perfectly.
I bought it this past summer and am overall very happy with it. The only cons I can think of is that the charger goes in an awkward place, the fan can be a little noisy, and there's some setting I hate relating to the battery that I can't figure out how to change- but I just did a bit of research and found this fix for it. It's a common Windows 10 problem.
Installing TS2 was a hassle. At first I tried to use discs and I had to unlock the Administrator user so that I could bypass the security stuff to install them. I found out that one of my discs no longer works, so then I had to switch over to using the UC. The first time I played with UC the resolution was awful and could not be adjusted, the game crashed frequently, and I experienced that horrible pink flashing. The Graphics Rule Maker was the only fix that worked for me.
Now my game runs perfectly and my Sims and I are very happy with it. I highly recommend this laptop. I found it quite affordable compared to other gaming laptops. I only play a few video games so it does the job for me. You could hold about 7-8 decently sized video games on this laptop. Currently I only have two (Sims 2 and Skyrim).

Edit in response to Essa: Essa said their gaming laptop lasted less than 3 years. My previous device for playing TS2 was also a gaming laptop from MSI (like the one I have currently) that lasted 8 years and ran smoothly throughout the entire time I had it. I understand wanting desktops to run the game, but I've been very pleased with my MSI laptops and they're very practical for me since I'm a student and need to bring my laptop to classes and such.

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)

Disks

Operating System

Windows 8.1

Desktop or Laptop

Desktop

Graphics Card/Chip

Nvidia 1060 6 Gb

RAM
16 Gb

Size of Downloads Folder
5.76 Gb at the moment and still growing

Can your computer run the game?

Yes

What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
-Pink Flashing/Purple Soup
-Access violation crashes
-Too Bright CAS
-Other (explain)

At first I had to use Grumpy loader to install the game on W8.1.
Then I had to use the Graphic rules.
For the past two years I was encountering numerous random crashes. The 4 Gb patch was applied and I think I tried everything I could try to make my game run.
Recently the 4 Gb patch stopped working. I applied it again and I also run the game from disks instead of a no cd.exe.

Which Fixes are you currently using
-Graphics Rules SGR edited by hand or downloaded at leefish
-Graphicsrules.sgr edited by Graphics Rules Maker
-DVX9/DVXK
-Jessa's memory allocation fix
-Hardware Rendered smooth edges for NVIDIA users

Graphic rules downloaded at Leefish and edited by hand, Jessa's memory allocation fix and I think I also use the hardware rendered smooth edges

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
-If you have, did it work for you?

Nope.

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
-If you have, did it work for you?

Voeille's pond/sea overhaul works like a charm since day 1.

Anything else you'd like to add?
I built my own machine with chosen components in 2017.
I got a gaming laptop a few years ago. Since it lasted less than three years, I've learnt my lesson and stick with desktops. :p
ETA in response to BeckyBoo8 : the laptop was a Samsung paid almost 1 000 € so I was expecting it to last longer.
I think I'm not a laptop person. I'd rather use desktops since you can update components than laptops. (hope that last sentence make sense).

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle) Discs
Operating System Win 7
Desktop or Laptop Desktop
Graphics Card/Chip Radeon RX 580 Red Dragon V2 8gb
RAM 16 gb
Size of Downloads Folder more than 25 gb (building up since 2008...it´s a perfect mess)
Can your computer run the game? (yes) before fixing some crashing, now it runs just fine
What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
pink flashing (after a short time, e.g. playing less than 3 sim days or arrival home after visiting one community lot)
random crashing (loading household first time or loading second family within one playsession, travelling between lots, clicking through buy/build catalogue.
-> both are gone at the moment. I played the game for many hours the last days and had only one crash and two times a not responding game (but that was my fault. Shouldn´t minimize it...)
Which Fixes are you currently using
-Graphicsrules.sgr edited by Graphics Rules Maker -> didn´t stop problems
-DVX9/DVXK (and manual edit Graphicrules.sgr to memory 1,700 instead of more than 11,000 what the GRM wanted first) -> is the only thing really helped
-Jessa's memory allocation fix ->not in use currently, tested it and it didn´t improve game stability or reduce pink flashing for me
- deleting Groups.cache and Accessory.cache after every session, also running hoodchecker
- 4 gb patch
- playing in windowed mode
- low graphic settings didn´t help (with GRM or Jessa´s fix). Now with the DVXK fix I have set everything to high and it works! (including sims shadows)
Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
no (I think so???)
Anything else you'd like to add?
I changed the graphic card winter 2019 from an old Radeon HD 6000 series to the new one. With the old card I have never experienced pink flashing and could play the game on fairly high graphic settings. Crashing was sometimes a problem but I think that was because I hit the mesh limit for build/buy objects.
Game is installed on a ssd
PC was custom build 2015, updated to ssd, more RAM and new graphic card since.

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)
Ultimate Collection

Operating System
Windows 10

Desktop or Laptop
Laptop

Graphics Card/Chip
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060

RAM
16 GB
Size of Downloads Folder
Just under 10 GB
Can your computer run the game?

Yep
What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
-Pink Flashing/Purple Soup
-Access violation crashes
-Too Bright CAS
-Other (explain)
When I tried to run the game using the EA Games folder backed up from my old computer, I got a d3derr_invalidcall error. Easily fixed by deleting the UserProps.xml file in the config folder. None of the others so far, but this computer is just two days old, and I haven't had a long Sims session yet.

Which Fixes are you currently using
-Graphics Rules SGR edited by hand or downloaded at leefish
-Graphicsrules.sgr edited by Graphics Rules Maker
-DVX9/DVXK
-Jessa's memory allocation fix
-Hardware Rendered smooth edges for NVIDIA users

I downloaded the appropriate graphics rules fix posted by Kiri on leefish. Everything's going fine so far, so I haven't done anything else.

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
-If you have, did it work for you?
I don't use those

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
-If you have, did it work for you?
Voeille's sea/pond overhaul, which works fine.

Anything else you'd like to add?

Version of TS2-TS2UC
Operating System-Windows7
Desktop or Laptop-8 year old laptop
Graphics Card/Chip-intelt graphics and Redeon Card with 1GB dedicated memory it's acually two graphics card and the intel is the internal one.
RAM-6GB
Size Of Downloads Folder-over 2GB
Can your computer run the game?It's still more than capable of running this game.
What problems have you encountered andwere you able to fix them?
AVG PC TuneUp changed their program and removed their mode manager fairly recently which caused a temporary issue running the game.
What fixes are you currently using?
minor graphics gliches if I load the game without activating gaming mode.made the game shortcut require administrative permission to run so I can avoid that happening again.
Windowed mode to fix the camera and screenshot issue and to keep track of the time so I don't stay in the game overnight by accident.
System care program with a turbo booster gaming mode tool to activate a gaming mode which forces my computer into using the dedicated card for graphics while in gaming mode.
Have you tried any post-processing Mods?never needed to
Have you tried any water Shaders?None have been tried yet.
Anything else younwant to add?I use a lighting Mod and camera Mod along with my game being so heavily Modded and loaded with way too much CC and it still runs like I'm playing vanilla.

Game version : Disks
OS - Windows 10
PC type - Desktop
Graphics - AMD Radeon R7 series
RAM -8 Gig
Downloads - currently 1.1 gig, but its a new hood. I usually build up to 5-6 gig.
The game runs fine on my computer.
Problems encountered: My game was stuck with minimum graphics, as it didn't recognise my graphics card. Graphics Rules Generator fixed that. I occasionally crashed due to run out of memory, the 4 gig patch and Jessa's memory allocation fix seem to have sorted that, its not happened since installing them. I recently installed LazyDuchess ' First Born Syndrome fix, so am using the no CD launcher recommended there.

I use camera mods and run in windowed mode from choice. I certainly can run it in full screen. I haven't tried any lighting or post - processing mods. Yet. I have tried both Voeille's and Niol's water mods, and ran into the same problem with them both. After playing for half an hour to an hour, neighbourhood water seen from lot view would empty out, even the sea ! I would end up with a sunken hollow with just the barest trace of solid blue at the bottom. I haven't tried again since installing the memory allocation fix though, so maybe that would make a difference?

I am not sure what DVX9/DVXK is ?

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)
I use the disc versions of the game. I have all the Expansion Packs (University through to Apartment Life) and own three Stuff Packs (Happy Holiday, Family Fun, and H&M Fashion).
Operating System
Windows 10
Desktop or Laptop
Desktop
Graphics Card/Chip
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti (According to the GraphicsRules Maker)
RAM
16.0GB
Size of Downloads Folder
1.13 GB
Can your computer run the game?
Yes.
What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
- Resolution Incorrect (Fixed. Edited the GraphicsRules... by hand. Had to do it for every EP and SP... it was painful...)
- Blocky Shadows (Fixed. Installed a Shadow Fix on this site)
- I get Pink Flashing occasionally (Don't know what causes this)
- No Smooth Edges (Fixed. Same as the Resolution Fix. My edges are as smooth as butter.)
- Screenshots Randomly Not Saving (Fixed. Used the GraphicsRules Maker application)
- Object Errors Not Saving (Fixed. Same as above)
Which Fixes are you currently using
- GraphicsRules Maker
Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
Nope.
Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
Nope.
Anything else you'd like to add?
The 4GB Patch does not work for me. I've not had major issues without it, but adding CC and mods is starting to make me paranoid, especially since it has surpassed 1GB, now... I've tried everything; applying to desktop, moving it to the CSBin, nothing has worked. So yeah... gave up on it.

^The 4GB patch also didn't work for me no matter what I tried. I only used the GraphicsRulesMaker and am at 9 GB of CC and my game is fine

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)
Digital, Ultimate Collection

Operating System
Windows 8.1 64bit

Desktop or Laptop
Dekstop

Graphics Card/Chip
nVidia Geforce GTX 1050Ti 4GB

RAM
24GB DDR3 @ 1600Mhz OC (stock clock speed is 1333 Mhz)

Size of Downloads Folder
7.62GB

Can your computer run the game?
Yes, obviously.

What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
No edge smoothing, limited resolution, water without reflections.

Which Fixes are you currently using
A manual fix. Simply added my card to the list of cards and issues above were solved.

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
Yes Pineapple's mod. It worked it was just laggy took 15 frames away from me when enabled.

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
Yes, and yes. Though I got rid of them because I wanted a vanilla look.

Anything else you'd like to add?
I am surprised you didn't add an SSD/HDD question. I use an 1TB SSD as my primary drive where the game is installed and documents folder is, but I haven't noticed drastic reductions in load times unlike with TS3.

A few weeks ago, when I was computer shopping, someone on MTS shared that their GTX 1070 is completely incompatible w/the game, and they've had to stop playing, so not necessarily obviously.

I didn't add anything about SSD/HDD that because hard drive types shouldn't cause incompatibility issues, (I debated leaving the ram question off too). I did shave about 10 minutes off my load times when I upgraded to a SSD though.

I wonder what would cause a 1070 to not work but a 1050Ti will. I wonder if it was their card driver version or if they didn't add the card to the sgr list. I have noticed that driver version [nvidia] 452.06 caused massive stuttering for me with TS2 but the stuttering was resolved when I upgraded to the 457.09 driver version. Just something to be aware of I suppose.

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle): Disks (have all)
Operating System: Windows 10
Desktop or Laptop: Laptop
Graphics Card/Chip: Intel(R) UHD Graphics
RAM: 8 GB
Size of Downloads Folder: 2.67 GB
Can your computer run the game? Perfectly

I bought a new laptop in September and installed Sims 2 fresh (using CDs and an external CD drive), other than needing to run some of the EXE files from the command prompt on install and a one-time tweak to the graphics file (to support the 1980x1200 full screen view) - everything's been perfect.

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)

UC
Operating System

Win10
Desktop or Laptop

Desktop
Graphics Card/Chip

Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
RAM
16GB
Size of Downloads Folder
Medieval Hood: 10.5 GB
Normal Hood: 5.93GB
Can your computer run the game?

Yep!
What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
-Pink Flashing/Purple Soup
-Access violation crashes
I've had both of these problems, but was able to fix them.
Which Fixes are you currently using
-Graphics Rules SGR edited by hand or downloaded at leefish
-Graphicsrules.sgr edited by Graphics Rules Maker
-DVX9/DVXK
I've done all of the above. The only fix that stopped the constant pink was after the DVXK walk through by Crazysim found here . Now I only start seeing pink if I've been playing my medieval hood for many hours. If it does show up, closing out of the game and restarting the game gets rid of the issue. I've never seen it in my normal hood after the fix.

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
-If you have, did it work for you?
I have not tried either of these.
Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
-If you have, did it work for you?
I use Voeille's pond/sea overhaul and it works fine!
Anything else you'd like to add?

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)

UC

Operating System

Windows 10

Desktop or Laptop

Desktop

Graphics Card/Chip

NVidia GeForce RTX 2060

RAM
32,0 GB

Size of Downloads Folder
varies, I have several games with different mod sets
1.8 GB, 2.5 GB, 3.4 GB

Can your computer run the game?

Mostly, with fixes applied and the occasional pink flash and crash.

What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
-Pink Flashing/Purple Soup
Encountered, mostly fixed although sometimes they still show up
-Access violation crashes
Encountered, usually fixed by not playing
-Too Bright CAS
Wait, that's where that cmes from? Not fixed.
-Other (explain)

Which Fixes are you currently using
-Graphics Rules SGR edited by hand or downloaded at leefish
-Graphicsrules.sgr edited by Graphics Rules Maker
Yes
-DVX9/DVXK
No, was planning to try that soon
-Jessa's memory allocation fix
Yes
-Hardware Rendered smooth edges for NVIDIA users

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
-If you have, did it work for you?
Haven't tried it

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
-If you have, did it work for you?
Havent tried it

Anything else you'd like to add?
Current game status: Working, as long as I don't play too many households after another, avoid community lots and ban all townie walkbys (I have a mod for more walkbys and the game appreciates not having to render the useless ones.) Sometimes it crashes on loading, once it crashed during saving, sometimes there is pink flashing. If I can get DVXK to work, I'll report back on that. If you have any other ideas, feel free to say so.

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)
Unofficial Digital Bundle


Operating System
Microsoft Windows 10 Home


Desktop or Laptop
Custom Desktop

Graphics Card/Chip
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti

RAM
16.0 GB

Size of Downloads Folder
17.0 GB

Can your computer run the game?
Yes


What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
-Pink Flashing/Purple Soup
Encountered. Still an issue but can mitigate it by turning down graphic settings in game, turning shaders false, or exiting and re-entering lot.
-Access violation crashes
Encountered. Still a random issue, probably because game is so old and I have too much cc
-Too Bright CAS
Not encountered
-Other (explain)
I can't think of anything

Which Fixes are you currently using
-Graphics Rules SGR edited by hand or downloaded at leefish
No
-Graphicsrules.sgr edited by Graphics Rules Maker
Yes
-DVX9/DVXK
Not sure
-Jessa's memory allocation fix
Yes
-Hardware Rendered smooth edges for NVIDIA users
No

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
No

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
Yes
-If you have, did it work for you?
Mostly - there is a weird thing where ocean eats the beach in waves but it doesn't bug me enough to try and investigate and fix it.

Anything else you'd like to add?
I should probably remove some cc to alleviate random crashing and pink flashing. I launch my game through STEAM as a non-steam shortcut and my husband built my computer and changed some things around I'd have to ask him.

If your computer was purchased in or after 2015, can you fill out this form? It's hard to find up to date information on systems that can run TS2. There are no guarantees - just because a system works for one person doesn't mean it will work for everyone, but this might help. If you have a suggestion to add to this form, let me know. Please don't start a debate about whether it's wise to buy a new computer to run this game here, but if you have tried to run the game on a newer computer without success, please share your experiences.

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)

Original separate disks. (no mixed packs)

Operating System

Windows 7 -bought on purpose because I thought it would give me no issues.

Desktop or Laptop

Desktop

Graphics Card/Chip

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti


RAM
32

Size of Downloads Folder
12.7 Gigs compressed.

Can your computer run the game?
It should run it well.

What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
-Pink Flashing/Purple Soup *Yes*
-Access violation crashes *Yes*
-Too Bright CAS *No*
-Other (explain)

Which Fixes are you currently using
-Graphics Rules SGR edited by hand or downloaded at leefish *Yes*
-Graphicsrules.sgr edited by Graphics Rules Maker *yes*
-DVX9/DVXK *No it made things worse-don't use it on Win 7*
-Jessa's memory allocation fix *Yes*
-Hardware Rendered smooth edges for NVIDIA users *yes*

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
-If you have, did it work for you? *No, not my thing*

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
-If you have, did it work for you? *Yes, just the pond mod*

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)
I tried every popular version that has been around recently (for testing purposes, I was writing an installation guide so I needed to know they worked and which issues were present):
1. Downloads of separate packs that work like original CD versions (OGD); my laptop doesn't have a CD drive so this was an alternative
2. Origin (this is the one I currently use, but might switch to 1 if I need to use AnyGameStarter with base game only)
3. Mr DJ's UC (OGD)
4. Unofficial UC that is exactly the same as Origin version (G4TW)

Operating System
Windows 10 Pro

Desktop or Laptop
Laptop, Asus X560UD

Graphics Card/Chip
1. Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile (4GB)
2. Intel UHD Graphics 620

RAM
8GB @ 2400 MHz

Size of Downloads Folder
Around 6-7GB, although I have more that I haven't tested yet as I have only purchased the laptop this year.

Can your computer run the game?
Yes, with no performance issues on the highest settings.

What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
1. Patches crashing for CD version
- Fixed running patches through GrumpyLoader
2. "This app has been blocked for your protection" error when trying to install packs released in 2008.
- Fixed by installing the game using the hidden Administrator account, or running the installer through elevated Command Prompt.
3. Bright CAS
- Fixed (somewhat) with boolprop lightingEnabled false, and fixed completely by installing DXVK.
4. Missing IKEA Home Stuff in Mr DJ's UC
- Fixed by installing the pack separately.
5. Black box shadows
- Fixed with Nopke's Shadow Fix

Which Fixes are you currently using
1. Graphics Rules Maker
2. 4GB Patch

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
Not yet.

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
Yes, Voeille's pond/sea water overhaul.

Anything else you'd like to add?
While this is not exactly The Sims 2, I believe it's worth noting that The Sims Stories games also work with no issues after applying Graphics Rules Maker and 4GB Patch. I had to bypass copy protection with unofficial executables as I use digital Origin versions of these games, and activation servers no longer work for them, so I would get prompted over and over to log in, unable to run the games. I also had to edit my registry to use SimsLSPace.exe as the executable that runs the game (instead of SimsLSLauncher.exe) and rename the unofficial executable to that.

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)
unofficial digital bundle (MrDJ)

Operating System
Windows 10

Desktop or Laptop
Laptop (Asus, purchased in 2019)

Graphics Card/Chip
AMD Radeon R7 Graphics

RAM
12 Gb

Size of Downloads Folder
3 Gb so far

Can your computer run the game?
yes

What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
-Access violation crashes: due to bad WIP CC, that I was able to fix
-Black square shadows: fixed by setting shadows to medium
- Lag + long loading times: not fixed (lag could probably be toned down by using lower graphical settings... )

Which Fixes are you currently using
-Graphicsrules.sgr edited by Graphics Rules Maker
-4Gb patch

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
no

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)-If you have, did it work for you?
I use Voeille's water mod and it works great

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)
Disks (Double Deluxe plus University and OFB)

Operating System
Windows 10

Desktop or Laptop
Laptop (Dell G3 15 3500)

Graphics Card/Chip
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

RAM
8 GB

Size of Downloads Folder
1.95 GB

Can your computer run the game?
Yes

What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
-Too Bright CAS (Only affects a few outfits -- not a major problem)
-Other -- My Sims don't have shadows (But I really don't care -- My Sims look far better than they ever did on the old computer.)

Which Fixes are you currently using
-Graphics Rules SGR downloaded at leefish

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
Never tried

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
Never tried

Anything else you'd like to add?
The new computer has a 512 GB SSD, which loads things in seconds which used to take minutes on the old computer. I've had the new computer for just over a month now, and I have to say I'm absolutely delighted with it. I Had a few issues while installing and configuring TS2, but with lots of help from various members her, they were all fixed in a few days. All told it was much easier than I anticipated. With fast loading times, high definition graphics, and a responsive computer giving smooth animation. I'm enjoying my game more than ever before. And I'm achieving far more in gameplay than I've ever achieved before. As mentioned above, I have a couple of minor issues, but they're insignificant in comparison with the improvement over my old machine. A small number of outfits are too bright in CAS. And, although everything else casts a shadow, my Sims don't. Well, I never had shadows before, so I don't miss them. And the outfits that are too bright in CAS are all right in game, so the issue really doesn't bother me. Not enough to worry about it anyway.

I haven't bothered about the 4GB patch, as I don't think I need it yet. And I haven't bothered about DVX9/DVXK yet either. Though I might have a look at that, as I understand it might fix the "bright CAS" issue. With so many other people experiencing pink flashing and crashes, and my game running so well, I don't want to tempt fate by making unnecessary changes.

@AndrewGloria, what I didn't realize when I directed you to that graphicsrules.sgr is that it has shadows disabled. You can open it in notepad, CTRL +F to find simshadow and change the false on Medium and High settings to true. You might need to download simnopke's shadow fix afterward (although, I'm using the same (edited) graphics rules on my laptop, and I didn't need it).

Version of TS2 you use (Disks, Digital, UC, unofficial digital bundle)
Disks. I have all except the Happy Holidays pack.

Operating System
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

Desktop or Laptop
Desktop built by Altex, a Texas-based computer store chain. Bought in 2017.

Graphics Card/Chip
AMD Radeon HD 7700 series 4Gb

RAM
8 Gb

Size of Downloads Folder
Currently about 9.5 Gb

Can your computer run the game?
Yes

What problems have you encountered and were you able to fix them?
-Pink Flashing/Purple Soup. Only had the problem once or twice so far since buying this PC.


Which Fixes are you currently using
Graphics Rules SGR downloaded at leefish
4Gb patch

Have you tried any post-processing mods (Reshade/Pineapple5050's mod)?
No

Have you tried any water shaders (Voeille's pond/sea overhaul, niol's moi terrain water mod)
Voeille's pond water and Criquette's edit of Voeille's seawater overhaul for use with "Better Nightlife". It looks great!

Thanks! I've just done that (initially just for the High setting) and Mallory Mace now has a shadow -- the first Sim in my game to have one. (She was outside recycling the old newspapers.)

So what was good has now got even better. Thanks again!

That only leaves those over-bright outfits in CAS to deal with.

Lazy Duchess made a mod that softens the hard edges on the outdoor shadows. I think they look much better now.
https://lazyduchess.tumblr.com/post...dows-for-sims-2

Could be to do with the bump map or shaders. https://simswiki.info/wiki.php?titl...aps_and_Shaders