Sims Medieval Crashes

[Ellen]

Hello,

I just downloaded The Sims Mediieval and it keeps crashing on my PC. I have attached the PC specs from dxdiag. Can you please give me some help? Is it my video card or something else? Also, my laptop has an AMD 880g graphics card. Will it play on that? I am contemplating buying an EVGA nVidia GeForce 9500GT 1 GB 2DVI PCI-Express Video Card, 01G-P3-N959-TR. Would that be a good choice to run Sims Medieval and Settlers 6?

Thanks,
Ellen

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System Information
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Time of this report: 3/29/2011, 14:39:49
       Machine name: 210A8R7A75GD
   Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.101209-1647)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP Pavilion 061
       System Model: EX266AA-ABA a1512x
               BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
          Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
             Memory: 3062MB RAM
          Page File: 396MB used, 4550MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
    DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
  DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
      Display Tab 1: No problems found.
        Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
          Music Tab: No problems found.
          Input Tab: No problems found.
        Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D:    0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw:  0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay:  0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow:  0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
        Card name: Intel(R) 82945G Express Chipset Family
     Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
        Chip type: Intel(R) 82945G Express Chipset Family
         DAC type: Internal
       Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_2772&SUBSYS_2A3B103C&REV_02
   Display Memory: 224.0 MB
     Current Mode: 1280 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
          Monitor: HP 2311 Series Wide LCD Monitor
  Monitor Max Res: 1920,1080
      Driver Name: ialmrnt5.dll
   Driver Version: 6.14.0010.4497 (English)
      DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
 Driver Date/Size: 2/7/2006 11:56:16, 45697 bytes
      WHQL Logo'd: Yes
  WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
              VDD: n/a
         Mini VDD: ialmnt5.sys
    Mini VDD Date: 2/7/2006 12:04:34, 1399615 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B78E66-6432-11CF-1D62-310AA3C2CB35}
        Vendor ID: 0x8086
        Device ID: 0x2772
        SubSys ID: 0x2A3B103C
      Revision ID: 0x0002
      Revision ID: 0x0002
      Video Accel:
 Deinterlace Caps: n/a
         Registry: OK
     DDraw Status: Enabled
       D3D Status: Enabled
       AGP Status: Not Available
DDraw Test Result: Not run
 D3D7 Test Result: Not run
 D3D8 Test Result: Not run
 D3D9 Test Result: Not run

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
            Description: Realtek HD Audio rear output
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0882&SUBSYS_103C2A3B&REV_1001
        Manufacturer ID: 1
             Product ID: 100
                   Type: WDM
            Driver Name: RtkHDAud.sys
         Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5680 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
            WHQL Logo'd: Yes
          Date and Size: 8/6/2008 17:12:10, 4755968 bytes
            Other Files:
        Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
         HW Accel Level: Full
              Cap Flags: 0xF5F
    Min/Max Sample Rate: 8000, 192000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 33, 32
 Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 33, 32
              HW Memory: 0
       Voice Management: No
 EAX(tm) 2.0 Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
   I3DL2(tm) Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
Sensaura(tm) ZoomFX(tm): No
               Registry: OK
      Sound Test Result: Not run

---------------------
Sound Capture Devices
---------------------
            Description: Line in/Mic in
  Default Sound Capture: Yes
  Default Voice Capture: Yes
            Driver Name: RtkHDAud.sys
         Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5680 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
          Date and Size: 8/6/2008 17:12:10, 4755968 bytes
              Cap Flags: 0x41
           Format Flags: 0xFFF

            Description: Realtek HD Digital input
  Default Sound Capture: No
  Default Voice Capture: No
            Driver Name: RtkHDAud.sys
         Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5680 (English)
      Driver Attributes: Final Retail
          Date and Size: 8/6/2008 17:12:10, 4755968 bytes
              Cap Flags: 0x41
           Format Flags: 0xFFF

-----------

[Joey]

HP Pavilion 061
Processor: Intel Pentium D 2.8 GHz dual core
RAM: 3 GB
Graphics: Intel GMA (82945G Express Chipset)
Operating System: Window XP SP3

Thanks for all of the info Ellen, it helped a lot to diagnose your problem.

The processor and RAM are good.
The problem is the Intel GMA integrated graphics card. It may be fast for using the Internet, MS Office stuff and watching HD videos but for playing games like The Sims Medieval it is low end, barely makes the cut.

To answer a question of yours, Yes I highly recommend upgrading your graphics card to fully enjoy all the graphic details of The Sims Medieval and it will also take care of your computer crashes. I recommend 1 of the 2 cards below (which sell for under $60 on Amazon.com):
ATI Radeon HD 4650 1 GB
Or
nVidia GeForce GT 430 1 GB

I am not sure what company you like better ATI or nVidia, buy what YOU like. I have had good experiences with both

Now onto fixing your problem with your current PC setup.
You need to do the following to get the Sims Medieval running…
#1 Update your graphics drivers. The Intel link below will help you find exactly what you need:
http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect/graphics

#2 Once the Intel graphics drivers are up-to-date, Restart your PC

#3 Open The Sims Medieval but DO NOT play the game yet. Go into the Settings, specifically the Graphics settings. Once you are in that screen/menu adjust the following..
Set your Resolution to as low as it will go.

UNcheck the 3 boxes labeled,
“Enable Reflections”
“Enable Animation Smoothing”
“Enable Advanced Rendering”

There are 8 settings that have bar sliders. Slide all the bars all the way to the Left.

Save the settings and play the game.

NOTE: It also will help a bit if you installed the free version of “Game Booster”. Run this program right before you open up and play Sims Medieval
http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html

[Joey]

About the AMD 880g graphics card.

It is about the same speed as the Intel GMA graphics card you have on your desktop. I do not recommend playing Sims Medieval on your laptop. It would be even slower, probably also crash.

[Joey]

I forgot to mention, with any of the 2 graphics card upgrades I mentioned they would play Settlers 6 and 7 very smoothly along with Sims Medieval 

[Ellen]

Hi Joey,

Thank you so much for your helpful information. Based on what you've said I will go ahead and purchase the nVidia GE Force graphics card for my HP desktop. By the way I tried Sims Medieval on my Toshiba Laptop with the AMD 880G graphics card and it plays beautifully. Not one crash and the graphics are really clear and smooth. The only thing I had to do was change the display so it would fill up the whole screen. Of course the sound from the laptop is lousy and the developer put in a movie-quality sound track which is wasted without decent speakers. The game is a hoot--I've not played many Sims games as I prefer goal oriented, quest-type games but this one is quest-oriented and each character has a personality rather than being just an interchangeable commodity like in the tycoon or strategy games.They don't seem to require much tending like the earliest Sims games. It's hard to find really good games that don't focus on violence, blood, gore and monsters. It will be fun to play it on my 23" monitor with clear graphics with the new video card.

Thanks again for your help.

Regards,
Ellen

[Ellen]

Hi Joey,

I just wanted to let you know that I got the new nVidia GE Force 9500GT graphics card and the Sims Medieval plays beautifully. Been playing for hours over the past few days and not one crash. Also I'm able to play at the highest resolution levels which makes the gameplay very enjoyable. Downloaded Game Booster but it's not needed with the new video card.

Thanks again for your help.

Ellen

[Joey]

Glad to hear The Sims Medieval is playing great with the new video card Ellen 

Thanks for the feedback on Sims Medieval running on your laptop that has an AMD/ATI graphics card. It seems that most of the problems are with the Intel cards which is sad because there are an overwhelming amount of PCs out there that have Intel graphics cards inside.