simp4sims

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The future of my tutorials

Sul Sul 👋

I've been working on a desktop app (for Mac and Windows) that will combine as many of my tutorials and overhauls as possible into an easy-to-use interface.

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Phase 1 (overhauls)

The app will manage the following files:

GraphicsRules.sgr
Ts4CommonRules.sgr
Default.ini
Options.ini
Camera.ini
VideoCamera.ini

There's 2 huge benefits to this:

1. Customising values in these files will be as simple as dragging a slider for the relevant settings, there will be a LOT more flexibility to this than SimpsSetters!
2. The app (while running) will watch for game updates by monitoring changes in the files. If a file is changed during an update the new values added by EA/Maxis will persist while the app re-applies your custom values.

I'm hoping to be done with phase 1 soon, it's a bit of a long process as I'm learning to make a desktop app while I make a desktop app (first time I've ever done this). It's working well in my tests so far but there's still a lot to do.

A beta version of the app will be available to Patrons first, once I have sufficient feedback I will make it available to the public -- I want everything to be perfect!

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Phase 2 (tutorials)

There's a few ideas here but it will really depend on how much of it is possible.

The one thing I'm certain I can do is cleaning caches, I'll have this setup to clear caches automatically after game updates but there will also be a button in the app to purge at any time you want with the ability to fine tune which caches get cleared.

All of my other tutorials rely on 3rd party software being installed and configured and until I look into it I'm not sure if it's possible. It might be for some and not for others but only time will tell.

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Phase 3 and beyond

As I get more familiar with making the app I'll keep expanding it and making it better. I can't even envisage what this might be yet but I'll constantly be on the lookout to improve.

I want to extend this to The Sims 3 as well!

=======

On a separate note, I've been in contact with another creator and we're going to try combine efforts to make something amazing -- I'll give more details about this in the future but lemme just say it's got the potential to be a game changer!

2022-06-22 10:01:20 +0000 UTC View Post

Reduce stutters, reduce latency, increase FPS and increase responsiveness!

Sul Sul 👋

In this tutorial we’ll attempt to do several things. Reduce stutters, reduce latency, increase FPS and increase responsiveness. All done through some registry keys and a small 3rd party program.

We will mix and match the following commands:

bcdedit /set useplatformclock
bcdedit /set useplatformtick
bcdedit /set disabledynamictick
bcdedit /set tscsyncpolicy

The first 2 commands control High Precision Event Timer (HPET) and Synthetic Timers. Disabling these allows unrestricted I/O (input/output) between you and your computer. Resulting in raw data transfer to your machine! Everything feels more responsive and it will reduce micro-stuttering and screen tearing. Less delay should even afford a small FPS increase.

We’ll also disable Dynamic Tick which is a power saving feature that stops the system clock. And switch the TSCSyncPolicy (time stamp counter synchronisation policy).

The 3rd party software we’re going to install will set the desired timer resolution. It also allows us to set conditions which will purge Windows’ Standby List. The Standby List is beneficial but it can grow in size, filling up your RAM. Longer gaming sessions become laggy due to the Standby List hogging your resources. Windows should purge this list but it doesn’t. So we use this program to purge it when it meets certain conditions. More on this later!

Without any further waffling let’s get started!

Create a Restore Point! If you don’t know how, please refer to → This Article on Windows Central ← for details to enable, create and recover. There won’t be anything that goes wrong in this tutorial, but better safe than sorry. All the registry key changes have relevant commands to reset back to default. In case something still isn’t quite right, you can recover the restore point. Refer to the link again to see how to recover your Restore Point and revert the changes.

We’ll begin with the commands. Right-click on the Windows Start charm and choose Command Prompt (Admin). If you don’t see Command Prompt listed do not use PowerShell. Instead, press the Windows button on your keyboard and type “cmd”. The Best Match will be Command Prompt and you can choose “Run as administrator” on the right.

If at any point you get an error message, it likely means you are trying to set a value which is already set. Ignore the error and move onto the next step.

Disable HPET

Disabling HPET in this way will disable it within Windows, and this is the correct thing to do! But, an HPET option will exist in your BIOS which should be enabled. On a lot of newer machines this setting won’t even exist and is enabled by default, always. Even if your computer is older it’s still likely this setting is enabled by default.

Run Command Prompt as administrator
Copy the Clear Value command between the arrows
Paste the value into Command Prompt and hit Enter/Return
Quit out of Command Prompt
Restart your computer

―Clear Value―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /deletevalue useplatformclock
↑↑↑↑↑↑

If your computer stutters after restarting then it means HPET is disabled in your BIOS. In this case you need to access your BIOS and find the setting. Refer to → This Article on Windows Central ← for details. Once in there you’ll need to find the setting yourself, BIOS’s come in all shapes and sizes so it’s not demonstrable.

Disable Synthetic Timers

Run Command Prompt as administrator
Copy the Disable command between the arrows
Paste the value into Command Prompt and hit Enter/Return
Quit out of Command Prompt
Restart your computer

―Disable―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /set useplatformtick yes
↑↑↑↑↑↑

―Default―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /deletevalue useplatformtick
↑↑↑↑↑↑

Start off by disabling Synthetic Timers. If you notice stuttering after restarting then restore the default. Run the default command and restart again.

Disable Dynamic Tick

Run Command Prompt as administrator
Copy the Disable command between the arrows
Paste the value into Command Prompt and hit Enter/Return
Quit out of Command Prompt
Restart your computer

―Disable―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /set disabledynamictick yes
↑↑↑↑↑↑

―Default―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /deletevalue disabledynamictick
↑↑↑↑↑↑

This command is very hardware dependant. It should help the majority of people but in some cases it may do the opposite. Start off by disabling Dynamic Tick. If you notice stuttering after restarting then restore the default. Run the default command and restart again.

Time Stamp Counter Synchronisation Policy

Run Command Prompt as administrator
Copy either the Legacy or the Enhanced command between the arrows
Paste the value into Command Prompt and hit Enter/Return
Quit out of Command Prompt
Restart your computer

―Legacy―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /set tscsyncpolicy legacy
↑↑↑↑↑↑

-OR-

―Enhanced―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /set tscsyncpolicy enhanced
↑↑↑↑↑↑

―Default―
↓↓↓↓↓↓
bcdedit /deletevalue tscsyncpolicy
↑↑↑↑↑↑

In most cases the enhanced policy will likely see better results. Depending on the edited registry keys and your hardware, you may benefit using legacy. My advice is to try both. Try legacy first, then switch to enhanced, restart, and see if it’s better or worse.

With the right combination of keys for your setup you should notice a boost. The mouse feels snappier and more accurate and everything is quicker to respond. Note that this will affect your whole system, not only The Sims 4. Your whole experience on your computer will benefit!

Next, install that 3rd party program I mentioned. It’s called Intelligent Standby List Cleaner from the famous Wagnard! Do some Googling about the developer and the program! But to keep this short, simply → Click This Link ← and the .exe (executable) will start downloading.

The program runs as portable, which means it won’t install itself like most other programs do. We want this program to start up every time we logon so save it somewhere you won’t delete it. I recommend the Documents folder or Program Files. Best to create a folder called ISLC and save the .exe in there. Then right-click on the file and run as administrator.

A small window will appear. On the right hand side of the window click the [ Stop ] button.

At the top-right of the window you will see “Current timer resolution” and “Maximum timer resolution”. Both of these values should be set to 0.5ms after the registry edits. If not we can enforce this in the “Wanted timer resolution” field. Make sure to select “Enable custom timer resolution”.

After enabling custom timer resolution the “Wanted timer resolution” field will be editable. In the box type 0.5. Add this whether it shows 0.5ms at the top or not.

Moving over to the left hand side, at the top you will see “Total system memory” which is your available RAM. This is the raw value available to the program, not the advertised amount. The values should be similar but the discrepancy is important to point out.

What you want to do is ignore the last 3 digits. In the screenshot it shows 16343, ignoring the last 3 digits I get 16. Take this value, divide it by 2 and then multiply by 1024. This will give us half of our advertised RAM.

16 ÷ 2 = 8
8 × 1024 = 8192

4xxx will be 2048
6xxx will be 3072
8xxx will be 4096
12xxx will be 6144
16xxx will be 8192
24xxx will be 12288
32xxx will be 16384

Moving onto the conditions to purge the Standby List.
The first block should be set to [ 1024 ]
The next block should be set to the calculated value, for me [ 8192 ]

Make sure to select both the checkboxes at the bottom-left. This is why we moved the executable to Documents or Program Files earlier. So that it can start up when you logon.

Don’t forget to click the [ Start ] button on the right after changing the values. Then click the minimise icon at the top-right of the window, do not close this program!

When minimised it should appear in your task bar at the bottom-right as a green graph. Make sure this icon is there when your computer starts up. The program uses negligible system resources. Running in the background to purge the Standby List and force the Timer Resolution to 0.5

A final bonus! If your system starts to feel sluggish you can purge the Standby List manually. Open ISLC by clicking the icon in the taskbar. At the top-middle, click the [ Purge Standby list ] button. Then minimise the program again.

That’s all for now. Happy Simming!

――――♥Become a Patron♥――――
It takes a lot of time, testing and effort to create these tutorials.
👉 Become a patron to support more posts like this!
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2022-01-09 19:43:44 +0000 UTC View Post

Overhaul 01 - Simp's GraphicsRules Setters

―――――Quick Download―――――
⚪️⚪️⚪️👉 All in One (.zip) 👈⚪️⚪️⚪️
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―――――Update Reminder―――――
If you are updating then you only need GraphicRules and SimpSetters from the zip file.

⚠️ DO NOT overwrite your MySetters file or you will lose your custom setup
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――――――Change Log――――――

📆 18 March 2023
✅ Updated for Patch 1.96.365 (Growing Together)
✅ Included the new options for CursorScale
✅ Included the new options for SelfDiscovery
✅ Included the new options for CareerLayOff
✅ Fixed an issue where the Anisotropic and Trilinear setters weren't linked
✅ Restored the always best LOD functionality
✅ Tweaked the default values a little bit, details in the Google Spreadsheet

📆 26 July 2022
✅ Updated for Patch 1.90.358 (High School Years)
ℹ️ All changes from this patch were added to SimpSetters, so that's the only file that needs updated
✅ Included the new options for Acne
✅ Included the new options for NPCRelationshipAutonomy
✅ ShowWhims changed to WhimSystem
✅ Included the new options for ColorAssistType, ColorAssistContrast, colorAssistBrightness (color blind accessibility options)

📆 22 June 2022
✅ Updated for Patch 1.89.214 (Werewolves)
✅ Added the new bits of code regarding werewolves and lunar cycle

📆 04 April 2022
✅ Updated for Patch 1.86.166 (Neighborhood Stories)

📆 27 February 2022
✅ Updated for Patch 1.84.197.1030 (My Wedding Stories)
✅ Adapted SimpsSetters to mimic behaviour of the new Ts4CommonRules.sgr file
✅ Tweaked the default values a little bit, details in the Google Spreadsheet

📆 01 January 2022
🎉 HAPPY NEW YEARS
✅ Added dynamic keyboard lighting
✅ Created some quick setters, download the .zip

📆 09 November 2021
✅ New setter to fix the conflict with Classic Camera mod by Victor Andrade

📆 02 November 2021
✅ Fixed the missing shadow issue
✅ Updated for Patch 1.81.72 (Blooming Room Kit! -- there was new code "CDSPollFrequency" in the update)

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――――――Introduction――――――

Sul Sul 👋 Simp4Sims here!

I'm proud to introduce this update to the GraphicsRules file. I'm calling it Simp's Setters.
The project has evolved into something completely different! It's still fundamentally about improving the GraphicsRules.sgr but now with the added ability for you to personalise it according to your needs!

―――――――――――――――――
▶️ Video on How to Add Setters ▶️
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❓What is a setter❓

💬 In technical terms a setter is a variable. A variable is simply a stored value which can be used, manipulated and changed at a later time - much like Algebra where X=1 and Y=2.
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❓Great but what do variables have to do with GraphicsRules❓

💬 The file is already (by default) constructed with variables. What I've done is add a bunch more into the mix (36 new options at the time of writing this). I'm calling these new variables setters, and they are everything that I feel is important or things that have been asked about on numerous occasions.
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❓So what do setters mean for the GraphicsRules file❓

💬 Well, they open up a new door to personalising the file that I didn't even know existed a few weeks ago. The way this is achieved is by importing 2 new files into the GraphicsRules. The first is all my defaults in SimpsSetters.sgr and the second is your chosen overrides in MySetters.sgr.

ℹ️ The MySetters.sgr file will never be updated, this means whatever you add to that file will persist even if I update the other 2. As I release new setters you can add them to your overrides if you want. Otherwise enjoy your custom configuration without fear of losing your changes!

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❓Sounds good, where can I find a list of setters❓

💬 Due to the amount of documentation required for this and due to Patreon's limited text formatting I put all the setter choices into a spreadsheet on Google Sheets.

🔗 VIEW THE GOOGLE SPREADSHEET 🔗

When looking at the spreadsheet you'll see 5 columns. These are as follows:

☑️ Name
ℹ️ This is the name of the setter

☑️ Type
ℹ️ This is the type of setter which defines the kind of value it's expecting.
― 🔴 seti = intergrer (a whole number)
― 🟠 setf = fraction (a floating point number (with decimals))
― 🟣 setb = boolean (true or false)

☑️ Description
ℹ️ A bit of explanation as to what the setter does

☑️ Expected Values
ℹ️ A list of expected values with details on the differences

☑️ Quick Copy
ℹ️ A list of values to quickly copy and add to MySetters.sgr - includes type, name and relevant value for each option.
― 🟩 Green cells represent the default values so don't use these
― 🟪 Copy purple cells ONLY!

――――――――――――――――――

❓This is too much!! Where do I even start❓

💬 No where if you don't want to. The GraphicsRules.sgr along with SimpsSetters.sgr and an empty MySetters.sgr will still run much the same as the previous version of the file (with a couple bug fixes). So if that's all you want then ignore the spreadsheet entirely. Otherwise just take it slowly, go through the options and read about how they affect your game.

The file is smart enough to know the capabilities of your graphics card and will throttle values accordingly. So you don't need to do anything, this is to allow fine tuning for those that need/want the ability.

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❓What if I use the wrong value or have a typo in my setters❓

💬 Wrong values will largely fallback to default or to the nearest appropriate value. I probably didn't catch everything so don't purposefully use values out of the expected range.
💬 As for typos, if you spell a setter name incorrectly or use the wrong case (upper/lower) it will have no affect on the GraphicsRules
💬If you change seti/setf/setb to the wrong type or to something else it will probably break!

I'm sure there will be some unforeseen circumstances but I will address any issues as they arise.

ℹ️ I tried my best within the limitations of the code to make this as user friendly as possible. If your game gives you an error regarding configuration when you try to start up, then you've done something wrong in MySetters.sgr - double check the values and if you can't figure it out then contact me!

―――――Contacting Me――――――

The best way will be to tag me on either Twitter or Instagram - @isimp4sims.

If you're a Patron you can reply to my posts or message me directly or you will have been provided additional means of contacting me in a welcome email!

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❓I think I'm ready, how do I get started❓

――― DOWNLOAD ―――

👉 All in One (.zip) 👈

**ZIP FILE CONTENTS**
1️⃣ GraphicsRules.sgr [updated 27 Feb 2022]
2️⃣ SimpsSetters.sgr [updated 27 Feb 2022]
3️⃣ MySetters.sgr [will never need updates]

――― INSTALLATION ―――

FIRST TIME INSTALLING?
↩️ Move the 3 files from the downloaded .ZIP file to your Config Override folder.

-OR-

UPDATING THE FILES?
↩️ Move ONLY the GraphicsRules.sgr and SimpsSetters.sgr file to your Config Override folder and replace the existing files when prompted. If you replace the MySetters.sgr file you will lose any custom config you had in there!

ℹ️ℹ️ Find the Config Override folder at the path below:

📁 Windows - Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Config Override
📁 Mac - Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > Config Override

⚠️ The file naming must be exact in order for these to work, you may or may not see the .sgr extension, if you don't see it then don't worry. The rest of the file name is important though. Make sure in your Config Override folder you have the following 3 files:
✅ GraphicsRules.sgr
✅ SimpsSetters.sgr
✅ MySetters.sgr

―――🎨🎨 Presets 🎨🎨―――

👉Simp's Quick Setters .zip👈

There are currently 3 presets available:

1️⃣ Default with Distance Blur - everything is default other than Ambient Occlusion and Distance Blur being enabled
2️⃣ Ultimate Performance - will give the best possible performance without breaking too much. It's not perfect though, the speed boost comes at a visual cost
3️⃣ Ultimate Quality - unless you have a high end graphics card (6GB or more) then this is probably only for screenshots. Everything is maxed out!!

To use the presets download the .zip file and from the relevant folder move the MySetters.sgr into your Config Override folder. Overwrite the file that exists.

⚠️ If you already have custom config in your MySetters file and wish to keep it then simply rename your file to something else like MySetters01.sgr before moving in one of the presets. A file that isn't named exactly "MySetters.sgr" will be ignored by the game.

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❓The 3 files are in my Config Override folder, now what❓

💬 If you don't want to change anything then you're ready to play!

💬 Otherwise start adding setters! Only add the setters you want to change, you do not need to add all of them. Each setter MUST be on a new line.

―――――――――――――
Video on How to Add Setters
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To add a setter do the following:

➡️ From the spreadsheet on Google Sheets find the setter you want
➡️ Using the Quick Copy column on the far right select the option you want
➡️ Press [Ctrl] + [C] (Windows) / [Cmd] + [C] (Mac) to copy the selected setter
➡️ Open up the MySetters.sgr file using a text editor
― ℹ️ Notepad (Windows) / TextEdit (Mac) is perfect for this!
― ℹ️ I personally use Atom IDE on both Mac and Windows
➡️ Start a new line by pressing [Enter] / [Return] ↩️
― ⚠️ each setter must be on a new line ⚠️
➡️ Press [Ctrl] + [V] (Windows) / [Cmd] + [V] (Mac) to paste the setter you copied
➡️ Press [Ctrl] + [S] (Windows) / [Cmd] + [S] (Mac) to save your changes
✅ That's all! Start your game once you've added all the setters you want!

💬 An example of a MySetter.sgr file can be seen in the screenshot below. If all you want to change is one thing then all your file would have in it is a single line

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――――♥️Become a Patron♥️――――
🆓🆓 This overhaul will always be free! 🆓🆓
It takes a lot of time, testing and effort though.
👉 Become a patron to support further updates 👈
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――――――More Details――――――

⚠️ View Distance Low/High in Game Options

💬 In the previous version of the file I changed the values associated with the View Distance setting to control Distance Blur. This has been removed and the default View Distance values returned. Distance Blur and Ambient Occlusion are now available as setters. They are disabled by default.

ℹ️ NOTE: The way Distance Blur and Ambient Occlusion are implemented in the game (not by anything I did) means that disabling Ambient Occlusion will also disable Distance Blur. I've mentioned this in the spreadsheet as well, to enable Distance Blur you need to set both ss_Ambient_Occlusion and ss_Distance_Blur to true.

――――――――――――――――――

⚠️ ss_Clipping_Mode = New

💬 If you use the new clipping mode option (which was the default in the previous version of the file) then the VideoCamera.ini file needs to be edited to take full advantage of the changes. You may have already made this change before in which case skip this. The file can be overwritten with updates so just check to make sure.

➡️ TargetPointDist = 2.0 needs to change to TargetPointDist = 0.18
➡️ TargetPointLimit = 150.0 needs to change to TargetPointLimit = 60.0

⭐️ If you prefer to just download a file ⟩click here⟨ then replace the default file.
⚠️ If you are given a warning about a harmful file it can safely be ignored!

ℹ️ Find the VideoCamera.ini file in the res folder:
📁 Windows (Origin) - …\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin\res
📁 Windows (Steam) - …\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\The Sims 4\Game\Bin\res
📁 Mac - right click Sims 4 in the Applications folder, choose Show Package Contents, then go into Contents > res

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⚠️ ss_Frame_Rate_Limit

💬 In the Options.ini file find the frameratelimit setting. You may have changed this value before from the previous version of the GraphicsRules. Simply add a hash (#) to the beginning of this line so it reads:

# frameratelimit 200

ℹ️ Adding the hash to the beginning will comment out the line of code, basically meaning that it will not be processed (it gets ignored).

💬 Then when you start up The Sims 4 it will detect that the value does not exist and generate a new line at the bottom of the file. The value will be grabbed from GraphicsRules.sgr, which is defined by the setters ss_Frame_Rate_Limit and ss_Frame_Rate_Recording - the default value (60) from SimpsSetters.sgr will get used unless you have overridden either or both the values in MySetters.sgr.

ℹ️ Find the Option.ini file here:
📁 Windows - Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\
📁 Mac - Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4

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―――――――Credits―――――――

♥ Huge thanks and shoutout to all my patrons! Your continued support helps me to keep releasing updates like this!
♥ Huge thanks to the Beta testers for all the valuable feedback! Past, present and future
♥ Huge thanks to everyone who shares and helps to spread the word!
♥ Special thanks to @BluebellFlora for all the Mac testing and feedback! If you play The Sims 4 on a Mac go check out her website bluebellflora.com!
♥ Special thanks to @Schnuck for all the initial testing, feedback and encouraging me to release the file to the public. Go follow her on YouTube if you don't already!
♥ Special thanks to fellow Sims After Dark member @Moxie for all the continued testing. Go check out their Tumblr!
♥ Thanks to @BoringBonesTV on Twitter for the Mac Shadow fix.
♥ Thanks to @montyranch on Twitter for the Skin Details fix.
♥ Thanks to @hoosierslu on Twitter for the Steam Path to the res folder.

2021-10-28 19:09:10 +0000 UTC View Post

Overhaul 01 - Simp's GraphicsRules Override

First time hearing about the file? View the Original Patreon Post for more details.

Any issues with the file? Please @isimp4sims on Twitter or Instagram so I am aware of the issue and can investigate. If you become a Patron you will be able to comment directly on this post, you will also get an email from Patreon with my Discord ID.

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⭐Update - 2021, 02 November ⭐
✅ Updated for Patch 1.81.72 (Blooming Room Kit! -- there was new code "CDSPollFrequency" in the update)

⭐Update - 2021, 16 September ⭐
✅ VSync tweak returned to default
✅ Increased RenderShadowCacheIBSize to fix shell building shadows
✅ Alt Clipping file added to download links

⭐️Update - 2021, 08 September ⭐️
✅ Compatible with Spa Day Refresh patch (PC: 1.79.93.1030 / Mac: 1.79.93.1230)
✅ Smarter file 🤓 with lots of conditionals
✅ FPS tests for every tweak to find optimal values
✅ View Distance overhaul = with/without Distance Blur (DoF)
✅ Laptop Mode overhaul = Performance Mode 📈
✅ Various fixes

⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯

Sul Sul 👋 It is with great excitement that I present the latest update to the GraphicsRules.sgr file! I ran extensive FPS tests for all the tweaks and all values are now optimal. Performance is faster and more stable than ever! And with all the new conditionals, the file is smarter than ever too! The overhaul to View Distance replaces the "WITH DOF" version of the file. Also, the overhaul to Laptop Mode replaces the old Performance version of the file. Lastly, a whole bunch of fixes make this, by faaaar, the best version yet!

This file will always be free! It takes a lot of time and testing though, become a patron to support further updates!

⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯⋯

BIG CHANGES:

Overhaul of View Distance setting. View Distance has been completely redone, the old settings no longer exist and this is now all about controlling Distance Blur. View Distance to Low is with blur. View Distance to High is without blur. The game needs a restart after changing this setting!
Overhaul of Laptop Mode setting. Laptop Mode has been completely redone. Shadows are back, Normal Mapping is gone, forces shadows to 1K or 2K depending on VRAM, forces Distance Blur OFF regardless of View Distance setting. And more!
Clipping tweaks. Lets items get closer to the camera before cutting away. Fixes broken sky box when zoomed out. Stops flickering in the distance (unless tilted upwards (same as default)). Makes MXAO from ReShade behave more like default. An alternate file is available to download for those who prefer the old clipping values - most noticeable with MXAO.
Lighting Quality setting. Set this to High to have up to 4K shadows depending on VRAM. Or set to Very High to have up to 5K shadows depending on VRAM.
Mac shadow cut off fix for older Macs with Nvidia GPUs. This is now conditional as well, if using a pre 2015 Macs the file will limit shadows to 3K.
Conditionals (IF Statements). The file is now smarter than ever and will throttle the values your game loads. Limits depend on adjustedTextureMemory (which is the GPU's available VRAM). These are only for settings that have a significant FPS toll. The 4 tiers that categorise GPU capacity are:
🔴 Low = less than 2GB VRAM
🟠 Med = less than 3GB VRAM
🟢 High = less than 4GB VRAM
🟣 Uber = more than 4GB VRAM

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DOWNLOAD LINKS

⚠️Choose only one of the GraphicsRules.sgr files below!
The Alt Clipping file restores the clipping values from the previous version. See point 3 in the Big Changes list above for more details.
ℹ️ If you use Shadows for Days by @pictureamoebae then grab the Alt Clipping version.

👉 [ ⟩⟩GraphicsRules.sgr⟨⟨ ] 👈
👉 [ ⟩⟩GraphicsRules.sgr ALT CLIPPING⟨⟨ ] 👈

Previous versions of the file available in the Original Patreon Post.

⭐️ SUGGESTED DOWNLOAD!
👉 MizoreYukii’s No Fade On Everything mod 👈

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INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:

⭐️ The GraphicsRules.sgr file:
Once you download this file from the link above, put it in the Config Override folder.

ℹ️ Find the Config Override folder here:
📁 Windows - Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\Config Override
📁 Mac - Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > Config Override

⚠️ The file MUST be called "GraphicsRules" EXACTLY for the game to the recognise it. If it is called GraphicsRules(1) or similar because it was renamed during download then it will not work. If you rename it for any other reason it will not work. Knowing this, you can keep previous versions of the file in your Config Override folder by just renaming them.

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⭐️ The VideoCamera.ini file:
This will help with the clipping tweaks in the SGR file but are not required. I do HIGHLY recommend making the changes though! Double click the VideoCamera.ini file to open it and edit the following 2 values:
» TargetPointDist = 2.0 needs to change to TargetPointDist = 0.18
» TargetPointLimit = 150.0 needs to change to TargetPointLimit = 60.0

⚠️ If you would prefer to just download a file ⟩click here⟨ then replace the default file with this.
» If you are given a warning about a harmful file it can safely be ignored!

ℹ️ Find the res folder here:
📁 Windows - …\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4\Game\Bin\res
📁 Mac - right click Sims 4 in the Applications folder, choose Show Package Contents, then go into Contents > res

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⭐️ Capping your FPS:
While this is not needed for the SGR file to work I recommend making the change. Double click the Options.ini file to open it and find the frameratelimit setting. Change this from 200 to 60. If you do recording at 60FPS then set this value to 66 to allow some overhead for the recording software.

ℹ️ Find the Option.ini file here:
📁 Windows - Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 4\
📁 Mac - Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4

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⭐️ MizoreYukii’s No Fade On Everything mod
You do not need this mod for the file to work it is suggested for a reason though. Stop items from fading/disappearing when close to the camera. Without objects fading in and out, the frame time graphs are more stable! And it increases minimum FPS! Visual improvement and performance improvement, why wouldn't you use this?!

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LIST OF EVERYTHING THAT CHANGED:

LightingQuality - Extras
• RenderShadowCacheVBSize - conditionals and increase
• RenderShadowCacheIBSize - decrease
• RenderInstancingVBSize - conditionals and increase

LightingQuality
• ShadowMapSize - conditionals and increase
• ShadowDecalEnabled - true
• SsaoEnabled - move to View Distance setting
• DofEnabled - move to View Distance setting

GeneralReflections
• WaterReflectionAreaThresholds - conditionals and decrease
• MirrorFadeRadiusThreshold - conditionals and increase
• MirrorFarPlanes - conditionals and increase

ObjectQuality
• DropTexMipsOnLoad - disable for Low/Med
• MipDiscardHints - 0 for Low/Med/High
• TextureSizeThreshold - set to 4K for High
• TrilinearEnabled - disable
• AnisoEnabled - disable
• ObjectLODBias - tweaks for Low/Me/High and conditionals for High

ObjectQuality - Extras
• ObjectLODInterestBias - increase
• WallCutoutAtlasSize - conditionals and increase

TerrainQuality
• TerrainLODBoost - increase for Low/Med/Hig
• SeasonalBlendTolerance - decrease for Low/Med/High

EdgeSmoothing
• FSAALevel - conditionals and increase

SimQuality
• RenderSimLODDistances - increase
• RenderSimTextureSizes - all set to same value (disable Sim LOD)

ViewDistance - Extras
• ClipPlaneExponent - set to 1 (back to default value)
• ClipPlaneZoomClose - decrease
• ClipPlaneZoomDistant - decrease
• ObjectSizeCullFactor - increase

ViewDistance
• ClipPlaneDistances - tweaks and conditionals
• SkyboxClipDistances - tweaks and conditionals
• SsaoEnabled - Low is with distance blur. High is without distance blur.
• DofEnabled - Low is with distance blur. High is without distance blur.

AdvancedRendering (Laptop Mode)
• SsaoEnabled - forces off regardless of View Distance setting
• DofEnabled - forces off regardless of View Distance setting
• NormalMappingEnabled - false
• RenderShadowsEnabled - true
• RenderFadeTuning - minspec
• RenderForceMinspecShaders - disable
• RenderPretransformEnabled - true
• TerrainSpecScale - disable

Other
• MemCacheBudgetValue - increase
• DeformerMapsCacheBudgetValue - increase
• EdgeScrollingWarning - forces off regardless of setting in Game Options
• EnableTelemetry - forces off regardless of setting in Game Options
• TutorialEnabled - forces off regardless of setting in Game Options
• HideReportedContent - forces off regardless of setting in Game Options
• SurveysEnabled - forces off regardless of setting in Game Options
• MuteTutorialNarration - forces off regardless of setting in Game Options
• EnableFTUETutorialStart - forces off regardless of setting in Game Options
• logSystemInfo - added some lines to the Config.log to help with troubleshooting

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This file will always be free! It takes a lot of time and testing though, become a patron to support further updates!

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CREDITS

♥ A huge thank you and shoutout to all my patrons! Your support helps me to keep working on updates!
♥ A huge thank you to the Beta testers for all the valuable feedback!
♥ A huge thank you to @BluebellFlora for all the Mac testing and feedback
♥ A huge thank you to @FantaSims, @MalinDesigns, @Iron_Cgull, and everyone else that retweeted and helped spread the word!
♥ A special thank you to @Schnuck for all the initial testing, feedback and encouraging me to release the file to the public. Go follow her on YouTube if you don't already!
♥ A special thank you to fellow Sims After Dark member @Moxie for all the continued testing. Go check out their Tumblr and download Percival the Snail!
♥ Thanks to @BoringBonesTV on Twitter for the Mac shadow fix
♥ Thanks to @montyranch on Twitter for the skin details fix

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FPS TESTING SPREADSHEET

NOTE: the values in the below screenshot may differ. The spreadsheet was used to track the initial tweaks but various fixes and further tweaking changed some values.

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CHANGE LOG

⭐Update - 2021, 19 August ⭐
✅ up to 7% faster than the previous version!
✅ redone from the ground up
✅ lots of new edits - details below
✅ made performance version redundant
✅ included Mac shadow fix in the same file - details below

⭐Update - 2021, 07 August ⭐
✅ shadows to 5K (5120) resolution
✅ fix for skin details
✅ performance version of the file

⭐Update - 2021, 04 August ⭐
✅ fixed pixelated bread shop in Henford
✅ disabled Shadow Decals
✅ Pre 2015 Mac Fix
✅ Version with DoF (depth of field / distance blur)
✅ Added big bold links for the download

⭐Update - 2021, 23 July ⭐
✅ included new values regarding deformer maps and animal ageing from Cottage Living

2021-09-08 13:08:40 +0000 UTC View Post

OPEN BETA: Sims Graphics Rules Overhaul

NOTE: THIS IS A BETA VERSION, IF YOU USE IT PLEASE REPORT ISSUES TO ME!

It's time for another update to the GraphicsRules.sgr file! Visual appearance is much the same but there are a tonne of performance updates and a few other bits!

Looking to put it live to the public next week Friday (3rd September) so any and all feedback is welcome. If you're a Patron (thank you so much!) you can drop a comment on this post, everyone else can tag me in a tweet @isimp4sims

Changes below. New tweaks in this Beta are in the list as β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 and have bold text

LightingQuality
⦿ ShadowMapSize increase to 5K
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 Mac fix conditional - if Nvidia GPU and is Mac then ShadowMapSize is 3K
⦿ ShadowDecal disable
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 SSAO (Ambient Occlusion) moved to ViewDistance
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 DoF (Distance Blur) moved to ViewDistance
GeneralReflections
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 WaterReflectionAreaThreshold disabled for Low/Med/High
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 MirrorFade and MirrorFarPlane a little above default for Low/Med
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 MirrorFade and MirrorFarPlane conditionals - max for high end PCs only
ObjectQuality
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 ObjectLODBias the same for Live and Build
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 ObjectLODInterestBias now different for Low/Med/High
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 MipDiscard disabled
TerrainQuality
⦿ TerrainLODBoost increase
⦿ SeasonalBlendTolerance disable for high setting
⦿ TerrainSlopeScaling disable
EdgeSmoothing
⦿ FSAALevel increase
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 FSAALevel increase even more
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 FSAALevel conditionals based on computer specs
SimQuality
⦿ RenderSimLODDistances and RenderSimTextureSizes max for Low/Med/High
ViewDistance
⦿ ClipPlaneDistances max
⦿ FogDistances max
⦿ SkyboxClipDistances max
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 ViewDistance: Low and High are now the same other than DoF and SSAO
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 DoF and SSAO. Low is with distance blur. High is with out. Game Restart Required.
AdvancedRendering
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 RenderPretransform enable
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 TerrainSpecScale disable
Other
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 ShadowCache and Instancing size increase for high end computers
⦿ ClipPlane values increase
⦿ ObjectSizeCullFactor max
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 DeformerMapsCache disable for high end computers
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 Telemetry disable
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 CursorAcceleration disable
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 Tutorial disable
⦿ β𝕓𝕖𝕥𝕒 HideReportedContent disable
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 logSystemInfo "GraphicsRules tweaked by Simp4Sims" for troubleshooting

When installing you can either replace the existing file or rename the old file. The game will ignore files unless they have the exact name GraphicsRules.sgr. So you can rename the existing one to currentGraphicsRules.sgr and then drop the beta version in. Making it easy to roll back in case there are any issues.

Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 > Config Override

⇒ [ DOWNLOAD HERE ] ⇐

NOTE: Distance Blur is now tied to View Distance. Set View Distance to Low to have blur in the distance. Set View Distance to High to have no blur. A game restart is required for the blur to render.

2021-08-26 13:35:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Overhaul 03 - Simp's Vivid Preset

[Download ReShade 4.9.1] and [Download Vivid Preset]

This has been a long time in the making. A ReShade preset created for use with my GraphicsRules Overhaul! No depth based effects in the preset means no turning off edge smoothing (which the SGR file enhances). I've tested in all worlds at all times of day and I’m finally happy with it!

The Sims 4 is washed out, colors all have a green tint and contrast isn’t enough! The main idea of Vivid is to open up color and tonal range to have more variation! Allowing colors to come out that were hardly visible before. And creating more contrast by having darker darks and lighter lights. Coupled with some vibrance and saturation gives the game a fresh new look. Making everything more vivid!

LIMITED TIME CHALLENGE WINNERS!

@acidlure - view the original Twitter post

@realKatverse - view the original Twitter post

@MissyHissySims3 - view the original Twitter post

@Waffle_64 - view the original Twitter post

@MalinDesigns - view the original Twitter post

@MoxHollow - view the original Twitter post

@SummerrPlays - view the original Twitter post

@AmyzingSims - view the original Twitter post

@ReenaDelenyel - view the original Twitter post

View all the entries on Twitter at #simpsvivid

Built using ReShade 4.9.1 with a bunch of fancy shaders. Makes days brighter. Makes nights darker. Overhauls color and tonal balance. Adds saturation in all the right places. Make sunrises/sunsets look amazing! All without washing out the user interface and with minimal performance impact!

What does it do?

Temporal Anti Aliasing - adds motion blur for fluid movement and reduces shimmering! Can toggle off with Ctrl + B
ColorMask - shaders between BeforeColorMask and AfterColorMask will only affect shadows and highlights
Monocular Cues - adds fake depth/shading without needing access to the depth buffer. It’s very subtle but makes shadows more prominent. Can toggle off with Shift + B
ColorLab - expands color range
Tonemap - bleaches the scene and strips the green tint
ColorBalance - tuning colours in Shadows, Midtones and Highlights
LumaFade - like ColorMask, shaders between LumaFade_Start and LumaFade_End will target dark parts
SaturationLimiter -removes saturation from the dark parts
LiftGammaGain - darkens dark parts and expands tonal range
Deband - fixes color stepping in dark parts of the scene
LumaFade2 - like Lumafade, shaders between LumaFade_Start and LumaFade_End will target light parts
Deband_2 - fixes color stepping in light parts
Colourfulness - adds some saturation to light parts
WhitePointFixer - lightens light parts and expands tonal range
ColorMatrix - controls the amount of RGB saturation per Red, Green and Blue channels
Deband_End - a subtle pass of debanding to try catch color stepping that got missed
WhitePointFixer2 - clears up whites after all the color and tonal balance
Vibrance - expands the color range quite
Amoebae_LUT - includes Amoebae's Full Bloom MultiLUT to use like Instagram filters. With 66 different options! Perfect for setting moods/vibes on top of the all the enhancements. A special thank you to @amoebae for letting me include this!

The 3 debanding shaders can use around 5fps. They can toggle off using Alt + B. Debanding fixes color stepping which is most noticeable in the sky. Instead of a smooth gradient you can see notches in the colour. If you need the FPS then disable debadning. It will have no impact on the color and tone tweaks.

The shaders and textures required to run the preset are in the download. All the shaders start with simp. In case you have versions of the shaders for other presets. It won’t conflict with legacy shaders causing duplicates. And it makes for easy install for people new to reshade. NONE of the shaders are mine, all credit goes to the relevant creators. Details are available per shader when viewing the code. The only edits I made to shaders were the file names, the namespaces and the technique names. I have also duplicated some shaders to allow for more than one pass of the same shader! Not all the shaders included in the download are in this preset!

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Installing the Preset:

Download the .zip by clicking the link at the top or bottom of this post
Open the .zip to view it's contents
simps_Vivid.ini needs to go into your Bin folder
All the files from the Shaders folder need to go into Bin > reshade-shaders > Shaders
All the files from the Textures folder need to go into Bin > reshade-shaders > Textures

If you need help installing ReShade and the preset, I have a simple video tutorial here

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[Download Vivid Preset]

2021-08-12 01:31:07 +0000 UTC View Post

JUST WOW!!

To everyone, new supporters and just people here to download the SGR file. I’m blown away by the amazing responses that I’ve been getting from everyone it means so much to see my file being downloaded by so many people! And I’m so glad that it’s fixed lagging that many people are experiencing in game

I’ve got a lot of content to push out soon! There will be a couple extra versions of the SGR file as bunch of people actually prefer the distance blur! I also want to make a performance version of this file for those on lower end computers that are having stuttering with the current file

I currently have live/build camera and tab camera INI files that have been edited to make the in game camera more responsive and easier to use as well as some interesting things like being able to go upside in tab camera. It’s in beta testing as I get some feedback but this should be out in a few days

As well as another tutorial to make the game run even smoother still (if you tried my other tutorials you will know)

There will also be 3 ReShade presets that I use in my own game as well as 2 for content creators that I’ve made recently. All my presets use ReShade 4.9.1

There’s a few other interesting things I’m currently looking into, don’t want to give details yet in case they’re not possible

Either way, watch this space as there will be a bunch of posts coming soon!

Thank you all again and happy simming!

2021-08-01 17:16:25 +0000 UTC View Post

Overhaul 07 - Edited Camera and VideoCamera INI Files

All stable! VideoCamera.ini file is 100%. / Camera.ini file may still require a few tweaks

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I've gone through both the Camera.ini (live/build mode camera) and the VideoCamera.ini (tab camera) files and given them much the same treatment as I gave the GraphicsRules file. Trying to find the max/min values for each setting and seeing what behaves best. There's been a LOT of tweaks to things and some may require a bit of getting used to.

VideoCamera.INI file:

You can look up & over or down & under to go upside-down! Basically keep looking up/down beyond what you could before and you'll be upside down
Going upside-down and saving a camera angle will allow you to roll to that camera angle
Saving an angle in the middle of a rolling panning shot will let you be sideways when returning to that angle
Fixed the bug that causes the camera to spin off - this is when panning between angles can result in the camera spinning out and looking at the floor. This is either when your panning angles have too many items in the way or if you're too close to a wall or corner
Removed the drift when moving around making tab camera feel more responsive
Reduced moving around and looking around speed a lot, this is to make tab camera easier to handle which allows you to line up the perfect angles. Using Shift when moving around or zooming will be much quicker than usual to offset the reduced speed

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Camera.INI file:

Zoom notches have been redone using an exponential curve (Sims 3 Camera only)
Zoom IN limit has been increased a little (Sims 3 Camera only)
Zoom OUT limit has been increased a lot (Sims 3 Camera only)
Zoom speed between notches is much quicker
Zoom tilt has been redone per notch using an exponential curve (Sims 3 Camera only)
- When zoomed out you are no longer forced up as high as before
- When zoomed in you can tilt the camera upwards a bit - Sims 3 Camera only
Drift has been completely removed from pitch and yaw (looking up/down and left/right) as well as from moving around. This affects keyboard and mouse interactions
When loading a lot, the angles, height, distance and speed have been tweaked
ClickDrag enabled in Sims3 camera, for those who haven't used the Sims4 camera in a while that means clicking and holding on the ground with left mouse button and moving the camera around by moving the mouse! Very useful for getting around quickly!
Also makes using First Person Camera a little easier for the few who do use it
A bunch of other tweaks to make using build/live mode camera easier
4 different version available, Slower, Default, Faster and FasterReversed. All the files have the same values for everything the only thing that sets them apart is the speed of navigating around when using your keyboard (either WASD or the arrow keys).
- Slower is less than half of default. But Shift + moving is quicker to compensate
- Default uses the same speed and Shift values as the default file
- Faster is 3x quicker than the default speed!
- FasterReversed is 9x quicker than default and pushing Shift will slow down the camera instead of speeding up! Thanks to DeliaDeetz for suggesting this in the comments. I'll end up using this version for myself!

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Install Instructions:

Unfortunately we have to overwrite the original INI files. These files are located in:

WINDOWS - ...\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\The Sims 4\ Game\Bin\res
MAC - The Sims 4.app > Contents > Resources > res

I recommend either renaming your existing Camera.ini and VideoCamera.ini files or moving them to a different folder for safe keeping. Then grab the files from the .zip in the Simp folder. VideoCamera.ini has only 1 version. Camera.ini has 4 versions as mentioned in the post above -- choose only 1 of these.

If at some point you don't like the files and didn't rename/backup like I mentioned above, the default files are in the .zip in the Default folder.

NOTE: there is only 1 version of the VideoCamera.ini file, the speed versions are for Camera.ini only

Download:

Click on the "Camera INIs.zip" link below

⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓ ⇓

2021-07-31 21:12:08 +0000 UTC View Post

SIMply - SIMplyMonca ReShade Preset

[Download ReShade 4.9.1] and [Download Preset]

A custom ReShade Preset built for my Super Simp patron -- SIMplyMonca. Follow her on YouTube and Instagram

The preset has bunch a of fancy bells and whistles but colour and tonal balance have been kept quite neutral.

Three passes of anti-aliasing for smoother edges
3 DeBanding shaders targeting day/night separately
Removes the green tint/fog that the Sims has
Darker nights and brighter days
A touch of extra saturation
A pinch of colour balance
And some extra definition/sharpness

2021-07-01 22:09:31 +0000 UTC View Post

Blush - SummerrPlays ReShade Preset

Exclusive collaboration! A custom SIMS 4 RESHADE PRESET built for SummerrPlays, brought to you by Simp4Sims. Follow SummerrPlays on YouTube and Instagram!

The brief were clear - “bright and pink” but the end result was not that easy. After many iterations I’m proud to finally announce Blush, a brand new ReShade preset built using version 4.9.1.

This preset will give your game a touch of pink (hence the name Blush) as well as making everything a bit brighter. Using some interesting shaders from creators like CorgiFX and Prod80 I was able to achieve some very unique tonal and colour balance.

By targeting dark and bright areas separately I was able to enhance shading, even out colours, remove the weird green fog that The Sims 4 has and then finally add a touch of pink to the end result. And with 3 separate AntiAliasing and Debanding shaders your game will look smoother than it ever has before! All this with minimal effect on the UI!

Bundled with Amoebae's Full Bloom MultiLUT, very special thank you to them for letting me include it, you have the ability to completely switch up the look of a scene for some moods and vibes in screen shots/recordings! Check out Amoebae's Tumblr !

INSTALL INSTRUCTIONS (The GIF will repeat every minute or so, it shows how to install ReShade, how to move the relevant files to the right places and how to use the MultiLUT shader!

Downloading and installing ReShade

Download ReShade 4.9.1
To install, right click the icon and click [Run As Administrator]
In the window choose [Click here to choose game and manage it's ReShade installation]
In the next window choose [Browse]
Then navigate to your Bin folder and choose TS4_x64.exe
On the next window choose Direct3D 9
On the next window just click [OK] and then [OK] again
Once all the default shaders are installed you can click the window

Installing the Blush Preset

Download the .zip attached to this post
Blush - SummerrPlays.ini needs to go into your Bin folder
All the files from the Shaders folder needs to go into Bin > reside-shaders > Shaders
Repeat for the single file in the Textures folder Bin > reside-shaders > Textures

ReShade GUI in Sims 4

Start up The Sims 4
Let the load screens finish and then push the "Home" button on your keyboard to open the ReShade GUI
Progress through the guided tutorial in the interface
Edit the Preprocessor Definitions and change RESHADE_DEPTH_INPUT_IS_REVERSED to be 0 (this is not required for this preset but is often required by others)
Finish the tutorial and at the top left of the UI use the left/right arrow to select "Blush - SummerrPlays"
The screen may flash black for a moment and then the preset will be active
Press "Home" again close the GUI

Using the MultiLUT for Moods/Vibes

This is simple, below the list of active shaders you can will see a dropdown that is currently listed as "Neutral" select one of these to essentially replicate Instagram filters.
You can tweak the 2 sliders below this dropdown to fine tune the effect

2021-06-12 11:23:22 +0000 UTC View Post

Simp4Sims Overhaul 06 (pt.1) - Process Lasso

"Process Lasso is Windows process automation and optimization software. From tuning algorithms like ProBalance to user-created rules and persistent settings such as CPU affinities and priority classes, Process Lasso enables full control over running applications!”

So we're going to optimise Origin, The Sims 4 and any Screen Recording software (like OBS). If you don't do screen recording just ignore any reference to OBS that you see in my screenshots/instructions. Let's start by downloading Process Lasso -- run the .exe once downloaded, don't change any settings during install just keep clicking Next. Once you see the overview screen we can begin, everything we're going to change is under "Options" in the top left of the window.

Options > CPU > ProBalance Settings > Advanced Options

1. The only thing we want to change in here is the final setting that says "Disabled CPU Core Parking during ProBalance restraint" make sure this is selected ✓ then click [OK] at the bottom right.

Options > CPU > ProBalance Settings > Configure Exclusions...

2. We need to add The Sims 4 and our screen recording software as exclusions so that no resources are ever taken away from them. In the "Process match:" field we add the name of the process. Don't forget to click the [Add] button after each entry. We'll add the following:

ts4_x64.exe
obs64.exe (change for other software like Streamlabs)

Options > CPU > CPU Priorities...

3. Here we want to set the priorities of Origin, Sims and our Screen Recording software. In the "Name match:" field we add the name of the process and in the dropdown we select the priority. Don't forget to click the [Add to list] button after each entry. We'll add the following:

origin.exe - Below normal
ts4_x64.exe - Above normal
obs64.exe - Above normal (change for other software like Streamlabs)

Options > CPU > CPU Affinities...

4. Here we want to set the affinities of Origin, Sims and our Screen Recording software. In the "Process match:" field we add the name of the process and using the checkbox we select which core to use. Don't forget to click the [Add to list] button after each entry. We'll add the following:

origin.exe - Last half of available CPU Cores
ts4_x64.exe - All available CPU Cores
obs64.exe - All available CPU Cores (change for other software like Streamlabs)

NOTE: The Sims 4 will only ever use 4 cores maximum so if you don't have 8 cores like in my screenshot don't worry. Also if you do have more than 4 cores and you use CPU Encoding for screen recording then you can limit The Sims, you want to select all the even cores including 0, so in the screenshot I would select CPU 0, CPU 2, CPU 4, CPU 6. This will allow your screen recording software to use HyperThreading without competing with the game which may help with performance and stutters.

Options > Power > Performance Mode > Performance Mode Processes...

5. All we want to add here is The Sims. This will induce Performance Mode when The Sims starts which activate Bitsum Highest Performance Power Plan. This power plan is pre-configured for ultimate performance. With this power plan, your CPU always remains ready to execute new code. Core parking is disabled and the CPU never drops below its nominal (base) frequency. In the "Process match:" field we add the name of the process. Don't forget to click the [Add] button. We'll add only:

ts4_x64.exe

Options > I/O > I/O Priorities...

6. This will adjust I/O priorities, which is to do with background processes. Basically we want The Sims to be High priority to avoid ever going into background mode. While Origin is set to Low because we want it to go into background mode. In the "Process match:" field we add the name of the process and in the dropdown we select the priority. Don't forget to click the [Add to list] button after each entry. We'll add the following:

origin.exe - Low
ts4_x64.exe - High

And that's all. Process Lasso will start up when your computer starts up. And if you didn't change anything at the beginning it will be basically invisible. To access this interface again you can search for Process Lasso in your Windows/Cortana search.

If you play any other games add them with the same settings as we added The Sims and it'll boost those games as well! Other programs you may want to boost could be things like PhotoShop or Premier Pro or other intensive programs. Just be careful not to run too many programs with elevated privileges at the same time or it will hamper performance as opposed to helping.

Happy gaming!

2021-06-08 20:54:36 +0000 UTC View Post

Simp4Sims Overhaul 05 - 1 Click Cache Cleaner

This is for Windows ONLY. Clean all Origin and Sims 4 caches and temporary files in 1 click!

Firstly!! Make sure you close down Origin fully by right clicking the little icon at the bottom right of your screen and choosing Quit Origin.
Then you need to download BleachBit
Once you've installed it, download the .xml file attached at the bottom of this post. Put it into C:\Program Files (x86)\BleachBit\share\cleaners
Then right click on BleachBit and Run as Admin
Before we select anything click the BleachBit icon in the top left of the window and select "Preferences" we want to select the 3rd checkbox there labeled "Download and update cleaners from community (winapp2.ini)" so make sure this is checked ✓ then click [Close] at the bottom right.
You will need to restart BleachBit for the community file to take effect. So hit the [X] in the top corner and then right click on BleachBit and Run as Admin again
On the list of items on the left hand side (collapse groups by clicking the little arrow to the left). You need to find 2 groups, both need to be selected:
- Games (only select EA Download Manager, Origin, Origin Installers, The Sims 4)
- Simp4Sims Origin and TS4
Then click the Clean button at the top left of the BleachBit window
Restart your PC after the clean
Origin will require you to sign in again -- if you usually play in offline mode, you will need to run the Sims once while connected to the internet for it to rebuild all the relevant files.

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If you choose to use other cleaners just be careful to read the warnings that appear when you select them. Certain cleaners can take quite some time while others can wipe files and reset explorer and so on. Use at own risk!

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The options you choose will still be selected when you start BleachBit again! Essentially allowing you to clean Origin and Sims 4 cache in 1 click!

2021-05-26 11:29:01 +0000 UTC View Post

Simp4Sims Overhaul 01 - Sims Graphics Rules

⚠️⚠️⚠️ THIS POST IS OLD. VIEW THE 👉👉 LATEST RELEASE 👈

Overhauled GraphicsRules.SGR file suitable for Windows and Mac users. It makes Sims 4 look better, run smoother, helps with lag and fixes several visual bugs. Here's a list of everything:

LightingQuality
⦿ increased ShadowMap quality
⦿ disabled ShadowDecal
⦿ disabled ambient occlusion
⦿ disabled distance blur
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 Mac fix → if shadows are cutting off choose "high" for lighting quality in game options. This will set shadows to 3K instead of 5K
GeneralReflections
⦿ tweaked Thresholds and cutoff Planes
ObjectQuality
⦿ disabled LOD switching
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 tweaked texture switching
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 moved some values around for better performance on low/med settings
TerrainQuality
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 disabled terrain switching
EdgeSmoothing
⦿ increased edge smoothing
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 increased edge smoothing even more!
SimQuality
⦿ disabled LOD switching
ViewDistance
⦿ maxed ClipPlaneDistances
⦿ maxed FogDistances
⦿ maxed SkyboxClipDistances (fixes sky clipping in bigger worlds)
Other
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 Increased ShadowCache and Instancing size
⦿ tweaked ClipPlane values
⦿ maxed ObjectSizeCullFactor
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 increased DeformerMaps cache
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 disabled Telemetry
⦿ ☆𝕟𝕖𝕨 added a note to the log stating "Edited by Simp4Sims" for troubleshooting