#sims 3 tutorial

Backup your files, even the entire folder (EA Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin or steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin) if you want to be extra safe; you will thank yourself later. If you do not wish to backup the entire folder, at the very least backup the following:

reshade-presets

reshade-shaders

Reshade.ini

Options.ini (Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3)

Keep them somewhere secure, for your peace of mind (and sanity).

Firstly, to fully uninstall DXVK, you should remove the following files:

d3d9.dll (if you hover your cursor over the file, it will read: Company: DXVK)

dxvk.conf

TS3.dxvk-cache (or TS3W.dxvk-cache)

Secondly, remove remnant files of previously installed ReShade (you did create a backup, right?):

d3d9.dll (located at the Bin folder, if you hover your cursor over the file, it will read: Company: crosire)

ReShade.ini

ReShade.log

⚠️There are a couple more steps. Please follow the instructions here.

Get the latest version here on GitHub:

Click on the version that has the 'Latest' tag next to it (2.7.1 as of now), scroll down to 'Assets', and click on dxvk-x.x.x.tar.gz to download DXVK.

Open dxvk-x.x.x.tar.gz, click on x32, and locate d3d9.dll from within.

Download a copy of dxvk.conf from this page by clicking on the tiny icon on the right.

Drag both d3d9.dll AND dxvk.conf to the Bin folder (EA Games\The Sims 3\Game\Bin or steamapps\common\The Sims 3\Game\Bin); that is where TS3.exe and TS3W.exe are located.

Open dxvk.conf with Notepad or Notepad++, 'Ctrl + A' to select all, and hit delete. Yes, delete everything inside. Once you've emptied the file, enter the following:

d3d9.textureMemory = 100 d3d9.presentInterval = 1 d3d9.maxFrameRate = 60 d3d9.samplerAnisotropy = 16 dxvk.hud = devinfo d3d9.customVendorId = 10de d3d9.customDeviceId = 1080

Hit 'Ctrl + S' to save. That is DXVK installed!

Copy your Options.ini from your backup folder (you did make a backup, right?) into your Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 folder.

Because we have 'tricked' the game into recognising our modern GPU as a GTX 580, we must edit one single line within the Options.ini to keep our preferred in-game settings intact.

Hit 'Ctrl + G', type in '150' to go to that line, and replace it with:

lastdevice = 0;10de;1080;65535

'Ctrl + S' to save.

⚠️Thanks to DXVK, from now on whenever there's a GPU driver update, we no longer need to keep the 'lastdevice' line up-to-date to prevent your in-game settings from being reset. You can leave it alone forever, once and for all. The last digit of '65535' is a placeholder value for driver versions and remains constant as long as you are using DXVK.

Launch the game to confirm that DXVK is working. By default, the debug HUD should show up in the top left corner of your screen. What's more, your graphics settings should not have reset.

If you're still not convinced that DXVK is working, go to your Bin folder and look for a file called: TS3_d3d9.log or TS3W_d3d9.log and inspect its content:

If you see these correctly documented in your log file, DXVK is working as intended.

⚠️ NB: This newer version of DXVK no longer generates a cache file by default, meaning that there will not be a TS3.dxvk-cache or TS3W.dxvk-cache any more.

Get the latest version here on GitHub:

Click on the version that has the 'Latest' tag next to it (1.5.0 as of now), scroll down to 'Assets', and click on Sims3SettingsSetter.asi to download S3SS.

An ASI Loader is required for S3SS to function properly, and now so we need to install it.

However, if you use any of the listed LazyDuchess mods:

Mono Patcher Library;

Pixel Shader Modding Framework;

Shadow Extender (TS3);

or Split Level Light Fix,

you should already have an ASI loader (in the form of wininet.dll) located inside your Bin folder, and you can use that instead.

As you can see in the screenshot below, LD's Shader Framework came shipped with an ASI loader, as the other 3 mods do.

If you do not use any of the mods listed above, or that you wish to get a newer version of ASI loader for the game, you can get it from here (Ultimate ASI Loader by ThirteenAG):

To install, drag Sims3SettingsSetter.asi AND wininet.dll to your Bin folder.

And that is S3SS and its prerequisite successfully installed, now we should launch the game (again) and check if it's working.

Once the game has launched, hit 'Insert' key to toggle on S3SS interface.

⚠️ If nothing happens after pressing ' Insert', remove a folder called 'S3SS' (located at: Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3) and reinstall from Step 2 again.

From S3SS interface, select 'Patches' on the top.

Here I recommend enabling all performances patches, but choose only one flavour for the Smooth Patch: Original or Precise.

Next, click on 'Other/QoL' tab, tick the box next to 'Enable Memory Warning', and increase the warning threshold to 3.8 GB.

Navigate downwards to 'Borderless Window' and choose 'Fullscreen' in the drop-down menu. This will allow you to play in borderless windowed mode.

⚠️ Please note that I do not play TS3 in exclusive fullscreen mode, nor do I recommend doing so; therefore, I cannot provide support for that.

Lastly, don't forget to click on 'File' on the top left corner to save any changes you've made.

Exit the game, it's time to install ReShade.

Download the latest version (with full add-on support) from the official site; it is 6.7.3 at the time of writing.

If you do not download the version with full add-on support, DoF (depth of field) shaders will not work properly upon internet detection.

Select TS3.exe (EA App) or TS3W.exe (disc, Steam), and then choose Vulkan as rendering API, click 'Next'.

If you would prefer not to install any shaders/effects (i.e, you want to keep using your existing ones), click 'Skip'.

On the following page, you'll get to choose to install add-ons. Hit 'Skip', unless you know what you are doing.

Click 'Finish' to complete installation.

At this stage, a new, vanilla ReShade.ini file will be placed in the Bin folder; you may now replace it with the one from your backup folder to recover all preferred settings (such as hotkeys for taking screenshots, directory for shaders etc.). Same thing goes for your reshade-presets and reshade-shaders folder.

Launch the game (for the final time) to check that ReShade has been properly installed.

To toggle S3SS interface, press 'Insert' (or whatever hotkey you've set it to).

⚠️ NB: under ReShade's 'Settings' tab you may need to change 'Input processing' to either 'Pass on all input' or 'Block input when cursor is on overlay' to tweak S3SS settings whilst ReShade's GUI is visible. Otherwise, you'll need to toggle ReShade's menu off first.

That is the end of this tutorial.

Congratulations, you have successfully installed DXVK, S3SS, and ReShade! You may now open dxvk.conf and remove line dxvk.HUD from it.

Whew, what a long tutorial. If you've made it this far, great job. 🎉

Hope you've found this helpful; comment down below, or send me an ask/DM if you've any questions. I'll try my best to troubleshoot with you. Happy simming! ⭐

Credits:

doitsujin for DXVK

ThirteenAG for Ultimate-ASI-Loader

@sims3fiend, just-harry, @lazyduchess, and swiffyjk for Sims3SettingsSetter

crosire for ReShade

The benefit of using tuning files instead of the other method of importing settings at the Town Hall is that these will immediately apply without having to adjust or import any settings in-game, permanently eliminating an extra step!

If you add any of these tuning files to your Mods/Packages folder, they’ll become the default settings for whenever you make a new save, but will NOT apply to existing saves, which already have their prior settings written into their nhd file, unless you click Reset Settings for the particular mod at the Town Hall

If your preferred settings differ from mine, I recommend following the tutorial below to make your own tuning files. I just thought I would drop mine here for convenience’s sake, or for people don’t want to mess around in S3PE themselves

It's recommended to clear your script cache when installing any of these tuning files (!)

My Master Controller Tuning

Compact Outfits - False -> True

Compact Accessories - False -> True

Compact Hats - False -> True

Multiple Makeup Per Location - False -> True

Download (Updated to V135)

V2: I've uploaded an alternate version that eliminates an annoyance that comes up if you also use NRaas Integration. MC has a feature where you can choose a party filter before inviting your guests, which is meant to come up when throwing a party through the MC menu. But if you also have Integration installed, it'll come up every time you throw a party, even through the phone. I wasn't aware of how to disable this until recently! All other settings are the same from V1

Use Party Filter - True -> False

Download V2 (V135)

My Register Tuning

Paparazzi are annoying. And reducing the amount of wild/stray animals in your world is helpful for performance. I chose to reduce them rather than eliminate them (aside from Wild Horses, which have especially bad routing issues). But I kept the possibility of there being a Unicorn just for fun :)

Allow Paparazzi - True -> False

Maximum Wild Horses - 4 -> 0

Maximum Unicorns - Kept at 1

Maximum Stray Dogs - 6 -> 2

Maximum Stray Cats - 6 -> 2

Maximum Deer - 3 -> 1

Maximum Raccoons - 2 -> 1

Download (Updated to V81)

My Woohooer Tuning

Autonomous Woohoo - False -> True

Allow Teen Woohoo - False -> True

Allow Teen Skinny Dip - False -> True

Risky Woohoo Pregnancy Chance - 10 -> 15

Teen Risky Woohoo Pregnancy Chance - 10 -> 15

Unlock Actions for Teenagers - False -> True

Download (This tuning was already updated to V130 when the guide was made, but I changed the risky woohoo pregnancy chance for teens to 15% as well, unlocked actions for teenagers, and added the version to the file name)

The Tutorial

You will need the program S3PE which you might already have if you've ever merged CC before.

This tutorial should cover everything you need to tune all NRaas mods EXCEPT Story Progression (Edit: and Retuner, which should follow the same instructions as SP). The reason is the tuning for that mod is much more complex. You can still tune it, but you will have to go in game, navigate to SP, and Export Tuning which will generate a Script Error Report in your The Sims 3 folder (which is actually just the tuning that includes all of the modules you have). Then copy and paste that into the empty XML in the template in S3PE. Those are the only steps that differ. If anyone wants a more in-depth tutorial for tuning SP specifically, let me know!

With that out of the way, let's begin!

It's actually pretty easy! I will be using Master Controller as an example, but NRaas has provided tuning templates for basically all of their mods

Step 1: Navigate to the main page for the mod. Scroll down past all of the modules until you reach the Tunings section.

The file you want to download is the first one in the image below called NRaas_MasterController_Tuning_V135.zip

Once it downloads, extract the folder to get to the contents.

Step 2: Open S3PE and drag and drop the package file into the blank section on the left.

You will get this popup. Just click Next.

When it asks whether you want to auto-save after each package is imported, click No.

Now you should get a page that looks like this:

Click on the item with the tag XML, and the tuning settings will pop up on the right-hand side. Now right click that item and then select Notepad.

Boom. Now you can edit any of the default settings you want to change in this text document.

Let's say you want to allow multiple accessories per location. Just find that line and change False to True.

Once you're done editing, Save, and then close out of the notepad.

You will now get this popup from S3PE. Click Yes to commit changes.

Now, you will see the initial XML file crossed out, and a second one (which is your edit).

Now all you need to do is click File, then Save to overwrite the original template, or Save As to give it a custom name, just make sure you're only putting one tuning file per mod in your Mods/Packages folder.

Graphics :

*Note : my sim details, visual effects and texture quality in game settings are all set on high !

My Reshade Preset

HQ MOD - *kwimii (tutorial used : here)

Shader tweaks

Presets :

Hair Color Presets Replacement

Eye Color Presets Replacement

Face Presets Default Replacement V.2 : Headshapes, Eyes, Nose, Lips

Defaults :

Default Eyes (Redwood)

Default Skin + Asian Skins + No Skin Glow

Default Face Overlay (Replaces Default Eyelashes Texture)

Make-Up :

Main Favorite Creators : @sourlemonsimblr, @smallsimmer, @pleaseputnamehere (their make-up cc is like my religion deadass)

Eyelashes

Eye Contacts (all from @satellite-sims)

Hair :

Main Favorite Creators : @rollo-rolls, @nemiga-sims-archive, @lalasimmer, @cazysims (on TSR), @vmsims25

Eyebrows :

Main Favorite Creators : @sourlemonsimblr, @pralinesims (on TSR)

Main sliders :

*Note : most of the sliders I use are EA sliders, other sliders are just to make my sims look a bit more unique but these sliders I'm listing I always use them with no hesitation

SmoothFaceNormals

Male Jaw Sliders

Credits : 

My method

I recorded the polycount of 10 items from each category below so that I could get a decent representation from each one to calculate the average. Since there is a wide range in some of the categories, I’ve opted to also include the minimum, median, and maximum for a clearer picture.

This list is not exhaustive; I feel like after a while, you kind of get the point. Also, this has been sitting on my computer for ages, and I don’t know if/when I will continue collecting data for it, so I figured I would just share what I have for now.

CAS

Tops:

Average polycount: 3538.4

Minimum polycount: 2868

Median polycount: 3443

Maximum polycount: 4872

Outfits:

Average polycount: 4281.8

Minimum polycount: 3865

Median polycount: 4205.5

Maximum polycount: 4932

Bottoms:

Average polycount: 1094.2

Minimum polycount: 770

Median polycount: 1016

Maximum polycount: 1768

Hair:

Average polycount: 4343.2

Minimum polycount: 2298

Median polycount: 4691

Maximum polycount: 6840

Shoes:

Average polycount: 621.6

Minimum polycount: 456

Median polycount: 594

Maximum polycount: 968

Accessories

Average polycount: 520.8

Minimum polycount: 118

Median polycount: 433

Maximum polycount: 1098

Objects

Dining Chairs

Average polycount: 806.3

Minimum polycount: 362

Median polycount: 799

Maximum polycount: 1054

Sofas and Loveseats

Average polycount: 1699.4

Minimum polycount: 958

Median polycount: 1414

Maximum polycount: 2920

Livingroom Chairs

Average polycount: 791.0

Minimum polycount: 290

Median polycount: 920

Maximum polycount: 1006

Beds

Average polycount: 3529.4

Minimum polycount: 1974

Median polycount: 3316

Maximum polycount: 5668

Plants

Average polycount: 746.3

Minimum polycount: 104

Median polycount: 801

Maximum polycount: 1998

Sculptures

Average polycount: 1659.3

Min polycount: 440

Median polycount: 1417.5

Max polycount: 5263

Misc

Average polycount: 914.4

Min polycount: 380

Median polycount: 988

Max polycount: 1926

Curtains

Average polycount: 762.4

Min polycount: 262

Median polycount: 802

Max polycount: 1438

Wall Art

Average polycount: 524.1

Min polycount: 62

Median polycount: 171

Max polycount: 2403

Dining Tables

Average polycount: 754.8

Min polycount: 468

Median polycount: 685

Max: 1262

For vehicles, check out this follow-up from @dhalsims

Further reading from people who are way smarter than me:

Polygon counts and Sims CC by @simlicious, plus their tutorial on how to check polycounts using TSRW. Edited to add: check out their newest essay about polycount vs vertices!

Let’s Talk Polygons by @mspoodle1 plus their tutorial on how to use S3pe to check polycounts.

A warning about high polycount custom content - for downloaders and creators by @tommeraas-cc (this post is for TS4 but still relevant for TS3 as well).

Maybe no one cares about cc polycounts anymore, but I sure do. 😅

Disclaimer and Credits

Desiree and I are no tech experts and just wrote down how we did this. Our ability to help if you run into trouble is limited. So use at your own risk and back up your files!

We both are on Windows 10 and start the game via TS3W.exe, not the EA App. So your experience may differ.

This guide is based on our own experiments and of course criisolate’s post on tumblr:  https://www.tumblr.com/criisolate/749374223346286592/ill-explain-what-i-did-below-before-making-any

This guide is brought to you by Desiree-UK and Norn.

Compatibility

Note: This will conflict with other programs that “inject” functionality into your game so they may stop working. Notably

Reshade

GShade

Nvidia Experience/Nvidia Inspector/Nvidia Shaders

RivaTuner Statistics Server

It does work seamlessly with LazyDuchess’ Smooth Patch.

LazyDuchess’ Launcher: unknown

Alder Lake patch: does conflict. One user got it working by starting the game by launching TS3.exe (also with admin rights) instead of TS3W.exe. This seemed to create the cache file for DXVK. After that, the game could be started from TS3W.exe again. That might not work for everyone though.

A word on FPS and V-Sync

With such an old game it’s crucial to cap framerate (FPS). This is done in the DXVK.conf file. Same with V-Sync.

You need

a text editor (easiest to use is Windows Notepad)

to download DXVK, version 2.3.1 from here: https://github.com/doitsujin/DXVK/releases/tag/v2.3.1 Extract the archive, you are going to need the file d3d9.dll from the x32 folder

the configuration file DXVK.conf from here: https://github.com/doitsujin/DXVK/blob/master/DXVK.conf. Optional: download the edited version with the required changes here.

administrator rights on your PC

to know your game’s installation path (bin folder) and where to find the user folder

a tiny bit of patience :)

First Step: Backup

Backup your original Bin folder in your Sims 3 installation path! The DXVK file may overwrite some files! The path should be something like this (for retail): \Program Files (x86)\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3\Game\Bin (This is the folder where also GraphicsRule.sgr and the TS3W.exe and TS3.exe are located.)

Backup your options.ini in your game’s user folder! Making the game use the DXVK file will count as a change in GPU driver, so the options.ini will reset once you start your game after installation. The path should be something like this: \Documents\Electronic Arts\The Sims 3 (This is the folder where your Mods folder is located).

Preparations

Make sure you run the game as administrator. You can check that by right-clicking on the icon that starts your game. Go to Properties > Advanced and check the box “Run as administrator”. Note: This will result in a prompt each time you start your game, if you want to allow this application to make modifications to your system. Click “Yes” and the game will load.

2. Make sure you have the DEP settings from Windows applied to your game.

Open the Windows Control Panel.

Click System and Security > System > Advanced System Settings.

On the Advanced tab, next to the Performance heading, click Settings.

Click the Data Execution Prevention tab.

Select 'Turn on DEP for all programs and services except these”:

Click the Add button, a window to the file explorer opens. Navigate to your Sims 3 installation folder (the bin folder once again) and add TS3W.exe and TS3.exe.

Click OK. Then you can close all those dialog windows again.

Setting up the DXVK.conf file

Open the file with a text editor and delete everything in it. Then add these values:

d3d9.textureMemory = 1

d3d9.presentInterval = 1

d3d9.maxFrameRate = 60

d3d9.presentInterval enables V-Sync,d3d9.maxFrameRate sets the FrameRate. You can edit those values, but never change the first line (d3d9.textureMemory)!

The original DXVK.conf contains many more options in case you would like to add more settings.

A. no Reshade/GShade

Setting up DXVK

Copy the two files d3d9.dll and DXVK.conf into the Bin folder in your Sims 3 installation path. This is the folder where also GraphicsRule.sgr and the TS3W.exe and TS3.exe are located. If you are prompted to overwrite files, please choose yes (you DID backup your folder, right?)

And that’s basically all that is required to install.

Start your game now and let it run for a short while. Click around, open Buy mode or CAS, move the camera.

Now quit without saving. Once the game is closed fully, open your bin folder again and double check if a file “TS3W.DXVK-cache” was generated. If so – congrats! All done!

Things to note

Heads up, the game options will reset! So it will give you a “vanilla” start screen and options.

Don’t worry if the game seems to be frozen during loading. It may take a few minutes longer to load but it will load eventually.

The TS3W.DXVK-cache file is the actual cache DXVK is using. So don’t delete this! Just ignore it and leave it alone. When someone tells to clear cache files – this is not one of them!

Update Options.ini

Go to your user folder and open the options.ini file with a text editor like Notepad.

Find the line “lastdevice = “. It will have several values, separated by semicolons. Copy the last one, after the last semicolon, the digits only. Close the file.

Now go to your backup version of the Options.ini file, open it and find that line “lastdevice” again. Replace the last value with the one you just copied. Make sure to only replace those digits!

Save and close the file.

Copy this version of the file into your user folder, replacing the one that is there.

Things to note:

If your GPU driver is updated, you might have to do these steps again as it might reset your device ID again. Though it seems that the DXVK ID overrides the GPU ID, so it might not happen.

How do I know it’s working?

Open the task manager and look at RAM usage. Remember the game can only use 4 GB of RAM at maximum and starts crashing when usage goes up to somewhere between 3.2 – 3.8 GB (it’s a bit different for everybody).

So if you see values like 2.1456 for RAM usage in a large world and an ongoing save, it’s working. Generally the lower the value, the better for stability.

Also, DXVK will have generated its cache file called TS3W.DXVK-cache in the bin folder. The file size will grow with time as DXVK is adding stuff to it, e.g. from different worlds or savegames. Initially it might be something like 46 KB or 58 KB, so it’s really small.

Optional: changing MemCacheBudgetValue

MemCacheBudgetValue determines the size of the game's VRAM Cache. You can edit those values but the difference might not be noticeable in game. It also depends on your computer’s hardware how much you can allow here.

The two lines of seti MemCacheBudgetValue correspond to the high RAM level and low RAM level situations. Therefore, theoretically, the first line MemCacheBudgetValue should be set to a larger value, while the second line should be set to a value less than or equal to the first line.

The original values represent 200MB (209715200) and 160MB (167772160) respectively. They are calculated as 200x1024x1024=209175200 and 160x1024x1024=167772160.

Back up your GraphicsRules.sgr file! If you make a mistake here, your game won’t work anymore.

Go to your bin folder and open your GraphicsRules.sgr with a text editor.

Search and find two lines that set the variables for MemCacheBudgetValue.

Modify these two values to larger numbers. Make sure the value in the first line is higher or equals the value in the second line. Examples for values: 1073741824, which means 1GB 2147483648 which means 2 GB. -1 (minus 1) means no limit (but is highly experimental, use at own risk)

Save and close the file. It might prompt you to save the file to a different place and not allow you to save in the Bin folder. Just save it someplace else in this case and copy/paste it to the Bin folder afterwards. If asked to overwrite the existing file, click yes.

Now start your game and see if it makes a difference in smoothness or texture loading. Make sure to check RAM and VRAM usage to see how it works.

You might need to change the values back and forth to find the “sweet spot” for your game. Mine seems to work best with setting the first value to 2147483648 and the second to 1073741824.

Uninstallation

Delete these files from your bin folder (installation path):

d3d9.dll

DXVK.conf

TS3W.DXVK-cache

And if you have it, also TS3W_d3d9.log

if you changed the values in your GraphicsRule.sgr file, too, don’t forget to change them back or to replace the file with your backed up version.

OR

delete the bin folder and add it from your backup again.

B. with Reshade/GShade

Follow the steps from part A. no Reshade/Gshade to set up DXVK.

If you are already using Reshade (RS) or GShade (GS), you will be prompted to overwrite files, so choose YES. RS and GS may stop working, so you will need to reinstall them.

Whatever version you are using, the interface shows similar options of which API you can choose from (these screenshots are from the latest versions of RS and GS).

Please note: 

Each time you install and uninstall DXVK, switching the game between Vulkan and d3d9, is essentially changing the graphics card ID again, which results in the settings in your options.ini file being repeatedly reset.

ReShade interface

Choose – Vulcan

Click next and choose your preferred shaders.

Hopefully this install method works and it won't install its own d3d9.dll file.

If it doesn't work, then choose DirectX9 in RS, but you must make sure to replace the d3d9.dll file with DXVK's d3d9.dll (the one from its 32bit folder, checking its size is 3.86mb.)

GShade interface

Choose –           

Executable Architecture: 32bit

Graphics API: DXVK

Hooking: Normal Mode

GShade is very problematic, it won't work straight out of the box and the overlay doesn't show up, which defeats the purpose of using it if you can't add or edit the shaders you want to use.

Check the game's bin folder, making sure the d3d9.dll is still there and its size is 3.86mb - that is DXVK's dll file.

If installing using the DXVK method doesn't work, you can choose the DirectX method, but there is no guarantee it works either.

The game will not run with these files in the folder:

d3d10core.dll

d3d11.dll

dxgi.dll

If you delete them, the game will start but you can't access GShade! It might be better to use ReShade.

Some Vulcan and DirectX information, if you’re interested:

Vulcan is for rather high end graphic cards but is backward compatible with some older cards. Try this method with ReShade or GShade first.

DirectX is more stable and works best with older cards and systems. Try this method if Vulcan doesn't work with ReShade/GShade in your game – remember to replace the d3d9.dll with DXVK's d3d9.dll.

For more information on the difference between Vulcan and DirectX, see this article: