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How to run Sims 2 Ultimate Collection on Windows 11

Ultimate Collection only, doesn't work with Legacy Collection!!!

This guide tries to eliminate most issues at once you find all over Reddit etc., I felt like a single compilation of most common issues is still missing. I had all of these issues when I tried to run Sims 2 on Win 11. Every PC is different of course so no guarantee of success, but If you do all of these following steps the game should work beautifully on Win 11 and eliminates all issues along the way. Let's go:

1. Download graphics-rules-maker: https://www.simsnetwork.com/tools/graphics-rules-maker

a) Run the installer and follow its instructions

b) Start the application from the start menu

c) The application will try to locate your game automatically, make sure Sims 2 is selected, not SimCity or whatever. Locate/browse the game installation manually before continuing if it doesn't recognise it already.

d) Auto-detect button is supposed to get you a good selection of tweaks, based on your computer, but they DID NOT work for me but caused crashes. You can manually tweak, so I'm sharing my stats here too, you can try them and see if they work for you. Before I continue with my stats, here are some important notes:

Tweaks depend on what graphics card you're using, you can manually select the graphics card in the tab "device info" you want to use. It works fluently with Nvidia, AMD and also with "weaker" Intel cards. I use Nvidia, but I tested it on my worse Intel card too and didn't really experience a difference in game performance, the game is old after all and doesn't require a good card. I recommend using the better card though, but everything works.

However, and this is important with either card: The "Force texture memory" game tweak setting in graphic rules maker. Autodetect recommends "do not force", but I recommend to always put it on 4096MB, no matter your graphics card. Why? I needed 2 years to find out my game always crashed after 20 minutes because my auto setting was on 16000 MB or something (auto-adjusted to my modern GTX Card), and the old game is overwhelmed with this high setting of a modern graphics card, so it crashes. A 32bit old engine game like Sims 2 can never handle more than 4GB memory. So make sure to select "force texture memory" on 4096MB, NOT the auto option "do not force".

My stats (NVIDIA GTX 1660 TI):

Force Texture Memory: 4096 MB

[x] Disable texture Memory estimate Adjustment

[ ] Enable driver's Memory Manager (keep it disabled, enabling it caused crashes for me because the old game is unable to manage the driver's memory manager of a modern card. You only enable it if your graphics card is VERY old, like 20 years Win XP era old lol)

[x] Disable sim shadows

[ ] Fix AMD Radeon hd 7000 series recognition (I guess only select if you have an AMD card like that)

[ ] High Quality on Intel graphics (select only if you use intel card)

[ ] Support vsync on intel (select only if you use intel card)

Default Resolution: 1920x1080

Maximum Resolution: 1920x1080

e) Save the files. This may ask you to add your graphics card to the game's database, allow it.

2. Change your monitor settings to 60Hz. Most modern PCs don't have this option anymore (how to check: press Windows key, type "view advanced display info", click the system settings option, scroll down to the refresh rate section and click on the dropdown - if a 60Hz option is not avalable, this is what causes your Directx9 error!!!

If 60Hz IS available select it and you can skip to step 3.

If you don't have the 60Hz option (which is likely), you need to download another program which lets you add the 60Hz option to your Win 11.

So in that case: Download CRU (Custom Resolution Utility): https://www.monitortests.com/forum/Thread-Custom-Resolution-Utility-CRU

a) Download the zip and unzip it on your Computer, e.g. Desktop

b) Open the extracted folder and double click Cru.exe to run it

c) Click on the add button under the detailed resolution box in the top right

d) Ensure that the refresh rate is 60Hz and you can leave the other Information as it is by default. Press ok, press ok.

e) Restart your computer. Yes, very important, doesn't work if you don't.

f) Run restart64.exe from the extracted CRU folder.

g) Go back to your advanced display settings and now you should see 60Hz as option, select it and confirm.

Site note: Whenever you run Sims 2 make sure your display settings are on 60hz! You can change it again for other games. Some people say it's enough to just have the option, but I actually have to select it.

3. Download 4GB Patch: https://ntcore.com/4gb-patch/

Side note: No, this is not the same as the "Force Texture Memory" setting in graphics rules maker, so yes, you ABSOLUTELY need to download this patch, too. Force texture memory tells Sims 2 how much VRAM it should assume your graphics card has. This 4GB patch tells windows that Sims 2 is allowed to use up to 4GB of your computer's RAM instead of the default 2GB limit for old 32-bit applications. This is essential to avoid crashes and ensure smooth performance. So this patch makes the game so much more stable and eliminates crashes caused by running out of memory. It's vital for an enjoyable gameplay.

a) Unzip the file (e.g. on Desktop)

b) Open unzipped folder and double click 4gb_patch.exe, "Select executable" explorer should appear then

c) Click browse and navigate to the folder where you have sims2ep9.exe (For me: c: > the sims2 ultimate collection > fun with pets > sp9 > tsbin > sims2ep9)

d) Click on sims2ep9, then it patches, "executable successfully patched" should appear

e) Delete the Sims2 shortcut on your desktop and copy the new sims2ep9 file you just patched onto the desktop. Whenever you run the game you have to ALWAYS execute it with the newly patched sims2ep9.exe file otherwise it doesn't work, that's why you should replace the old shortcut on your desktop

Side note: Some recommend to do a copy/backup of sims2ep9.exe before you patch it in case something doesn't work (if you do backup it, rename it to sims2ep9backup.exe or something so you can distinguish it from the new one later), I didn't copy/backup it, but if you wanna be sure you can.

4. Now run Sims 2, executing the patched Sims2ep9 file, not the old one. It should work now, in full screen, beautifully. However you might have two more issues in game we can solve very easily in game too:

a) The Sims are glowing like Twilight vampires in Create a Sim!! / The Sims are black like a shadow in Create a Sim!!

To fix that, go back to the neighbourhood, open cheat bar with control + shift + c, type boolprop useShaders true and enter. Then go back to Create a Sim and the Sims should look normal again. If they're still glowing/dark, go back to the neighbourhood, open cheat bar and try boolprop useShaders false instead. Whether it's true or false depends on your system. Yes I couldn't believe the fix is so easy, but it is.

One of these two settings almost always fixes glowing or dark Sims. Just remember the cheat only works when you enter it in the neighbourhood.

b) The screen is flickering on the plot! Now this is terribly annoying, but also easy to fix: Go to the settings in game, graphics settings, and find the setting "smooth edges". Set it to max by setting the slider to "more".

This is it, your game should run beautifully now. Again this only works for ultimate collection, not Legacy Collection. All of this should eliminate most issues at once for Ultimate Collection. It took me years and a lot of frustration to find all of that out and I was so happy when I could fix everything and play my favourite game again. Sims 2 is amazing, timeless and people play it to this day but keep having issues to run it on Win 11, so I hope this will be helpful to someone. It's annoying to jump from one Reddit post to the next so I tried to compile the solution to every issue most have in one single post. Cheers and happy gaming 🎉

#sims 2 #sims 2 gameplay #windows 11 #sims tutorial

honiweii

[NejiTen] Written for each other : NejiTen canon (1/5)

After watching Naruto for the 1000th time…There is a thought that keeps spinning in my head... Kishimoto shipped NejiTen. from. the start (?)

NejiTen has always been my golden OTP. I just want to share some things that I noticed about them while watching Naruto. And without realizing it, I made a very, very long list …. So, I divided my analysis into 5 parts

* * * *

1. Neji and Tenten (Theme Song)

They are the only ones to share a same theme song (with a very slightly different beat, but it’s the same) !

This is not a coincidence ! Nothing is a coincidence, especially not when you have to work on a character like Neji who is obsessed with fate.

Neji and Tenten characters:

Neji is a character tortured by his fate. During his first appearances, he is bitter towards his clan. He wants to go against his fate, taking the path of hate and revenge (like Sasuke). He always wanted to rebel against his clan.

(↑ A/N: I emphasize this sentence because it’s clearly the purpose of his character, and that will not change. It’s just the way to reach the end goal that will change. I will quote what he says in episode 412 :

“Naruto and Gaara both challenged their destinies and overcame hardship. They wouldn’t turn their backs and say it’s someone else’s problem.”

Tenten was always by his side, even when he was arrogant and cruel. She knows him perfectly : his story, his moods, his techniques, everything (and vice versa: he knows her perfectly). Tenten is his sun, his balance and the way for him to rebel against his clan.

Remember, Kishi said Tenten was his favorite character. He must have taken a long time to design her character and I think he associated her with Neji from the start.

This is not new information, Kishi didn’t give the girls much credit except Sakura who is the main character with Naruto and Sasuke (but that’s normal, the story begins with them). What I mean is: he focused more on Neji (a boy) and so Tenten is kind of created for him.

There are many reasons like: the choice of the theme song, the fact that Neji and Tenten are always together, and that Tenten is always on Neji’s side to support him. So really, Tenten is the girl who belongs to Neji and Neji belongs to Tenten.

* * * *

2. Symbols

I just realized they have a lot of symbols and that connects them.

Dragon and Phoenix :

Neji is symbolized by the Phoenix and Tenten by the Dragon.

In Chinese mythology, the phoenix (yang) and the dragon (yin) represent the perfect balance for a successful married life.

Also ! We can find the representation of the Dragon and the Phoenix in their physical appearance. But this time it’s Neji who has the characteristics of the Dragon (his eyes, the cold tone of his skin) and Tenten of the Phoenix (her warm tones : her skin, her hair and eyes are reminiscent of the flames that cover the phoenix)

Zodiac signs + Date of birthday:

Tenten = Pisces (Date of birthday : March 9)

Neji = Cancer (Date of birthday : July 3)

They are perfectly compatible ! Their zodiac signs are compatible, as is their birthday number (their birthday number follows the table of 3 😅 So, 9 and 3 are perfectly compatible 🤣 But, these numbers are really compatible in numerology, I checked it.)

Also ! Neji is obsessed with fate and Tenten’s hobby is fortune-telling. (She is also fascinated by the supernatural and ghosts.)

Blood type :

Tenten : Type B

Neji : Type O

Sky (天 ) and Bird :

The caged bird represents Neji trapped in his fate.

The name of Tenten in Chinese 天天 means “sky” (sky sky, or heaven)

And what does a caged bird look for ?

The sky.

Fly in the sunny sky.

(↑, this is not a coincidence. Neji could have had two Earth scrolls in his hands or another person on his team could have held the scrolls. But no. It’s Neji, and he was holding 天天 in his hands. Plus, Tenten was looking close to him.)

Also, in the manga and the anime, I noticed that before showing Tenten and Neji in a frame, there were birds shown right before.

(↑ zoom ↓), oh ! Kishi drew Tenten with lipstick for Neji ↑

…

* * * *

3. Nejiten reference

(A/N: I thought Hashirama and Mito were Tenten’s parents…. but no…)

Another obvious sign slipped discreetly into the manga.

Which of these characters was drawn first ? No matter, Kishi implicitly plotted Neji and Tenten’s fate. The guy with the long hair ended up with the girl with two buns.

I also don’t think Hiashi would have objected. He seemed to like Neji’s friends and like I said above, Neji was a rebel. He wanted to change the systems of his clan. His goal was to change his fate, be free. to make his own decisions.

The real change of the Hyuuga clan would have been done by him, and he would have married Tenten no matter how, because they were meant to be together since the creation of their character.

Tenten was the only one on Neji’s side from the start. Just remember the battle of Neji and Naruto (episode 62), it was Tenten commenting on Neji’s actions. She already knew him perfectly: his strengths, his weaknesses. She had faith in him, and he had faith in her too.

* * * *

So, when Kishimoto created their character, did he think about all of this ? Is it all a coincidence ? I don’t think so, but if it does, the fate is truly amazing ! I call it the red thread of fate.

How I'd bring back Neji

Yeah I know the writers have shown no intention to bring him back so far, but let's just mess around a bit because we can all agree his death was badly written and I cannot accept it lol. So how would I write him back?

Edo Tensei? Some Rinnegan bs? Nope. Because as many people have expressed, it would be weird for him to come back in a teenage body when everyone is in their 30s, and Edo Tensei doesn't let you age.

So here's my idea:

Neji's body was kidnapped by Kumo-Nins right after his death to get his Byakugan, successfully CPRed him, but he's been in coma for the following years because the damage was BAD, brought to Kumogakure. They can't kill him and take his eyes out because they're still sealed, so they're trying to find a way to break the seal, therefore keeping him alive.

How would that make sense??

Ninjas from Kumogakure are after the Byakugan for ages, kidnapped Hinata in the past and also are responsible for Hizashi's death. Trying to get a Byakugan from the main family was unsuccessful so far, but they keep trying to find a way to get a Byakugan. And maybe the eyes of the branch family are just enough if they can develop a jutsu to break the seal.

So let's say when Neji died, some of them witnessed the death scene. It's war, everything is messy, and there's no time to mourn him. Remember how Gai Sensei told Lee to keep going, there was no time left for mourning Neji in that moment. So everyone went their way very quickly and left Neji's body alone.

So let's say then some Kumo-Ninjas - among them one or two with good medical skills - saw their chance. After all they witnessed how Neji's curse mark vanished, so they thought maybe if they successfully CPR Neji the seal will also be gone again. It's worth a try at least.

In Naruto many characters have been brought back to life again shortly after their death and even in real life, it's possible to die and come back to life again with a successful CPR (as long as you're not braindead, but for Neji this wasn't specifically stated). Like usually you have to perform CPR immediately, chances of success are very low if you even wait for 10 minutes. In some rare cases however, a CPR was successful after 40 minutes. The world record is even 50 hours, that's two days!!!

However, even if you're successfully reanimated, there's a high chance of brain damage, especially if the reanimation took longer. One symptom can be amnesia, losing your memory.

So here's my idea: Neji dies, his friends mourn him but as Gai says they have to leave immediately. Then after 10 minutes or so, when everyone left, the Kumo-Ninjas come and reanimate Neji in the hopes to get an unsealed Byakugan. The reanimation takes half an hour, but eventually they're successful. However, Neji doesn't wake up and is in a coma-like state because his damage is very bad. But with good medical jutsu they manage to keep him alive temporarily as if he's on machines.

Before they leave they create a double of Neji's corpse and leave it there so there's no suspicion later. Nobody is gonna search for Neji or notice a kidnap if they think he's dead anyway, so it's the perfect idea to go for a Byakugan user who's allegedly dead.

War is messy, a lot of people die and cleaning is a big task, so in war time I don't think they'd examine every corpse as clearly. Also remember how everyone thought Obito was dead although there wasn't even a corpse? They just believed it and didn't question anything further because it was messy war time.

So for Neji they create a corpse double and Konoha buries that one, not examining it more thoroughly in this difficult time of cleaning up the war mess.

Meanwhile the Kumo-Ninjas have the real Neji body they just reanimated and hardly keep alive with medical jutsu, and they escape the battlefield silently when everyone is busy. They go back to Kumo, steal medical equipment and put Neji on machines in a hidden and safe room because they can't perform their medical jutsu consistently.

So now Neji is in coma in Kumogakure. When his kidnappers check his eyes (I mean in Naruto it's easy to put eyes in another body and back as if it's glasses) they notice the Byakugan is still sealed, so they can't use his eyes and kill him off. However, this is the closest they ever got possession of the Byakugan. So they leave Neji on the machines in coma, nobody misses him anyway, and research to find a way to break the seal. There's no time pressure.

Many years pass, let's say 10 years or so, and Neji naturally wakes up from coma. Absolutely possible, in real life there are many cases of people waking up from coma after years and years. And in Naruto you have Ao for example who was in coma after the war and eventually woke up.

So Neji wakes up finally, his body aged, but his memory is lost. This is because the CPR was late back then, and late CPR causes brain damage like memory loss. Let's say his brain is fine otherwise, it's just the memory loss and of course his motor skills and muscles are kinda fucked after coma, but you can train that.

So Neji wakes up with no memory, therefore having no desire to go home to Konoha. The Kumo-Ninjas tell him a completely different story of who he is and he believes it because why not, he doesn't remember shit. They could even put another seal on him that prevents him from getting his memories back. They tell him he's not a Ninja but just some normal relative of theirs who used to be a hair stylist (I think Neji would be talented with that lol) or something, just a normal occupation. They also give him another name. A whole new identity.

They're not killing him off because they still haven't found a way to break the Byakugan seal, but keep on researching. And the eyes are most safe in his body. However they put some contact lenses genjutsu on his eyes so they appear like normal eyes, so neither Neji or anyone else notices it. He regularly has to go to "therapy" to get his motor skills etc. back but in the process they're also testing to break the Byakugan seal without him noticing. They also cut his hair before he woke up (sorry Neji lol) because it's easier to take care of and so he looks a bit different.

It's much more difficult to hold a person captive against their will, so they decide to let him walk freely in Kumo, telling him they're his relatives so he lives with them and trusts them, helping him build up his occupation as hair stylist or who knows what. They tell other Kumo people he's a relative who's been in coma for years and they brought him to their village after he recovered and there's no reason for them to question it.

So there's Neji, now called differently, in Kumo, lost his memories, being your average hair stylist. His eyes have a different look due to a genjutsu and his hair is cut. Nobody questions his identity, why should anyone. Neji has no desire to go to Konoha because he doesn't remember anything and the Ninjas who kidnapped him make sure he never goes to Konoha, telling him scary stories about it or whatever.

Some day however, in the present, let's say Kiba goes to Kumogakure for a simple mission. It could be anyone who knows Neji, but I felt like Kiba is perfect because I want someone to meet him first who wasn't that close with Neji, but still his friend. Someone who wouldn't instantly notice this is Neji, but still got suspicious. Someone who isn't as smart as Shikamaru but also not a dumbass, just average. To have some rising tension, some guessing games and not immediate relief.

So Kiba (or whoever) is in Kumo for a mission and decides to have a haircut before he leaves again, going to Neji's shop. He has a weird feeling when he meets him because he seems so familiar. Something is off. The way Neji talks, SMELLS, acts and even the face features remind him of someone....

And then you have a whole new arc of getting Neji back into the plot and him gradually getting his memories back and I guess you can continue the story however you desire.

What do you think? I like the idea and I think it makes sense, it'd be an easy way to bring Neji back without some op asspull magic jutsu. And he'd age like anyone else. Leave a comment if I missed anything or if you have any idea how to make better adjustments! Thanks for reading, may the power of youth be with you 🔥

#neji #nejihyuga #naruto #narutoshippuden #nejihyuuga #neji hyuga #naruto headcanons

Tried Tenten's hairstyle