Smoother Performance Via A New User Account


The direct link to this post is https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?p=826560
The direct link to this thread is https://modthesims.info/showthread.php?t=35914


Explanation

There are several things you can do to make the game run a lot smoother and better without buying any upgrades. This guide can really apply to any game you have.

What we're going to do is create a new user, then take all the processing overhead out of that user. After that we'll tell Windows to give the game higher priority than most other processes, which means the game gets almost all of your computer's power - which means better and smoother gameplay, hopefully.


Credit

Thanks to Sophie B, of ESI (it's a business), for the idea of de-theming Windows, dropping the number of colours, and removing the screensaver.. and also for prompting me to write this page.


Notes

This is only designed for Windows XP. If you have Windows 2000, ME or 98, they don't take a lot of processor overhead so it would be pointless anyway.

This page assumes you've already got Sims 2 installed on your PC.
This page also assumes you've installed the game to the default directory. If you haven't, surf to the appropriate directory in Step 3.

You will need to print this document (using Internet Explorer, Firefox doesn't split the graphics properly), or view it on a second machine, because part of making a new user account means logging off and thus closing this browser window.


Smooth up your performance - short version

Make a new admin user account.
Login as that account. Switch to Windows classic theme, remove all the Windows effects, screensaver off, 15/16bit colour.
Make a new batch file, with this command in it:
cmd /c start /AboveNormal [sims 2 latest expansion exe name]
Save file as sims2.bat in the TSBin directory of your latest EP. Make a shortcut to that batch file. Run game via it.


Smooth up your performance - detailed version

Step 1

The first thing we're going to do is create a new user on the machine. You will need admin rights to do this.

Click on the Start Menu and Control Panel. You will see a window something like the one below:




If it does, click User Accounts, circled in lime. If you have the classic view (white background, lots of icons, look towards the bottom and double click "User Accounts".

You'll now see something similar to the following:



Click on "Create a new account", circled in lime.

Give the account a name, such as "Games" or "Sims" - it doesn't really matter what you call it - and click Next

Make sure the "Computer administrator" option is clicked and click Create account.

The new account will be created and you'll be taken back to the previous screen.

Close the User Accounts and Control Panel windows.
Then click the Start Menu and Log Off:



And click the Log Off button.


Your new account will be on the login screen now, click on it. It may take a little while to load on the first run.

Note: You should not run the game at this point, for reasons that will be explained later.


Step 2

The first thing that needs doing with the new account is to trim all the settings down.

Right click on an empty part of the desktop and click Properties:




In the following window, click the Theme drop down (the bit with the red line) and click 'Windows Classic':




Then click on the Screen Saver tab, change the screen saver to '(None)' by clicking the dropdown box (red). This will disable the screensaver only on this games/sims account.




Finally, click the Settings tab and change the color quality to 16 bit (if 15-bit is listed, click that):




Click OK and after a few seconds, the screen will completely change into the classic style.


Now we're going to turn all the visual styles off.

Click the Start Menu and right-click on My Computer, then click Properties:




Click the Advanced tab and then the topmost Settings button:




Click the 'Adjust for best performance' option:




Then OK and OK again.

Windows will now look pretty bare, but this is good because it won't have to worry about displaying stuff. You may notice that it's more responsive too.


Step 3

We're now going to create a new shortcut to run the game.

Open Notepad, which is located in the Start Menu, All Programs, Accessories.


This is different dependant on which expansion you have, you need to follow the instructions for the latest expansion pack you have.


No expansions: In notepad, type the following: cmd /c start /AboveNormal Sims2.exe

University: In notepad, type the following: cmd /c start /AboveNormal Sims2EP1.exe

Nightlife: In notepad, type the following: cmd /c start /AboveNormal Sims2EP2.exe

Open For Business: In notepad, type the following: cmd /c start /AboveNormal Sims2EP3.exe

Family Fun Stuff: In notepad, type the following: cmd /c start /AboveNormal Sims2SP1.exe

Glamour Life Stuff: In notepad, type the following: cmd /c start /AboveNormal Sims2SP2.exe

Pets: In notepad, type the following: cmd /c start /AboveNormal Sims2EP4.exe Thanks MarnieBear!

Click File... Save.

At the top it will say 'Save in:'. Click the dropdown (with the red mark across it) and click the one with C: in it:




Now double click Program Files, and EA Games, then the folder of the latest expansion you have, then TSBin.

In the file name entry near the bottom, type in "sims2.bat" (including the quotes):




Click Save. Close Notepad.

Now we just need to create a shortcut to those files. Right click on an empty part of the Desktop and click New... then Shortcut:



In the new window, click Browse...

Click the + next to:
My Computer
C:
Program Files
EA Games

and then the folder of the latest expansion pack you have, and then TSBin.
Finally, click the sims2 that has this icon next to it: and click OK.


(note this image has deliberately had several files "removed" from it to save space)


Your window should now look something like the one below:




Click Next then give it a name, e.g. Sims 2, and click Finish

What this does is launches the game with "Above Normal" priority, which means Windows gives it slightly more attention than other apps.. which basically means it should run slight smoother and may even load a little quicker, in addition to steps 1 and 2.

Unfortunately, this method cannot be used to put the game into Windowed Mode.


Step 4


With the tweaking done, you now need to copy your Sims saved files from your old user account to this one.

Click the Start Menu and click My Computer. Double click the entry with (C in it. and double click on 'Documents and Settings' (Note: if you've moved the location of My Documents, you need to go to the place where you put it)

You'll see a list of the users of the computer.
Double click the name you normally log on with, and double click on [name] Documents.

Double click on 'EA Games' and right click on 'The Sims 2' then click on Cut:




Now close that window, click on the Start Menu and click My Documents. Click on File.. New.. Folder:




Type EA Games as the folder name, then double click it.
Click on Edit... Paste.


The saved games will now be transferred to the gaming account. This should happen pretty much instantly, unless you have My Documents stored on another drive in which case it will take a minute or two.



That's it! Your new account is all set up and trimmed down so it should provide better game performance, you may even be able to nudge the graphics quality up a bit.

One thing to note is that all downloads will now go into the Downloads folder on the new account, and not into the old account's one.

To play the game, simply log on to the Gaming account and run the shortcut you made on the Desktop.