Mutant Lizards instead of Pets :/ Help!

[Hitlazar]

Hello, not sure if anyone else is experiencing this as I didn't have time to read through any posts, but I have recently been having some....issues....with the graphics on my game.
Some things to know first before I go into it,
I only have Sims 3 and Sims 3 pets, no other expansions. I have no CC, and I only ever used one mod, though I have since uninstalled. I use the TCE cheat and a money cheat, that's it.
The problem began after I uninstalled and reinstalled my game - prior to this I had never had this issue before. I reinstalled due to an issue with my game taking forever to load a save (sometimes taking up to an hour or more to load) and I read online to try reinstalling the game. I made a backup of my saves and the mod and put them back in the files after I reinstalled.
It fixed the load time problem, but I soon realised after coming upon a wild horse that there was now another issue. One of the horses in the herd had the appearance of a mutant lizard dragon type creature - the lines of it's shoulders were extended up wards, it's tail was crooked and extended, from faw away it almost looked like the horse was wearing a huge cape. However, when I got in close to the horse it returned to normal. I then experienced the same thing with a horse from the adoption center, but only when it was saddled, not just as it was.
I only experienced it with a non-horse pet once, when I went into CAS (using TCE) on a cat to edit it's appearance, when I selected a different breed it too became incredibly lizard-like, it had what looked like scales, spikes and it's eyes popped out on stalks. After I exited CAS I never saw it again with the cats or dogs, but have since seen it on almost all the wild horses and one other adopted horse.

So, does anyone know how to fix this? Reinstalling did not work, I removed the mod thinking it may be caused by that but still no change. I have trouble believing it is the computer and not the game, because prior to the reinstall the graphics were perfect. Any suggestions?!

[samoht04]

Sorry but I think you have the graphics card issue. Pet's made several cards not compatible and thus causing the glitchy pets. Here is another thread about it. There is another but I can't find it though.

[Hosfac]

I get this when there's a horse moving on the screen, but only if it's not the active sim.  If it's standing still or the active sim, it doesn't happen.  As far as I'm aware, this is related to an underpowered graphics card, although I couldn't say if there's something else causing your problem or why it didn't happen before.

[jeanamariex3]

It sounds to me like you may not have a graphics card, but rather an integrated chipset. I can understand though why would be frustrated with your distorted pets though, because I was in your shoes, until a couple weeks ago, when I got a card installed.

The thing about chipsets, is that they're not even supposed to be used for gaming. Chipsets are exactly what they sound like, they're attached to the motherboard. They use System RAM, rather than Video RAM. Chipsets are designed for schoolwork/office work. The problem with chipsets, is that if you destroy your GPU, you're also destroying your motherboard, and your CPU, and thereby totaling your computer.

Pets are a new life state, with several details: Fur, hooves, tails, long flowing, fluffy coats, and walk on all fours, as appose to standing up on two legs. This isn't a SimBot from Ambitions, or an Imaginary Friend from Generations. That is why your GPU has officially thrown in the towel.

How old is your computer? If you only have a Vista, all it takes is a new graphics card. Your best bet is to go and get it professionally installed at the computer shop. That way, you can get a warranty on your Graphics Card, and you're putting your computer in the hands of trusted people.

Another clue your GPU was in no way capable of handling pets: Check your default game options. Chances are they were put on the lowest settings with Advanced Rendering off. That's another sign your GPU couldn't handle the rendering of the Pets.

Good luck on your PC!

[Hitlazar]

That could be it - everything I am reading on here and other sites is saying it must be my graphics card. Unfortunately I am basically technologically illiterate, so I can't help much with trying to explain what type of graphics card/chipset I have, but I can tell you that I have a 6 month - 1 year old Asus laptop (ASUS notebook K53F/K62F series) with an Intel Core i3 CPU processor and it says on here that it has a "Intel Graphics Media Accelerator" (Not sure if that is even relevant) Though it only has 75 Gigs of memory available for use, it has a Data (D:) drive with 200 gigs but it's completely empty and I havn't figured out how to get the computer to use that memory instead of the OS (C:) drive which now only has 2.53 gigs free. Not sure if this could be affecting gameplay but I guess it's possible. Not sure how I am supposed to find out what my graphics card is, but from what I have read I can't change it on a laptop anyway so it looks like I'm stuffed

EDIT: Okay, so I found out how to check my graphics card and here it is. Chip type: Intel(R) HD Graphics (Core i3)  -- Is this a non-compatible graphics card/chipset??

[Frey]

I've also had this bug, but only with playable horses, dogs and cats, never with wild animals. You probably already tried this, but resetSim fixes it for me every time it happens.

[jeanamariex3]

Okay, so I found out how to check my graphics card and here it is. Chip type: Intel(R) HD Graphics (Core i3)  -- Is this a non-compatible graphics card/chipset??

According to the system requirements for Sims 3, yes. But sometimes System Requirements can be misleading, and they're typically not updated. The system requirements are for the base game. If you read the system requirements, on the official websites it states under the Intel GMA (Graphics Media Accelerator):

Laptop versions of these chipsets may work, but may run comparatively slower. Standalone cards that are installed in vanilla PCI slots (not PCIe or PCIx or AGP), such as some GeForce FX variants, will perform poorly.

The System Requirements to play the Base Game. Also, look at your game options. (I think I said this before). What are your default settings? If they're at the minimum, (lowest) that means your GPU will throw in the towel halfway through the game.

[Hitlazar]

Settings are on medium. I think I may have possibly gotten rid of this problem though - I did a bunch of reinstalls to fix a different glitch and have not seen this particular glitch in the new game. So fingers crossed!!!!

[candycowgirl]

I also had the same thing happen, the first time I went to the horse ranch in appaloosa plains all the foals there had LONG ears and tails. At first I thought they were some kind of mutant horses with wings, then after zooming in they were normal... Since then I rezoned the ranch into residential lot and made a house and moved in with my own horses... lol. Who could pass up that arena? Lol. Sorry I can't help though, but u are not the only one. (Also I had never uninstalled and reinstalled or done any changes)

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[jeanamariex3]

I've also had this bug, but only with playable horses, dogs and cats, never with wild animals. You probably already tried this, but resetSim fixes it for me every time it happens.

Have you tried creating a pet through CAS? How does it look? If it looks like a mutant, it's your graphics card. I had to get a new one, because I had that problem. Pets, is (I think) the biggest Expansion Pack and will be in the series, as it's very memory hogging, and heavily detailed, on a very complex program with hefty, not to mention, unstable coding. It's not like you're taking a normal Sim, making it into a bartender, or a vampire, these are heavily detailed creatures on all fours, rendering differently than a normal Sim. This is a bigger expansion pack than even Late Night.