Metropol

I bought the new bundle pack of The Sims Triple Deluxe yesterday, and I've installed the first CD (the original).

I get as far as the loading screen, but when the neighbourhood is meant to appear, it just flips back to the desktop and disappears!

I've looked on the Ea.com website, and I've tried the things it's said such as an MP3 conflict, so I've uninstalled loads of possible conflicting software such as Winamp, RealPlayer etc., but the problem is still occuring.

The game needs DirectX v8.0a, but I'm using 9.0b. However, when I bring up the DirectX diagnosis tool (Start-> Run-> "DXDIAG"), it says:

"Hardware accelerated Direct3D 9+ is not available because the display driver does not support it. You may be able to get a newer driver from the hardware manufacturer".

I don't even know what my video/graphics card is. It just says: SiS 650 and the driver is: SiSGRV.dll

Can anyone help me play Sims?

Eurgh, sounds like you've got an o/b SiS graphics chip, possibly the worst manufacturer of chipsets out there. But they are cheap I suppose.

You can see if there's an update available from download.sis.com; but to be honest, you'd be better off buying and installing a decent graphics card for your computer, it would make the game run so much faster.

It's not likely there'll be an AGP port on your motherboard with there being integrated graphics, but not to worry, you should be able to get a decent PCI graphics card from your local shop or here.

I too have a SiS 650 Graphics Card, and am having the exact same problem with 'Crazy Taxi 2'. I click the icon, the CD will whir for a couple of seconds, then everything will just disappear and go back to the Desktop - as if I've never done anything. It was pretty frustrating, but after a few tries I gave up.

I've been considering a new Graphics Card for a while, but the fact that everything in my computer seems to be 'integrated' has been putting me off.

Strangely, the last time I tired (which, admittedly, was about a year ago), The Sims worked fine.

Anyway, I'll try the Driver Update and see how I get on.