iMac 20" for Sims 2?

Hi Kevin,

I have an 20" Core Duo iMac and the Sims 2 runs very well. In fact, most games I play that are Universal binary run smoothly on the computer.

For your further information I have 2GB of ram and the 256 MB ATI Radeon X1600, though I'm confident Sims 2 will run comfortably on less.

Good luck!

Are you thinking of buying one of the new 20 inch aluminum iMacs? If so, I can tell you with certainty that it will NOT play the Sims 2 due the ATI Radeon 2400 video card. Aspyr and Apple are both aware of the problem and those of us who bought a new iMac without asking your question can only hope that a fix is forthcoming. I have been told by a couple of simmers that the game plays okay on the 24 inch model which has a different video card but, personally, I would check this out with Aspyr (the maker of the game).

Wow, I'm glad you caught that lisa!

This is the first I have heard about this problem.
I scoured the internet and only came up with a few isolated complaints about this which is suprising. From what I gather, the new ATI 2400 and 2600 graphics cards are not officially supported by Aspyr, though there are people with the 24" iMac that seem to be able to play the game reasonably well.
The upper model 20" has the same graphics card as the 24", but I couldn't find any comments about if it works or not.

Apparrently Apple and Aspyr are both aware of the issue, but I couldn't find any timelines for potential fixes.

Here is just one of the links I found:
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=368550

Same problem here with the new 20" iMac (basic model). It runs fine and smooth at the native resolution, however there are graphical glitches appearing every 3 or 4 seconds where most of the objects and textures disappear. Hopefully they'll fix it soon.

I have tried to play the game, Kevin, and I was more than a little upset to find out that it doesn't work with my brand new iMac. When I opened a ticket with Aspyr they told me that they were aware of the problem, that it was caused by the video card in my new machine and that they hoped to eventually have a fix. They also told me that I should have contacted them prior to buying a new Mac, rather than just assuming that their games would play on it, which I found interesting since not one word of this problem is posted anywhere on their website.

Apparently, a number of Aspyr games, as well as games from other companies, do not play on the aluminum iMacs as Apple did not advise the companies that they were switching video cards, which is something I can sympathise with. I find in maddening, however, that all the companies involved are keeping totally silent when it comes to warning consumers that brand new games will not play on their brand new iMacs.

Kevin Hawkins wrote:
I am thinking of getting an iMac 20". My wife plays Sims2 all the time, and I want to make sure that the machine will run the software quickly, and that the screen will look good.

Has anyone tried the 20" and Sims 2?

Kevin

I too have been upset with this problem... My girlfriend has a new 20" imac and the graphics are really terrible. We sent the publisher an email and this is the response we received:

The Sims™ 2 was designed for the PowerPC processor,
which is the processor used by previous Macintosh computers ( i.e. G3, G4, G5).
This is listed in the system requirements on the box.

There is a patch that will allow this game to run on an Intel processor.
You can find this patch at:
http://support.aspyr.com/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&root=36&id=459

However,

We have found that the HD Series cards have problems processing the graphics in some of our games.
We are currently working diligently with Apple to get these issues resolved. Since none of our titles were ever tested or approved for play on The ATI 2400/2600 that are in the new Intel iMacs, we cannot support any of our games on these machines at this time.
Apple did just release an Open GL update specifically for new Intel iMac with the ATI 2400/2600 in them.
You can download it here:

http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/imacsoftwareupdate11.html

If you have not done so, you can subscribe to our newsletter ( https://www.aspyr.com/news/newsletter_signup), which is sent out via email on a monthly basis. This newsletter is where we announce new projects. We also have a project status page at our website that shows what is being worked on.
With Apple constantly releasing new hardware it is impossible for us to develop games that are guarantied to work on any future hardware configurations. With that in mind, it is a good idea to wait a couple of weeks before purchasing any new software for brand new machines. It is also a good idea to contact the software developer to see if there are any problems with any software you are considering purchasing for a brand new machine.
Again, I assure you that we are working hard with Apple to get these issues worked out.

Thanks for your patience.
Have a nice day.

both of those attempts to solve the problem don't help....

Hi-I'm just installing sims 2 on my new imac. I phone Aspyr in advance and asked specifically about the new video card. The person I spoke with told me in no uncertain terms that of course it would be compatible, it was in the "range" of cards they covered. I was very clear about getting a new imac, and because I have sons in the computer world, I knew about the problems with this card, the weaknesses as game card. So I'm surprised to hear that 1. there is a problem and 2. Aspyr is claiming it didn't know in advance, and that people should have phoned them. I did, and I'm more than ready to switch to Windows and EA now. Their assurance regarding the card is the main reason I didn't buy a PC.

No, the update makes no difference whatsoever. Interestingly, however, when Aspyr announced the specs for the new Bon Voyage expansion pack due to be released next month, they specifically said that it will work with the HD video cards in the alu iMacs. I wrote to them and specifically asked if my new iMac would be able to play the Sims 2 if I bought the next expansion pack and they gave me a very brief reply saying yes.

It is unclear to me if this means that the graphic card fix will be included in the new expansion pack or if Aspyr expects a fix to be released by Apple before the expansion pack is offered for sale. I would hate to think that the only way to get the Sims 2 to work on the new machines is to have to buy an expansion pack that you may not even want. On the bright side, this is the first time that Aspyr has actually indicated that there is a light at the end of the tunnel for those of us who have been unable to play our favourite game.

I would make sure that you have 2GB of RAM, or it will be very slow. I had 1GB, and had to replace it w/2 because it was too slow.

Christoph

I thought EA created the sims? I've never heard of aspyre before, and i've been playing the sims since the original came out. Maybe I just never noticed it before.

When i bought my copy of sims2, nightlife, uni, pets, business, etc i had been playing it on my pc.

Now i have just recently purchased an alu 24" imac with 2.8ghz 4gb ram and has an ati radeon hd 2600 graphics card?

I assumed the sims2 didn't run on macs so i've purchased parallels and xp. When i talked to my mac seller about it he said it would be fine to pay the sims2. Probably not so good wit playing high end 3d games like first person shooters but seeing as i don't play those that wasn't an issue.

Parallels and Xp are still being shipped to me atm, but is it likely that my sims aren't going to work on my mac?

Tara

The game may be playable on the 24" iMac - it definitely isn't on the 20", although the next expansion pack is supposed to be playable on either version.