Shader 2.0 (apparatus 0),

When your videocard does not support Pixel Shader 2.0, you will receive an error message confirming this.

The first thing you'll have to try is to udate the driver for your videocard.

No updates available or the problem still persists ?
Download a shader 2.0 emulator, it might do the trick.

Click here to download.

Installation:

  1. Download the emulator

  2. Unpack it with Winrar

  3. Copy the 2 files to
    Program Files/Electronic Arts/TheSims3/Game/Bin

  4. Start your game and adjust the settings if required.