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SC4 CPU Options  1.0.2

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About This File

A DLL Plugin for SimCity 4 that configures the CPU core count and priority.

This plugin combines the functionality of the SingleCPU and CPUPriority plugins in a single DLL, and adds the ability to set the CPU priority without using a command line argument.

If the -CPUCount and/or -CPUPriority command line arguments are present, those values will be used in place of the plugin's default options. When those command line arguments are not present, the plugin will configure SC4 to use 1 CPU core and the CPU priority specified in the configuration file.

This plugin is incompatible with 3rd-party launchers that set a CPU priority, it will override the CPU priority setting they set when starting the game.

System Requirements

  • Windows 10 or later

The plugin may work on Windows 7 or later with the Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 x86 Redistribute installed, but I do not have the ability to test that.

Installation

  1. Close SimCity 4.
  2. Remove SC4SingleCPU.dll and SC4CPUPriority.dll from the Plugins folder in the SimCity 4 installation directory, if present.
  3. Copy SC4CPUOptions.dll and SC4CPUOptions.ini into the Plugins folder in the SimCity 4 installation directory.
  4. Configure the plugin settings, see the Configuring the plugin section.

Configuring the Plugin

  1. Open SC4CPUOptions.ini in a text editor (e.g. Notepad). Note that depending on the permissions of your SimCity 4 installation directory you may need to start the text editor with administrator permissions to be able to save the file.

  2. Adjust the settings in the [CPUOptions] section to your preferences.

  3. Save the file and start the game.

Settings Overview

Priority is the CPU priority that the game will use, the default is AboveNormal. The supported values are listed in the following table:

Priority Value      Notes
High  
AboveNormal  
Normal     The default value for a process, unless the parent process has a different value.
BelowNormal  
Idle  
Low     An alias for Idle.

Troubleshooting

The plugin should write a SC4CPUOptions.log file in the same folder as the plugin.
The log contains status information for the most recent run of the plugin.

Source Code and Support

Plugin thread: https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/762979-sc4cpuoptions

The plugin's source code and issue tracker are located on GitHub: https://github.com/0xC0000054/sc4-cpu-options

  If you would like to make voluntary contributions to support me in continuing to create more content for SimCity 4, I accept donations via PayPal: https://paypal.me/0xC0000054
 

Thanks to the few people who have donated to me.

What's New 1.0.2   View Changelog


Released

Changed the processor affinity restriction to only apply to SC4's threads. This may improve performance for things like
GPU drivers.

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  • Yes 1
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User Feedback

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Membrillo

I don't know what's more impressive: the DLLs themselves, or how much you listen and care about the players' feedback.

  • Like 5

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Vico93

I really love the new trend of DLL mods. Directly manipulating the game's code seems to be far more effective and feature-opening than "classic" kind of mods.

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bobthebuilder500

Will this help with crashes? I'm running the steam version, everything is up to date and even before I started using mods
the game would crash back to my home screen from time to time. Some days more often. I think I read somewhere that it had something to do with my GPU and the game wasn't fully compatible with modern computers.

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Lucario Boricua
27 minutes ago, bobthebuilder500 said:

Will this help with crashes? I'm running the steam version, everything is up to date and even before I started using mods
the game would crash back to my home screen from time to time. Some days more often. I think I read somewhere that it had something to do with my GPU and the game wasn't fully compatible with modern computers.

Now that you mention this, did you install a graphics driver wrapper to add support to SimCity 4? Something like DGvoodoo. This is a must for Windows 10 onwards and if you use the up-to-date DirectX drivers (currently transitioning from version 12 to version 13). SimCity 4 was made for DirectX 7 and backwards compatibility was available up to DirectX 9 IIRC.

  • Like 1

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Dono
2 hours ago, bobthebuilder500 said:

Will this help with crashes? I'm running the steam version, everything is up to date and even before I started using mods
the game would crash back to my home screen from time to time. Some days more often. I think I read somewhere that it had something to do with my GPU and the game wasn't fully compatible with modern computers.

Follow this list and you can't go wrong. If anything at all, install the 4gb patch, it's a must ...that's why it's first on the list...that is if you haven't already done so. Performance and graphics list - Index of all critical mods to install - SC4 - Custom Content - Simtropolis

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bobthebuilder500
On 3/17/2025 at 2:57 AM, Dono said:

Follow this list and you can't go wrong. If anything at all, install the 4gb patch, it's a must ...that's why it's first on the list...that is if you haven't already done so. Performance and graphics list - Index of all critical mods to install - SC4 - Custom Content - Simtropolis

 

On 3/17/2025 at 12:31 AM, Lucario Boricua said:

Now that you mention this, did you install a graphics driver wrapper to add support to SimCity 4? Something like DGvoodoo. This is a must for Windows 10 onwards and if you use the up-to-date DirectX drivers (currently transitioning from version 12 to version 13). SimCity 4 was made for DirectX 7 and backwards compatibility was available up to DirectX 9 IIRC.

Before seeing these replies I had come across a YouTube comment saying to manually set the "affinity" lvl through the windows task manager while running SC4, set it to run on only 1 CPU core as the game was designed to run on only 1 core and most modern computers are multicore otherwise it always crashes when it tries to use multiple cores and so far it has actually worked.
3 days without crashes. Except for today...twice but while using a specific rail component from NAM and hasn't since I avoided that piece so I'm not counting those. 

And yes I'm on Windows 10 and I have the 4GB patch, not sure about the Direct x wrapper I'll have to look into that if it starts crashing again. 
I originally came back to this game back in 2021 but got tired of the issue, never used mods until recently. Been loving it. Thanks for the help guys. cheers.

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Dono
56 minutes ago, bobthebuilder500 said:

Except for today...twice but while using a specific rail component from NAM and hasn't since I avoided that piece so I'm not counting those. 

I remember having this issue many years ago...Here's a link to what should fix what you are experiencing with the rail piece.

 

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Dono

Wow!!

I don't know if I just had a bad install of the prior file but I just installed the new 1.0.2. and it's as though my whole city is pre rendered. When I scroll every part of my city is already there and without the shuttering while it renders the area I'm scrolling to. Also I had a shadow glitch in my Harbour that some nice folk tried to help me with a month ago, ended up having to live with it but it's now gone, YAY!!

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