Not playable on Intel Mac, not video problem though

[unityx 1]

So after finally getting Sim City to play pretty darn fast on my new Intel iMac I decided I should start getting into serious game play. Well I can't! For some reason I can not seem to figure out, yet, the game will freeze up if I place certain lots. The first to trigger this was the Garbage Docks by PEG. I've used them before in my G4 without a problem. But if I place one, the game freezes. Oddly I can place them while paused and have no problem, but as seconds after I un-pause it freezes up. Audio/Music continues on. Thinking corruption I downloaded them again, no luck. Then I thought of a possible plug-in conflict. Same problem with ONLY the docks installed. So I give up and search for an alternative download. I install a garbage yard and everything is fine. No garbage docks, but the trash is taken care of. So then I decide to place a McDonalds... same issue. Cant figure this one out. Also tried it in "rosetta" mode but all I got was choppy game play again. Any ideas? Its pretty depressing to get a shiny new Mac and have it perform worse than a 5 year old laptop! I know I wont, but the though crossed my mind to trade this one in for a G5 tower! LOL

[His Divine Hand 244]

I think there is a universal binary released for Sim City 4 on Aspyr's website that could help you out, but don't quote me on that. . .

[unityx 1]

Been running it for months. I ran it in window mode so I could run TOP form terminal. Normal CPU is about 20 to 90 depending on my scrolling. When it crashes after placing the garbage dock, McDonalds or Subway it pegs up to 100%.

Really not sure whats up. Its a clean install with fresh updates applied. I placed other landmarks and transport enabled items, like a rail yard, and no problems with those.

[unityx 1]

Oh, and I am having problems with large cities too. Anything 4k by 4k saves with the southern edge of the regional thumbnail missing. Its really odd, but I know thats a video card issue.

edit: Well its not a video card setting I made, I reverted back to good old choppy game play mode (original files) and the problem is still there.

That pretty much means its a app problem since I removed all plug-ins a let it create new config files.

Great, anyone else with an Intel Mac having problems with these bats or any others?

[Hamish 1,369]

How about re-installing the game?

Also install the updates, and the universal binary. Found here.

Maybe, just maybe, it doesn't have enough ram or your cpu is too slow. what is your specifications for them, eg size and speed .

I hope this isn't a real problem and you find a way to fix it because I have just ordered a new intel iMac. But I will still keep my old Mac just incase. And its good to know that it runs fast!

[unityx 1]

I did re-install but can try again.

DIsk check and permissions ok.

2GB of RAM and an Intel Cor 2Duo @ 2.4GHz

And it runs fast after you make a small change to the video card files, see my prior thread. Its not as fast as it could be, but if you dont mod the files you will see how it REALLY works

[Hamish 1,369]

So it doesn't sound like a lack of memory space.

So you have tried the universal binary code or you haven't?

Oh, and I am having problems with large cities too. Anything 4k by 4k saves with the southern edge of the regional thumbnail missing. Its really odd, but I know thats a video card issue. quote>

After reading that piece of information again, it is a very common problem what you have there. This thread here should tell you what to do. But just summarizing their points, lower the resolution.

I hope this helps.

[unityx 1]

Yes I am running the UB. 1.1rA. And FYI after one of the fresh installs I did NOT try this without the UB patch so I will try that next.

And thanks for that thread. Gonna suck playing at a lower resolution. Im gonna see if I can tinker with it and fix that, never know. Would rather play as the native resolution, but thats probably ONE thing I could deal with.

Later tonight I will try yet another clean install.

It would really help me is there are any new iMac owners here that could give a shout out and try these BATs and see what happens. I dont want to peck and hunt if its a game issue and not the Mac.

[Hamish 1,369]

Well Im sure there are new imac users that will eventually come across this thread. I could try them for you when I get my new one. But Im not to sure how far away that could be, The shop that I bought it off is good but is very slow. They say they should have it before x-mass.

Other than what I stated above that is your best bet. I look forward to seeing how you get on.

[unityx 1]

Well I will let everyone know what I do and try. Its not looking like its my actual Mac, but I sorta hope it is. That would be its fixable and not going to affect everyone else with newer hardware. If its not just my Mac, that just plain sucks!

[unityx 1]

Test 1: Install a clean SimCity without Rush Hour. Max visual settings and max "game selectable" screen res. All ok but box for McDonald's 2008. Did install BSC Vol 1 dependency though. McDonald's may require RH. There are NO other plugins/regions installed.

Test 2: Same as above but with max custom screen resolution. Still ok.

Test 3: Install Rush Hour expansion pack and revert back to max game selectable screen res. McDonald's is not a box, but has a green grass parking lot? Odd. Must be another dependency.

Test 4: Same as above but max custom screen resolution of 1920 by 1200. Still ok.

Test 5: Apply Universal Binary Update 1.1 rev A. Back at default game selectable res. That did it, as soon and I dropped the bat it crashed.

So its the UB patch that seems to cause the problem. Great, the thing that is suppose to fix things up is the root cause. Why? No clue at all. I am re-installing from scratch again but will avoid the UB patch.

[Hamish 1,369]

Funny, good to know it works though. But can some one with more knowledge answer why the UB didn't work.

[unityx 1]

Ok, so here is a summary:

If you have Rush Hour/Deluxe and install the Universal Update you get better game play, better audio performance and with a mod to the graphics file the video looks pretty good. However you can not install certain BATs for reasons I do not know yet. Could be something as simple as a props pack dependancy that is common between them. I used plenty without a problem. I need to look closer to see if there is a particular prop pack or something.

If you do not install the UB update game performance is not the best. Audio cuts out and the mod to the graphics files does not work right.. yet. So you end up with crap game play but can place the BATs you want. Also if you want decent graphics you have to chose some sort of custom res or you will get UI and regional 16-bit graphics no matter what, but city play will look ok oddly.

[Hamish 1,369]

If it is a dependancy problem, list the bats and I'll look into it.

[unityx 1]

Update. I have managed to edit the Graphics Rules.sgr (again) so now the weird "anomalies" such as dissolved cars and waves are fixed with the non-UB version. This also results in RADICALLY smoothed out game play at game selectable resolutions. Audio is working better also, probably since the graphics system is not taxing the CPU so much.

It was really odd though. In the UB version I could mod the rules and it would affect the computer specific config file, which is basically a preference file. But with the PPC version this does not work, even when directly indicated to do so. In other words if I force a setting, the newly created config file still gets a different setting. However it also appears that it ignores that same file. Once I realized that I just modified the video cards "rules" file and did not worry about how it output. There is more too it, but the bulk of the work to get the best game play was to make all the "low", "medium" and "high" hardware settings all set to "high" values. This way if SC does not recognize the hardware it wont default to some low values.

So now I have a perfectly playable SC4 RH... again..... It works just as well as it did with the UB version. So... the UB version to me is pointless. I am running just fine at full 1900 resolution. But just like with the Universal Binary there is a slight lag so for best game play with large cities chose a game default resolution or one that is not screen max. The most annoying thing of game selectable ones though is that things are stretched wide.

[unityx 1]

Well I dont think its a dependency issue now. One was the PEG docks, which does have a dependency but its not the same as the other which is the 2008 McDonald's. If you want to look, those are the two that for sure I had issues with.

[Hamish 1,369]

Ok not a dependancy issue then. But what exactly did you change in the Graphics Rules.sgr

EDIT: Forget about that I just saw your pervious thread about how to change the Graphics Rules.sgr file. Thank you for that.

Good to know that the game now works for you.

[unityx 1]

I think I may have to upload or copy/paste the new changes. That thread works fine for UB. But if you dont install the update, it wont work for some reason. When I get back I will post the contents of the file that force the changes that I had to make to get it to work right. Basically the new directions will be a e single line edit of the video card identifier file and then a whole new rules file. Really the new rules file should work on both UB and PPC but is tailored for high end Mac and those with an ATI card.