Sim City 4 Deluxe problems with VISTA

[TheSeventhLegend 0]

I recently purchased a new computer with Vista.  My hardware specs are above and beyond what is needed to run Sim City 4 Deluxe and I never had a problem running the game on my old computer with XP.  My problem is that the game is running SLOW.  To scroll around map/terrain takes forever.  I love this game and want to be able to play it again!  What can I do to make it run normal like it did on XP?

Things I tried with none working:

- I tried changing the icon properties to run like XP but that did not work (and I clicked on the icon to run SM4).

- I searched for other Windows Vsita driver updates but I'm fully updated as of 1 month ago.

- I tried reducing the graphic properties of SM4


Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!!

[Qualm 0]

What is your video card?  As you probably know, Simcity4 is fully 3d, and works much better with a gaming-quality video card than a motherboard-based video chip.

[Bluebeard 0]

As mentioned previous a new video card would help but it isn't a problem for SC.Our pc came with a cheap Intel card and no problems with SC.

    Vista needs memory and games need memory so if you havn't jack the memory to 4gb and it should work.Goodluck

[thecross21 3]

I just got a brand new computer as of 2 weeks ago with Vista and it works great! What is your processor speed and memory?

[TheSeventhLegend 0]

Thanks for the help...... ok I have an Intel Duo Core 2.20 ghz 4500 with 2037 mb ram. (which is better than my old XP system with ONLY 1 mb ram 3.0 ghz and no problems running SC4) I'm also using Vista Home Premium Edition. My graphics chip is an Intel G33/G31.

Here's a thought... do you think maybe I'm running too many back ground tasks and that's what's causing the game slow down?

[AWatkins 0]

Vista is quite a bit slower than XP.  I believe Vista SP1 has some performance improvements, but it still isn't anywhere near XP.  That said, I'm not having much issue running SC4 on my system running Vista.

Try installing the lastest drivers for your system, especially the video drivers.

[Bluebeard 0]

According to the Microsoft site you need 1gb of memory to run vista.So the game with custom downloads is another 1 gb plus whatever background stuff your running.
     In short push the memory to 4 gb and I think that will fix the problem.Also you may want to clean out the plug-in folder maybe a download is screwing up something.Goodluck

[mwacuk 0]

I cant even install sim city 4 original or delux, tried both and my laptop simply crashes towards the end of installing it and goes to a blue screen. When I get back in it looks to be fully installed but on trying to open the game it just does it again. I bought the lappy last year. Its a Acer Aspire 3680; Intel Celeron M processor 420; Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950, 2gig DDR2....ive tried reinstalling, nothing cant find anyone with the same problem. Has anyone got any suggestions of what the problem could be even?

many thanks

marc

[NetPCDoc 1]

Microsoft - like just about everyone else - is still learning how to manage dual processing capabilities. Things would work a lot better if they designated one processor as fore-ground and the other as back-ground, and assigned programs accordingly; with any that require actually user-interfacing being run only on the fore-ground processor, while only those that can run without user interaction are allowed to run on the back-ground processor.

I have seen posts indicating that you can speed up SimCity by telling Vista to keep it all on the same processor - or turning off the dual processing features while playing SimCity.

As others have suggested above - double check your virtual memory (a.k.a. swap-file) size.

mwacuk - it might help to know what OS you are using; as starting points - from information given - double check directx is late-est greatest, and then read documentation (just in case - temporarily turn off sound options - then continue) on what to try for graphics issues (as it sounds like your crash is an inability to display the intro sequence).

Hope-ing this helps someone,

-NetPCDoc

No detail is too small to be micromanaged.

[AWatkins 0]

mwacuk:  What OS are you running?  If you have problems installing the game (with blue screens no less), I would say the issue is probably beyond drivers and the like.  Your issue sounds like either the OS is in a really bad shape or you have hardware issues.  Does everything else install/work well?  You could try running chkdsk.  Also, running memtest from a kubuntu or knoppix disk would test your RAM.

Edit:  Does it crash when the game loads at the end of the install?  If it is that, then NetPCDoc is probably right.  I had issues with Audio drivers crashing SC4 in Vista on game startup.

[TheSeventhLegend 0]

I have Service Pack 1 installed and the latest video drivers.

How do I check my virtual memory (swap-file?) and when I check it, is there something I can do to increase it's performance?

Thank you.

[AWatkins 0]

What kind of video card do you have?  CPU and RAM aren't everything and integrated graphics generally perform really poorly.   It could be poor graphics performance.  Did you have a better graphics card in your old system?  That could be why it ran fine there and not on your new system. 

2 GB is plenty to run vista and SC4.  Of course if you wanted to upgrade, DDR2 costs less than dirt.  More is better, but I don't think that is your issue.  I only have 2 GB and everything runs fine with memory to spare.  It is true, Windows swaps when it doesn't need to.  Generally, however, this is memory that isn't actively in use at the time.  (Unless, of course, you run out of physical memory for things actively in use.)

The only other thing I can think of, if all drivers are up to date, is making sure you have the latest DirectX 9 installed (9.0c I think).

Hope you figure it out.

[mwacuk 0]

Hi, yep its Windows Vista home basic the os system, AWatkins: Thankyou,

You could try running chkdsk. Also, running memtest from a kubuntu or knoppix disk would test your RAM....Do I find this stuff on the internet? If so Ill check it out

Your issue sounds like either the OS is in a really bad shape or you have hardware issues... I cant imagine there been too many major issues as the computer has no really been used much, only been on the internet for 2 weeks!

Im going to try the above anyway and ill also double check I have the latest Directx installed...ill let you know how it goes

many thanks

marc

[NetPCDoc 1]

Originally posted by: TheSeventhLegend How do I check my virtual memory (swap-file?) and when I check it, is there something I can do to increase it's performance?quote>

 

Swap file settings - mainly the size of the swap file - is usually somewhere in (advanced?) system properties, and is usually referred to as "Virtual Memory".  Vista seems to run better when the swap file (a.k.a. virtual memory) size is set to at least 4 Gigabytes.  The standard rule of thumb for XP was to make this size double what ever the size of your RAM was/is; and increase it (over and above the double amount) whenever you got a warning that you were low on virtual memory.

I still believe that your main speed problem has more to do with the dual-core /  dual processing features - and that you need to turn these off (restirct processing to one-core / one processor) while running SimCity.

-NetPCDoc

No detail is too small to be micromanaged.

[AWatkins 0]

mwacuk:  I was referring to if the OS simply crashes without trying to start the game.  If it crashes at the end, when the game starts, it probably is a driver issue. 

I have Vista as well and when the game crashes it doesn't blue screen.  It just goes to the desktop.  While blue screens can occur without a hardware issue, if I see blue screens while doing something trivial (installing an application), it could mean hardware or possibly a virus.

Yes, you can get these utilities online, just do a google search.  These are Linux live CDs with a boot option to run a program called memtest.  In kubuntu you can just choose the menu option to check your memory on boot of the CD.  chkdsk is a windows utility and comes with your OS.  Run it from the command prompt.

[AWatkins 0]

I still believe that your main speed problem has more to do with the dual-core /  dual processing features - and that you need to turn these off (restirct processing to one-core / one processor) while running SimCity.quote>

NetPCDoc:  Could you explain your thoughts behind this statement?  The most simple applications (single threaded applications) will not take advantage of multiple cores.  However, they wont act slower than they normally would on a single core system.  If you look at game benchmarks what you see is identical performance between say a dual core CPU and a quad core CPU.  This is because it would run the same, no matter the number of CPUs, because the application wasn't designed to do that many tasks at once.

Anyway, if this were the posters problem, then everyone with a dual core CPU would also have this issue.  I have a dual core CPU and it runs SC4 like a dream... even with both cores active.

[rjhemmy 0]

Vista's high memory usage is a feature, not a bug. The OS pre-loads it to maximize performance. When a 3rd party application request memory Vista automatically allocates it.

You shouldn't have to set the core affinity either.

I dual boot XP & Vista and SC4 runs just as good on Vista, in fact I uninstalled it from my XP partition

[Philadelphia 25]

I'm having the same exact problem and I have a brand spankin new Dell with Vista and to scroll it takes forever and it wasn't like this on my slightly older HP with windows XP. (but that's now gone)

[hawkpride147 1]

take advantage of readyboost. get a flash drive and use it as additional RAM.

i run SC4 just fine on a Vista based machine...

specs:

AMD Turion 64x2 TL-60 processor

2048 internal RAM

4096 Virtual RAM

4096 Readyboost RAM

250GB Hard drive

160GB external Hard Drive

Nvidia Geforce Go 6150 graphics card

[TheSeventhLegend 0]

I have an integrated Intel video card...... which is all I had on my old computer and SC4 played just fine. But I may have an issue with the Virtual/Physical Memory. When I try playing SC4 I don't run any other programs...... BUT the background tasks could be eating up a lot of the memory? With my new computer I noticed an error I sometimes receive after browing the internet for a while (I connect using AOL dial-up). The error tells me I'm running out of virtual memory and to close another program to open up a new one. Sometimes I will have to close browsers 1 by 1 until I only have 1 left (and can't ope anymore). Again, even though I don't run other programs when I try to play SC4, does this sound like part of the problem? I checked my Virtual Memory allocation under "Performance Options", it reads 2336 mb total paging file size. I'm going to look into some performace options and see if maybe I'm lacking an update.

Also how do I check to see if I have Direct X Driver installed? I think I read that Vista uses it's own driver??

[NetPCDoc 1]

AWatkins: I have seen posts - where claims have been made that changing Vista's affinity settings will speed up SimCity4. While I have personally observed dual core processing slow a machine down by sending it into la-la-land for several machine cycles (cleared up by resticting processing to a single core), and although I have my own pet opinions on this - I have not yet had an opportunity to actually determine why these dual core machines actually slow down when both cores are active - I just know that some of them do slow down with both cores active.

hawkpride147: It would be nice - just for clarity's sake - if you would put scale (i.e. GigaByte - GB, MegaByte - MB, KiloByte - KB) next to your numbers; especially for those of us old enough to have had a computer with memory measured in Kilobytes.

TheSeventhLegend: Yes - under Vista you probably should have a total paging file size of 4096 (or more) megabytes - please try this first. If the paging file size doesn't improve the speed then read on: Having not reverse-engineered the SimCity 4 "exe" file (as this is illegal in my country) - I am unable to say if it is written correctly as a single-thread application - or if it allows itself to be multi-threaded (the instruction manual does say something about being able to run minimized - in the background); but whether it is mult-thread capable or it is just that the other backgound tasks are put on hold while playing - restricting processing to a single-core/processor does tend to speed up the SimCity 4 user-interface(s).

-NetPCDoc

No detail is too small to be micromanaged.

[MrMoody 2]

I was having the same problem of sluggish scrolling on my quad core XP machine, my older P4 XP was much faster, so it's not Vista. Setting the processor affinity to one core (yes you can do it in XP) cured the problem, it's smoking fast now. Thanks to the folks who mentioned it.

[hawkpride147 1]

@netpcdoc haha...i am one of those people...i've used every major version of windows (3.1, 95, 98, 2000, xp, and vista)...and i used dos before that...and apple...i have a few old apples...all my RAM is in MB....as for the dual core vs single core, i've done no tests, but my dual core runs about the same as the single core for in game...the only difference i notice is in the load times of my cities and of the game...the dual core does it in 3/4 the time my single core did...not much but a difference nonetheless.

[dogma555 187]

I noticed a good ~15 FPS loss with every game when going from XP -> Vista. I used to be able to run oblivion maxed out, at 1680x1050, 2x/8x.. barely any hiccups besides loadings, and now with Vista I have terrible slowdown in any opened area or any area with a lot of npc's. If I could do it all over agian, I would have never upgraded to Vista. I had to reupdate just about every software/hardware i had and lost considerable amount of FPS. I am considering doing the multi install to have xp and vista, or simply going back to XP all together. I really don't see how Vista improves upon anything besides some of the visual enhancements, which are also available from third party software for those with XP interested in such a thing.

[Bluebeard 0]

The Dual Core and Vista got nothing to do with it.I'm running on a Dual with Vista Premium and I can play for hours.

   It does take a little time to load that is because I'm a download junkie and need another memory upgrade.

[AWatkins 0]

NetPCDoc:  Huh, I have seen Vista go into la-la-land many times, however I have not seen this on XP.  Poorly written code can hang and race conditions would occur differently on different hardware, including different speeds as well as number of CPUs.  If Vista is really more likely to go into la-la-land with multiple cores, my guess is it is just hitting a race condition when it does that and that race condition is less likely with less parallel tasks going on.

I don't really want to get into a debate, but I really had to comment on this.  Running minimized or in the background has nothing to do with threads in the program in question.  That is an OS function.  Wikipedia is more eloquent than I; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thread(computer_science)

You can easily tell how many threads SC4 has running in task manager.  The number is 12 to 13 while running my current city.  Anything but the most basic applications are likely to be multithreaded.

[NetPCDoc 1]

AWatkins: Not really wanting to debate the issues - but still - unable to resist a reply:

I will grant that the background/minimized inference of multi-thread capabilities is not a direct one; rather if the programmer is sophisticated enough to program for running in background/minimized - they are highly likely to know how to write multi-threaded programs - and are likely to put both capabilities into any program that has either in it.

One of my theories on why there are UI time glitches when multi-core/multi-processors are present is that affinities aren't set/enforced correctly and one-or-more correct threads do NOT get processed on the correct core/processor. And I have run across a few dual-core/dual-processor main boards - where the BIOS tries to get in on controlling these affinity issues! And if the BIOS and the OS get into a dispute over who has control ...?

Basically - what I am trying to say - is that some of the UI time glitches are caused by a case of one-hand not knowing what the other-hand(s) is(/are) doing / has(/have) done. And that in certain cases - restricting processing to a single-core/single-processor eliminates some of the potentials for conflict.

-NetPCDoc

No detail is too small to be micromanaged.

[Stomtroopa 3]

Make sure you have directX 8.1 (or higher) installed. Make sure your video card is compatible with directX. Hope this helped

[leanser 0]

TheSeventhLegend, my computer has a similar configuration as yours, except that the processors are 1.86 GHz each. I was having crashes all the time after upgrading from XP to stupid Vista in my stupid DELL computer. Anyway, I am able to play for hours before it crashes (sometimes a few days go by between crashes). Here is what I do: paging file is set to 2345 Mb. Before starting the game, I go to Task Manager (ctrl+alt+del) and turn off as many applications as possible (any Adobe and iTunes app; Windows Defender, RealNetworks Scheduler, any app linked to peripherals, etc.), internet explorer, Google or Yahoo internet toolbar and any other unnecessary program. Also, I've noticed that running antivirus (I have Symantec) is a no-go. So I turned it off as well, and while I am playing, I don't need internet connection, so that goes off as well. And after starting the game, I tend to save it every 10 minutes or so, specially after big rounds os constructions. I also using DoubleKiller to get rid of duplicate SimCity plugins and SC4DatPacker to load plugins more efficiently and quicker. Since I started doing all the above, I can run cities easily up to 1.3 million sims, my blood pressure stopped going to the roof with every crash and the willing of throwing the computer over the 12th balcony rarely comes up nowadays! Good luck.

[TheSeventhLegend 0]

NetPCDoc - I changed my paging file size to 4096 and it didn't help. Although I'm not 100% sure I did it correctly cause I chnaged it under the custom size (2336-4096).

leanser - I was thinking reducing my back ground tasks could help so maybe I'll try and close/stop some more. When I changed my paging file to custom I put in 2336 (initial) - 4096 (maximum) and it didn't help. I also heard about anti-virus programs causing problems with running games/programs on Vista...... but I forgot about this so I will give it a try. Glad your able yo play your game now sounds like I'm ALMOST where you were prior to getting your game to work so hopefully I'll figure something out soon.

I added an update to my integrated video card but that didn't help, I've also closed a few start-up programs to reduce back ground tasks running while playing the game, and I'm completely up to date on all windows/Vista updates and SC4's latest update patch. I'm not sure I have DIrectx 8.1 and I'm not sure where to check??? Not sure if Vista uses Dirextx.

A couple other options I haven't tried or I'm considering (if possible) is running the game on 1 processor, or just creating a dual boot with XP.

Sorry if I'm not computer literate enough to move a long these fixes faster but I appreciate everyone's help/suggestions.