Changing the save location

[mattdc 0]

Hi all, i'm wondering how this can be done. i assume it must be possible in one way or another.
i would like to do it so the region is in a network drive so 2 computers can access it. then each have its own city.
i dont intend to try and have the 2 computers access the same city as obviously that would just crash it or make some sort of error.
any help on this subject would be greaty appriciated.

thanks,
Matt

[JakeMD 107]

Unfortunately this is impossible. The program (sc4) was written in a way that the only place it knows to save is the regions folder. This is to keep things simple and to keep a general place which everyone has on their system a place to save.

You can copy the cities and regions onto your network drive manually, and do it that way, as long as they are in My Documents\Regions\[region]\ but otherwise no.

[ididntdidit 0]

So if you copy the city/region file and paste it on the email or some sort of communication device it would work even if crossing over platforms?

[JakeMD 107]

So if you copy the city/region file and paste it on the email or some sort of communication device it would work even if crossing over platforms?quote>

No, because the game can only read in one location, and it can't be changed.

[mattdc 0]

thanks for the reply. there is one thing you can do.

if you move/delete the simcity folder from "my documents" and make a file with no extension with the same name (SimCity 4), the game will create a new save game folder in the sim city directory where it is installed (eg: program files/maxis/sim city 4/regions) the game will then use this as your normal save and load directory.

i have tried this and it works.

maybe you can elaborate on this? perhaps there some way the files could be redirected some other way? as its not impossible to change the location.

so if theres is some way to choose or force it otherwise, i just dont know how to.

thanks,

Matt

[tungston 19]

The region folder in the progam folder is a backup for the default regions.

[mattdc 0]

Originally posted by: tungston The region folder in the progam folder is a backup for the default regions.quote>

if you try what i mentioned above, the game will save new regions and citys to this folder. allowing you to use it like a the normal directory in the documents folder

[McDuell 301]

I have a suggestion on this, maybe it is worth a try.

SC4 automatically creates its own subfolder in the users 'my documents' folder. Now, if you create a 'SimCity' user with a roaming profile on a network drive, then the SC folder would be located in your home directory on the network drive when you're logged on as 'SimCity' user. As the profile is roaming, you can then use it from any machine that has access to the network.

I not tested this myself, so I can't really tell if this will work, but >here< is a link to a tutorial on how to configure roaming profiles in a WinXP Professional workgroup with two machines.

Hope this helps

[tungston 19]

Originally posted by: mattdc

if you try what i mentioned above, the game will save new regions and citys to this folder. allowing you to use it like a the normal directory in the documents folderquote>

 

Why would you want to, what's the point of doing that?

[SeeSpotSplat 0]

Its a bit sneaky and works only in Vista. In essence you trick SimCity into thinking the network location is actually "C:\Users\#User#\Documents\SimCity 4\Regions"

So what you do:

1. Backup your regions!

2. Move your Regions folder to a network location (lets say \\homecomputer\Regions)

3. Make sure you give the folder full permissions for everyone.

4. Go to the command prompt(Run and type in cmd)

5. Navigate to C:\Users\#User#\Documents\SimCity 4\

6. Type in mklink /D Regions "\\homecomputer\Regions"

That creates a folder in your simcity 4 folder that links to the networked folder. This way two computers can access the same region at the same time and create parallel cities. When the cities get saved, the regions are updated. You can even both have the same city open, just not save(since the file is in use).

I've been using this on my home network for a month now and it works flawlessly. You can do the same with the plugins folder so that everyone shares the same plugins.

[mattdc 0]

thanks Mcduell and SeeSpotSplat for your ideas. they both sound quite promising.

i'll give them a try and get back to you soon.

the only problem is that i only have vista running on 1 of the computers. mine is running xp.

[SeeSpotSplat 0]

That is not a problem. That is exactly the setup I have now: one computer has XP and three others have Vista. On the XP one, all I do is share the "C:\Documents and Settings\#User#\My Documents\SimCity 4\Regions" Folder as "Regions" with full permissions. Then on the Vista computers I use the mklink trick to set the shared regions folder as that computers regions folder.

This will not work with the Vista computer as the host because XP does not have the mklink command integrated into the shell and the substitutes for the program that I have found can't make links over the network.

Good Luck!

[mattdc 0]

Ok SeeSpotPlat

thanks for your second reply

im having problems

i have shared the regions folder on the XP pc. so its at \\xpcomputer\Regions and have 'alowed users to change my files' successfully tested by creating a folder from the vista pc.

on the vista computer im typeing in command prompt. ive tried various commands and it just gives me 'you do not have sufficient privilege to perform this operation'

ive tried;

mklink C:\Documents and Settings\vistacomputer\My Documents\SimCity 4 "\\xpcomputer\Regions"

mklink C:\Documents and Settings\vistacomputer\My Documents\SimCity 4\Regions "\\xpcomputer\Regions"

mklink /D Regions "\\xpcompter\Regions"

am i supposed to type the command into cmd?

can you type in exactly what i should type assuming the vista pc is called 'vista' the user being called 'vistauser'and the xp comuter being called 'xp' and the user being called 'xpuser'.

many thanks,

Matt

[SeeSpotSplat 0]

It is in fact this one:

mklink /D "Regions" "\\xpcompter\Regions"

The problem is that you are not logged in as administrator. I forgot that I just always log in as that. Instead of typing cmd to open command prompt, find the icon in the start menu(should be under accessories somewhere), right click it and choose "Run as Administrator" It may ask you for your password and permissions.

I hope that helps!

[mattdc 0]

ok, thanks again seespotsplat

ive done as you said and the link was created, according to command prompt.

do i need to do something else? in game i cant see the shared regions from the xp computer on the vista computer.

i've tried running the game on the user i normally use. which as far as i know the link was created for. i also tried running the game as the administrator. but no luck.

any suggestions?

thanks again for all your help so far.

Matt

[SeeSpotSplat 0]

Well first of all, the region on the XP computer should be the one locally in the "C:\Documents and Settings\xpuser\My Documents\SimCity 4\Regions\" . So that one will run locally.

Then you need to make sure that on the VISTA computer you get rid of your regions folder(Rename it to regions local). So that when you make the link it can make a new folder called regions. I'm sorry I forgot about that!

Then when you are making the link (Still on the VISTA computer) make sure you are in "C:\users\VistaUser\Documents\SimCity 4\" before you use the mklink command.

A good way to check if it worked is to go to that folder in windows explorer and see if when you click on the regions folder(which should have an arrow icon overlayed), if it takes you to the networked folder.

I really hope this works for you! I know it has become complicated and I'm sorry I didn't explain it better the first time!

[mattdc 0]

no need to apologise.

i really appreciate all your help.

for some reason it created the link in the windows\system32 folder. anyway, i moved it out and put it in C:\users\VistaUser\Documents\SimCity 4\. the link seems to work fine. when i click it it opens the xpusers regions folder.

but now when i load the game it just hangs on startup.

any ideas?

[SeeSpotSplat 0]

See if you can wait through it. I know that on mine it takes a little longer to start up than normal since it has to load the region from a network location(which is slower than local).

[mattdc 0]

your right again,

yeah it took ages. loading a region might take 5 mins and loading a new city takes a few minutes.

i realise its bound to be slower, but i dont understand why its being as slow as it is over the network, as both computers are quite fast and network transfer speed it pretty good.

although, the game is a bit of a  cpu hogger. even on the region screen.

even so.. i blame the vista pc lol

how do you find the loading speed and game performance over the network?

[SeeSpotSplat 0]

Wow that is a very long time. My wait is only 20 seconds max and that is over wireless. It should not be that bad. When I copy a file from one computer to another through wire it is at about 10Mb/s(or so vista says during the copy) For the laptop through wireless it is about 2.5 Mb/s. I usually use the laptop to play and have not had any long waits on load. How long does it take to load on the XP computer?

Either way, I'm glad to see its working =)

Oh I just realized something.... Is your region largely developed? I only have like 8 developed cities in my main region so that the whole region folder I am opening is 55.8MB. If your region is significantly larger, that may be the reason it takes so long to load.

[mattdc 0]

on the xp computer the game itself takes 5-10 seconds to load, a region takes about 3 and a moderate city takes 10-20.

indeed thats what surprises me the most, the regions i'm using for lan have no cities in. one entire region in 360Kb and the other is 22mb.

i think i'll delete them and start fresh

[SeeSpotSplat 0]

What are your transfer rates over the network when you just transfer files? similar to mine, higher, or lower?

[mattdc 0]

hi, sorry for the late response, as you can imagine i've been busy over christmas and havn't been on the pc.

anyway. i tested the transfer speed to-and-from my pc to the vista pc with a couple of different files and the transfer speed is only about 3.50mb/s.

[doorknob60 11]

3.5mb/s is plenty, it shouldn't slow it down too much. But apperantly something is, so I don't know.

[SeeSpotSplat 0]

Hmm, yeah 3.5 should be enough. I only get 2.5 from my laptop and it works fine.

The one thing I would check is if you have any firewalls enabled on either computer and also add simcity.exe to the exceptions list in the windows firewall. Also if you have access to another computer/laptop, you could try it and see if that works.

I really can't think of anything else =(