What On Earth Happened?

[joshriddle 29]

I go to bed, my SimCity 4 is all fine and stuff, and the next day, I go on, everything is all filpped around, and I lose everything. All my cities, my regions, all there is is the stuff placed there when you install the game, and al the plugins.

And no, I did not tell it to reinstall, or uninstall, or anything, the computer just went nuts and made the game crash.

Now without backing up the data, or creating a restore point, is there any way to reverse this? If not I think it's time for a new computer.  If need be I will provide screenshots and everything.

[joshriddle 29]

Okay, i think I may have figured it out... I recently moved the SC4 folder in the My Documents section into a new created folder, and I noticed there was a duplicate there, one that had none of the plugins, just the regions and that's it. I don't know if it was reading off the configuration settings in the duplicate folder or what, but I haven't tested it to see if that was it yet. I did erase the duplicate folder, and havent started the game up to see if that was it yet. I will get to it later.

[CaptCity 4,695]

Yes, if the game is started and doesn't find a Plugins or Regions folder, it will create new ones in My Documents. The new Plugins folder will be empty. The Region folder should have the default regions because it copies them from the Program Files/SC4/Regions folder (which contains copies). Suggest you return the folders to My Documents since that is the default path for the game. Is there some reason you are moving it out? There is a way to change the default location - try searching the forums if that is what you intend.

[joshriddle 29]

Ok, I had all kinds of different SimCity 4 folders thrown all over the computer, and I wanted to keep them all in one folder. So I created it, and moved the original one with the plugins and regions there, along with the config folder and Maxis folder. And the duplicate came up. I deleted the duplicate and it is still doing it, so I reinstalled the game, and I am going to go in and re-download my favorite plugins.

[CaptCity 4,695]

Originally posted by: joshriddle

...I deleted the duplicate and it is still doing itquote>

If you mean it is re-creating folders in My Documents/SimCity 4, yes, it will do that. That is what I was referring to in my previous post.

so I reinstalled the game, and I am going to go in and re-download my favorite plugins.quote>

Unless you really want to for some reason, you don't really need to re-download everything if you have the original plugins in a folder somewhere else. Just copy/paste from that folder to the one in My Documents/SimCity 4/Plugins. Same for the regions you all ready have. Just a thought...

[joshriddle 29]

I would do that, but for some reason, they were non-functional, I reinstalled the game, and the plugins fodler was allready there, but they wouldn't work. Neither for the regions.


Another thing too.. I was definately due to a bad and faulty plugin. And since I don't know what one it was, I don't know what one to delete, therefore, moving it back may just screw it all up again. And since it is only function on the Windows world instead of the game world, and I don't know what caused it, the auto-installer, or just extracting the file into the plugins folder.

[medit84truth 70]

Not sure if this is the correct forum to post this, but I searched for 30 minutes trying to find an adequate one that would address my issue, but had no luck.

Problem:

I tried uninstalling the nam and it wiped out 90% of my plug-ins folder before I could stop it. It even deleted the back-up plug-ins within the SimCity 4 subfolder in my docs. The funny thing is it didn't even uninstall the nam. Most likely because I have a z in front of that folder and the deletion was going in alphabetical order. Also, I had a folder called Simcity4 stuff in my documents with a subfolder containing the nam 2010 setup installer and that's gone as well (not the entire folder, just the subfolder with nam setup).

I go to the recycling bin and none of the items that got deleted are in there. What in Gods name happened and how can I get my S%$# back?!?!?!

Will system restore do anything the fix this? Doubt it, but just wondering....

[joshriddle 29]

Originally posted by: medit84truth

Not sure if this is the correct forum to post this, but I searched for 30 minutes trying to find an adequate one that would address my issue, but had no luck.

Problem:

I tried uninstalling the nam and it wiped out 90% of my plug-ins folder before I could stop it. It even deleted the back-up plug-ins within the SimCity 4 subfolder in my docs. The funny thing is it didn't even uninstall the nam. Most likely because I have a z in front of that folder and the deletion was going in alphabetical order. Also, I had a folder called Simcity4 stuff in my documents with a subfolder containing the nam 2010 setup installer and that's gone as well (not the entire folder, just the subfolder with nam setup).

I go to the recycling bin and none of the items that got deleted are in there. What in Gods name happened and how can I get my S%$# back?!?!?!

Will system restore do anything the fix this? Doubt it, but just wondering....

quote>

Immediately remove the NAM and reinstall it to the following directory:

C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Plugins

If there was anything of great value to you in the plugins folder then set system restore, and see what that does. If for security sake then try keeping the NAM in a seperate folder in the Program Files Maxis, in case you are sketchy of the stuff in the Plugins in Program Files Maxis, if they will go away. I keep NAM in my plugins folder in My Documents and don't seem to have a problem. Also try removing the plugins that were "spared" and move them to Program Files Maxis, and then keep the NAM in the original plugins folder.

Another thing as well it could be conflicting NAM versions. Make sure you only have one version of the NAM installed, or you installed the right drive.

[SC4BOY 20]

Unfortunately the newest NAM has chosen a "delete" approach to its installer. This was an unfortunate choice in my opinion.. If you happen to have certain NAM content spread throughout your plugins or if you happen to have other custom content within the NAM folders it will delete whatever willy-nilly .. and there is no real recovery. It leaves no "undo" possibility and of course the wastebasket is useless as files removed in BAT operations are not put in the wastebasket. If your "restore" point is not available reasonably current or if you don't make a plugins backup of your folders before installing NAM you are just out of luck. This was not how NAM operated before to the best of my knowledge and you aren't warned that it is going to happen.

[joshriddle 29]

We weren't warned that this would happen? Well, I have all kinds of NAM addons and they don't do a thing. But I have had to reinstall the game a few times due to faulty plugins.

[z1 566]

Originally posted by: SC4BOY

Unfortunately the newest NAM has chosen a "delete" approach to its installer. This was an unfortunate choice in my opinion...quote>

This was actually an unintentional change that was not caught in the testing process.  The NAM Installer will be reverting to its previous behavior in the coming bug fix release.

[SC4BOY 20]

Originally posted by: z1

Originally posted by: SC4BOY

Unfortunately the newest NAM has chosen a "delete" approach to its installer. This was an unfortunate choice in my opinion...quote>

This was actually an unintentional change that was not caught in the testing process.  The NAM Installer will be reverting to its previous behavior in the coming bug fix release.

quote>

That's good to hear, but frankly to not notice an extreme behavior like that indicates rather a weak "testing process"

It's not like it is a minor thing.. to remove the entire set of material.

[joshriddle 29]

Wait, this may have happened after I installed the NAM, considering this was a while back.

Anyway, this had to happen about a month ago, so really nothing to worry about anymore. I see now though that when I got around to reinstalling the NAM it ran fine, so still, that is a mystery, perhaps one that I may never find out.