Weird Unemployment Issues

[iFake 0]

Specs:

Version: SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition (NO updates)

Mods: Yes

Computer: HP G50 Laptop; Integrated Graphics Card

OS: Windows 7 Ultimate

Hello all. I come to you today with an unusual problem that I've tried for almost 24 hours straight to fix in every manner possible with no avail. The issue is this: First off, I'm aware that the game is supposedly not fully operational in Windows 7, but up until a couple days ago, I've had no issues with the game what so ever. About a week ago, (this isn't the main problem, but may be related) I had the game crash on me in a weird fashion that it seems no one else has experienced. When I turn on the game, my screen goes black and it "crashes", but not to the desktop. My screen stays black, the HDD stops loading and my wireless in my computer shuts off. (The light goes from blue to orange indicating it has been turned off.) I have to shut off my computer via the power button and that's that. I fixed the problem by uninstalling the game and reinstalling.

Two days ago, my game decided to randomly do this again after I installed a couple more mods. I immediately uninstalled those mods and tried again. No luck. So I uninstalled the game and reinstalled. No luck. After about 8 different reinstall methods (no exaggeration), and about 5 hours of research I finally got it working again by reinstalling after cleaning up my computer. (No, I had no virus' or malware of any sort.) Then came the main issue. I went to play, and as I was playing, I noticed I was getting unusual commuting issues I never had before which led to unemployment. The first thing that struck as odd was it was a small little rural town. There shouldn't be any "long commute" times at all, yet I was getting them. Then I decided to check where these people were going. I figured NAM was going buggy or something. But no, I had people walking to there work where they normally would, and even people walking literally right across the road and yet it would say long commute. So I tried a new city with an even smaller setup. Same issues. I tried removing all the mods, but the same issue was there. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling a couple times, but it didn't help. So I reinstalled my mods including NAM, and at first, it seemed like the issue left, but then as I expanded a little, I got the same issues again. People walking or driving very short distances, complaining about long commute, and eventually going unemployed. It seemed like NAM was trying to combat the issue, but wasn't winning.

I've tried all I can think of, and I don't know what to do at this point or what could be causing this issue. So to sum it up, I'm having people complaining about long commute even if they are just walking across the street. I took out mods completely, messed with NAM's traffic control, reinstalled the game, but to no luck. If anyone could help me, please let me know. Thanks!

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

The game works fine on Windows 7 for me. Suggestions:

A) UPDATE--go to SC4Devotion.com and register. Then go here on that site and download the "Official Update" for Rush Hour/Deluxe (seeing as that's the version you've listed). Your game version should update to 1.1.638.0

B) Try making a Vanilla city. Remove all plugins temporarily and go build a city. See if you have the same problem.

C) Get some sleep. 24 hours? Don't worry, SC4 will still be there in the morning .

These are some obvious things I can think of off the top of my head; other people who are smarter than me should be along shortly with more in-depth ideas. Good luck to you!

[iFake 0]

The game works fine on Windows 7 for me. Suggestions:

A) UPDATE--go to SC4Devotion.com and register. Then go here on that site and download the "Official Update" for Rush Hour/Deluxe (seeing as that's the version you've listed). Your game version should update to 1.1.638.0

B) Try making a Vanilla city. Remove all plugins temporarily and go build a city. See if you have the same problem.

C) Get some sleep. 24 hours? Don't worry, SC4 will still be there in the morning .

These are some obvious things I can think of off the top of my head; other people who are smarter than me should be along shortly with more in-depth ideas. Good luck to you!

Hey, thanks for the reply!

As a reply to these questions:

1. I have tried the update, it didn't work

2. I stated that I did this already Same problem.

3. I did, and I have been relaxing.

Thanks for the starter advice I appreciate it!

[iFake 0]

Anymore help anyone? I'm really in need of help and baffled...

  Edited December 6, 2011 by iFake  

[iFake 0]

Here's a picture of the exact issue I'm getting at this point. As you can clearly see, there is a No Job Zot above this house, yet it's clearly well within reasonable travel distance. Quite annoying. >.>

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Is your game on disk or did you download it from a vendor? If you downloaded it, you don't need any updates. Your version is 1,1,641,0 indicating the fully patched, no disk version.

If it is on disk, and you have made an illegal patch, the official patches will not work because the other patch has consumed the necessary space.

To run custom content, you need the EP1 update. I suggest a reinstall, then get the EP1 update from the new official site at

http://www.ea.com/simcity-4-deluxe. Be sure you get the one for the version of the game you have. This will take you to version 1,1,638,0.

If you want night lights in your custom content you will also need to get the update4BAT from the SC4Devotion site mentioned earlier. Go to the BAT page and download only the update. You do not need the BAT nor the Lot Editor. I would also suggest, though, that you pick up the edition of the Lot Editor from this page as it is the updated one. This patch will bring you to version 1,1,640,0

With the disk version, you will need the play disk (second one) in the drive to run the game.

An occasional Crash To Desktop (CTD) is an undocumented feature of this game running on hardware later than a Pentium 5. This problem can be ameliorated but not solved by using the in-game save (CTRL+s) frequently to prevent annoying do-overs.

There is no reason to think that the game will not run on Windows 7 as most of our members are there. I am on Linux Mint 11 with wine, and it runs fine there too.

A word of caution. Examine your controls for your graphics system. All options must be set to "application selected" or equivalent words. SC4 is a Windows '95 legacy game and needs TLC to run on anything later than XP. However, there are no frogs in the game that were not in the earlier systems. It is just that the faster machines provoke them more often.

And one more thing. After you patch the game, your internal game controls for graphics will be set to low. Open the panel and set them to high, except shadows which should probably be on medium.

  Edited December 7, 2011 by A Nonny Moose  

[iFake 0]

Is your game on disk or did you download it from a vendor? If you downloaded it, you don't need any updates. Your version is 1,1,641,0 indicating the fully patched, no disk version.

If it is on disk, and you have made an illegal patch, the official patches will not work because the other patch has consumed the necessary space.

To run custom content, you need the EP1 update. I suggest a reinstall, then get the EP1 update from the new official site at

http://www.ea.com/simcity-4-deluxe. Be sure you get the one for the version of the game you have. This will take you to version 1,1,638,0.

If you want night lights in your custom content you will also need to get the update4BAT from the SC4Devotion site mentioned earlier. Go to the BAT page and download only the update. You do not need the BAT nor the Lot Editor. I would also suggest, though, that you pick up the edition of the Lot Editor from this page as it is the updated one. This patch will bring you to version 1,1,640,0

With the disk version, you will need the play disk (second one) in the drive to run the game.

An occasional Crash To Desktop (CTD) is an undocumented feature of this game running on hardware later than a Pentium 5. This problem can be ameliorated but not solved by using the in-game save (CTRL+s) frequently to prevent annoying do-overs.

There is no reason to think that the game will not run on Windows 7 as most of our members are there. I am on Linux Mint 11 with wine, and it runs fine there too.

A word of caution. Examine your controls for your graphics system. All options must be set to "application selected" or equivalent words. SC4 is a Windows '95 legacy game and needs TLC to run on anything later than XP. However, there are no frogs in the game that were not in the earlier systems. It is just that the faster machines provoke them more often.

And one more thing. After you patch the game, your internal game controls for graphics will be set to low. Open the panel and set them to high, except shadows which should probably be on medium.

Thanks for the reply! I downloaded this from a vendor, so I guess the patch I downloaded was useless, haha. Like I said above, this issue only hit recently, and now reinstalling it isn't doing anything to fix it. Could a graphical error cause this??? I won't think so.

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

Wait---do the residencies actually become abandoned due to commute time, or does the No Job Zot just stay there?

[iFake 0]

Wait---do the residencies actually become abandoned due to commute time, or does the No Job Zot just stay there?

Eventually it'll abandon, but not completely? It's weird. Someone will then occupy the house, but the long commute stays. And sometimes it jumps between short and long a couple times, but stays long. Eventually the house becomes abandoned again, or the wealth of the house drops. I don't know if this is relevant, but in that city in the picture, all freight trips for industry were long as well.

Also, on another note. I've found the issue goes away once you pass a certain amount of citizens. Somewhere around 15,000-20,000 or so.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Sounds like simply too much residential zoning for the jobs in the city to support. Are you using the NAM? If not, you should.

[NCGAIO 562]

Hi IFake

The mystery about the operation of the traffic simulator and on Commute Travel Time Max can be understood by reading the link below .... extensive but extremely accurate.

A Guide to the Operation of the Traffic Simulator

  Edited December 8, 2011 by NCGAIO  

[iFake 0]

Sounds like simply too much residential zoning for the jobs in the city to support. Are you using the NAM? If not, you should.

Did you see the picture above? haha. Very little residential zoning. And the person was driving to the job, haha. And I am using NAM.

Hi IFake

The mystery about the operation of the traffic simulator and on Commute Travel Time Max can be understood by reading the link below .... extensive but extremely accurate.

A Guide to the Operation of the Traffic Simulator

I'll read into this, but I believe I fully understand what goings on with traffic. If you read above, the issue only arose recently. I've never had this issue over the time I've had the game.

[NCGAIO 562]

A careful reading of the topic can bring the answer to your problem .... travel time is limited by the specific conditions unique to the time of its release.

This is the biggest problem that tries to solve traffic simulator Nam ... pathfinding perfect for the game make it impossible to run on slower hardware of the computer at that time ....

Do not forget that any change takes months sometimes years in game time to appear. If you have suspicions about a problem with plugins run the game clean and adjust your time, just try using the NAM Essentials.

Read carefully about the number of tiles offset to understand the limits to the long commuting time.

  Edited December 9, 2011 by NCGAIO