region overview issue

[ReshiramLover 48]

my region overview is messed up!! it DOES NOT show buildings or roads or anything in my cities in the region!!! just a blank piece of land... don't know if it is related or not but I updated to the latest NAM and unsure if that is the culprit...

[Cefien 361]

So, are saying that after you updated the NAM your region turned out blank? Or?

[ReshiramLover 48]

So, are saying that after you updated the NAM your region turned out blank? Or?

no, city names are still there but city previews show nothing in the cities in the region... if you hover over the city, it still displays stuff like population...

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

A known problem during saves will lose the city snapshot if you switch away during a save.  Cities may also be corrupted.

 

Open each blank city and resave it (hands off keyboard during save), and they should reappear.

[aysk8er 17]

I had a problem similar to this happen. I was switching the game from day time to night time which caused the game to crash to desktop. Sometimes this happens not a big deal... When I started the game again and loaded to the region the city I was last playing is now blank. Nothing happens when I hover over the blank region also no information as far as city name is shown. Please tell me there is a solution!! I have check the region folder and city file is there, appearing to be fine.

 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Is the city an empty hole or a green empty city?  If the latter, just click on it, and you should get it back because only the region snapshot was lost.

 

If not, have you got a backup?

[B.C builder 291]

I had this problem too and after restarting the city it was good again. Nonny Moose said it, it's maybe related to the save snapshot.

[aysk8er 17]

It is just a blank hole, I have no options of re-opening the city while in gameplay. If I change between transportation and aerial map modes the seaport logo appears in the empty void. I did try opening the region in SC4mapper and my terrain data loads for the missing "blank" city tile. I was hoping to export region and place "second" city file in the "original" region folder and only rebuild the one city rather then start the entire region from new...

 

However whenever I try to export a "second" region and play there is no data from export for entire "second" region. I might be missing a step with the export process any ideas??

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

Sounds like it's corrupted.  Unless you have Windows 7 or 8 and can use the automatic Backup to restore a previous version of the region (option is in the Properties of the region folder), it doesn't sound fixable.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Since you said you were on XP, there is only the ability to recover the terrain.  Here is how.

 

You have to create a new region with a different name but the same map.  Open the damaged region in windows explorer and locate the two files for the map, usually config.bmp and *.jpg.  Copy both of these to the new, empty region folder.

 

Open the game and move to the new region.  Render the region.  You should now have a region with the same terrain.  Open the city that is in the same position as the damaged one and name it the same as the city that is lost.  Save and exit the game.

 

Open the new region in windows explorer.  Find the city file you need, and copy it to the SimCity 4/Downloads folder.

 

Now open the game and open the old region.  Move to the hole and click on it once as if to open it.  You get the open city dialogue box, and hover over the leftmost gray icon on the bottom line.  This is the import command and you should read the tool tip.  Now, click on it and navigate to the SimCity 4/Downloads folder and select the city you just planted there.  The city will import (move) and replacie the damaged file.  You should now have the correct terrain image and can now set about recovering your city.

 

Check the following if anything untoward occurs:  The city in the new region is still there.  The city in the Downloads folder is gone.

 

I suggest you now find some space somewhere and zip up your entire Documents/SimCity 4 folder and find some way to store it off line.  This is your backup.  Do this every Sunday.

[aysk8er 17]

Great help. Thanks!!! It worked and now i'm off to re-building the same terrain. Its almost too easy the demand never changed for the city tile. Ive never had this problem and been a active player for many years (my simtropolis time was limited the plug-in stuff was confusing for awhile). I've never had a corrupted city tile and I recently downloaded the "In-Road" Bus stations... RTMTV3, and SG Bus package... are there any known bugs with these plug-in files. I dont like the fact the "In road bus stations" block the property where placed.

 

Anyways I got off subject but thanks for the help. This site is great!!

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Those plugins are OK.  I have them.  The cause of your problem was probably switching the focus away from the game during a save.  Once you start any kind of save you must keep hands off keyboard.  ALT-TAB is definitely out.  This is a known problem.