Not Working properly in windows 8

[Superboss75 0]

Hi everyone, i just got my new Acer Aspire S7 with 1920x1080p resolution and windows 8, but when i tried to run SC4 on it i got black bars on the sides. Anyone know how to fix that? thanks in advance.

[Cyclone Boom 17,033]

This sounds like a resolution issue.

 

Using the game's menu options, only 4:3 resolutions can be used.
To fix this, try running your game using a custom resolution. This can be done by right clicking your SC4 shortcut, and selecting the "Target" field. Then add a space after the location of the game, and enter the following command:
 
-CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32
 
It should look like this:
 
"C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32

Note: You'll need to start the game using this shortcut for it to work.
 
It might also be worth adding the  -CPUcount:1  command to the shortcut (just add a space after the custom res). This forces the game to run on a single CPU core, and can help to make the game run more stable on newer PC's. A list of additional parameters can be found here.

[Superboss75 0]

Thanks for the hint, works well!

[The Pennsylvania Turnpike 252]

Windows 8 does not run well with old games like Sim City 4. Let alone games in general. Windows 7 is the best out there right now.

[MandelSoft 2,775]

I have no problems with running SimCity 4 on Windows 8. But I did notice that SimCity 3000 was just refusing to run the installer...

[Cyclone Boom 17,033]

Windows 8 does not run well with old games like Sim City 4. Let alone games in general. Windows 7 is the best out there right now.

 

Really, there shouldn't be that much difference between the two, in terms of compatibility. Most of the general fixes for Windows 7 should work with 8. If you're having difficulty, the first steps are to update your game to a minimum of 1.1.638.0 and add the -CPUcount:1 parameter to your game's shortcut, as I described in my previous post.

 

Remember, SimCity 4 is a legacy game designed to run on a single processor core. So sometimes, a few adjustments are necessary to get things to run smoothly on newer machines / operating systems.

[docj101 100]

Windows 8 does not run well with old games like Sim City 4. Let alone games in general. Windows 7 is the best out there right now.

Win8 runs virtually every PC game I own dating back to 1992.  It plays everything great once configured properly.  Maybe you have never been introduced to compatibility settings and internet searches?  Most games require compatibility for XP and run as admin.  Searching the net for tips on making games work is always useful.

 

I resisted Win8 at first, and didn't like it that much when I made the switch from 7.  After using it for many months I have learned how to use it, grown to love it, and it is far superior to 7 imo.  I had more issues making games run on Win7 then Win8.

 

Before blaming software for issues, sometimes it is best to gain experience using it.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

If you are having problems with Windows 8 remember it is only the next version of NT (NT6.2 in fact).  Take some time doing some upgrading of knowledge and a little digging, and you'll be right at home.  Everything that works for NT 6.1 (W 7) should work with W 8.

[The Pennsylvania Turnpike 252]

 

Windows 8 does not run well with old games like Sim City 4. Let alone games in general. Windows 7 is the best out there right now.

Win8 runs virtually every PC game I own dating back to 1992.  It plays everything great once configured properly.  Maybe you have never been introduced to compatibility settings and internet searches?  Most games require compatibility for XP and run as admin.  Searching the net for tips on making games work is always useful.

 

I resisted Win8 at first, and didn't like it that much when I made the switch from 7.  After using it for many months I have learned how to use it, grown to love it, and it is far superior to 7 imo.  I had more issues making games run on Win7 then Win8.

 

Before blaming software for issues, sometimes it is best to gain experience using it.

 

I do run them in compatibility mode. They just don't seem to work. Even when i look up the problem on Google

[docj101 100]

I do run them in compatibility mode. They just don't seem to work. Even when i look up the problem on Google

I couldn't get much of anything to work in the first few days I used Win8.  I tried a bunch of stuff like compatability that didn't seem to help at first either.  I found that running antivirus (McAfee in particular) was causing most of my issues.  I had a valid 3PC license so installed it after installing Win8.  Well I noticed McAfee throwing a bunch of errors in event viewer so I uninstalled it.  After uninstalling it I haven't had another game run poorly or malfunction, after configuring their settings properly.  I just use the built-in windows defender and firewall now, and it seems to work well; I haven't had any sort of PC issues.

 

I used that same copy of McAfee happily with my older PCs and games run fine on them, XP and 7.  It was just Win8 and McAfee that didn't play nice together, and it seems 3rd party virus protection is no longer needed for windows 8.  Perhaps you have run into the same problem and didn't notice this was happening with your antivirus.  In my case I never had  pop-up errors or anything like that... games just wouldn't load, or would play terrible, and this was with McAfee 'disabled' (not uninstalled).  I wasn't running Windows Defender with McAfee, it was off.

 

I guess that whole point is maybe it's your antivirus preventing things from working properly on Win8 for you.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

I don't think the compatibility mode operations do anything for you.  The game is recognized as a 32-bit game on installation and winds up in the Program Files (x86) area, when the 32-bit loader is used.  The only items that need concern anyone is limiting the number of cores using -CPUcount:1 and maybe the -CustomResolution:enabled option with the resolution parameters if your screen isn't 4:3.

 

If it worked on W 7, it should be fine on W 8.

 

As for McAfee, I've generally found that when it is in use, you have to use the version for the current O/S.  It is sensitive to the things that MS does to the whole O/S, and the version for W 7 may very well misbehave under W 8.  Applications are one thing, but a virus checker is a privileged program and has to access the system in a more "friendly" fashion than an app sitting on top of everything.

[docj101 100]

I don't think the compatibility mode operations do anything for you.  The game is recognized as a 32-bit game on installation and winds up in the Program Files (x86) area, when the 32-bit loader is used.  The only items that need concern anyone is limiting the number of cores using -CPUcount:1 and maybe the -CustomResolution:enabled option with the resolution parameters if your screen isn't 4:3.

 

If it worked on W 7, it should be fine on W 8.

 

As for McAfee, I've generally found that when it is in use, you have to use the version for the current O/S.  It is sensitive to the things that MS does to the whole O/S, and the version for W 7 may very well misbehave under W 8.  Applications are one thing, but a virus checker is a privileged program and has to access the system in a more "friendly" fashion than an app sitting on top of everything.

Well, if I don't run most things made for older operating systems in compatibility mode, they don't work.  Compatibility mode is for O/S changes, not for correcting 32 - 64 bit issues.

I know you are running Linux so you may be slightly unfamiliar with Win8.  For an example:  I am running Win8 64bit.  I was getting this error when starting PIMx (SC4PIM) and the program wouldn't start:

 

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "SC4PIM.py", line 1, in ?

File "SC4PIMApp.pyo", line 96, in ?

File "wx\__init__.pyo", line 45, in ?

File "wx\_core.pyo", line 4, in ?

File "wx\_core_.pyo", line 12, in ?

File "wx\_core_.pyo", line 10, in __load

ImportError: DLL load failed: The specified module could not be found.

I tried putting the new multiarray.pyd file into my SC4PIM folder and it didn't change my results.

I changed my compatibility settings to: run in compatibility mode for 'WinXP (service pack 2)' and 'run program as administrator', now the program works perfectly again.

 

The issue I was having with McAfee is being slightly misunderstood here.  See I had a 3PC license for McAfee Security 2012.  However this package downloads and installs the appropriate version for the O/S you are running.  So it wasn't that I was using an incompatible version of it on Win8, I was using the one it claimed was specifically for Win8.  I still had problems until I removed it.  What I was saying though, is that McAfee 2012 (for winXP and win7) never gave me these problems.  Granted this was all back many months ago now, issues may have been fixed since.

 

The purpose of my whole post was more to point out an example of something else causing problems, while making it seem as though it is Win8's fault.  This could be a range of things from antivirus acting up, to lacking DirectX files needed for older games.  It's not easy to define problem sources with computers, as such it's usually not fair to make general assumptions that any particular software is 'bad' because you experienced a problem while using it, there could be other factors involved.  Different software environments often have different problems and solutions

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Hmmm.  I wonder what Microshaft did to mess things up this time?  They are definitely against running legacy programs without having the user nod in that direction.  I was thinking of loading up Windows 8 as an alternate boot, but now I think I won't bother.

[Superboss75 0]

Windows 8 does not run well with old games like Sim City 4. Let alone games in general. Windows 7 is the best out there right now.

The Only game i got which dosent run on windows 8 Are starcraft, but i got a game from 1987(getting old) which actualy runs, so there are really nothing wrong with win8.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

The problem that people have with Win 8 is that they probably never had Win 7 or didn't know enough about it.  Win 8 is NT 6.2 and Win 7 is NT 6.1.  Same meat different gravy.

 

Win 8 added a lot of features and removed a couple, but the basic kernel is still the same.  If you are having trouble, maybe a dip into Windows 101 would help.  The more you know about your system the better you will feel and the better you can run it.  Minimum knowledge for a legacy gamer with respect to the current operating system:

 

1. How to launch a program manually
2. How to launch a program using a short cut
   1. This included the anatomy of a short cut
   2. Modifying a short cut
3. How to use the file system
4. How to maintain the system, especially rotating storage
   1. HDD maintenance (disk cleanup, disk defragmenter, CHKDSK)
   2. Optical disk drive and media maintenance (read manual)
5. How to control features of the operating system you may not need or want (Services)
6. Understanding the search rules for program launching (PATH variable).
7. Optionally understanding the desktop's shell (system variables, etc.)

 

A computer is not a home appliance like a refrigerator.  The more you know, the better.

[Droric 101]

I am currently running a Sierra game circa 1989 on my Windows 8 machine just fine.  For those who are interested I am a fan of the Quest for Glory series that started back in the late 80's.  Windows 8 as Nonny stated for all intensive purposes is a small kernel upgrade from Windows 7 with a major UI/DWM backend change.  I am currently running Simcity 4 from steam as follows without any issues in Windows 8.

 

I am running the game natively with the 4GB patch.  I have disabled compatibility mode since when running in that mode the game only reports 1 GB of system memory (which may cause crashes in itself with a large plugin folder.)  A couple things I had to modify on my Windows 8 machine to get Simcity 4 to run properly was to ensure the file indexing service or 'Windows Search' is set to not index the temp directory (typically C:\TEMP) or the Simcity 4 region directory.  If these settings were not changed I had constant save game corruption.  Also another nice feature if you decide to look into backup options is the Windows File History feature.  This feature constantly monitors my libraries and backs up files every 10 minutes as it detects changes.  If I have an issue with a save I can simply 'roll back' to a previous version like nothing happened.  Check here for more info... http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/how-use-file-history.

[A Nonny Moose 8,263]

Yes, there are some nice features in Windows, but if you have them all on, you are asking for problems.  Microsoft tries to be a Nanny for computer users, and only expects people to run current programs.  Legacy programs will usually have a little problem until you straighten the baby sitter out.