Reinstalled game...now CustomResolution parameter in Target line isn't working

[lhrob 213]

I'm not sure why this is happening.  Last night I uninstalled the game, and this evening I reinstalled it, along with the NAM and other relevant mods, plugins, and regions from my backup copies.  Everything is exactly the same as it was before I uninstalled it last night.  The only difference is that my previous version of the game was 1.1.638, and this time I chose to go ahead and install the update to bring the game up to version 1.1.640.

 

The final thing I wanted to do before restarting the game was to add the CustomResolution:enabled parameter to the Target line in my game shortcut.  

I have a flat panel LCD monitor set to a resolution of 1600x900, because the aspect ratio for my monitor is 16:9, and that's what looks the best.  Therefore, the resolution I have always had in my Target line is -r1600x900x32

 

It has always worked.  Never had one problem....until now.  For some reason now it won't work.  What am I doing wrong?

 

EDIT:  I can't even set the resolution within the game settings.  I've tried Hardware rendering, Software rendering, 1600x1200, 1280x1024, 1024x768.....nothing is working.  When I change to each one of those resolutions, exit the game, then restart, it shows up as being changed.  The little dot shows up next to the resolution I've set in the control panel....but the resolution stays the same.  I don't get it.  This couldn't possibly have anything to do with the update I installed, could it?

 

 
 

[docj101 99]

Just wondering, what was the reason you uninstalled to begin with?  Were you having a problem with the game or pc to begin with?  Did you change PCs or video card by chance?  When you used the flag for resolution you typed it as" -CustomResolution:enabled -r1600x900x32" exactly?  Have you previously used a launcher that perhaps saved registry settings?  Do you run the game through disc or steam?

 

I run 1.1.640 with those flags (except r1920x1080x32) and when I reinstall I have no issues using it again.  It sounds to me like something is locking your game into a certain resolution, like an old registry key, an .ini file, or something.  It is an odd problem you are having.  I would try to reinstall the game and patch it with a new downloaded copy of the patch from a new location, and see if that helps.  Delete the maxis and SimCity folders if they get left behind before a reinstall.  Also try getting the resolution to work before adding any plugins and regions to the game, to eliminate the idea they are involved.  Maybe if you haven't previously, try a SC4 launcher and see if that helps.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

1.  To fix your title use the "use full editor" option on edit.

 

2.  Make sure of the following:

one space after the closing quote on the pathname

the option starts with a hyphen -CustomResolution:enabled -rhhhxvvvx32

where:

hhh is the horizontal pitch in pixels

vvv is the vertical pitch in pixels

 

Take a deep breath, and fix it.  Remember that command lines are like a sentence.  There are spaces between the words, and all words start with a hyphen by convention.  This command line follows on old POSIX standard where colons were used instead of equal signs to show that values followed.  There is no excuse for the -r parameters except for compactness.  In an ideal world there would be a colon after the -r, but someone forgot, and it was never fixed.  This is a good example of the lack of black and white, even in programming.

[AcronShinra 60]

[...] Delete the maxis and SimCity folders if they get left behind before a reinstall.  Also try getting the resolution to work before adding any plugins and regions to the game, to eliminate the idea they are involved.  Maybe if you haven't previously, try a SC4 launcher and see if that helps.

 

And on top of that you could try to use prog like CCleaner to remove old registry keys; before fresh installation.

[lhrob 213]

Just wondering, what was the reason you uninstalled to begin with?  Were you having a problem with the game or pc to begin with?

 

Because I'm weird like that.     In all seriousness, though....yes, I was having an issue with the game.  It probably could have been resolved, but I'm OCD when it comes to having things run smoothly.  Late last week I tried installing the update/patch to bring my game up to version 1.1.640......but it didn't take.  I'm not sure why or what I did wrong - but after I applied the patch, the game version still showed up as 1.1.638 when I hovered my mouse over the Simcity 4.exe file.  I even checked the game in night mode, and the lighting still didn't show up after running the game for several Sim years.  So that, along with my desire to overhaul my Plugins folder, simply compelled me to uninstall the entire game and start over.

Did you change PCs or video card by chance?

 

No.

 

When you used the flag for resolution you typed it as" -CustomResolution:enabled -r1600x900x32" exactly?

 

Yep.  I typed it exactly as follows:  CustomResolution:enabled -r1600x900x32 -intro:off -CPUCount:1

 

Have you previously used a launcher that perhaps saved registry settings?

 

I feel comfortable saying no, because I don't know what a launcher is.  Should I be using one?  If so, can you point me to one.

 

 

Do you run the game through disc or steam?

 

Disc.

 

I run 1.1.640 with those flags (except r1920x1080x32) and when I reinstall I have no issues using it again.  It sounds to me like something is locking your game into a certain resolution, like an old registry key, an .ini file, or something.

 

I even went through my registry to make sure there were no traces of "Maxis" or "Electronic Arts" left.  Although I'm not a pro, I do feel comfortable working with the registry.  I've been doing it for years.  I didn't delete anything that should have remained for the rest of my system to operate correctly, but I also made sure I removed the relevant traces of the game.  But maybe there was something I missed...?  I could try to restore it to a time before I installed the game on my system last year.

 

It is an odd problem you are having.  I would try to reinstall the game and patch it with a new downloaded copy of the patch from a new location, and see if that helps.

 

A new location...?  I downloaded it from SC4Devotion.  Is there another place I could download it from?

 

 

Delete the maxis and SimCity folders if they get left behind before a reinstall.

 

Yep, I made sure to do that, too.

Also try getting the resolution to work before adding any plugins and regions to the game, to eliminate the idea they are involved.

 

I can try that to see if it works, but I'm not certain what the Plugins would have to do with it.

Maybe if you haven't previously, try a SC4 launcher and see if that helps.

 

As I said above, I don't know what a launcher is.  Can you post a link to one for me?  I'll have to look at it.  Thanks!

 

 

*******************************

 

 

@Nonny....I'll respond to your post shortly.  I have to run out for lunch.

[lhrob 213]

1.  To fix your title use the "use full editor" option on edit.

 

2.  Make sure of the following:

one space after the closing quote on the pathname

the option starts with a hyphen -CustomResolution:enabled -rhhhxvvvx32

where:

hhh is the horizontal pitch in pixels

vvv is the vertical pitch in pixels

 

Take a deep breath, and fix it.  Remember that command lines are like a sentence.  There are spaces between the words, and all words start with a hyphen by convention.  This command line follows on old POSIX standard where colons were used instead of equal signs to show that values followed.  There is no excuse for the -r parameters except for compactness.  In an ideal world there would be a colon after the -r, but someone forgot, and it was never fixed.  This is a good example of the lack of black and white, even in programming.

 

1.  I didn't know about that.  Thanks!    I corrected it.

 

2.  Been there, done that.  Truly, as I said in my OP, I'm using the exact same command line syntax that I used when I played the game previously.  It worked then, so I'm not sure why it isn't working now.

 

I'll take another deep breath and work on it this afternoon.  Thanks for the input. 

 

 

 

[...] Delete the maxis and SimCity folders if they get left behind before a reinstall.  Also try getting the resolution to work before adding any plugins and regions to the game, to eliminate the idea they are involved.  Maybe if you haven't previously, try a SC4 launcher and see if that helps.

 

And on top of that you could try to use prog like CCleaner to remove old registry keys; before fresh installation.

 

 

Oh, I use CCleaner all the time.  WONDERFUL little program!  I've used it for a number of years now.  Yep...tried running the Registry cleaner, and it's still not working.

[lhrob 213]

Sorry for the double post, but I found a couple of launchers.  Which one do you guys recommend:

 

 

or...

 

[docj101 99]

When I said download a new copy of the patch from a new location; this is just to eliminate the chance you had a bad download or your copy of the patch was somehow corrupted while being copy/pasted around.  When I recommend getting resolution to work before adding anything to your ....documents/SimCity 4/ folder, that again is just to cover all bases; I don't know how that could have an affect either, honestly.

 

Sounds like you covered your bases pretty well with your clean uninstall.  I don't have any other ideas except trying another install with another copy of the patch.  I have had to do this myself in the past, for whatever reason on a clean install my patch wouldn't copy all of the files.  When I tried again it worked fine, so idk what happened.

 

As far as launchers go, I can't recommend one because I haven't used one.

[Turjan 1,048]

It's hard to give any advice here, as you seemed to have cleaned up everything. Usually, stuff like that happens if you work on the wrong exe file or the old desktop shortcut that you forgot to remove. But as you even cleaned your registry, that doesn't seem to apply here.

[lhrob 213]

The problem has been resolved.

 

I completely uninstalled the game again this evening.  I made sure to delete everything game-related, and cleared out the relevant registry keys.  Then I reinstalled the game.  This time I only applied the patch to take the game from version 1.1.610 to 1.1.638.   Last night, during my first reinstall, I had applied another patch, too. It said "SKU1_to_P2", and there was a note accompanying it that said I was supposed to apply it first...?  I had downloaded it a number of years ago, but I'm not sure why I put that notation with it, so I skipped it this time.  I went straight for the SKU1_TO_P1_B638 patch.  After that, I added the patch to take it up to version 1.1.640.

 

THEN....I installed the SC4Launcher by Vitimus.  After adjusting the settings accordingly in the Launcher, I started the game.  It worked!  My resolution is back to 1600x900.

 

Thanks for the input, and suggestions. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Well done.  "Slow and steady wins the race." - Aesop.