Maps Not Rendering

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Funny, that map renders for me.  Did you select the file by clicking on its icon?  If you don't get the file dialogue when you enter the renderer there is something wrong either with your keying sequence (all buttons at once) or your game is sick.

[lazy tiger 22]

I followed the rendering instructions as you provided. I got the dialog box where you need to search the folders, etc, to get the file to be rendered. I selected both the file name and in other attempts, clicked the little Icon next to it on the left. both times, SC4 exited the dialog box and ...nothing happened.

 

But my water height/ rendering problem wasn't map based. I decided originally (before coming to Forum) to check out previous regions I had worked on (Anchorage) and game defaults (New York, San Francisco) and whatever gummed up the works, wasn't map/file specific. When I tried to lower the water/raise the ground (because it was rendered deep under water..) the game crashed.

 

I rendered with Mapper, becuase we had been discussing it. I have another map I will try Monday, when I an not working, and I will use the in-game rendering feature and see what happens. (I also have your map too...) I have only downloaded the Patches at this point, no NAM or anything else. I just am tooling with the mapping options and steps, hoping it doesn't happen again, but secretly wanting it to, ...to nail down if there is a problem with the software (old disc) or I got a bad bug. Aside from a few adwares that I dispensed with, my laptop is clean. (but there is always something that is missed, I know...) I will post my results with the in-game renderer Monday.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Good luck with this.  If you get a crash, please post the first 20 lines of the Exception Report *.txt file.

[lazy tiger 22]

Will do. Not to sound like a $%&^!, but how do I do this? Usually when my game crashes, it totally shuts the game down, like a hard stop. Boom, right to desktop and anything not saved, never happened. I don't get a windows error message or anything like that (submit report to windows, etc..) is this something in the SC4 folders?

 

Again, will try Monday...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

C:\<your account>\Documents\SimCity 4\Exception Reports

 

Contains a set of useless dumps since we don't have the debug tables and source, but some basic data is in the header (lines 1 - 20).  Pick the most recent one, open it in notepad and select the top 20 lines off the file.  Paste them in a post.  We can check the kind of crash you are having (usually a dereferenced zero pointer) and check some environmental things.

 

Do not keep these files, they are el punko junko.

[lazy tiger 22]

C:\<your account>\Documents\SimCity 4\Exception Reports

 

Contains a set of useless dumps since we don't have the debug tables and source, but some basic data is in the header (lines 1 - 20).  Pick the most recent one, open it in notepad and select the top 20 lines off the file.  Paste them in a post.  We can check the kind of crash you are having (usually a dereferenced zero pointer) and check some environmental things.

 

Do not keep these files, they are el punko junko.

 

C:\<your account>\Documents\SimCity 4\Exception Reports

 

Contains a set of useless dumps since we don't have the debug tables and source, but some basic data is in the header (lines 1 - 20).  Pick the most recent one, open it in notepad and select the top 20 lines off the file.  Paste them in a post.  We can check the kind of crash you are having (usually a dereferenced zero pointer) and check some environmental things.

 

Do not keep these files, they are el punko junko.

Firstly let me apologize if my tone seemed off on my last post. I tried to post "Not to sound like a no ..ob " (combine the letters for newbie, I guess the word violates the language rules here...) ...

 

Anyway, I rendered your Terranova map using the in-game renderer (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+r) and it only took about 3 minutes tops to render it in all its glory. I went into mayor mode, zoomed, etc, no issues. Everything is running smoothly pre-NAM and pre-plugins...(custom).

 

Still scratching my head on it, but for now, seems like it was a pesky gremlin. The game is running as it should.

 

The only thing I can figure is that one of my housemates deleted Python thinking it was malware. When I re-downloaded it, I am guessing SC4 didn't "recognize" it...maybe it was located in a different part of my machine, or there is some programming default to locate it, idk, merely guessing here. When I had dumped and re-downloaded SC4 from scratch (disc) maybe it "recognized" Python again. And all is well.

 

But I don't think it was a rendering problem per se. For example, say a portion of Terra Nova is half land, half (deep) water, a coastal area. When I was in region mode, I have my map. But when I go into Mayor/City mode, I whatever it was supposed to be is now deep under water. In the example I gave, if you rotate the city map, you will see the higher "land" and the dropped seafloor as if it was a normal coastal area. (look at the edges orthographically) So that half land half water city tile, rendered.....just deep under water. I don't think Python (or lack of) caused this to happen. I can't pin down a plug in, since 1) none modified height and 2) they're deleted now anyway. So I must tread carefully.

 

Now in my Anchorage map i had a small thriving city. After trying Sarasota and discovering the issue last week, I checked a city I knew worked, and the issues with water also appeared. I got splotches of rendered blocks, some traffic peeking above the water (like trying to draw water and perfect leveled land simultaneously) and saw pollution effects. Then I moved to a game default map, NYC, and while the region looked as it should, go to mayor mode and ...water.

 

But for now, I checked default maps, Terra Nova, and Sarasota (my only customs) and had no issues with speed, rendering, or crashes. Again, I am patched up, just no NAM or any custom plugins or lots at the moment. Everything is working as it should be.

 

~Ed

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Everyone in your house should:

 

(a) have his own user account with no permissions to install nor delete anything from the system.

(b) not have access to your administrative account.  Change your password at once.

 

If you don't defend your machine, it is on you.

[lazy tiger 22]

Everyone in your house should:

 

(a) have his own user account with no permissions to install nor delete anything from the system.

(b) not have access to your administrative account.  Change your password at once.

 

If you don't defend your machine, it is on you.

I did just that when I re-installed. Originally, I have my account which is administrator and password protected. My (future) stepdaughter has her own account, but no administrator rights. My g/f and another person round out the household. Usually we are pretty trusting, sometimes I come home from work and mine is active or sometimes hers. I only use SimCity 4 on "my side" as it were. Nobody else plays as they deem it "boring". Good. no grimy fingers on my stuff, as it were.

 

What apparently happened was random peep installed a game program (those crappy online ones, that don't get along too well with Windows..) and when said peep went to delete program in my installed programs folder, he didn't recognize Python, and thought it was related to his download. Nothing shady, as he didn't know what that file did (and to be honest before reading this thread, neither did I...). Everyone knows where my maxis files are and what they are for, (i'll kill 'em) so nothing in game folders was tampered with. except for lost cities/time, I will write that off to lesson learned, no harm no foul (except for those poor sims who drowned in the Great Flood).

 

When I reinstalled SC4, I created a new windows account, password protected that houses only SC4 content and Mapper, Terraformer, and Firefox to search for advice/content. As for my main non-SC4 account, I changed the password, and ran another virus scan when I got home tonight. I may invest in a dedicated flash drive to hold my city folders as a backup too. Advice taken. I will tread gingerly with my plug ins, for now I will test run a city before adding NAM to see if any errors crop up. Then add NAM and playtest a little more. I know where to find and post Exception reports should the gremlins come back

 

I will create another account for my g/f when she gets home tomorrow. Step daughter and boyfriend will have to share her existing account together...(until I can get myself a dedicated PC...cue greedy laughter...)

 

Thank You,

 

~Ed

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

You are welcome.  All this may seem paranoid, but you've had a good example of why everyone should live in his own box.  Administrative permissions for the unwary can be fatal.

[lazy tiger 22]

You are welcome.  All this may seem paranoid, but you've had a good example of why everyone should live in his own box.  Administrative permissions for the unwary can be fatal.

 

Indeed.

[KonstantinII 1,106]

I've spent some time trying to download custom maps from the stex and get them into Simcity 4. I found a tutorial and everything went smoothly until the map was supposed to start rendering in the game. After I clicked on the JPEG in game from the dialogue box, nothing happened. The dialogue box closed but the rendering process had obviously not started. There was no indication of anything going wrong or right, just nothing happening. I waited, waited, and waited. The map was still the green default when you start a region. This is not just one map but anything I try.

 

 

 

I have the exact same problem for this map. Nothing happens.

 

For every other maps, the loading/creation process does start, but instantly crashes after loading two city tiles.

[blunder 1,080]

The two most common causes of failure to render out a jpg map are:

1.  Not enough memory.  Usually because of not having enough RAM, but can also happen if one of your sticks of RAM is damaged.

2.  A background process is interrupting sc4.  Nothing else should be running on your machine when you tell it to render.

 

If you can run Mapper 2013 it is able to create a region from a greyscale .jpg without the hiccups of the game's rendering engine.  I'd recommend using that and getting away from the game render entirely.

 

edit:  and make sure the config.bmp is a valid file and located properly in your /Regions/Name

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I just downloaded those two file, and they are OK dimensionally.

 

Your render may have failed because the program is very meticulous.  When picking up the .jpg file it is necessary to click on the file icon in the left-hand frame, and make sure it arrives in the file box at the bottom.

 

The program (SimCity 4) may not be interrupted nor lose focus (ALT+TAB) while it is running.  Strictly no hands on during this.  Also, blunder, may be quite right in that you may not have had enough memory.  Browsers are notorious memory hogs especially, and may not be left running during this process.  If necessary to avoid interruptions, disconnect from the Internet, close your browser and anti-virus systems, and kill the never to be sufficiently damned Windows indexer.  All these do-gooders can wreck a render. 

 

I rather like that region so I will try a render on it later.  If I don't post again, it was successful.

 

Later:  an novice error.  The *.jpg is a rgb image.  Open it in any photo editor and resave it as black and white.

 

And still later: Map rendered successfully.  Awful place, full of impact craters.  Sure is Mars.  Must be Green Mars, since it has lots of open water.

 

Let's see: city names

 

Helium

Kaol

Thuvium

 

Have to re-read the ERB Mars series to get more.

[KonstantinII 1,106]

 

 

If you can run Mapper 2013 it is able to create a region from a greyscale .jpg without the hiccups of the game's rendering engine.  I'd recommend using that and getting away from the game render entirely.

 

edit:  and make sure the config.bmp is a valid file and located properly in your /Regions/Name

 

Please explain

[blunder 1,080]

1.  Download Mapper

2.  Follow the instructions.

3.  Profit.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Will Mapper work if the *.jpg file is not a B&W map?  This one is RGB and all it takes is converting it to gray scale and you can use the in-game renderer.

[gary568 0]

I have never been able to get SC4 Mapper or Terraformer to work properly.  Broken software IMO.  

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

First, did you read the documentation?  There are some DLLs you need to load.  Failing those, Google for the Python run-time package and add it to your system.

 

I am on Linux and they run fine for me.

 

BTW, what O/S are you running?  Windows (version), Linux (version), MAC OS/X (version)?

 

Oh, and do you have the latest versions of those programs?  At least one of them has been updated.