SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition Makes Triumphant Return to the Mac

[bluegoose 2]

Question about the file extractor like Wine, Crossover et al: Do you download an .exe to the Mac and run the software there? Or do you have to do this on Windows?

I do already have a nice pluggin and NAM architecture going on my bootcamp partition; could I just import all of that into the SC4 for OSX? Or a more simple question might be-can I continue my created cities/regions from Windows by importing it all to the fresh Mac version I just downloaded?

Very excited by this!

[47ply 1,100]

Is it April 1st again? New Code? re packaged maybe

[Sabretooth78 808]

Question about the file extractor like Wine, Crossover et al: Do you download an .exe to the Mac and run the software there? Or do you have to do this on Windows?

I do already have a nice pluggin and NAM architecture going on my bootcamp partition; could I just import all of that into the SC4 for OSX? Or a more simple question might be-can I continue my created cities/regions from Windows by importing it all to the fresh Mac version I just downloaded?

Very excited by this!

 

For Wine, you open the Wineskin app and run through the "install software" option, select the .exe you want to extract, and go from there - it'll behave exactly as Windows would.  The only issue I'm expecting might happen is if you don't have SC4 installed within the same app skin - if it's something that needs to detect your SC4 installation, it might choke.

 

Theoretically the same might happen if you ran it straight out of Windows in an environment such as an emulator or Bootcamp.  In either case, you'd be installing to a plugin directory which doesn't belong to your Mac SC4 app (unless you map the My Docs/plugins folder to the Mac app library/containers/... location).  Generally it works well, from my experience.

 

I went ahead and bit the bullet and bought the Aspyr version.  Thus far it seems to work quite well - the only thing I notice is slower than under Wine is the scrolling within the in-game menus.  It seems on par with load times both at startup and city load.  Graphics quality is definitely better although I've noticed some significant lag doing things such as coming out of zoning view - it's usually slow anyway but seems like it might be moreso now.

 

On to more testing!

[Zelgadis 638]

I've read the thread, and, unless I missed it, I haven't seen anyone mention whether or not the nightlights for custom content works. Does it?

[BillyBatts 0]

Not such a triumphant return  Still doesn't work!  

 

Anyone having problems running the re-release?  The game is completely unplayable for me.  GameAgent says my machine is more than capable of running this game but when I go to build something it stalls and takes 30+secs for even a single road tile.  I've tried every setting from max to min.

 

I'm so pissed I'm about to tell Aspyr to "go get your F@#$%ing shine box!" 

 

Your thoughts?

 

Specs:

 

Mid 2010 iMac

2.93 GHz Intel Core i7

8 GB RAM

ATI Radeon HD 5750 1024 MB

OS X 10.9.2

[Benedict 3,119]

Has anyone tried loading a region made from the disc version into the new release? I'd love to be playing my region on my new mac rather than my ancient one...

 

Oh, yeah, did they remove the 'perforations' that make closeup shots look terrible?

[Sabretooth78 808]

I'm now having trouble getting my suite of plugins to work.  Trying some combinations and I'm having great difficulty trying to figure out where the culprit lies - there seem to be several.  Needless to say I don't really feel like fussing around with it.  Good thing I had a decent App Store balance and I rarely ever use it - I think I'm going to be sticking with Wine.

[APSMS 1,893]

Also, I would assume it's possible to run under hardware mode?  That would definitely be a plus, but seeing as I have already entrenched myself into a plugins suite that supports only software mode I'm somewhat loathe to rip that all up.  Not that I would necessarily have to - it's just more to, ugh, download and reorganize.

All Custom content designed for software mode (i.e. textures under 256x256) will always work in hardware mode. You can always go up, but it's much harder to go back. If you had a plugin suite designed specifically for HD stuff, you would need to download everything over again, as visual artifacts and other problems show up under software rendering of HD (512px or higher) textures. This has never once happened to me with older (read non-HD) stuff, as the hardware graphics chips usually have no trouble dealing with the greater amount of memory that the HD textures occupy on the RAM and GRAM on your computer.

 

Feel free to jump right into hardware mode. Remember, climbing up is easy. It's going back down that's hard.

[Haljackey 17,380]

I am not a Mac guy but this is great news for SC4!

[Sabretooth78 808]

Feel free to jump right into hardware mode. Remember, climbing up is easy. It's going back down that's hard.

 

That's what I figured.  I'm still hitting something here that's not working.  Oh well.

 

Yeah, I throw just NAM into the plugins and it'll load, but it freezes on the road menu.  Deal-breaker.  I'll stick with what works for now, and keep this in my back pocket.  Maybe some of these issues will be diagnosed by the community here (surely I can't be the only one) and I'll revisit it some day.

[LiQuiDWaVe 0]

I can't seem to create my own region due to the app sandbox.

[diamonddog_74 32]

Is there an equivalent to a "program files" plugin directory?  Will DAMN work with it?  (If not, that's a dealbreaker for me right there; performance gain opportunity cost be, well, DAMN-ed lol.)

 

 

Yes, go to the Applications folder, right-click the application's icon in the Finder, and select "Show package contents." This will open the app bundle. Go to Contents > GameData and you should see all the equivalent folders that you'd see in the Windows edition's Program Files SC4D installation.

 

Technically, you should be able to place your DAT files that require the application directory instead of the user directory using this path. I don't know if they'll work since I just downloaded the game myself.

 

Initial launch was very smooth with no skips or hiccups. Interestingly, the startup video says "Rush Hour Expansion Pack" instead of "Deluxe Edition." Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get the resolution to match my Retina display since they said in their official description that the game supports native resolutions.

[APSMS 1,893]

Current (read PC) versions of SC4 cannot render the screen properly at vertical resolutions equal to or greater than 1200px. I think it's caused by a math/rounding error in the program .exe, and while I'd like to believe it's one of things that Aspyr fixed, I highly doubt that they were referring to Retina display resolution when they said "native".

 

Keep in mind that because the program is not a modern one, it lacks high-definition assets for the menu icons, and also lacks scaling above a certain limit. The UI was designed to be able to run on as low as 800x600 monitors, so running at native resolution might present a problem, as the UI would be so small that it wouldn't be practical to use (and I am aware that the UI scales moderately with larger resolutions, but not enough for a 4 or 5-megapixel display).

[diamonddog_74 32]

Current (read PC) versions of SC4 cannot render the screen properly at vertical resolutions equal to or greater than 1200px. I think it's caused by a math/rounding error in the program .exe, and while I'd like to believe it's one of things that Aspyr fixed, I highly doubt that they were referring to Retina display resolution when they said "native".

 

Keep in mind that because the program is not a modern one, it lacks high-definition assets for the menu icons, and also lacks scaling above a certain limit. The UI was designed to be able to run on as low as 800x600 monitors, so running at native resolution might present a problem, as the UI would be so small that it wouldn't be practical to use (and I am aware that the UI scales moderately with larger resolutions, but not enough for a 4 or 5-megapixel display).

I understand. The highest resolution the video settings present me is 1440x900, so I set it at that full screen and it looks good, not stretched out or anything. I tested the first tutorial city, and there were no artifacts or lags. Seems to be working OK. I can't right-click to navigate over the map with the laptop's trackpad, though. It detects the two-finger right-click gesture, but when I try to move it zooms in and out instead. So I'll probably have to use a mouse.

So far I want to test it first plain vanilla with the tutorial cities before I try to load any of mods or other plugins. I guess the easiest thing to add right now would be music. I used to have extra music files in my old Windows installation.

[abbrown 0]

For those experiencing beachballing when using NAM, deleting NetworkAddonMod_Bridges_Plugin_Controller.dat eliminated the problem for me.

[Sabretooth78 808]

Yes, go to the Applications folder, right-click the application's icon in the Finder, and select "Show package contents." This will open the app bundle. Go to Contents > GameData and you should see all the equivalent folders that you'd see in the Windows edition's Program Files SC4D installation.

 

Yeah, I did some snooping and had found that...as well as the location of the annoying intro movies so I could delete those suckers.  I didn't put anything in there (never got to testing DAMN) but I would assume they work similarly.

 

 

I understand. The highest resolution the video settings present me is 1440x900, so I set it at that full screen and it looks good, not stretched out or anything. I tested the first tutorial city, and there were no artifacts or lags. Seems to be working OK. I can't right-click to navigate over the map with the laptop's trackpad, though. It detects the two-finger right-click gesture, but when I try to move it zooms in and out instead. So I'll probably have to use a mouse.

So far I want to test it first plain vanilla with the tutorial cities before I try to load any of mods or other plugins. I guess the easiest thing to add right now would be music. I used to have extra music files in my old Windows installation.

 

Yeah, the two highest mine gives me are 1280x800 and 1680x1050 - I have the "expanded display" non-retina MBP.  (Try going to an Apple Store and asking for one of those, if they're still available.  They must have brought out 3 different retinas and they seemed to be thrown for a loop and didn't know what I was talking about.  I left and just ordered it online to be sure I got what I wanted lol.)

 

I also noticed that the 2-finger zoom in and out is a bit spastic.

[diamonddog_74 32]

Yeah, the two highest mine gives me are 1280x800 and 1680x1050 - I have the "expanded display" non-retina MBP.  (Try going to an Apple Store and asking for one of those, if they're still available.  They must have brought out 3 different retinas and they seemed to be thrown for a loop and didn't know what I was talking about.  I left and just ordered it online to be sure I got what I wanted lol.)

 

I also noticed that the 2-finger zoom in and out is a bit spastic.

Oh, those 15" MBP's are long gone unless you find them through a third party. I wanted to get one of those before Apple killed them off last year, but I waited too long. It's OK. I'm very happy with the 15" RMBP. I bought a latest model high-end unit through their refurb site, and saved myself $500.

[memo 1,468]

I choose to give it a try today, so here are my impressions. (This post was originally posted at SimCity4 Devotion.)
 
 
My System specs:
• MacBook Pro 13'' 8,1 (early 2011)
• 2.3 GHz Intel Core i5
• Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MiB
• 10 GiB RAM
• 250 GiB SSD
• OS X 10.9.2
 
 
My impressions of the game:
 
• Don't expect any bug fixes. This is really only the same as the (unpatched) PC Deluxe version with all its bugs (e.g. transparent lot texture bug and TE lot/puzzle piece CTDs), but with additional bugs that are exclusive to the Mac version.
 
• Performance is okay. It runs decently, but I am not used to the best performance of the game on my laptop anyway. I cannot really compare it to my Bootcamp install, as I switched to an SSD and upgraded my RAM only two weeks ago. The game certainly loads fast, even with a full-blown NAM controller on an SSD.
 
+ very smooth integration into the system; even in full screen mode, I can switch between applications easily, the process is sent sleeping and is hardly noticeable - this is much better than on Windows
 
- scrolling skips zoom levels; scrolling the menus is hardly possible due to acceleration, neither with a mouse (not a magic mouse) nor with the trackpad - in my opinion this is a no no for a Mac application. In contrast, the trackpad is incredibly useful in the Windows install, as it allows me to scroll down to the end of the overfull transit menu like lightning.
 
- zoning preview is buggy (randomly missing or randomly distributed arrows)
 
- using the Shift key when dragging Roads does not work
 
- SimCity_1.dat is identical with the one from the CD of the Windows Deluxe version (except for one Exemplar file). This is considerably different from the patched version of that file, hence, it does NOT include the patches; in particular this means a number of missing sc4path files, some missing exemplar tuning and more. If you own a PC version, it may be possible to patch the files yourself.
 
- mipmapped textures look incredibly blurry, more than in my Windows version (note that this only concerns some pieces of the NAM, but not BATs)
 
+ no issues with high (30m) elevated rail and high monorail
 
- The files
  "Network Addon Mod/NetworkAddonMod_Bridges_Plugin_Controller.dat"
  "z___NAM/Mass Transit Lots/High Speed Rail Stations/Modern Arched GHSR Station/"
  "z___NAM/Mass Transit Lots/High Speed Rail Stations/Modern Arched HSR Station/"
  need to be removed or else the game freezes upon unpausing the game (modders play the game in paused mode only, anyway);
  this means if you want to play in LHD mode, you are out of luck;
  this also means no custom bridges, for the time being (DBE might work though).
  The rest of the NAM does indeed seem to work (but there are a few options I did not check).
 
- when using puzzle pieces, the preview model flickers if you don't pause the game
 
- no nightlights for custom BATs
 
- no extra cheats
 
+ it is possible to load your regions and your plugins from the PC version; however, expect that individual plugins might cause issues, like the HSR stations (it took me some time to locate these via binary search) - my plugins and regions load just fine, though (roughly 1 GiB)
 
• I could not get the DAMN menus to work, yet, but for the most part that's because I don't know what would be required to make them work
 
- base textures don't line up which makes for an even griddier look; visible in zooms 4,5,6 (grid turned off)
 


 
- I've never seen an industrial zone like this: At first glance, I thought there were missing buildings or props, but in fact, it consists almost exclusively of 1x1 industrial lots, which might be attributed to the zoning issues. Not sure if this is exclusive to the Mac version.
 

 
• my non-QWERTY keyboard layout gets recognized in text input fields, but not in shortcuts, which is not necessarily bad considering the arrangement of the SC4 shortcuts. This is different from the PC version.
 
 
 
Conclusion:
 
The game is definitely playable, with the usual restrictions and bugs of the Aspyr port. I can't really compare performance though. Plugins do work with some exceptions. I am not sure whether I should recommend this version though. On the one hand, some of the restrictions are pretty severe which is why I am probably going to stick with the Bootcamp install if I want to enjoy playing the game. On the other hand, for me as a modder who works on OS X most of the time, this allows me to quickly start the game and check the modded files, which is incredibly useful, in contrast to annoying reboots. I should add that I have not tried using Wine yet, but I'm sure I'll give it a try eventually.
 
Regarding the problematic NAM files, I am confident we'll be able to locate the issue more precisely so as to find a better tradeoff than deleting them completely.

[Beezer 0]

I can't get my head around how to install NAM 32 for this Mac version so I'm using Nam 30. My problem is I need SAM v3 but since it's been included in the NAM I can't find anywhere to download it separately.

 

Any solution?

[Subgrav 32]

I am slowly bringing all my old content back in, and so far not run into any issues... I've not, however, tried adding the NAM back in, so some of these tips are going to be handy.

 

I have, however, run into something: trying to load a custom terrain map has me stumped. Ctrl-Alt-Shift-R brings up a window to load the file, but it doesn't seem to be pointing at any specific folder, and I am unable to navigate out to find my JPG file. My only option is to cancel.

So looks like although they put that function back in, it isn't actually workable.

 

Has anyone been able to load a custom terrain?

 

Otherwise I'm just happy to be playing SC4 again 

[diamonddog_74 32]

Conclusion:

 

The game is definitely playable, with the usual restrictions and bugs of the Aspyr port. I can't really compare performance though. Plugins do work with some exceptions. I am not sure whether I should recommend this version though. On the one hand, some of the restrictions are pretty severe which is why I am probably going to stick with the Bootcamp install if I want to enjoy playing the game. On the other hand, for me as a modder who works on OS X most of the time, this allows me to quickly start the game and check the modded files, which is incredibly useful, in contrast to annoying reboots. I should add that I have not tried using Wine yet, but I'm sure I'll give it a try eventually.

 

Regarding the problematic NAM files, I am confident we'll be able to locate the issue more precisely so as to find a better tradeoff than deleting them completely.

 

Thank you for your thorough first analysis. Since I don't have a built-in optical drive anymore, I can't play the game in Boot Camp the way I used to with my old iMac. As I mentioned in another thread, I was thinking of using Crossover's version of Wine, but that still wouldn't solve the optical drive issue since the game looks for the second disc to play.

 

I hope that you submitted your observations to Aspyr. By releasing this game, they have put themselves in the crosshairs of the SC4D-playing community again, and they must respond to bug reports and issues the community finds. If they did not include the EP-1 and Patch4BAT published patches, they must do so in a future update otherwise they'll lose a lot of sales to existing players who have grown accustomed to using the myriad of BATs and mods that depend on these.

[FuzzyPuffin 0]

 As I mentioned in another thread, I was thinking of using Crossover's version of Wine, but that still wouldn't solve the optical drive issue since the game looks for the second disc to play.

 

 

 

In my experience, WINE using Crossover works great. You can just use a no-CD patch. 

 

I'd want to move over to this version, though, if Aspyr can fix the bugs and NAM works. 

[Sabretooth78 808]

If you're looking to avoid the CD/DVD drive requirement, I would suggest buying a PC digital copy from Amazon (or elsewhere).  I did about a year ago, and it was about $14 I believe.  Well worth it.  Then you can run that on Bootcamp, Parallels/VMWare or Wine.  I literally haven't put the game down since, after having played it only sparingly the previous 7 or so!  I only jumped for the new Aspyr release because the call to run natively was just too strong.  Oh well.  I ought to pursue a refund.

 

Personally, I'm very happy with how it works under Wine.  I've found a few little quirks, but all in all it runs exceptionally smooth and stable, and all this with a healthy 4+ GB of plugins.  Generally, I've found it to be a bit quirkier (most noticeably the behavior of the cursor icons) in full screen mode.  The biggest downside is I can't get hardware rendering to work while having the game any bit playable.  I've also been able to get every utility I regularly use to run out of the same app skin:

 

• BSC Cleanitol
• DAMN Manager
• Lot Editor
• Plugin Manager
• Reader
• Region Census
• SC4DatPacker
• SC4Mapper
• SC4Save

I'm sure with a little wrangling you can get just about anything to work, albeit some may be quirky (i.e. there are a couple that'll CTD if you resize a window or something like that, but they work otherwise).  I maintain a list of what winetrick libraries are required in the event I ever need to recreate the app; it probably wouldn't be a bad idea if someone here started maintaining/compiling such a list for others as well.

[BillyBatts 0]

thanks a lot people

[bluegoose 2]

Anybody tell me how to rotate lots when plopping them on a MacBook Pro keyboard?

[Sabretooth78 808]

Fn key + left or right arrow. Similarly, Fn + up or down will rotate the view.

[TEG24601 32]

For those experiencing beachballing when using NAM, deleting NetworkAddonMod_Bridges_Plugin_Controller.dat eliminated the problem for me.

Per the sticky on this forum- 

Note: The NAM plugin "NetworkAddonMod_Bridges_Plugin_Controller.dat" will cause the game to freeze if the game is not paused.  As a result, when you need to build RHW, One Way, Street, or Special Bridges, you will need to pause the game, save your city, close SimCity, move the plugin back into your NAM folder, reopen, build your bridges, save, close, remove, and reopen.  It takes some time, but at least NAM 31/32 allows for double height networks, which didn't work under NAM 30.

 

This appears to be true for the App Store version.  I'm holding off until the Steam version is launched to try it out, which may not be restricted by the Sandboxing issues.

[peace.daddy 0]

Thanks to everyone for posting about solving the beachballing with the NetworkAddonMod_Bridges_Plugin_Controller.dat file.

 

Once I got around that quirk, I've been able to run SC4 on my late model MBA w/8GB RAM.  It seems mostly fine from a graphics/performance aspect.

 

The one thing that is really hampering playability for me though is the bottom row of buttons/icons aren't operable.  For example, I can't pull up the options menu and the pause/play/fast forward buttons don't respond.  I've also had a little trouble with bulldozing.  It doesn't seem like I can bulldoze on every tile.

 

Since the Options menu doesn't work, I have to exit using CTRL+Q, which brings you back to the desktop.  So I'm not able to move freely between cities.

 

At first I thought maybe the Dock was somehow interfering with that row of buttons, since they are essentially on top of where the Dock lies.  But I tried moving the Dock to the left side and that didn't help.

 

Anyone else experiencing this?

[diamonddog_74 32]

If you're looking to avoid the CD/DVD drive requirement, I would suggest buying a PC digital copy from Amazon (or elsewhere).  I did about a year ago, and it was about $14 I believe.  Well worth it.  Then you can run that on Bootcamp, Parallels/VMWare or Wine. 

 

I just tried your suggestion to download the Windows version from Amazon as a backup in case the Mac edition doesn't work out for me. However, when I clicked the link after the purchase it downloaded a file called "SimCity_4_Deluxe_Edition_Downloader.exe." So, right now I have no way of running that executable since I don't have Boot Camp, a VM, or Wine installed in this computer. I thought it would download a giant .EXE or a .ISO.

 

I'm spending too much money on this if now I have to buy Crossover. I do own a license of Windows 7 Pro, but I was really trying to avoid dual booting. I also own a license of VMWare Fusion, but I think performance will suffer.

 

I hope Aspyr fixes the bugs, and applies the necessary updates (EP-1, and Patch4BAT). Ho hum.

[Sabretooth78 808]

I just tried your suggestion to download the Windows version from Amazon as a backup in case the Mac edition doesn't work out for me. However, when I clicked the link after the purchase it downloaded a file called "SimCity_4_Deluxe_Edition_Downloader.exe." So, right now I have no way of running that executable since I don't have Boot Camp, a VM, or Wine installed in this computer. I thought it would download a giant .EXE or a .ISO.

 

I'm spending too much money on this if now I have to buy Crossover. I do own a license of Windows 7 Pro, but I was really trying to avoid dual booting. I also own a license of VMWare Fusion, but I think performance will suffer.

 

I hope Aspyr fixes the bugs, and applies the necessary updates (EP-1, and Patch4BAT). Ho hum.

 

D'oh!  Yeah, what that will do is download what is basically a CD image that you can then "burn" to a .dmg.  I was still using Parallels at the time so that took care of that.

 

But all is not lost...Wine is free; I would suggest giving that a try.  Assuming you're reasonably tech-proficient, it's pretty self-explanatory.  I used Wineskin Winery:

 

http://wineskin.urgesoftware.com/tiki-index.php?page=Downloads

 

After you download and run that, you should get a window like this...

 

• ...click the + and install an engine (FWIW, I use WS9Wine1.7.10).  Then select "Create New Blank Wrapper".
• Give it a name (this initial attempt needn't be the one you ultimately install SC4 onto so that's up to you).  Let it run.
• Hit "cancel" on the Wine Mono and Wine Gecko installation prompts.  Let it chug...
• Click "View Wrapper in Finder" on the dialog that comes up.
• Right-click the app, "Show Package Contents".
• The symlink "drive_c" is basically what it sounds like.  But in this case, open "Wineskin.app"  It will raise the following window...

• ...Click "Install Software".  This will raise the following dialog...

• Select "Choose Setup Executable" and it'll raise the standard OS X open/save dialog.  Navigate to and select the Amazon downloader .exe.
• Let it download.  (I tried it and it choked; turned out my downloader .exe was too old...new one works).  It will first complain about missing Gecko; don't install it, you don't need it.
• It'll save to your Mac desktop (it maps the various Windows directories to the standard Mac ones, i.e. Desktop, Documents, etc.)
• I would then advise creating a DMG and backing it up somewhere.
• The process to installing SC4 will be very similar.  Ultimately, you will need to add some dll libraries ("Winetricks") to get everything working.  The only one I needed to run SC4 itself was "gdi=ddr", otherwise the graphics were lousy.  Others have advocated the need for Direct9 and Flexgrid winetricks but I have not found this to be the case (of course your results may vary?).  This can be accessed under the "Tools" panel in the Wineskin.app window:

• Ultimately you can install more than just SC4 using the above methods...  As you can the NAM.  And Lot Editor.  And BSC downloads, etc.  I have yet to run into something I can't install and/or get to work (aside from anything requiring hardware rendering).  (Note TSCT is java and will run natively on Mac; I just throw a symlink in there for completeness.)

You'll note with Wine that much of what you do is trough the "Wineskin.app".  Assuming you are reasonably tech savvy you should pick it up in no time.

 

Hope that helps!  If you do this, let me know if you run into any snags.