Graphics Issue With Win8

[Nebmura 0]

Hello,

 

I have searched around the web for a solution to no avail so I figured I would try here.

 

I have been playing SimCity4 on windows 8 for several months now with no issue. As of a week ago I undated my computer to the newest version of Windows 8 and now I am experiencing annoying graphic issues:

 

Buildings such as high-rises and sky scrapers disappear or are replaced with a gray/black box or outline

Corners or Intersections of random roads disappear

Railroads disappear and reappear

Port and airport structures disappear and reappear

Some Industrial Buildings are now replaced with a black square (no building or tile)

When running pipes black lines run wild across the screen - *they resemble the pipes themselves however there are no pipes being built in the areas these lines a appearing ... 

 

However, the game itself still runs 'normally' and is playable.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks

[CapTon 592]

You need to switch the game to Windows 7 Compatibility Mode.

 

You can do this by doing the following, step-by-step:

 

- Right-click on your SC4 icon on your desktop.

- Go down the list until you find Properties. Click on that.

- A little screen will pop up. There will be a navigation bar at the top of this screen. Click on the navigation tab that says Compatibility.

- After that, you'll see a dropdown that says Windows 8 along the text box. Click on the dropdown icon and select Windows 7.

- Once you do that, go to the bottom of the screen, click Apply, wait for it to finish applying, and then click OK.

 

Your game should work pretty good after that. You will still experience minor glitches, but not nearly as many as you did before.

 

Enjoy your game!

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Good that there is a solution.  Seems Microsoft is becoming less and less reliable as they move forward (backward?).

[Nebmura 0]

Hello,

 

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately it did not fix the issues. While it made them less 'aggressive' they still happen. And now, it seems anything on a diagonal grid is vanishing all together.

 

I have uploaded a few images in hopes they might help in determining a fix.

 

Thanks.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The real solution is to back down to Windows 7 which is the last known solid version to run this game written in 2000.  Microsoft is not really obliged to support ancient programs you know.  Everyone knew that eventually this program's support in the operating system would erode to the point of uselessness.  If you don't want Windows 7, then dual load Ubuntu and use the wine layer to run your legacy stuff.

[CapTon 592]

Hello,

 

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately it did not fix the issues. While it made them less 'aggressive' they still happen. And now, it seems anything on a diagonal grid is vanishing all together.

 

I have uploaded a few images in hopes they might help in determining a fix.

 

Thanks.

I took a look at those photos and saw that a lot of them were while looking at the water table. That is a graphics issue I experience as well. It is considered as one of the minor glitches I mentioned I'll continue to look at these.

[Nebmura 0]

The real solution is to back down to Windows 7 which is the last known solid version to run this game written in 2000.  Microsoft is not really obliged to support ancient programs you know.  Everyone knew that eventually this program's support in the operating system would erode to the point of uselessness.  If you don't want Windows 7, then dual load Ubuntu and use the wine layer to run your legacy stuff.

I know they are not obligated. I just wish the developers of simcity would create an update or something. Some of my regions are over 5 years old and I would just hate to loose them. Mainly because no one seems interested in developing these types of city building games anymore unless it is online.... I suppose I should stop living in the past

 

- @ CapTon:

Thanks for your input. It might be annoying, but I'd rather live with these 'minor glitches' lol, than not be able to play the game at all.... even though I am really starting to regret updating windows last week

[Indiana Joe 1,750]

Try different versions of drivers for your video card.  New and old.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

 

The real solution is to back down to Windows 7 which is the last known solid version to run this game written in 2000.  Microsoft is not really obliged to support ancient programs you know.  Everyone knew that eventually this program's support in the operating system would erode to the point of uselessness.  If you don't want Windows 7, then dual load Ubuntu and use the wine layer to run your legacy stuff.

I know they are not obligated. I just wish the developers of simcity would create an update or something. Some of my regions are over 5 years old and I would just hate to loose them. Mainly because no one seems interested in developing these types of city building games anymore unless it is online.... I suppose I should stop living in the past

<snip>

EA is not interested in enhancing nor developing SimCity 4 which has been a cash cow for them since 2003.  It is still selling.

 

You may have heard that Linux systems like Ubuntu require considerable technical smarts.  This is not exactly the truth.  If all you generally want is social media, you don't need any special knowledge to run Ubuntu, which is what I am running. 

 

You do have to understand a little bit when you want to run a non-native program like SimCity 4.  You need to download wine from the software centre, which takes a few mouse clicks.

 

After installing wine you then need one of the package items that comes with it (winetricks) to download two Microsoft library items.  There are the two flex-grid controls that are needed to run the NAM installer.  If you don't run with NAM, you don't need these.

 

To run SC4 under wine you simply install the game in wine using the wine windows program installer which gives you a short-cut to start the game. 

 

If you use any command line options you can either modify the properties of the shortcut in the usual way or you can use a script which can be placed in your local /home/<you>/bin directory, marked executable then called by its file name.  I use the script method because a few years ago, there were problems (now fixed) that required the wine console output.  If you want details, PM me.

 

One more thing:  If you choose to put scripts in a bin folder at your home level, to activate the search rules for it, you need to log off then log back on to execute your start-up shell scripts.

  Edited May 5, 2014 by CaptCity  

[blunder 1,079]

@nebmura:  try to go through too.  It helped me tremendously.  If all else fails you can copy/paste your plugins and regions somewhere safe and reinstall the game.  That has helped me before with graphical issues when nothing else would (but i can't speak to the windows8 aspect as i'm on 7).

  Edited May 5, 2014 by CaptCity  

[SpookyZalost 39]

rather than win 7 compatibility mode, did you try windows xp compatibility mode, that was the operating system of choice at the time, also is your game the steam version or the CD version?

Oh! and one more question, have you tried changing the theme to basic or classic mode? sometimes composting on newer systems can cause glitches with older games.

[Compdude787 916]

I'm having the same problem as the OP with graphics issues (buildings not appearing as you move the map or disappearing as you zoom in/out) ever since I updated my computer from Windows 8 to 8.1 a few weeks ago. Not only that, but the route query is completely broken to the point where it is completely useless. It just puts green lines (in the case of the car network) all over the place when you click on a building or a transport network. Sometimes these lines stay on the screen after I've hit Esc or deselected the route query. Also, the toolbar on the bottom of the screen that comes up while doing a U-drive-it flickers constantly until you click the minimize button. And, when you bulldoze stuff, the UI flickers while the bulldozing animation (dust cloud, rubble, etc.) is taking place. All these things started happening when I upgraded from 8 to 8.1; the game was running fine with Windows 8.

 

I have tried changing the compatibility mode to Windows XP but that didn't help. Also I tried updating my graphics driver but that didn't help either. I don't know what to do from here, and this graphical issue really annoys the heck out of me and I hate not being able to use the route query. I have an Acer Aspire V5-571 laptop with a 1.7 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5-3317u CPU with 6 GB of RAM and Intel HD Graphics 4000 onboard graphics.

 

So, does anyone have any other solutions to my problem? I'd hate to have to go back to windows 8 because 8.1 is better. Although I would not mind putting Windows 7--the best version of Windows--on my computer.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

The easy solution is to back out to Windows 7. 

 

If you upgraded to 8 because of something specific you are probably better to fight it out.  Try setting compatibility to either 7 or XP.

 

Upgrading an operating system because it is new doesn't mean that it will be wonderful, so unless you really need some app that only runs on 8, I'd just back out.

[Compdude787 916]

The easy solution is to back out to Windows 7. 

 

If you upgraded to 8 because of something specific you are probably better to fight it out.  Try setting compatibility to either 7 or XP.

 

Upgrading an operating system because it is new doesn't mean that it will be wonderful, so unless you really need some app that only runs on 8, I'd just back out.

I mentioned in my previous post above that I tried setting the compatibility mode to 7 and XP, but that didn't work.

 

Windows 8 was what came with my computer, but I liked 8.1 better than Windows 8, which was why I upgraded. If I'd known that Windows 8.1 would cause this problem with SC4, I would never have done so. Windows 7 is the best version of Windows IMO, so I'll just use this as a good excuse to downgrade upgrade to Windows 7. I won't miss any of the apps in Win8; I never use them and I always run things from the desktop.

 

Considering that other people have had similar graphics problems with SC4 on Windows 8.1, I guess that means that Windows 8 is the last version of Windows that can run SimCity 4 properly. It's a wonder that a Windows version made nine years after this game could still run the game fine. But I'm not surprised that the newest Windows OS cannot run the game properly anymore; it was bound to happen someday. Even modern computers are already running it with 3/4 of their brain tied behind their back, being that it's only a single-core, 32-bit game.

 

In conclusion, don't upgrade to Windows 8.1 if you have SimCity 4. If you don't like windows 8, back up your data, reformat the HDD, and install windows 7.