New pc: Major graphic glitches

[Alkaola 18]

Hey guys,

New pc means: SIMCITY 4 FINALLY AGAIN. Unfortunately, like many others I've encountered huge graphic glitches. The game is unplayable. I checked out multiple threads to fix it but I do need some more specific help here. I've got an intel core i5 with the following videocard: Nvidia Geforce 970 GTX. Using this command: "C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4\Apps\SimCity 4.exe" -CPUCount:1 -CustomResolution:enabled -r1600x900x32 -d:OpenGL I managed to fix the glitches within hardware mode. However, the graphics turned out not to be not so pretty (the shadows can be compared with software mode). I want to play this game in hardware mode because of the better shadows, performance and HD possibilities. Is there any way to get this game running smoothly on hardware with my system specs?

Thanks in advance, those who can help me out. 

By the way: running the game in software mode there are no issues, as most of us experience. It is not ideal though. 

[rsc204 21,866]

First you must ensure you add your GPU to the Graphics Rules/Videocards files or SC4 won't recognise it properly to initiate Direct X rendering correctly, instructions.

Having said that, I'm guessing your new PC would have Windows 8.1 on it? There are a number of issues relating to compatibility, generally speaking if the above doesn't work downgrading to an earlier video driver could fix your problem, with the trade-off of better compatibility with newer software though.

 

Ultimately though running the latest hardware with an old game doesn't always work optimally, some configurations simply won't work with DirectX Rendering it would seem..

[Alkaola 18]

Hey man, thanks for your help. I chose not to go with windows 8.1. I'm running on windows 7. I've seen the link you sent. Looks a bit complicated though. You need notepad for it I guess. So you're telling me that I would need to install a whole different videocard it doesn't work? Maybe I understand you wrongly  

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Since you are using OpenGL and not DirectX maybe you should try experimenting with the shadows by turning them down or even off.  Remember the entire display is mostly eye-candy and the real game is the simulation. 

 

Since you are running with Windows 7 however, it might be worth a try with -d:directx but you will have to update the *.sgr files properly to reflect your GPU.  There are several discussions of this above.  I won't venture into this area since I don't do it.

[Alkaola 18]

 

Dear nonny:

1: What is OpenGL?

2: What's up with DirectX

3: What are *.sgr files?

I feel like all you saying is ''abra cadabra'' Please enlighten

[Snugies 91]

Whats wrong with software mode? I had the exact same graphics glitch, and now I run it in software mode, and the game seems fine.

[rsc204 21,866]

The biggest problem with Software Rendering is that the CPU now has to do the job of the GPU in addition to it's regular tasks, since playing SC4 the CPU is the bottleneck, this can drastically effect performance and the overall graphics quality of the game. Additionally mods which are so called HD which have better quality textures can not be used with Software Rendering at all. That said, if you just want to play then Software Rendering is the best choice for maximum compatibility and works just fine, however, if your hardware is capable then it would seem a shame not to devote a little time to optimise these settings, in many cases this problem is fixable.

 

The .SGR files are the ones I mentioned you'd need to update in the linked tutorial, the instructions should be pretty clear, in essence you have two files which can be opened in Notepad and you need to add some lines that tells SC4 about your videocard so that it can detect it properly. If you fail to do this correctly, almost certainly SC4 won't recognise your GPU and will default to settings that reduce the in-game performance considerably, reduce graphical quality and you can have issues with rendering.

 

The good news here is because you are using Windows 7, it's more likely that you will be able to make this work, a lot of the issues seem to stem from Win 8/8.1. Some users of newer ATI/NVidia cards seem to be having problems recently too, even with Windows 7, so somewhere between your O/S, Drivers, Direct X and the GPU itself, if the compatibility layer needed by SC4 doesn't work, then you can not do anything about it. Personally, I'm running a GTX750ti with driver revision 340.52 (Win7) and have no problems, outside of a tried and tested setup I know of this is such a minefield it's impossible to say for certain if a given setup will or won't work. Some others with this problem reported that using the 314.22 driver solved this problem for them, so if adding your videocard information doesn't fix the problem, I'd try there next.

 

The irony here being that SC4 doesn't need a decent GPU to work well, the game is quite old and wouldn't trouble the cheapest GPU you could buy today. But if your drivers don't work, there is nothing you can do if an older revision also lacks support. In this case, assuming you have a desktop PC and a spare PCI-E socket installing an old/cheap GPU as an additional GPU could be a good solution to your problem, especially if you have a spare lying around. Generally speaking once you go back a few years, pretty much all the ATI/NVidia cards should work just fine.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Dear nonny:

1: What is OpenGL?

2: What's up with DirectX

3: What are *.sgr files?

I feel like all you saying is ''abra cadabra'' Please enlighten

1. On the command line in your post you are invoking OpenGL.  OpenGL is an international standard graphics suite.  For the gory details look here.  This may be more than you want to absorb.  It is a good alternative to DirectX.

 

2. DirectX is Microsoft's graphics system which is a lock in to Windoze.  The native system for most operating systems is OpenGL because it is a recognized standard maintained by a third party.  Most GPUs recognize and use OpenGL commands directly which means that DirectX has to change graphic calls to OpenGL or it is done be the device driver.

 

3.  These are the graphics control files that were necessary for the developers to create because in the 2003 time frame, the GPUs available needed better support.  Because of this, a lot of work is done by the SC4 executable based on these files.  You can find them in C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4...\*.sgr.  There are two files.  The * is a short hand for 'any name'.  There is a recipe for handling them in I guess the initials SGR stand for special graphics rules.  Legacy programs are such fun.

 

Go not to oracles for they will say both 'yea' and 'nay'.

 

Whats wrong with software mode? I had the exact same graphics glitch, and now I run it in software mode, and the game seems fine.

The only drawback to software rendering is that it cannot use HD textures.  This is totally up to the user.  And yes, it uses more CPU because it reduces the function of the GPU to being a simple frame buffer.

 

Sometimes I run in software mode because there are still some frogs in my system, but I can usually work around them.  I have start scripts for directx, opengl and directx and it takes less than five minute to reload the game if needed.  So far, I run mostly with directx because of my particular hardware.

[Prophet42 1,503]

Also, go to the NVidia control panel and make sure that SC4 is actually using the NVidia GPU.  A lot of the newer computers also have integrated graphics chips which most of the programs seem to default to.  When you open the NVidia control panel, you can go through each program and set which GPU to use.

 

Of course this is in conjuction with changing the .sgr files.

[Huston 5,800]

Okay, this problem is just getting increasingly in my way. How well does it work when you try to 'force' it to use the NVIDIA graphics card? As in right clicking a and using the 'run with graphics processor' option (and on a side note, has anyone encountered where they updated, and suddenly, the run graphics option went missing? Toggling it on the Control Panel apparently doesn't work )

 

And are there workarounds for people using HD Content? It's kinda central to me when I use SC4

[rsc204 21,866]

For laptops this is no big deal, for desktops though it can be more of a headache, for example I have never seen this option active, despite having two GPUs. In my case whichever GPU is set to the primary monitor in windows is used by default when the application doesn't allow you to select a card. By comparison a Laptop with multiple cards should be able to switch between them, since they are both connected to the same monitor, whereas for a desktop you may need to go to the effort of switching cables too.

 

If you are on a laptop and neither of the internal cards work with Direct X or Open GL (sometimes this fixes it, personally I can't use HD content with Open GL, others though report different results), then your choices are not so many. If you absolutely must have HD textures you could try one of the following:

 

 - Try old revisions of the GPU drivers to see if you can find one without compatibility for DX9 having been killed off.

 - If using Win 8/8.1, Upgrade to Win 7

 - Dual Boot your system with Win7 (or XP) for running SC4.

 - Create a virtual O/S (best done with XP IMO) which you can run from a Virtual Machine.

 

If you are running a desktop machine it should be possible to use an old GPU (if you have one lying around and a spare PCI-E socket) and run SC4 on this card, since SC4 doesn't really use much GPU power this could even be quite an old card and it would work well.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I think you can set a standard profile for the game within the NVIDIA GPU's control panel.  Check and see if you can specify this, as it isn't available for all models.

[rsc204 21,866]

I think the problem simply comes down to the fact that if your Videocard is outputting to a monitor with a specific cable, how do you get that signal from a different videocard to appear on a monitor that's not plugged into it? Laptops can get around this easily as these setups were designed to work that way, both cards share the same video outputs in effect, I'm not sure if this is something that has been extended to work with regular GPUs though? It would be inefficient since I can't see how it'd work without the main GPU having to be utilised to display an image, even it it was being streamed somehow between the two. So if you have a desktop the solution is to plug your monitor into the other GPU's outputs, of course this might be less than desirable and a total PITA if you had to switch between displays this way. If your monitor has multiple inputs you could connect it up to both GPUs to switch on the fly, a multi-monitor setup might be useful in this scenario too.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Agreed.  If this is a desktop, there is little reason to have a weak GPU in use at all.  Switch permanently to the NVIDIA card.  Check your boot settings (BIOS/UEFI) to see if you can disable the "built-in" GPU.  To get at this, you'll have to do a power up boot, and be quick with the appropriate entry key.

[Huston 5,800]

Well it's worth mention that it's a laptop with Intel integrated graphics/NVIDIA GeForce GT 740M. Although, I suspect that theres more than just graphics messing this up since I've already set my NVIDIA graphics card to default and tried forcing it to run with it as well. I've lowered its compatibility settings, force administrator run, and other small precautions to see if I could prevent the graphics from malfunctioning.

[rsc204 21,866]

Check the log file in C:\Program Files (x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps\<yourcomputername>-config-log.txt, it will tell you which GPU SC4 was using when you last ran it, if this shows your NVidia card and Direct X rendering doesn't work, you've an incompatibility somewhere. Newer cards seem more prone to the issue, also some older cards with newer drivers can show the same problems, in these cases some people have said using an older driver revision solved the problem. If you are on a laptop and the NVidia card doesn't work, you likely won't get the Intel one working either so there really is nothing more you can do, bar using a workaround to load an older version of windows and using that to play SC4.

[Huston 5,800]

Ack, that kinds sucks. I looked at what you said, and it seems like no matter how I try to get it to use the NVIDIA graphics card, it keeps loading the Integrated graphics

 

 

 

appName = SimCity 4
version = 1.1.640.0
osVersion = Windows NT 6.1
computerName = N7
CPU = GenuineIntel
sglDriverName = DirectX
sglDriverVersion = 2.0
driverName = igdumdim32.dll
driverVersion = 10.18.10.3277, GUID: D7B78E66-4756-11CF-8C73-6339A9C2CD35
cardName = Intel® HD Graphics 4600
cardVersion = Vendor: 8086, Device: 0416, Board: 1963103c, Chipset: 0006
cardIdentity = Intel® HD Graphics 4600
soundDriverName = {0.0.0.00000000}.{2200e242-ca8c-40a9-bca2-c7182a56f352}
soundCardName = Speakers / HP (IDT High Definition Audio CODEC)
buildType = Release

Lol, doooooooomed.

[QuantumChicken 89]

I don't know how people are able to get OpenGL to work. Whenever I try it, it is all white with black holes (not gravity) everywhere. I use an GTX 570 with windows 8.1 enterprise (Windows 7 is too slow and laggy for me and I don't like it).

[Huston 5,800]

I don't know how people are able to get OpenGL to work. Whenever I try it, it is all white with black holes (not gravity) everywhere. I use an GTX 570 with windows 8.1 enterprise (Windows 7 is too slow and laggy for me and I don't like it).

 

Neither, I tried it on mine, but upon entering a city, it just freezes up the game.

 

Looks like for my SC4, despite having set the preferred GPU to my NVidia graphics card, the game seems to disregard it and continues to use the Intel integrated regardless of what I do. Does anyone have a way to make it so that I can run it through the NVidia card by default (or in a way that it runs on NVidia over Intel?)

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

In five months or so you will have Windows 10.  Cross fingers.

[Huston 5,800]

Hopefully it can at least hold a candle to Windows 7. Would be nice to do away with the blunder that is W8.

[Indiana Joe 1,752]

Neither, I tried it on mine, but upon entering a city, it just freezes up the game.

 

Looks like for my SC4, despite having set the preferred GPU to my NVidia graphics card, the game seems to disregard it and continues to use the Intel integrated regardless of what I do. Does anyone have a way to make it so that I can run it through the NVidia card by default (or in a way that it runs on NVidia over Intel?)

 

 

Uninstall both your Intel graphics driver, and your NVidia graphics driver.  Save your regions and plugins somewhere safe, and uninstall SimCity 4.  Reboot the computer when that's all done.  Then download the latest drivers for each video card, and re-install SimCity 4.  Reboot the computer again.  Open the NVidia control panel (right-click on desktop) and set SimCity 4 to use the NVidia card.  Then check the "Add 'Run with graphics processor' to the context menu" option in the NVidia control panel (top bar --> Desktop).  Right-click on the SC4 icon and run it with the NVidia card.

 

It will probably say "You don't have the privilege to do this."  Windows 8.1 has some screwed up security features.  You have to disable Windows User Account Control.

 

After doing this once, I was able to double-click on the SC4 icon normally and it finally used the NVidia from then on.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

An interesting article.  One wonders why all these handsprings are necessary in Windoze.  The whole security idea is one of the defaults in Linux, and it is totally unobtrusive and automatic.  Hopefully the Windows 10 kernel will finally be fixed to shut out most intruders.

 

For the truly paranoid there is the SELINUX kernel option which adds DOD security, ACLs and CACLs, and needs a full time security administrator.  A free standing machine should never need this and only networks with multiple security clearances on the same network need bother with it.

 

Like its great-grandfather, Multics, Linux source is public domain.

[Indiana Joe 1,752]

It's easy to sit here and complain about windows, but after all we're trying to get a 12 year old program to work.  I honestly don't expect them to support it.

[NCGAIO 562]

In portable intel you will  always get  video output (frame buffer) in integrated GPU even when using the dedicated GPU for processing because  this is part of  MINTEL video memory control. 

 

SC4 is DirectDraw7 and DirectSound without direct support from the system and current video drivers (running by "emulation" ) and we can only be running old games today because, after going back and forth trying to force the abandonment DX9 by developers and manufacturers the MINTEL kept the support with DX9ex (wwdm) and it continue to  exists in the current versions DX,for now.

 

This support that NVIDIA still does,  for now, is the same that  any wrapper makes to try circumvent incompatibilities by intercept of  oldDX call and processes them  by dedicated GPU that in synthesis is the even that occurs with current games on current DXs using MINTEL, ie: DX calls for a resource leads to the use of the GPU dedicated (if exist one, of course).

 

 Not to stretch too try to run the game in window at the same resolution of desktop in DX or OpenCL to stay on of DWM  control OS.

 

Think that It's time to end this legend about edit GRLs for that game can recognize and use certain GPU

 

The only thing that can be achieved by placing her ID in section "FAST CARD" is the use of raster with "dirtyrectframe" 2 instead of 6 which is normally used for "STANDARD HARDWARE" and that, depending on the system, more delays than help .

 

There are problems previous at this in GRLs configuration but can only be solved with the use of wrappers and this is at the discretion of each one  (works, does not work etc ...), but if you want a tip,  send PM .

[Prophet42 1,503]

I don't know how people are able to get OpenGL to work. Whenever I try it, it is all white with black holes (not gravity) everywhere. I use an GTX 570 with windows 8.1 enterprise (Windows 7 is too slow and laggy for me and I don't like it).

It depends on your CPU.  My CPU is an Intel Core i5-4210U, Haswell ULT 22nm which provides hardware support for Direct3D 11.1 and OpenGL 4.3.

 

Find out what your CPU is and then do an internet search to see if it supports OpenGL or DirectX.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

It's easy to sit here and complain about windows, but after all we're trying to get a 12 year old program to work.  I honestly don't expect them to support it.

The basic problem is not Windows but EA.  If EA expects to continue to milk this cash cow, it is time for an update of the game text to run in the modern operating system.  I don't think a simple recompile would do it, but if I had the source, I would try.

 

1. Scrap DX and make it OpenGL only.  The code is there and works for me.  This would get rid of some complications.

2. Get rid of the now-unnecessary *.sgr files and scripts.

3. Fix known bugs.

4. Find the problem that causes CTDs, and fix that too.

5. Create SimCity Deluxe 4.5 with 64-bit decor.

[NCGAIO 562]

See that there is no logic in it ....
 
The product still sells as it is due to its reputation beyond what the suggestion is impractical from the point of view that would change almost everything to current systems and still be at a disadvantage in the market.
 
Regarding the liberation of code can bet it's easier to see the snow of Mount Everest all melted
 
An elaborate opnion

Simmmaster07 - 
What you guys need to understand is that EA will never, never, never, ever release the source code as a whole, or even major parts of the source code. EA devs might give you a few header files to work with to make a DLL, and that's about it.
 
Why? Because SC4 is still making money. Do you see any source code from SC2K or SC3K? No, because people are still playing them, just like SC4. As long as people are still willing to buy SC4 and play it, they will NOT release the source code. In fact, I have rarely even seen a company go so far as to release any of the source code for their games. GTA I is available for free, but is still closed-source.....

Incredible that it is still so today because the game continues to sell.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

As long as it can still be cajoled to run in whatever operating system you have, EA will never abandon the source, and probably not for at least 10 years after that.  One can postulate, but remember that no company willingly gives up a cash cow even if it only gives skim milk.

 

All things being equal, I expect to run this game using Linux/wine long after Windoze is no longer capable of running it.