Did someone test playing SimCity 4 on Windows 10?

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

As we know, many people downloaded trial versions of Windows 10, which will be released on the 29th of this month. I wonder if anyone here done it and tried to play SimCity 4 in this new system. When the official update be out I'd like to use it, but I am afraid it is incompatible with some of my programs and games, especially SC4, since it is an older game and already have problems to Windows 8.1.

Thanks in advance.

Note:
This is a thread to report your experiences with running SC4 on Windows 10.
If you're having issues running the game, and would like further assistance, please post in the dedicated report thread, or start a new topic inside the Tech Forum.

  Edited August 5, 2015 by JP Schriefer  

[cmdp123789 710]

Indeed an interesting topic, and something that we definitely should be investigating as much as we can, unfortunately, I still don't have it, so I can't contribute to an answer, although, Im looking for an answer too =)

[Mister Giggles 310]

Nevermind! I have an Nvidia card now! I'm free, free I say!

FREEEEEDOOOOM.

  Edited July 29, 2015 by Mister Giggles  

[rsc204 21,866]

Early reports seem to suggest the game simply doesn't run at all, but of course these were all on preview versions.

Even if it does, since updates are no longer optional, there's nothing stopping it getting borked in an update provided by Windows later down the line, so if you like SC4 a lot, you might need a very compelling reason for using Windows 10, so far I can't find any. Apparently though there will be the option to roll-back to your previous setup should you not find Windows 10 to your liking, something I was very surprised to find out, in which case there is nothing to lose from trying it out I suppose.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

And if you like Windows 10 and want to keep it, but the game won't run, you can always dual boot a Linux distribution (I recommend Ubuntu) and run it with wine support to operate SC4 which runs well after you've gone through the learning curve.  I'd be glad to help.

[jmsepe 2,039]

I'm going to have a free update by the end of the month, I'll also try to check if it would run. Hopefully it will. 

[RipRap 4,400]

As a member of the Windows Technical Preview,  there are just some things that I would like to clarify. 

First of all, I will not guarantee you that SimCity 4 will run on a Windows 10 PC, but it should work, as Microsoft still uses DirectX software. Some exemplars will go missing if you did not install it properly. Aside from that it should be similar to Windows 8.1

[rsc204 21,866]

But DirectX is not the problem, it's more specifically that between your GPU hardware, drivers and Windows you must be able to maintain support for certain functions in DirectX 9 that it seems a number of devices are simply no longer supporting, in that sense the problems are also felt by Win8 / Win7 users. In all these cases, simply selecting Software Rendering bypasses the problem, since DX support is no longer needed, however that also gives less than optimal results running the game.

As for whether Win10 itself is compatible with the code to run SC4 full stop, that's not actually clear, just because MS say old apps should all work, doesn't mean they will, some of us have heard this speech too many times to simply believe them. Of course if anyone using the preview wants to chime in with their actual experience, that would probably clarify the situation better. Right now, this is the only post I've seen where anyone has tested it, SC4 simply did not start.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Whatever is happening, there is lots of room for finger pointing.  The GPU manufacturers in general also write the drivers and supply them to the software house, in this case Microsoft.  The CPU manufacturers do not normally supply any software but will, perhaps, help with the UEFI or BIOS depending on the vintage of the iron.  Beyond supplying the intimate documentation of the CPU and its associated equipment, all the work is left to the kernel group at the software house.  CPUs can be of one of two varieties, Reduced Instruction Set (RISC) like the ARM processors used in phones and tablets, and Complete Instruction Set (CISC) processors with the x86 full decor.  The difference is that the RISC processor is like putting smaller wheels on your car.  The engine has to run faster to achieve the same over-the-ground speeds.  These machines are trickier to program because they often lack any arithmetic commands other than add and complement.  If anyone reading this has ever written code for a DEC PDP-8 of ancient vintage they'll know what I mean.  For example, in a RISC architecture you can multiply a number by 10 by shifting it left 3 bits and adding it to itself twice.

Now you get to the DirectX and/or OpenGL support between the software, the CPU (driver), and the GPU.  If the GPU is a lite model designed for browsing and text work, it may not be able to support heavy arithmetic work such as a spread sheet or a game.  This seems to be a curse of modern portable systems having more to do with battery life than anything else.  The apparent cure is to include a more complete GPU as a secondary, which is often just idling most of the time using very little power until called upon for something more complex.

Old programs like SimCity 4 are just not designed to handle this kind of selection.  In the day when this program was released there was only one integrated set of components and no selection of which GPU to use was provided.  Now the user has to go through handsprings to make this happen by setting up game profiles or similar things.  Cost cutting and such often results in handsprings like this, and the saving is not that much except when millions of units are involved.

What will happen to Windows 10 has hardware continues to evolve is anyone's guess.  When the 7 NM chips come on the consumer market maybe these wimpy GPUs will go away, but don't hold your breath.

[Prophet42 1,503]

I still have Windows 7 on this laptop, and SC4 is working just fine.  I am in no hurry to update to Windows 10, I have until July 29, 2016 to decide.  Also, I do not like the fact that you will be forced to accept updates on Windows 10.  As rsc204 stated, you may have SC4 working fine, then Windows 10 forces an update on you and some driver gets 'updated' and you're screwed.

The most likely scenario for me is I will keep my laptop Windows 7, and maybe (after a few months) update my desktop to Windows 10.  Then I can carry out experiments on getting SC4 to run on Windows 10 without actually jeopardizing being able to play it.

[Moosetek13 1]

And if you like Windows 10 and want to keep it, but the game won't run, you can always dual boot a Linux distribution (I recommend Ubuntu) and run it with wine support to operate SC4 which runs well after you've gone through the learning curve.  I'd be glad to help.

I just replaced Windows with Linux - Linux Mint to be exact.

It is a distro I would recommend over Ubuntu for people that like the Windows interface and don't want to fiddle with getting simple things like DVD videos to play.

PlayOnLinux is a front end to Wine, and it does the hard stuff for you. Hundreds of PC games are supported with many more in testing. When installing a supported game PlayOnLinux will even download and install the correct version of Wine for you.

 

I've just installed the Steam version via PlayOnLinux/Wine, which seems the best option. It worked the first time, and better once I figured out how to configure the Wine window for the resolution I want to play the game in.

Well, I haven't actually built any cities yet. I have gone into the cities in the default region just to make sure the game actually worked.

I'm gathering some essential mods and stuff before I get into it, but so far it looks very nice. It seems to run as fast as on my PC's.

[Hellken 1,658]

I dislike the idea of updates being shoved down my throat without my consent. I will run Windows 7 indefinitely unless there is some compelling reason to upgrade.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Mint is a further development of Ubuntu.  Some people like it, but when I tested it over a year ago, it wasn't ready for people.  If it is better now, then that is probably a blessing.

What do you do when PlayonLinux wants different versions of wine?

[rsc204 21,866]

I've just installed SC4 (GOG Digital Version) on my friends Win10 Laptop, it's the current Release to OEM version which should closely resemble the final release version for next week.

Test hardware was a Lenovo Thinkpad T520. Spec Intel i5-2450M, 8GB, NVidia NVS 4200M GPU.

Using the following command line shortcut:

-intro:off -CPUCount:1 -f -r1920x1080x32 -CPUPriority:high

The game not only run sucessfully, but also happily works with DirectX Hardware Rendering (in this case, no extra config required). Tested with both NAM 32 and Sudden Valley terrain mod installed, I did not run into any problems. Therefore I'd say with some confidence that at least for now, Windows 10 does not seem to be a problem for running SC4. Note: I did not have a chance to check stability since this is not my machine, I don't expect to either.

[JoachimBr 1]

So did I. I have a HP 2570p with Windows 10 prof. (Updated from preview yesterday).

So far, SC4 simply does not start. Not even the intro shows. I just get an hourglass for half a second and then nothing I have tried plenty of command line parameters and a launcher. Will try on my desktop later.

EDIT: I tried on my desktop also with W10 Prof. but exactly the same result. I also tried without the CD but it did not even make it to the CD test

  Edited July 24, 2015 by JoachimBr  
More info

[NCGAIO 562]

" Spec Intel i5-2450M "

Just a reminder that IGP in this case is  HD 3000 and although the subject is Win 10 compatibility it seems relevant say.

As for the "DirectX hardware rendering" seems that emulation old DDRAW (remember that SC4 is DX7) seems to have deserved some attention after the Aero death in the OS.

But the UAC problems (SC4 no manifest) remain the same so still necessary to install the game as admin to avoid restrictions ddraw old ..

Surely now that OEM manufacturers increasingly are required to WHQL to  not see themselves surprised by mischief MS & INTEL problems are becoming less frequent.

Do not even think of another solution ... turns controversy.

- Samsung block windows update

For those who are thinking of switching to OS that MS will now offer as a service.

- Piecing together the windows as a service puzzle for Windows10

- Windows 10 Consumers Won't Be Allowed to Turn Off Automatic Updates

For those who do not agree ... if nothing changes, of  course!

- Turn off windows update in Windows-10

My pc will run?

Worth waiting for windows 10 before replacing pc

Note : "-CPUPriority: High" to SC4 is always a risk because of  time slice requirement evil behaved of GUI game.

 

[Moosetek13 1]

Mint is a further development of Ubuntu.  Some people like it, but when I tested it over a year ago, it wasn't ready for people.  If it is better now, then that is probably a blessing.

What do you do when PlayonLinux wants different versions of wine?

SC4 uses a different version of Wine than was installed, so PoL downloaded the correct version during the install. The newer version is placed in the folder structure of that install.

Each installed program seems to have its own Wine folder, and so also its own Wine configuration screen. In the main PlayOnLinux screen right-click the link for the program and choose Configure Wine. It was there that I was able to configure the Wine default window to match my desktop resolution, and then used the custom resolution switch with the game through Steam to get the game running at 1600x900.

[Moosetek13 1]

I put Mint on my computer as well as my sisters and 13 your old daughters computers.

So far we are all loving it.

[NCGAIO 562]

... prevent  double posting using  Edit  in the previous post

OP  Windows 10 !!

 

[rsc204 21,866]

" Spec Intel i5-2450M "

Just a reminder that IGP in this case is  HD 3000 and although the subject is Win 10 compatibility it seems relevant say.

By default the computer was set to run games on the NVida card, it's a dual GPU based machine, all I'm saying is that in my quick test we got it running without any hurdles first time and with DirectX rendering. As always due to the sheer number of different configurations, your millage may indeed vary, that said there is obviously no inherent issues to running SC4 on Windows 10, so I would guess as with Windows 8/8.1 any problems almost certainly lie with your GPU/Drivers if you run into them.

I think it helps that this machine is not the latest hardware, it's about 2/3 years old, from everything I see around here it's the newer GPUs that seem to lack support somewhere, even so in such cases it should be no more complex than switching to Software Rendering to force it to work, since that takes the GPU out of the equation.

One thing that's perhaps worthy of note, we did specifically install it as an Administrator, but moreover ran the game each time by right clicking and selecting to Run as Administrator also. It seems that Windows 10 does not have the option to tell an application to always run this way, so it's necessary every time you run the application to do this.

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

It's great to know you run it on Windows 10. I hope it was not only an exception D:

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I think the reported run is good news.  However, I would remove the high priority option.  SC4 is a CPU eater in its own right, and I don't think with modern schedulers, such a move is really necessary.  It is just messing with the process dispatcher for very little, if any, improvement.

  Edited July 25, 2015 by A Nonny Moose  

[NCGAIO 562]

The SC4 problems with Win10  are the same that have with 8.1 / 8 /7 / Vista.

It all depends (  as  was well said ) of the equipment used and the way it is installed.

Moose ... good remember that at that time without GUI having this access to the scheduling run this application would be impractical  in term of controls by the user .

[JoachimBr 1]

So did I. I have a HP 2570p with Windows 10 prof. (Updated from preview yesterday).

So far, SC4 simply does not start. Not even the intro shows. I just get an hourglass for half a second and then nothing I have tried plenty of command line parameters and a launcher. Will try on my desktop later.

EDIT: I tried on my desktop also with W10 Prof. but exactly the same result. I also tried without the CD but it did not even make it to the CD test

Now I installed SC4 on my HP DV9000 laptop with NVIDIA running W 8.1x64. And SC4 run smoothly

but on my two windows 10 machines still no Joy. Not even the splash screen shows up.

I installed as admin and start as admin but it dies just after half a second or so...

[JP Schriefer 5,591]

Did you try compatibility mode and those commands rsc204 did?

[rsc204 21,866]

Actually I can foresee how not disabling the intro video and setting the screen resolution could cause the game to hang.

[JoachimBr 1]

Yes, I have tried compatibility for XP, Win7 and Win 8

Also I tried all three rendering options

Yes, I have tried both with and without intro video but really no difference. And it doesn't get as far as testing if the CD is inserted.

 

And it does not really hang, the process dies.
And it has not created the directory in Documents. Now I just tried to specify the game directory but no difference

[rsc204 21,866]

I suppose it's possible that something to do with the copyright check on the CD is failing, hence the digital version works but not the CD? I took the digital file because well a USB pen drive is smaller than a DVD case, but I do have a CD copy also.

Either way the game code should run, so if that's not it, something has to be different with your setup from the one I was using to test this.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

It actually sounds as if the install did not run.  If the user directory is not at C:\<account>\Documents\SimCity 4 then there was no complete install as this is one of the last things the installation does.  I suggest a slight investment for the digital download from GOG.com.  This has several advantages:

• No disks
• Fully patched
• No security files
• No DRM structures

 

  Edited July 29, 2015 by A Nonny Moose  

[timmie 988]

Installed Windows 10 today and SC4 works pretty good when using the SC4 Launcher. I was never able to get it right in Windows 8.1 so I started playing in Mac OS X with Wine. So for me, Windows 10 is a clear improvement. (The rest of the OS is pretty good, too.)