Did someone test playing SimCity 4 on Windows 10?

[rsc204 21,866]

Offline for how long? Eventually you'll need to logon to Steam's servers or it won't continue to work - at least that's my understanding of it. Yes not the worst DRM ever, but still DRM. My copies will be working so long as I don't destroy the disks or loose the GOG installer file somehow.

As for the applications like SC4BAT and the installer checks, a quick check around the forums will inform you that users are having problems with both Steam and Origin versions. Whilst I'm pretty confident for the most part these problems are resolvable if you know what you are doing, plenty of users do not.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Good to know.  There used to be a serious conflict with after market materials.

[Gray_Lensman 3]

Offline for how long? Eventually you'll need to logon to Steam's servers or it won't continue to work - at least that's my understanding of it. Yes not the worst DRM ever, but still DRM. My copies will be working so long as I don't destroy the disks or loose the GOG installer file somehow.

As for the applications like SC4BAT and the installer checks, a quick check around the forums will inform you that users are having problems with both Steam and Origin versions. Whilst I'm pretty confident for the most part these problems are resolvable if you know what you are doing, plenty of users do not.

I've been off-line from Steam playing games for more than a month at a time with no issues. The only thing that you now miss out on are updates which at times can be a real nuisance since they are erratically automatic (you're supposed to be able to disable automatic updates from Steam, but it sometimes goes ahead and does so anyway, hence my setting it to offline mode until I deliberately decide to go online to check for updates at a more convenient time should they be available). I suspect others have more issues due to their usage of user account controls within Windoze. which can be mostly avoided by NOT installing Steam into the default ...\Program Files (x86)... folder.

edit: I have close to 20 games purchased thru Steam in the last 5 years and all of them run just fine (offline in single player mode). I rarely play online except to placate a couple of grandsons who are occasionally up for a Civ IV Beyond the Sword game. I suppose those that like head-to-head online might not like the auto-update feature of Steam that much either especially IF it's an update for the game they are getting ready to play (because once that update starts, there is no playing of THAT game until the update has completed). If it's NOT the game they are getting ready to play, the auto update is not that much of a hindrance since Steam is defaulted to pause downloading while any game play of any game is proceeding.

  Edited August 3, 2015 by Gray_Lensman  
clarification

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

There is no point in getting steamed up about Steam nor Origin.  Everyone chooses his own fate with respect to vendors.  Some of us are simiply traditionalists.  I have one Steam game (C"S) that doesn't play because of old hardware.  I doubt I'd get any more.

[rsc204 21,866]

I just feel it's an oft overlooked factor that eventually Steam does require you to "phone home" as it were (every 6 months - I'm sure others can be more certain). How will that work if Steam should suddenly cease to exist? You might say that's crazy talk, but bigger fish have gone under, so in essence your games are no longer perminant.

As a player of close to 20 years+ and an avid collector (more on the console side of things) of past classics, this simply doesn't sit well with me. I made one exception for Cities: Skylines, but few games these days are compelling enough for me to back down from my no DRM stance. I did buy a few of the XBox live arcade releases, but then in every case there was no other way to get them, I know one day I will loose them because of the DRM they are locked-in to - I don't like this. For me great games are not a passing fancy, they are a collection I want to know I can play again and enjoy with others. I know most people don't care, obviously I'm the minority here, but that won't change my spending habbits either way.

I guess this comes from the massive regret I've always felt from selling three consoles/collections when I was young. Amongst them was a NES with some total classics we gave away to a Childrens Hospital when we stopped using it after getting a SNES. Later on I realised I wanted to play the old games again, so since then I've become quite the horder. Digital will kill retro gaming in the future I'm sure, the gamer in me is deeply saddened thinking of all the great stuff that might simply be lost in the abyss of DRM.

[Gray_Lensman 3]

What tipped the scales for me to start using Steam was the fact that I got tired of scratching up my CDs/DVDs because of the requirement that most of them had to be running (some of them quite noisily) in the drive to play the game that I paid for.

[timmie 988]

Yeah, sure, but there are so many alternatives to Steam. I bought SC4 from Gamersgate. No programs running in the background on my computer, just SC4 and nothing else. But of course, everybody is free to choose as he likes

[rsc204 21,866]

I don't think there was a single game where I couldn't find a way to run it without the CD somehow, I won't get into that here though. If it's noisy, buy a better drive, the trouble is many of the faster units had noise as a byproduct - my current Asus unit after spinning up is near-silent like the rest of my PC. Sadly the Xbox doesn't have the same quality parts, so whilst my PC is running games the XBox is the thing driving everyone in the room crazy making a racket.

That said, I've many hundreds of disc-based games on various systems, I've yet to break a single one, hovering on a spindle above a laser reading it does not scratch the disk. Rough and careless handling and storage however, that's a disk killer, I find without too much effort this doesn't have to be a big issue. For example, I replaced every one of my Sega Saturn EU games with Music-CD style Jewel cases because the supplied ones were rubbish and I knew would prematuley wear the disks. The first generation were cardboard backed plastic, but too flimsy and the disks didn't seat on the spindle correctly, nor did the boxes stay firmly shut. Sega went to the trouble of making DVD-Style cases in later years, but over-engineered them to compensate and they were so tough to open the amount of force easily led to flying disks.

Still you gotta love MiniDisc (OK I know nobody did), not one broke and they've had the toughest 20 year+ lives of any media I've owned. Living in cars loose and thrown about on shelves, they are so durable I simply stopped taking care of them properly, at least the copies that is, my originals are safely in cases on the shelf. Yes I still use MD in 2015, I bet there aren't many of us left. Of course this is all really outdated anyway, simply put optical media is dead so digital is happening one way or another.

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

When I was still running windows I used a product that could make an exact copy of a CD as a Virtual Disk, and mount it as if it were an optical disk.  I stopped using my play disks and put them away.

My Linux (Ubuntu) system has a capability to convert any optical disk into an ISO and mount it.

Ultimately, the need for an optical drive is ephemeral.  I have a portable one that plugs into two USB ports.  It is a blu-ray capable drive and it cost me about $80 Cdn about two years ago.

[Mayor Gaetan 21]

TO DOWNLOAD NOT WINDOWS 10 IT'S USELESS AND WILL BRING THAT USELESS CONCERNS !!!!

[timmie 988]

? Honestly, I've been using it for a week, and Windows 10 is pretty good. I could leave Apple for this OS.

[markussaage 762]

Hi folks,

a little update here: after installing .NET Framework 3.5 on Windows 10 the SC4Tool and SC4Data Node run without problems. so do already iLive's Reader (new and old version), LEProp, SC4DatPacker 2008 and SC4 Mapper. Didn't test the LotEditior yet.

Kind regards!

[rsc204 21,866]

If you get the chance, PIM-X would be good to know about too. However that's all good news, it does seem MS gave compatibility a pretty high priority.

[markussaage 762]

Well,

I can say here that PIM-X just runs fine with the Windows 7 Patch installed... I never used it btw...

 

Kind regards!

[rsc204 21,866]

You should give it a try, the lot editor takes a little getting used to but the PIM side of things shows up the Maxis version for the stinking pile of $%"! that it is IMO.

[KiethMarkus2014 14]

I just want to confirm I have been using Windows 10 for a few days now and have tested the following items BAT, Lot Editor, SimCity4, Reader, Mapper, Terraformer,Plug In Manager and SimCity 4 Tool.

Every program works as it should with zero problems

Kieth

  Edited August 4, 2015 by KiethMarkus2014  

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

As a matter of curiosity, what did Microsoft call their new (old) default browser?  And are they still using NTFS?

[KiethMarkus2014 14]

it is called Microsoft Edge, but it is just internet explorer rebranded and made to look like chrome lol

[Ramona Brie 121]

it is called Microsoft Edge, but it is just internet explorer rebranded and made to look like chrome lol

Not exactly — they did give the rendering engine a rebuild. That said it is much closer to Chrome than IE11.

[rivit 3,402]

I have recently upgraded 4 machines to Win10 - three from 7 to 10 and one from 8.1 to 10. All conversions were clean however it I cannot get SC4 to run on them. SC4 used to run on 7 and 8 and 8.1 without problems full screen with DirectX for me..

This is primarily because the SECDRV.sys  (the securerom2 system to validate CDs) will not start (is blocked by Win10 OS). I have found this article on MS support that suggests any game requiring this type of security (I have the original disks and use a mounted ISO for the validation) will struggle to run in an upgraded Windows 10. This is to say the least unfortunate however I cannot verify other than for SC4..

It should be noted that I have had no problems with all of the other SC4 related applications like Reader, Lot Editor. I have recompiled my GOFSH and SC4Datanode in the new setup and both run without problems. I will be uploading newer versions soon as the new compiler brings performance benefits.

Overall the OS is fast, looks OK and isn't overly hard to get used to although the privacy options need to be set carefully if that's a problem for you.

So as I'm not going back it appears I either need to wait for a fix or explore finding a digital version that is 1.1.640 and legit that doesn't need securerom2 validation - any suggestions?

[timmie 988]

So as I'm not going back it appears I either need to wait for a fix or explore finding a digital version that is 1.1.640 and legit that doesn't need securerom2 validation - any suggestions?

Simcity 4 on Gamersgate works fine on Windows 10. Fully patched, legit, no DRM.

[rsc204 21,866]

The GOG version is also tested on Win10 (by me) and works... or if Origin doesn't bother you enter your CD Key there for a free digital upgrade. In theory it seems all the digital versions work, since they would not be using a CD-validation system like SafeDisc 2.0.

[Hellken 1,658]

So as I'm not going back it appears I either need to wait for a fix or explore finding a digital version that is 1.1.640 and legit that doesn't need securerom2 validation - any suggestions?

I highly suggest Amazon. No BS. If you buy it, its yours. Feel free to download and reinstall anytime you want. No download limit.

[ffstg24 10]

I have the same problem of not being able to start the game now, probably because of said validation problem. Won't even open a new process or anything, no matter in which compatibility mode I'm trying. Right now I'm considering to buy a digital version via Steam - does anyone know if that would work, and if yes, would it be able to load the mods and plugins then? Also, does the game run more stable on Windows 10 (well, if it runs at all )?

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

I have the same problem of not being able to start the game now, probably because of said validation problem. Won't even open a new process or anything, no matter in which compatibility mode I'm trying. Right now I'm considering to buy a digital version via Steam - does anyone know if that would work, and if yes, would it be able to load the mods and plugins then? Also, does the game run more stable on Windows 10 (well, if it runs at all )?

Yes, no problem.  If you like Steam and its restrictions.  However, the same program (digital version 1,1,641) without the DRM nonsense is available from GOG, GamersGate, and Amazon.  With these vendors you can even capture the installation structure and write it off to other media and you'll have a permanent copy.  I did with my GamersGate version.

[ffstg24 10]

Thanks for the advice! Maybe I'll buy it then, have to find the best price I guess. 

Steam and its restrictions

 What exactly did you mean? To be honest, I didn't come across any annoying restrictions there. But if you warn me like that, I'll rather consider to buy it somewhere else then 

[rivit 3,402]

Thanks for the tips all. Interesting to note that the Amazon Digital offers are geoblocked to me in Australia - only available in the US according to their website (both $US20).

GamersGate is advertising a (PC?/)MAC version at $20 (I presume US) and GOG at $AUS27.40. None of their site details show version so I'm going by your replies above that either are fine. Without your feedback It would require a leap of faith to know they're OK to use.

for now Pending... (I wont be going Steam...)

[rsc204 21,866]

Don't forget the free Origin option... not that I recommend Origin personally.

At the crux of the Steam/Origin problem is that they changed the game slightly to add their DRM systems to them. If you are a normal user who does not intend to mod anything ever, great, it will likely never affect you.

However, some users report difficulties with making these versions work with the custom content tools like the SC4 BAT (Building Architect Tool) because seemingly it won't validate the .exe from those vendors. This makes some sense, since those tools themselves have not been changed to look for any modified .exe although owning neither version I can not say how accurate this really is.

Since the DRM free versions have no modifed .exe this should be a non-issue, they are DRM free too.

As for Win10, the digital versions seem fine, any issues will come down to other factors such as the GPU/drivers, some have found it works under Win10 better than Win 8, for example even getting DirectX rendering with Intel HD4000 series iGPUs (more than powerful enough for SC4's meager GPU needs), something few could make work before, including myself.

If you can wait, I bought my GoG version for under 4€ a month or so back, but of course these sales don't always come around too often.

@Rivit, I've personally used that same GoG version on Win10, works a treat, but I'd save the $7,50 since the gamersgate one should be the exact same file. Presumably if it doesn't run straight away for some reason you could obtain a refund?

[timmie 988]

Here it's 9,99 euros on Gamersgate. When browsing the store, you should be able to select your OS somewhere, Mac OS X or Windows. It will then show only the games you can run on your system. When bought, you download an exe-file, that file will download the game files. It's what's on the disk, but fully patched. The installer is exactly the same, you can choose your language, install the game (no serial here), and afterwards you can keep the installation files on your disk or burn it on a dvd or so. You should be able to download it again from their website, though. I did.

I've heard about that free download on Origin with your serial key, but that didn't work for me...

[A Nonny Moose 8,262]

Thanks for the advice! Maybe I'll buy it then, have to find the best price I guess. 

Steam and its restrictions

 What exactly did you mean? To be honest, I didn't come across any annoying restrictions there. But if you warn me like that, I'll rather consider to buy it somewhere else then 

My main objection to DRM sites is the privacy one.  I don't want to log in to some site to play a game I own.