Patch 640 Runs But Fails to Update on App Folder

[Robius44 0]

Hi,

I am having an issue with getting patch 640 to update SimCity4 fully.  I went to the Simcity Devotion site and downloaded the 638 patch successfully and installed it, and then installed the 640 patch successfully with no issues.  When I check the version info under Apps, I notice that the version info is still 638 rather than 640 like I want even though the installer finishes.  As a result, the night light custom bats do not work, even though I have installed the Day n Night Mod and the right buildings for that mod.  Nightlighting works perfect on my older computer running Vista (my current cpu runs Windows8) and the game version info is 640 on that model.  I installed from the game CD.  Everything runs great except that the installer fails to adequately update my Simcity version.  I've tried using multiple 640 patches and the same thing happens.  I do notice that my 638 update does not have the same size as the one listed in the SimCity devotion site (it says like 8.4 mb and mine is 8.1).  I do have the latest version of NAM installed, could that create a compatibility problem like some users have reported using Origin?  I did choose a custom path for my installation-I use my D drive rather than my C drive, could it be updating to the wrong spot?  Thank you.   

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

If you picked these patches off SC4Devotion and the download size is wrong, I'd do a malware scan on your machine.

When I was using the CD version, I had no trouble at all with these patches, but I used the standard location.  However, the patches are supposed to find your game by looking in the registry so I don't think having the installation on another drive is a problem.

You are aware, I hope, that these patches only apply to the Deluxe Edition (Rush Hour), and there are different EP1 patches for the North American version and the overseas version.  Be sure you got the right EP1 version.

I have both patches in my archives and the size for the SKU1 to 638 exe file is 17.6 MB.  The 638 to 640 exe is 14.8 MB.  Both of these were successfully applied.

My CD's died of old age and poor storage, so I repurchased the 641 version which needs to updates.  Considering all the folderol with disks and patches, it was a good decision.  The install now runs in under two minutes.

[rsc204 21,808]

If you have the 640 patched .exe on an old machine, I think in theory at least just copying that file over and replacing it on the new machine would do the trick, certainly worth a try.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

I just took a look at the registry for my version (641) and the entries seem to be a collection of great and mysterious enigmatic data.  You might get away with it, at that.  However, if you do copy the executable, you might consider duplicating the registry from the other machine also.

[Robius44 0]

Thank you for the help.  I reinstalled and now it works fine.  I think I must have added something that interfered with the installation because I followed y'all's advice and now it works great.  I just installed the patches first, without any add-ons and then put them in later.  Thank you very much. 

[rsc204 21,808]

I just took a look at the registry for my version (641) and the entries seem to be a collection of great and mysterious enigmatic data.  You might get away with it, at that.  However, if you do copy the executable, you might consider duplicating the registry from the other machine also.

From what I can decipher from a previous dig into the registry settings there isn't anything to check the patch version, it mostly just relates to the location the game and game folders are on the computer.

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Agreed.  The Registry is one of the most misused features of the O/S.  It was a bad idea from the get-go.