SimCity 4 Widescreen on Windows 10

[JeffG50 1]

Hello I'm new to the forum and looking for a little help. Is it possible to run Simcity 4 on Widescreen with windows 10? I'm currently running the game off of Steam. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! 

[rsc204 21,862]

Should be fairly easy... find the game in your Steam Library, right click and select properties. From here you should see a button Set Launch Options.

Add the following line for widescreen support:

"-CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32" Note that 1920x1080 is the resolution of my monitor, ideally you should use the same setting as your desktop here. Bear in mind, not all resolutions are supported however.

Whilst you are here, you might want to consider a few other options too, here's roughly what I'd recommend:

"-intro:off -CPUCount:1 -f -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32"

• Disables the intro on startup
• Prevents CTDs with multi-core systems
• Sets Full Screen mode, conversely you may want "-w" for Windowed mode.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

Hi JeffG50, welcome to Simtropolis!

Yes this should be possible.

You'll need to use a command line option, which gives the game an instruction. On Windows, one way of doing this is through a shortcut, using the Target box.
But in Steam, you'll need to right click the game, go to "Properties" and select "Set Launch Options".

To run the game widescreen, the command is:

-CustomResolution:enabled -rWIDTHxHEIGHTx32

Replace with your monitor's resolution.

The complete command can then be entered in the box provided:

E.g.

-CustomResolution:enabled -r1600x900x32

This guide includes an explanation on how it can be done for Steam:
[Link]

Here's also a few other options which can be used:
[Link]

Hope this helps!

Edit: Ah, you've got 2 answers!

[JeffG50 1]

It worked great! Thank you so much. 

[bikeguychicago 0]

I recently had SimCity 4 Deluxe added to my Origin client. Is there a means to add these command-line options via the Origin interface as well?

Thanks!

[rsc204 21,862]

There should be an option like "Launch Options" somewhere in the Origin Client where you can enter these.

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

2 hours ago, bikeguychicago said:

Is there a means to add these command-line options via the Origin interface

I think step #1 is to get your money back from Origin (Isn't that the unpatched and unpatchable SC4?).

Step #2 is to get a DRM-free digital SC4 like the one from GoG. If you avoid the GoG launcher, then you should be able to start the SC4 EXE with an ordinary Windoze shortcut with parameters listed above.

[xcalbier 43]

Thanks worked for me ( a little tricky as the ati control center shows 1200 - 800 but the accutal size is 1280 - 800  I noticed when I was hovering over teh control center to launch it .

  Ps ever one it has to match excatly and the spaces Using copy and past are ok .  so copy past then Change the first two numbers to match your screen 

[Mr. Man! 0]

Here's what I have in launch options for Steam:

Quote

-CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 -f -intro:off -CPUCount:1 -CPUPriority:high -d:Software -Cursors:fullcolor

 

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

10 hours ago, Mr. Man! said:

-d:Software

If you haven't already, try to get SC4 to accept your graphics card

 

[Mr. Man! 0]

10 hours ago, jeffryfisher said:

If you haven't already, try to get SC4 to accept your graphics card

 

I find software rendering just a bit more stable and also smoother in terms of gameplay. Not sure what your experiences have been. 

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

11 hours ago, Mr. Man! said:

I find software rendering just a bit more stable and also smoother

HW rendering done right is vastly superior. SC4 is already a CPU-bound program because of the route-finding, so off-loading the graphics is a good idea. Even a mediocre (for 2018) graphics card should provide much faster refreshes than a CPU. It should also offer sharper rendering options (detail, shading etc).

The two hurdles are assuring that you have an old enough version of Direct-X and making sure that SC4 accepts your card (and if you look into the scripts mentioned in the linked article, you'll see that you could simply declare your rig to be "fast" and be done with it).

[Mr. Man! 0]

29 minutes ago, jeffryfisher said:

HW rendering done right is vastly superior. SC4 is already a CPU-bound program because of the route-finding, so off-loading the graphics is a good idea. Even a mediocre (for 2018) graphics card should provide much faster refreshes than a CPU. It should also offer sharper rendering options (detail, shading etc).

The two hurdles are assuring that you have an old enough version of Direct-X and making sure that SC4 accepts your card (and if you look into the scripts mentioned in the linked article, you'll see that you could simply declare your rig to be "fast" and be done with it).

Just did and will have to test more. Current observations is that performance in larger cities didn't make too much of a difference when rendering. Then again I am on a notebook so wish me luck! Thanks for the tips.