Huge Problem Running Sim City 4

[inspire224 13]

Hello, I purchased Sim City 4 from Orion and I am very disappointed. First of all I installed gmax. Mods work in my plugins folder 
but BATs do not show up. I tried installing SC4 BAT Installer and it claims I do not have Sc4 Deluxe installed when clearly I do. So I see in the drive 
SC4 is installed within the folder Orion Games. I moved it out to directly in my Programs folder and now the screen is just a box when I play the game. 

Cant get BATs to even be in the game menu is the issue. What in the world is going on... thanks

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

OK, you are a minority of one.  Who is this Orion vendor?  What version of the game did they drop on you?  You can find your version number by locating the SimCity 4.exe file in windows explorer, then right click on it and open the version tab.

You seem to be confused by the Plugin system.  You do not open any files after you have unpacked them from the archive.  You do not need the BAT nor gmax unless you intend to make your own private content with your own models.  This requires 3D modelling.  The BAT installer is looking for the game to be installed in the standard place, not in some other outfit's structure, so that will have to be fixed.  This vendor clearly doesn't understand any of the after market stuff or they would not have set it up so badly.

In order to correctly operate nearly all of the current plugins, including the Network Addon Mod your version must be at least 1,1,638 and preferably 1,1,640.  In fact, if you got the digital version without CD's your version must be 1,1,641 no argument.

I think that you've been had.  Ask for a refund, and get the game from a more reputable vendor such as GamersGate or Amazon.

[inspire224 13]

19 minutes ago, A Nonny Moose said:

OK, you are a minority of one.  Who is this Orion vendor?  What version of the game did they drop on you?  You can find your version number by locating the SimCity 4.exe file in windows explorer, then right click on it and open the version tab.

You seem to be confused by the Plugin system.  You do not open any files after you have unpacked them from the archive.  You do not need the BAT nor gmax unless you intend to make your own private content with your own models.  This requires 3D modelling.  The BAT installer is looking for the game to be installed in the standard place, not in some other outfit's structure, so that will have to be fixed.  This vendor clearly doesn't understand any of the after market stuff or they would not have set it up so badly.

In order to correctly operate nearly all of the current plugins, including the Network Addon Mod your version must be at least 1,1,638 and preferably 1,1,640.  In fact, if you got the digital version without CD's your version must be 1,1,641 no argument.

I think that you've been had.  Ask for a refund, and get the game from a more reputable vendor such as GamersGate or Amazon.

Thank you for your reply. Here is the company I purchased it from. EA games sent me here and they said its backed by them. 

https://www.origin.com/en-us/store/ 

Maybe I need to update it but Zalgedis maxis files does not work. Thanks man

Actually yes it is owned by EA so I would thing it is official.

[InvisiChem 121]

Missed a key on the original post. A Nonny Moose wasn't sure on who the publisher Orion was. Anyways, beyond that lets see what kind of answers I can give you here. I use the steam version, so some things are a little different.

Let us start with the plugin installation. This is more important, because if plugins are not properly installed, then the more difficult task of installing deprecated programs is impossible. BAT stands for Building Architect Tool. This is commonly used on these forums to list custom buildings utilizing the BAT to make them. Lots are the custom files that contain the file that grows or plops BAT in game.

To install these custom buildings/mods - be sure to unzip them into your \Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins Directory. Although you will see a plugins directory under the Origin Games folder in \Program Files(x86)\  this plugins folder is greatly accepted as a place for Maxis generated content. Once the custom content is properly installed, the only time you will see them in the icons is if it is a ploppable building, the NAM, or other stuff that changes the menu system. Most content is actually growable. This means that it will grow automatically if zoned correctly and at the proper Stage. For a description on how this works, search SC4Devotion for Stage vs. Density. In brief, think of buildings as stages. They start small (stage 1) and get very large when the population calls for it (Stage 8, CAM stage 15). 

If you let us know exactly what you are trying to install from ST or SC4D, we can give more specific advise.

If you have moved the SimCity 4 folder out of the Origin Folder, please put it back where you found it. SimCity 4 has registry entries stating its install location as well as Origin. The game will not work correctly if you move it and you could get some really random results if files are left over. 

As for SC4 BAT with gmax, only try to install these if you are going to make custom content yourself. 

[A Nonny Moose 8,261]

Ah!  Not Orion, but Origin.  You can't believe how important this is.  You probably have version 1,1,641 which is what Origin (a.k.a. EA) has been delivering.

Now, Origin are a pretty dumb marketing company.  One of their EA Partners, Maxis Studio (the continued existence of which is questionable), is the author of SimCity 4 Deluxe which is what you probably have.  Origin will deny the existence of the BAT which is a gmax game pack.  There is a way for it to be activated and used, but you really want to sure you want it.  I am not sure that Origin admits to the existence of the Lot Editor, either.

We have a number of Origin users on the site, and I hope that one of them can set you straight on getting this all going properly.  You see, I've had this game since it came out on CD, and when my CDs died the death I purchased a new copy from GamersGate and got the full digital version that you got, but without any intervening structure from the DRM pretenders.  SimCity 4 Deluxe is NOT a DRM item.

Because of the strange structure that Origin uses, I can't help very much.  However, you should still have a user structure in:

C:\<your account name>\Documents\SimCity 4

That looks like this:

SimCity 4
├── Archive
├── BSC_Cleanitol
├── Exception Reports
├── Exemplars
├── HTTPCache
├── LBT_Downloads
├── LEX_Downloads
├── NAM Auxiliary Files
├── Plugins
├── Regions
└── SimCity 4.cfg

You may not have all of this structure because some of it comes from after market things like the Network Addon Mod (NAM), and some are created only when needed.  The ones in red are the important ones.

Both Plugins and Regions are folders or directories.  The Regions folder contains your regions which expand to contain city tiles. 

SimCity 4.cfg is the file that remembers your game set up between sessions.

The Plugins folder is where you put your extra content from places like the STEX or LEX.  But there is more to it than that.  Plugin items come as archive files to save on space and transmission time.  They are compressed, usually as *.zip files but sometimes as other formats, e.g. *.rar.  These files should be kept away from the SimCity 4 user structure.  I keep mine in a Downloads\SC4RelatedDownloads folder, and I keep them forever (so that I can reinstall any that get damaged).  Windows will unpack *.zip files.  All you need to do is right click on the file and ask for it to be expanded in place.  [For other formats, you may need relevant software.].  When you expand one of these you may find several files, some of which are part of the lot or lots you expect, and others which are documentation.  These files are the ones that are part or all of a plugin and should be moved to your plugins folder:

• SC4LOT - This is the file that realizes the lot in the game.  It may be alone or it may need
• SC4DESC - The descriptor file which defines parameters for the lot file; and
• SC4MODEL - The actual graphic model of a building on the lot.  There can be more than one of these.
• DAT - A database file using the game's format.  This may be the only file, it can contain all of the above items, plus some automata and sound bytes.
• DLL - A dynamic link library.  This is not a plugin but an additional piece of code for the game.  It is properly placed directly inside the Plugin folder without any intervening subfolder.

Now, a word about organization of Plugins.  In my downloads folder mentioned above, I have a structure to help me with maintenance of my plugins.  Here is the first few lines of that structure:

Downloads/SC4RelatedDownloads
├── AaronGraham
│   ├── Install Aronic Place (Maxis Nite).zip
│   ├── Install NYBT 41 Park Avenue (Maxis Nite).zip
│   └── Install NYBT 655 E. 228 Street (Maxis Nite).zip
├── airman15
│   ├── Steamships Pack
│   │   ├── SS Hornet V2.dat
│   │   ├── SS Karma V2.dat
│   │   ├── SS Union V2.dat

And here is the same section of my Plugins:

SimCity 4/Plugins
├── Aaron Graham
│   └── Aronic Place
│       └── AronicPlace.dat
├── Airman15
│   └── steamshipsPack
│       ├── SS Hornet V2.dat
│       ├── SS Karma V2.dat
│       ├── SS Union V2.dat
│       └── SS Warrior II V2.dat

You'll notice that the plugins have been converted to *.dat files.  This eases the loading and scrolling in the game, and I try to apply this to most of the Plugins I use.  (I have to admit, I haven't finished doing this).  There is a program on the STEX called Files2DAT that does this.  (Advanced use -- Only when you are ready).

So, this is the end of my lecture SimCity 4 Deluxe 101.

[rsc204 21,805]

The problem is a simple one and it's down to DRM/Security systems. In order to install SC4 BAT (or the updates for SC4), the installer checks you've a valid and legitimate copy of SC4 installed. To do this it reads the checksum of the executable (the application program). This basically tells the installer if the file exists and if it has been modified. Origin's digital version has been modified though, so it fails at this point, thinking it's not genuine.

At first, Origin were selling an unpatched version of the game for a very long time. Meanwhile all their competitors (who didn't make the game) were selling a fully updated one. Alex (NAM Team) actually had to get this publicised before EA would do something about it. But it was the process of adding a DRM system (Origin) that "modified" the file. Before Origin released that update, users couldn't even install the official patches, which you no longer require.

However, that still leaves the SC4BAT installer unable to function. The only way to fix this problem is for EA to update the SC4 BAT installer so that it recognises the modified EA version of SC4. As Nonny pointed out, Origin deny the very existence of this product, despite it being their own.

If you paid for it, get a refund, usually there is a cooling off period. Cite why too, with enough fuss, maybe EA fix it, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

The only workaround is having a valid copy of SC4 installed on your system. If you happen to have the CD version. Uninstall the Origin one. Install the CD version, then you can install SC4BAT. Since it's a one-time activation, you can then reverse this process to use the Origin version again.

Of course, as has been stated, if you have no plans to use 3D modelling to create new content, this is all unnecessary. The Lot Editor/Plugin manager requires no such activation and should work just fine. If they don't, no biggie, PIM-X (3rd party Lot Editor, much better), doesn't care.