SimMars won't launch

[Mayor Riley Jones 8]

I am having a problem with loading simmars on windows 7 (and yes I uninstalled the update that blocks sc4).  Simmars won't start, you can see it in the taskbar for a few seconds then it just closes itself.  if it makes a difference i am using the steam version of simcity 4.

[rsc204 21,808]

Doesn't sound like you did remove the update to me, that's the behaviour I'd expect to see if the DRM validation of the CD failed. That said, Steam doesn't use this validation system, so perhaps it's the Steam DRM that's not working? Have you logged into Steam in a while? It's necessary every so often or the DRM will fail.

[Mayor Riley Jones 8]

the odd thing is that sc4 runs fine. without simmars.

[rsc204 21,808]

Well, I've never used SimMars myself, so it's hard to know all the ins and outs. But my understanding is it's just a series of mods. So I decided to take it for a test drive...

The problem is the installer/launcher application. Just like any other mods for SimCity, this is simply a bunch of files that need to be in your plugins and regions folder to work. The mod installs two new folders in My Documents\SimCity 4\ with special plugin and region folders for sim mars content. All the launcher application does is switch between these folders and the ones you normally use for SimCity. I couldn't get the launcher working either, so I guess it requires a very specific setup to work.

However, simply rename the folders yourself so that the SimMars ones are named "Plugins" and "Regions" exactly. To do this, first rename the existing ones, for example "Plugins_SC4" and "Regions_SC4". All you need do is switch the folder names around, based on which of the two you want to load at any given time.

That just leaves two other aspects. Look in the install location for SimMars, C:\Program Files (x86)\SimMars Beta 3. Here is a folder called #Maps. You may want to move the folders contained within to the SimMars Regions folder. That way the additional maps for SimMars will also be available.

Last on the list is the music, follow the instructions in the Readme to install these files in the correct location within SC4. Note, you will need to work out where Steam has put this folder structure, since Steam feel the need to mess with things. Additionally you need to locate where the installer puts these MP3 files, in my case "Program Files (x86)\Radio\" and move them to the correct SC4 location.

Note: Parts in Red are only applicable for 64-bit systems.

[Mayor Riley Jones 8]

sorry i didn't tell you but i got simmars to work all i had to do was put the simmars folders into the regular sc4 folders. example: put the simmars plugins into the sc4 plugins and simmars regions into sc4 regions.  But thanks for your advice.