Game operating in incorrect language

[Huggy-Bear 36]

I recently bought a copy of SimCity 4 from GOG. I installed the game but when I ran it, it was in Dutch instead of English. GOG has been very helpful but the problem persists. I have tried "language setup .exe. But no help. I have even tried removing the folder that says Dutch, but it did not make any difference. I am really not sure what else to do. If anyone else has had a problem like this I would love to know how you fixed it. Any suggestions are welcome.

I should mention, that I had another working copy of the game. But I lost the game and my external hard drive (the install file was there). So I know the game will run properly on this computer. I went to GOG for a replacement because I could not remember where I purchased the original game.

[Cyclone Boom 17,032]

That's unusual. It sounds to me as if the game is somehow defaulting to the Dutch locale.

There are country-specific language SimCityLocale.DAT files in the installation which allow translated phrases to be used, since they share the same references to text in the menus. Interestingly I found it worked from testing setting Dutch as a language, but deleting the folder and it reverted back to English upon the subsequent reload, which is the regional version I have. So that makes me think perhaps your GOG installation has setup Dutch as the default which it's reverting to as a fail-safe, or maybe even there's something goofed up from your prior working copy. I'd say that's unlikely though, albeit potentially possible.

One method of instructing English (or other languages) is by setting a simple startup parameter. To try this, go to your game's shortcut, then right click and choose "Properties". Next place the cursor after the closing quote (use the End key), and add -L:"English" there in the box. As the name goes, this tells SC4 to start using the English locale, and references the name of the folder inside the installation. It will depend on this being present with the correct locale file inside though, and to use the shortcut.

Let us know if this works for you as an initial thing to try.

[Huggy-Bear 36]

I tried what you suggested, and still no luck. I have added 2 images, one of the "properties" menu and one of the game window.

15 hours ago, Cyclone Boom said:

That's unusual. It sounds to me as if the game is somehow defaulting to the Dutch locale.

There are country-specific language SimCityLocale.DAT files in the installation which allow translated phrases to be used, since they share the same references to text in the menus. Interestingly I found it worked from testing setting Dutch as a language, but deleting the folder and it reverted back to English upon the subsequent reload, which is the regional version I have. So that makes me think perhaps your GOG installation has setup Dutch as the default which it's reverting to as a fail-safe, or maybe even there's something goofed up from your prior working copy. I'd say that's unlikely though, albeit potentially possible.

One method of instructing English (or other languages) is by setting a simple startup parameter. To try this, go to your game's shortcut, then right click and choose "Properties". Next place the cursor after the closing quote (use the End key), and add -l:"English" there in the box. As the name goes, this tells SC4 to start using the English locale, and references the name of the folder inside the installation. It will depend on this being present with the correct locale file inside though, and to use the shortcut.

Let us know if this works for you as an initial thing to try.

 

[Cyclone Boom 17,032]

44 minutes ago, Huggy-Bear said:

I tried what you suggested, and still no luck. I have added 2 images, one of the "properties" menu and one of the game window.

Looks like you've typed in a 1 there instead of the letter  I  ("L") for the command operator.

I must admit it did look like the number, and I've now edited that to an "L" in my prior post. It's not case sensitive, so it can be entered capitalised OR lowercase.

Sorry for the confusion!

[Huggy-Bear 36]

Ok, I changed the '1' to an 'L' and saved it. However when I ran the game it was still not in English. I tried checking the box for "English(UK)" that didn't fix the problem either but it did really mess up my graphics.

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

12 hours ago, Huggy-Bear said:

when I ran the game it was still not in English

Have you laid eyes on an English locale file? If it's not there, then no switches will ever select it.

If it is there, then you can try to trick the game by renaming files (make backups first). Name the Dutch locale to something else, and then give the English file the former name of the Dutch file.

BTW, You probably want to uncheck the 3rd option in that dialog you imaged above. I think that's the one that auto-evens city edges. Once there's development at your city edges, that leveling can be devastating.

[Huggy-Bear 36]

2 hours ago, jeffryfisher said:

Have you laid eyes on an English locale file? If it's not there, then no switches will ever select it.

If it is there, then you can try to trick the game by renaming files (make backups first). Name the Dutch locale to something else, and then give the English file the former name of the Dutch file.

BTW, You probably want to uncheck the 3rd option in that dialog you imaged above. I think that's the one that auto-evens city edges. Once there's development at your city edges, that leveling can be devastating.

I changed the check box like you suggested, thanks for the advice. All of the Language folders I have have this file "SimCityLocale". None of them actually have the name of the language. The only thing with the name are the folders.

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

1 hour ago, Huggy-Bear said:

The only thing with the name are the folders

Aha... Then that's what you might play with. If you can't take the game to the folder, then take the folder to the game (rename).

[Cyclone Boom 17,032]

2 hours ago, Huggy-Bear said:

All of the Language folders I have have this file "SimCityLocale". None of them actually have the name of the language. The only thing with the name are the folders.

The locale files in each of the specific language folders will be named the same, but should be of varied sizes due to translation differences. It's strange how the game is still locked onto using Dutch even with the command set and run from the shortcut. Logically it must be referencing it from one of the folders there. What I'm wondering is if for some reason all your languages have the Dutch file. Then perhaps it's causing it to be used no matter whether instructed to do otherwise or not.

Something to check is the sizes of both the SimCityLocale.DAT file in the "English" folder, and also that inside "Dutch". If they're all identical in size, it could be how this is the Dutch one present in all of your language folders (which for me is 1,835,865 bytes). Then no other language can be used if not available.

As another idea, try moving out the SimCity 4.cfg file in the root of your "Documents\SimCity 4" folder. This stores configuration settings and perhaps it's preventing English from being used. Just store it temporarily someplace else and then a new config will be created upon starting SC4 again.

[Huggy-Bear 36]

1 hour ago, Cyclone Boom said:

The locale files in each of the specific language folders will be named the same, but should be of varied sizes due to translation differences. It's strange how the game is still locked onto using Dutch even with the command set and run from the shortcut. Logically it must be referencing it from one of the folders there. What I'm wondering is if for some reason all your languages have the Dutch file. Then perhaps it's causing it to be used no matter whether instructed to do otherwise or not.

Something to check is the sizes of both the SimCityLocale.DAT file in the "English" folder, and also that inside "Dutch". If they're all identical in size, it could be how this is the Dutch one present in all of your language folders (which for me is 1,835,865 bytes). Then no other language can be used if not available.

As another idea, try moving out the SimCity 4.cfg file in the root of your "Documents\SimCity 4" folder. This stores configuration settings and perhaps it's preventing English from being used. Just store it temporarily someplace else and then a new config will be created upon starting SC4 again.

Ok, major problem. I checked the files inside language folders (English - 939) (Dutch - 1,793). None of the language files are larger than 2,000. I guess that explains the problem. GOG is putting the purchase price into my wallet. I really love this game, but I have already purchased it twice. Not sure about a third time. I have Google translate on my phone, I can type in what I can't figure out but it's a pain.

Since the language files basically don't exist, I'm not sure what else can be done. I want to thank think y'all for your help so far and any you can offer in the future.

[Cyclone Boom 17,032]

2 hours ago, Huggy-Bear said:

Ok, major problem. I checked the files inside language folders (English - 939) (Dutch - 1,793). None of the language files are larger than 2,000.

If those are in kilobytes (kB), they'd be the normal size as expected without any missing data.

For example, here's the properties of my English locale file compared with the Dutch one:

    

The English file being almost half the size at 874,622 bytes smaller, which I suspect is due to how some words in Dutch would be comparatively lengthier in terms of total characters. Based on the text from the "Play Options" menu as you previewed above, and also as I saw from testing at the loading screen.

So as it happens, you've found how at least these 2 language files appear correctly sized and are seemingly without duplicates. That means for reasons which currently remain unknown, the game is choosing the Dutch one instead. As a next thing to try, I suggest making a backup copy of Dutch (such as to your Documents). Then go into the English folder and copy the SimCityLocale.DAT file within into the Dutch folder, replacing the existing ~1.75 MB file.

Should this work and English is displayed, we'll know it's looking in Dutch as the target. Then perhaps there's something like that "language setup" as you mentioned from GOG which is causing an override, or an unwanted system registry entry even.

[catty-cb 4,413]

On 12/31/2018 at 6:10 PM, Cyclone Boom said:

.....To try this, go to your game's shortcut, then right click and choose "Properties". Next place the cursor after the closing quote (use the End key), and add -L:"English" there in the box. .

It might be worth taking the quotes out as according to the SC4 Command Line Options there are no quotes in the command

https://community.simtropolis.com/omnibus/SimCity-4/reference/sc4-command-line-options-r362/

You also have a choice of two english languages depending on what version of SC4 you have bought

 

-l:english

or

-l:UKEnglsh

 

[rsc204 21,869]

9 hours ago, Huggy-Bear said:

GOG is putting the purchase price into my wallet. I really love this game, but I have already purchased it twice. Not sure about a third time.

If you think the GoG version of SC4 is somehow the problem, I hate to inform you but this is simply inconceivable. The issue here is one with your computer/installation and will not be solved by simply getting a different version of SC4.

My best guess is that a previous install is messing up your current one, most likely some problem with duplicated registry entries conflicting with each other. Did you properly uninstall any/all previous versions of SC4, before installing the new one? Actually using the uninstaller program? If not, that's a recipe for problems.

Ultimately, a quick check of the SimCityLocale.dat file in iLives Reader would be sufficient to confirm if you have an English locale file or not. In short, if the LText files inside this file are in English, you have an English version. As soon as you've established that, forcing the game to correctly load it, should be relatively simple.

10 hours ago, Cyclone Boom said:

It's strange how the game is still locked onto using Dutch even with the command set and run from the shortcut. Logically it must be referencing it from one of the folders there. What I'm wondering is if for some reason all your languages have the Dutch file. Then perhaps it's causing it to be used no matter whether instructed to do otherwise or not.

Usually this occurs when the syntax (exact text) of the command line switch is incorrect, in which case it usually gets ignored altogether. Otherwise perhaps the shortcut used is not linked to the correct executable or being used to start the game, again meaning the switch will be ignored.

For every Locale file to be in Dutch, something would have to have gone very screwy indeed. Simple to check though, again just open the Locale file in Reader and verify the language strings are in English or otherwise.

1 hour ago, catty-cb said:

It might be worth taking the quotes out as according to the SC4 Command Line Options there are no quotes in the command

Quotes are generally required when a space exists, for example  -l:"UK English" works just fine for me. Note the linked folder is "UKEnglsh", but so far as I know, that won't work for the command line switches. The discrepancy is due to the game being designed to support older file systems where 8 character file/folder names were a hard limitation.

 

[Huggy-Bear 36]

Ok, I have tried using quotes and no quotes, neither works. The UK English only messes up the graphics. I ran a scan on the registry an nothing showed for the old sc4. I used the Reader on the English files and they are in fact English. I don't know if it is related or not but the last 2 times I have opened the game, one of my sections, the same one each time (with a decent amount of work had been deleted).

  Edited January 3, 2019 by Huggy-Bear  
New info

[jeffryfisher 2,176]

I am beginning to suspect that you have more than one SC4 footprint on your disk, and we have been poking around in one that is not even being used. This can happen if (for instance) you install from disk and then install from Steam -- Each uses a different location for program files and for user files.

Some of your other symptoms also make no sense whatsoever. Can you prove to yourself that the folders in which you're looking are in fact the folder trees being used by the game as launched? Look at the dates on nearby files. Do the dates make sense for when you installed the GOG version and when you last played the game?

If so, then your symptoms bring you close to needing a CHKDSK and other serious measures to analyze what may be file system corruption or failing hardware. Before you go that route, you should "phone a friend" (computer geek) to visit your machine. We're just too far away to guess what else might be getting in your way.

[Huggy-Bear 36]

I think I am going to backup my plugin folder then do a complete uninstall of the game. After that search the disk (including the registry) for any sign of SC4. Once I'm sure it's gone, I'll reinstall the game. I know that will take some time but it is worth it. Thanks to all of you for your help so far.

[Huggy-Bear 36]

You were right, I deleted the game and cleaned the registry. It appeared to be too many entries in the registry and misc files. Once I took care of all that and reinstalled the game it is now in English. Thank you.

 

17 hours ago, jeffryfisher said:

I am beginning to suspect that you have more than one SC4 footprint on your disk, and we have been poking around in one that is not even being used. This can happen if (for instance) you install from disk and then install from Steam -- Each uses a different location for program files and for user files.

Some of your other symptoms also make no sense whatsoever. Can you prove to yourself that the folders in which you're looking are in fact the folder trees being used by the game as launched? Look at the dates on nearby files. Do the dates make sense for when you installed the GOG version and when you last played the game?

If so, then your symptoms bring you close to needing a CHKDSK and other serious measures to analyze what may be file system corruption or failing hardware. Before you go that route, you should "phone a friend" (computer geek) to visit your machine. We're just too far away to guess what else might be getting in your way.

 

[CorinaMarie 29,926]

24 minutes ago, Huggy-Bear said:

Once I took care of all that and reinstalled the game it is now in English.

Woot! I'm glad to hear this.

[Huggy-Bear 36]

I'm glad too. I'm so thankful to everyone that helped out. I couldn't have done it with out my SC4 family.