SC4 for Mac 64-bit

[macinjosh 8]

Looks like SC4 Deluxe for Mac on the Mac App Store & Steam is going to get a 64-bit update based on the fact that Aspyr is not removing it from the App Store and Steam. They posted a list this morning of the apps that won't get updated.

https://support.aspyr.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000214186

[Vigilante1987 180]

Good to know.  I'd probably pass on upgrading to Catalina if it was going to break SC4.

[Lucario Boricua 7,028]

Is there any possibility for a 64-bit build to be made for Windows and Linux!? And being honest, EA shouldn't let the opportunity pass in authorizing such build because it would still generate more revenue from re-selling the game to those who want a high performance version of the game.

[macinjosh 8]

7 hours ago, Lucario Boricua said:

Is there any possibility for a 64-bit build to be made for Windows and Linux!? And being honest, EA shouldn't let the opportunity pass in authorizing such build because it would still generate more revenue from re-selling the game to those who want a high performance version of the game.

That's a good question. But I don't think EA is catering to older games anymore. They aren't the same company they were when they bought Maxis out, that's for sure. Thankfully Aspyr Media is going to keep SC4 going for a while longer.

[macinjosh 8]

8 hours ago, Vigilante1987 said:

Good to know.  I'd probably pass on upgrading to Catalina if it was going to break SC4.

Thankfully I just got my Mac Pro up and running. It's a 2008 model, and I will not be updating it past High Sierra, so I have SC4 on it.

[HayleyRenaNemeth 465]

When is this happening or has it already been updated?? 

[Vigilante1987 180]

I don't recall it being updated yet...

[macinjosh 8]

On 9/16/2019 at 9:39 AM, HayleyRenaNemeth said:

When is this happening or has it already been updated?? 

As of now it still hasn't happened. Aspyr states they are still working on it as of November 14th. They are working on both Mac App Store apps and Mac Steam apps. It could take time. Hopefully by the end of January, but that is just pure hope. Thankfully I still can use it on my Mac Pro and my old MacBook Pro (2014 15"). I replaced it with a 2019 15" in Mid July.

[larzmac 0]

I'm waiting on the 64-bit Steam, myself. I didn't even think about compatibility when I bought it. Should've.

[souldistributor 3]

Aspyr updated SimCity: Complete Edition (App Store) in December 2019 and SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition (App Store & Mac Steam) is still on the list to do according to this Aspyr Support page. Don't know who would be paying for the work, but I'm very glad it's happening.

[Enrique Feterman 1]

what about SimCity rush hour ?

[CorinaMarie 29,605]

1 hour ago, Enrique Feterman said:

what about SimCity rush hour ?

The Deluxe edition is the original and the Rush Hour expansion combined.

[Tarkus 6,932]

As of yesterday, the App Store version of SimCity 4: Deluxe Edition is now 64-bit, per Aspyr's page .  It doesn't look like the Steam version has been, however, as it's listed under "planned 64-bit updates".  Will be curious to see how it performs.

-Tarkus

[Rpbaileysr 10]

I just did the 64 bit update from the app store. Since then I can start the game and select a city, problem is when game goes to open the city game crashes. I have tried several cities and different regions. here is a log, I only have it in rtf. any suggestions? Can I uninstall the update?

simcity4.rtf

[mmprog 104]

Getting the exact same crash on my machine (running the latest version of Catalina), but only if I have it set up with my full Plugins folder. With an empty Plugins folder, or a much smaller set of plugins from an older install, everything seems to work fine: I can load and run established cities, see some of that custom content, and edit new terrains. I'm currently doing a process of elimination on my larger, up to date Plugins folder to see what plugin(s) could be causing the crash.

[mmprog 104]

I verified that nearly all of the hundreds of plugins, content, and dependencies I have installed work fine. Here is what causes crashes for me:

• NAM version 36 (I copied this from another Mac rather than reinstalling, so I could try running the NAM installer again)
• A couple of spa's random buildings. For example: 

And I love spa's work so that's unfortunate!

 

I don't know yet why these specific plugins cause the crash; I plan to take a look at those spa files in Reader shortly to see if I can spot a pattern.

Below is the top of the stack trace from the crash log. I wonder if "GetClassObject" is meaningful to any of the modders here?

cRZCOMDllDirector::GetClassObject(unsigned int, unsigned int, void**) + 51
cSC4DisasterLayer::Init() + 91
non-virtual thunk to cSC4DisasterLayer::Init() + 13
cSC4City::Init() + 1481
cSC4App::LoadCity(cRZString const&, cRZAutoRefCount<cISC4RegionalCity>*) + 93

[xxdita 1,097]

I'll also check any of spa's buildings you have issues with, as long as you can give me a link. 

Have you used JDatPacker to minimize the number of files in your Plugins? The sheer number of files has always caused an issue for MACs, but DatPacking them seems to clear up the issue. 

[souldistributor 3]

7 hours ago, Rpbaileysr said:

Can I uninstall the update?

Not directly that I am aware of, but you can restore from a Time Machine or other recent backup.

[xxdita 1,097]

43 minutes ago, mmprog said:

I verified that nearly all of the hundreds of plugins, content, and dependencies I have installed work fine. Here is what causes crashes for me:

• NAM version 36 (I copied this from another Mac rather than reinstalling, so I could try running the NAM installer again)
• A couple of spa's random buildings. For example: 

And I love spa's work so that's unfortunate!

 

I don't know yet why these specific plugins cause the crash; I plan to take a look at those spa files in Reader shortly to see if I can spot a pattern.

Below is the top of the stack trace from the crash log. I wonder if "GetClassObject" is meaningful to any of the modders here?

cRZCOMDllDirector::GetClassObject(unsigned int, unsigned int, void**) + 51
cSC4DisasterLayer::Init() + 91
non-virtual thunk to cSC4DisasterLayer::Init() + 13
cSC4City::Init() + 1481
cSC4App::LoadCity(cRZString const&, cRZAutoRefCount<cISC4RegionalCity>*) + 93

I don't see anything wrong with the modding of spa's St Paul's Building. The only minor irregularity I can see is that the growables haven't been tidied up as I'd expect. So you'll find the sc4descs as separate files from the sc4lots, as opposed to having the building desc exemplar added to the lot file in Reader. The desc is automatically included in the lot file for plopables. 

This isn't an issue for Windows at all, but may present a problem for MAC users already close to the file limits. 

I would suggest using JDatPacker by memo to combine as many files as possible in your Plugins folder, moving the current Plugins to a safe place outside of your Plugins folder, and then trying to play the game again with only your newly compressed Plugins. 

[MI-Native 7]

Getting the same crash to desktop due to the NAM plugin.  When it's in my Plugins folder, it crashes when I attempt to open a city.  But as soon as I remove it, it opens up a new city just fine.

This seems like a rather big issue, since NAM is essentially part of the game at this point.  I opened a ticket with Aspyr's support team.  Will advise if I get any feedback from them. 

[mmprog 104]

I've never bothered to use dat packing, and I'm skeptical the file count is a cause of the crashes I'm observing. After I removed the spa files that caused crashes, I was able to add the remainder of my non-NAM plugins — more than 200 additional files — without causing a crash. But I'll keep that in mind, it's been on my todo list anyway. Also, thanks to everyone contributing ideas and reporting their experiences!

[xxdita 1,097]

1 hour ago, MI-Native said:

Getting the same crash to desktop due to the NAM plugin.  When it's in my Plugins folder, it crashes when I attempt to open a city.  But as soon as I remove it, it opens up a new city just fine.

This seems like a rather big issue, since NAM is essentially part of the game at this point.  I opened a ticket with Aspyr's support team.  Will advise if I get any feedback from them. 

Same question. Have you DatPacked your files? 

NAM - Mac OS X Installation Guide by @Tarkus himself. 

A. A note on Datpacking

Apparently, the Aspyr port has a bug that limits the maximum number of plugin files, which seems to be significantly reduced if an internet connection is not available. It makes the game crash every time! This issue can be mitigated by datpacking the plugins folder using SC4DatPacker (via Wine) or JDatPacker [link].

[MI-Native 7]

5 minutes ago, xxdita said:

Same question. Have you DatPacked your files? 

NAM - Mac OS X Installation Guide by @Tarkus himself. 

 

Quote

 

A. A note on Datpacking

Apparently, the Aspyr port has a bug that limits the maximum number of plugin files, which seems to be significantly reduced if an internet connection is not available. It makes the game crash every time! This issue can be mitigated by datpacking the plugins folder using SC4DatPacker (via Wine) or JDatPacker [link].

I did not Datpack any files.  I did not need to do this on the 32-bit version of the game.  I can give it a try, but I'm not certain that is the fix.

[mmprog 104]

I tried DatPacking my plugins, and it didn't make a difference. If I include and pack only the plugins I already verified as working, the game still loads cities ok. But as soon as I added one of the DatPacked files that includes a plugin I had observed causing a crash (such as my spa_000.dat file), I get a crash again.

I've also found that the Appalachian Terrain Mod (in addition to those spa buildings and NAM 36) causes a crash for me.

[Rpbaileysr 10]

I'm running High Sierra 10.13.6  , I removed everything in plugins folder. putting back one major folder at a time. The only folder that crashes the game is " z__NAM ". I don't know what in it is causing the crash. The Network Addon Mod folder is working fine. NAM36.

[xxdita 1,097]

2 minutes ago, Rpbaileysr said:

I'm running High Sierra 10.13.6  , I removed everything in plugins folder. putting back one major folder at a time. The only folder that crashes the game is " z__NAM ". I don't know what in it is causing the crash.

Ok, so that may narrow it down a bit. There should be 4 subfolders in the z__NAM folder. 

Can you add them one at a time to try to find the folder that causes the CTD? 

[Rpbaileysr 10]

It's something in the "Mass Transit Lots" folder. The other three run just fine. Getting late here, will start testing its folders later. It contains 9 folders and 3 dat files

[mmprog 104]

Yeah, the only files I found that cause a CTD are Mass Transit Lots/High Speed Rail Stations/Modern Arched GHSR Station and Modern Arched HSR Station. I can load everything else within z___NAM without a crash.

[xxdita 1,097]

Thank you both for narrowing it down. As the first to make the jump to the 64bit version, you'll have the distinction of being the guinea pigs for all the new bugs it may come with. 

I've posted the issues with the NAM stations to the SC4D Discord. Hopefully, they'll be able to look and see what could possibly be causing the issues. 

As far as the spa building, there are 2 growables (left corner, right corner) and 1 landmark version. Would you mind seeing if there is a particular one that causes the CTD? 

[Rpbaileysr 10]

Thanks also to mmprog and xxdita . Lets hope someone can come up with a bug fix for us diehard MAC users.