Installing SC4 on Linux with STEAM linux runtime

[Rady 94]

Hi all,

 

it's been a long while that I played SC4 the last time, and it ended because of the prop pox problem. Meanwhile, I changed my system to be running on Linux, and currently am trying to get my fav games running under Limux (Ubuntu in that case). So now I stumbled across this SC4Fix, but I wonder if that fix works with the Steam install under Linux?

 

I'm running SC4 directlx from STEAM using the "proton" support.

 

Thanks

[xxdita 1,097]

SC4fix is a dll file. So if you can use the Extra Cheats dll, then SC4fix should work fine. The description page says "To see if SC4Fix is working properly, check the title of your game window. If you are playing in fullscreen mode, alt-tab out and hover over the SimCity taskbar icon. The titlebar will show "SC4Fix (version #)" if loaded properly." So that should let you verify for yourself that it does work.

Either way, please let us know, so that we can make note of it, for the next person that needs to know. 

[Rady 94]

Yes I know, I simply wasn't sure whether "hover over the window" applies to a windows installation only. On Linux, the WIndow text shows "steam_app_24780".

[rsc204 21,866]

You’ll need a method of .DLL loading as part of the emulator, for example this can be configured in WINE. Does Steam’s emulator have the same function?, I have no idea personally. But you might have more luck finding an answer on Steam’s forums. Since making this work involves configuring the Play on Linux settings, it’s not specific to SC4.

16 minutes ago, Rady said:

Yes I know, I simply wasn't sure whether "hover over the window" applies to a windows installation only. On Linux, the WIndow text shows "steam_app_24780".

I doubt you’ll be able to tell if it’s loaded or not this way in Linux. But try hovering a Puzzle/Starter piece over a TE lot, a CTD is a sure sign it’s not loaded. You just need to ensure the networks match to trigger the bug, for example placing the Maxis Toll Booth on a highway, then hovering one of the Highway interchange pieces over it.

[Rady 94]

2 hours ago, rsc204 said:

You’ll need a method of .DLL loading as part of the emulator, for example this can be configured in WINE. Does Steam’s emulator have the same function?, I have no idea personally. But you might have more luck finding an answer on Steam’s forums. Since making this work involves configuring the Play on Linux settings, it’s not specific to SC4.

I doubt you’ll be able to tell if it’s loaded or not this way in Linux. But try hovering a Puzzle/Starter piece over a TE lot, a CTD is a sure sign it’s not loaded. You just need to ensure the networks match to trigger the bug, for example placing the Maxis Toll Booth on a highway, then hovering one of the Highway interchange pieces over it.

I'm actually not using PlayOnLinux, but the (new?) standard function of the STEAM client to play Windows games under Linux (called "Steam Linux Runtime"). But I will give it a try by the way described by you. Which leads to the next problem - installing the NAM in my environment :-) I'll keep you posted ...

[rsc204 21,866]

2 hours ago, Rady said:

I'm actually not using PlayOnLinux, but the (new?) standard function of the STEAM client to play Windows games under Linux (called "Steam Linux Runtime"). But I will give it a try by the way described by you. Which leads to the next problem - installing the NAM in my environment :-) I'll keep you posted ...

The easiest solution if you have access to a windows partition or machine is to run the installer there and copy the resulting folders from the install to your linux machine. If doing this you should get a prompt along the lines of “are you installing for use on a Mac”, select yes at this step. The folders “Network Addon Mod” and “z___NAM” should be placed in the Plugins folder used by the Steam version of SC4.

[catty-cb 4,412]

I'm using Linux Mint on my home computer (posting via cell phone) I'm using a mix of steam and crossover to play my non-linux games as I had a few issues with playonlinux ... I'll check my SC4 setup tonight and let you know what I'm using .... I know I do have SC4fix in my plugins folder

[Rady 94]

Well I'm currently setting up SC4 on my Win partition, once it runs there, I will follow rec204s advice.

 

[catty-cb 4,412]

1 hour ago, Rady said:

Well I'm currently setting up SC4 on my Win partition, once it runs there, I will follow rec204s advice.

Am running the Steam version of SimCity 4 and if I start SC4 in windows mode I get SC4Fix pre3 message at the top of the window so steam obviously doesn't have a problem loading the dlls in Linux

[Handyman 791]

@Rady Depending on your experience level this may help with installing the NAM.

 

[catty-cb 4,412]

I just use Crossover for Linux .... paid version, but you can get it as a free trial so could in theory use it to install the NAM before the 15 day license expires

[Rady 94]

I have to announce a big step forward. I installed NAM using my Win system and copied it to the STEAM installation, as well as the SC4Fix. Both are working now! 

This brings me towards the next steps. I now need to install the SC4 DatPacker, as the gane is unplayable without. Any experiences here? I already managed to install it using PlayOnLinux, but that doesn't help, as the DatPacker is looking for the Games Plugin directory in it's virtual drive, which is not there for obvious reasons.

[xxdita 1,097]

You will likely need to at least temporarily move or copy your Plugins to a real drive so DatPacker knows what's going on. That's the only solution I can offer. 

[Rady 94]

22 minutes ago, xxdita said:

You will likely need to at least temporarily move or copy your Plugins to a real drive so DatPacker knows what's going on. That's the only solution I can offer. 

Great. Done. This seems to make sense. I now will have my uncompressed collection of plugins in the virtual drive of the SC4DatPacker, and will only copy the compressed ones to the actual plugin directory of the STEAM installation.

I will now install CAM on Windows to have it running in Linux, too. Will keep you posted about the outcome. 

[xxdita 1,097]

Just now, Rady said:

Great. Done. This seems to make sense. I now will have my uncompressed collection of plugins in the virtual drive of the SC4DatPacker, and will only copy the compressed ones to the actual plugin directory of the STEAM installation.

I will now install CAM on Windows to have it running in Linux, too. Will keep you posted about the outcome. 

Good luck! 

[Rady 94]

Well, everything went fine so far, and I guess I have installed the CAM correctly now. However, once a problem is solved, the next one appears. This time it's the DAMN Menu Navigator. To refresh the menu, you need to run the indexer.cmd batch file ... which I'manaware of how to do it under Linux :-(

 

[Handyman 791]

@Rady Have you tried opening a wine console and running it from there?

Enter  wine wineconsole  into a terminal.

[Rady 94]

13 hours ago, Handyman said:

@Rady Have you tried opening a wine console and running it from there?

Enter  wine wineconsole  into a terminal.

 

Many thanks .. still got so much to learn 

[Handyman 791]

Glad I could help.

[Rady 94]

SO finally SC4 is up and running under Linux at nearly 100%. Last thing that it seems I cannont overcome is the DAMN Manager. Wenn executing, it asks for the SC4 game directory. This however is located in a directory that I cannot access from the "browse folders" dialog box. Si I guess this is the last thing that I will need windows for.

[Handyman 791]

@Rady I don't use the DAMN,  so just wondering. Do you launch it from the Linux desktop or within wine? Also did you change the setting in the Linux file manager to show hidden files?

[Rady 94]

@Handyman  I now managed to run DAMN Manager. Currently, I do have the following setup:

• SC4 is installed over STEAM Linux runtime. It's loacted under /home/user/.steam ... steamapps ...
• I have installed the DATPacker using PlayOnLinux
• I have all my unpacked plugins in this SC4Datpacker directory, as oterhwise DatPacker won't work
• Now I installed (=copied the content of the zip file) DAMN Manager into the very same directory of the SC4 DatPacker, as DAMN Manager needs to access the plugins. DAMN manager then asks for the dirctory where SC4 is installed. Unfortunately, I cannot point it to the STEAM installation, as the "Choose folder" dialog only shows "regular" linux directories, not the "system" ones (like the .*** direstories). Therefore, I copied the SimCity1.dat from the SC4 (STEAM) installation directory to the SC4 Datpacker installation directory. That way, I managed DAMN Manager to run.

 

Now, for some reason I still have to invetigate, the DAMN menu shows no entries. It has shown the entries prior to using the DAMN Manager, but not now ... 

As for the DAMN Manager: I wouldn't know how to create menu entries without the DAMN Manager????

[Rady 94]

@forum admins: how about renaming this thread to something like "SC4 under Linux/STEAM" and moving it to the right place? as it ain't got something to do with the SC4Fix anymore?

[Handyman 791]

@Rady Sorry I can't help with DAMN, Datpacker or Steam, specifically as I don't use any of those. However I do know that under normal circumstances the wine prefix does not need the  "." system designation. It can be renamed without the dot.

[catty-cb 4,412]

6 hours ago, Handyman said:

@Rady Sorry I can't help with DAMN, Datpacker or Steam, specifically as I don't use any of those ...

I do use Steam, but not DAMN and Datpacker .... did try Datpacker but after some experiments found that SC4 started up slightly quicker if my plugins folder was un-datpacked .... oddly enough have a similar issue with the Steam version of Banished can have 3-4 plus GB of seperate mods and no problems running it, but if I empty my mods folder and try and use MegaMod (3 files with all standard banished mods in it) I can load mega1 and mega2 but my computer will crash if I try and load mega3

[Rady 94]

2 hours ago, catty-cb said:

I do use Steam, but not DAMN and Datpacker .... did try Datpacker but after some experiments found that SC4 started up slightly quicker if my plugins folder was un-datpacked .... oddly enough have a similar issue with the Steam version of Banished can have 3-4 plus GB of seperate mods and no problems running it, but if I empty my mods folder and try and use MegaMod (3 files with all standard banished mods in it) I can load mega1 and mega2 but my computer will crash if I try and load mega3

Well, the DATPacker works for me, with some workaround - I need to have all Plugins in the directory where PlayOnLinux has installed the DATPacker, since the directory cannot be changed in DATPacker. But that's ok. 

However, currently it seems I cannot use the SSP-Toll and it's DAMN plugin. For some reason, I cannot get the java program to run under Linux ... unless I can solve this, SC4 is basically unplayable, as it would be impossible to find all the additinal items within the standard menu. But well .. lets see.

[Handyman 791]

@Rady If you are trying to run a java program in the linux environment then you will need to install java, if you haven't already.

I just noticed you are using PlayOnLinux, so if you need java in the wine environment, there should be instructions for this.

Sometimes you need both. I use openjdk for my java needs.

[Rady 94]

Managed to run the "new" DAMN Manager (link). However, I cannot get it to show up the entries in-game ... lets see

[rsc204 21,866]

On 2/11/2020 at 9:38 PM, Rady said:

I have to announce a big step forward. I installed NAM using my Win system and copied it to the STEAM installation, as well as the SC4Fix. Both are working now! 

This brings me towards the next steps. I now need to install the SC4 DatPacker, as the gane is unplayable without. Any experiences here? I already managed to install it using PlayOnLinux, but that doesn't help, as the DatPacker is looking for the Games Plugin directory in it's virtual drive, which is not there for obvious reasons.

You’d be better off using jdatpacker, which is Java based and should run natively.

If you need to use folder locations that are virtual, then your emulator needs to include the same redirects as SC4 uses. But this should not matter for jdatpacker, since it’s not looking to locate the SC4 folders from the registry settings like it’s Windows equivalent.

[CorinaMarie 29,895]

On 2/15/2020 at 10:23 AM, Rady said:

@forum admins: how about renaming this thread to something like "SC4 under Linux/STEAM" and moving it to the right place? as it ain't got something to do with the SC4Fix anymore?

Hiya, @Rady. I just happened to notice this topic. (If you ever do need to get the attention of CB or me (the ST admins), use @CorinaMarie and/or @Cyclone Boom in mention format so we get a beep.)

Anyhow, you can edit the first post yourself since it is your topic and change the title to whatever you feel is better. Then for moving it to another forum that does require staff level access and we are happy to help. Where would you like it to go? General Discussion in the Players Forum?

 

On 2/17/2020 at 12:02 PM, Rady said:

However, I cannot get it to show up the entries in-game ...

Have you tried the control file patch I wrote? It's hidden away in this post as an attachment. I don't actually use DAMN myself, but I'm one of the current Lua coding gurus and it was @Daeley's examples that got me started on my way a couple or three years ago.