[Solved] I have returned. Now I want my old regions back.

[Gurning_Chimp 399]

Hi guys, I was fairly addicted to this game about 5 years ago, but got a Windows 10 computer and Cities Skylines. However, this lockdown gave me a hankering to play SimCity 4 again and thus I got it cheap off GOG. 

 

Now I have my old cities on an external drive and I'm wondering how I can get them on to my game, I've already tried just CTRL-C, CTRL-V-ing them over like I did with all my old mods (although I'll bet I've missed about 5 NAM updates!) but they didn't appear in the load menu.

 

Please help!

[Cyclone Boom 17,033]

Hi @Gurning_Chimp and welcome back to your SC4 mayoral duties!

All being well, the method to restore your regions is to copy the full contents of your old folder into the user area Documents location.

This is located at:
C:\Users\<Username>\Documents\SimCity 4\Regions

Providing this is an exact copy of all the files in each individual subfolder (one for each region themselves), they should then display in the menu to load up.

Let us know if this works for you, or otherwise we'll have to try and work through what might be the issue.

[Gurning_Chimp 399]

Hi again, this didn't work.

Could there be a difference between the CD version and the GOG version? For instance I seem to recall that in the past my Sims drove on the left, whereas they're driving on the right now.

[Cyclone Boom 17,033]

3 hours ago, Gurning_Chimp said:

Could there be a difference between the CD version and the GOG version?

I wouldn't have thought this would matter. It seems quite unusual since there should be no problems copying regions between the CD and a digital version like what GOG provides. I also presume you've not got the -UserDir command set which would otherwise change where the SimCity 4 user folder is located (as per this article).

To make sure the Regions folder is in place, maybe try searching for the standard Timbuktu tutorial city named:  City - Getting Started Tutorial.SC4

The tree for individual regions should then be like this:

• \SimCity 4\Regions\
  • Berlin
  • Fairview
  • London
  • New York
  • San Francisco
  • Timbuktu

It is odd how copying an individual new region folder into this location doesn't work either.

 

3 hours ago, Gurning_Chimp said:

For instance I seem to recall that in the past my Sims drove on the left, whereas they're driving on the right now.

There's a useful guide @rsc204 posted in the Omnibus which explains how to change the driving side.

As follows:

 

[Gurning_Chimp 399]

The directory tree is essentially the same, the only difference is it's contained in a GOG folder.

I'll see if the LHD/RHD does make a difference and report back.

[Gurning_Chimp 399]

LHD didn't do a thing.

I also tried moving the GOG folder into my user folder and that didn't work either.

EDIT: SORTED. Found a separate documents folder (that's probably what you were getting at @Cyclone Boom) and my old regions are back! Nostalgia mode at peak capacity!

[thingfishs 417]

1 hour ago, Gurning_Chimp said:

Nostalgia mode at peak capacity!

Nice turn of phrase - and congratulations, I completely understand the emotional value of these things.

[Cyclone Boom 17,033]

@Gurning_Chimp

Glad to hear you've solved the problem and got your old regions loaded up. It must be delightful to see them again.

Just something to mention is make sure that your Plugins are in the Documents location as well. It is fine to have them where SC4 is installed (in the GOG folder), but in the event of uninstalling, they'd all be removed in the process. For me I only have the SC4Fix and Extra Cheats DLL and the I-HT Fix directly in there (no subfolders) so they'll be loaded for any different set of Plugins I'm using at the time.

Then inside the \Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins folder is the place which GOG will load them up from.

As for the driving side not working, I'm not too sure what the problem might be there, so we'll have to see if anyone else has any other suggestions.

[Gurning_Chimp 399]

Thanks again @Cyclone Boom, I'll make sure to move my plugins to documents at some point. My Sims are also now driving on the correct side too, the English installation is automatically in Yankee, I just had to change the language to English UK.

As for my old regions, I'm actually surprised at how much I remember from the old days!