[Solved] SimCity 4 Deluxe crashes while loading

[Whte_rbt 1,431]

@twalsh102 That's interesting, even with the NAM installed the game config only sees this as a 1Gb RAM system. Possibly that's all the game is programmed to recognize.

(And yeah, I did suggest single monitor mode earlier on.)

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

Hey guys! Wow, I came home to quite a few messages waiting for me!! Raymond –  I bought SimCity 4 Deluxe on March 26, 2019. As per your question about what happened after that, I am at a loss for what to say to that. In what respect are you referring to? As for tWalsh102, I have not tried to play SimCity4 Deluxe with one monitor – I guess I could disable one of mine (windows button + P) and see what happens. Here comes my naivety – I am not entirely sure what the Plugins folder is/does. Does that sound stupid?

[twalsh102 1,601]

Definition of stupid:  "having or showing a great lack of intelligence or common sense."

Definition of ignorant:  "lacking knowledge, information, or awareness about a particular thing."

But ignorant tends to have a negative connotation.

Unaware, while having the same definition as ignorant, tends to have a more positive connotation.

So I would say that you are just unaware, not stupid.

Now to the point at hand: the Plugins folder. It is totally possible to play SC4 without being aware of any of the underlying mechanics of how it works. The Plugins folder (usually located at C:\Users\<username>\Documents\SimCity 4) is the place where all custom content should be placed once it is unzipped/installed (if after unzipping, you get an installer, the installer will almost always place files here; if you just get a bunch of files, they need to be moved here). It's really important to know where this is from the standpoint of support. One of the most common recommendations where issues of the game not starting, and/or crashing occur, is to ask the person with the problem to try starting the game with an empty Plugins folder. By doing this, it either confirms, or eliminates the possibility, that the installation of the game itself is at fault. We really need to clear that hurdle before being able to provide any other recommendations for ferreting out the cause.

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

Thanks so much, twalsh102! I just checked, and the Plugins folder has one folder inside, which is empty. I plan on using custom content (eventually) after I get accustomed to the game.

[rsc204 21,865]

4 hours ago, twalsh102 said:

whether the mere presence of multiple monitors is causing your problems.

Nothing I’ve ever come across would lead me to believe this is an issue. If you have dual monitors, SC4 can’t even see the second one. Like all such legacy games it will only work with the Primary display. I’ve been using MultipleMonitors for 8 years and had no problems whatsoever, I am surely not alone here. My recent monitor upgrade works too, not that the actual monitors should make a shred of difference. Sure it doesn’t hurt to try it I suppose, but I really think there is nothing in this. 

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

So any other thoughts or ideas of how to get SimCity4 Deluxe running properly? Like I said before, my Plugins folder has one folder inside, that folder is empty. And if it needs to be empty to get the game running, what will happen when I download some custom content?

[rsc204 21,865]

16 hours ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

So any other thoughts or ideas of how to get SimCity4 Deluxe running properly?

Well so far as I can tell you have not tried any of the suggestions I've given you. So no, if you don't want to pursue those, I seriously doubt we can help you.

I'm sorry to say and I'm not trying to be egoistic here, but a lot of users around here, whilst trying to help, don't really understand the problem. The issue is absolutely clear to me, it's a DirectX compatibility problem which relates to your graphics system/drivers. You won't fix that without using a different (supported) driver or using a wrapper. A quick look through these forums will show you that I know what I'm talking about, but it's very frustrating to give your time to people who don't seem to listen to your advice.

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

Rsc204 – First and foremost, my apologies. I was not trying to ignore you or your recommendations, or even disregard what you are saying. I do not know much about computers, and I have a bunch of different suggestions flying at me here. So, to embrace this as a whole, I went back to your first response to my thread and worked from there.

My current resolution is 1920x1080, but I can change that if need be. I see you mentioned the command: -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 – I am not using Steam or Origin, rather I am using GOG. I am usually accessing SimCity4 Deluxe via the START menu, but it might be more convenient to put the game on my taskbar. Would that throw a wrench into everything you guys are saying here? I am not sure how my PC would respond to something like that.

When trying to load the game, my primary monitor goes black, and yes, I have tried CTRL+ALT_DELETE. That does not get me anywhere. But I will use your suggestion of pushing the CAPS LOCK button, to see if it lights up or not.

You had suggested installing a driver from before February of this year. If I do take that route, how would an older driver effect my other games, or my PC as a whole? I would hope it would not discombobulate the health of my PC. What is a “wrapper”? Can you give me a bit more information on this?

Long story short, I was not trying to ignore you or not having faith in what you have been saying. I feel like a jerk now. But I am listening to what you are telling me, and trying to understand what is going on and how all of this can be fixed.

[rsc204 21,865]

Sorry I don't mean to come across as angry with you, I just wanted to make sure I'm not flogging a dead horse as it were. Without feedback we're really just throwing suggestions randomly and for certain problems that just throws a spanner into the works.

1 hour ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

My current resolution is 1920x1080, but I can change that if need be. I see you mentioned the command: -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 – I am not using Steam or Origin, rather I am using GOG. I am usually accessing SimCity4 Deluxe via the START menu, but it might be more convenient to put the game on my taskbar. Would that throw a wrench into everything you guys are saying here? I am not sure how my PC would respond to something like that.

You don't need to move the shortcut, it doesn't change anything in this regard, so wherever works best for you.

From the Windows Desktop, Right Click a blank area and select Screen Resolution. Up will pop a window where you can configure the resolution used by Windows. This should only list resolutions your display can actually show, but the most important one is the maximum resolution listed. In effect, this let's us know what type of monitor you have, 1080p or full HD (1920x1080 as per the example) is a typical one, but WQHD (2560x1440) or 4k (3840x2160) are pretty common these days too. Of course, there are other possibilities, it would really help to know the Max. resolution your system supports here.

1 hour ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

But I will use your suggestion of pushing the CAPS LOCK button, to see if it lights up or not.

Again, just knowing if it does light up tells us the computer has not locked up, or if it doesn't, we know it has. Either way, that information also helps to determine the possible causes. Ultimately if the config-log file hasn't updated, the game has not successfully initialised since it last did, so we can be certain DirectX is not even starting, it's just a case of working out why.

1 hour ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

You had suggested installing a driver from before February of this year. If I do take that route, how would an older driver effect my other games, or my PC as a whole? I would hope it would not discombobulate the health of my PC. What is a “wrapper”? Can you give me a bit more information on this?

One trap you can easily fall into, is trying many different things in a desperate attempt to make something work. However, maybe you change a setting trying to fix the problem, it doesn't, but something you later do that would have worked, now no longer does, because of one of the other changes you tried. As such, it's best to go step by step and when something doesn't fix the problem, make sure you undo that change. If you go through an issue like this step by step, the number of possibilities get's reduced until you have a very clear fix on the exact nature of the issue. As such, let's leave these things to one side for the moment, and start with the resolution.

With that in mind, let's check the resolution and also if the system is locking up or not, then go from there. One other thing you can quickly try too, GoG add some commands by default, one of which is -f, assuming that's there and setting a custom resolution doesn't help, see if changing that to -w instead changes things. -f uses full screen mode (99% sure what is set, because the screen goes black), whilst -w sets Windowed mode, i.e. the game runs in a Window like other applications. For complex technical reasons, either mode uses a completely different set of commands in relation to the drivers (software that 'translates' commands between the OS and Hardware), so it may be one works where the other does not. In case it helps, here's where you should be adding the commands I'm talking about:

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

Thanks for not being infuriated with me! And you are right – trying to tackle a problem from a million different angles at once is counter-productive. I took your advice and clicked on an empty place on my desktop – Screen Resolution was not listed, but I did go to display settings (that was listed), and my max resolution for now is 1920X1080. How can I know whether GOG is using -f or -w? And I do not see that image anywhere (the one you ended your last post with). Help!

[rsc204 21,865]

I would guess you are using Windows 10, whereas I'm using Win7 (well actually I'm typing this on a Mac, I digress)... so some things get renamed but it sounds like you've found what we were looking for.

To bring up the Properties, just find your SC4 Shortcut, right click upon it and select Properties, the window should look similar to that from my last post. Note the information listed is different depending on certain factors, the only part we're concerned with is the bit highlighted in Red. These are known as Command Line Switches, basically you can tell a program to do something without having to open the program. Consider if we had to launch SC4 to fix this problem, we'd be in a catch 22, hence the existence of such.

You can enter multiple commands, each one begins with a hyphen - and there must be a space before each command. GoG add a few by default, including the -CPUCount:1 and -F, possibly others. So to start with, just add the command I mentioned before, to set the game resolution to your display resolution. We know that your hardware, SC4 and DirectX all support 1920x1080, so in theory that should work.

The last time the game ran successfully (from the log), you were using 1600x1200, which is a paradox, if your display only supports x1080, that should not have been possible. So we should check at this point that 1920x1080 is really the true Max. Resolution of your display:

So again Windows 10 is a little different, but see here how my display is set to 2560x1440, as you move the little arrow, it will go through all the other resolutions my display is able to use. One of which is 1920x1080, so I know my monitor can display that resolution without trouble. Can we just double-check if your display goes higher than 1920x1080 and which is shown as "recommended".

That said, if your display only has 1080 vertical lines or pixels, but you asked SC4 to display 1200, that would totally explain the problem. Because your display simply can't do what's being asked of it, so add this to the shortcut would fix the problem:

-CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32

Technically you can run games or even Windows is a lower resolution than your display is capable of, but many PC monitors look terrible when you try to do this. My old displays looked awful at anything but 1080p, but my new ones seem a bit more forgiving. So sorry if this seems a bit picky, but generally speaking the highest resolution a display supports is how you want things configured.

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

Yes, I am using Windows 10. First and foremost, I do not have a SC4 shortcut – I use either the START menu (99% of the time) or an icon in the taskbar. I tried right-clicking, but all that comes up is either to run the game or remove it from the taskbar. I do forget how to make a shortcut – I used to know but I have not made one in eons. Second, my display can span from 800x600 up to 1920x1080. Would a shortcut give me the option to use your tactic: CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 (?) And where should I put that line of code? And on that note, I need to crash for work tomorrow. Thanks so, so much for your help and for putting up with my questions and frustrating tendencies. I will be back on this website tomorrow after work to check my messages. Have a great evening!

[rsc204 21,865]

1 hour ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

I use either the START menu (99% of the time) or an icon in the taskbar. I tried right-clicking, but all that comes up is either to run the game or remove it from the taskbar.

Apologies, I guess my lack of familiarity with Windows 10 has let you down here, in earlier versions the item within the start menu is a shortcut, but I suspect the reason you lack that option is because of the Live Tiles don't work the same way. If you have an icon in the taskbar, does that offer you this option there? If not, it might be best to make a shortcut on the desktop in the first instance. The good news is that these commands don't need to be 'processed' every time, once the command has been parsed once, SC4 will remember the last setting unless it's changed. So we only need to get this setting into the game once and provided you don't mess with this setting in-game, you should be able to run the game from there on without trouble.

There are some easy to follow instructions here with images, that show how to make a shortcut from the Start Menu tile. Perhaps you'd be better off using them, I'll leave my original comment below for the sake of others, but perhaps not all of it is relevant with Windows 10. I think I'm being reminded why I hated Windows 10 so much, I switched to a Mac rather than suffer it - I still keep my PC for games and hobby stuff though.

Spoiler

These instructions work for Win7, but may not with Win10

To make a desktop shortcut it should be enough to drag the Start Menu "tile" or the Taskbar icon onto the Desktop, whilst doing so hold down both CTRL + Shift on the keyboard, you should see a little arrow appear on the icon, when it does let go of the mouse button and a shortcut to the item will be created. With that in place, you should then be able to access this screen to add the command.

If that fails, rather than start with the tiles, a foolproof method would be to find the actual Application itself. Assuming you used the default Install Location, I believe that would be in C:\Program Files (x86)\GoG Games\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps. Essentially though, it's the exact same place where you found the config-log file. The file you are looking for is named SimCity 4.exe, you may find Windows hides the .exe part, but the icon itself or the file type listed as an Application helps to locate the right item. Once you've found it, again using the drag to desktop with CTRL + Shift method to create a shortcut to it.

 

1 hour ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

And on that note, I need to crash for work tomorrow. Thanks so, so much for your help and for putting up with my questions and frustrating tendencies. I will be back on this website tomorrow after work to check my messages.

No worries. I'm convinced we're on the right track now and hopeful once we've got the right resolution in place, the game should launch properly. I still can't explain how you managed to run the game once with a resolution larger than your monitor, but it certainly explains why the screen goes black. I think we're on the home stretch here.

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

Alrighty! A shortcut has been successfully made!! Let me give you a heads up on what I am seeing, as it differs from the image you sent me. Target says, ""C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy\GalaxyClient.exe" /command=runGame /gameId=1207664593 /path="D:\SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition". Start In says, ""C:\Program Files (x86)\GOG Galaxy". Where does -f and -w come into play with this?

[CorinaMarie 29,875]

8 hours ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

GalaxyClient.exe

^ Therein lies a lot of the trouble.

It's way better to install the standalone version of SC4 from Gog. Let's beep @Cyclone Boom cause he'll be able post a linky explaining how to go about that.

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

7 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

Let's beep @Cyclone Boom cause he'll be able post a linky explaining how to go about that.

Here it is: [Linky] 

This then allows the standalone version to be downloaded and installed.

I've not used the Galaxy client before. However it might need SC4 uninstalling first, before re-installing from the .exe file that GOG provides. The advantage is it'll run independently without needing Galaxy at all, and so command line options can be directly added to the game's shortcut.

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

What do you guys mean by, "stand alone"?

[rsc204 21,865]

So if you buy a game on Steam or Origin for example, you must use the Steam or Origin App to launch your games, GoG Galaxy is essentially the same thing. The idea being it handles all your downloaded titles in one place and handles updates and the like for you.

GoG is unique, in that they will allow you to also download an installer that does not require GoG Galaxy to be used/installed, hence stand-alone, it works independently. This is more like the original disks for SC4, you just install the game and run it normally.

Now, where this gets fun, if you use the GoG Galaxy method to run SC4, there is (to my knowledge), no way to add these command lines we need to get the game running. Hence the recommendation to remove the GoG Galaxy version and instead use the standalone version. GoG kinda hide this option, because they would prefer you to use the launcher, but for SC4 that just causes more problems than it's worth.

It's worth noting too, simply uninstalling and reinstalling SC4 would likely make the game start again, because it will reset the default resolution. However, the only way to get the game to play in a widescreen resolution and to your monitor's full capabilities still requires the command from my previous posts. As such, even if you find the game working, it's still a good idea to add this command. The in-game options where you can choose a resolution, doesn't cover a lot of options most modern PCs would use, instead you must force the resolution with such a command. Interestingly (perhaps), the Mac version has been updated, so you don't need to mess with such commands, then again that's kinda necessary, since you can't actually use these commands on a Mac anyway.

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

Interesting!! With GOG games, I usually use GOG Galaxy 2.0 to install games, I was not aware that there is a separate installer option. How do I install the stand-alone version? And I hope we can go over the -f and -w commands, so that I can finally get this game running!! Thanks to everyone for their help!

[rsc204 21,865]

20 hours ago, Cyclone Boom said:

Here it is: [Linky] 

These instructions are pretty comprehensive.

[CorinaMarie 29,875]

9 hours ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

I usually use GOG Galaxy 2.0 to install games

And, apparently, that's a very good way for a multitude of games. However, SimCity 4 is a very old game and is an exception. So, nothing above is dissing their launcher overall, but only saying it totally sucks for SC4.

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

Alrighty, I think I have this straightened out. But a thought - with the "Download Offline Backup Game Installers" - where should I extract the .exe file before I try to play? Is there a certain folder that the compact file needs to go? I am asking lots of questions because I want to get this right. Also, I see that the "Download Offline Backup Game Installers" is not serviced with updates and such. Will this be a problem? And what do I do if/when I want to download custom content?

[Cyclone Boom 17,031]

28 minutes ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

But a thought - with the "Download Offline Backup Game Installers" - where should I extract the .exe file before I try to play?

If the installer comes bundled inside a zip file, it could be extracted anywhere like your Desktop or Downloads folder before running.

Also although the .exe doesn't need keeping after installing the game, I do recommend storing it in a safe place. That way if ever GOG stopped providing the standalone version (which seems unlikely, though it is always a possibility), you'd have a copy of it to reinstall again. Or even on another computer too that way.

 

28 minutes ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

Also, I see that the "Download Offline Backup Game Installers" is not serviced with updates and such. Will this be a problem?

The file is a complete digital version of the game in full, and so it does include the patches to make SC4 fully updated already. This means there's no need to install anything else thereafter, since the game is already ready to play once installed. So no, there'll be no issues about that at all, and it would apply for other games GOG offers which are regularly updated. SC4 has the advantage of being legacy software as the same familiar game we're accustomed to.

When getting around to installing the NAM again, just make sure to apply the 4 GB patch once more.

 

28 minutes ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

And what do I do if/when I want to download custom content?

Custom content is placed in the same Plugins folder as @twalsh102 explained previously. So this will work exactly the same.

[rsc204 21,865]

34 minutes ago, Cyclone Boom said:

That way if ever GOG stopped providing the standalone version (which seems unlikely, though it is always a possibility)

I wouldn't be so confident, right now apparently after the cyberpunk fiasco, the company behind them (CD Projekt Red) is bleeding money and there are rumours Epic is interested in buying them. A 51% Chinese (Tencent) owned company with a very poor record re: DRM Free, so it's subject to change.

1 hour ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

Also, I see that the "Download Offline Backup Game Installers" is not serviced with updates and such.

SC4 has not been updated since 2003, any 'updates' are nothing to do with the code for SimCity 4, but all to do with GoG Galaxy and how it interacts with your system. In other words, even if there was an update, the actual game wouldn't be part of that, it's very unlikely EA will ever put any work into the game again.

38 minutes ago, Cyclone Boom said:

When getting around to installing the NAM again, just make sure to apply the 4 GB patch once more.

Just being in mind the NAM is very much optional, I only mention it because I get the feeling you never previously had the NAM for SC4. If you do decide to use the NAM, the 4GB patch is pretty much mandatory these days, but this doesn't apply to those playing without mods, it's simply not necessary. Of course, I recommend the NAM to everyone, but if it's not for you, just know you don't have to worry about this step.

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

Cool! So, I used "Download Offline Backup Game Installers" to install the game, and I installed NAM too. I went to the appropriate folder and then the SimCity 4 Deluxe .exe, but when I double-clicked on it, I am back to the black screen. I tried pushing "CAPS LOCK" but the light does not turn on. Your thoughts?

[Raymond7cn 6,775]

On 7/13/2021 at 3:50 AM, NeveroddoreveN said:

Raymond –  I bought SimCity 4 Deluxe on March 26, 2019. As per your question about what happened after that, I am at a loss for what to say to that. In what respect are you referring to?

oh, Truely sorry that I missed this tagging, Next time, You can wake me up by using "@Raymond7cn"

As for my question, I thought the "config-log.txt" is generated while SC4 program is launching, or to say at least the game has started its system's spec detecting part successfully, Then when I saw your log's date was February/11th/2021, whereas you published your issue recently (July 2021), so I presumed that the game's environment might change a bit after this log's date, Since It appears that the game never generated log file successfully after that otherwise the date was supposed to be the newest launching's time.

Sorry that I haven't readed through all of posts by our Specialists carefully, I'm just a bit curious that have you ever started up the game successfully after you bought it on March 26, 2019? I guess the answer probably is Yes,  If so, I presume that there was no problem until February/11th/2021, It went to black screen after some changes happened, such as system auto update (Win10), Or Hardware and Nvidia driver changing, etc.

I have seen some black screen issues before, as our Specialists mentioned, they probably involve:

1.  high resolution setting for this old game.

2. Without 4GB patch when using NAM and other mods.

3. Plugins conflicting.

4. No audio output device is installed.

5. Doesn't install the game correctly.

6.  Graphic card's driver(version) is incompatible.

7. Others…

Anyway, I thought your config log (February/11th/2021) showed everything were perfect there, the game applied fast card setting as well, we have almost the same comp's spec except my card is 1060ti, You just had a fresh installing followed @Cyclone Boom's tips above, NAM and 4GB patch and no more other Plugins beyond them. Your screen's resolution setting is 1920x1080 (same as mine).

It's a bit late in my time zone now,  If still no luck, Let's see if we can narrow down the scope by some shots of my comp tomorrow, Really hope you can enjoy fun with us as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

-- Raymond

[NeveroddoreveN 83]

Hey Raymond!! I read your list (7 items) of what the problem could be - and I can debunk almost all of them. 1 -Hasn't changed, 2 - I patched NAM, 3 - my Plugins folder is empty, 4 - my audio device has not changed since I last got this game to work, 5 - I have now installed the game twice, 6 - maybe, not much has changed there, 7 - a little vague. Not sure what to say now. But I am so excited that I will soon be able to play!!

[Raymond7cn 6,775]

Hiya @NeveroddoreveN, Please forgive my English first, I'm still learning,  so correct me if I'm wrong here, By reading your words between the lines, It seemed that you didn't have issues on launching the game before (maybe way back to February/11th/2021?), Right? And I presume that there must be some changes happened at background which you couldn't observe if you are sure about there was no changes made by yourself.

When I was referring to 7, since I have run into issues related to Windows's Auto Updating, I can't tell the real reasons about them, it's just resolved by rollback of those Patches.

Anyways, I thought the best I could help is that we make sure every basic steps(settings) were established as we expected. Please wait me for a moment, I'm going to check my comp's environment, then I hope you could share more infos (screen shots) of your comp so that others could give much more coherent and precise suggestions for this. 

Edit: Here are some shots of my comp: (almost the same environment as yours)

Display resolution = 1920x1080

The log generated while running the game just now, I run the shortcut as administrator. and there were only two plugins within the Plugins\ folder.

My start-up parameters, but yours could be different, Just make sure the -CPUCount:1 and -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 exist.

4GB patched successfully.

This Nvidia setting is not very important, IMO, just to insure the game running on Dedicated Graphics with a good performance.

The structure of my game's root folder and Apps folder, I installed it with the same tips @Cyclone Boom shared.

Would you share some shots of your comp about them, I'd like to know the newest log's content (Date) as well.

[rsc204 21,865]

14 hours ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

I can debunk almost all of them

Yes/No, some of this isn't as binary (black and white) as you might think:

14 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

1.  high resolution setting for this old game.

14 hours ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

1 -Hasn't changed

Well that's not 100% clear. If you properly uninstalled all previous installations of SC4, then installed a fresh copy, the default resolution would now be the one being used when launching the game. The problem is, without knowing for certain if this is the case, it could be that the previous resolution of 1600x1200, which we know your display can not support is still in-use.

14 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

2. Without 4GB patch when using NAM and other mods.

3. Plugins conflicting.

Again we're getting in the territory of doing too many things at once. Before starting to use mods or worrying about the 4GB patch, wouldn't it be better to get the game working? Therefore until you have, I would recommend you remove any and all contents from the Plugins folder. Only once we've got the game working, do you want to be dealing with other complexities.

Note, whilst the 4GB patch isn't necessary to make the game work without mods, having patched it equally won't affect anything either, so it's not a problem if your game is patched.

14 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

4. No audio output device is installed.

14 hours ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

4 - my audio device has not changed since I last got this game to work

Have you checked that Windows hasn't auto-updated the drivers?, honestly in the realm of computers making such assumptions can lead to ignoring possible solutions, which ultimately frustrates the process. For example, simply not having any headphones or speakers plugged in has been known to cause problems.

But, pragmatically it doesn't matter if it did work, has changed or hasn't, simply adding the command:

-Audio:Off

Takes this out of the equation, so we can be absolutely certain it's not the cause of your problems. Once the game can start, you can safely remove the command and switch the audio on in game, with absolutely nothing lost. Whereas if this is preventing the game from starting, not disabling it can potentially lead to hours of wasted time. On balance it's better to disable it for the time being, just in case.

14 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

5. Doesn't install the game correctly.

Is it possible, yes. Is it likely, no it's really very unlikely because when an installer fails to do what it should, it should throw up an error. If computers were really this unreliable, well I'm sure I don't need to spell it out. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about this in the slightest because usually such problems are the result of faulty hardware like a failing HDD, in which case you've bigger problems (note there is nothing to suggest this is the case).

14 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

6.  Graphic card's driver(version) is incompatible.

14 hours ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

6 - maybe, not much has changed there

Again, this is for me the most likely cause, because we know the game can't even get as far as initialising DirectX properly and it would seem the computer locks up when you try, which is actually not a particularly good sign.

16 hours ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

I tried pushing "CAPS LOCK" but the light does not turn on.

Sorry to seem pushy, but it's really important so can I just get you to confirm your Caps Lock both has such a light, and that under normal operation it does turn on? That it doesn't after the lock up tells us the system has frozen due to an event that if allowed to continue, would damage your hardware, essentially a safety cut out. This leans more towards trying to use a resolution your display can't use, than simply an incompatibility issue, so I just need to be 100% here.

14 hours ago, Raymond7cn said:

7. Others…

Well quite, but for the moment, I'd rule out everything else before getting deeper down the rabbit hole. Others for me is another way of saying the problem is a very specific or rare one. Troubleshooting every possibility right now just isn't prudent, we need to establish the basics first.

Again this is all about adding Command Line Switches to test various configurations, which work and which don't will pin point the exact issue, here are the ones I would be trying in-order, stop when one launches the game and then we'll be better positioned to either explain or resolve things:

1. -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 -F -Audio:Off
2. -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 -W -Audio:Off
3. -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 -F --Audio:Off -D:Software
4. -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 -W -Audio:Off -D:Software

Should none of those work, then we've a real problem here. But I have a feeling the 3rd one will, which would confirm a DirectX problem as suspected. But we must also be certain the resolution is within the bounds of your hardware too, hence the custom resolution.

[Raymond7cn 6,775]

Dear Robin, @rsc204 

Sorry that I might make the issue more complicated by branching off the reason, I support all of your instructions.

On 7/15/2021 at 3:29 AM, NeveroddoreveN said:

I have tried CTRL+ALT_DELETE. That does not get me anywhere. But I will use your suggestion of pushing the CAPS LOCK button, to see if it lights up or not.

 

16 hours ago, NeveroddoreveN said:

. I tried pushing "CAPS LOCK" but the light does not turn on

I'm a bit curious about this, Did that mean the OS even has been suspending or crashing by starting the game, I just have heard of some issues caused SC4 to crash down, but the system was still going. However which doesn't mean it's impossible, I just didn't know that.

@NeveroddoreveN Let's follow @rsc204's tips to see what happens by using those 4 Command Lines.