Long overdue return ...

[Kentpumas1980 4]

Hi all ... have been away from the site and SimCity 4 for some years now.  Loved playing the game back in the day so this month I thought I'd get back into it.

I mistakenly assumed that the game being 20 years old now it would run like a dream on modern hardware, so I picked up a cheap laptop (8gb ram, disc drive for my Simtropolis donation DVDs, clear C drive so SimCity 4 has the laptop to itself). How wrong I was ... 

Spent all afternoon yesterday getting the game installed (game disc wouldn't work, had to buy a digital version from EA, bargain though at £1.79) then trawling YouTube videos to try and get the game to run better.  Looking forward to starting afresh though. Couple of quick starter queries:

1. The game loads ok (I downloaded the installer mod) but loading a city takes a while. I timed loading an empty city, it was 2mins 26 seconds ... my worry is once I start building the load time will go through the roof.  Does anyone have any tips for getting cities to load quicker?

2. Are mods (Bats / lots / etc) to be placed in the "My Documents" plugins folder or the main game plugins folder? 

Thanks!

[Ulisse Wolf 4,453]

First, I suggest you follow this tutorial on how to corectly configure SC4 (The tutorial is in Italian but I am working on the English version)

 

When you start increasing the number of mods the only way to speed things up is to do datpacking. 

Same with NAM, which, however, requires a special procedure to perform datpacking

All mods should be installed in this path Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins 

Except DLL mods and background-altering mods that should be installed in the plugins folder found in the SC4 installation folder

 

[TheMurderousCricket 5,096]

On 23.11.2023 at 12:25 PM, Kentpumas1980 said:

I mistakenly assumed that the game being 20 years old now it would run like a dream on modern hardware, so I picked up a cheap laptop (8gb ram, disc drive for my Simtropolis donation DVDs, clear C drive so SimCity 4 has the laptop to itself). How wrong I was ... 

Hi @Kentpumas1980. Unfortunately, as you have found out, it sometimes isn't as easy as simply installing the game on a brand new rig to enjoy it again.

First and foremost, I would strongly recommend that you simply buy SC4 again through the GOG store. Their version of the game is specifically tailored to run on modern rigs (as most of their content) and once you get it, you will just need minimal effort to get ready to play.

I also recommend you install the resource below. It fixes several nasty problems that stem from original game and custom mods "not talking to each other":

 

[Kentpumas1980 4]

Hi both ... thanks for the messages and the welcome. The resources you shared are also really handy to, thanks for those.

Think I'm all set now and ready to set up my first region!

[anonymous1234 216]

Hi, and welcome again!

You have already been given the best advice you can get, but I would still comment on a much more basic level:

- Whenever possible, try to have only the game open. Background programs also consume computer resources. Spotify and Google Chrome are two that I especially recommend you to avoid while playing the game. If the game is running smoothly there is no problem, but if it is running slow it is best to avoid this.

- If your computer is a laptop and has Windows 10/11 I recommend that you click on the battery icon and choose the "maximum performance" option. Clearly you will run out of battery sooner, but everything will run better since the computer will work with its maximum power.

- Check the fragmentation of the hard drive using the defragmenter. Normally on a modern computer you won't have to do anything about it, but it never hurts to do a little check just in case.

And speaking of the hard drive, this is the best advice I can give you, if you can, use an SSD drive. With those load times you mention, I would find it very strange that you already have it. My advice is to check what disk you have, and if you have an HDD, switching to an SSD is always going to be a good improvement. In fact it is what is most often recommended to people who want to upgrade a slow computer, as it is relatively cheap, it does not require much knowledge to install it and the change is usually very noticeable. 

All of this helped me when I was using my old computer, which from what you tell, it sounds like it had specs very similar to yours. 

The hard drive replacement option is the best and most effective of all the ones I have telled you. I left it for last because I assume that if you bought a cheap computer, you may not want to invest money in it.

And as you've been told, if you plan to buy another game in the future: try to avoid EA App. If it's an older game, GOG is usually the best option. If it's new, Steam.

[Jackspital 391]

On 11/23/2023 at 11:25 AM, Kentpumas1980 said:

Hi all ... have been away from the site and SimCity 4 for some years now.  Loved playing the game back in the day so this month I thought I'd get back into it.

I mistakenly assumed that the game being 20 years old now it would run like a dream on modern hardware, so I picked up a cheap laptop (8gb ram, disc drive for my Simtropolis donation DVDs, clear C drive so SimCity 4 has the laptop to itself). How wrong I was ... 

Spent all afternoon yesterday getting the game installed (game disc wouldn't work, had to buy a digital version from EA, bargain though at £1.79) then trawling YouTube videos to try and get the game to run better.  Looking forward to starting afresh though. Couple of quick starter queries:

1. The game loads ok (I downloaded the installer mod) but loading a city takes a while. I timed loading an empty city, it was 2mins 26 seconds ... my worry is once I start building the load time will go through the roof.  Does anyone have any tips for getting cities to load quicker?

2. Are mods (Bats / lots / etc) to be placed in the "My Documents" plugins folder or the main game plugins folder? 

Thanks!

Welcome back! I tend to take breaks each year and then come back for a few months to make sure things are still in order haha. I'm not sure if you can add parameters to make the game run on one core and go fullscreen on modern hardware like you can on the Steam version? It seems like others have set some good introductions for getting back into the game. I'm not sure if having a solid state drive improves performance? I do however know that its worth .datpacking files into single files so that there is less for the game to trawl through when loading each city tile.