The State of SimCity Societies Modding

[TownTinkerer 3]

Almost all traces of modding, or the mods themselves for that matter, have seemingly been wiped off of the internet. A few mods remain on the NexusMods site, which forces account creation before downloading any available mod. However, it seems that the last refuge for SCS mods is SimCity China, a similarly restrictive site, but with a notoriously restrictive account creation process. In theory, I could learn Chinese and install some shady Chinese QQ app to beg, in broken or poorly translated Chinese, and grovel before a Chinese provincial governor one of their site admins to let me in, but as you can see, I am hesitant to do so. After all, the mods were previously available on other sites, in English, and were likely more lax too.

There have been other topics here, though somewhat old, regarding SCCN, which is why I have made this one, because, even though SCS is an odd, if not flawed, game, I think it deserves to be given some consideration, even as a weird black sheep of an otherwise beloved franchise. I do have one SCS mod (I was a dumb kid, couldn't figure out the Package Installer and could lose interest just like that...) that I could upload soon after I test it out sometime today, if I can even find a place to upload it, that is.

[catty-cb 4,412]

I'll  check my backups as I did used to play Societies when it came out, and I have a feeling that I might have some of the mods for it, thru no guarantees as I've gone from windows to Linux mint since then and did have a declutter at the time ..... even if by some miracle I do have some of the mods, discussions would need to be held with the simtrop staff as to whether they could be uploaded here.

Might be a couple of days before I can rummage thru my backups

[catty-cb 4,412]

Evening @TownTinkerer

So I have got some SCS Mods saved, but unable to try any of them out to see if they still work as I no longer have societies installed on my computer

Probably the most important document I do have is the custom_en.pdf which is a copy of the Building Customization Guide, am attaching it to this post, as for uploading the files to Simtropolis I think that's something that will have to be discussed at a staff level given the fact that tilted mill appears to have gone out of business, you can no longer install the game via the DVD's which is very irritating as I've got both societies and the destinations DVDs and so far I haven't found an electronic copy of the game, thru GOG has it on their community wishlist

https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/simcity_societies_destinations

custom_en.pdf

[Propfam 2,295]

10 minutes ago, catty-cb said:

Evening @TownTinkerer

So I have got some SCS Mods saved, but unable to try any of them out to see if they still work as I no longer have societies installed on my computer

Probably the most important document I do have is the custom_en.pdf which is a copy of the Building Customization Guide, am attaching it to this post, as for uploading the files to Simtropolis I think that's something that will have to be discussed at a staff level given the fact that tilted mill appears to have gone out of business, you can no longer install the game via the DVD's which is very irritating as I've got both societies and the destinations DVDs and so far I haven't found an electronic copy of the game, thru GOG has it on their community wishlist

https://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/simcity_societies_destinations

custom_en.pdf

A bit off, but does SCSPack have any relevancy to .dat used in SC4 and (I forgot the name) used in SC13?

[catty-cb 4,412]

18 minutes ago, Jidan said:

SCSPack have any relevancy to .dat used in SC4

sorry no idea, its not a game I've played in years nor have I read the Customization Guide

[TownTinkerer 3]

@catty-cb That list looks somewhat interesting, especially the disasters mod listed. My enthusiasm has dampened since I hurriedly made this topic however, as I've learnt, thanks to both the mod I have in my possession and the custom building guide, that, from what I've seen so far, only texture or script-related mods were possible thanks to the restricted proprietary file format for models, with Titled Mill having never released any tool enabling the creation of entirely new buildings like Maxis did for SC3000 and earlier. Less variety with mods there.

Should have figured that issues with installations from any DVDs might be issue given this site's policies, though, from experience, as I own a legal copy of the Deluxe Edition that worked as well as it could on Windows 8.1. The main issue, from what I've heard, is that Windows 10 and newer have incompatibilities with SecuROM DRM, something something missing files, if I remember correctly. It should still work on older operating systems, even if support has ended for them. Someone might benefit, like myself if I can get my old computer to work at all. My two cents on the matter.

@Jidan If it helps, an SCSPack is, according to the customisation guide PDF provided, a compressed XML file listing any mod files contained in the pack, and what game folders said files should go in when the game is started up.

[Midrealm 0]

On 3/27/2024 at 4:28 AM, catty-cb said:

Evening @TownTinkerer

So I have got some SCS Mods saved, but unable to try any of them out to see if they still work as I no longer have societies installed on my computer

Probably the most important document I do have is the custom_en.pdf which is a copy of the Building Customization Guide, am attaching it to this post, as for uploading the files to Simtropolis I think that's something that will have to be discussed at a staff level given the fact that tilted mill appears to have gone out of business, you can no longer install the game via the DVD's which is very irritating as I've got both societies and the destinations DVDs and so far I haven't found an electronic copy of the game, thru GOG has it on their community wishlist

 

@catty-cb

Hey, Midrealm here - creator of the syndicate pack. After a hard drive failure I lost all of my modding data.

Any chance I can get the Syndicate mods from you?
Thanks

[Midrealm 0]

On 3/27/2024 at 8:57 AM, TownTinkerer said:

@catty-cb My enthusiasm has dampened since I hurriedly made this topic however, as I've learnt, thanks to both the mod I have in my possession and the custom building guide, that, from what I've seen so far, only texture or script-related mods were possible thanks to the restricted proprietary file format for models, with Titled Mill having never released any tool enabling the creation of entirely new buildings

While true, there is still plenty you can with with the scripting.
Edit: I tried to attach a document - but apparently we can only attach pictures.

  Edited April 14, 2025 by Midrealm  

[catty-cb 4,412]

9 hours ago, Midrealm said:

@catty-cb

Hey, Midrealm here - creator of the syndicate pack. After a hard drive failure I lost all of my modding data.

Any chance I can get the Syndicate mods from you?
Thanks

Hello @Midrealm

No guarantees as I updated to a new computer this year, but will have a look tonight (currently on phone) and see if I still have these files ... also you might want to set up a club and add a downloads section to it re not being able to attach file to post.

Speaking as one of the simtrop staff we are happy for you to set up a SimCity Societies club 

[catty-cb 4,412]

12 hours ago, catty-cb said:

Hello @Midrealm

No guarantees as I updated to a new computer this year, but will have a look tonight (currently on phone) and see if I still have these files ....

Still had the files so have sent you a PM with a dropbox link in it

[BurningMercy 2]

Hello @TownTinkerer
Hello everyone,


I've always loved SCS since I was a child. Played the hell out of it just as much as I did along with SC4.
Still to this day, I own the disc copies of SCS and, I still have it installed on my PC nearly two decades later.
Even better: I own hundreds of lost mods from the Tilted Mill forums from back when the modding community existed for SCS.

I'm linking an upload of the mods and a video preview of most of the mods owned in use with one of my cities I created though, never finished several years ago.
For my sake and for anyone else who'd love to revisit SCS with many of the mods they remember using years ago.
Because if I have a HDD failure: everything goes poof-gone.

For those unaware: my best knowledge to install these: (since I installed these half-a-lifetime-ago...)
-->Navigate to your PC's "ProgramData" directory.
-->Find the "SimCity Societies" folder
-->Merge the new unextracted "Import" folder here.
This is where SimCity Societies mods go.
Separate from the game installation directory.. Took me a while to discover this.

Cyberpunk Society City preview with the many mods in use:

Hope this helps fill in the gap to what we've lost. It's not everything though it's way more than what was on the net recently.
@Midrealm I believe I have some/most or all of your Syndicate mods. I remember the stripclub mod definitely. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Can you guys believe it? 2025, on Windows 10 with a high-end gaming PC and this game still cannot run at high framerate on max graphics due to poor optimization. It's mainly the lighting and shaders that kills the frames.

EDIT: Replaced Google Drive link with attachment of archive.

SCS-LOST-COMMUNITY-MEDIA.zip
Please note that mods in this pack conflict with each other and when in use: will trigger your game to crash. (plopped if a building or such)
In the "Disabled" folder, I have narrowed down several mods I discovered that caused my game to crash.
I'm sure there are more within what I own that cause crashes so please save your game often with caution.
I advise to set autosave to the lowest time possible to prevent lost progress.

[CorinaMarie 29,852]

14 hours ago, BurningMercy said:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JFg99bXCejGjPOT6hHoFG5XbQ07NTTNs/view?usp=sharing

Your SCS-LOST-COMMUNITY-MEDIA.zip is small enough to easily fit as a post attachment. I'd personally rather see it shared that way so no matter what policy changes happen at Google, it would still be safely stored on ST's server.

[urbanmosaic 237]

Please vote on GOG to have SCS rendered for Windows 10. 

SimCity Societies GOG Dreamlist | GOG.COM

[fox456 0]

Does SimCity Societies work on Windows 11?

 

[BurningMercy 2]

On 7/21/2025 at 5:06 PM, fox456 said:

Does SimCity Societies work on Windows 11?

 

I know it works on Windows 10 with compatibility settings enabled. Should be the same case with Windows 11 along with any version post-Vista.

[fox456 0]

On 8/3/2025 at 8:07 PM, BurningMercy said:

I know it works on Windows 10 with compatibility settings enabled. Should be the same case with Windows 11 along with any version post-Vista.

Thank you.  I had the game years ago.  I'm trying to download the free copy that is available on old-games.com but haven't succeeded yet.

[fox456 0]

So, I finally got the game downloaded and installed.  However, it is not working.  I have tried compatibility settings of Windows 7, 8 and Vista (with both service packs 1 & 2).  All I get is a black screen (and a small blue circle) that lasts about 5 seconds, then the black screen just disappears and returns to the desktop.

Note that I have not yet installed the Destinations DLC.

I know the game can be run because I've seen YouTube videos of people running the game at high resolution.  Can anyone help me?

Thanks.

[LifeCanarySimmer 7]

On 15/4/2025 at 11:15, catty-cb said:

Todavía tengo los archivos, así que te envié un mensaje privado con un enlace de Dropbox.

Hi, I'm new here. Greetings from Spain, and sorry for my bad English.
I'm getting back into SimCity Societies and was wondering if you still have these mods. It's super hard to find anything... (Apparently there's still quite a bit on a SimCityChina forum, but I can't access it.)

[catty-cb 4,412]

7 hours ago, LifeCanarySimmer said:

lish.
I'm getting back into SimCity Societies and was wondering if you still have these mods.

Have added you to the orginal PM, next time I'm on my home computer will have a look around STEX re SimCity Societies and whether a new club would be a good idea

[LifeCanarySimmer 7]

On 22/2/2026 at 1:41, catty-cb said:

Te he agregado al mensaje privado original. La próxima vez que esté en mi computadora de casa, echaré un vistazo a STEX sobre SimCity Societies y veré si un nuevo club sería una buena idea.

Thank you for your kindness. I've already installed the mods you sent me, and they're fantastic. Something new really suits this game. If a community or website for discussing SCS is created, where should I look?

Thank you so much for your kindness

[catty-cb 4,412]

6 hours ago, LifeCanarySimmer said:

If a community or website for discussing SCS is created, where should I look?

It would end up in here

https://community.simtropolis.com/clubs/

.... don't have time in the week, but will take a look this weekend.

Note: As a simtropolis member you are welcome to setup your own SCS club ... happy to answer any questions if you get stuck

[LifeCanarySimmer 7]

6 hours ago, catty-cb said:

Terminaría aquí

https://community.simtropolis.com/clubs/

...no tengo tiempo durante la semana, pero echaré un vistazo este fin de semana.

Nota: Como miembro de simtropolis, eres bienvenido a crear tu propio club SCS... estaremos encantados de responder cualquier pregunta si te quedas atascado.

I know I'm repeating myself, but thank you so much from the bottom of my heart for your kindness.

I know SCS isn't very well-known, but for me it has that special "something." I'll have more time soon, so I'll see what I can develop for this game... (Maybe I'll look into visually editing buildings or even creating new scripts, although it will be complicated.)
PS: I'm also starting to venture into Simicity 4; I see there's a lot of love for that installment here.

[catty-cb 4,412]

5 hours ago, LifeCanarySimmer said:

I know SCS isn't very well-known, but for me it has that special "something."

All cities are welcome here, which is why the site logo is "many cities, one community"

[LifeCanarySimmer 7]

3 hours ago, catty-cb said:

Todas las ciudades son bienvenidas aquí, por eso el logotipo del sitio es "muchas ciudades, una comunidad".

You know what really struck me? It seems Titled Mill has returned, at least to Reddit, after about nine months... I see a lot of passion in their writing, and they seem quite friendly.
I left them a post, letting them know that what were once various mods for SimCity Societies have completely disappeared... (I hope there's some chance that a database of all the missing mods still exists.)

[LifeCanarySimmer 7]

On 5/5/2025 at 0:24, BurningMercy said:

Hola@TownTinkerer
Hola a todos,


siempre me ha encantado SCS desde niño. Lo jugué muchísimo, tanto como con SC4.
A día de hoy, sigo teniendo las copias en disco de SCS y lo tengo instalado en mi PC casi dos décadas después.
Mejor aún: tengo cientos de mods perdidos de los foros de Tilted Mill de cuando existía la comunidad de modding para SCS.

Les dejo un enlace a una subida de los mods y un video de vista previa de la mayoría de los mods que tengo en uso con una de mis ciudades, que creé y que nunca terminé hace varios años.
Por mi bien y por el de cualquiera que quiera revisitar SCS con muchos de los mods que recuerda haber usado hace años.
Porque si tengo un fallo en el disco duro , todo desaparece.

Para quienes no lo sepan: mi mejor consejo para instalarlos (ya que los instalé hace mucho tiempo...)
--> Vayan al directorio "ProgramData" de su PC.
-->Busca la carpeta "SimCity Societies"
-->Combina aquí la nueva carpeta "Import" sin extraer.
Aquí es donde se guardan los mods de SimCity Societies.
Separados del directorio de instalación del juego. Me costó un poco descubrirlo.

Vista previa de Cyberpunk Society City con los numerosos mods en uso:

Espero que esto ayude a compensar lo que hemos perdido. Aunque no es todo, es mucho más de lo que había en internet últimamente.
@Mediorealm Creo que tengo algunos, la mayoría o todos tus mods de Syndicate. Recuerdo el mod del club de striptease sin duda. Corríjanme si me equivoco. ¿

Pueden creerlo? 2025, en Windows 10 con una PC de juegos de alta gama, y este juego sigue sin funcionar a alta velocidad de fotogramas con los gráficos al máximo debido a una mala optimización. Son principalmente la iluminación y los sombreadores los que reducen los fotogramas.

EDITADO : Reemplacé el enlace de Google Drive con un archivo adjunto.

SCS-LOST-COMMUNITY-MEDIA.zip.
Ten en cuenta que los mods de este paquete entran en conflicto entre sí y, al usarlos, el juego se bloqueará. (Se colocan si hay un edificio o algo similar).
En la carpeta "Deshabilitados", he seleccionado varios mods que causaban bloqueos.
Estoy seguro de que hay más dentro de mi colección que causan bloqueos, así que guarda la partida con frecuencia y precaución.
Te recomiendo configurar el autoguardado al mínimo para evitar perder el progreso.

Good afternoon, how are you? Thank you so much for saving these mods; they're one of the few things we have left... I have some questions about the installation. Once I put the import folder in, the mods themselves work, but I can't find any new decorations... Should some of the files in the import folder go in other specific folders? Best regards.

[ESPFORCE 1]

On 5/5/2025 at 1:24 AM, BurningMercy said:

Hello @TownTinkerer
Hello everyone,


I've always loved SCS since I was a child. Played the hell out of it just as much as I did along with SC4.
Still to this day, I own the disc copies of SCS and, I still have it installed on my PC nearly two decades later.
Even better: I own hundreds of lost mods from the Tilted Mill forums from back when the modding community existed for SCS.

I'm linking an upload of the mods and a video preview of most of the mods owned in use with one of my cities I created though, never finished several years ago.
For my sake and for anyone else who'd love to revisit SCS with many of the mods they remember using years ago.
Because if I have a HDD failure: everything goes poof-gone.

For those unaware: my best knowledge to install these: (since I installed these half-a-lifetime-ago...)
-->Navigate to your PC's "ProgramData" directory.
-->Find the "SimCity Societies" folder
-->Merge the new unextracted "Import" folder here.
This is where SimCity Societies mods go.
Separate from the game installation directory.. Took me a while to discover this.

Cyberpunk Society City preview with the many mods in use:

Hope this helps fill in the gap to what we've lost. It's not everything though it's way more than what was on the net recently.
@Midrealm I believe I have some/most or all of your Syndicate mods. I remember the stripclub mod definitely. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Can you guys believe it? 2025, on Windows 10 with a high-end gaming PC and this game still cannot run at high framerate on max graphics due to poor optimization. It's mainly the lighting and shaders that kills the frames.

EDIT: Replaced Google Drive link with attachment of archive.

SCS-LOST-COMMUNITY-MEDIA.zip
Please note that mods in this pack conflict with each other and when in use: will trigger your game to crash. (plopped if a building or such)
In the "Disabled" folder, I have narrowed down several mods I discovered that caused my game to crash.
I'm sure there are more within what I own that cause crashes so please save your game often with caution.
I advise to set autosave to the lowest time possible to prevent lost progress.

Thank you! I also had trouble with poor performace, on a RTX 3080!

I think the problem has to do with the software not recognizing modern gpus. I was able to fix some other 32 bit games from my childhood with some programs, but I've not been able with SCS so far.

For example, I managed to fix an old cycling game crashing making it use 2 gigs of vram, instead of only 128 mb it recognized intitally. I think if we could trick the game to use the power of modern gpus it would work much better.

Edit: oh! And something you can do is patching the exe to use 4 gigs of ram instead of 2, as it is a 32 bit app. I haven''t noticed much performance difference after doing this, anyways. So I think the main culprit here is the GPU "cap".

  Edited February 28 by ESPFORCE  

[Lab Rat 16]

Automated Notice Message

All posts after 1 March, 2026 @ 01:37 GMT were lost in the site crash.

We've added this message thread divider in every topic across all forums for what were then active threads. (We decided active is if the most recent extant post (from the backup) was on or after 1 January, 2026.)

This divider serves as notice that the conversation was interrupted. Answers and further discussion which used to be here have been lost. Keep this in mind when replying. Our hope is to rebuild what is missing.