Can't get DLL mods to work

[Captain Bong 9]

Hey there. OK! So, I recently got back into the game (having played a bit back in the day), thanks largely to a YouTube channel called Rob's Red Hot Spot. Getting things set up properly, navigating the NAM etc has been/continues to be a challenge (talk about a steep learning curve!), especially since I'm a Mac user playing via BootCamp, and I find the whole Windows environment... counter-intuitive, let's say. Also, YouTube guides to mods/features are typically years out of date. And, uh, the search functionality here seems... well, it appears to be useless. But, I was doing OK - or I thought I was.

Now, however, I've discovered I can't get DLL mods to work. I've just downloaded/installed three - Submenus, 3D Camera and Region Thumbnail Fix - and no dice. It's as if they're not actually in my Plugins folder. And yes, I have the required 1.1.641.0 version of the game (from GOG).

Oddly, I previously installed two other DLL mods - SC4DBPFLoading and SC4Fix - and I know the latter at least is working, as the taskbar icon says "SC4Fix r7". So, I don't get it. My guess would be that another mod is causing a conflict, so here's what I currently have in Documents/SimCity 4/Plugins (I'd love to take a screenshot, but trying to figure out how to get a screenshot out of that bloody Clipboard thing had me wanting to throw my laptop at the wall):

• Maxis Original
• NBVC garbage (a folder I created to move some SC4Lot files out of the top directory)
• NBVC_GarbageProps
• Network Addon Mod
• Nuclear plants (again, I created this to clean things up a bit - it contains three DAT files from a Nuclear Plants mod)
• PEGPROD (contains four subfolders, _Resource, CDK3, MODs and Refuse Relocation Kit)
• submenus (contains submenu-essentials.dat and some subfolders, also containing DAT files)
• Cap Lifter.dat
• IH_census_10_78_12.dat
• Locales.dat
• Mayor_Sign_Menu.dat
• memo.3dcamera.dll
• memo.submenus.dll
• memo.thumbnail-fix.dll
• OperaHouse.dat
• SaveWarning_Disable_Exit_Quit.dat
• SC4DBPFLoading.dll
• SC4Fix.dll
• UI_Compact.dat

Maybe there's something glaringly obvious to seasoned mod users or even just the average Windows 10 user that I'm overlooking. I'd appreciate some advice!

(I also encountered another issue when experimenting with the NAM's Flexible Underpasses yesterday - which I suspect is entirely unrelated, but you never know. I found that when deleting subway-based roads, I couldn't always get every tile to delete, and then, when modifying the terrain, I'd get a crash to desktop. Since I'd saved after creating the test underpasses, I wound up having to vaporise the city to resolve the problem! No biggie, since I hadn't got that far with it, but still.)

[nos.17 5,177]

What version of macOS are you running? If it is anything newer than Mojave you're totally out of luck. DLL mods are not compatible with Mac's any more. See here for why.

 

 

[Captain Bong 9]

Suspect you missed it, but I'm playing via BootCamp, so in Windows 10 (just on Mac hardware).

[memo 1,460]

Did you check the Troubleshooting section of the Readme files? It might be worth a try.

[nos.17 5,177]

Yep, sorry I did miss that. If SC4Fix is working then we know DLLs are working which is good. What indications do you have that the other DLLs are not working? For the region thumbnail, what resolution are you playing at? Is the log file being written and/or what does it say?

Quote

If no .log file is written, the DLL failed to load. In this case, make sure the Microsoft Visual C++ 2022+ x86 Redistributable is installed

Edit. Ninja'd

  Edited December 23, 2024 by nos.17  

[Captain Bong 9]

13 minutes ago, memo said:

Did you check the Troubleshooting section of the Readme files? It might be worth a try.

I confess I did not - in my defence, I'm suffering from documentation overload from the NAM and other things! I installed that C++ whatever-the-hell Redistributable thing and now I see text files are being created in the Plugins folder - and the camera mod at least is now working. So thank you both, and my apologies!

I have to get on with some non-gaming stuff for a bit, so I'll test the other DLL mods later and report back.

[Captain Bong 9]

Sweet - looks like that did the trick for all of them. Thanks again - I'm not sure how long it would have taken me to think of checking on GitHub.

It's all starting to come together! And it looks like I picked an excellent time to get back into the game  Who'd have thought SimCity 4 would be entering a golden age 20+ years after release?

Now, if I can just get the hang of highway junctions... And I guess I might have to install that slope mod too...

Are there any other "essentials" I've overlooked?

 

[Propfam 2,294]

4 hours ago, Captain Bong said:

Are there any other "essentials" I've overlooked?

RippleJet's private school fix, Crime Doesn't Pay, optionally I-HT job fix, Maxis prop fix, minimize button remover, and yellow thingy (aka pause indicator) remover. Additionally, the Census Repository and the highly-anticipated expansion by @Kel9509, which is coming really soon.

[Captain Bong 9]

1 hour ago, Jidan said:

RippleJet's private school fix, Crime Doesn't Pay, optionally I-HT job fix, Maxis prop fix, minimize button remover, and yellow thingy (aka pause indicator) remover. Additionally, the Census Repository and the highly-anticipated expansion by @Kel9509, which is coming really soon.

I have the IH fix already, but the others are new to me. Thanks - will check 'em out.

[Ulisse Wolf 4,426]

3 hours ago, Captain Bong said:

I have the IH fix already, but the others are new to me. Thanks - will check 'em out.

If you are using DLL mods, it is recommended that you follow this guide

 

[Captain Bong 9]

57 minutes ago, Ulisse Wolf said:

If you are using DLL mods, it is recommended that you follow this guide

Cheers - I remember seeing that before, but I neglected to bookmark it. Have done so now.