Windows 11 Steam version not starting

[+Guest Supernova5856]

Hello.

I've been interested in getting this game going as I recently have been involved in the ksmbd project and want to get gaming again.

I seem to have installed all required mods, but am still not able to start the program. I get a black window then force closes. I;m fairly technical so I can troubleshoot in a detailed manner. Here is my plugins folder.

PS G:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\SimCity 4 Deluxe> tree /f plugins
Folder PATH listing for volume games
Volume serial number is C09A-86DE
G:\STEAMLIBRARY\STEAMAPPS\COMMON\SimCity 4 DELUXE\PLUGINS
    Background3D0.png
    Background3D1.png
    Background3D2.png
    Background3D3.png
    Background3D4.png
    memo.thumbnail-fix.dll
    memo.thumbnail-fix.log
    memo.transparent-texture-fix.dll
    memo.transparent-texture-fix.log
    SC4CPUOptions.dll
    SC4CPUOptions.ini
    SC4CPUOptions.log
    SC4DBPFLoading.dll
    SC4DBPFLoading.log
    SC4DisableFpsLimit.log
    SC4DisableFpsLimits.dll
    SC4Fix.dll
    SC4GraphicsOptions.dll
    SC4GraphicsOptions.ini
    SC4GraphicsOptions.log

No subfolders exist

It is also interesting SC4GraphicsOptions.log only shows one line, which is the plugin version.

I think there may be SOME issues with Windows versions., which would explain why sometimes people are able to get the game working with command line arguments vs. plugins. Regardless here are my stats:

OS Name    Microsoft Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
Version    10.0.22631 Build 22631

GPU is as follows: RX 6800

The AMD guide may need to be updates as Adrenaline has a VASTLY different layout now.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

 

[Ulisse Wolf 4,412]

6 minutes ago, Supernova5856 said:

Hello.

I've been interested in getting this game going as I recently have been involved in the ksmbd project and want to get gaming again.

I seem to have installed all required mods, but am still not able to start the program. I get a black window then force closes. I;m fairly technical so I can troubleshoot in a detailed manner. Here is my plugins folder.

PS G:\SteamLibrary\steamapps\common\SimCity 4 Deluxe> tree /f plugins
Folder PATH listing for volume games
Volume serial number is C09A-86DE
G:\STEAMLIBRARY\STEAMAPPS\COMMON\SimCity 4 DELUXE\PLUGINS
    Background3D0.png
    Background3D1.png
    Background3D2.png
    Background3D3.png
    Background3D4.png
    memo.thumbnail-fix.dll
    memo.thumbnail-fix.log
    memo.transparent-texture-fix.dll
    memo.transparent-texture-fix.log
    SC4CPUOptions.dll
    SC4CPUOptions.ini
    SC4CPUOptions.log
    SC4DBPFLoading.dll
    SC4DBPFLoading.log
    SC4DisableFpsLimit.log
    SC4DisableFpsLimits.dll
    SC4Fix.dll
    SC4GraphicsOptions.dll
    SC4GraphicsOptions.ini
    SC4GraphicsOptions.log

No subfolders exist

It is also interesting SC4GraphicsOptions.log only shows one line, which is the plugin version.

I think there may be SOME issues with Windows versions., which would explain why sometimes people are able to get the game working with command line arguments vs. plugins. Regardless here are my stats:

OS Name    Microsoft Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
Version    10.0.22631 Build 22631

GPU is as follows: RX 6800

The AMD guide may need to be updates as Adrenaline has a VASTLY different layout now.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

 

Most likely this problem can be caused by several factors

1 SC4 is not located in drive C and therefore another driver is bothering them
2 Antivirus is blocking SC4 from running.
3 An application is preventing SC4 from running.
4 The drivers are old
5 There is a problem with Windows

Do this thing

Follow this tutorial to check if everything has been installed and configured well

For the AMD issue, you have to run several tests to find the right configuration. Use this guide as help

 

[+Guest Supernova5856]

I already followed that video. This makes me believe this is an issue that is mainly with 24H2.

[rsc204 21,808]

On 03/01/2025 at 8:11 PM, Supernova5856 said:

I get a black window then force closes.

What is most important is exactly when the app crashes, since it shows what part of the launch process is failing.

If you are not seeing the intro videos or splash screen and the black screen is all you see then you should start with the following troubleshooting:

• In Steam open Launch Options for SC4 and add -intro:off
  This disables the intro videos, which are in a very low resolution and one that some modern hardware can't support.
• If that doesn't change things add -audio:off (Note: for multiple commands, each begins with a hyphen and you need a space between them).
  Sometimes the game will crash due to problems using your audio drivers, if this command doesn't help remove it and manually toggle audio on later.
• The default resolution the game runs is probably 640x480 maybe 800x600, depending on how it detects your hardware. Once more this can present a problem if you have modern hardware that can't display in these resolutions. This time the command is -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 to enable a custom resolution, note the example is 1080p resolution, but ideally you should use the full resolution your display supports.
• If you are using modern hardware (GPU), chances are it has no native ability to run DirectX 9, which is essential for SC4. You'll need to use something called a DirectX Wrapper which will convert DX11/12 calls to those that work with DX9. Many options exist, although dgVoodoo2 is one of the more user friendly options. Note too, for resolutions over 1200px on either axis, a Wrapper is mandatory to bypass DX limitations.

In any case, some combination of the above should be enough to get most systems to load the region view, i.e. initialise DirectX successfully.

[Propfam 2,288]

On 4/1/2025 at 3:11 AM, Supernova5856 said:

This makes me believe this is an issue that is mainly with 24H2.

Yup can confirm. Mine is rocking 6 gigs RTX 3050 with a mux switch on a laptop and yes, with latest driver, up-to-date 11, and of course, dgvoodoo, both Ulisse and the OG version. Every time I play SC4, the performance is unacceptably sluggish. It feels like even P3 system would run it much faster. It turns out it's only a problem when using integrated graphics and/or running in hybrid mux mode. When I switch to dGPU only, suddenly the game runs faster. Sure, there's still 1% lows but it's runs much better now. I don't really know if it's a bug in voodoo, 11, the driver, or SC4. Another caveat is if you ever try to make the wrapper passthru the GPU, it'll simply crash, both on the iGPU and iirc even dGPU.