Broken buildings and UI

[Smot_Vee 2]

Hello to whoever is reading these forums.

I'm not sure how active this place is, but I decided to make a post anyway. For the hell of it. Might even get a solution.

Long story shot - I recently began playing SC13 again, after not playing it for a year or so. I'm currently using my laptop, but I also play on PC. So I mostly play singleplayer, and for the most part, I like to use mods. So I decided to download the same modpack that I used before. [SC13] 2020 Mod Collection by Twinzens. From this pack I installed everything except the Project Orion. So that is all the mods, scripts and the specific file for Cities of Tomorrow (COT). Anyway, when I booted up the game I noticed that all specialty buildings from sewage treatment plant to oil rigs and all COT buildings had broken UI and the modification plop placements disappeared or just deleted the whole building. I know that this is caused by many different "Upgraded" mods made by Nikola101, because after I removed them the issue was gone, but so was the building modifications (such as increased storage and modification count).

I wanted to know if anyone else has had this issue and is there a way to fix it. I don't understand why is this happening. I have a clean SimCity 2013 Completed Edition install, no other mods. I've used this pack many times in the past, but only now I have this issue. I've attached a photo.

Thanks.

  Edited February 28, 2025 by CorinaMarie  
Made the mod name a linky to the STEX file.

[Smot_Vee 2]

Slight update on the topic. 

While trying to troubleshoot the mods, I created a new region and city saved and restarted the game as the modpack author says in the description. But now there even more issues. Like zoned areas are not spawning buildings, some buildings like the wind powerplant that I built, cannot be buldozed.

I have no idea what's going on. Like I said before, I've used this modpack before without any issues, why am I getting so many problems now. I have no other mods installed. And as far as I know the game installation is clean. Are there some cache files that can be deleted to remove the conflicts?

 

[CorinaMarie 29,574]

10 minutes ago, Smot_Vee said:

Hello to whoever is reading these forums.

Hiya! At the moment, that'll be me. (I'm Cori.)

 

11 minutes ago, Smot_Vee said:

I'm not sure how active this place is, but I decided to make a post anyway.

There are some peeps who know the game and they might pop in every few months.

 

12 minutes ago, Smot_Vee said:

For the hell of it. Might even get a solution.

Good plan. Peeps can't answer unless you've posted.

 

12 minutes ago, Smot_Vee said:

playing SC13

And this is where I have to bow out. I've never played it myself.

But I figured to reply so you wouldn't be all lonely in your topic.

And feel free to post more here as you troubleshoot and discover new ways it's borked or solutions you find. Then, too, hope someone else pops in with answers in a day or month or three.

[Smot_Vee 2]

5 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

And this is where I have to bow out. I've never played it myself.

But I figured to reply so you wouldn't be all lonely in your topic.

And feel free to post more here as you troubleshoot and discover new ways it's borked or solutions you find. Then, too, hope someone else pops in with answers in a day or month or three.

Ahh too bad. Really wish I could resolve this very quickly. Just don't understand how come I'm the only one that has ever had and issue like this. Since google results came up with nothing.

Anyway... thanks for the reply, even if you did it just for the topic not to be lonely.

[CorinaMarie 29,574]

2 minutes ago, Smot_Vee said:

Really wish I could resolve this very quickly.

I presume you've read all the comments on Twinzens Mod? I seem to recall about half of them are bug complaints and a few are bug solutions.

I don't actually follow anything SC13 related, but when a new member makes their first post it alerts staff for us to come read and approve it. (That's for spam prevention.) As such, I do often wind up seeing some of the things related to this game and can tell the mod sounds complexicated.

 

24 minutes ago, Smot_Vee said:

I've used this modpack before without any issues, why am I getting so many problems now.

This is encouraging in a way. It indicates something has changed from back then until now.

[Smot_Vee 2]

23 minutes ago, CorinaMarie said:

I presume you've read all the comments on Twinzens Mod? I seem to recall about half of them are bug complaints and a few are bug solutions.

Actually, I didn't. Since I'm new here, I didn't notice the comment section under the post. Just saw the review section. Not that you brought my attention to that, I read the comments and found that other people have had the same issues as far as year back. 

Thanks, for the suggestion.

However, considering there haven't been any replies to those issues, I feel like this post is futile. Even Twinzens hasn't replied, so yeah. I think I will have to try and work it out by myself.

[CorinaMarie 29,574]

5 minutes ago, Smot_Vee said:

other people have had the same issues as far as year back.

At least you know you aren't alone now. There are other peeps elsewhere prolly still cursing about it.

 

5 minutes ago, Smot_Vee said:

I think I will have to try and work it out by myself.

So, is it possible to start clean and install the mods you need in increments? Maybe that way you could weed out what goes wacky and keep what works ok.

[Smot_Vee 2]

1 minute ago, CorinaMarie said:

So, is it possible to start clean and install the mods you need in increments? Maybe that way you could weed out what goes wacky and keep what works ok.

I mean, I know which mods are causing it, but the issue is why. And why now? Why not the last time I played. Also they are quite cool, so I'd like to use them. Question is how? Or is it even possible. It might be because the game got an update since the last time I played, but I literally have no idea.

[rsc204 21,806]

Don't forget that updates break things, I always got the impression that the issue might be because to work the mod needs updating somehow. That said, like Cori I have little to no knowledge of modding SC (2013), although I have played the game without mods.

In any case in all the years I've seen this problem reported, I have yet to see any solution to it.

[Smot_Vee 2]

2 minutes ago, rsc204 said:

on't forget that updates break things, I always got the impression that the issue might be because to work the mod needs updating somehow. That said, like Cori I have little to no knowledge of modding SC (2013), although I have played the game without mods.

In any case in all the years I've seen this problem reported, I have yet to see any solution to it.

It's a shame really that this game isn't more popular. Otherwise the community updated would be more frequent. Considering that this my favorite city builder, for ME it's a real shame.

[DaniGud 1]

On 28/02/2025 at 3:44 PM, Smot_Vee said:

I mean, I know which mods are causing it, but the issue is why. And why now? Why not the last time I played. Also they are quite cool, so I'd like to use them. Question is how? Or is it even possible. It might be because the game got an update since the last time I played, but I literally have no idea.

Could you say what mods those would be?

[DavideB2610 1]

Hello! I'm having the exact same problem. When i start a new city, save, restart the game and come back, nothing gets builded and the things you can build manually are bugged, can you please tell me wich mods cause the issue since you said you found out? Thank you!

[oilenny 0]

On 2/28/2025 at 9:36 PM, Smot_Vee said:

Hello to whoever is reading these forums.

I'm not sure how active this place is, but I decided to make a post anyway. For the hell of it. Might even get a solution.

Long story shot - I recently began playing SC13 again, after not playing it for a year or so. I'm currently using my laptop, but I also play on PC. So I mostly play singleplayer, and for the most part, I like to use mods. So I decided to download the same modpack that I used before. [SC13] 2020 Mod Collection by Twinzens. From this pack I installed everything except the Project Orion. So that is all the mods, scripts and the specific file for Cities of Tomorrow (COT). Anyway, when I booted up the game I noticed that all specialty buildings from sewage treatment plant to oil rigs and all COT buildings had broken UI and the modification plop placements disappeared or just deleted the whole building. I know that this is caused by many different "Upgraded" mods made by Nikola101, because after I removed them the issue was gone, but so was the building modifications (such as increased storage and modification count).

I wanted to know if anyone else has had this issue and is there a way to fix it. I don't understand why is this happening. I have a clean SimCity 2013 Completed Edition install, no other mods. I've used this pack many times in the past, but only now I have this issue. I've attached a photo.

Thanks.

i'm having exactly the same issue

• Buildings cannot be demolished
• Buildings with gibberish rollover data
• Zoned but no one coming in to visit your city; population would not increase
• Cannot plop building components

Been playing around with other mods as well and having other smaller issues like mid street unable to plop anything, unable to plop wind turbines, unable to plop garbage dump etc; seems like the game was updated late 2024 and causing most of the mods to break

Currently i've removed most of the mods that is at least making the game decently playable, only left with "detailed workers on rollover" and "CAM mod" (only 2 that's working properly but apparently these 2 broke the great works as well). Byebye region roads, byebye bridges and tunnels, byebye UDoN etc

[plumbbob_detonation 6]

Hey guys. Sorry for being late to the party. But I think I found the solution. Here's a step-by-step workaround :

1. When you get to the main menu screen after loading the game, do not load your current city but create a new region instead.

2. Claim a site / city then delete this region.

3. Now you can return to your previous city.

When you restart the game again, remember to always create a new region and claim a site. It would not work if you just load a new city. In my case, I must first claim a site then load it to get rid of the bug.

Let me know if it works out for you guys. Happy to see that there are still some folks returning to this title 12 years after this debacle.

  Edited August 13, 2025 by plumbbob_detonation  
Update of the solution. No need to load the city, just need to claim it to fix the bug.

[MegaRapidz 27]

On 7/19/2025 at 10:03 PM, plumbbob_detonation said:

Hey guys. Sorry for being late to the party. But I think I found the solution. Here's a step-by-step workaround :

1. When you get to the main menu screen after loading the game, do not load your current city but create a new region instead.

2. Claim a site / city then load it.

3. The moment you get into the new city, the bug is ''fixed''. Now you can get out of the newly created region and return to your previous city.

When you restart the game again, remember to always create a new region and claim a site. It would not work if you just load a new city. In my case, I must first claim a site then load it to get rid of the bug.

Let me know if it works out for you guys. Happy to see that there are still some folks returning to this title 12 years after this debacle.

Despite this place being a graveyard - this user is a godsend. It works.

I used the full 2020 modpack, minus the extended boundary mod. Everything works, and the recent SimCity update can be used.

Thank you for this.

[CorinaMarie 29,574]

16 hours ago, MegaRapidz said:

It works.

Yay!

Based on your comment, I've Recommended their post. That means it gets a shout out atop this page (and subsequent ones if the topic grows).

[plumbbob_detonation 6]

Thanks for the replies. Glad that I can help. Feel free to spread the word without mentionning my name. Save you the hassle

[Northman89 0]

Thanks for the Help but Im still having the problem, that i cant place down any buildings - the only working buildings are the low density ones(residential) - not the medium and not the high density ones - any ideas what i can do ?

[MegaRapidz 27]

7 hours ago, Northman89 said:

Thanks for the Help but Im still having the problem, that i cant place down any buildings - the only working buildings are the low density ones(residential) - not the medium and not the high density ones - any ideas what i can do ?

These are common 2025 issues with SimCity mods, sadly. I try to cover as many issues as I can find and put them here.

In your case, the mod only works in the following way: you must first unlock medium or high-density buildings of a particular type combination (Residential, Commercial, Industrial, -- Low Wealth, Medium Wealth, High Wealth) before you can place it [wealth = tech for industry]. Once you have "naturally" unlocked this through gameplay, the buildings should become placable for that city for the future.

I did notice some bugs, however, where sometimes certain ploppables only snap to avenues and not roads. I'm still investigating, but if anyone in this quiet community finds any fixes for issues whatsoever, please let me know and I'll add it to the 2025 guide.