*FIXED* Game displaying missing props after DirectX glitch

[spiritualfire 138]

*UPDATE!!!!*

Found the issue described below to be caused by the SC4.cfg file.

For context:

Running GOG version, patched, on Win7 64-bit.

Received an error about game crashing recently.

Exception report from the crash indicated Event ID: 1000... application error.

Issue with "GDriver DirectX not responding." via Task Manager upon load.

Managed to restart game after an old tip in the forums: Simply renamed Plugins to PluginsX, loaded, exited, deleted temp Plugins, renamed PluginsX back to Plugins.

Loaded a city and it displays the lots as:

-Random missing props across most lots (no brown boxes but flat textures, plain, bland, empty spaces)

-Graphical issue (ie, box trucks are pixelated, bright red, yellow, and green sides.)

-Game clock is ignored (on pause but cars are still driving around), usually stops for me.

Initial thought was dependency conflict with missing props. Mega Props Dep pack V9c was installed. Attempted to troubleshoot, found duplicate files from a previous install of Mega Prop Dep V9c pack likely from my oversight, deleted entire pack along with duplicates, reinstalled dep pack with no changes to affected lots. No missing file messages. 

Here's the kicker: Deleted V9c and installed V9d upon seeing update, thinking it was still a dependency issue. No change. Noticed in-game settings/graphic options were not how I had set them prior to crash and were not saving after a couple of restarts. Added "-d:[directx]" to Target line as a preventive measure since initial issue indicated DirectX failure. Forgot the game issues Exception Reports and found the date of the crash with reason being: "0xC0000005 (-1073741819) ACCESS_VIOLATION"..... mmmmkay.

Began thinking perhaps this was a config issue. Deleted "SC4.cfg" file since it respawns anyway and restarted. No change. Got the bright idea to replace the "SC4.cfg" file with the last known good version and toggle my NVIDIA graphics card settings. Restarted and my city loaded correctly, displaying all missing props, textures and settings as they were and should be. Huzzah.

Not sure which of the last 2 actions worked or a combo of both but wanted to share if someone had a similar issue.

  Edited October 27, 2025 by spiritualfire  
Edited for more context and update