Morofry

By now many of you have brand new computers and are wondering why SC4 won't run worth a hoot on it. That reason is due to the limitations imposed by the current graphics hardware during the time of the games inception. This means the graphics rules for the game are fairly static to say the least and won't play nice with mismatched pieces per say. The good thing is that we can change that to fit our mismatched pieces. Here's how I was able to work it. For the sake of consistancy (you may skip if you already did these steps): First install the game. (oh well thanks captian obvious..) Be quiet, were not done here. Second step is to run the latest update. (why are you doing this?) I said be quiet. Third step is to follow JoeST's instructions on customizing your gameplay experience (you may have to login). 4.) Now the fun part. If you are still running Windows XP, then you may skip this. If you are running Windows Vista or 7, then follow this step please. Go to your games directory (eg. C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4 (deluxe)\ you get the idea) Copy "Graphics Rules.sgr" and "Video Cards.sgr" (without quotes) to your desktop (or an easily accessible directory in which you have full read/write permission) A pretty picture is provided below. 5.) Right click anywhere on your desktop and select properties (XP) or Change Resolution (Vista or 7). Under the screen resolution tab, select advanced. You will then be met with your adapter information. Take careful note of that. Two pretty pictures are provided. The first one is largely irrelevant except to those who know how to get there. You may ignore it. Alternatively, if you have an Nvidia Graphics Card, you can find a complete list of Hardware IDs at this link (thanks to Kloudkicker). With the page open, use find in your browser (usually CTRL+F works too), type in your card's number, since that's the most unique part, i.e. 750 if you have a GeForce GTX 750ti or 960 if you have a GTX 960. This should make it very quick to find your actual Graphics Card and thus it's Device ID, which you can copy/paste into the VideoCards.sgr file. 6.) Once you have done that, open up Graphics Rules.sgr (with notepad) and drill down until you find this: partialRule "Fast card" -any # We run well on these cards, so up the defaults. stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Geforce*" stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Quadro*" stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*9700*" stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*8500*" stringMatch cardIdentity "Matrox*Parhelia*" Include your graphics cards string to it so It will look something like this: partialRule "Fast card" -any # We run well on these cards, so up the defaults. stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Geforce*" stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Quadro*" stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*9700*" stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*8500*" stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*HD 4800 Series*" stringMatch cardIdentity "Matrox*Parhelia*" (different video cards mean different strings, so take this with a grain of salt) Now save and exit. 7.) Now that you have done all that, open up your Video Cards.sgr (with notepad or whatever). You will be met with a long list of video cards. Most usually you will be looking for either "vendor "ATI" 0x1002" or "vendor "NVidia" 0x10b4 0x12d2 0x10de" (without the outermost quotes). Other brands are in there too. In the appropriate list add your video card. Example is as follows: card 0x4E69 "Radeon 9800" card 0x4148 "Radeon 9800" card 0x4168 "Radeon 9800" card 0x9442 "Radeon HD 4800 Series" card 0x5041 "Rage 128 Pro" card 0x5042 "Rage 128 Pro" card 0x5043 "Rage 128 Pro" Now save and exit. 8.) For vista/7 users, you must navigate back to your game directory and move the edited files there, replacing the unedited ones. Yes you want to continue when your computer asks you if you want to continue. That's it your done. Enjoy playing SimCity 4. It should run very much faster now. Many make these modifications without ever editing the Video cards.sgr file, and that works too; but with an unmatched string, the game could potentially become unstable and be prone to crashes a lot more often than not. A performance deficit has also been observed.

Original Thread: How to configure SC4 to work with your new hardware By now many of you have brand new computers and are wondering why SC4 won't run worth a hoot on it. That reason is due to the limitations imposed by the current graphics hardware during the time of the games inception. This means the graphics rules for the game are fairly static to say the least and won't play nice with mismatched pieces per say. The good thing is that we can change that to fit our mismatched pieces. Here's how I was able to work it. For the sake of consistancy (you may skip if you already did these steps): First install the game. (oh well thanks captian obvious..) Be quiet, were not done here. Second step is to run the latest update. (why are you doing this?) I said be quiet. Third step is to follow JoeST's instructions on customizing your gameplay experience (you may have to login). 4.) Now the fun part. If you are still running Windows XP, then you may skip this. If you are running Windows Vista or 7, then follow this step please. Go to your games directory (eg. C:\Program Files\Maxis\Sim City 4 (deluxe)\ you get the idea) Copy "Graphics Rules.sgr" and "Video Cards.sgr" (without quotes) to your desktop (or an easily accessible directory in which you have full read/write permission) A pretty picture is provided below. 5.) Right click anywhere on your desktop and select properties (XP) or Change Resolution (Vista or 7). Under the screen resolution tab, select advanced. You will then be met with your adapter information. Take careful note of that. Two pretty pictures are provided. The first one is largely irrelevant except to those who know how to get there. You may ignore it. 6.) Once you have done that, open up Graphics Rules.sgr (with notepad) and drill down until you find this: partialRule "Fast card" -any # We run well on these cards, so up the defaults. stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Geforce*" stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Quadro*" stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*9700*" stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*8500*" stringMatch cardIdentity "Matrox*Parhelia*" Include your graphics cards string to it so It will look something like this: partialRule "Fast card" -any # We run well on these cards, so up the defaults. stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Geforce*" stringMatch cardIdentity "NVidia*Quadro*" stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*9700*" stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*8500*" stringMatch cardIdentity "ATI*HD 4800 Series*" stringMatch cardIdentity "Matrox*Parhelia*" (different video cards mean different strings, so take this with a grain of salt) Now save and exit. 7.) Now that you have done all that, open up your Video Cards.sgr (with notepad or whatever). You will be met with a long list of video cards. Most usually you will be looking for either "vendor "ATI" 0x1002" or "vendor "NVidia" 0x10b4 0x12d2 0x10de" (without the outermost quotes). Other brands are in there too. In the appropriate list add your video card. Example is as follows: card 0x4E69 "Radeon 9800" card 0x4148 "Radeon 9800" card 0x4168 "Radeon 9800" card 0x9442 "Radeon HD 4800 Series" card 0x5041 "Rage 128 Pro" card 0x5042 "Rage 128 Pro" card 0x5043 "Rage 128 Pro" Now save and exit. 8.) For vista/7 users, you must navigate back to your game directory and move the edited files there, replacing the unedited ones. Yes you want to continue when your computer asks you if you want to continue. That's it your done. Enjoy playing Sim City 4. It should run very much faster now. Many make these modifications without ever editing the Video cards.sgr file, and that works too; but with an unmatched string, the game could potentially become unstable and be prone to crashes a lot more often than not. A performance deficit has also been observed. Original Thread: How to configure SC4 to work with your new hardware Return to Top

In the beginning the RHW (Rural/Real Highway) was released (sort of (as far as I can understand it)) as an extension to the MHW (maxis highway). Since then it has developed to the point such so as to be more or less completely independent of the MHW. You can combine the two, but depending upon the level of realism your shooting for; you'll probably be dissapointed at how poorly they actually combine.

Thanks very much. I wouldn't have known.

To dig up an old post... It seems Gizmo's site is no longer available, which puts us at a loss here. Is there anywhere else I can find his files?

We will find ways around the resource problem. Today's electronic devices contain more of those resources than tomorrows devices. We may end up scouring every last landfill for those resources, but we will find it nonetheless. The TRON universe may become a reality.

I like the super silo modifications. Sometimes I truly do wonder how the devs come up with these numbers and what not. Good job.

Wally world is selling the vanilla version for 10 bucks here. Hardly surprised that no one buys it.

Unfortunately there is absolutely no way to make your router hack-proof. If someone did happen to come up with such a thing, all jobs concerning network security would become obsolete very quickly. Fortunately it is because of this finding that allows us to improve our security software. Eventually a fix will be found, and eventually a new "earth-shattering" bug or flaw will be found. It is through this cycle that our technology continually improves. Now I do not condone the practices of Black Hats, but their role is unmistakeably important; no matter how destructive they are.

While this is very sad news, I feel there is a lesson to be learned here. While Cities XL was a very good game to begin with, the idea of having to pay for addons (such as mass transit, and an incomplete system at that) really discouraged a lot of people; myself included. This feature was already fully implemented in Sim City 4 at no additional cost, so people who were wanting a newer game felt betrayed that you had to pay for almost every aspect of the game. On top of that, the room made available for players to develop custom content seemed to be nothing more than a closet. Other than sandbox mode and overlaying the map with street patterns of actual cities, I have yet to see any player made content that is really exciting. As far as I know, players are not allowed to make transit systems, buildings, or even minor things such as cosmetic changes (such as putting the stoplights on the far side of the intersection). And this game came from a company who said that they were listening to the players. If MC were listening to the players of SC4; Cities XL would have a plugin system as open as SC4's plugin system, not to mention look and feel like a much desired new version of SC4. Custom Content would have caused simtropolis to fork and create a separate site just for Cities XL custom content. But that has not happened. Instead, MC decided to take a risk by closing the vast majority of custom content options and having everyone pay for new content. This is what has disappointed so many people; this is what has led to MC's failure. Too fast, too soon. The online version was very well implemented, if not polished like a prized gem; however you pushed it too hard, making solo play feel drab and forgettable, and so many of us are used to playing solo. If any company is to ever try this again, MC's history is something one should study if such a similar fate is to be avoided. Cities XL is/am/are/was/were a great game, but the goals behind it is what ruined it.

Is there any way we can beg EA for one more update to the game? It seems to me that Sim City 4 is on borrowed time here. With newer hardware, the game becomes less compatible. I would at least like to see an update containing improvements to video card support, a fixed/updated OpenGL engine (for those of us running through wine), and a couple of other various fixes that I can't name off the top of my head. Sim city 4 doesn't even run properly anymore. I found that I can use the NAM and only the NAM. No matter what plugin I put in with it, the game will crash while loading a city. This is getting kind of stupid. I love the game, I really do; I just don't like how EA released their B638 update and pretty much abandoned the game altogether.

I did have a similar problem before, where it caused the game to crash while loading a city. and my solution for it was actually pretty simple. My problem had to do with the whole "Frankenstein" type deal in where you moved files from your old computer to your new computer and used them just the same. The problem with that is that when you move data like that, you preserve ownership preferences, so the computer sees those files as "foreign" files, and that can have an effect on permission. My Solution: Download 7zip. Compress the entire plugins folder in a .7z archive. Due to the .7z compression method, file ownership and permissions are not preserved. After it is zipped up, simply decompress it in the correct directory. That solved my problem. Weather it works for you, I can't tell.

to kiros: I have noticed a performance difference when doing large scale things (ie bulldozing a whole section of your map); with the string modification things seem to go a little bit smoother, not necessarily faster. As for your video card string, that is quite peculiar. It should generate a HEX string alongside your graphics card string. In your video card properties window, click the Properties button. Then in the properties window, select the "Details" tab (without quotes). There should be a pull-down menu with a befuddling list of selections. Towards the bottom, there should be an option called "Matching device id". The information there should be what your looking for. My id was pci\ven_1002&dev_9442. Yours should say something similar. The pci\ven_???? describes your vendor. For general purposes, match that with the vendor "nVidia/ati/intel/other" 0x???? and then use that list. The &dev_???? should give you the appropriate string that you insert into the list you matched the vendor to in the first place. Just remember to put 0x before it.

Eh... I did replace/reposition the lights and it looks better now. I do kinda wish that they had an invisible base instead of trees around them, but beggars can't be choosers, so I'll go with that. I can't seem to find those "spray paint" (for lack of better term) terrain textures that I was sure someone put up somewhere. Working with the RHW is difficult in urban situations, but I'm getting the hang of it. I'm not much for 'superdetailing', but just for the fun of it I may post a city journal some day... Some day... Maybe...