gmlaster

Solution to the SC4 Mac OS File Limit (Aspyr App Store Version): I like to keep my Plugins folder super-organized, not just for neatness' sake but because if I run into a problem, want to swap out a mod that may conflict with something new I'm adding, or I just want to update a plugin, having my folders neatly organized into sensible categories makes it really easy to find what I need. But…the downside to this is that each folder I create pushes me ever closer to that nasty file limit. I learned from Aspyr's tech support that there are actually two ways to get around this problem. The high-tech way involves Unix commands or an XML script that will let you increase your computer's file limit. The low-tech, non-programming way involves getting rid of unnecessary files you may have accumulated in your Plugins folder. We'll look at both methods in this post. Using Unix to Set the File Limit: For Snow Leopard or before: Open a Terminal window. At the prompt, type: /etc/launchd.conf limit maxfiles xxxxxx xxxxxx NOTE: The x's are file limit number you want to set. Be sure to change the x's in both numbers. Reboot for this to take effect. For Mountain Lion (10.8) or Lion: Open a terminal window. At the prompt, type: /etc/sysctl.conf kern.maxfiles=xxxxxx kern.maxfilesperproc=xxxxxx Again, change the x's to the file limit number you want to set. You will have to reboot for this to take effect. Using XML to Set the File Limit For Mavericks (10.9), Yosemite and El Capitan: None of the above-listed methods will work due to changes in the system architecture. To adjust the maximum file limit, you will have to create a property list that goes into your Library/Preferences folder (limit.maxfiles.plist) that has an XML script that will allow you to set that number. You will need to know how to use the Mac's XCode application to create a .plist file from this script: <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd"> <plist version="1.0"> <dict> <key>Label</key> <string>limit.maxfiles</string> <key>ProgramArguments</key> <array> <string>launchctl</string> <string>limit</string> <string>maxfiles</string> <string>524288</string> <string>524288</string> </array> <key>RunAtLoad</key> <true/> <key>ServiceIPC</key> <false/> </dict> </plist> Just change the numbers between the two <string> tags to set your file limit number. For more information or if you run into trouble, just Google "Unix Mac commands to increase file limit" or "Creating a .plist from XML in XCode" and you'll find help from the experts. But What If I Don't Know Unix or XML? That's okay. There's a low-tech way to do it without programming, albeit a little time consuming and tedious, but seriously, why play around with code when you can just do a little disk housekeeping and buy yourself some space by removing files and folders that serve no useful purpose? What follows are some instructions for doing this the old fashioned way, and quite frankly, I liked doing it because it made me do some much-needed purging of useless files: Get Rid of Unnecessary Folders!!!!!! Folders are a great way of hitting that file limit in no time flat, and they really accumulate quickly. So as you organize your files, try to keep the number of folders you create to a bare minimum. This may take a bit of strategizing, but one good way to do it is to structure things in a basic hierarchy of folders: Mods Props Lots Textures While some mods will, out of necessity, need to be kept at the highest (or "root") level of the Plugins folder, everything else can go into folders inside the Mods, Textures, Props, or Lots folders (except for the NAM stuff, which you should just install as directed and then leave it alone). While I like to organize my mods into logical groupings (i.e., Terrain Mods, Rock Mods, Tree Mods, etc.), you don't have to. SC4 will work just fine without it. But I don't like wasting precious game time farting around looking for plugins, so a little organization goes a long way. I do the same with props, because so many lots have dependencies on these props and prop packs, and trying to work out what prop packs you have and which ones you're missing can be a real headache. So I organize my prop packs by the manufacturer (i.e., JENX, BSC, BLS, MBEAR, PEG, etc.) so when I get lots from those manufacturers, I can tell at a glance which packs I already have before I go looking for downloads. And I keep all of them in a "Prop Packs" folder so I can easily figure out any dependency issues. The remainder of my props I organize into logical groupings in the main Props folder (Beach, Flora, Fences, etc.) or again by manufacturer (PEG, MBEAR, etc.). What Should I Do With .EXE Windows Installer Files? To answer KM87505's question about dealing with the .exe Windows installer files, if you get props or prop packs that come as a .exe, there's a utility for Mac called File Juicer that will unstuff those .exe's so you can get directly at the DAT and LOT files inside them, bypassing the Windows installer altogether. Just drag and drop the .exe into the File Juicer window, let it finish the conversion, then drag the DAT and LOT folders out of the Juice folder and stick them into your Plugins folder yourself. Not as nice as having an installer, but it's definitely better than having props you need but can't get to. It's not free either, but if you're going to be serious about playing SimCity 4, it's $20 dollars (or whatever) that you definitely won't regret spending. Manage Your Folders Carefully Nested Folders Are Bad: Nested folders (folders inside of folders, inside of folders, etc.) can pile up fast. In my anal-retentive zeal to keep my Plugins tidy, all those nested folders caused me to hit that file limit hard. Every time you create a new folder, you're adding to the number of files in your Plugins folder and every one of them counts. So consolidate wherever you can. While I like having my .dat files in one folder, .SC4lots in another, etc., I discovered that SC4 works just fine if all the .dat, .SC4lot, .SC4model and .SC4Desc files are loose in the same folder. This cut down to a fraction the number of folders I needed and made it possible for me to actually load ALL my custom content, even with the file limit. And I got this crucial bit of info from the Aspyr tech as well: The farther SC4 has to drill down to find your plugins, the slower it gets and it could potentially cause a crash to desktop (CTD). Why this should matter, I don't know but it does. And when I got rid of all the folders nested six and seven or more levels deep, my performance really did improve…so much so that I completely reorganized everything so that I don't have anything nested more than four folders deep. By just adhering to the simple concept of watching how many folders I create and letting all the related files remain together in one folder, I haven't experienced a single crash, even with all that content installed. And if I want to make changes or get rid of a problematic mod, everything I need is still super easy to find, update or remove. Finding Your Plugins Folder Quickly I've included a picture of my Aspyr SimCity 4 folder in this post. Notice that in the sidebar on the left of the Finder window, SimCity 4 is listed at the bottom of the list. That's a shortcut that keeps me from having to go through the headache of drilling down through all those stupid folders to get to my plugins. I find it incredibly inconvenient to have to repeatedly choose Option + the "Go" menu from my desktop menubar, choose "Library" from the list, look for the Containers folder, then the com.aspyr.simcity4.appstore, then the Data folder, and THEN the Document folder to locate my SimCity 4 folder so I can get to my Plugins folder. So the next time you have to navigate to your SimCity 4 or Plugins folder (assuming you haven't done this already), just grab either of those folders, drag it into the sidebar of your folder window and move it up and down until the blue bar is positioned where you want your folder to appear in the list. In my picture, you can see it's at the bottom, highlighted in blue. So now, whenever you want to get to your SC4 Plugins, you just click that shortcut to jump right to your files…no more drilling down eight folder levels deep to get to your plugins. WARNING: DO NOT TOUCH YOUR NAM FOLDER!!! Not ever. I cannot stress this enough. If you've got NAM for Mac up and running, just be happy you got it working and leave it alone. Do not try to organize it, rename anything or consolidate files…in fact, just don't touch it. Get Those Useless ReadMe Files Out of Your Plugins Folder You'd be surprised how many of those ReadMe's, .html, .png, .jpg and .txt files get installed with your mods, props and lots. If you're not watching, they can quickly accumulate into the hundreds. The more custom content you have installed, the more likely it is that you've also installed quite a few of these files…files that you will probably never look at again once your content is successfully installed. GET RID OF THEM!!!!!! They're not necessary to running the game and they're just needlessly eating into your file limit. Remember, every unnecessary file you get rid of is another mod, prop or lot you can add. If you want to save the files, you can always move them to another folder OUTSIDE the Plugins folder for future reference. But remember, the original files you downloaded from the STEX come with the ReadMe's you're deleting. You can always go back to your original downloaded file (assuming you've archived it) and look at the readme. Or you can download it again from the STEX or SC4Devotion to get the ReadMe files again. But get them out of your Plugins folder immediately, if not sooner. When you're done, before you empty your trash, open the Trash folder to get a count of how many of those files you threw away so you can get an idea as to how much space you've freed up and how many new files it's now safe to add. The files you NEED to keep will have the following extensions at the end of the filename: .dat .SC4lot .SC4model .SC4desc The files you DON'T NEED will have the following extensions at the end of the filename: .html .txt .rtf .png .jpg .pdf Last but Not Least Back up your SimCity 4 folder so that you never have to do any of this again. When you add a substantial amount of new content, back it up again. A simple backup can save you days of trying to reconstruct your game files. Because of the file limit, you'll need to always be vigilant as to how much stuff you're adding. So as you add more content, put a color tag on it (right-click on the file and choose one of the color dots at the bottom) so you can identify it, put it in your Plugins folder and start up the game. If it loads, more power to you. But if you crash to desktop, try removing the files you just loaded. If it starts up again, one of two things has happened: 1) Either the mod or content you just loaded is conflicting with something you have already installed, or 2) You have hit the file limit again, and you need to either delete something you don't need or temporarily move it out of the Plugins folder. Once it's gone, try starting the program with the new content again. If SC4 crashes even after you removed some files, you're probably looking at a conflict. If it works, you know it was the freaky file limit thing. Once you've established that the file works, take the color tag off so you don't get it confused with other new files you may be trying out. As you add new files, color code and install them a few at a time and test them to see if the program starts up. It they work, take the color coding off of them and do the next batch. This method is slow and painstaking, but if you crash, you'll have a much better idea which file isn't working because there's only a handful of them you were installing. If there's a conflict, one of those files is the culprit. If you've hit the file limit, you can decide at that point what files you're willing to sacrifice to get the program working again. I really hope this helps somebody. I have been more than a little disappointed, and even disgusted, by the lack of support for Mac users by pretty much everyone you go to for help. Most people mean well, but in a Windows world, owning a Mac is a bit like owning a Lamborghini. It's an incredible, powerful machine, but you can only take it to the dealership for service because absolutely NOBODY knows how to fix it. More than once, I've been insulted with the suggestion that I "get myself a real computer", which is like telling a Lamborghini owner to get rid of that fancy car and go buy a Chevy. "Why spend all that money? It's just a car!" Nobody in their right mind would pick a Chevy over a Lambo if they could afford one, but they'll never understand why you did because they don't own one and they never will. Don't bother trying to explain. They're perfectly happy driving that Chevy and you're not giving up your Lambo, so why waste time arguing? We Mac users will just have to soldier on and remember that the only help we really have is each other. So help everybody you can whenever you can. And in spite of the freaky file limit issue, I'm still sending out a big "thank you" to Aspyr for creating a SimCity 4 that works better and faster than anything EAGames ever created for my Mac. Happy Simming, everybody!!!!!

Pizza & beer. What else would I have?

@Bluegoose: Trash any and all unnecessary folders and subfolders from your Plugins folder. After a lot (and I mean A LOT) of trial and error, I've discovered that the size of the Plugins file is not the problem. It's the NUMBER OF FILES you have in the Plugins folder. Aspyr's SC4 seems to hate folders in particular, especially subfolders. Keeping your files as loose as possible is messy and hard to manage, it's also the best way to get the greatest number of plugins to work without crashing. I learned this the hard way after a ridiculous number of crashes. I'm super organized with my plugins and have everything neatly ordered into folders and subfolders according to function (Lots Mods, Props, etc.) so it's easy to find something that breaks or that I want to disable. At first I thought I had some bad plugins, but then I tried an experiment. I removed my plugins and trashed the library/containers/com.aspyr.simcity4.appstore folder (it's way faster and easier to do, and it does the same thing as reinstalling the program). Then I restarted the program to generate another com.simcity4.appstore file. With a pristine folder, I loaded just the mods I thought were crashing into the plugins folder, and lo and behold, they worked just fine. Like you, I figured the problem was the size of the plugins folder. But after a buttload of googling, I learned that the program crashes after you reach 200 files/folders in your plugins folder. Aspyr knows about this problem…they're just not publicizing it. Hopefully they're working on a patch, but don't count on it. When you call and ask for help, as soon as you mention the words "mods" or "custom content", their tech support people immediately shut down and keep telling you over and over again that they're not responsible for custom content. They won't even listen to the problem. So I had to find this answer on my own. Every folder, subfolder and file contributes to the problem but folders seem to be particularly problematic. Because I had my plugins neatly and logically organized into folders and subfolders, I hit that file limit much sooner than I expected. So when I started crashing, I went through my plugins folder and carefully deleted all unnecessary folders and subfolders. I put all related .dat, lot and model files for a lot or prop into one folder instead of separating them by function. In short, I removed every single unnecessary subfolder from my plugins. Then I restarted the game…using the same files that crashed the program before, but this time without all the neat folders everywhere. Worked like a charm. Another added advantage of deleting all the unnecessary subfolders is the fact that I was able to replace them with more mods, props and lots. Still no crashes. While there are some mods that won't work with Macs due to the use of .dll files or just because (fill in the blank), most mods can be extracted for Mac use by using the FileJuicer utility (google it). I think there's a paid and a free version. That works most of the time. All you want is the extracted .dat, lot, or mod files. Toss out the rest as it's just part of the Windows installer and is useless. But sometimes FileJuicer only extracts a .txt or URL file with no SC4 files included. That happens because that particular item needs to be installed using the original Windows installer, so try jumping on VMWare, Parallels or Bootcamp and running the installer from Windows. That'll usually do the trick. Because I have lots of mods I like to use but I don't always need them for a particular city, I created an Uninstalled Mods folder outside of the Plugins folder to dump them in. When I need them again, I just move them back into the Plugins folder. That way I can set my favorite mods aside when I'm not using them but keep them handy for when I need them. Doing this also frees up a few slots for me to add some new mods or props in their place.

I just got the new AppStore SimCity 4 for Mac. I love everything about it except the fact that when I try to render a region, all I get is an empty Windows-style dialog box that doesn't navigate anywhere or do anything. Is there any other way to render a region besides Shift+Alt+Ctrl+R? Is there a program I can use in VMWare or Wine that can render regions? I can get SC4Mapper files to show up in SimCity 4 but while they are properly sectioned up into cities, they're totally flat, like the program doesn't see the config file. When I use the region, it's blocky, like it isn't anti-aliased and I can't smooth it, no matter what I try. It's also got a grid covering it that I can't get rid of, and I don't mean the grid that SimCity generates when you get close. It's there, no matter what the magnification, like it's baked into the region. Don't get me wrong…I absolutely LOVE having one of my all-time favorite programs back, and it's smoking hot! I've got gigabytes of custom content loaded that I collected over the years and for the first time ever, I haven't experienced any kind of performance hit. None whatsoever. No matter how much content I load, the performance is always the same…fast. The program loads instantly and it runs lightning fast. It never did that years ago back when I ran it on Windows. I don't know what Aspyr did to deal with the god-awful load times I used to experience in the past, but I like it! I can't run mods that utilize .dll's but otherwise, most of them still work. I'm in SimCity heaven…except for the fact that I can only play the regions that came with the program. I'm so BORED with them!!! The program would be absolute perfection if it rendered regions. Surely I'm not the only one who's noticed that the Mac version can't render regions anymore because of the dead dialog box. Hopefully Aspyr will release a patch soon, but who knows how long that could take and I'm dying to start downloading some new regions. Anybody know of a workaround????

I have the same problem. This mod crashes whenever I switch from God mode to Mayor mode. The only way I've been able to get it not to crash is to set the program to Pause before switching to Mayor mode. As long as the game is paused, the plug-in works just fine. But the second I start the game running, I get the beachball of death, even with all other mods and plugins removed. While I think that this mod looks a little better, it's no good to me if I can't run it during the game due to crashing. Gizmo's day/night mod works fine with the game running so I'm going with it. BTW, I had a heckuva time finding any mods anywhere from Gizmo, so for anyone who's interested, here's his latest site as of 4/2014: http://gizmo.aplaceforwebsite.com/index.php