what happened here? how do i get my city back
(https://www.sc4devotion.com/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi783.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Fyy117%2Fjustinrpg%2Fmissingcity.png%3Ft%3D1284138072&hash=47e6ca007f9f4ee6a92e521a4e3ccad9886a890a)
looks like you've corrupted or deleted your city tile. If you did it in game you've lost it unless you have an auto backup tool in use. you could try to restore the tile (import) from a fresh copy of the region, but it will be undeveloped.
Otherwise, check your sc4\regions\nameofthatregion subfolder to see if the city file tile may have been inadvertently moved, renamed or put in the recycle bin. If that is the case, restoring it to it's place may fix it.
From appearances, I would guess it's a corrupt file (or deleted or renamed) as 'deleting' the city from region view removes the development (and sometimes terrain) but keeps a city tile.
What happened last time you had the city opened? Did it CTD while you were saving?
If a city vanishes ussually a blank flat city tile is left behind. In this case there is a hole in the region where it looks to be a large city tile once was, which is more likely the the config file has been changed and does not match the original file. ( eg the city layout file). My guess you tried to change it manually after rendering the region and did not get the correct colours, eg changed 4 med city tiles to a large or changed a large city tile and got the colours wrong.
it is in my region folder but the icon looks as if WIN7 locked it... there's a lock symbol right next to it
Its my understanding that the SC4 engine 'locks' the city tile during gameplay, and if your system is 'hanging' (as you indicated in another thread) it is logical that the file may not have been 'unlocked'.
I would suggest using an unlocking utility, like this one: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/ (http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/)
I've used it for years without trouble, and it's saved my skin on more than one occasion. :P
Editfish