I'll start off by saying I've installed NAM along with all the other recommended files that come with it, but this issue occurs whether or not I'm operating with a clean install, and it seems to occur in any resolution. Certain textures are missing in squares or rectangles all over the city, and only at certain zoom distances, but usually the zoom distances I like to work in the most. Usually my small and medium plazas bear a small blue square while several buildings like Brink Real Estate and Luxury Auto Center (the green blocks depicted) are a bit more intrusive. If I rotate the map around the other side of them I can get a distorted RGB pallete but the green is a little less annoying than that. When I tried to run the maxis update to SKU1 (NA version) it said a file was missing and would not be updated since it wasn't there. Guess it failed a checksum or something? This is with Sim City 4 Deluxe. System specs shouldn't be an issue in this day and age but CPU is 3.8GhZ underclocked to 2.9 for coolness while I shop for a nicer cooler, Gfx card is Radeon 5750 (1GB), 7GB RAM DDR3, and Win7. Compatibility mode and running as admin have no effect. In game settings are at max, playing at 1920x1080.
Well, there's something I haven't seen before. . ???
Are you running in software or hardware rendering? Either way, try switching rendering mode. Also, failure to run the SKU update usually indicates a pirated version of the game. . .
That said, this looks like a graphics card issue more than anything else. Ironically, modern day hardware actually doesn't handle SC4 graphics too well. If possible fiddle around with custom rules for SC4 with regards to anti-aliasing, transparency, buffering and the like.
It's your props that are messed up, not the textures, for whatever that's worth. My guess is that one of your SC_#.dat files is corrupted. That could also maybe prevent the update from running.
Have you tried reinstalling the game (backing up your regions/plugins first of course)?
Yeah I have, but does a prop literally sometimes count as an entire building? I thought when they went missing usually there was just nothing in their place, rather than a big green artifact. I did install it from a disc image but with a legit key so it's not a modified install or cracked or anything like that (I hate discs, and my dvd drive sounds like it's eating the disc literally when it's running), so I can't really understand how files would go missing like that, but it does seem like the .dat files may be somehow corrupted. I'm using the same copy (technically) that I used years ago on my older laptop with no issues, however. I suppose it could've been corrupted by moving it around between drives but that'd be the first time I ever experienced that. Is there any kind of weird DRM on the disc itself that would prevent it from being backed up? I haven't tried the disc itself because it's been sitting somewhat scratched up in an outdoor storage closet, inside a box full of other scratched up cds, and apparently some change. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Quote from: Inocuole on January 20, 2014, 06:48:04 PM
...but does a prop literally sometimes count as an entire building?
Yes.
QuoteI thought when they went missing usually there was just nothing in their place, rather than a big green artifact.
Also true.
However, I think your problem is that you're only missing parts of the prop. Your game knows there are props in those locations, what the props are (you could verify this by querying the props), and from the images it looks to be pointing to the right props, and it knows how big the props are, but it's painting them all wrong. Which makes me think it's the FSH files - that they're either missing or corrupted, or being overridden by something else in your plugins.
QuoteI suppose it could've been corrupted by moving it around between drives but that'd be the first time I ever experienced that. Is there any kind of weird DRM on the disc itself that would prevent it from being backed up?
The discs do have DRM, at least Disc 2 does, but you can still make images of it. It's certainly possible something got corrupted along the way though.
If a fresh install from the discs and empty plugins folders fixes it, that gives you a starting point. If not, you might just have to get a new copy of the game. With Reader and a lot of patience you might be able to figure out exactly which files are causing you problems, but then you still have to replace them with clean copies.