CTD'S like never before!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ly Roo]

Hello to any and all.
after getting over having my heart ripped out by EA (Sim City 2013) I came back to rush hour but have bin having constant issues with ctds and its actually getting worse. I read up on the "launcher tool" and tried it with no mods and a fresh install but it seems to have made things worse, game now crashes after the ea logo comes up...
(removed launcher and files, happens just the same). so im going to uninstall the game as well,and try yet again but am really hoping there is some one who has had success with running the game with the same hardware and OS,  (listed below)  and if so could throw me some pointers.. any thoughts and suggestions would mean allot thx
I should add that I have been trying "fixes" to similar and relative issues posted here and at Simtrop. the best luck iv'e had was with choosing software rendering, but when the city would load, textures and plots(maxis...vanilla)are a mess or missing all together. I dunno,, it very well could be the dumbest thing and im just over looking it....I hope.... 
win 8.1,
AMD Radeon 7700 HD,
intel I-core 7,
digital origin copy,

[mgb204]

The key to stability for SC4 is as follows:

1 - Change the game to use only 1Core

Find shortcut for SC4, right click and select Properties, then open the Shortcut tab. In the target field you need to add the command -CPUCount:1. It might be worth adding some other options too, I'd recommend the following:

"...SimCity 4.exe" -intro:off -CPUCount:1 -f -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32"

This disables the intro, selects single core operation, runs the game in full screen and also sets a custom resolution, adjust figures in blue to your preferred resolution.

2  - Assuming the game is unstable with no mods installed (otherwise mods could be causing the problem) you may need to adjust your graphics settings.

Have you tested all three rendering choices; DirectX, OpenGL and finally Software in that order. If the first two don't work, the last one should as it's a compatibility mode. If Software rendering works, but hardware rendering doesn't then either some combination of your GPU and it's drivers does not support the legacy DX9/OpenGL code required by SC4 to operate or perhaps you need to adjust the 3D settings for the application. To do the latter you'll need to open the ATI Catalyst control panel, I'd recommend turning everything off for SC4 and testing that, if it works, then you can slowly add features and test the results, with a little trial and error you should find a balance between stability and performance/quality.

[Ly Roo]

hey thx, but to no avail,, though my brother in-law found a rats nest of registry issues, some going all the way back to 2012.... I must admit I might be stretching to say im any more than halph literate with computers, navigating "8" has bin a real nightmare since day one,so even though I figured I dealt wit them....but....
in the mean time ive done more reading up on the graphics issues, checked/updated catalyst and drivers ect.
and will certainly implement your advice in my next attempt,
? is there another way to access to properties outside of origin though? It seems like it's the only place I can access them and use command lines.
I ask, because I read the commands wont work through orgin,but don't know, it could be like the update thing,,, thought I couldn't update at all but read orgin fixed that, and for when I purchased my copy, aparrently comes fully updated. though lists as vr 1.0? 
fingers crossed and again thx

[mgb204]

Rendering setting can be modified from within game, find the graphics options menu on the main screen, you need to restart after applying.

Setting single core can be done in Windows Task Manager, but the purpose of the command line is to make it permanent, otherwise you need to do this every time you open the application:

Open Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL)
Select "Start Task Manager"
Find Application "SimCity 4.exe" in the list and highlight it
Right click, select "Select Affinity"
The box that appears will show however many cores you have for your CPU (including virtual ones like Hyperthreading). Disable all except CPU 0 and click OK.

SC4 will now run on only one core until you close it.

For whatever bizzare reason, Origin seem to be the worst at providing a working copy of SC4, Steam mess with it too, also causing headaches for many users. By comparison, the DRM-Free vendors for example GOG generally seem to work better. Vote with your wallet and get Origin to refund the game unless they can help you to get to the command line options, either that will get you the help you need or give you the money to buy a working copy elsewhere.

[Tyberius06]

I think not only the count of CPU cores can make CTD's, but if your PC uses more than 4GB RAM, that can be a problem as well. I've suffered CTDs for a long time, and the main issue was the RAM (my PC uses 8 GB RAM, and the game can't handle more than 4.) There is a patch somewhere in the internet, which allows your game to uses more than 4 GB RAM, for me after that patch the game has been working fine.

[Tarkus]

If you are on a machine with more than 4GB RAM, the patch Tyberius06 mentioned can be acquired by installing the Network Addon Mod.

Additionally, if you change rendering modes, from hardware to software or vice-versa, sometimes, the game will set all the details back down to Low by default, which can cause some of the issues you've described.

-Alex

[Ly Roo]

ok I defiantly need to know of this patch, I'm dumb and would never have thought for a second my ram may b an issue, I'm 8 gig myself,,, thnks,
as well,after three attempts, re downloaded each time(save installers is enabled in my origin,but I can never find them) I was having weirder issues,,, for some reason  the game does not appear any where on my PC, the file folders were there but no sign of the app,,,,, would still give me the option to play in origin but as usual,,, crash at ea visual,......
tried the command lines and was able to get as far as  a blink of the tutorial region, but that's it.
I  got in contact with origin live support and were friendly and prompt, sent me an email with links and a guide ,but I dunno, cuz first suggestion was cc cleaner, and well, I happen to have been running it anyway,  the "plan b" suggests another third party cleanear so hear goes  and will share if I get anywhere with it
AND BTW, This is the NAM teams fault!!!! LOL if id never tried it,,, I might be even somewhat slightly interested in all the other PC games I have!! 
   

[Ly Roo]

wait did I just read that,,,,,,,,sweet,, ok , so it if that's the case, should I look harder at origin itself as my problem??
Bin using Nam 32, hence my statement, was all good till a few days ago (usual ctd isseus,,.. loose five hours of progress kinda stuff,) but its not so bad cuz over the years ive learned to be o.c.d about saving...

a few days ago I downloaded a whack of SNM lots and deps, but messed up something and was getting frustrated, I figured with my plugins folder as bad as was,,,to hell with it,,, and removed  everything  meanining to organise it and put it back together
this is where it started crashing immideatly...so,  I un-installed, delated every thing in plugins (exept back up file for the mods) and started up in vanilla
when that produced the same result, I decided to even get rid of mods entirely off my pc and start anew,
same thing happens, so for a pennys sake, tried origin live support and attempting another round.
anyhoo, download just finished, fingers are crossed, fresh and vanilla,lets give a try,
thank you guys and ill report shortly, in hope that even at worst this may lead someone else knowing not to blow money for another crappy Digital version of an all time great game

[Kitsune]

because you have a 7700 ... go to this thread: http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?topic=16245.0 and follow the directions. SC4 did not like the old 7xxx series, and the more modern one is caught in this thread.

[Ly Roo]

thx all for your replies but I'm getting nowhere. I'm thinking I'm gonna have to put this on origin though, can't even count my attempts now, and must assume the download is crap,    once down loaded I cant find the app on my PC anywhere as well as files missing in the main folder.(no regions in this last one) I don't know enough to say for sure, but its my guess the download is f.u.b.r 
so yeah knowing all to well ill get nowhere with EA/origin I guess ill have to find  a hard copy or something...

thx for the replies and suggestions, I know they will b quite handy,,,,, once Ive got a working copy
I hate this term,, but after MW3, bf4, simcity 2013,,, and,,,knowing whats bin done to the S W  battlefront series ill be voting with my wallet,,,,
Other than a working copy of SC4,,,, I'm now resorting to making the same commitment I made  with Facebook....its been five years since i logged on, and never will do so again! good bye EA!