Sim City 4 PC- bugged to death?

Zardon · Jan 22, 2003, 11:16 AM

Well I got this game today for the PC, and I have to say, its so bugged its untrue.

not only is the game rendered unplayble on my 9700 due to flickering cursor problems ingame, coloured blotches on the graphics, but it appears there are many other people having the same issues and NOT just on the 9700 cards either.

be warned, if you are thinking about buying this, have a look at this forum for more details, I think after reading all the posts in there you might be better keeping your money in your pocket.

http://www.simcitycentral.net/forums...pic.php?t=2079

http://www.simcitycentral.net/forums...pic.php?t=2977

Erroneus · Jan 22, 2003, 12:26 PM

or wait for a patch, it should be under devl.

deftool · Jan 22, 2003, 04:07 PM

its good for a sim city game i guess. has some cool effects in it but you need a damn supercomputer to run the game. i have a tbird 1.4 , 512 ram and a radeon 8500 128mb , still runs like crap.

toddsmack2k · Jan 22, 2003, 04:15 PM

hmmmm. The only problem i have is with scrolling around the city, it really drags. But i havent experienced any of these other probs.

Dim · Jan 22, 2003, 04:25 PM

I have P4 2.4@2.880, 512 Mb of Samsung PC2700, ASUS v8420 and the game still runs like crap. I think it's just not optimised or a bad coded.

Frodo301 · Jan 22, 2003, 11:47 PM

Maxis's coding seems to have gone downhill since they started pouring so many resources into their The Sims line of games. My question to Maxis, how many different expansion packs can you make that bloats the code and introduces more bugs? And my wife included, how many people can you sucker into buying each new expansion pack that introduces just enough to the game to make it interesting for a short while until the next expansion pack comes out?

DriveEuro · Jan 23, 2003, 02:31 AM

I was actually thinking about getting this. I normally don't play these games but I only wanna play it cuz I used to play it in middle school. Yup, in 7th grade. And I LOVED IT. We played it on some ooooooooold Macs at school. Oh...the times.

toddsmack2k · Jan 23, 2003, 04:34 AM

From what i understand the Radeon cards have the biggest problem running it. Oh well i guess i will just hope a patch comes out soon

DriveEuro · Jan 23, 2003, 04:43 AM

Hmmm...maybe my Ti4200 can do it.....Maybe....

***craig5320*** · Jan 23, 2003, 02:03 PM

I've had no problems at all, runs great, tho my mates are having the afore mentioned issues, Seems it's all round to my house to play it

it's not really fun watching your mate play sim city, even if i can still use the other box to post on DH

Zardon · Jan 23, 2003, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by craig5320
I've had no problems at all, runs great, tho my mates are having the afore mentioned issues, Seems it's all round to my house to play it it's not really fun watching your mate play sim city, even if i can still use the other box to post on DH

dont know if that was meant to be funny, but I laughed, picturing you posting on DH while your mates all took turns to play Sim City 4

BWX · Jan 23, 2003, 02:43 PM

I was going to buy that game, I don't play those kind of games most of the time either- but I used to love playing that first sim-city game on a girlfriends old computer years ago and had hours of fun.
To bad about all the problems with it. Kind of like BF1942 I guess, good ideah but poorly coded, or just rushed, who knows or cares. One thing I have noticed about games that come out with way to many bugs- no matter how many patches that come out, they hardly ever run right. It's the games that come out that run good, then they patch to run great that seem to the real quality games.

ragingWS6 · Jan 23, 2003, 03:39 PM

Anyone know how it runs on a ti4200? My cousin wants the game and he's curious. I don't like sim games (and I tried it on my 9700 Pro and it reboots my system immediately) so I won't be playing it.

***craig5320*** · Jan 23, 2003, 04:15 PM

Well it's damn playable on mine witha TBird 1.4 and GF2

MikeDaMan · Jan 23, 2003, 06:33 PM

same here, runs great with the exception of some minor choppyness when scrolling.

DriveEuro · Jan 23, 2003, 06:51 PM

So it sounds like ATI cards don't like the game.

BWX · Jan 23, 2003, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by craig5320
Well it's damn playable on mine witha TBird 1.4 and GF2

Quote:

Originally posted by MikeDaMan
same here, runs great with the exception of some minor choppyness when scrolling.

Cool, that is good to hear, I got a question for you guys, are you using directX 8.1 or DX9? I wonder if that is a problem for some people?

BWX · Jan 23, 2003, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by MikeDaMan
same here, runs great with the exception of some minor choppyness when scrolling.

aside from any bugs people might have, Is it a fun game? good graphics? good game play? I heard it was supposed to be really cool.

toddsmack2k · Jan 23, 2003, 06:53 PM

I am using dx9 and cat 3.0 (the newset ones)

BWX · Jan 23, 2003, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by toddsmack2k
hmmmm. The only problem i have is with scrolling around the city, it really drags. But i havent experienced any of these other probs.

Remember when Black and White came out? It was supposed to be so great-- another good idea gone bad by the control settup (IMHO)-- ANYWAY, remember how that game would kinda get sketched out when you would scroll arouing the scene? It kinda looked like it was really jerky, even if you had a really good framerate. Is that the kinda the same thing the new Sim4 does? If that is the only problem I would live with it if the game is as good as the hype says it is.

toddsmack2k · Jan 23, 2003, 07:03 PM

Yeah somewhat, When you scroll thru the city it will stutter bad at times,and sometimes objects in your city will not show up.Usually if scroll a little more then back the houses and what not will show. To mee the scrolling is the only issue i have with the game so far and i have played for about a week now. so far i like it and i usually done play sims games

BWX · Jan 23, 2003, 07:53 PM

Alright, cool, thanks. I guess I'll try it out, If I don't like it I can always sell it on E-bay, or here in the buy/sell forum.

toddsmack2k · Jan 23, 2003, 08:22 PM

hope you like it

***craig5320*** · Jan 24, 2003, 01:55 AM

DirectX9 and 42.70's here, all sweet as.

nForcer · Jan 24, 2003, 06:38 AM

Case you didn't bother to read the READ ME file included with the SC4 game - it points out that due to ATI driver stability issues, there might be problems playing on ATI graphic cards. It loads just fine on my Dell (specs below) - the 1.3 won't let me scroll as fast as I would like, but the game is total ownij.

Jan 22, 2003, 11:16 AM	#1
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Sim City 4 PC- bugged to death? Well I got this game today for the PC, and I have to say, its so bugged its untrue. not only is the game rendered unplayble on my 9700 due to flickering cursor problems ingame, coloured blotches on the graphics, but it appears there are many other people having the same issues and NOT just on the 9700 cards either. be warned, if you are thinking about buying this, have a look at this forum for more details, I think after reading all the posts in there you might be better keeping your money in your pocket. http://www.simcitycentral.net/forums...pic.php?t=2079 http://www.simcitycentral.net/forums...pic.php?t=2977

Jan 22, 2003, 12:26 PM	#2
Erroneus Get off my lawn! Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Denmark Posts: 13,417 Rep Power: 119 System Specs	patch or wait for a patch, it should be under devl. __________________

Jan 22, 2003, 04:15 PM	#4
toddsmack2k It Never..... Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,173 Rep Power: 0	hmmmm. The only problem i have is with scrolling around the city, it really drags. But i havent experienced any of these other probs. __________________ [color=blue]*Bleeding From the Inside Pouring Out, The* *DriverHeaven* Spiral, We Shall Never Let Go Of.[/color]

Jan 22, 2003, 11:47 PM	#6
Frodo301 Outraged Join Date: May 2002 Location: The mountains Posts: 584 Rep Power: 0	Maxis's coding seems to have gone downhill since they started pouring so many resources into their The Sims line of games. My question to Maxis, how many different expansion packs can you make that bloats the code and introduces more bugs? And my wife included, how many people can you sucker into buying each new expansion pack that introduces just enough to the game to make it interesting for a short while until the next expansion pack comes out? __________________ The greatest thing you'll every learn is to love, and be loved in return.

Jan 23, 2003, 02:31 AM	#7
DriveEuro HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Gurnee Illinois Posts: 4,677 Rep Power: 0	I was actually thinking about getting this. I normally don't play these games but I only wanna play it cuz I used to play it in middle school. Yup, in 7th grade. And I LOVED IT. We played it on some ooooooooold Macs at school. Oh...the times. __________________ [color=orange]ASUS P4P800 Deluxe [color=black]-[/color] 2.4C --> 3300mhz [color=black]-[/color] Mushkin PC3200 at 220 5-2-2-2 (cpu limited) [color=black]-[/color] BBAti 9800Pro at 430/375 [/color] [color=black]3[/color][color=gray]D[/color]M[color=black]a[/color][color=gray]r[/color]k[color=yellow]01[/color] [color=black]3[/color][color=gray]D[/color]M[color=black]a[/color][color=gray]r[/color]k[color=yellow]03[/color] 16001200 12801024

Jan 22, 2003, 04:07 PM	#3
deftool DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: NJ Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	its good for a sim city game i guess. has some cool effects in it but you need a damn supercomputer to run the game. i have a tbird 1.4 , 512 ram and a radeon 8500 128mb , still runs like crap.

Jan 22, 2003, 04:25 PM	#5
Dim DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Zagreb, Croatia Posts: 6 Rep Power: 0	I have P4 2.4@2.880, 512 Mb of Samsung PC2700, ASUS v8420 and the game still runs like crap. I think it's just not optimised or a bad coded.

Jan 23, 2003, 04:34 AM	#8
toddsmack2k It Never..... Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,173 Rep Power: 0	From what i understand the Radeon cards have the biggest problem running it. Oh well i guess i will just hope a patch comes out soon __________________ [color=blue]*Bleeding From the Inside Pouring Out, The* *DriverHeaven* Spiral, We Shall Never Let Go Of.[/color]

Jan 23, 2003, 04:43 AM	#9
DriveEuro HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Gurnee Illinois Posts: 4,677 Rep Power: 0	Hmmm...maybe my Ti4200 can do it.....Maybe.... __________________ [color=orange]ASUS P4P800 Deluxe [color=black]-[/color] 2.4C --> 3300mhz [color=black]-[/color] Mushkin PC3200 at 220 5-2-2-2 (cpu limited) [color=black]-[/color] BBAti 9800Pro at 430/375 [/color] [color=black]3[/color][color=gray]D[/color]M[color=black]a[/color][color=gray]r[/color]k[color=yellow]01[/color] [color=black]3[/color][color=gray]D[/color]M[color=black]a[/color][color=gray]r[/color]k[color=yellow]03[/color] 16001200 12801024

Jan 23, 2003, 02:03 PM	#10
*craig5320* HH Administrator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 8,565 Rep Power: 445 System Specs	I've had no problems at all, runs great, tho my mates are having the afore mentioned issues, Seems it's all round to my house to play it it's not really fun watching your mate play sim city, even if i can still use the other box to post on DH __________________ HardwareHeaven on Facebook

Jan 23, 2003, 02:43 PM	#12
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	I was going to buy that game, I don't play those kind of games most of the time either- but I used to love playing that first sim-city game on a girlfriends old computer years ago and had hours of fun. To bad about all the problems with it. Kind of like BF1942 I guess, good ideah but poorly coded, or just rushed, who knows or cares. One thing I have noticed about games that come out with way to many bugs- no matter how many patches that come out, they hardly ever run right. It's the games that come out that run good, then they patch to run great that seem to the real quality games. __________________

Jan 23, 2003, 03:39 PM	#13
ragingWS6 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 25 Rep Power: 0	Anyone know how it runs on a ti4200? My cousin wants the game and he's curious. I don't like sim games (and I tried it on my 9700 Pro and it reboots my system immediately) so I won't be playing it. __________________ [COLOR=blue][COLOR=blue]Gaming System:[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]Vista x64 Business, Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 watercooled @ 3.6GHZ, 6GB ADATA PC26400 RAM, EVGA 680i Chipset, 2x EVGA 8800GTX Superclocked in SLI, Sound Blaster X-FI Fata1ity XtremeGamer, 2 74GB WD Raptor 10000RPM in RAID 0, 500GB WD Caviar SATA, CoolerMaster 850W PSU.[/COLOR] [COLOR=blue]HTPC System:[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]Vista x86 Ultimate, AMD Athlon64 X2 5400+, 2 GB OCZ PC6400 RAM, HIS Radeon HD 3650 Pro 512MB, 120GB WD Caviar SE, Epox MF4 Ultra MB[/COLOR] [COLOR=blue]Extra LAN rig:[/COLOR] [COLOR=red]Vista x86 Ultimate, AMD Athlon64 X2 4200+, 2 GB Corsair XMS26400C4 RAM, Sapphire Radeon X1550 256MB, 160GB Hitachi SATA, Sapphire ATi Crossfire Xpress 200 MB, SB Audigy 2ZS Platinum.[/COLOR][COLOR=blue] [/COLOR][/COLOR]

Jan 23, 2003, 04:15 PM	#14
*craig5320* HH Administrator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 8,565 Rep Power: 445 System Specs	Well it's damn playable on mine witha TBird 1.4 and GF2 __________________ HardwareHeaven on Facebook

Jan 23, 2003, 06:33 PM	#15
MikeDaMan DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 874 Rep Power: 0	same here, runs great with the exception of some minor choppyness when scrolling. __________________ DFI Lanpart UT 250GB motherboard. 1GB 2X512 Crucial Ballistix PC 3200. AMD Athlon 64 3400+. Retail ATI Radeon X850XT PE AGP

Jan 23, 2003, 06:51 PM	#16
DriveEuro HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Gurnee Illinois Posts: 4,677 Rep Power: 0	So it sounds like ATI cards don't like the game. __________________ [color=orange]ASUS P4P800 Deluxe [color=black]-[/color] 2.4C --> 3300mhz [color=black]-[/color] Mushkin PC3200 at 220 5-2-2-2 (cpu limited) [color=black]-[/color] BBAti 9800Pro at 430/375 [/color] [color=black]3[/color][color=gray]D[/color]M[color=black]a[/color][color=gray]r[/color]k[color=yellow]01[/color] [color=black]3[/color][color=gray]D[/color]M[color=black]a[/color][color=gray]r[/color]k[color=yellow]03[/color] 16001200 12801024

Jan 23, 2003, 06:53 PM	#19
toddsmack2k It Never..... Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,173 Rep Power: 0	I am using dx9 and cat 3.0 (the newset ones) __________________ [color=blue]*Bleeding From the Inside Pouring Out, The* *DriverHeaven* Spiral, We Shall Never Let Go Of.[/color]

Jan 23, 2003, 07:03 PM	#21
toddsmack2k It Never..... Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,173 Rep Power: 0	Yeah somewhat, When you scroll thru the city it will stutter bad at times,and sometimes objects in your city will not show up.Usually if scroll a little more then back the houses and what not will show. To mee the scrolling is the only issue i have with the game so far and i have played for about a week now. so far i like it and i usually done play sims games __________________ [color=blue]*Bleeding From the Inside Pouring Out, The* *DriverHeaven* Spiral, We Shall Never Let Go Of.[/color]

Jan 23, 2003, 07:53 PM	#22
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	Alright, cool, thanks. I guess I'll try it out, If I don't like it I can always sell it on E-bay, or here in the buy/sell forum. __________________

Jan 23, 2003, 08:22 PM	#23
toddsmack2k It Never..... Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,173 Rep Power: 0	hope you like it __________________ [color=blue]*Bleeding From the Inside Pouring Out, The* *DriverHeaven* Spiral, We Shall Never Let Go Of.[/color]

Jan 24, 2003, 01:55 AM	#24
*craig5320* HH Administrator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Manchester, UK Posts: 8,565 Rep Power: 445 System Specs	DirectX9 and 42.70's here, all sweet as. __________________ HardwareHeaven on Facebook

Jan 24, 2003, 06:38 AM	#25
nForcer Twice the fun! Join Date: Jul 2002 Posts: 1,404 Rep Power: 0	Case you didn't bother to read the READ ME file included with the SC4 game - it points out that due to ATI driver stability issues, there might be problems playing on ATI graphic cards. It loads just fine on my Dell (specs below) - the 1.3 won't let me scroll as fast as I would like, but the game is total ownij.