SC4Fix - DLL to fix the puzzle piece x TE lot crash

[simmaster07]

I posted this over on ST but wanted to make sure SC4D got in on this as well. Hopefully I'm doing this whole posting thing right, it's been a while since I've been here.

What does this do

• Resolves a crash-to-desktop when hovering NAM puzzle pieces over transit-enabled lots.
• Allows other DLLs to load into SC4's memory without a GZCOM framework.

Requirements
This fix is made for versions 640 and 641 of SimCity 4 on Windows. Version 640 is a fully-patched SC4 retail copy, and version 641 is a fully-patched digital distribution version (i.e. Steam, Origin, GOG). v641 was tested by myself on Steam, and other users have reported success with GOG.

If your version of SC4 is unsupported, an error message will appear with update instructions, and no changes will be made to your game.

Installation
Download from the STEX or GitHub and simply unzip the DLL to your My Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins folder.

To see if SC4Fix is working properly, check the title of your game window. If you are playing in fullscreen mode, alt-tab out and hover over the SimCity taskbar icon. The titlebar will show "SC4Fix (version #)" if loaded properly.

Demonstration
Click here for a video showing the ability to hover puzzle pieces over transit-enabled lots with this DLL.

Resources
Development Thread on ST
Source Code

[compdude787]

I've said it before, but I'll say it again: This is an awesome new fix to a bug that has annoyed probably every single SC4 player and caused lots of work to be lost. It's truly revolutionary!

[Andreas]

Wow, this is awesome alright! I did a very quick testing on my German SC4+Rush Hour+Patch 6.40 version, and it seems to work as advertised. I put the DLL into C:\Program Files(x86)\Maxis\SimCity 4\Plugins (same position where I moved the ExtraCheats.dll), and apparently, it gets picked up, as the window title says "pre3". This is a fantastic Christmas present, and takes one big worry off of our shoulders when dealing with complicated network setups. Amazing work, thanks for looking into this!

[Themistokles]

Yes, I've also been running this for the last half hour or so, and it's truly stunning. It has already solved one big STR worry for me

[Fasan]

Delightfully!
A fantastic and wonderful work that a large
Prevents problems. Thank-you! 

[Mikey Knox]

Genius 

[mgb204]

I've been busy testing a lot of puzzle pieces and NAM stuff today. Every time I select one I can't help but see if I can get a CTD to happen. So I go nuts putting the cursor in all those places you shouldn't. Nothing happens, suddenly I realise how amazing this is. For my entire time with SC4 and mods, I've learned to be super-delicate with PPs. It's so freeing to just stop thinking about it.

[FrankU]

Did anyone say SC4 is dying? 
This seems to be a revolutionary development.... Can someone give this guy a karma point?

And now that there is a way of loading DLL's..... does this open new perspectives for other options? I remember there was a discussion about the possibilities if could be DLL's loaded a long time ago.

[InvisiChem]

This is an amazing bug fix!!! Already installed, although I can't test it out quite yet. Working on a big project. This fix is cannot even have a value placed on it. Keep up the awesome work, I will be following along as well. I can imagine a lot of possibilities with this. Keep up the great work.

[dyoungyn]

Unfortunately,

I am not able to use this as the error says my version of SC4 Deluxe at which I use a CD to start up is not capable.  I bought the game back in 2003/4 and still working great.  The website the error suggest does not link to the fix and only the SC4 Devotion site with the BAT Architect and other misc texture fixes but no game update or capability fix.

dyoungyn

[simmaster07]

Unfortunately,

I am not able to use this as the error says my version of SC4 Deluxe at which I use a CD to start up is not capable.  I bought the game back in 2003/4 and still working great.  The website the error suggest does not link to the fix and only the SC4 Devotion site with the BAT Architect and other misc texture fixes but no game update or capability fix.

dyoungyn

The patch will be labeled "Sim City 4 Buildings Update"; here's a direct link:

http://www.sc4devotion.com/maxis/SC4Update4BAT.zip

By downloading it, you're agreeing to the Maxis/EA EULA:

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?page=6

And now that there is a way of loading DLL's..... does this open new perspectives for other options? I remember there was a discussion about the possibilities if could be DLL's loaded a long time ago.

Well at the least this opens up the door for some more advanced mod management options. With a DLL loaded into memory, you can detect not only when the game starts, but also when it's shutting down, so it would make any post-shutdown cleanup of changes easier.

From there you could probably hook into some game functions to notify you when something is happening like a building plop or a game save, but this would require where in the game's memory these functions actually are. At the higher end of the spectrum you'd have the ability to modify hardcoded things like traffic networks and the user interface, but this would require at least a few more years of research and reverse engineering IMO.

Like I said in the ST thread, it wouldn't be impossible, and it wouldn't be the first time such a project was done. OpenTTD started in 2003 some nine years after Transport Tycoon Deluxe's release. OpenRCT2 started in 2014, 12 years after the release of RCT2. I think it'd be pretty neat to have a project like that for SC4, but we are also dealing with a far more complex game than either of those.

[Tropod]

I'll repeat my sentiments here also......

Quite impressive, both the fix itself & source code. .

[dragonshardz]

Whoa, a fix to the age-old PP/TE crash and a way to hook DLLs into the game at will?

Nice!

E: Can someone pin this?

[fefenc]

Congratulations sir, the game will crash less often thanks to your work 

[dyoungyn]

Unfortunately,

I am not able to use this as the error says my version of SC4 Deluxe at which I use a CD to start up is not capable.  I bought the game back in 2003/4 and still working great.  The website the error suggest does not link to the fix and only the SC4 Devotion site with the BAT Architect and other misc texture fixes but no game update or capability fix.

dyoungyn

The patch will be labeled "Sim City 4 Buildings Update"; here's a direct link:

http://www.sc4devotion.com/maxis/SC4Update4BAT.zip

By downloading it, you're agreeing to the Maxis/EA EULA:

http://sc4devotion.com/forums/index.php?page=6

And now that there is a way of loading DLL's..... does this open new perspectives for other options? I remember there was a discussion about the possibilities if could be DLL's loaded a long time ago.

Well at the least this opens up the door for some more advanced mod management options. With a DLL loaded into memory, you can detect not only when the game starts, but also when it's shutting down, so it would make any post-shutdown cleanup of changes easier.

From there you could probably hook into some game functions to notify you when something is happening like a building plop or a game save, but this would require where in the game's memory these functions actually are. At the higher end of the spectrum you'd have the ability to modify hardcoded things like traffic networks and the user interface, but this would require at least a few more years of research and reverse engineering IMO.

Like I said in the ST thread, it wouldn't be impossible, and it wouldn't be the first time such a project was done. OpenTTD started in 2003 some nine years after Transport Tycoon Deluxe's release. OpenRCT2 started in 2014, 12 years after the release of RCT2. I think it'd be pretty neat to have a project like that for SC4, but we are also dealing with a far more complex game than either of those.

Unfortunately,  I still can't get this to work and keep getting errors saying my version of SC4 Deluxe is not compatible.  Again, I am using the CD set from 2003.  No matter how many times I download both patches from Maxis, I still cannot get the fix to work. When it came to transit enable lots, I have learned to be VERY CAREFUL and SAVE frequently.

dyoungyn

[Tropod]

....No matter how many times I download both patches from Maxis, I still cannot get the fix to work....

dyoungyn

I also still have original disks from way back when.

Not sure about now days but when SC4/Deluxe first came out the patches were specific to regions (ie much like CD/DVD movies) & required players to use the right patch/update for their region of the game in order to update properly. I remember having the same problem but after having a play around with the updates, all worked ok.

[matias93]

Has anyone tried to save a city using Ctrl + Alt + S with the new DLL installed? I've just done that and get a CTD, but I'm not sure the DLL is the cause. I'll keep trying some variations and posting in a few hours, but it would be useful to know if anyone else get the same results.

[mgb204]

Has anyone tried to save a city using Ctrl + Alt + S with the new DLL installed? I've just done that and get a CTD, but I'm not sure the DLL is the cause. I'll keep trying some variations and posting in a few hours, but it would be useful to know if anyone else get the same results.

To begin with, you only need to use CTRL + S, the Alt key is unnecessary here.

[catty]

...Not sure about now days but when SC4/Deluxe first came out the patches were specific to regions (ie much like CD/DVD movies) & required players to use the right patch/update for their region of the game in order to update properly....

There are a total of 10 patches, 5 specific for the SC4 Vanilla and then another 5 for rushhour

SC4 Readme - https://city-builders.info/cbex/download?path=SC4%2Band%2BSC4D%2BDownloads%252Fupdate-sku1-to-p2.zip

SC4D Readme - https://city-builders.info/cbex/download?path=SC4%2Band%2BSC4D%2BDownloads%252Fupdate_sku1_to_p1_b638.zip

I've no idea how places like Steam work out what version you get, in my case I ended up with a right-hand version of the game, which is a real pain when you drive on the left in RL had to change the SC4 Language in Steam before it would drive on the left, but the NAM still thinks I've got a RH drive game so have to manually change it when I doing a NAM install.

[Andreas]

There is a little difference between CTRL + S and CTRL + ALT + S. The latter will skip updating the region view graphics, so it works a bit faster than simply saving the city. I didn't check if the DLL affects this feature somehow, but one thing that I got used to is pausing the game before saving it. I had some random crashes and lock-ups in the past when I didn't do that, but it seems to work fine that way. Also, I rarely do a "save and exit", but save first, and then exit to region view or quit the game without saving again.