Technical FAQ

[DoubleJ93]

SUMMARY

- MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
- CANNOT RUN THE GAME
- IF YOU HAVE A LAPTOP COMPUTER WITH TWO GRAPHICS CARDS (INTEL HD + AMD RADEON)
- FORCE THE DISPLAY IN WINDOWED MODE
- CHOOSE THE GAME LANGUAGE
- MY STEAM ACCOUNT IS MISSING SOME COMMUNITY FEATURES AND/OR IS SHOWING UP AS A LIMITED USER.
- AFTER DOWNLOADING A STEAM WORKSHOP ITEM, THE GAME CRASHES.
- ARE THE PREVIOUS CITIES XL'S SAVES STILL COMPATIBLE WITH CITIES XXL?
- I'VE A WARNING MESSAGE WHEN I TRY TO LOAD A CITY.
- HOW TO REPORT A CRASH?
- WHERE THE SAVEGAMES ARE LOCATED?

MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

OS: WINDOWS VISTA/7/8 (WINDOWS XP NOT SUPPORTED)
CPU: AMD/INTEL DUAL-CORE 2.5 GHZ
RAM: 3072 MB
GPU: 768 MB 100% DIRECTX 10 AND SHADERS 4.0 COMPATIBLE
AMD RADEON HD 5670/NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 260 OR HIGHER
HARD DRIVE: 8 GB AVAILABLE SPACE
AUDIO: DIRECTX COMPATIBLE

RUNNING THE GAME

A. Cannot run the game on Windows Vista:

In some rare case the game does not install Microsoft DirectX 11 for Windows Vista.
You can find the setup files in the game installation for 32 and 64 bit version:

1. Run Steam and click LIBRARY.
2. Right click on 'Cities XXL' and click Properties.
3. Click the tab 'LOCAL FILES' then the button 'BROWSE LOCAL FILES'.
4. Open the folder 'PREREQUISITES' and run the Microsoft Update Standalone Package (WINDOWS6.0-KB971512).

NOTE: YOU MAY NEED TO REBOOT THE COMPUTER TO TAKE THE CHANGE IN ACCOUNT.


B. Please check that Cities XXL is correctly installed:

1. Run Steam and click LIBRARY.
2. Right click 'Cities XXL' and click Properties.
3. Click the tab 'LOCAL FILES' then click the button 'VERIFY INTEGRITY OF GAME CACHE'.


C. Please configure the game in order to run it in administrator mode:

1. Run Steam and click LIBRARY.
2. Right click on 'Cities XXL' and click Properties.
3. Click the tab 'LOCAL FILES' then the button 'BROWSE LOCAL FILES'.
4. Right click on the application 'CitiesXXL' (or 'CitiesXXL.exe') and click 'Properties'.
5. Click the tab 'Compatibility' and check 'Run this program as an administrator' under Privilege Level.
6. Click the button 'OK' and run the game.


D. Please update Microsoft DirectX:

1. Run Steam and click LIBRARY.
2. Right click on 'Cities XXL' and click Properties.
3. Click the tab 'LOCAL FILES' then the button 'BROWSE LOCAL FILES'.
4. Open the folder '_CommonRedist' then the folder 'DirectX'.
5. Open the folder 'Jun2010' and run the application DXSETUP.
6. Follow the instructions.


E. Please install Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.1:

1. Run Steam and click LIBRARY.
2. Right click on 'Cities XXL' and click Properties.
3. Click the tab 'LOCAL FILES' then the button 'BROWSE LOCAL FILES'.
4. Open the folder '_CommonRedist' then the folder 'DotNet'.
5. Open the folder '4.5.1' and run the application NDP451-KB2872776-X86-X64-ALLOS-ENU.
6. Follow the instructions.


F. Please install Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 and 2013 Redistributable:

1. Run Steam and click LIBRARY.
2. Right click on 'Cities XXL' and click Properties.
3. Click the tab 'LOCAL FILES' then the button 'BROWSE LOCAL FILES'.
4. Open the folder '_CommonRedist' then the folder 'vcredist'.
5. Open the folder '2010' and run the application VCREDIST_X64 then VCREDIST_X86.
6. Open the folder '2013' under the folder 'vcredist'.
7. Run the application VCREDIST_X64 then VCREDIST_X86.


G. Please update the drivers of the graphics card:

AMD RADEON

1. Click http://support.amd.com/en-us/download
2. Click the button ‘DOWNLOAD NOW’ under Automatically Detect and Install Your Driver.
3. Download and run the application AUTODETECTUTILITY.
4. Follow the instructions.

NVIDIA GEFORCE

1. Click http://www.geforce.com/drivers
2. Click the button 'DOWNLOAD' under Automatic Driver Updates.
3. Save the application GEFORCE EXPERIENCE.
4. Once the download done, run the application GEFORCE EXPERIENCE.
5. Once the installation done, run GeForce Experience.
6. Click the tab 'DRIVERS' then the button 'Check for updates'.
7. Follow the instructions.

INTEL HD

1. Click http://www.intel.com/p/en_US/support/detect
2. Follow the three steps.
3. From Intel Driver Update Utility, click 'Auto Detect and Recommend Drivers' under 'Get Started'.
4. If new graphics drivers are available, click 'DOWNLOAD' then 'INSTALL'.
5. Follow the instructions.

IF YOU HAVE A LAPTOP COMPUTER WITH TWO GRAPHICS CARDS (INTEL HD + AMD RADEON)

Please select the AMD RADEON graphics card to play Cities XXL:

1. Right click on the background of the Desktop and click AMD Catalyst Control Center.
2. Click the button 'Power' then 'Switchable Graphics'.
3. Click the button 'High-performance' or 'High-performance GPU' under 'Choose a Graphics Processing Unit'.
4. Click the button 'Browse' under 'Other Applications'.
5. Browse and open the folder 'Cities XXL' located by default in 'Local Disk (C:)', folder 'Program Files' or 'Program Files (x86)', 'Steam', 'SteamApps' and 'Common'.
6. Select the application 'CitiesXXL' (or 'CitiesXXL.exe') and click the button 'Open'.
7. Click the button 'Apply' then close the AMD Catalyst Control Center and run the game.

CHOOSE THE GAME LANGUAGE

1. Run Steam and click LIBRARY.
2. Right click on 'Cities XXL' and click Properties.
3. Click the tab 'LANGUAGE' and select the language.
4. Click the button 'CLOSE' and run the game.

FORCE THE DISPLAY IN WINDOWED MODE

1. Run Steam and click LIBRARY.
2. Right click on 'Cities XXL' and click Properties.
3. Click the tab 'LOCAL FILES' then the button 'BROWSE LOCAL FILES'.
4. Open the folder 'Data' then the folder 'Config'.
5. Right click the file 'GlobalSettings.cfg' and click 'Edit' or open the file with the Notepad.
6. Set Win32FullScreen to 0 under <Application>:

<Win32FullScreen>0</Win32FullScreen>

7. Save the file 'GlobalSettings.cfg' and run the game.

MY STEAM ACCOUNT IS MISSING SOME COMMUNITY FEATURES AND/OR IS SHOWING UP AS A LIMITED USER. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

Please refer to the Steam support:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=3330-IAGK-7663

HOW TO INSTALL OR UNINSTALL A STEAM WORKSHOP ITEM?

Go to the Workshop page and browse an item you would like to install.
Click on the item to see the details.
Click on the subscribe button and Steam will automatically download it.
Or
Click on the unsubscribe button to remove the item.

AFTER DOWNLOADING A STEAM WORKSHOP ITEM, THE GAME CRASHES. WHAT DOES IT HAPPEN?

Some Steam Workshop item need another Workshop item to work called dependency/prerequisite/requirement/...
Please refer to the Workshop item you have just installed to know if you miss to install a dependency.

ARE THE PREVIOUS CITIES XL'S SAVES STILL COMPATIBLE WITH CITIES XXL?

Cities XXL is officially not compatible with previous saves of Cities XL.
There are important changes in the game that we can't guarantee the compatibility.
Note: You may have some troubles/crashes if you share Cities XXL saves with your friends.
Indeed, the game may not understand different Workshop subscription list or different cities list, ...

I'VE A WARNING MESSAGE WHEN I TRY TO LOAD A CITY. WHAT DOES THIS MEAN?

This occurs when you've removed a Workshop item of your subscription list or you've a new computer.
The game remember which subscribed items you had when you build the city.

So there are three options:

1. Cancel the loading.
2. Subscribe the missing items. By selecting this option, it will subscribe all missing items at once. You may restart the game to take in account.
3. Continue the loading at your own risk. You may crash but in some cases there is no problem, for example you've subscribed an item that just change texture.

HOW TO REPORT A CRASH?

Before to contact us, please uninstall all Workshop items and see if you still have the crash.

Note: We do not support crash cause by mods. Please contact the author of the Workshop item to help you.

If the game still crashes, please provide us your minidump, logs, dxdiag and how the crash occurs by writing to: [e-mail]

Minidump:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\Cities XXL

Logs:
C:\Users\[Username]\AppData\Local\focus home interactive\Cities XXL\log

WHERE THE SAVEGAMES ARE LOCATED?

1. Open the 'Local Disk (C:)' from 'Computer' or 'This PC'.
2. Open the folder 'Users'.
3. Open the folder of the username.
4. Open the folder 'AppData' (*)
5. Open the folder 'Local' then 'Focus Home Interactive'.
6. Open the folder 'Cities XXL' then 'Live'
7. Open the folder 'Offline' then 'Solo'.

(*) The 'AppData' folder is an hidden folder by default, to view this folder:

WINDOWS VISTA/WINDOWS 7
Click 'Organize' from the top left then 'Folder and search options'.
Click the tab 'View' and check 'Show hidden files, folders and drives' under 'Hidden files and folders' from 'Advanced Settings'.
Click the button 'OK'.

WINDOWS 8
Click 'Organize' then 'Folder and search options'.
Click the tab 'View' and check 'Show hidden files, folders and drives' under 'Hidden files and folders' from 'Advanced Settings'.
Click the button 'OK'.

WINDOWS 8.1
Click the tab 'View' and check 'Hidden items'.