Easy Guide to Running SimCity 4 on Modern Hardware

EDIT: Apparently EA has fixed SimCity 4 on Steam, however if you find issues persist give this guide a shot (although it may be outdated, I haven't the chance to test things myself). I still recommend installing SimCity 4 Launcher

Since the guide I saw on here seemed overly complicated and time consuming, I decided to put this more simple guide together with the help of the PC Gaming Wiki for lazy bozos like myself that just want to get the game up and running.

The Guide

Note: I originally posted this as a review so more people would see this before they buy the game, hopefully keeping them from being bothered by all the negative feedback about the game not running properly.

--------------------------------------------------
QUICK ADDITION: Before following the steps in the guide below, be sure to set SimCity4.exe's compatibility mode to Windows XP as well as to run as administrator. This will make sure the game actually starts up.

In short, here are 3 essential files you need to download and apply to the game to get the best experience out of SimCity 4 on modern operating systems:

Large Address Hardware - improves the games performance by removing the 2gb limit on how much RAM SimCity 4 is allowed to use:
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/large-address-aware.112556/

SC4Fix - a .dll file that fixes bugs unpatched by Maxis, crash issues and the infamous "prop pox" glitch, which in general gradually removes props from the player's city, breaking the game:
https://community.simtropolis.com/files/file/30883-sc4fix-third-party-patches-for-sc4/

SimCity 4 Launcher - a launcher for the game that includes options for autosave, choices between 3 renderers, CPU improvements, widescreen resolutions, borderless or not borderless windows, a mod manager, a tick to disable intro movies and an improvement that forces the game to render as the player scrolls (primarily for AMD users):
https://community.simtropolis.com/forums/topic/54082-simcity-4-launcher-updated-100915-154b-r12/

Install all three files (directions included in each link) and you'll be good to play SimCity 4 without any issues. If you do have any problems after applying all three of these, you may have done something wrong or you're just painfully unlucky.

Happy mayor-ing!

[ajnplatinum]

@MaGicBush "load error" isn't necessarily specific enough to troubleshoot

[MaGicBush]

This guide does not work. The launcher gives a load error.

[MagtheTanuki]

Turns out Ea did a dumb dumb and reverted it back to a update state that was unstable on modern hardware. They fixed it now that everyone can run the game without crashing. However keep this thread up cause ea being ea, might never know when they will accidentally revert it back.

[Big Dick Weed Smoker 420]

thanks