16 years later and very few city builder games can come close to the marvel of SimCity 4, hands down a legend in the genre. Even after all this time the game runs great and looks amazing, although you might have to make some tweaks in order for it to run smooth under Windows 10.
If you've somehow never heard of the game, SimCity allows players to create a region of land by terraforming, and then to design and build a settlement which can grow into a city. Players can zone different areas of land as commercial, industrial, or residential development, as well as build and maintain public services, transport and utilities. For the success of a city, players must manage its finances, environment, and quality of life for its residents.
Sounds easy right? But getting that balance right is a thin line and usually takes a few tries before you can create your very own megalopolis!
To really enjoy the game the biggest thing to tweak is to run the game in your own resolution, an option that is not available in the game settings for higher resolutions. To change this in Steam simply follow these steps :
- Right-click on the game in your Steam library and select "Properties"
- Click on the "Set Launch Options..." button (under the 'General' tab)
- Copy and paste the next line into the box for 1920x1080 resolution (if you have a different resolution, simply substitute these numbers with your own) :
-CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 - OR there is further optimisation as well that seems to works for most modern setups, myself included. If you want to try it enter the following line in the box instead :
-CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32 -f -d:DirectX -Cursors:fullcolor -Intro:off -CPUPriority:high -CPUCount:1 - Click "OK"
- Close the 'Properties' window of the game
- Run SimCity4
As easy as that! Makes a big difference to have the game run in the right resolution, the distortion I got before was a pain in the eye!
If you're looking to buy this gem of a game you can get the SimCity Deluxe Edition here for a bargain (Steam key). The deluxe edition includes the "Rush Hour" expansion.
Who knows, maybe you can beat this guy who was featured in the 2017 Guinness Book of World Records 2017 Gamers Edition for the largest SimCity region with a population of a staggering 107,658,254!