This page is for the 2013 game. For the first game, see SimCity (1989).
SimCity (2013) is a singleplayer and multiplayer bird's-eye view building and simulation game in the SimCity series.
Originally released with an always-online requirement, update 10 removed the always-online requirement, allowing the game to be played offline with cities separated for online and offline.
The game no longer receives any fixes nor updates as of 2018, thus there are several bugs that may be unfixed.
General information
- Origin Server Status and @simcity Twitter feed to check game servers.
- SimCity - Answer HQ - EA's technical difficulties forum.
- Simtropolis - Bugs & Technical Issues
- Simtropolis - General Discussion
Availability
- All Windows versions require Origin DRM.
- For macOS, the Mac App Store version are 64-bit. While the Origin version is 32-bit.
Version differences
- The Mac App Store version includes DLC but does not support online multiplayer.
- The Complete Edition includes the base game and all paid DLC.
Monetization
DLC and expansion packs
Name |
Notes |
|
Cities of Tomorrow |
|
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Digital Deluxe Upgrade Pack |
Changes the base game edition to Digital Deluxe. Includes Heroes and Villains Set and the French, German and British City Sets.[1] |
|
Airships Set |
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Amusement Park Set |
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British City Set |
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French City Set |
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German City Set |
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Heroes and Villains Set |
Exclusive to Limited Edition or Digital Deluxe.[2] |
|
Attractions Set |
Free limited promotion with Crest and Oral-B products in the United States.[3] The promotion has ended.[4] |
|
Progressive Insurance Set |
Free limited promotion for Progressive Insurance. The promotion has ended.[5] |
|
The 100% Electric Nissan Leaf |
Free download from Origin to promote the Nissan Leaf.[6] |
|
Game data
Configuration file(s) location
System |
Location |
Windows |
|
Microsoft Store |
|
macOS (OS X) |
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Save game data location
System |
Location |
Windows |
%USERPROFILE%\Documents\SimCity\Games\ |
Microsoft Store |
|
macOS (OS X) |
$HOME/Documents/SimCity/Games/ |
- Only offline mode cities are stored in this location; online mode cities are stored on the server.[7]
System |
Native |
Notes |
Origin |
|
|
OneDrive |
|
Requires enabling backup of the Documents folder in OneDrive on all computers. |
Xbox Cloud |
|
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Video
Input
Audio
Audio feature |
State |
Notes |
Separate volume controls |
|
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Surround sound |
|
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Subtitles |
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No intelligible dialog. All in-game dialog uses the fictional Simlish language. |
Closed captions |
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Mute on focus lost |
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Royalty free audio |
|
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Localizations
Language |
UI |
Audio |
Sub |
Notes |
English |
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Speech is a fictional language called Simlish. |
Traditional Chinese |
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Czech |
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Danish |
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Dutch |
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Finnish |
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French |
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German |
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Speech bubbles instead of subtitles. |
Hungarian |
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Italian |
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Japanese |
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Korean |
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Norwegian |
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Polish |
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Brazilian Portuguese |
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Russian |
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Spanish |
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Origin only lists Spanish for Digital Deluxe version. |
Swedish |
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Network
Multiplayer types
Connection types
Issues unresolved
Vertical line on right edge of screen
- Line appears on right edge, even when windowed.[9]
Issues fixed
Textures not loading
Textures not loading issue
Reinstall the game or verifying game files integrity.[10]
|
Video freezes after a few seconds but audio keeps playing on Intel Iris Xe
Download DXVK and place 32-bit d3d9.dll in the same folder as Simcity.exe[11]
|
Simcity.exe
crashes/terminates before the launcher shows up
Enable NetBIOS over TCP/IP on Windows 7[12]
|
- Click Start, and then click Network (click Start, type ncpa.cpl into the search box for Windows 7 or Vista, press ↵ Enter).
- Click on the Network and Sharing Center
- Click Manage Network Connections.
- Right click on the Local Area Connection select Properties.
- Select Internet Protocol version 4 (TCP/IPv4).
- Click the Advanced button under the General tab.
- Click the WINS tab.
- Click Enable NetBIOS Over TCP/IP.
- Click OK and Exit the settings.
|
Reinstall Origin[12]
|
- Completely uninstall Origin.
- Go to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Origin Games . Depending on how many games you have you will find a few registry folders that come up as numbers.
- If you click on any of these there will be a value in the right pane called "DisplayName", which shows the name of the game that registry location is for.
- Find the registry (in the Origin Games registry folder) that shows SimCity for the DisplayName.
- Once you find the SimCity registry folder, delete it.
- Re-download a new Origin install file, and install Origin.
- Now go to the location that you installed Origin in (usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin) and find the "Origin.exe" file.
- Right click the file and go to properties and then go to the compatibility tab. At the bottom there will be a check box with "Run this program as administrator". Check the box, click apply, then click OK.
|
Checking for updates
- 'Checking for updates' is stuck when launching the game.
Data maps/region borders/snap points not showing
- Applies to computers that use AMD Catalyst Control Center with ATI graphics cards.
Set ATI 3D Settings to Default[14]
|
- Click Start, and then click All Programs (differs for each operating system), then click AMD Control Center
- Go to GAMING catagory and select 3D Application Settings
- Change all settings back to default (or make a separate profile for Simcity), specifically the anti aliasing settings.
- Run Simcity with the Catalyst settings on default to check that the problem has been solved. If not re-install the game and restart the computer.
|
Blue screen when starting SimCity with Crossfire enabled
- Applies to computers with AMD graphics cards in Crossfire.
Disable CrossfireX (AMD Catalyst)[citation needed]
|
Under the "Performance" section of the AMD Catalyst Control Center, in the AMD CrossfireX tab, select "Disable AMD CrossFireX"
|
Disable CrossfireX (RadeonPro)[citation needed]
|
- Download and install RadeonPro
- In RadeonPro, click "Add new profile". Navigate to and select SimCity executable (default C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\SimCity\SimCity\SimCity.exe)
- Select the profile in RadeonPro
- In the launcher tab of RadeonPro, configure launcher as Steam/Impulse/Origin
- In the tweaks tab of RadeonPro, under CrossfireX Tweaks, move the slider so that "Turn off CrossfireX" shows above it
- Play the game
|
Other information
Debug mode / Pop Fix
Enable Debug mode / Pop Fix using BagOfTrix.package[15]
|
- Download BagOfTrix.package from any of the mirrors on this Reddit Post
- Place into
<path-to-game>\SimCityData\
|
Mods
Mod guides
- Rudimentary modding guide by reddit user Plornt.
Place the file in <path-to-game>\SimCityData\
Remember to delete any pre-existing mods: DebugEnable.package~
Features:
- Full Javascript Debug Console/Development Editor - Ctrl+⇧ Shift+E to use
- Un-fudged population numbers
- Expose debug UI
- Debug menus
- Roads outside of boundaries
- Game going on while in budget crisis.
Included in this GitHub repository is an installer for Skyestorme's Skyepack 3.2 modpack.
Other information
API
Technical specs |
Supported |
Notes |
Direct3D |
9.0c |
|
Executable |
32-bit |
64-bit |
Notes |
Windows |
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|
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macOS (OS X) | |
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Support for 64-bit was added in December 2019. |
System requirements
Windows |
|
Minimum |
Operating system (OS) |
XP, Vista, 7 |
Processor (CPU) |
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz |
System memory (RAM) |
2 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
12 GB |
Video card (GPU) |
AMD Radeon HD 2600 Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX Intel HD Graphics Family 256 MB of VRAM DirectX 9.0c compatible Shader model 3.0 support |
Other |
Broadband Internet connection with at least 256Kb/s Down and 64Kb/s Up |
macOS (OS X) |
|
Minimum[16] |
Operating system (OS) |
10.8.5 |
Processor (CPU) |
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz |
System memory (RAM) |
4 GB |
Hard disk drive (HDD) |
12 GB |
Video card (GPU) |
Nvidia GeForce 8800 series AMD Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB of VRAM |
Other |
Broadband Internet connection with at least 256Kb/s Down and 64Kb/s Up |
- Intel GPUs are not officially supported on OS X.
References