A Mixed Bag
This release, while greatly improved with the latest version allowing for the greater use of custom content, is still a bit of a riddle.
The Cons:
- Night lighting on custom content (created with the official Building Architect Tool, aka BAT) still does not work. The SimCity 4 Deluxe available for Windows comes fully updated with all official EA/Maxis patches and does not have this issue.
- Custom content (aka “plugins”) folders (there are two of them) are located one inside the app (IMHO a bad idea) and the other buried deep in ~/Library/Containers. Perhaps for most users this is not a problem, but I consider myself to be fairly advanced with the management of this game and I like to have more control over my file system. It wouldn’t be so bad if the game recognized symlinked folders, but it does not seem to do so. (It will recognize symlinked files, however, so the amount of tedium you choose to embark upon to correct this limitation is up to you. In fairness, the Windows version exhibits this issue as well.)
- There is no way to set launch options; just “full screen” or “window”. I like to play in a window that occupies about 90% of my available display - not possible without finer control.
- Windows version users familiar with some mods, such as “extracheats.dll” (which isn’t so much cheats but rather a suite of debugging tools) and “DAMN” don’t work.
The Pros:
- Runs smoothly and quickly, even with a load of custom content. Granted, I didn’t test it on a huge city, so your mileage may vary.
- It won’t crash to desktop (CTD) regularly because you have multiple processor cores (which the Windows game can’t handle out-of-the-box).
- Fonts and interface appear slightly cleaner than the Windows version.
- Energy use is a bit better than running the Windows version in a Virtual Machine.
I actually purchased this game on the app store shortly after it came out and was grossly disappointed by the limitations of it vs. the Windows version. After I read that the custom content file count limitation was lifted I decided to give it another whirl, but I’m still not convinced. It’s definitely a viable alternative (for one reason being that I don’t typically use the night mode) but the loss of some flexibility and the above-mentioned content might be a deal breaker. Currently, I have VM and WINE copies of the Windows version which run almost as smoothly and without any real additional investment in time or performance.
So in the end, I suppose it boils down to how much you’re trying to invest into the game - if you’re a “power user”, so to speak, I might suggest you stick with the Windows version, which can be had for a very reasonable price from several retailers and which your Mac will run just as well if not better than a comparable Windows PC. If you don’t mind the cons I listed, then by all means purchase - it’s still a solid version of the pinnacle iteration of one of the most popular PC gaming franchises of all time.
Sabretooth78 @ Simtropolis
Sabretooth78 about
SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition