My experience with the game

[mobypaterson]

The game installed reasonably quickly and my only problem at the start was an error that said I didn't have the original disk in the drive so the game couldn't start... despite the fact that I did. I got around this with a no-cd crack so it would load up.

I played through the tutorial and the thing crashed at some point. I can't make a realistic assessment of how far through the tutorial I got because I've yet to make it through the whole thing. It wasn't far in though.

I then patched the game with update patch that was released thinking this would solve my problems but it didn't. The game still crashes at random times. I think the longest I've played for is about 15 minutes. I have a city population of about 50 so I don't think it's directly related to population size.

I'm running it on a laptop with way more than the minimum system specs. . .

I've been looking forward to this game for a while now and this is such a disappointment. How can the developers say this is playable? How can it have passed whatever testing was done on it? So many people are having problems that I'm having difficulty in believing that this game wasn't rushed out to take advantage of Christmas sales...

The problem has to be in the game. I can't believe there are people out there who think that reinstalling an OS is an acceptable measure to take to make a game work!

I hopw that there is a solution in the pipeline as well as big fat apology to the folks that bought the game upon release and will now struggle to be refunded their hard earned cash. EA has everyones money yet very few folks have a playable game.
I do however now have a 50 dollar bookend so it's not all bad!

[Need_Help]

The game installed reasonably quickly and my only problem at the start was an error that said I didn't have the original disk in the drive so the game couldn't start... despite the fact that I did. I got around this with a no-cd crack so it would load up.
If you bought the 'legal' version of the game, you just put the CD inside and it will 'detect' the CD. This is just the CD protection that 'appear' in almost every new games nowadays.

As for the crashing problem, make sure you lower your graphic settings (this can help to make the game run smoother, and less crash). Do not forget that the laptop version of the graphic cards are not supported (so its recommended to play with a desktop). If you don't mind, maybe you can post your dxdiag?

Thanks.

[MedoPu]

I got around this with a no-cd crack so it would load up.
1. You shouldn't have pirated game, if you don't, you shouldn't use no-cd crack

I'm running it on a laptop

2. Laptops aren't supported even if you have much better one that is minimum req.


3. I also have mid-high end machine and game freezes at time. Sometimes at start, sometimes after few minutes, sometimes never.... Try lowering video options.

I have E6600 2.4ghz
2gb RAM
and x1950pro
and i need to run it on LOW resolution 800x600 that i can avoid having crashes all the time, lag, BSOD, or freezes man. It's reallity, I play graphically and RAM&Processor power hungry games like COD4,BF2,MTWTW2,Dark messiah.... everything maxed at 1600x1200 and they look way better than SC:societies and run smooth on high UNLIKE SCS where I need to play on low, to get it working. Thank you Titled MILL :mad:

[Ed.]

was an error that said I didn't have the original disk in the drive so the game couldn't start... despite the fact that I did.

1. You shouldn't have pirated game
He does state in the first post that he does have the original.

NoCD cracks, as far as I know, do not infringe on the copyright of the game and if it gets the owner of the CD past the launcher and into the game then it's an effective temporary fix.

He's entitled to play the game. He did pay for it.

[MedoPu]

laptops aren't supported so i don't even know why he bothered even buying one.

[Zach]

NoCD cracks, as far as I know, do not infringe on the copyright of the game...

The replacement executable which, essentially, is the original executable with just a jump statement added (and maybe the SecuROM routines removed just to make it more compact), is copyrighted by EA, in this case, and redistributing it without EA's consent is illegal. :p

Following that through to the end, the receiver of this "stolen merchandise" could also be held legally accountable. :p

:D

[King Faticus]

TM gave their permission to use No-CD cracks on their earliest game COTN...
but COTN belongs to TM whereas both C4 and SCS belong to other companies


PS there is a post that confirms my statement somewhere, I'm looking for it now but it is buried :eek:

[Zach]

PS there is a post that confirms my statement somewhere, I'm looking for it now but it is buried :eek:
Oh, there's no need to hunt it down. I believe you. :)

Some companies do give permission. Even better, some companies remove the copy-protection almost immediately after release when problems arise: namely, Gas Powered Games as they did for Supreme Commander when users reported problems. Going further, even Epic is in the habit of removing the copy-protection after a couple of months with all their UT games.

BUT.... we're talking EA here. :p

[mobypaterson]

1. You shouldn't have pirated game, if you don't, you shouldn't use no-cd crack

2. Laptops aren't supported even if you have much better one that is minimum req.


If you had read my message properly you would note that I have bought the game legit' and have in my possession the original disc. My problem is that I can't get the game recognise the disc as being original. It keeps telling me to insert the original game disc, which I do... then nothing happens.
The ONLY way I could it to load up was to use the no-cd crack. It was a last resort. I don't relish paying $45 for a game to have to go home and mess around with downloading cracks to make a game, not better or more playable but just load up!

When the game does start I'll get maybe 10 or 15 minutes in and then it'll flash back to the desktop... no warnings, popups or anything.

It is all most strange

laptops aren't supported so i don't even know why he bothered even buying one.

Thank you for those words of wisdom MedoPu I'm glad you replied. My laptop is more than capable of running COD4 and BF2. It'll even run crysis at a half decent resolution and detail. I suppose it is my fault however for not checking what was and wasn't supported. It was an impulse buy, I saw it on the shelf and thought my machine must run that... How wrong was I?

I wasn't posting here looking for answers, advice or arguments. I was merely adding my voice to the thousands already online, to let the publishers and developers know that there is a problem tha needs to be fixed.

[Manni]

The ONLY way I could it to load up was to use the no-cd crack. It was a last resort.

No, there is another way apart from cracking.

Do a rightclick on the SimCitySocieties.exe and go launch analysis.

Send the file to Securom and they`ll find a solution.

[MedoPu]

look mobypaterson, i don't want to flame here, ok I was wrong. (though you aren't 100% correct about "it's all ok having a cracked game" for EA, it's not even if you have legal bought game.)

About laptops. Your laptop might play it or it might not. It has nothing to do with it's power. It's just how it is, i didn't come with that solution. If you have desktop, have the game there, or sell the game. I don't know any other solution.

[Manni]

It would all be a lot clearer if there was the dxdiag from that laptop to look into.

:rolleyes:
:rolleyes: