SC4 Disable FPS Limits

This DLL plugin for SimCity 4 disables the default FPS (frames per second) limitations during simulation speeds. By default, SimCity 4 imposes the following FPS limits:

• Turtle speed (slow simulation): 30 FPS
• Rhino speed (medium simulation): 20 FPS
• Cheetah speed (fast simulation): 15 FPS

This mod removes these limitations, allowing the game to run at higher frame rates (up to 255 FPS) during all simulation speeds.

The plugin can be downloaded from the Releases tab: https://github.com/caspervg/sc4-disable-fps-limits/releases

System Requirements

• SimCity 4 version 641
• Windows 10 or later

The plugin may work on Windows 7 or later with the Microsoft Visual C++ 2022 x86 Redistribute installed, but I do not have the ability to test that.

Installation

1. Close SimCity 4.
2. Copy SC4DisableFpsLimits.dll and SC4DisableFpsLimits.ini into:
   • <My Documents>/SimCity 4/Plugins
3. Start SimCity 4.

Troubleshooting

The plugin should write a SC4DisableFpsLimits.log file in the same folder as the plugin.
The log contains status information for the most recent run of the plugin.

Configuration

The plugin reads optional settings from SC4DisableFpsLimits.ini in the same folder as the DLL.

Example:

[SC4DisableFpsLimits]
MaxFPS=255
LogLevel=info

MaxFPS applies to Turtle, Rhino, and Cheetah simulation speeds. Values above 255 are capped to 255. LogLevel controls log verbosity and defaults to info. Valid values are trace, debug, info, warn, error, critical, and off.

License

This project is licensed under the terms of the GNU LGPL v2.1 or later.
See LICENSE.txt for more information.

3rd party code

gzcom-dll - GNU LGPL v2.1 or later.
SC4Fix - MIT License.
spdlog - MIT License.
mINI - MIT License.
sc4-disable-network-construction-sounds - MIT License (project inspiration).

Credits

A lot of credits go to Nicholas Hayes, whose Disable Demolition Animation and Disable Network Construction Sounds DLL mods heavily inspired this one.

Source Code

Prerequisites

• CMake 3.24 or newer
• A 32-bit MSVC toolchain (v143 recommended)

Building the plugin

1. Initialize third-party dependencies:
   • git submodule update --init --recursive
2. Configure (Windows x86, Visual Studio):
   • cmake --preset vs2022-win32
3. Build:
   • cmake --build --preset release

The resulting DLL is at build/Release/SC4DisableFpsLimits.dll.

Cross-compile from macOS/Linux (experimental)

If MinGW-w64 is installed and available in PATH, you can attempt a Win32 cross-build:

1. Configure:
   • cmake --preset mingw-win32-cross
2. Build:
   • cmake --build --preset release-mingw

The MinGW toolchain preset uses:

• mingw-w64-i686.cmake

Debugging the plugin

Attach a debugger to the SimCity 4 process or launch it from your debugger with:
-intro:off -CPUcount:1 -w -CustomResolution:enabled -r1920x1080x32

You may need to adjust the resolution for your screen.