Nice Full Screen Mode
Bad enough that there is no UI scaling so I can't play in my preferred resolution, trying to play in anything lower results in this. gg.
Forum Discussion
Hi @Vovie000 - The file is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\SimCity\SimCityUserData\Preferences
Make sure you're in Program Files (x86), not the Documents folder
If you're not finding it, you might have to enable "View Hidden Files & Folders" in File Explorer: View tab > Options > Change folder and search options;
On the View tab > check the box that says "Show Hidden files, folders and drives"
You'll want to open the preferences.prop file with a text editor (like Notepad). You can copy the file first, just to be cautious. Then choose "Save" when you're done editing. Double-check to be sure it didn't add the *.txt extension to the end. (if it does add the extension, just rename the file back to preferences.prop)
Setting the OptionUIZoomLevel to 2 will double the UI size, if that's not enough you can try setting it to 3 to triple it.
Happy building!
Hi @BlackjackWidow, thanks for the response.
I already had hidden files enabled, but I turned it off and did what you suggested just to make sure.
Additionally, my games are installed on a separate hard drive from my C drive. I still do not see the preferences file.
I also looked in the C drive for the SimcityUserData folder, but no dice there either.
Attached are screenshots of both locations.
G: Drive
C: Drive
Thanks for your help!
@Vovie000 - Thanks for the screenshots, always helpful to see what's going on. Maybe the folder is only created once you play or save a city. Have you run the tutorial yet?
Here's what I would suggest - let's put some command line switches in to force a lower resolution for now. Then you should be able to flip through the tutorial and hopefully 🤞 the SimCityUserData folder will be created so you can change the UI scale.
In Origin, right-click the SimCity icon & choose Game Properties. Click on the tab Advanced Launch Options & in the Command Line Arguments type:
"-w –r:1024x768"
without the quotation marks. This will run the game in windowed mode (-w) at 1024x768 resolution. If you've already run the tutorial, then I would suggest starting a region / city in this mode. You don't have to do much in this resolution, just enough to create a save. Then save and exit the game & check for the preferences folder again. Once you configure the UI scale, then remove the command line arguments from Origin.
FYI - you can use -f for full screen instead of -w for windowed, or force a different resolution using the format "-r:HHHHxRRRR" For instance, -r:2560x1440 -r:1920x1080 -r:1600x900
The UHD resolution (2560x1440) will have the tiny UI scale until you change it in the preferences.prop file, but 1080p (1920x1080) works pretty well at default. That's the resolution I use.
@BlackjackWidow - Thanks for the response! This fixed my issue.
Turns out I did need to finish the tutorial before the preferences.prop file was created.
I don't need to squint so hard anymore lol.
@Vovie000 - Thanks for the update! I will try to file away that info about the pref file for future reference. I am so glad we found a solution. I don't think there's anything worse than trying to play with that super tiny ui.
Happy building!
