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Anonymous's avatar
Anonymous
8 years ago

Re: unable to load city at this time. Please try again later

 @BlackjackWidow I have followed your advice, but it unfortunately didn't work.

Also, it seems that I've lost another city to this problem. The city called "The Pancake Dimension" which is on the city plot neighbouring the last one. Is there any fix for this problem? As you understand, this is quite annoying, and I don't want to have to start over again and again. I understand that this is an old game that doesn't get patched anymore, but surely someone must have a fix?

Anyway, thanks for your help, but I probably won't be playing anymore unless a fix is found.

10 Replies

  • BlackjackWidow's avatar
    BlackjackWidow
    Hero (Retired)
    8 years ago

    @Anitmatter wrote:

     @BlackjackWidow I have followed your advice, but it unfortunately didn't work.

    Also, it seems that I've lost another city to this problem. The city called "The Pancake Dimension" which is on the city plot neighbouring the last one. Is there any fix for this problem? As you understand, this is quite annoying, and I don't want to have to start over again and again. I understand that this is an old game that doesn't get patched anymore, but surely someone must have a fix?

    Anyway, thanks for your help, but I probably won't be playing anymore unless a fix is found.


    @EA_Mai - Please, please, please, can you pop in and help with this frustrating error? I think the "unable to load city at this time" error is one that is a server-side issue, not sure if you can do anything, but many would be grateful if you could verify.

    @Anitmatter I understand that this is hugely frustrating. If it's been over a year since you last played any of the cities, be aware they will go abandoned and you will get this error. I just found this out by trying to go in to one of my old cities online and got the same "unable to load city at this time; please try again later" error. If this happened after you've been actively playing the cities, it's likely due to a corruption on the server side which would mean the region is probably lost. I'm not sure there's anything left that can be done, but here are a few things that *might* help. 

    As stated before, always set your icons to run SimCity.exe and Origin.exe "As Administrator". Make sure that both exe's are in your antivirus and firewall exception lists, and that Windows and graphics drivers are updated to the newest versions. Very important - if you have MSI's sound program called Nahimic 2 installed, either disable it or uninstall it. It is a known incompatible program. If you're running the game over a wireless connection, try running over a wired one to reduce the likelihood of corrupted files - the SimCity servers are notoriously slow and a lost connection, even for a few seconds, can corrupt the save process. 

    • Try repairing the game - In Origin, right-click SimCity game icon and choose "Repair". 
    • Delete your SimCityUserData folder - exit SimCity and Origin; default location is \Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\SimCity\SimCityUserData. Delete the whole SimCityUserData folder. When you launch the game again, it will recreate the folder. 
    • Try to recover the game: Run SimCityRecovery.exe "As Administrator" directly from the executable (not from any menu choices). Default location is \Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\SimCity\SimCityRecovery 
    • Clear Origin Cache
    • Completely Uninstall Origin, then reinstall running the setup file "As Administrator"

    I really hope something here works for you. If you still can't load your cities, sadly, I think your region is probably lost. If you're the only one playing the region, you may be able to save all your hard work by transferring the region to single player mode to see if you can play it offline. 

    Post back to let us know if anything works. Good luck!

  • FlabbaWokei's avatar
    FlabbaWokei
    New Traveler
    7 years ago

    Hi there,

    Im really kinda frustrated. I've asked multiple advisors and took advice, but alas nothing works. I have  a region which for some reason won't allow me to visit/load any city. Can you help?

  • BlackjackWidow's avatar
    BlackjackWidow
    Hero (Retired)
    7 years ago

    @FlabbaWokei wrote:

    Hi there,

    Im really kinda frustrated. I've asked multiple advisors and took advice, but alas nothing works. I have  a region which for some reason won't allow me to visit/load any city. Can you help?


    @FlabbaWokei - I know that this is very frustrating. The problem is probably server-side corruption, which means that something might have interrupted the connection when you last saved and exited the game. If this is the problem, there is no way to get the city or region back. I'm very sorry to tell you this, I wish I had better news for you. 

    You can try to recover using these steps, just in case the problem is on your end:

    Always set SimCity.exe and Origin.exe to run "As Administrator". Make sure that both exe's are in your antivirus and firewall exception lists, and that Windows and graphics drivers are updated to the newest versions. Very important - if you have MSI's sound program called Nahimic 2 installed, either disable it or uninstall it. It is a known incompatible program. If you're running the game over a wireless connection, try running over a wired one to reduce the likelihood of corrupted files - the SimCity servers are notoriously slow and a lost connection, even for a few seconds, can corrupt the save process. 

    • Try repairing the game - In Origin, right-click SimCity game icon and choose "Repair". 
    • Delete your SimCityUserData folder - exit SimCity and Origin; default location is \Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\SimCity\SimCityUserData. Delete the whole SimCityUserData folder. When you launch the game again, it will recreate the folder. 
    • Try to recover the game: Run SimCityRecovery.exe "As Administrator" directly from the executable (not from any menu choices). Default location is \Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\SimCity\SimCityRecovery 
    • Clear Origin Cache
    • Completely Uninstall Origin, then reinstall running the setup file "As Administrator"

    If it still gives the error message after doing these things, the city or region is lost to you and everyone else. You might be able to save your work by transferring the region to single user (offline) mode, but be aware that you can't move it back to the server. https://simscommunity.info/2014/12/04/simcity-update-transfer-citiesregions-multiplayer-single-player/

    I really hope you are able to recover your cities. Good luck, and Happy Building!

  • FlabbaWokei's avatar
    FlabbaWokei
    New Traveler
    7 years ago

    thank you for the reply. do you know the instructions for an iMac? i dont use windows lol

  • BlackjackWidow's avatar
    BlackjackWidow
    Hero (Retired)
    7 years ago

    I am not a Mac user, but I believe the instructions for repairing through Origin are the same whether you use a Mac or a PC. Find the folder called SimCityUserData and delete it. Then right-click the SimCity icon in Origin and choose the repair option. The instructions for downloading the region to use in Offline Mode are also the same.

    You could also try using the Origin reset tool. Many Mac users have reported that it helps with many issues in Origin games. Instructions are here: https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/origin/origin/how-to-reset-origin-on-mac/  

    If anything helps to recover your city, please let us know as it would be great to share with other users who have the problem in the future. šŸ¤ž 

  • FlabbaWokei's avatar
    FlabbaWokei
    New Traveler
    7 years ago

    thank you! But i dont seem to find that simcity folder anywhere. 

    And ive asked a friend on that region and he says he can't access it either (same alert). Does that mean its the servers fault? 

  • BlackjackWidow's avatar
    BlackjackWidow
    Hero (Retired)
    7 years ago

    @FlabbaWokei wrote:

    thank you! But i dont seem to find that simcity folder anywhere. 

    And ive asked a friend on that region and he says he can't access it either (same alert). Does that mean its the servers fault? 


    ā˜¹ļø  If someone else is getting the same error message, then yes - the server side has the corruption, and there's really nothing anyone can do. I hate to say it, but your best bet is to just start a new region and mourn all the hard work you put in to the other one. šŸ˜ž

    It won't hurt to run the Origin fix tool anyway, just to clean up your cache and games. In the future, try not to exit and save directly after making a change - try to let the game run a little, just to give the data a chance to sync to the server before you exit. And playing with a wired connection can be better than wifi, just to limit chances of dropped connections. 

    I wish you great luck and happy building in the future!

  • FlabbaWokei's avatar
    FlabbaWokei
    New Traveler
    7 years ago

    cool. sad times oh well. 

    do you mean i should exit to main menu then quit? because you can't save manually on multiplayer

  • BlackjackWidow's avatar
    BlackjackWidow
    Hero (Retired)
    7 years ago

    Yes, exit to main menu, then quit can help make sure the data saves before you cut the connection to the server. 

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