Hi everyone,My friend and I are trying to play SimCity 2013 multiplayer, but we've hit a game-breaking bug and are looking for help.TL;DR: Our cities don't sync and always appear as empty plots (ghost cities) to each other. This happens on every server we try (EU, NA). We also found a major time desync between our games.The ProblemWhen we play in a region together, the following happens:I can see her city name on the correct plot, but the city itself is just an empty field.She sees the same thing for my city: an empty plot with the correct name.Visiting each other's city just loads an empty map.System DetailsWe are playing on PC, launching through the EA App.I am playing via PC Game Pass (which includes EA Play).My friend owns the game directly on the EA App.What We've Already TriedWaiting for over an hour for the game to sync.Restarting the game and the EA App multiple times.Sending money to force a sync (my game said "Success," but the money never arrived).Creating brand new regions on different servers (EU East, NA East). The bug happens every single time.Key Clues We FoundPartial Sync: Basic info like city names syncs correctly, but the actual city data (roads, buildings, etc.) does not.Time Desync: We discovered our games are running on different timelines inside the same region. For example, my city was in "August, Year 1" while my friend's was in "January, Year 1."Has anyone run into a bug like this before, especially the time desync issue? Are there any known fixes we haven't tried?Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.EDIT/UPDATE: The Final Nail in the CoffinFor anyone following this, I just performed one final test. I tried to use the in-game feature to "Transfer Multiplayer Region to Single Player" to see if I could at least save my own city. The result was exactly what you might expect: the process got stuck on an infinite loading screen. Specifically, it hung while trying to download my friend's city data. This confirms the data for her city is not just invisible, but so fundamentally corrupted or incomplete on the server that it cannot even be packaged for a download. The "ghost town" is, for all intents and purposes, a ghost file on EA's servers. From all regions.

I have the exact same problem, i play with my friend, but the region just don't sync. I don't have any solutions... Please someone help us ! Thanks

Very interesting. I think they disabled (or is under maintenance) the server that deals with the city sync - and kept only the metadata online. That's the reason we can see the plot that someone else claimed but cannot visit the city.

Same issue here with me and my friends as well.

Koobzar

Seasoned Newcomer

2 months ago

Sim City 2013 Multiplayer: friend's city is completely empty

Hi everyone,

My friend and I are trying to play SimCity 2013 multiplayer, but we've hit a game-breaking bug and are looking for help.

TL;DR: Our cities don't sync and always appear as empty plots (ghost cities) to each other. This happens on every server we try (EU, NA). We also found a major time desync between our games.

The Problem

When we play in a region together, the following happens:

I can see her city name on the correct plot, but the city itself is just an empty field.
She sees the same thing for my city: an empty plot with the correct name.
Visiting each other's city just loads an empty map.

System Details

We are playing on PC, launching through the EA App.
I am playing via PC Game Pass (which includes EA Play).
My friend owns the game directly on the EA App.

What We've Already Tried

Waiting for over an hour for the game to sync.
Restarting the game and the EA App multiple times.
Sending money to force a sync (my game said "Success," but the money never arrived).
Creating brand new regions on different servers (EU East, NA East). The bug happens every single time.

Key Clues We Found

Partial Sync: Basic info like city names syncs correctly, but the actual city data (roads, buildings, etc.) does not.
Time Desync: We discovered our games are running on different timelines inside the same region. For example, my city was in "August, Year 1" while my friend's was in "January, Year 1."

Has anyone run into a bug like this before, especially the time desync issue? Are there any known fixes we haven't tried?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

EDIT/UPDATE: The Final Nail in the Coffin

For anyone following this, I just performed one final test. I tried to use the in-game feature to "Transfer Multiplayer Region to Single Player" to see if I could at least save my own city. The result was exactly what you might expect: the process got stuck on an infinite loading screen. Specifically, it hung while trying to download my friend's city data. This confirms the data for her city is not just invisible, but so fundamentally corrupted or incomplete on the server that it cannot even be packaged for a download. The "ghost town" is, for all intents and purposes, a ghost file on EA's servers. From all regions.

bug

simcity (2013)

technical issues