When I was growing up I obsessed over this game for a few years. Of course, being very young, I didn't quite understand how the game intended you to launch it... it was a 2 disc install (for the deluxe edition at least) and there was something about the disc order. It was either something like "1 -> 2 -> auto launch on completed install but 1 -> launch after" or the other way around "1 -> 2 -> auto launch on completed install but 2 -> launch from desktop after" or something silly for the DRM.
Regardless, young me decided it would be easier to uninstall the game with "keep saved games" checked and re-install the game every time I wanted to play. And that's precisely what I did, hundreds of times. I'd come home from school, boot up the computer, start the install, go do other things, and then that night play Sim City 4. One day I came home and couldn't find the case the game came with, the case that held the product code. After searching around for a while I couldn't find it, and never did )it likely got tossed cleaning up one day). I figured I might as well try to remember what the key was and typed out: 25MM-TNK4-EH6A-6V6K-KHWN. At this point it's nearing 20 years and it's still living rent free in my head, albeit the last 2 groups may be swapped around... would have to try it to be 100% sure. Not too many months into doing this did I figure out what I was supposed to do with the discs, and then later how much easier it was to play a cracked version of the game in the first place. The rest of my history with the game was trying to fit far too many mods into 512 MB of RAM.
All that history and love for the game aside, I do think either Sim City 4 or Sim City 2000 were the greatest city builders relative to when they came out. On the other hand, I think Cities Skylines is the greatest City Builder of all time as an absolute. The shear scale without having to hop between simulations in a region, the more freeform nature of what you can build, and the additional gameplay systems (like flowing water) all on top of being a more modern game with a more modern interface make it shine. Of course, no two city builders focus on exactly the same gameplay so some may feel differently depending if they e.g. want to care about details like transportation along the way or just want to see the city grow.
Also, given this is HN, if any of the modding folks responsible for things like NAM/SAM/NWM/CAM/etc are around thanks for all the additional free fun those many years ago :).
Thanks for sharing, great story. Thinking back, for me it's incredible just how much more energy I spent as a kid with computers and games. That patience really allowed me to discover and explore much more than I do today.
If I play a game today, I just get straight to it. I don't wander around too much in the open world or try to game the mechanics for some weird bugs or try the same thing over and over again.
Regardless, young me decided it would be easier to uninstall the game with "keep saved games" checked and re-install the game every time I wanted to play. And that's precisely what I did, hundreds of times. I'd come home from school, boot up the computer, start the install, go do other things, and then that night play Sim City 4. One day I came home and couldn't find the case the game came with, the case that held the product code. After searching around for a while I couldn't find it, and never did )it likely got tossed cleaning up one day). I figured I might as well try to remember what the key was and typed out: 25MM-TNK4-EH6A-6V6K-KHWN. At this point it's nearing 20 years and it's still living rent free in my head, albeit the last 2 groups may be swapped around... would have to try it to be 100% sure. Not too many months into doing this did I figure out what I was supposed to do with the discs, and then later how much easier it was to play a cracked version of the game in the first place. The rest of my history with the game was trying to fit far too many mods into 512 MB of RAM.
All that history and love for the game aside, I do think either Sim City 4 or Sim City 2000 were the greatest city builders relative to when they came out. On the other hand, I think Cities Skylines is the greatest City Builder of all time as an absolute. The shear scale without having to hop between simulations in a region, the more freeform nature of what you can build, and the additional gameplay systems (like flowing water) all on top of being a more modern game with a more modern interface make it shine. Of course, no two city builders focus on exactly the same gameplay so some may feel differently depending if they e.g. want to care about details like transportation along the way or just want to see the city grow.
Also, given this is HN, if any of the modding folks responsible for things like NAM/SAM/NWM/CAM/etc are around thanks for all the additional free fun those many years ago :).