Nice Full Screen Mode

[BlueCreature88]

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.

[BlackjackWidow]

Hi @BlueCreature88 - SimCity is an older game, so it doesn't play well with the newest UHD settings.

To work around resolution & display issues: 

• Launch full screen forcing the display resolution via command line: In Origin, right-click the SimCity icon and choose "Game Properties" > click the "Advanced Launch Options" tab > type "-r:1920x1080" (without the quotation marks) in the "Command Line Arguments" box. Match the resolution to the current display settings on your monitor, using the format "-r:HHHHxRRRR" For instance, -r:2560x1440  -r:1920x1080  -r:1600x900

There are a couple other options to force windowed mode, which you can see in this stickied thread, although you want full screen. If it doesn't go full screen with the above switches, you can also add "-f" to the command line switches to force full screen.

• Change the UI Scale: Change the preferences.prop file: Default location on PC is \Program Files (x86)\Origin Games\SimCity\SimCityUserData\Preferences\Preferences.prop  
  • Exit SimCity and Origin completely. Make a copy of the Preferences.prop file for backup purposes. Open the file with a text editor like Notepad. Scroll to the part that says OptionUIZoomLevel 1 & change it to OptionUIZoomLevel 2. Save the file and launch SimCity. That should double the size of the UI. You can experiment with different numbers to see if you can find one that works for you. (make sure you don't save with the *.txt extension at the end - it needs to be preferences.prop)

[Vovie000]

Hi - I am having a similar issue regarding UI scaling. I am playing in 2K resolution and the ui size is too small for me. I tried your suggested solution of changing the preferences.prop file - but I cannot seem to find it on my system. 

I have the game installed through EA Desktop - maybe that's the problem? Althought I also tried uninstalling it and reinstalling through Origin and still could not find that file. Any idea where it might be located instead?

[BlackjackWidow]

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!

[Vovie000]

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!

[BlackjackWidow]

@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.

[Vovie000]

@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. 

[BlackjackWidow]

@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!

[jace888]

For those who find this thread on Google like me and can't find the preferences file to change UI scaling, at some point it seems to have moved and the Preferences.prop file is now located in C:\Users\12345\AppData\Roaming\SimCity\Preferences where 12345 is your Windows username.

I installed Simcity through EA Games app (the new Origin) in April 2024 on a fresh Windows 11 install.