To skip the Sim City 4 intro cinematics you’ll need to follow these steps:

1. Right click on your Sim City 4 shortcut and select properties.
2. In the target field add the following option after the location of the .exe file:
   -intro:off
   E.g. “C:\Program Files\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps\SimCity 4.exe” -intro:off.
3. When you run Sim City 4 from this shortcut it will skip the intro cinematics and take you right to the region view. For more Sim City 4 command line parameters see: http://simcityforum.com/showthread.php?t=848.

You can set Sim City 4 to run in windowed mode manually via the -w command line parameter. The steps to take will vary depending on what type of Sim City 4 installation.

• Steam install
  1. In your Steam window click Library
  2. Right click on your Sim City 4 Deluxe entry and select properties
  3. Click on set launch options and add the following option:
     -w
  4. Run the game from your shortcut.
• CD Install
  1. Right click on your Sim City 4 shortcut and select properties
  2. In the target field after the quotations put a space and then type:
     -w
     e.g. “C:\Program Files\SimCity 4 Deluxe\Apps\SimCity 4.exe” -w
     
  3. Run the game from your shortcut.

If you’ve followed the above steps and are still having issues getting Sim City 4 windowed mode to work, please post in the comments below. To increase your chances of a solution being found include as much detail as possible (which version of the game you’re running, what operating system you have, what video card you have and steps to reproduce the issue). Screenshots are also very useful!