v1.0.0

MAJOR RELEASE v1.0:

• Toolbars and other UI elements (advisor panels, etc) now allow you to use the mouse wheel to scroll in Modern camera mode.
• Polished the welcome/changelog window and UI image handling.
• Added persistent JSON settings.
• Added version-aware first-install notice.
• Added native SC4 window manager foundation.
• Added optional smooth WASD camera movement with Shift boost.
• Added in-game Camera Settings and Advanced Settings windows.
• Added Classic and Modern camera mode switching from the settings window.
• Added Modern-only redraw aggression controls: Classic, Normal, High, and Extreme.
• Added diagnostics logging controls.
• Added Reset Camera Location.
• Added plugin data folder: Plugins/SC4-ModernCamera/
• Added 3D camera movement and rotation controls.

Thank you to the community @ Simtropolis.com for all of your help!

Shoutout to:

• Null 45
• Turnstyled
• CasperVg

plugin forum thread

v0.7.1-beta

What's Changed

0.7.1:

• Polished the welcome/changelog window and UI image handling.

0.7.0:

• Added persistent JSON settings.
• Added version-aware first-install notice.
• Added native SC4 window manager foundation.
• Added optional smooth WASD camera movement with Shift boost.
• Added in-game Camera Settings and Advanced Settings windows.
• Added Classic and Modern camera mode switching from the settings window.
• Added Modern-only redraw aggression controls: Classic, Normal, High, and Extreme.
• Added diagnostics logging controls.
• Added Reset Camera Location.
• Added plugin data folder: Plugins/SC4-3DMouseCam/

Note that dll file should no longer require VC++ redistributable

v0.6.1-beta

What's Changed

Your City's preview tile in the Region View no longer distorts at odd angles when saving your city.
You can also use this new version to fix previously distorted tiles by opening and re-saving your city.

• FIXES: #1 - Tilted region previews on save by @UncleUncleRj in https://github.com/UncleUncleRj/SC4-3DMouseCam/pull/6

Full Changelog: https://github.com/UncleUncleRj/SC4-3DMouseCam/compare/v0.6.0-beta...v0.6.1-beta

v0.6.0-beta

What's Changed

The SC4 camera has been completely overhauled, inspired by other cameras from the genre:

• Smooth continuous wheel zoom replaces SC4’s native zoom stages.
• Persistent player-selected pitch and yaw while zooming.
• M3 horizontal drag controls yaw; vertical drag controls pitch.
• New stable ground anchor during rotation.
• Compensation for SC4’s square-to-diamond orthographic camera bounce.
• Yaw hysteresis reduces disappearing building-side artifacts.
• Expanded debug diagnostics (F8 key) for camera state and rotation boundaries.

• CLOSES: #4 Camera zoom and rotation model completed by @UncleUncleRj in https://github.com/UncleUncleRj/SC4-3DMouseCam/pull/5

Current Controls

• M3 + horizontal drag: Rotates the camera.
• M3 + vertical drag: Adjusts the camera pitch.
• Mouse wheel: Smoothly zooms while preserving the current camera angle.
• F8: Dumps the current camera and renderer state to a file SC4-3DMouseCam.log located in the plugins folder for debugging.

Debug Logging

The plugin writes debug logs to the Plugins folder:

• SC4-3DMouseCam.log
• SC4-3DMouseCam.last

Full Changelog: https://github.com/UncleUncleRj/SC4-3DMouseCam/compare/v0.5.1-beta...v0.6.0-beta

v0.5.1-beta

This is a major stability and usability update.

What’s New

• Added smoother mouse-wheel zoom using the game’s camera magnification system.
• Improved middle-mouse camera rotation so it can rotate much more freely without triggering the earlier visual glitches.
• Added safer camera angle handling to prevent the renderer from entering broken projection states.
• Improved idle redraw handling after camera movement and zooming.

Fixes & Improvements

• Fixed several cases where rotating at unusual angles could cause buildings or terrain to visually disappear or distort.
• Reduced noisy/no-op zoom logging when the camera is already at a zoom limit.
• Cleaned up camera control code and moved more logic into the dedicated camera controller.
• Updated README documentation with dependencies, licenses, acknowledgements, and current controls.

Debugging

• Added an in-game camera debug dump hotkey: press F8 to write camera state details to SC4-3DMouseCam.log
• A brief on-screen confirmation will appear when a camera dump is written.

Notes

• This is still experimental, but it should be much more stable than v0.1.2-alpha. Extreme zoom/angle combinations may still place the camera in awkward views, especially near the edge of the city or out in the void. I'll be looking into how to prevent or escape such scenarios.

v0.1.2-alpha

Changes

• Changed mouse input handling from a low-level OS hook to SimCity 4's built-in canvas window message filter.

v.0.1.1-alpha

Alpha Release Disclaimer

This is an early alpha build intended for testing and development. It may cause visual glitches, camera oddities, or other in-game weirdness. It is unlikely to harm your PC, but save-game issues have not been ruled out, so please back up important cities or regions before testing.

I am releasing this build to gather feedback and help kickstart collaborative development.

Requirements

• Windows version of SimCity 4 Deluxe / Rush Hour
• Game version 1.1.641, typically the Steam or GOG digital release

Older disc/retail versions are not supported by this build.

Installation

1. Download the .dll file from the assets below.

2. Move the file into your SimCity 4 Plugins directory, usually:

   %USERPROFILE%\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\

In-Game Mechanics

• Camera Rotation / Pitch: Hold the Middle Mouse Button (M3) and drag to adjust the camera angle.
• Experimental Zoom/Pitch Behavior: The mouse wheel applies an experimental camera pitch effect while SC4’s native zoom behavior still runs. A true virtual dolly system is planned, but not complete in this alpha.

Debug Logging

The mod generates a current log file and a previous-session backup in your Plugins folder:

• SC4-3DMouseCam.log
• SC4-3DMouseCam.last

These are used strictly for debugging and can be safely ignored or deleted.

v0.1.0-alpha

Alpha Release Disclaimer

This is an early alpha build intended for testing and development acceleration. The software as it is currently can cause your game to bug out - and while it's highly unlikely it will do any harm to your PC, it may or may not cause game save corruption and/or mental frustration.

I am releasing this build to hopefully gather feedback and possibly kickstart collaborative development.

Installation

1. Download .dll file from the assets below.
2. Move the file into your SimCity 4 Deluxe plugins directory, usually at:
   %userprofile%\Documents\SimCity 4\Plugins\

In game mechanics

• Camera Rotation: Hold the Middle Mouse Button (M3) and drag Left or Right.
• Experimental Zoom: Scroll the mouse wheel to use the new camera zoom mechanics.

The mod automatically generates two log files (current and previous) inside your plugins folder during each session. These files are used strictly for debugging purposes and can be safely ignored or deleted.