Last checked: August 2019

Reminder: This guide only covers issues unique to Macs, there are other troubleshooting guides that cover more general issues - see link in description above.

Almost all problems on a Mac can be fixed by one or more of these solutions...


Fixes green or grey pixellated main menu and nearly all crash bugs.

In Steam, choose Settings then select the In-Game tab. Un-tick "Enable Steam Community In-Game" checkbox.

Note: It will re-enable every time there is a Steam update and often when there is a game update too. You can block it more permanently via Accessibility prefs pane then un-tick Steam.


Fixes most graphics issues.

If you are getting any graphics glitches that are not fixed by disabling Steam Overlay (see above), then the next most likely cause is your graphics mode. Macs struggle with DirectX 9, which is what the game uses by default.

To fix most of those issues, drop to a lower graphics mode using the launch options listed below.

Important: Only one of these options can be active at a time; try one and if that doesn't work remove it and try the next one, and so on.

• -force-d3d9
  
• -force-opengl
  
• -force-gfx-metal

Only do this if necessary: Make sure the game is running in a screen resolution that's natively supported by your graphics card or display. Two ways to work out what that is:

• From the Apple menu, open System Preferences then click Displays icon. Select "Scaled" option and you'll see the native resolution highlighted in the list (you can put it back to "Default for display" after making a note of the scaled resolution)
  
• Alternate: There's a free app in the App Store called "Display Menu[apps.apple.com]" that will list all native screen resolutions for your Mac.

The 16:9 resolutions tend to work best, and it's generally better to avoid full screen resolution if you want game to run faster.

You can either set the resolution via the Options screen in the game, or via Launch Parameters such as:



If you suspect the game files are corrupt, Refresh Steam Files then Verify Game Cache.


Subscribe and enable Loading Screen Mod (LSM) - it loads game faster, reduces RAM consumption and handles loading errors much better. It is an absolute MUST HAVE mod. If you use lots of workshop assets, you can use LSM to skip the ugly vanilla assets which makes loading even faster and saves even more RAM. Read the mod workshop page for more details.


Macs are not good for gaming as they often have outdated graphics drivers. To make things faster, work through the Performance Tuning Guide.

Last checked: June 2019

• fn + Up Arrow = Page Up
  
• fn + Down Arrow = Page Down

You can customise keybaord shortcuts in the game's Options screen.

Updated: August 2019

Subscribe and enable the Loading Screen Mod. It drastically reduces RAM consumption.

You can also try `-force-glcore` launch option and set graphics quality to Medium to save lots of RAM (Thanks to Spectrum for this tip!):

• High textures and no launch options: 30GB of RAM usage
  
• Medium textures and -force-glcore: 15GB of RAM usage

For lots of other ways to reduce RAM consumption, see Performance Tuning Guide.

Last checked: June 2019

If the main menu looks like this...



...disable Steam Overlay as described at start of this guide.

Last checked: June 2019

If you see white blocks on a black screen when launching the game...



...disable Steam Overlay.

If you see the app titlebar, try clicking the green maximise window button. Alternatively, click anywhere on the window to select it, then from the menu bar at top of screen choose Window > Full Screen.

If problems persist, use a natively supported screen resolution as described at top of this guide.

Some users report that adding the `-windowed` launch option then restarting the game helps.

Last checked: August 2019

If launching C:S results in a black window, it's likely you've used a non-native screen resolution that is confusing your graphics card.


Quit the game, verify game cache, then launch the game. If you still see the app title bar, click the green maximise window button (you might need to do it a few times before it works) or from the menu bar choose Window > Full Screen.


Force a native screen resolution using Launch Options as described at the start of this guide.


Try different Graphics Modes as described in the Common Fixes section at top of this guide.

Last checked: August 2019

If you see something like this...



It's due to Intel Iris graphics card in some Macs. The game doesn't support Intel graphics (as they are not real graphics cards - they use CPU and normal RAM which is a disaster for games like C:SL).

You might be able to get it working by changing Graphics Modes as described in the Common Fixes section at top of this guide.

Also, be sure to go through the Performance Tuning Guide as you'll need to do everything possible to reduce load on your graphics card, RAM and CPU.

Last checked: June 2019

If you see something like this...



...this affects older Macs such as Late 2011 Macbooks. Fix it as follows:

• From the Apple menu, open System Preferences then click Displays icon
  
• Select "Scaled" option and you'll see the native resolution highlighted in the list (you can put it back to "Default for display" after making a note of the scaled resolution)
  
• Use the -screen-width and -screen-height Launch Parameters to force that exact screen resolution
  
• For best performance, avoid using full screen. Once you've got it working right, you can remove the Launch Parameters.

(Huge thanks to /u/UnknownIdent for this solution!)

Last checked: June 2019

Note: You might need to reboot your Mac after making changes to clear away any issues caused by previous crashes.


Disable Steam Overlay and use native screen resolution as described at top of this guide.

Avoid using screen recording apps (such as ScreenFlow) or anything else that eats lots of RAM (browsers, Skype, etc). You can start these apps once you're in-game.


If while playing the game you get random crashes, disable Steam Overlay as described at top of this guide.

If you get crashes whilst in overlay mode (where all the buildings turn white) that's something different and we don't currently have a fix for that :/

Last checked: June 2019

If you see something like this...


...it's an issue with Mac OS 10.10.3 and AMD graphics card: Use a native screen resolution as described at top of this guide, and if that doesn't work the only other option currently is to either downgrade to Mac OS 10.10.2, upgrade to a more recent Mac OS, or run the game in a virtual Windows machine (e.g. using Boot Camp / Parallels).

If you see something like this:



Add the `-force-opengl` launch option then restart the game.

Last checked: June 2019

When starting a new game, or loading a saved game, the chirper screen gets stuck...



Note: There is always a delay before the image background is shown, and there's always a delay when the progress bar reaches 50%.

If the delay is never-ending, try the following...

Subscribe and enable the Loading Screen Mod.

Close all non-essenetial apps before starting the game, in particular things like screen recorders (eg. ScreenFlow), web browsers, Skype, etc. Anything that uses lots of RAM will likely cause problems when the game is loading. Wait until you're in-game and only then load the other apps if necessary.

If you get stuck on the black loading screen (image background never gets loaded) make sure you've disabled Steam Overlay. If that doesn't solve it, your save game might be corrupted.

If you get stuck at 50% loaded, it's likely you've installed too many workshop assets; it can take up to several minutes if you've installed loads of assets. Do you have a subscription addiction?

Last updated: August 2019

If you see something like this, often temporarily while clicking buttons...


It's due to Intel Iris graphics card in some Macs. The game doesn't support Intel graphics (as they are not real graphics cards - they use CPU and normal RAM which is a disaster for games like C:SL).

You might be able to get it working by changing Graphics Modes as described in the Common Fixes section at top of this guide.

Also, be sure to go through the Performance Tuning Guide as you'll need to do everything possible to reduce load on your graphics card, RAM and CPU.

Last checked: August 2019

If you see something like this...



It's due to Intel Iris graphics card in your Mac. The game doesn't support Intel graphics (as they are not real graphics cards - they use CPU and normal RAM which is a disaster for games like C:SL). However, you might be able to scrape by using launch options. Try one at a time, in the order shown - if it doesn't fix it, remove it and try next one:

• -force-d3d9
  
• -force-opengl
  
• -force-gfx-metal

(Thanks to AndrewT[forum.paradoxplaza.com] for this tip)

Last checked: August 2019

If your roads/sidewalks have dashed lines on them like this...



...it's caused by the "Alternate Pavement Texture" setting within the American Roads mod. You can disable the setting via Content Manager > Mods > American Roads > Options. (Thanks to donshontz for this tip).

Last checked: August 2019

If you see something like this...


...there's currently no cure[forum.paradoxplaza.com] but try reducing shadow distance or turning off Shadows.

Last checked: June 2019

Make sure the game is running in a native screen resolution as described at top of this guide.

You can make text bigger or different font with these mods:

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=412149127
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=408286108

Last edited: June 2019

Make sure you're not running screen recording apps. Quit all non-essenital apps while playing (especially things like web browsers, Skype, etc).

Running in windowed mode (set via game's Options screen) can improve performance.

Run the game in a Boot Camp (Windows) partition.

Lots of other tips here in the Performance Tuning Guide:
http://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=465790009

Here's a rough guide based on when your Mac was made:

• 2010 or earlier: The game won't run, or if it does it will be unplayable
  
• Late 2011: Struggles above 20k–30k population
  
• Late 2012: Struggles above 50k population
  
• Late 2013: Struggles above 100k population
  
• Late 2014: Struggles above 200k population
  
• 2018 or later: Should be mostly OK

CPU speed is the main bottleneck on Macs.

Last checked: August 2019

Try running the game in a "Boot Camp" Windows partition. It will be a bit faster and generally work better in most cases. Note, however, that some Macs can't use Boot Camp so do some googling to find out more.

If the problem isn't listed above, try the Main Troubheshooting FAQ.

You can get official tech support via the official C:SL Discord chat server[discord.gg] or Paradox support forums[forum.paradoxplaza.com].

You can often get help from other users in the main Steam discussion forum. Also, the developers of TM:PE mod have compiled a useful Troubleshooting Guide[github.com] that might help (it's not just for TM:PE, most of the issues are caused by other mods, assets, game bugs, or just common mistakes made by users).
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