Plugin Loading Order

The game loads plugins in a particular way

Install Location

This is where all the main program files are held, including the EXE and the simcity_*.dat files

The default location is

C:\Program Files\Maxis\SimCity 4\

and can be symbolised as

%InstallDir%\

Documents Location

This is where the users information is held. it is usually found in

My Documents\SimCity 4\

but can be moved using the -userdir shortcut parameter and will be symbolised throughout as

%LocalDir%

Order

In any single directory it will load loose files first, then subdirectories, and then .dat files. The order algorithm is just an alphabetic sort.

First it loads the files in %InstallDir%\

Then it loads %InstallDir%\Plugins\

Then %LocalDir%\Plugins\

(but what about maps and the other folders)