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, with non-alphanumericals at the end.

First it loads the files in %InstallDir%\

Then it loads %InstallDir%\Plugins\

Then %LocalDir%\Plugins\

(but what about maps and the other folders)