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Sim City 3000 Unlimited FAQ
Last Updated on: 2000-10-09 21:25:32

This is where you will find useful information about SimCity 3000 Unlimited. The following are answers to some frequently asked questions about this game. Please read these before e-mailing Loki Technical Support - Chances are your question is answered here too!

1. Introduction

• 1.1 How to use this FAQ
• 1.2 Authors

2. Requirements

• 2.1 What are the system requirements for the game?
• 2.2 Does the game use 3D acceleration?
• 2.3 Can the game be played on all distributions of Linux?
• 2.4 Does the game support Esound?
• 2.5 Does the game fully support X-Windows? Would I be able to run the Linux game using an X-term on a Windows machine?

3. Interoperability

• 3.1 Can I buy the Windows version and download a patch, to play SimCity 3000 Unlimited under Linux?
• 3.2 Can a saved city created in Windows be used with SimCity 3000 Unlimited for Linux?
• 3.3 Can I use the stuff from SimCity Exchange (www.simcity.com) with the Linux version of SimCity 3000 Unlimited?
• 3.4 Can we use scenario scripts, upload/download new buildings, and whatever else they mention?
• 3.5 Can I make scenario scripts under Linux?
• 3.6 I also noticed a few programs for the building architect tools (a rendering kit and some props). Are these eventually going to be ported as well?
• 3.7 The Windows version imports SimCity 2000 cities. Can the Linux version?

4. Demo

• 4.1 Where can I get the SimCity 3000 Unlimited demo version?
• 4.2 How do I install the demo?
• 4.3 The demo is crashing on startup under RedHat 7.0 (or other glibc 2.1.8+ systems).

5. Installation

• 5.1 How do I install the game?
• 5.2 Do I have to be logged in as root to install the game?
• 5.3 What command-line options are available once the game is installed?
• 5.4 The full game is crashing on startup under a recent distribution (RedHat 7.x, Mandrake 8, SuSE 7.1, Debian unstable), with something about a 'sdl_SnapShot'.

6. Updates

• 6.1 Where can I download the update patches?
• 6.2 What issues are addressed in the patch?
• 6.3 Are there any updates for the demo?

7. Display

• 7.1 Can I stop the mouse cursor from flickering so much?
• 7.2 The game seems very sluggish. Can I speed it up?
• 7.3 Alt-Click or Control-Click don't work as expected, when playing in a window.
• 7.4 I'm always getting the game in English, although my language is listed as supported.
• 7.5 The colors are really, really funny.

8. Input

• 8.1 How do I change the hotkeys bindings?
• 8.2 Can I use my mouse wheel with Sim City 3000?

9. Sound

• 9.1 Can I use the Enlightenment Sound Daemon (ESD) with SimCity 3000 Unlimited?
• 9.2 The sound is skipping a lot, and is very choppy. Is there something I can do about it?

10. Gameplay

• 10.1 How do I build a bridge?
• 10.2 Once the Thanksgiving Day Parade starts, is there any way to stop it?
• 10.3 How do I build a highway on-ramp?

11. Contact

• 11.1 How do I report a bug?
• 11.2 How can I receive technical support?

1. Introduction

• 1.1 How to use this FAQ
  
  
  This FAQ allows you to navigate through the answers by category, or individually, or to view the entire FAQ at once. The full view is also suitable for printing.

  This FAQ is modelled on the Linux HOWTO documents for consistency and ease of navigation.

  
  
• 1.2 Authors
  
  
  The maintainers of the FAQ can be reached by e-mailing faqs@lokigames.com. Please send all correspondance directly related to the FAQlist tool to that address.
  
  

2. Requirements

• 2.1 What are the system requirements for the game?
  
  

  Minimum system requirements:
  Linux kernel version 2.2.X Pentium 233 or higher 32 MB RAM required (64 MB recommended) 8x or faster CD-ROM drive		Video card capable of 640x480 resolution XFree86 version 3.3.5 or newer at 16bpp OSS compatible sound card 450 MB free hard disk space plus space for saved games

  Additional requirements for the Building Architect Plus tool:

  Graphics card with an OpenGL-compliant 3D driver

  
  
• 2.2 Does the game use 3D acceleration?
  
  
  No.
  
  
• 2.3 Can the game be played on all distributions of Linux?
  
  
  We spent a significant amount of development time ensuring that SimCity 3000 Unlimited works properly with all major glibc 2.1-based distributions.

  Because the game is designed for glibc 2.1, libc5 and glibc 2.0 users may need to upgrade.

  Note that some issues have arisen with distributions using a pre 2.2 glibc snapshot (glibc 2.1.80 and later). We are working on a patch to address these issues.

  
  
• 2.4 Does the game support Esound?
  
  
  SimCity 3000 Unlimited supports esound via OpenAL (http://www.openal.org/). Our OpenAL FAQ includes a method for using OpenAL over esound.
  
  
• 2.5 Does the game fully support X-Windows? Would I be able to run the Linux game using an X-term on a Windows machine?
  
  
  Some people have been able to do this, but it tends to be slow and requires a very fast network connection between the two machines. It is an unsupported configuration.
  
  

3. Interoperability

• 3.1 Can I buy the Windows version and download a patch, to play SimCity 3000 Unlimited under Linux?
  
  
  No. We are not offering a patch to convert the Windows version to the Linux version.
  
  
• 3.2 Can a saved city created in Windows be used with SimCity 3000 Unlimited for Linux?
  
  
  Yes. The saved games are compatible across platforms.
  
  
• 3.3 Can I use the stuff from SimCity Exchange (www.simcity.com) with the Linux version of SimCity 3000 Unlimited?
  
  
  Maxis has elected not to support Linux users via the SimCity Exchange at this time.

  Linux users are free to access third party sites to trade buildings, scenarios and save games with other SimCity 3000 Unlimited users, and the Linux version of SC3KU supports the use of these files, even if they were created on Windows.

  The following is a partial list of third party fan sites where buildings, scenarios and other enhancements are available:

  1. http://www.sc3000.com/
  2. http://www.siminteractive.net/
  3. http://www.simcityhq.com/
  4. http://www.sngaming.com/
  
  
• 3.4 Can we use scenario scripts, upload/download new buildings, and whatever else they mention?
  
  
  The Linux version of SimCity 3000 Unlimited supports the use of these extensions, even if they were created on Windows. However, Maxis has elected not to make them directly accessible to Linux users via the SimCity Exchange.

  The following is a partial list of third party fan sites where buildings, scenarios and other enhancements are available:

  1. http://www.sc3000.com/
  2. http://www.siminteractive.net/
  3. http://www.simcityhq.com/
  4. http://www.sngaming.com/
  
  
• 3.5 Can I make scenario scripts under Linux?
  
  
  The SimCity 3000 Unlimited Scenario editor was written entirely in Microsoft Access, and would need to be rewritten from scratch to work on Linux. At this time there are no plans to rewrite this tool.
  
  
• 3.6 I also noticed a few programs for the building architect tools (a rendering kit and some props). Are these eventually going to be ported as well?
  
  
  The Building Architect Tool is used to edit and create buildings for use in SimCity 3000 Unlimited. The BAT has been ported to Linux and is included with the game CD. Buildings created using the Linux or Windows version of the BAT will work on both Windows and Linux versions of SC3KU.

  We are not currently working on porting any BAT extensions, but may choose to do so in the future.

  
  
• 3.7 The Windows version imports SimCity 2000 cities. Can the Linux version?
  
  
  Neither the released version nor the 2.0a patch can import cities. This capability will be added in the next patch.

  In the meantime, if you have a SimCity 2000 city you need converted to SC3U, please e-mail support@lokigames.com and we will convert the city for you.

  
  

4. Demo

• 4.1 Where can I get the SimCity 3000 Unlimited demo version?
  
  
  The SimCity 3000 Unlimited demo is available through our Demo Launcher (http://www.lokigames.com/products/demos.php3).
  
  
• 4.2 How do I install the demo?
  
  
  1. Pull down the sc3u-demo-x86.run archive from one of our mirrors
  2. Go to the directory in which you would like to install the demo. Make sure that you have write permissions to the directory. (ex. cd /usr/local/games)
  3. Run the script with "sh sc3u-demo-x86.run". A new "sc3u_demo" directory should have been created.
  4. To run the game, just go to the new game directory and type "./sc3u_demo" (or create symbolic links, or add the sc3u_demo directory to your path).
  
  
• 4.3 The demo is crashing on startup under RedHat 7.0 (or other glibc 2.1.8+ systems).
  
  
  The usual trace looks like:

  BUG! (Segmentation Fault)  Going down hard...
  Sim City 3000 Unlimited 2.0.955
  Built with glibc-2.1
  Stack dump:
  {
          ./sc3u_demo(sdl_SnapShot+0x231) [0x847818d]
          /lib/libpthread.so.0(pthread_kill+0x16c) [0x4002f610]
          /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_sigaction+0x2a8) [0x400858d8]
          ./sc3u_demo(_dlerror_run+0xc9) [0x853dbb5]
          ./sc3u_demo(__dlopen_check+0x25) [0x853d875]
          ./sc3u_demo(Load__13cGZCOMLibrary+0x7ac) [0x835f264]
          ./sc3u_demo(UpdateClassRegistry__6cGZCOMR13cGZCOMLibrary+0x20) [0x8360cb8]
          ./sc3u_demo(AddLibrary__6cGZCOMRC10cIGZString+0x1c1) [0x835fea5]
          ./sc3u_demo(__11SimSettings+0x7e8) [0x815f5e4]
          ./sc3u_demo(EnumEntries__10cRZIniFileRC9cRZStringPFRC9cRZStringRC9cRZStringPv_vPv+0x759) [0x839f32d]
          ./sc3u_demo(AddDynamicLibrariesHere__7cSC3App+0x63e) [0x81600f6]
          ./sc3u_demo(sInit__12cGZFrameWorkR10cRZCmdLineb+0x13a) [0x835ac8a]
          ./sc3u_demo(Main__12cGZFrameWorkR10cRZCmdLineb+0x26) [0x835b2e2]
          ./sc3u_demo(main+0x45) [0x8156d41]
          /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xce) [0x40074f66]
          ./sc3u_demo(_start+0x21) [0x8149f11]
  }
  

  This has been addressed in a patch for the demo. Please download the SimCity 3000 Unlimited demo patch from here.

  We have also updated the demo to include this patch.

  
  

5. Installation

• 5.1 How do I install the game?
  
  
  1. Mount the CD-ROM using the "mount" command. If you are unsure how this works, please check the documentation for your Linux distribution. Generally, the format for mounting a CD-ROM under Linux is similar to:

         mount -t iso9660 -r /dev/cdrom /mnt/cdrom
     

  2. Under X11, enter the command "sh [Mounted CD-ROM Path]/setup.sh". Be sure to replace the [Mounted CD-ROM Path] portion of this command with the correct path for the mounted CD-ROM. In the example above, the command would be:

         sh /mnt/cdrom/setup.sh
     

  3. Under "Global Options":
     • Enter the directory into which the game should be installed in the Install path: box. In the box labeled "Link path", enter a directory in your $PATH where a symbolic link for the binary should be set up. Make sure you have write permissions in both of these directories.
  4. Under "Install Options":
     • You must install "Base Install" (the basic game files). You may choose to leave the music, movies, landmark packs, and Building Architect Plus tool on the CD. If you wish to write these files to your hard drive, click in the corresponding boxes.
     • Below the Install Options, the installer will display how much space is left on your partition, and how much the game will use per the options selected (57 MB just for the base install, 610M for everything).
     • Check in the box for KDE/Gnome menu items if you would like them installed.
  5. You may view the game README at this point if you wish, by clicking on "View Readme". Otherwise, click on "Begin Install" to begin the copying of files.
  6. When the game has finished installing, you may choose either to launch it directly (click on "Play!") or to simply exit and run the game from the console.
  7. To run the game generally, just type "sc3u" from the console (you shouldn't have to enter the complete path). If you chose to install desktop icons, and you are running one of the desktops, you will be able to launch the game from the installed icons.
  
  
• 5.2 Do I have to be logged in as root to install the game?
  
  
  No, but you do have to have write privileges to /usr/local/games (or wherever you choose to install the game).
  
  
• 5.3 What command-line options are available once the game is installed?
  
  
  The following arguments may be given to Sim City 3000:

      -f          Enable fullscreen mode (default)
      -w          Enable windowed mode
      -v          Dump version information
      -cursor:bmp Use software mouse cursor
      -cheats     Disable cheat codes
      -intro:off  Toggle intro movie off
      -music:off  Toggle music player off
      -sound:off  Toggle sound off
  

  So, to launch the game in a window, with the software mouse cursor, you would issue the command:

      sc3u -w -cursor:bmp
  

  
  
• 5.4 The full game is crashing on startup under a recent distribution (RedHat 7.x, Mandrake 8, SuSE 7.1, Debian unstable), with something about a 'sdl_SnapShot'.
  
  
  The usual trace looks like:

  BUG! (Segmentation Fault)  Going down hard...
  Sim City 3000 Unlimited 2.0.955
  Built with glibc-2.1
  Stack dump:
  {
          sc3u(sdl_SnapShot+0x231) [0x8479fad]
          /lib/libpthread.so.0(pthread_kill+0x167) [0x4002aa2b]
          /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_sigaction+0x1f8) [0x4007fcf8]
          sc3u(_dlerror_run+0xc9) [0x853f9d5]
          sc3u(__dlopen_check+0x25) [0x853f695]
          sc3u(Load__13cGZCOMLibrary+0x7ac) [0x8360de4]
          sc3u(UpdateClassRegistry__6cGZCOMR13cGZCOMLibrary+0x20) [0x8362838]
          sc3u(AddLibrary__6cGZCOMRC10cIGZString+0x1c1) [0x8361a25]
          sc3u(__11SimSettings+0x7e8) [0x8161174]
          sc3u(EnumEntries__10cRZIniFileRC9cRZStringPFRC9cRZStringRC9cRZStringPv_vPv+0x759) [0x83a0ead]
          sc3u(AddDynamicLibrariesHere__7cSC3App+0x63e) [0x8161c86]
          sc3u(sInit__12cGZFrameWorkR10cRZCmdLineb+0x13a) [0x835c80a]
          sc3u(Main__12cGZFrameWorkR10cRZCmdLineb+0x26) [0x835ce62]
          sc3u(main+0x45) [0x8158521]
          /lib/libc.so.6(__libc_start_main+0xcc) [0x40070b8c]
          sc3u(_start+0x21) [0x8149f41]
  }
  Please send a full bug report,
  along with the contents of autosave to: support@lokigames.com
  

  This is a known issue with very recent glibc 2.1.8+ releases (in particular, those included in the latest Debian Woody, RedHat 7.0 and 7.1, and SuSE 7.1) and glibc 2.2. We have released a patch (2.0a) to address this issue. The patch is available via loki_update http://updates.lokigames.com/
  
  

6. Updates

• 6.1 Where can I download the update patches?
  
  
  The 2.0a patch is available through loki_update (http://updates.lokigames.com/).

  There is a patch for the first release of the demo. Information is available here.

  
  
• 6.2 What issues are addressed in the patch?
  
  
  2.0a:

  • The Spanish version of the game would crash because of a corrupted data file.
  • Compatibility problems with earlier C libraries (i.e. RedHat 7.x) have been addressed.
  • The game now makes use of OpenAL 1.0 for increased performance.
  • Fixed year display in neighbor deals dialog.
  • Using the mouse wheel in the file dialogs actually moves the selection.
  • Software mouse cursor is working again.
  
  
• 6.3 Are there any updates for the demo?
  
  
  There is a small update to address the problem described here.
  
  

7. Display

• 7.1 Can I stop the mouse cursor from flickering so much?
  
  
  SimCity uses the X11 cursors by default. If your X server does not support hardware cursors, or if you did not enable it in your XF86Config file (Option "hw_cursor" on some drivers), then some flickering may occur. Just run Sim City using its own internal software cursor code, enabled by using the -cursor:bmp command line option, e.g.:

      sc3u -cursor:bmp
  

  
  
• 7.2 The game seems very sluggish. Can I speed it up?
  
  
  On X11, due to limitations in the X11 server, 2D hardware acceleration is not fully used. Try decreasing the resolution at which you are playing, and you can also try to decrease level of animation on the screen in the Preferences dialog. With large cities, you can also try to reduce the simulation speed.

  The largest speed-up (aside from picking a good resolution) is to run the X server in 16bpp mode. This will optimize the data being passed to the X server for display, and eliminate on-the-fly data conversions.

  Note that some video cards (e.g. the nVidia cards, such as the GeForce) only have optimized 2D drivers under some versions of X. The GeForce cards in particular are very, very slow with XFree86 3.3.6, and with XFree86 4.0 and 4.0.1. You should either use XFree86 4.0.x with the binary nVidia drivers, or you should use XFree86 4.0.2 and the newer "nv" driver.

  
  
• 7.3 Alt-Click or Control-Click don't work as expected, when playing in a window.
  
  
  If you are not using the fullscreen mode, then your X11 window manager may intercept some keyboard and mouse combinations for its own usage. To bypass that, you can either switch to fullscreen mode by hitting Alt-Enter, or you can lock the input in the game window by hitting the Alt-G keys (while in the game). To unlock the input again, just hit Alt-G once more.
  
  
• 7.4 I'm always getting the game in English, although my language is listed as supported.
  
  
  Make sure that your LANG environment variable is set properly for the language you are using, before installing the game. If the variable is not set at install time, the language files will not be installed.
  
  
• 7.5 The colors are really, really funny.
  
  
  Some cards (in particular, the older Diamond Viper cards, such as the V330) do not support the RGB 565 format, instead they use RG 655. This is a non-standard 16bpp mode, and it causes the bits representing the colors to be drawn to overlap and be given the wrong values when displayed.

  Some users have successfully worked around this by forcing the X server to run in 15bpp mode instead of 16bpp mode. (Note that this problem should not occur under 8bpp or 32bpp at all.) Starting your X server with:

      startx -- -bpp 15
  

  should fix the display issue.
  
  

8. Input

• 8.1 How do I change the hotkeys bindings?
  
  
  This can't be done in the game itself, but the data files that define the hotkeys are easily editable. Detailed intructions can be found in the hotkeys.txt file installed with the game.
  
  
• 8.2 Can I use my mouse wheel with Sim City 3000?
  
  
  Yes, but you need to have it configured in your X server first. You can use the mouse wheel with most widgets. In the game, you can also scroll the map horizontally, and vertically while holding the Control or Shift keys.
  
  

9. Sound

• 9.1 Can I use the Enlightenment Sound Daemon (ESD) with SimCity 3000 Unlimited?
  
  
  Yes, although this is an unsupported configuration. Make sure you have the following line in your ~/.openalrc file :

     (define devices '(esd native))
  

  This will enable the OpenAL sound driver to try ESD first, and then fall back to the native OSS Linux drivers if ESD is not available.
  
  
• 9.2 The sound is skipping a lot, and is very choppy. Is there something I can do about it?
  
  
  The release version of SimCity 3000 Unlimited pushes sound cards and sound drivers quite hard. If the drivers for your sound card are incomplete, you may experience issues with sound.

  We are working on a patch to SC3U which will widen the range of soundcards that behave well. In the meantime, you may wish to decrease the amount of sound being used (e.g. turn off music), or run the game through esound.

  
  

10. Gameplay

• 10.1 How do I build a bridge?
  
  
  The road (or highway) must be built horizontally or vertically, according to the map's grid, and it needs at least three tiles of level ground (preferably at the same height on both sides) before the water. So, if you start the road/bridge three or more tiles away from the water, drag the road across the water, once you have three or more tiles of land on the other side, the "shadow" road should turn from red to blue. If you let go of the mouse button, you will then be prompted with the cost of the bridge.
  
  
• 10.2 Once the Thanksgiving Day Parade starts, is there any way to stop it?
  
  
  No. The parade is handled through the "disaster" mechanisms in the game. As a result, like any "disaster" (e.g. locusts, fire, whirlpool, tornado, toxic cloud), the camera is zoomed in on the event, time effectively pauses, and you get to wait out the marching drums. If you scroll away, the camera will snap back.

  The parade will end after all the participants walk down the street and vanish, which may take a couple minutes.

  
  
• 10.3 How do I build a highway on-ramp?
  
  
  You need to make certain that there is a stretch of highway, straight either on the horizontal or vertical, with a road perpendicular to it. You need at least five straight, unobstructed tiles, since the on-ramp needs the exit signs as well. If it is legal to build the ramp, the "shadow" under the cursor will be blue.
  
  

11. Contact

• 11.1 How do I report a bug?
  
  
  Please visit our publicly accessible bug database (http://fenris.lokigames.com/) and post a bug report. Be sure to first check the list of known bugs and fixes/patches.
  
  
• 11.2 How can I receive technical support?
  
  
  We support our products by e-mail (preferred) and phone. Phone support is available by calling (714) 508-2140 between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) Monday through Friday, except holidays.