SimCity/Lincity

Lincity

A screenshot of Lincity.

Lincity was originally for Linux, but now also runs on Microsoft Windows, BeOS, and OS/2, as well as a huge variety of Unix-styled systems. It features complex, 2D, top-down gameplay. It was last updated in August 2004, although any changes since circa 1999 have been relatively minor. It uses SVGALib or X11 as its graphics interface API on Unix systems, with a variety of native versions on non-Unix platforms.

Lincity puts you in control of managing every aspect of a city's economy. A variety of structures can be placed. All structures cost money to place, but all but a few can be placed on credit with no ill consequences save the large interest payments. Housing can provide jobs to a nearby market, which in turn will provide jobs to connecting transport (either dirt path, road, railroad). The jobs can in turn be used by other structures to put materials on to the transport. For example, ore mines use jobs to mine ore. Other more complex structures need a variety of things in order to function, or can produce more than one thing. Some structures even need electricity, which, unlike all other commodities in the game is supplied by power lines. For example, light industry uses jobs, ore, and optionally steel and electricity to produce goods.

Some structures will increase the technological level of the city. As the tech level increases, more advanced subjects can be built. When the city is advanced enough, a space program can be initiated which can eventually be used to evacuate from the city and win the game.

LinCity-NG

Lincity NG screenshot.

A fork of the game, Lincity-NG, uses SDL and OpenGL, and has isometric 3D graphics, similar to that in SimCity 3000. However, the gameplay is identical and it can read lincity save files. It again runs on Linux as its primary platform, with Windows, Mac OS X, BeOS, and Unix systems also supported. A Windows binary + gamefiles download of Lincity-NG is around 40 MB, compared to 800 KB for original the Lincity, with the around 40 times increased file size mainly due to the more advanced graphics and sound.