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When I saw Sim City 2000 on GoG I instantly brought a copy, loved this game when I was younger. When I went to actually play it though I was disappoited to find that is was the DOS version and not the version I had on windows 95 which gave a nice window and could be played at the monitor's native resolution. Is there any way to get the windows 95 version working on modern computers? The DOS version is far too clunky and I just cant get into it.
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Hairball: When I saw Sim City 2000 on GoG I instantly brought a copy, loved this game when I was younger. When I went to actually play it though I was disappoited to find that is was the DOS version and not the version I had on windows 95 which gave a nice window and could be played at the monitor's native resolution. Is there any way to get the windows 95 version working on modern computers? The DOS version is far too clunky and I just cant get into it.
It is possible, but it isn't easy. The problem with it is on Win7 x64 (and presumably this affects Win8 and possibly Vista). When you use the menu to get to a dialog window to load or save then it crashes.

So, firstly you need to obtain a copy of the game (retail disc or alternative).

Now, it has a 16-bit installer which won't therefore run on 64 bit OSes, so you'll either have to install it on a 32-bit OS or obtain the installed game folder via another method.

Once you have the installed game folder, copy it to the machine you want to run it on (this can be a 64-bit OS machine that you put it on as the game itself is 32-bit). It is just the SC2K folder and all of its contents and subfolders that you want.

Next you need to create the game registry entries. The below (content of the .reg file) assumes you've put the game folder to C:\Games\SC2K\


Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maxis]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maxis\SimCity 2000]

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maxis\SimCity 2000\Localize]
"Language"="USA"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maxis\SimCity 2000\Options]
"Speed"=dword:00000001
"Sound"=dword:00000001
"Music"=dword:00000001
"AutoGoto"=dword:00000001
"AutoBudget"=dword:00000000
"Disasters"=dword:00000001
"AutoSave"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maxis\SimCity 2000\Paths]
"Home"="C:\\Games\\SC2K"
"Graphics"="C:\\Games\\SC2K\\Bitmaps"
"Music"="C:\\Games\\SC2K\\Sounds"
"Data"="C:\\Games\\SC2K\\Data"
"Goodies"="C:\\Games\\SC2K\\Goodies"
"Cities"="C:\\Games\\SC2K\\Cities"
"SaveGame"="C:\\Games\\SC2K\\Cities"
"TileSets"="C:\\Games\\SC2K\\ScurkArt"
"Scenarios"="C:\\Games\\SC2K\\Scenario"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maxis\SimCity 2000\Registration]
"Mayor Name"="SimMayor"
"Company Name"="Maxis"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maxis\SimCity 2000\SCURK]
"CycleColors"=dword:00000001
"GridHeight"=dword:00000002
"GridWidth"=dword:00000002
"ShowClipRegion"=dword:00000000
"ShowDrawGrid"=dword:00000000
"SnapToGrid"=dword:00000000
"Sound"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maxis\Maxis\SimCity 2000\Version]
"SimCity 2000"=dword:00000100
"SCURK"=dword:00000100

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Maxis\SimCity 2000\Windows]
"Display"="8 1"
"Color Check"=dword:00000000


So put the above (editing it for your chosen install location) in a .reg file and run it to merge it into your registry.

Lastly, you need to fix the game executable to fix the dialog window crashing. This is done with sc2k_w7_patch.exe which you can search for on Google. Once you run that patch to fix the game executable then it should be up and running on Win7 x64.

Oh, and as a secondary note, if you play it in a screen mode with more than 256 colours then some of the animations don't show up (or show up incorrectly) but it is stil playable.


So, you can see why GOG released the DOS version.
Post edited December 19, 2012 by korell
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Hairball: When I saw Sim City 2000 on GoG I instantly brought a copy, loved this game when I was younger. When I went to actually play it though I was disappoited to find that is was the DOS version and not the version I had on windows 95 which gave a nice window and could be played at the monitor's native resolution. Is there any way to get the windows 95 version working on modern computers? The DOS version is far too clunky and I just cant get into it.
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korell: ...

So, you can see why GOG released the DOS version.
That's why GOG releases DOS versions in general, Hairball - DOSBox provides very good compatibility and stability.
Alternatively, if you can stomach the UI of Windows 95/98, install a Virtual Machine of the older OS and install the Windows version of SimCity 2000 on it. Since it doesn't require much in the way of graphics acceleration it should run normally. It'll also run without crashing much.

And VirtualBox is free. (However you will need a copy of Windows 98 or 95 OSR2 and I can't tell you where to get those because that would be against TOS)
Post edited March 12, 2013 by lordfirefox
I've contacted GOG support letting them know of the install instructions and fixes for the Windows version of the game on modern 64-bit OSes. I can't say whether or not this will help GOG to provide the Windows version, but maybe they will be able to look into testing it with this information and just possibly provide the Windows version.
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korell: I've contacted GOG support letting them know of the install instructions and fixes for the Windows version of the game on modern 64-bit OSes. I can't say whether or not this will help GOG to provide the Windows version, but maybe they will be able to look into testing it with this information and just possibly provide the Windows version.
I really hope so. I'm in the "Ugh, DOS" camp. I get that it's just easier and otherwise it would be a real challenge, but until they find a way to release the Windows version I grew up with, I'm afraid this one is just going to sit on the shelf for me. Really disappointing.
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lordfirefox: Alternatively, if you can stomach the UI of Windows 95/98, install a Virtual Machine of the older OS and install the Windows version of SimCity 2000 on it. Since it doesn't require much in the way of graphics acceleration it should run normally. It'll also run without crashing much.
Works, but it is not really very practical.
low rated
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reemiip: Works, but it is not really very practical.
Neither are you.
It would be nice to have the Windows version available, because it runs just fine with Wine on Linux.

(Yes, Wine is more compatible with good old games than Windows itself).
I second the motion of releasing the Windows version of Sim City 2000. I don't like the DOS version's UI...

Heck, I'd even take the liberty of compiling an installer... It's not that hard...
I've requested the Windows 95 version on GOG's wishlist.. please support the effort. This DOS version is pants.
I'm not buying this game until the Win95 version comes out. I was close, then I realized it's the DOS version. Shame, GOG could get an easy sale from me and a few others over this.
I cheated by installing Windows 3.11 in DOSBox and installing the Windows version of SimCity Classic and SimCity 2000 in there (I have CD versions for both). Works great and you get all the benefits of running in Windows (granted, limited to 1024x768 resolution), and - with some cycle tweaking - running at native speeds.

I still have my Windows 98 SE CD from about a dozen computers ago. I'm thinking a Virtual PC 2007 SP1 VM (it's still available from Microsoft for free) is in order one of these days... =)

Flynn
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tb87670: I'm not buying this game until the Win95 version comes out. I was close, then I realized it's the DOS version. Shame, GOG could get an easy sale from me and a few others over this.
It wouldn't be an "easy" sale because the game most likely would not work on your machine, and thus you'd probably want a refund.

My suggestion would be looking into getting an "old-school" Windows 95 or Windows 98 machine, buying the Windows version of Simcity 2000 off Amazon, then just playing it that way.

Alternatively you could try following the advice of FlynArrowstarr or lordfirefox.
For anyone wanting to install Windows 3.11 in DOSbox, I used the instructions and files at the Vogons forum. I have original floppies of Windows 3.11 and a USB floppy drive to do the initial installation. The files can also be copied into a single directory and mounted in DOSbox as well.

Flynn