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Simcity Original for DOS

VERAULT

VERAULT

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Im looking for a working version of the Original Simcity for DOS. I want to find a copy that works on ALL the video formats properly. I used to play this on my IBM 5160 with CGA monitor and want to relive that as well as try out other modes like hercules I neve got to see.

I have scoured the Internet Archive and all the verisons I find online have corrupted files or settings.exe and will only display chunky VGA or EGA but nothing else.
 
VERAULT said:
It works fine for hercules and cga but tops out at EGA. It has no higher video modes.
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There is no version that does it all. The better version with high-res VGA was called SimCity Classic, or SimCity 2.0.
 
I have tried simcity classic. It looses a few of the mid and lower resolution settings. So you are probably right about no version doing it all. The nice thing about the Classic 2.0 version is it has adlib music, but it has no more option for IBM/Internal speaker for sound effects. Honestly Id rather have the sound effects as thats how I remember it.
 
1.07 will do 640x480 mono. But if you want 640x480 color then you need 2.0 which drops 640x200 CGA.
 
I take it mixing components and configs from other versions cant regain these formats if you manually edit the simcity.cfg file?
 
Just for fun I was poking around in the pirated version. I see that SIMCITY.CFG only contains 5 bytes "ENI1‘" and I changed it to "ENI2‘" to see what would happen. It failed to launch with a checksum error and changing it back restored operation, so it didn't do any permanent harm.

I also see the the START.bat file contains the line config -set "sdl sensitivity=200" which makes me wonder what other -set commands might be available. Anyone have any documentation for these options?
 
Sounds like you have the simcity classic (ver 2.0). ITs config is different from the earlier ones. So I am not to sure of its switches. But it does have more sound card support.
 
I just found v1.10 with a settings.exe file to change video modes. It says it supports Hercules.
H - Hercules Graphics
C - CGA Monochrome
T - Tandy Color
M - Hires EGA Monochrome
e - Lores EGA Color
E - Hires EGA Color
V - Monochrome VGA/MCGA
2 - 256 Color VGA/MCGA

I am not sure how easily I can test this in DosBox. Have you seen this one;
archive.org

SimCity (1989) [1.02 and 1.10] : Maxis : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

This is the original 1989 version of SimCity. It includes versions 1.02 and 1.10. Mirrored from MyAbandonware
archive.org
 
bburley said:
I just found v1.10 with a settings.exe file to change video modes. It says it supports Hercules.
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Interesting. But that version is certainly a hack, which can be seen from the readme and all the modified files. Maybe someone combined 1.0 and Classic somehow..?

Also, "256 Color VGA/MCGA" indicates low-res only. I'll give it a try still, as it would be cool to have a version that supports pretty much every graphics standard.
 
As I assumed. No 640x480 16-color VGA mode here. And the same crappy sound options. It's also a cracked version and graphics files are modified.
 

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I found this copy on a p2p network. I have not tried testing it, but it is the only old version I saw that contained the install.exe file.
 

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I wanted to run Simcity for DOS in CGA Monochrome mode on a TurboXT class PC. Unfortunately all of the archives I found were lacking the “CGA” directory. Probably because there are so few people who want to play with such crappy settings? Hahah. But I persevered. Below is what worked for me, probably the long way around but fun :)

Start with SimCity DOS v1.10 (btw, all the files I use here can be downloaded at a certain “abandonware software site” except for one which I’ll mention later)

Run “SETTINGS.EXE” and choose “CGA Monochrome (640 x 200)
1728078765038.png

Once your settings are satisfactory, select “Quit and Save Changes”

You’ll be prompted for the “Ancient Asia Graphics Disk.” Create a disk image (I used HxCFloppyEmulator) containing the “SimCity-Graphics-Set-1-Ancient-Cities” files.
1728078799439.png

Next you’ll be prompted for the “Future USA Graphics Disk.” Create a disk image containing the “SimCity-Graphics-Set-2-Future-Cities” files.
1728078812672.png

Next you’ll be prompted for the “original SimCity Disk." I was able to find an IMG of this disk on Archive.org (“SimCity - KryoFlux”)
1728078829012.png

Done!
1728078883268.png

Now we have the “CGA” directory.
1728078904808.png
1728078912949.png

Notice in SIMCITY.CFG: Screen Mode: C, Graphics Set: CGADAT
1728078967895.png

Plays pretty good IMHO. Now to mess up the world...
1728079114697.jpeg
 
Very good work. Maybe you could put it all together in one file in archive for future users with the same taste? Congratulations.
 
I was wondering whether it is possible to patch Simcity when using one of the hires mono modes to support AT&T 640x400 mode (40h/48h) ? I would imagine changing INT 10H call parameters and patching wherewer the game stores vertical resolution may be enough?
 
0xDEADBEEF said:
I was wondering whether it is possible to patch Simcity when using one of the hires mono modes to support AT&T 640x400 mode (40h/48h) ? I would imagine changing INT 10H call parameters and patching wherewer the game stores vertical resolution may be enough?
Click to expand...
When you say AT&T do you mean the AT&T, Xerox, Olivetti pc?
 
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