Lincity
Encyclopedia
Lincity is a free construction and management simulation game, which puts the player in control of managing a city's socio-economy. Its name is a play on the title of the original city-building game
, SimCity
, and it was released under the GNU General Public License
.
The simulation considers population, employment, basic water management and ecology, goods (availability and production), raw materials (ore, steel, coal), services (education, health, fire protection, leisures), energy (electricity and charcoal, coal with finite reserves, solar and wind power) and other constraints such as finance, pollution and transports.
Various indicators are provided, with mini maps or statistics. The player has to take care of population growth and various socio-economical balances.
Lincity can be won in two ways: reaching sustainable development
, or evacuating the entire population with spacecraft
. The LinCity homepage has a Hall of Fame, listing players who have succeeded in one of these two goals.
' s sophistication.
The original version of the game was titled LinCity. This version can be played on older computers without a 3D graphics card, and possessing low memory and a slow processor
. It features complex, 2D, top-down gameplay. It was last updated in August 2004, though any changes since 1999
have been minor.
Lincity was originally designed for Linux
, but also runs on Microsoft Windows
, BeOS
, OS/2
, and AmigaOS 4
, as well as a huge variety of Unix
-styled systems. Mac OS X
, however, is only supported when compiled from source using GCC
and run using X11.app
. It uses SVGALib
or X11 as its graphics interface API
on Unix systems, with a variety of native versions on non-Unix platforms.
of Lincity with improved graphics and new sounds. Up to release 1.1.2, gameplay is identical and can read classic Lincity save files.
Lincity-NG version 2 adds water management to the simulation, and very simplistic ecology. Version 2.0 was released on 25 January 2009.
It is released under the GNU General Public License
with artwork dual license
d under that and the Creative Commons
Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 license; the included DejaVu fonts
are distributed under their own liberal licensing terms.
LinCity-NG uses SDL
and OpenGL
, and has an isometric view
.
City-building game
City-building games are a genre of strategy computer game where players act as the overall planner and leader of a city, looking down on it from above, and being responsible for its growth and management...
, SimCity
SimCity
SimCity is a critically acclaimed city-building simulation video game, first released in 1989, and designed by Will Wright. SimCity was Maxis' first product, which has since been ported into various personal computers and game consoles, and spawned several sequels including SimCity 2000 in 1994,...
, and it was released under the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
.
Gameplay
Lincity is a city and country simulation game, similar in concept to SimCity. The player can develop a city by buying appropriate buildings, services and infrastructure.The simulation considers population, employment, basic water management and ecology, goods (availability and production), raw materials (ore, steel, coal), services (education, health, fire protection, leisures), energy (electricity and charcoal, coal with finite reserves, solar and wind power) and other constraints such as finance, pollution and transports.
Various indicators are provided, with mini maps or statistics. The player has to take care of population growth and various socio-economical balances.
Lincity can be won in two ways: reaching sustainable development
Sustainable development
Sustainable development is a pattern of resource use, that aims to meet human needs while preserving the environment so that these needs can be met not only in the present, but also for generations to come...
, or evacuating the entire population with spacecraft
Spacecraft
A spacecraft or spaceship is a craft or machine designed for spaceflight. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including communications, earth observation, meteorology, navigation, planetary exploration and transportation of humans and cargo....
. The LinCity homepage has a Hall of Fame, listing players who have succeeded in one of these two goals.
Critical reception
A CNN article on Linux games highlighted LinCityHistory
Central processing unit
The central processing unit is the portion of a computer system that carries out the instructions of a computer program, to perform the basic arithmetical, logical, and input/output operations of the system. The CPU plays a role somewhat analogous to the brain in the computer. The term has been in...
. It features complex, 2D, top-down gameplay. It was last updated in August 2004, though any changes since 1999
1999 in video gaming
-Events:*British Academy of Film and Television Arts hosts the 2nd annual BAFTA Interactive Entertainment Awards*March – Game Over republished as “Game Over: Press Start to Continue”...
have been minor.
Lincity was originally designed for Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
, but also runs on Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
, BeOS
BeOS
BeOS is an operating system for personal computers which began development by Be Inc. in 1991. It was first written to run on BeBox hardware. BeOS was optimized for digital media work and was written to take advantage of modern hardware facilities such as symmetric multiprocessing by utilizing...
, OS/2
OS/2
OS/2 is a computer operating system, initially created by Microsoft and IBM, then later developed by IBM exclusively. The name stands for "Operating System/2," because it was introduced as part of the same generation change release as IBM's "Personal System/2 " line of second-generation personal...
, and AmigaOS 4
AmigaOS 4
AmigaOS 4, , is a line of Amiga operating systems which runs on PowerPC microprocessors. It is mainly based on AmigaOS 3.1 source code, and partially on version 3.9 developed by Haage & Partner...
, as well as a huge variety of Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
-styled systems. Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
, however, is only supported when compiled from source using GCC
GNU Compiler Collection
The GNU Compiler Collection is a compiler system produced by the GNU Project supporting various programming languages. GCC is a key component of the GNU toolchain...
and run using X11.app
X11.app
XQuartz is Apple Inc.'s version of the X server, a component of the X Window System, for Mac OS X. The current version of XQuartz is a DDX included in the X.Org Server and implements support for hardware-accelerated 2D graphics , hardware OpenGL acceleration and integration with Aqua, the Mac OS...
. It uses SVGALib
SVGALib
SVGAlib is an open-source low-level graphics library which runs on Linux and FreeBSD and allows programs to change video mode and display full-screen graphics. Some popular games like Quake and Doom used it in their original releases....
or X11 as its graphics interface API
Application programming interface
An application programming interface is a source code based specification intended to be used as an interface by software components to communicate with each other...
on Unix systems, with a variety of native versions on non-Unix platforms.
LinCity-NG
LinCity-NG is a forkFork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
of Lincity with improved graphics and new sounds. Up to release 1.1.2, gameplay is identical and can read classic Lincity save files.
Lincity-NG version 2 adds water management to the simulation, and very simplistic ecology. Version 2.0 was released on 25 January 2009.
It is released under the GNU General Public License
GNU General Public License
The GNU General Public License is the most widely used free software license, originally written by Richard Stallman for the GNU Project....
with artwork dual license
Dual license
Multi-licensing is the practice of distributing software under two or more different sets of terms and conditions. This may mean multiple different licenses or sets of licenses. Prefixes may be used to indicate the number of licenses used, e.g...
d under that and the Creative Commons
Creative Commons licenses
Creative Commons licenses are several copyright licenses that allow the distribution of copyrighted works. The licenses differ by several combinations that condition the terms of distribution. They were initially released on December 16, 2002 by Creative Commons, a U.S...
Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 license; the included DejaVu fonts
DejaVu fonts
The DejaVu fonts are modifications of the Bitstream Vera fonts designed for greater coverage of Unicode, as well as providing more styles. The Bitstream Vera family was limited mainly to the characters in the Basic Latin and Latin-1 Supplement portions of Unicode but was released with a license...
are distributed under their own liberal licensing terms.
LinCity-NG uses SDL
Simple DirectMedia Layer
Simple DirectMedia Layer is a cross-platform, free and open source multimedia library written in C that presents a simple interface to various platforms' graphics, sound, and input devices....
and OpenGL
OpenGL
OpenGL is a standard specification defining a cross-language, cross-platform API for writing applications that produce 2D and 3D computer graphics. The interface consists of over 250 different function calls which can be used to draw complex three-dimensional scenes from simple primitives. OpenGL...
, and has an isometric view
Isometric projection
Isometric projection is a method for visually representing three-dimensional objects in two dimensions in technical and engineering drawings...
.