SimCity

Game
Submitted by Dan Dooré on Saturday, October 31, 2026 - 11:19.
Download
simcity1.20.mgt
Release Year
2026
Author
Dominic Morris
Description

SimCity for the SAM Coupé
version v1.2.0

This is an unofficial port of SimCity (1989) to the SAM Coupé.  The simulation is the game's own: it comes from a disassembly of the ZX Spectrum version, kept as it was, with the screen, keyboard, sound and files of each machine written afresh. The Amiga, Atari ST and Amstrad CPC versions supplied the pictures and sound effects used on some machines.

SimCity is (C) 1989 Maxis Software.  The Spectrum version is by Probe Software, published by Infogrames.  The ports are built with z88dk.  The source and future releases are at https://github.com/suborb/simcity_z80.

This is a preservation and hobby project, given as is, with no warranty.

Instructions

Running it

simcity.mgt is a disk image for the SAM Coupé.  Put it in drive 1 and boot it (F9).  In SimCoupe, insert the image as Disk 1.

The game uses screen mode 4 (256 x 192, 16 colours) and the SAA1099 for sound effects, played from the frame interrupt.  Cities are saved to and loaded from the disk (SAMDOS files); file names can be ten characters.

Playing

The city is the map you see; the cursor is a square on it.  Choose a tool, move the cursor and build.  Zones need power, roads and rails carry the people, and the city grows where it is wanted.

The three bars R, C and I show how much of each kind of zone is wanted: residential, commercial and industrial.  A bar growing to the right of the middle mark means more of that zone is wanted, to the left means there is too much of it.  The advisor message says what is needed most.

The game starts by asking for a level (1 easy, 2 medium, 3 hard).  Once a year, in December, the budget comes up so that you can set the tax rate and the money for transport, police and fire; the budget can also be run for you (Auto-budget in the options).  The evaluation says how the mayor is doing.

A power plant costs $3000 (coal) or $5000 (nuclear); a fire, flood, earthquake, air crash, tornado or meltdown can be started from the disasters menu, or can happen by themselves (they can be switched off).

Keys

Keys Action
Cursor keys  Move the cursor one square (with shift: eight)
O P Q A    left, right, up, down (shifted capitals: eight)
Space, Enter build with the tool
 , . the previous and next tool
0 - 9  choose a tool by its number
H pause or run
+ - faster, slower
M the next mini map (X goes back to the city)
B the budget
V the evaluation
S save the city
L load a city
X the game menu: new city, options, disasters, sound

The mouse

A SAM mouse interface works with this version; it is found when the game starts.
The arrow on the screen is the cursor.  The keys move it too, so you can use either, or both, whenever you like.

 

Left button (Space or Enter on the keyboard) Builds with the current tool, picks a tool from the icons, chooses an item in a menu, and on a mini map jumps to that spot
Right button (Esc) opens the game menu, and leaves a screen
Screen edge the map scrolls when the arrow reaches the edge

 

In the menus and on the budget, evaluation, file and scenario screens, moving the mouse works like pressing the cursor keys.