Packaging Simcity 3000 for Linux for installation on Ubuntu

In this article, we will package Simcity 3000 Unlimited into a re-usable debian package. Once completed, you will have a single binary that can be re-installed any time you need to re-install your operating system, and should also survive major distribution upgrades without change.

At a minimum to build .deb packages on the debian platform you'll need to install a few extra packages.

'sudo apt-get install devscripts fakeroot dh-make'

First, follow my article published last year (URL) and walk through creating a working instance of Simcity 3000 unlimited.

Next, download my Simcity 3000 debian template here: (URL)

Extract the template, and copy the following files from /usr/local/games/SC3U to simcity-3000-1.0.1/usr/share/games/SC3U. Be cautious not to overwrite the Loki_Compat directory that exists in the template.

When complete, if you change into the simcity-3000-1.0.1 directory, and issue an 'ls usr/share/games/SC3U' you should see the following files:

bacustom
buildings
hotkeys.txt
icon.xpm
Loki_Compat
README
README.dynamic
sc3bat
sc3u.dynamic
sys
barender
cities
icon.bmp
lib
plugin
README-2.0a
res
sc3bat.dynamic
sc3u.ini
snapshot.ini
uninstall

If a sc3u or sc3u.sh file exists, delete it.

Now that the files are ready for packaging, you should reverse the process you went through to install SimCity 3000, as it will conflict with files in this package. This package integrates all of the changes required to install Simcity on recent versions of Ubuntu or other Debian derivatives.

Once you have uninstalled the manual Simcity 3000 installation, change into simcity-3000-1.0.1 and build your debian package.

'debuild -us -uc'

If it completes successfully, 'cd ..' and install your new package with 'dpkg -i ./simcity-3000*deb' or double click the package name in your GUI file browser.

Click the Simcity 3000 icon in Applications -> Games, and enjoy Simcity 3000! Be sure to backup your newly created .deb package incase you need to re-install your operating system in the future.