Download the package for your system from GitHub Releases. Version 0.1.0 is the first public release. Keep backup copies of your cities.

All packages require your own copy of SimCity 2000 Special Edition for Windows 95 (1996). Keep its companion files beside SIMCITY.EXE. On first launch, select that executable at the import prompt. You can also import from the game CD-ROM. To use a disc image file, such as an .iso file, mount it first. Then select the mounted disc. Refer to Import original game files. Original game files are not included in the download.

Use the Windows x64 ZIP on a 64-bit Intel or AMD Windows system. Use the Windows arm64 ZIP on a Windows on Arm system. Extract the entire ZIP to a writable folder. Run OpenSC2K.exe. Keep the PCK and DLL files beside the executable. The package is not code signed.

Each Windows portable ZIP keeps all user files in the data folder beside OpenSC2K.exe. Use it on a removable drive or in a folder that you can write to. Do not extract it to Program Files.

The data folder contains:

• settings.cfg for settings
• packs for imported graphics, sound, music, and data packs
• cities and scenarios for saved games
• scurk and other SCURK output folders

To change a standard installation to a portable installation, make an empty data folder beside OpenSC2K.exe. To use the Windows user profile again, move or remove the data folder. OpenSC2K does not move files between the two locations. The standard version keeps user files in %APPDATA%\Godot\app_userdata\OpenSC2K. The Godot engine writes its log files to the logs folder in that location in both versions.

Use the Linux x64 archive on an x86-64 system, or the Linux arm64 archive on an arm64 (AArch64) system. Both need glibc 2.34 or later. Extract the entire archive. Run ./OpenSC2K.x86_64 (x64) or ./OpenSC2K.arm64 (arm64) from its folder. Keep the PCK and shared library files beside the executable.

The macOS DMG includes an app for Intel and Apple Silicon. It requires macOS 11 or later on Intel, or macOS 13 or later on Apple Silicon. Open the DMG. Drag OpenSC2K.app to Applications, then open it.

Releases are signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, so macOS opens them without a warning. Other builds can have an ad hoc signature. If macOS blocks one, use Open Anyway in System Settings > Privacy & Security after the first launch attempt. See the Godot macOS launch instructions.

OpenSC2K plays the MIDI music with FluidSynth and a General MIDI sound set. Only the Linux packages include a sound set. Select one in Settings > Audio > Music SoundFont:

• macOS GS Sound Set or Microsoft GS Wavetable Sound Set (the default): the Roland GS sounds that macOS and Windows include. It is close to the General MIDI hardware of the original game. On Linux, System SoundFont uses a SoundFont package of your distribution, such as fluid-soundfont-gm. Without one, it uses Bundled SoundFont (FluidR3 Mono), the FluidR3Mono_GM.sf3 file beside the executable.
• Custom SoundFont: an SF2, SF3 or DLS General MIDI SoundFont of your own. Select the file with Browse.... OpenSC2K reads the file in place and does not copy or change it.

If a custom SoundFont cannot load, for example because the file moved, OpenSC2K plays the system sound set and shows the reason below the list. Without either, the game plays no MIDI music; recorded soundtracks still play. The SoundFont loads when MIDI music first plays.

Original .sc2 cities use the original compatibility mode. Extended .sc2x cities cannot be opened by the original game.

Project code uses the MIT license. Dependency notices are available in About > Licenses, and in THIRD_PARTY_NOTICES.md and the licenses folder of each package. FluidSynth is a separate library under the LGPL 2.1 or later. You can replace it with a compatible FluidSynth 2 library of the same name. Its source is published with each release. The project license does not grant rights to SimCity 2000 or its assets.