If you’ve tried playing this on Linux (any device), you will see the intro video appear, and then you can enter the menu. You select a map, change the settings (mayor name, etc), and then it loads and freezes…

… yeah. Not a good start. And a quick cursory glance shows that there isn’t much in the way of good instructions. Luckily, I think I have the recipe (for now, until something else breaks!)

If you have a Steam Deck:

• Go to the desktop mode
  
• Open the “Discover” app - the one that allows you to download new apps as well as update existing ones
  
• Look for Protontricks - it should be an app, and it should be available to install. If you have installed it, you can just skip to the step after the next step
  
• Download the Protontricks app
  
• Go to Utilities -> Protontricks
  
• You may get an error message. I suggest doing as it says, although I still keep getting the error message
  
• Choose SimCity 3000 from the list
  
• Choose “Select the default wineprefix”
  
• Choose “Change settings”
  
  
• From the list, check two things:
  
  renderer=gdi vd=1024x768
  You’ll get a weird warning. Just ignore it, then cancel out of the app.
  
  
• Open Steam, and make sure the launch options has the following:
  
  %command% -r1024x768
• Return to gaming mode, then play SimCity 3000

If you have a Linux machine, the steps to install Protontricks may not be exactly the same, but it should be easy enough. It’s a Flatpak app, you can download and install.

… And there you go! SimCity 3000 working on your Linux device!

If you wish to get the widescreen version working on your machine, then do the following:

• Go to Steam
  
• Right click on SimCity 3000 > “Manage” > “Browse local files”
  
• In your browser, download the GOG widescreen fix[files.gog.com] and extract the zip file
  
• In the SimCity 3000 directory, navigate to the Apps folder, and copy the extracted S3CU.exe from the zip file into the Apps folder.
  
• Open Steam, right click on SimCity 3000, choose Properties, and make sure the launch options has the following:
  
  
  %command% -r<your resolution>
  
  For example, for Steam Deck, it should be
  
  
  %command% -r1280x800
  
  And as an example, for most Linux machines, it might be
  
  
  %command% -r1920x1080
  
  (check your monitor resolution though!)