Scion is an implementation of the GZCOM/RZCOM framework used by SimCity 4 and The Sims 2. Its goal is to produce binary output identical to the framework used in SimCity 4 Deluxe Edition: when compiled for Windows with the right toolset and options, the assembly should match.
After the framework is finished, I'd like to use Scion to reverse-engineer SimCity 4 itself in the same vein as other open-source game projects (e.g. OpenTTD, OpenRCT2).
This project is not affiliated with or endorsed by EA Games.
Scion currently only targets Windows. It should be buildable with any C++03-compliant compiler, but currently there are only project files for Visual Studio .NET 2003. That appears to be the toolset used for building SimCity 4 Deluxe.
This project also uses STLport instead of the compiler-provided STL. To build STLport, open the Visual Studio command line and run:
cd src\stlport\src
nmake -f vc7.mak
nmake -f vc7.mak install
Once STLport is built, the framework solution can be built too.
Scion is licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License, version 2.1.
The LGPL allows you to dynamically link this project with proprietary software like the Maxis games that use this framework; in other words, you can use it to write framework hooks for those non-free games. But if you make changes to Scion itself, those changes must be shared under the LGPLv2.1 license.