SimLife (W16)

SimLife

Platform:	Windows 16
Year:	1992
Developer:	Maxis Software, Inc.
Buy:	Amazon

SimLife: The Genetic Playground is a puzzle strategy game developed and published by Maxis Software in 1992. The goal is to try and create a self-sustaining ecosystem by tinkering with the genetics of various organisms. However, unlike SimCity, where most people are already comfortable with basics of how a city works, the average gamer isn't too familiar with genetics, complex ecosystems, and evolution, so the game didn't sell as well as some of the other Sim games. Those who adore biology can have a lot of fun with the game, but, like many Sim games, there is no win condition, you just play with it until you get bored.

Screenshots

Title screen.

Setting up a new game.

The design parameters of my new world.

The iconographic layout of my map.

Tinkering with the genes of a falcon.

Playing the Battle of the Sexes scenario.

Music

VGMPF Album Art

Most of Maxis's games in the early 1990s had fairly simply music, and SimLife follows that tradition. The Windows port has the same eight tracks as the original DOS version, but the Windows port could only output to those devices that had a Windows sound driver. The tunes are friendly and familiar to those who enjoy the game.

The titles come from the song's file names and the meta data in the MIDI files.

Recording

#	Title	Composer	Arranger	Length	Download
01	Title	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	1:16	Download
02	Evo	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	0:13	Download
03	Warn	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	0:15	Download
04	Plague	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	0:17	Download
05	Death	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	0:06	Download
06	Man	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	0:14	Download
07	All Die	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	0:14	Download
08	Die	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	Russell Lieblich, Steve Hales	0:13	Download

Credits

Ripper: TheAlmightyGuru
Recorder: TheAlmightyGuru
Game Credits:
- Music Composition: Steve Hales
- Music Composition: Russell Lieblich

(Source)

Game Rip

Format	Download
	Download (Info)

SimLife uses whatever audio driver you have setup for music in Windows, be it an AdLib, Sound Blaster, MT-32, or some general MIDI device., so there is no official sound to the audio. This particular recording was made using a Sound Blaster 16 emulated through DOSBox.

The type 1 MIDI files are located in the .\Sounds folder from the installed path.

The game has digital sound effects, but they haven't been extracted. Data strings in the SIMLIFEW.EXE file contains a reference to a WAV header, and, since this game was made for Windows 3, the sound effects are most likely in WAV format, just compressed among the files. Interestingly, the file also contains the file names for music files from SimAnt (W16), indicating that the driver was re-purposed.