So, after doing some reading and watching the other runs, I now realize that the DOS version (and maybe some early Windows versions) and later versions for Windows (like the Gold edition) have a major difference.
On DOS, the highest speed is Cheetah, but the later versions have an extra speed: African Swallow.
I have a run submitted with my Gold edition of the game where I use that speed, but I really don't think it's terribly fair to unless there's a category for it. Also not sure if there's other differences in mechanics.
I don't know. What do folks think?
There's also some significant version differences in the SNES, Saturn, PS and N64 versions that I know of from playing them. I actually still own the SNES, N64, and PS versions (because I have an unhealthy obsession with this game) and I'm actually kind of interested in documenting the differences now, so I might try to run each of them and see if they're fair enough to compete with each other.
I had a chance to test out the SNES version last night and it's so slow that I wonder how I tolerated it as a kid.
There are some significant differences as well:
1 ) There's only one speed and it appears to be equivalent to Turtle. I assume this is due to hardware limits. You can pause the game, but I have no idea why you'd want to during a run, considering I can almost finish a city in the span of 2 months.
2 ) Scrolling the screen costs 3 seconds (it pauses the game), likely due to hardware.
3 ) Starting Money in the game's free mode is more than high enough to get to 30k.
4 ) Going into a menu pauses the game for about 10 seconds, so it's not advisable to do in a run. Again, must be hardware.
5 ) One of the starting maps (you can only choose from a few fixed maps) is perfectly flat, and is the most obvious choice for a run.
6 ) The mechanics may be a bit different - looks like you need more housing zoned land than the DOS and PC versions to get to 30k.
7 ) The paper still let's you know when you're at 30k with the capital announcement.
8 ) No the SNES mouse does not work. I have it and I tried.
A Run of the game would probably take around 30 minutes. My video is so long due to me forgetting and walking away for more than an hour. >_<
a little late to the party, thought I'd mention some extra details about win and dos :)
krayzar mentioned game speeds, not only does win have an extra setting, the others are completely out of sync (cheetah is far slower on win ironically than dos). this is probably why they added the extra one.
there are also navigation shortcuts, bond selection, window popups, general use is noticeably different between the two, on a short run these do add up.
the win run is more 'on edge' as you can zone and navigate those popups quicker. but you also have zero opportunity to recover from lazy terraforming / zoning in the final phase.
on dos, because of the slower speed, you can still make changes during the final phase to save a run, and zoning can be more intricate. both are valid and offer a different experience.
game logic / sim behavior also feels different, they do seem more picky on dos, but this could be speed differences playing tricks.
the dos version is easier to set up, win may require some messing around.
@Krayzar great run, sub 1:00 has set the bar !
Just some more DOS / Windows diffs:
Most of the useful shortcuts can be used on DOS as well actually, just replace Ctrl with Alt.
The Windows version also has a lazier map generator, there's only two patterns it uses per load up, and the water placement can be a little less creative. Click new city long enough and you can get nearly the same map with minor differences in water and elevation placement.
DOS can glitch out though, and create holes where there should be water, which can be faster to level due to loading times, whereas water is generally faster to level in Windows.
As for roads, it looks like road pathing does cause a little bit of interface lag on DOS for longer roads that zigzag or go up steep hills. Not much, but it could start to add up if you're not careful.
And Thanks!
