Project Highrise 2

[Daniel Koepf]

Don`t get me wrong, I totally love this SimTower remake with modern features. But ever since I played Sim Tower or Yoot Tower, I was hoping for someone somewhere would create a 3D game of it. Obviously, a 3D tower simulation would be much more realistic than the 2D view. Unfortunately I have no idea about programming games, but over the years I was trying to find programmers that are willing to help me. But my budget is very little, so not much was ever created in the programming side. Isotower.com goes into a direction of what I imagine, but Todd Barchok puts a very old-fashioned feel into it (which I really don`t like) and he was not much interested in working with me. So, despite the lack of help, I spent much time in creating at least some graphics.

I am thinking of an isometric game (3:4 ratio) that allows good view of the inside. There are still alot of questions how to do it best. But i was thinking about using pre-sized item that have to be connected with hallways. Each item has an entry spot. However, some programmers where suggesting that walls are built and rooms can have unique sizes. But this sure would make the game very complex.

Anyway, I would be very curious if you are interested in creating a Project Highrise 2 with an isometric view? And if so, would you allow me to help with the graphics?

[Matthew Viglione]

Hi Daniel -

We very briefly thought about going the 3D or ISO route, but we figured that the 2D cutaway would be a better fit for this game. We want Project Highrise to have a lot of variety in it. For me, one of the big issues of the original SimTower was that there was just one office and one apartment and it really didn't matter very much where they were in the building. Our vision is that you're going to have a lot of different tenant needs to deal with in your tower. I'm saying this because that's in large part what lead us to go the 2D route. 3D art can get really expensive and it would limit the variety we could build. Also, we think that it will be a lot easier to manage a tower in a cutaway view than having to constantly change floors. As a player, if you've got a 50 or 60 floor tower, you want to be able to get in there and see all of your tenants and understand the interactions.

Thanks for the kind offer on the art side. You've got a nice vector art style going there.

Right now, we're completely immersed in the work for shipping this game. But who knows what the future holds after we're done with it. But glad to read that you're interested.

On a side note, have you heard about Office Management 101? (http://officemanagement101.com/). It's sort of in the classic Bullfrog style that you're alluding to. Might be worth a look. :) 

[Marco Meza]

Your isometric art looks really good! Todd Barchok is currently in the process of redoing the code for IsoTower from the ground up. According to facebook, most of the functionality is there but the game is all text (with rooms and agents represented as boxes with differently-colored text. When I contacted him several months ago, he was open to custom content (including new rooms and art replacement) but told me that IsoTower was not ready for mods at the time. I recommend you keep making art for fun so that you can mod the heck out of IsoTower!

Project Highrise has its own distinct art style and is designed for only 1 layer of rooms in a classic (SimTower style) cutaway front viewpoint. The more I learn about Project Highrise, the more I like it and the less I desire to mod it (since it seems like the base game will add most of what I was originally planning on modding in). IsoTower seems more like the project better suited for modding in your art. If you only want to make art without doing coding, I will gladly help.

Personally, my first priority is my coursework for Uni and my free time during breaks will be spent reconnecting with family, studying, modding Civilization Beyond Earth, redoing all my OcramTower art (I made a graphics pack with double resolution images of all 1-3 star rooms & transport and full color sprites for the agents, with new variations) in InkScape (possibly with top-down and isometric views added), and peaking through CityBound's modules in GitHub (for eventual modding of the upcoming Alpha).

[Jon Savells]

Those images no longer worked. :/ Where do I see it if they still existed elsewhere?

On Friday, October 2, 2015 at 7:37:17 PM UTC-5, Daniel Koepf wrote:

[Daniel Koepf]

On Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 3:21:51 AM UTC+8, Jon Savells wrote:

Those images no longer worked. :/ Where do I see it if they still existed elsewhere?

On Friday, October 2, 2015 at 7:37:17 PM UTC-5, Daniel Koepf wrote:

Don`t get me wrong, I totally love this SimTower remake with modern features. But ever since I played Sim Tower or Yoot Tower, I was hoping for someone somewhere would create a 3D game of it. Obviously, a 3D tower simulation would be much more realistic than the 2D view. Unfortunately I have no idea about programming games, but over the years I was trying to find programmers that are willing to help me. But my budget is very little, so not much was ever created in the programming side. Isotower.com goes into a direction of what I imagine, but Todd Barchok puts a very old-fashioned feel into it (which I really don`t like) and he was not much interested in working with me. So, despite the lack of help, I spent much time in creating at least some graphics.

I am thinking of an isometric game (3:4 ratio) that allows good view of the inside. There are still alot of questions how to do it best. But i was thinking about using pre-sized item that have to be connected with hallways. Each item has an entry spot. However, some programmers where suggesting that walls are built and rooms can have unique sizes. But this sure would make the game very complex.

[Jon Savells]

That looks awesome! I'm fan of the way SimTower depicted their tower but this is also just as good, too. Maybe one day, you could try your hands at creating SimTower-like game depicted in this 3D perspective. :)