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Somewhat of a competitor, but any Sim Tower fans here? I was obsessed with everything Sim* but especially loved Sim Tower. Maxis was an amazing gaming company a

Somewhat of a competitor, but any Sim Tower fans here? I was obsessed with everything Sim* but especially loved Sim Tower. Maxis was an amazing gaming company and actually my first entry into Macs. My friends dad had a Macintosh II, then classic, then LC, and I would spend hours playing games on them.

60654 10y ago
/me raises hand :) Maxis games were classic. And quite complementary to Meier's work - the former being very open simulation sandboxes, and the latter more strategic and goal-oriented but with a lot of flex and slack in the rules for the player to experiment with. But they definitely shared a similar spirit: giving the player a box full of building blocks and see what they do with it! :)
brownbat 10y ago
I was obsessed with 2002's SimGolf for a while, but not sure if anyone else really played it.
- 60654 10y ago
  It was surprisingly fun! One of the best games where you try to build stuff for little virtual people, figure out how to make them happy, how to push their buttons, etc. (Also: the Sims, Theme Park / Hospital, Dungeon Keeper, etc :) )
  - brownbat 10y ago
    The goal was to make a course that "looked hard but played easy." I can't help but wonder if that was a hint at their larger philosophy of game development too...
- poooogles 10y ago
  Still play it. Still love it.
- suresk 10y ago
  Loved that game!
etimberg 10y ago
I loved SimCopter. I had so much fun playing it as a kid
- girvo 10y ago
  Gosh yes. And SimIsle!
xxr 10y ago
Interestingly, SimTower was published by Maxis but developed by OpenBook (later Vivarium), the Japanese developer that would later make Seaman for the Dreamcast.
- DonHopkins 10y ago
  Yoot Saito just presented a classic game postmortem of "Seaman" [1] at the recent GDC. [1] http://schedule.gdconf.com/session/classic-game-postmortem-seaman http://schedule.gdconf.com/session/classic-game-postmortem-s... Unfortunately I wasn't there to see it, but I saw him talk earlier about Seaman at GDC 2000, and it was fascinating to learn how he was able to pull off such an unprecedented original design, even supporting speech recognition on the Dreamcast! Announcement: Yoot Saito is coming to GDC 2017 to present a Classic Game Postmortem of Seaman! [2] [2] http://www.gdconf.com/news/yoot-saito-coming-gdc-2017-present-classic-game-postmortem-seaman/ http://www.gdconf.com/news/yoot-saito-coming-gdc-2017-presen... "Yutaka "Yoot" Saito, the talented game designer known for his idiosyncratic approach to game development, will be delivering a Classic Game Postmortem on his remarkable Dreamcast game 'Seaman' at GDC 2017! Saito's game development career took off in the early '90s when he created the game that was published by Maxis as 'SimTower', but it was after he founded his own studio Vivarium that he really came into his own. Under the Vivarium banner, Saito developed the groundbreaking virtual pet game 'Seaman' (lending his own face to the titular Seaman), its striking sequel 'Seaman 2', the pinball strategy game 'Odama', and the airport baggage management puzzle game 'Aero Porter'. Now, Saito is coming to GDC 2017 to speak at length about his work creating 'Seaman', a game that left an indelible mark on the fabric of both the game industry and pop culture at large. Don't miss it!" I just found the video of his GDC 2017 talk: Classic Game Postmortem: 'Seaman'! [3] [3] http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024327/Classic-Game-Postmortem-Seaman http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024327/Classic-Game-Postmortem... And here's a review and summary of his talk. [4] [4] http://www.seganerds.com/2017/03/02/yoot-saito-gives-gdc-presentation-on-seaman-development/ http://www.seganerds.com/2017/03/02/yoot-saito-gives-gdc-pre...
- DerekL 10y ago
  I haven't played it, but Vivarium has a version for iOS: http://tower.tv http://tower.tv
jcranmer 10y ago
SimTower FTW! I was even briefly involved with one of the efforts to make a modern clone of it (in particular, I've partially reversed some of the file format in a text document... somewhere).
nerfhammer 10y ago
You guys are forgetting SimAnt!
- brianwawok 10y ago
  This was my favorite sim. Black and White back in the day. So good.
  - partycoder 10y ago
    From all Peter Molyneux games, my favorite was Magic Carpet.
    - dEnigma 10y ago
      If you liked Magic Carpet, you might enjoy "Arcane Worlds"[1], which is like an unofficial modern remake. [1] http://store.steampowered.com/app/269610/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/269610/
      - partycoder 10y ago
        Bullfrog should never have died. Molyneux's new game Godus and Godus Wars wasn't as fun.
- autokad 10y ago
  if i was ever losing, i'd use my nuclear weapon: putting rocks in all the enemy ant's nest holes
- pavel_lishin 10y ago
  I could never figure out how to play it. Of course, it didn't help that I only had the disc, not the manual
  - TheGRS 10y ago
    The game had a very sharp difficulty curve, but in kind of a bad way. It was very tough to get started and to get a decent colony going, but once you did you could snowball through the rest of the yard. I could take on giant spiders and harvest food from them, and of course any other colony.
LandoCalrissian 10y ago
Love that game. There was a harder to find sequel by the same creator called Yoot Tower, it's pretty much the same game with a few additions. You should also give Project Highrise a shot, very similar to Sim Tower and I have found it to be enjoyable.
- nodesocket 10y ago
  Project Highrise looks fun, though mixed reviews about it being initially fun, but losing luster. 20 bucks. I'll give it a shot.
ObligatoryRef 10y ago
I loved SimTower, although there were times it felt more like Elevator Simulator. (Also, tip for those starting a new game: 2x3 grid of fast food in the basement at the start of the game. You're welcome.)
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]
- nodesocket 10y ago
  Lol, the express, service, and tuning the tweaking them to prevent angry guests and employees. I feel like Elevator Sim 2017 would still sell today.
- Nition 10y ago
  I read somewhere that it was originally an elevator simulator that they built the game around.
- matt_wulfeck 10y ago
  Hah, memories of angry people waiting for the elevator are flooding back to me right now. Yikes, here comes the VIP!
tcdent 10y ago
Check out Software, Inc. [0] for a actively-developed interpretation of a similar sim. It includes building and infrastructure elements in addition to markets and resources. [0] http://store.steampowered.com/app/362620/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/362620/
- nodesocket 10y ago
  There was an iOS game called Game Studio Tycoon that I played for a bit, but lost interest.
- Aeolun 10y ago
  There's a lot of games that would be interesting to build with this engine I think :) just building your office is a game in itself.
  - tcdent 10y ago
    Indeed! http://i.imgur.com/fUYLPFB.png http://i.imgur.com/fUYLPFB.png http://i.imgur.com/WwUXZMd.png http://i.imgur.com/WwUXZMd.png
- LoSboccacc 10y ago
  I love software inc but I kinda feel ashamed of getting back home and play a 'my life simulation' I loved the first industry giant as well, best logistic and production game ever made. Simairport is quite nice as well but beware, bugs.
pavel_lishin 10y ago
Give Project Highrise a try: http://store.steampowered.com/app/423580/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/423580/
secabeen 10y ago
I liked SimTower, but it was very hard to lose. You could have unhappy people, but there was little impact to it. I recall it being described once as the most computationally-intensive screen saver available at the time.
rilut 10y ago
I'm a big fan of SimTower! But Windows 10 x64 doesn't have XP Mode, so I can't run SimTower easily. There goes my childhood...
- TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
  People are still selling Windows XP machines around me secondhand for peanuts. Now might be a good time to pick up a few on the cheap for preservation proposes.
- lloeki 10y ago
  Wine?
- omnibrain 10y ago
  As it doesn't use 3D acceleration it should work fine in a Windows XP VM.
dagurp 10y ago
Pizza tycoon was probably my favourite
pmarreck 10y ago
SimAnt was my favorite sim. Underrated, and quite unique.

60654 10y ago

/me raises hand :) Maxis games were classic. And quite complementary to Meier's work - the former being very open simulation sandboxes, and the latter more strategic and goal-oriented but with a lot of flex and slack in the rules for the player to experiment with. But they definitely shared a similar spirit: giving the player a box full of building blocks and see what they do with it! :)

brownbat 10y ago

I was obsessed with 2002's SimGolf for a while, but not sure if anyone else really played it.

60654 10y ago
It was surprisingly fun! One of the best games where you try to build stuff for little virtual people, figure out how to make them happy, how to push their buttons, etc. (Also: the Sims, Theme Park / Hospital, Dungeon Keeper, etc :) )
- brownbat 10y ago
  The goal was to make a course that "looked hard but played easy." I can't help but wonder if that was a hint at their larger philosophy of game development too...
poooogles 10y ago
Still play it. Still love it.
suresk 10y ago
Loved that game!

etimberg 10y ago

I loved SimCopter. I had so much fun playing it as a kid

girvo 10y ago
Gosh yes. And SimIsle!

xxr 10y ago

Interestingly, SimTower was published by Maxis but developed by OpenBook (later Vivarium), the Japanese developer that would later make Seaman for the Dreamcast.

DonHopkins 10y ago
Yoot Saito just presented a classic game postmortem of "Seaman" [1] at the recent GDC. [1] http://schedule.gdconf.com/session/classic-game-postmortem-seaman http://schedule.gdconf.com/session/classic-game-postmortem-s... Unfortunately I wasn't there to see it, but I saw him talk earlier about Seaman at GDC 2000, and it was fascinating to learn how he was able to pull off such an unprecedented original design, even supporting speech recognition on the Dreamcast! Announcement: Yoot Saito is coming to GDC 2017 to present a Classic Game Postmortem of Seaman! [2] [2] http://www.gdconf.com/news/yoot-saito-coming-gdc-2017-present-classic-game-postmortem-seaman/ http://www.gdconf.com/news/yoot-saito-coming-gdc-2017-presen... "Yutaka "Yoot" Saito, the talented game designer known for his idiosyncratic approach to game development, will be delivering a Classic Game Postmortem on his remarkable Dreamcast game 'Seaman' at GDC 2017! Saito's game development career took off in the early '90s when he created the game that was published by Maxis as 'SimTower', but it was after he founded his own studio Vivarium that he really came into his own. Under the Vivarium banner, Saito developed the groundbreaking virtual pet game 'Seaman' (lending his own face to the titular Seaman), its striking sequel 'Seaman 2', the pinball strategy game 'Odama', and the airport baggage management puzzle game 'Aero Porter'. Now, Saito is coming to GDC 2017 to speak at length about his work creating 'Seaman', a game that left an indelible mark on the fabric of both the game industry and pop culture at large. Don't miss it!" I just found the video of his GDC 2017 talk: Classic Game Postmortem: 'Seaman'! [3] [3] http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024327/Classic-Game-Postmortem-Seaman http://www.gdcvault.com/play/1024327/Classic-Game-Postmortem... And here's a review and summary of his talk. [4] [4] http://www.seganerds.com/2017/03/02/yoot-saito-gives-gdc-presentation-on-seaman-development/ http://www.seganerds.com/2017/03/02/yoot-saito-gives-gdc-pre...
DerekL 10y ago
I haven't played it, but Vivarium has a version for iOS: http://tower.tv http://tower.tv

jcranmer 10y ago

SimTower FTW! I was even briefly involved with one of the efforts to make a modern clone of it (in particular, I've partially reversed some of the file format in a text document... somewhere).

nerfhammer 10y ago

You guys are forgetting SimAnt!

brianwawok 10y ago
This was my favorite sim. Black and White back in the day. So good.
- partycoder 10y ago
  From all Peter Molyneux games, my favorite was Magic Carpet.
  - dEnigma 10y ago
    If you liked Magic Carpet, you might enjoy "Arcane Worlds"[1], which is like an unofficial modern remake. [1] http://store.steampowered.com/app/269610/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/269610/
    - partycoder 10y ago
      Bullfrog should never have died. Molyneux's new game Godus and Godus Wars wasn't as fun.
autokad 10y ago
if i was ever losing, i'd use my nuclear weapon: putting rocks in all the enemy ant's nest holes
pavel_lishin 10y ago
I could never figure out how to play it. Of course, it didn't help that I only had the disc, not the manual
- TheGRS 10y ago
  The game had a very sharp difficulty curve, but in kind of a bad way. It was very tough to get started and to get a decent colony going, but once you did you could snowball through the rest of the yard. I could take on giant spiders and harvest food from them, and of course any other colony.

LandoCalrissian 10y ago

Love that game. There was a harder to find sequel by the same creator called Yoot Tower, it's pretty much the same game with a few additions. You should also give Project Highrise a shot, very similar to Sim Tower and I have found it to be enjoyable.

nodesocket 10y ago
Project Highrise looks fun, though mixed reviews about it being initially fun, but losing luster. 20 bucks. I'll give it a shot.

ObligatoryRef 10y ago

I loved SimTower, although there were times it felt more like Elevator Simulator. (Also, tip for those starting a new game: 2x3 grid of fast food in the basement at the start of the game. You're welcome.)

deleted 10y ago
[deleted]
nodesocket 10y ago
Lol, the express, service, and tuning the tweaking them to prevent angry guests and employees. I feel like Elevator Sim 2017 would still sell today.
Nition 10y ago
I read somewhere that it was originally an elevator simulator that they built the game around.
matt_wulfeck 10y ago
Hah, memories of angry people waiting for the elevator are flooding back to me right now. Yikes, here comes the VIP!

tcdent 10y ago

Check out Software, Inc. [0] for a actively-developed interpretation of a similar sim. It includes building and infrastructure elements in addition to markets and resources. [0] http://store.steampowered.com/app/362620/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/362620/

nodesocket 10y ago
There was an iOS game called Game Studio Tycoon that I played for a bit, but lost interest.
Aeolun 10y ago
There's a lot of games that would be interesting to build with this engine I think :) just building your office is a game in itself.
- tcdent 10y ago
  Indeed! http://i.imgur.com/fUYLPFB.png http://i.imgur.com/fUYLPFB.png http://i.imgur.com/WwUXZMd.png http://i.imgur.com/WwUXZMd.png
LoSboccacc 10y ago
I love software inc but I kinda feel ashamed of getting back home and play a 'my life simulation' I loved the first industry giant as well, best logistic and production game ever made. Simairport is quite nice as well but beware, bugs.

pavel_lishin 10y ago

Give Project Highrise a try: http://store.steampowered.com/app/423580/ http://store.steampowered.com/app/423580/

secabeen 10y ago

I liked SimTower, but it was very hard to lose. You could have unhappy people, but there was little impact to it. I recall it being described once as the most computationally-intensive screen saver available at the time.

rilut 10y ago

I'm a big fan of SimTower! But Windows 10 x64 doesn't have XP Mode, so I can't run SimTower easily. There goes my childhood...

TheSpiceIsLife 10y ago
People are still selling Windows XP machines around me secondhand for peanuts. Now might be a good time to pick up a few on the cheap for preservation proposes.
lloeki 10y ago
Wine?
omnibrain 10y ago
As it doesn't use 3D acceleration it should work fine in a Windows XP VM.

dagurp 10y ago

Pizza tycoon was probably my favourite

pmarreck 10y ago

SimAnt was my favorite sim. Underrated, and quite unique.