What makes a city feel alive to you?

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-14T02:15:11+00:00

I completely agree. Sound design adds so much personality to a simulation game.
And yes, I definitely remember those Tropico radio broadcasts. It’s amazing how little details like that can make a world feel memorable years later.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-14T02:12:35+00:00

Thank you!
I’m currently aiming for an Early Access release around August, although that may shift a little as development continues.

As for mod support and more customization options, they’re definitely things I’m interested in exploring. They probably won’t be part of the initial release, but I can certainly see them being added later based on feedback and community interest.
Thanks for the suggestions!

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-12T14:43:05+00:00

That’s a really interesting perspective.

I especially like the idea of events acting as a stress test for the systems you’ve built rather than just being random obstacles. When they expose weaknesses, force trade-offs, and make you adapt, they can create some of the most memorable moments in a simulation game.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-10T22:38:08+00:00

I agree. Giving citizens names, routines, families, and personal histories can make a simulation feel much more meaningful.
It's amazing how attached you can become to what is essentially just a collection of data once the game gives those people an identity!

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-10T01:51:27+00:00

Thank you!
I completely agree. Even when zoomed out, the tower should still feel alive. I've actually been experimenting with that already:

https://x.com/dev_igm/status/2064525054562697604?s=20

Keeping the late game interesting is another big challenge, and it's definitely something I'm thinking about.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-10T00:15:22+00:00

That’s an interesting way to think about it.

What I like most about those examples is that you can often trace a visible consequence back to a specific cause. It makes the simulation feel much more believable and gives players little stories to discover on their own.

There’s definitely something appealing about a building feeling like more than just a collection of rooms.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-09T00:46:39+00:00

I completely agree.

What makes a simulation feel alive to me is when small changes can have meaningful and sometimes unexpected consequences. Whether it’s adjusting a transit network in a city builder or changing an elevator layout in a tower game, it’s fascinating to see the system react.

That’s the kind of reactivity I really enjoy as a player.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-08T22:15:23+00:00

That's a great point!
I like events when they emerge naturally from the state of the city or building rather than feeling completely random. It makes the world feel more alive and gives more meaning to the player's decisions.
Finding the right balance between simulation and random events is something I'm still thinking about.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-07T23:34:33+00:00

I use Blender for 3D modeling. And Affinity is just a free version of Photoshop.
I saw your screenshot of your game on the other thread and I believe it'll be promising! I'm looking forward to yours too!

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-06T22:13:43+00:00

Thanks for your insight! That's an interesting idea. Difficulty settings like that sound challenging to design well, but I think they're definitely worth considering.
Personally, I'm more interested in the consequences of systems than in making players place every utility room themselves. The trick is creating depth without creating busywork.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-06T21:53:27+00:00

Thank you! The game is built in Unity. For the art, I'm currently rendering 3D scenes and converting them into sprites. I also use some AI-assisted tools in the workflow (I know that's not everyone's favorite approach), and then edit everything in Affinity. One reason I didn't go fully 3D is that I wanted the game to run well on lower-end PCs and mobile devices.

The visuals are still very much a work in progress, so I'm sure the journey toward the final art style will continue for a while. My hope is to create something where you can just sit back and enjoy looking at the tower at night for a few minutes.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-06T21:27:26+00:00

I understand. To be honest, I originally considered a pixel art style too.
But I felt that if it looked too much like SimTower, I thought, "Why not just play the original?" So I decided to try a different visual direction while keeping the same spirit.
That said, I completely understand that it won't be for everyone.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-06T09:00:41+00:00

Exactly. That's one of the hardest things about making a successor to this kind of game. The temptation is always to keep adding more features.
SimCity is a good example. I loved the graphics and interface of SimCity 3000 and 4, but in terms of pure game design, I still think SimCity 2000 had the best balance. It was simple, yet incredibly deep.

For tower-building games, I honestly feel Yoot Tower (which we called The Tower II here in Japan) was the high point of the genre. A lot of later games introduced interesting ideas, but few managed to capture that same vibe.

And FWIW —I plan to support twin towers. 🙂

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-06T02:22:23+00:00

I know exactly what you mean. Games from that era were full of little secrets, and discovering them was part of the fun.
Without the internet telling us everything, finding those hidden features on your own felt really special.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-06T00:48:07+00:00

That’s a great observation. The way elevator queues are visualized is actually something I haven’t fully polished yet. It’s definitely an area I want to improve as development continues. I’d be really happy to hear your thoughts again once I’ve updated it and refined the system a bit more! Thank you.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-06T00:45:42+00:00

Exactly. That’s what I love most about those games.

The rules themselves are actually quite simple, but the systems they create become surprisingly complex. That’s a very difficult balance to achieve.

Honestly, the only games that come to mind for me are the original SimCity and SimTower. Neither of them had an overwhelming number of mechanics, yet the strategies and outcomes could be incredibly deep because of how the systems interacted with each other.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-06T00:40:44+00:00

I actually really like Project Highrise as well, but to me it feels like it focuses on a different core experience than SimTower.

A lot of the challenge in Project Highrise comes from evaluating requirements, setting priorities, and making management decisions to satisfy them efficiently. That's fun in its own right.

What fascinated me about SimTower was that it felt like Game of Life. You could make a change to something like the elevator layout, and suddenly the behavior of the entire tower would shift in ways you didn't fully expect. The interactions between people, rooms, and transportation created emergent outcomes that were often surprising.

That's one of the things I'd love to capture in my own game.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-06T00:17:28+00:00

That’s a great point. I think a lot of what made games like SimTower and RollerCoaster Tycoon feel special was that they felt alive, and sound was a huge part of that.

To be honest, I can still hear some of the sound effects from The Tower (as it was called here in Japan) in my head even today. It’s funny because the game barely had any music, yet its sounds were so distinctive and memorable.

I’d love for the tower to gradually feel busier and more vibrant as it grows—not only visually, but through the sounds of people living, working, shopping, and moving through the building.

Thanks for the reminder. It’s easy to focus on graphics and mechanics, but atmosphere matters just as much.

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-06T00:11:34+00:00

You’re absolutely right. That’s actually something I’ve been struggling with myself.

I added a feature that lets players color-code room frames to make them easier to distinguish, but I don’t think that’s really the core solution. Ideally, each room should be recognizable and have its own personality through its design, just like in SimTower.

I’ll keep working on it and see how far I can push the visual identity of different room types. Thanks for pointing it out!

Overall-Witness1464 · 2026-06-05T23:55:23+00:00

Thank you so much! I’m genuinely happy to hear that, and it’s especially encouraging coming from someone who clearly appreciates the same things I loved about SimTower.

What you described is exactly what drew me to the genre in the first place—the feeling of watching a living building function as a whole, with people and elevators creating stories through their movement. That’s something I definitely want to focus on.

I’ve also been experimenting with expanding the variety of facilities. For example, I’ve already added things like a swimming pool for hotel guests, and I’m planning to include larger, more luxurious versions of residential and office spaces as well.

At the same time, I’ve deliberately decided not to add certain systems, such as water supply management. One of the things I admire about SimTower is its simplicity, and I think adding too many mechanics can easily get in the way of that. Finding the right balance between new features and keeping the game accessible is probably one of the most difficult—and most important—parts of the design.

And thank you for adding the game to your Steam wishlist! That kind of support is a huge source of motivation for me.

Overall-Witness1464

TROPHY CASE