Isn't this an old game? I mean really old

[Got Milk?]

I remember watching my cousin played this game way back in my childhood, like 20-ish years ago. Is this the same game?
Looks all the same, about developing high rise building, watching people live inside, improving to meet their demand, and so on.

Or is it just me...

[Mikoshi]

You're thinking of sim tower. It released in 1995.

[spessman]

Release September 8, 2016 (from wikipedia)
Release Date 8 September 2016 – 11:11:00 UTC (4 years ago)[from steamdb]
Global Release Date 2016-09-08 00:00:00(GOG db)
date checks out so i guess he really got confused with simtower.

[SGreenwell]

Originally posted by Mikoshi:

You're thinking of sim tower. It released in 1995.

Mhm! I think the developers are open about it being an homage to Sim Tower, and games like it. You can see other projects that have kind of done the same thing all around now (MadTV ---> Empire TV Tycoon, Transport Tycoon ---> OpenTTD). As someone who grew up in the 1990s, I love it, since they often take out some of the technical frustration features from the past while keeping in the satisfying gameplay loop.

[Got Milk?]

Originally posted by Mikoshi:

You're thinking of sim tower. It released in 1995.

Ah that's what I'm talking about, it really looks the same.

Originally posted by SGreenwell:

Originally posted by Mikoshi:

You're thinking of sim tower. It released in 1995.

Mhm! I think the developers are open about it being an homage to Sim Tower, and games like it. You can see other projects that have kind of done the same thing all around now (MadTV ---> Empire TV Tycoon, Transport Tycoon ---> OpenTTD). As someone who grew up in the 1990s, I love it, since they often take out some of the technical frustration features from the past while keeping in the satisfying gameplay loop.

How about copyright issue? Is it expired already?

[Ichmag 🔑🌙]

Copy right issues about what? You cant copyright a genre

[Got Milk?]

Originally posted by Ichmag:

Copy right issues about what? You cant copyright a genre

Well yeah, I thought they are the same game, they actually aren't.

[SGreenwell]

Not to wade too deep into the copyright stuff, but... There's a variety of ways to do it. They could have received a blessing from the game's original creator or current rightshold; or, they could have actually licensed the game from the original creator / company with the IP rights; or, if the rights holder can't be found, they could just do their own version, because the practical risk of a lawsuit is near zero; or they can argue that the technological advancements from Game X to Game Y mean that it is a substantially different and improved product.

I don't really know what category Project Highrise would fall under. My suspicion would be the latter - While it shares a lot of similarities with SimTower, it's clearly more than that. And usually when it comes to more 'artistic' endeavors like this, you get broader leeway in American courts than with other things. (i.e. If you're trying to sell t-shirts of your completely original creation, Bort Sampson.)

[aaron]

Sim Tower
Yoot Tower
Project Highrise
???

[Nicole Sharp]

This is a different game than SimTower or Yoot Tower. There is also Mad Tower Tycoon in the genre of tower simulators. I don't think there are any other games in the genre other than those.

[Scifiwriterguy]

Originally posted by Nicole Sharp:

This is a different game than SimTower or Yoot Tower. There is also Mad Tower Tycoon in the genre of tower simulators. I don't think there are any other games in the genre other than those.

I'd definitely agree that it's different, but only in a few (albeit important) ways. Having played all of them (and still playing two of the three), there are definite strong overlaps between this and Yoot. Highrise has more detail what with actually having to connect utilities rather than supply capacity, the need to contract tenants rather than just plop is more realistic, and the ability to improve environment with player-placed decor is nice, but building layout, noise, smell (which is really just noise under a different name), traffic, and transport efficiency are all very tight to Yoot. Actually, I wish we had a few of Yoot's transport options in Highrise.

At the core of it, there's a really deep overlap between Highrise and Yoot. Highrise just adds more bells and whistles to the mix. Kind of like Yoot being SimCity 2000 and Highrise being SC4. Part of the reason to love 'em is the similarities they have, and the rest of the reason to love 'em is their differences. :)