OpenSkyscraper – an open-source clone (in progress) of SimTower(github.com)
github.com
OpenSkyscraper – an open-source clone (in progress) of SimTower
https://github.com/fabianschuiki/OpenSkyscraper/wiki
13 comments
This is awesome. SimTower was one of my favorite games as child, heck its even awesome now. I spent around 6 months creating my own version of SimTower called DroidTowers and released it on Android. Working on that project was one of the most fun experiences in my career as a software engineer.
I open sourced[1] the entire game shortly after securing funding for my current startup. Maybe I could donate the art to OpenSkyscraper. I really want this project to succeed :D
[1] https://github.com/pplante/droidtowers
I open sourced[1] the entire game shortly after securing funding for my current startup. Maybe I could donate the art to OpenSkyscraper. I really want this project to succeed :D
[1] https://github.com/pplante/droidtowers
I hope you will take this well. It looks like you've put real time and effort into droidtowers. I also understand you are not sure how your work can live on now that you're focusing else where.
The issue I bring up is that the CC-BY-NC license is not open source. The issue stems from the non commercial clause which is a restriction on fields of endeavour. Now the reason why this matters is that Open Source is in fact a made up work. The group which invented it and popularized it did so with a specific definition: http://opensource.org/osd
One of the goals in inventing a new word was to have an unambiguous term to use for software which otherwise would have been called Free, as in freedom.
Now I am not saying this to force your hand. I understand you may not want to give up commercial rights, and that is fine. All I ask is that you consider releasing your hard work under one of the licenses which we as various communities have agreed are open source. You can take your pick from the OSI's list: http://opensource.org/licenses or the Free Software Foundation's list: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html#GPLCompatib... or even the Debian community's list: http://www.debian.org/legal/licenses/
If you pick one of those licenses your work has a chance to outlive your efforts. Your art may find its way into other games, and your game itself may find its way into linux distributions. Or it might get cloned a hundred times on the app store. =)
One more minor issue with CC licenses for code is that they are not designed for software: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Frequently_Asked_Questions#C... Thanks to edge cases you may be giving people more permissions than you intended. Or you might not be giving people a right you thought you were.
The issue I bring up is that the CC-BY-NC license is not open source. The issue stems from the non commercial clause which is a restriction on fields of endeavour. Now the reason why this matters is that Open Source is in fact a made up work. The group which invented it and popularized it did so with a specific definition: http://opensource.org/osd
One of the goals in inventing a new word was to have an unambiguous term to use for software which otherwise would have been called Free, as in freedom.
Now I am not saying this to force your hand. I understand you may not want to give up commercial rights, and that is fine. All I ask is that you consider releasing your hard work under one of the licenses which we as various communities have agreed are open source. You can take your pick from the OSI's list: http://opensource.org/licenses or the Free Software Foundation's list: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/license-list.en.html#GPLCompatib... or even the Debian community's list: http://www.debian.org/legal/licenses/
If you pick one of those licenses your work has a chance to outlive your efforts. Your art may find its way into other games, and your game itself may find its way into linux distributions. Or it might get cloned a hundred times on the app store. =)
One more minor issue with CC licenses for code is that they are not designed for software: http://wiki.creativecommons.org/Frequently_Asked_Questions#C... Thanks to edge cases you may be giving people more permissions than you intended. Or you might not be giving people a right you thought you were.
You're right. I chose that license because I originally wanted to protect the artwork which I paid a decent sum of money for. Now that its been over a year, I am less worried about the artwork since I have recouped my original costs. I just changed it to MIT. Thank you for pointing that out.
> If you remember any additional information, please feel free to edit this page and add your knowledge!
Is there some issue with asking someone to play SimTower in a VM and finding the items that way?
For example, here's a video of SimTower running on windows 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtMltxWLkaU
Is there some issue with asking someone to play SimTower in a VM and finding the items that way?
For example, here's a video of SimTower running on windows 7: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtMltxWLkaU
The copy I had was 16 bit. So it's worth noting that it won't run in 64-bit Windows. (Did they have a 32-bit version? Or maybe a DOS port that would run in dosbox or freedos? I seem to recall it also ran on Mac System 7.)
I'm certain I had a copy for Windows 95, running in Windows mode, not DOS... Does that mean it was 32bit or no?
32-bit Windows can run Win16 apps, i.e. those built for Windows 3.1. 64-bit Windows cannot.
AFAIK this is rooted in a hardware limitation. Once you enter long mode, you lose vm86 mode. Rather than introduce software emulation to cover this case, Microsoft just said they wouldn't support it.
AFAIK this is rooted in a hardware limitation. Once you enter long mode, you lose vm86 mode. Rather than introduce software emulation to cover this case, Microsoft just said they wouldn't support it.
Windows 3.1 will run inside DOSBox.
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Yoot Tower was ported to the iPad:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yoot-tower/id379197311?mt=8
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/yoot-tower/id379197311?mt=8
Will this combine aspects of Yoot Tower as well?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoot%27s_Tower
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoot%27s_Tower
I wish Maxis would make new versions of these old titles.
Maxis ceased to innovate when EA purchased them.
They still innovate, they just direct all their effort to more profitable microtransactions and ways force everyone online.
Rather tangent, does anyone know if there is any open-source version of "Transport Tycoon"? I used to love that game.
Yes! Check out OpenTTD at http://www.openttd.org/en/ It has a very active community and has a lot of new stuff compared to the old TTD game.
OMG. awesome.
Would you like to lose all productivity today? as there is a browser based port of openttd http://play-ttd.com/
haha, I actually got excited for you as I read your question and realized you hadn't yet played OpenTTD.
Used to play this game for hours as a kid - lots of hotel rooms, condos, cleaning, etc :)
I'm curious why they chose libRocket instead of cocos2dx or unity3d?
Probably because the author knew libRocket better than unity3d or cocos2dx
it's an open source project.
why would you use unity3d? Would that not totally defeat the purpose?
I suppose that makes sense, although unity3d is free, and the source for the game could still be open source, but yeah I think you are right, perhaps not the best choice :)
Actually no. Not only is Unity3D NOT free, (it has a version called "Unity Free" which is just a brand name. Do not be fooled into thinking it has meaning here as an actual word) The Unity3D license is totally incompatible with Open Source. Please read the agreement:
http://unity3d.com/company/legal/eula
In particular, pay attention to clause 2a (You are not permitted to combine content created using Unity Free with content created by Unity Pro)
2f: you may not copy or modify or use to create a competing product
3: You do not own Unity3d, only license its use
5: you consent to permit Unity to collect data on your users
and so on and so forth. Honestly I don't see the appeal of paying this company money to throw code away into a closed platform with no independent implementations.
(and yes, you do still have to pay them money if you wish to uh.. .distribute your game. to anyone. a right not included in the "free" version.)
http://unity3d.com/company/legal/eula
In particular, pay attention to clause 2a (You are not permitted to combine content created using Unity Free with content created by Unity Pro)
2f: you may not copy or modify or use to create a competing product
3: You do not own Unity3d, only license its use
5: you consent to permit Unity to collect data on your users
and so on and so forth. Honestly I don't see the appeal of paying this company money to throw code away into a closed platform with no independent implementations.
(and yes, you do still have to pay them money if you wish to uh.. .distribute your game. to anyone. a right not included in the "free" version.)
I agree with you, the point I was trying to make was that since the project is open, using unity3d would be free, since everybody builds their own build. If at some point someone wanted to distribute and monetize the app, then yeah they'd have to pay the license fee.
But in any case, the app is being written in c++ which I think is a harder but better language to write games in, mainly for performance reasons. I am not familiar with libRocket, but I am curious how well it will deal with a large scene graph, whether or not it support level of detail or culling, or if you have to handle that yourself.
But in any case, the app is being written in c++ which I think is a harder but better language to write games in, mainly for performance reasons. I am not familiar with libRocket, but I am curious how well it will deal with a large scene graph, whether or not it support level of detail or culling, or if you have to handle that yourself.
You missed my point.
the license for Unity3d is incompatible with distributing source code on github, or licensing it with any open source license. You can't do it.
As for librocket, I was confused about that, so I had a look and I'm not sure that's what they are using for anything more than the UI. The framework they are using is SFML.
As for librocket, I was confused about that, so I had a look and I'm not sure that's what they are using for anything more than the UI. The framework they are using is SFML.
> Completed: Dynamic extraction and use of SimTower graphics, sounds, and other resources from retail EXE file.
Isn't he opening himself up to copyright takedown by using the original game assets?
Isn't he opening himself up to copyright takedown by using the original game assets?
I'm assuming this is akin to the http://www.openttd.org/en/ or Doom clones where the "engine" is open source and you have to provide your own graphics/sounds/etc.
As a stop gap until they completely replace the art assets with OSS version, you can extract the originals and use them for development. That requires an original installation to coexist with the clone (read https://github.com/fabianschuiki/OpenSkyscraper#how-to-try-s... which mentions you need the SIMTOWER.EXE locally, mainly to acquire art assets).
So, you need a legit copy of SimTower to play the SimTower clone (at least until they rebuild all art assets).
As a stop gap until they completely replace the art assets with OSS version, you can extract the originals and use them for development. That requires an original installation to coexist with the clone (read https://github.com/fabianschuiki/OpenSkyscraper#how-to-try-s... which mentions you need the SIMTOWER.EXE locally, mainly to acquire art assets).
So, you need a legit copy of SimTower to play the SimTower clone (at least until they rebuild all art assets).
> I'm assuming this is akin to the http://www.openttd.org/en/ or Doom clones where the "engine" is open source and you have to provide your own graphics/sounds/etc.
OpenTTD has shipped with a complete set of base assets for quite some time, though it used to be like that.
OpenTTD has shipped with a complete set of base assets for quite some time, though it used to be like that.
Good point, I failed to mention that explicitly.
Yes, you can see some artwork in his git repo. The only hope is that the ownership of the IP is unclear, for example how was Yoot tower made?
Not if he doesn't supply the exe...
Sweet baby jesus, I loved SimTower as a youngster.
December 25th, santa flies across the sky at midnight. I loved this game.
Please feel free to call a directory "src" when it contains source code. This is standard and avoids needless typing.
Why did you even bother making this comment?
As an aside, I don't see how needless typing is involved. s-tab will still go to the "source" folder.
As an aside, I don't see how needless typing is involved. s-tab will still go to the "source" folder.
It's a GitHub repo so your best bet is to create an issue or even better, create a pull request fixing the problem.
I remember the most infuriating weakness of the original game was that the speed of transportation was linked to real time, while the in-game speed would increase during the in-game night. The effect was that if there were large queues late at night, they would never empty before dawn because the elevators were moving unrealistically slowly.