Once you play this game for more than an hour or so, you'll never ride an elevator the same way again. You'll wonder how it is scheduled to stop, during which hours it waits or serves as an express, and whether or not it decreases the overall stress of everyone in the building. You'll notice the cafe on the street level and think about how it is placed in relation to the lobby. You'll wonder about escalators. In short, you'll never be able to walk into a large building again without contemplating how the maze of its space, patrons, and elevators mix.

SimTower isn't a difficult game. Its virtual girders, glass, and steel form a vertical sandbox which will reward patient players by forming a complex, interconnected network of developed floors, transportation, and people. The key to building a large, dynamic tower is mostly patience and an attention to detail. But there are a few tips and ideas which will make reaching one's goals (whatever they may be) a bit easier.

Money Money Money Money

Well, it makes the world go around and the elevators up and down. The thing you'll need to build a tower is cash. Lots of it. How much and how often this wonderful tool finds its way into your hands will determine how quickly your quaint two-story dentist's office becomes a sprawling Shinjuku department store complex of the future.

If you're looking for money, build offices. They're relatively cheap to create, not too picky about noise, and bring in plenty of dough. Make sure there's plenty of transportation to keep the offices full during the daylight hours, and all will be well.

But towers do not live on offices alone.

Ever notice what happens to a building around, say, noonish? Clacking keyboards quit clicking and hungry people perambulate past potted plants to peruse plates of pepperoni pizza... sorry. They do lunch. To keep your green stuff (not lettuce) rolling in, build some restaurants and fast food joints. Workaholics (like certain game magazine publishers we all know) will opt to grab a quick bite without having to deal with traumas like sunshine and fresh air. Furthermore, restaurants bring in cash at more frequent intervals than offices and can give you small boosts at convenient times.

More money tips: movie theaters and especially party halls can add much to your bottom line. They're noisy and make traffic difficult to manage but when well utilized will really pay off. One floor of party halls above an upper lobby and below a number of floors of hotel rooms will keep your SimTowerFolks partying into the wee hours of the morning... who will then politely pay for the messes they created.

One last money matter: condos are the kiss of death. I guess Yoot Saito was bitten by a condo once when he was a kid, or some such other scare, because once a condo gets sold, that's it. If they're destroyed or people move out because of cockroaches (or other problems) you'll have to refund their dough. Basically condos take up space.

But here's a trick -- need a loan? Build a condo. If you want a pile of dough ASAP, build a condo and, assuming it's an attractive one, you'll get what you need. Later tear it out, pay the owners for their trouble, and (presumably) suggest they move into the fifty hotel rooms you built with their "loan." The trouble is, this impatient way of garnering capital won't do much for you in the long run. Overall it's best to be wait and avoid condos.

And here's a reward for reading this far: When creating a new tower, don't click on anything except by using the scroll bars to move the bottom left of your edit window. Now click on the lower left most portion of the window (you'll be attempting to place a lobby deep underground). The game will click, and give you a message that you cannot place objects there. Oh yeah, and it will double the amount of cash with which you begin the game. How's that for a two million dollar Easter egg?!

Stressed Out? What?! I can't hear you!

SimTowerites have low stress thresholds. Keeping them mello is all part of a day's work for you. You'll need to make sure noise is low for hotel rooms, moderately low for offices, and that restaurants, party halls, and movie theaters are isolated so that they don't drown out the boss or parents yelling.

The neatest thing about SimTower floors is that they're sound-proof. That's right -- set off a bomb on the 25th floor, and the 26th will still sleep soundly. Use this to your advantage: keep your floors largely homogeneous. Offices like offices and hate fast food shops. Hotel rooms hate everything. Keep everyone vertically fenced in, and all will be well.

Also keep in mind that escalators and stairs generate noise. Use them to help keep shop, lobby, and office transportation flowing smoothly, but don't disturb your hotel guests with such. Hotels should only be served by elevators.

Here's another trick: use the gray stuff to help. Gray stuff is the stuff (that's gray) that is left over when you don't entirely fill a floor. It doesn't block out all sound, but it measurably cuts down on it. Space a bit of gray stuff between your laundry facilities and their surrounding hotel rooms to keep dryers and snorers from competing. Do the same to isolate elevators somewhat. Space in a bit between restaurants and shops to cut down on their noise.

Overall listen to your Sims. They'll let you know when things get too loud.

Lobby for Lobbies!

One of the best tools to keep stress down are lobbies. Absolutely place an entire floor of lobby units each fifteen floors. Use express elevators to maximize their traffic management, and build high-traffic units (stores, restaurants, party halls, movie theaters) near them.

Looking for another cheater? Time for another reward...

Hold down the option and shift keys when placing a lobby -- you'll drop an expensive three-story lobby down. While hard on the bank, these guys do wonders to keep stress from crashing your party. And you'll love the cool spiral staircase graphic.

Elevate yourself!

Obviously the key to building a great tower is elevators. The manual gives some solid advice on how elevators should be managed, but there are a few small tricks you might use to improve things even more.

When creating sub-levels (basements) use an express elevator to get to the bottom floor. For some reason, despite the fact that it is an express, it will service each sub-floor. With one or two of these suckers and a flight of stairs for good measure, your basement traffic will flow without a stressed red Sim in sight.

Next, when just getting a feel for elevators, start by setting them to a zero second wait and such that they'll service an unlimited number of floors away. This generic setting will take you a long way toward building a transportation system which flows well.

Once you get these basics down, then add express elevators (which hold thirty people rather than the standard fifteen) to your hotel levels. To make sure hotel patrons are happy, give them express elevators. Sims who live in hotels are apparently snobs and can't be seen riding ordinary elevators.

Building express elevators from lobby to lobby will help manage large flows of traffic, but can frustrate Sims wanting to make short trips. Shops and restaurants, then, should be bolstered by stairs.

Also be deliberate in designing traffic flow. Sims who leave movie theaters are usually hungry. If they've an express elevator to your fast food level, or better yet stairs, your restaurant owners will love you.

VIPs - Very Irritating Pompous Sims

VIPs consider themselves far above your normal office Sim, are fussier than your worst hotel guests, and think Lawrence Welk was too loud. Be sure to keep hotels on your top level (whatever that may be at any given time) so that VIPs may stay in penthouses. Make sure they need not rub elbows with mere mortals by giving them express elevators to the top. And make sure there's a top story restaurant around (but not too many -- it needs to be elite) to feed VIP bellies. You won't get a higher star rating without their holy highnesses' endorsement.

Last Words, Lost Weekends...

Yep. Throw away your car keys. You won't be leaving the house for awhile. SimTower will grow on you. At first it may seem a bit dull, or perhaps lack direct cause-and-effect, but just wait until the building you've been nurturing gets its third star.

To help your addiction roll nicely, here are a few last words of advice: plan ahead. Save various game files so that when you accidentally put a movie theater down on a floor of hotel rooms with nuns visiting, you can back up and try again. You may also want to experiment with various combinations of floor types. So save, save, save. And save again.

Remember: SimTower is PC. No, not WinDOS, but politically correct. Build tons of recycling centers.

Last, don't ever build anything on the bottom-most level. If you do, you won't be able to place a metro station. Even if you destroy that which you built, the trains won't come. And a metro station will really keep your tower moving up in the world.

-- Scott
March 10, 1995.

"Scott's Addictions" are postings about the games I play as I play them. When a game captures my interest and becomes a front-burner favorite, I'll post a tidbit or two here for you fellow gamers to enjoy. I'll only post the best games of my crop. No ratings, just ravings. And I'm semi-agnostic: I love the Mac, tolerate my PC, and split time on the PlayStation and Nintendo 64.

previous addiction | next addiction | index