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Team name: The OpenTower Dev Team Project name: OpenTower Brief description: Remember the game SimTower? (If not, you may as well stop reading now.) I, and several of my friends, have thought for a while now that this game deserves a rebirth, with modern (albeit still 2D) graphics, a user interface that doesn't suck, and, perhaps most important, some degree of user-modifiability. The game is old and simple enough that it's not too difficult to re-implement from scratch, and yet complicated enough that it's still fun to play. If you have fond memories of SimTower or its successor Yoot Tower, read on! Target aim: Open-Source, Freeware, Multi-Platform Compensation: Experience only ;) (No money involved) Technology: The current proposal calls for a 2D engine written using Python with PyGame/SDL. The game concept is inherently 2D, and Python provides cross-platform functionality along with flexibility and very easy future expandability. Ideally, the game would run with little to no modification on any platform that supports PyGame, including Windows, Macintosh, and Linux. Talent needed: As this proposal is primarily to gauge the level of interest, we're looking for anyone who thinks they can contribute. Prerequisites to contributing are some level of knowledge and experience with Python, the ability to communicate effectively in English, the drive to work for free, and lots and lots of experience playing SimTower. The key area that we're weakest in is programming the core engine, especially the 2D graphics and user interface. If you have any experience with PyGame/SDL, GUI design, and a passion for SimTower, you're exactly who we're looking for. Please note that we're not looking for artists yet; only once we have a working, playable engine do we need graphics. Team structure: Currently the team consists of me, James Block, project leader. My experience is in algorithms for large data sets (i.e., all the back-end stuff; I have little to no experience writing front-ends, which is why I've come here. Contacts: At this stage, if you're interested please contact me by replying to this thread, PMing me, or by email at j_q_block @T yahoo D O T com. Previous Work by Team: No game experience (hence the need for graphics engine help), though I have a fair amount of experience working with large datasets with both C and Python. My background is mainly high-energy physics research, for what that's worth. Additional Info: This is mostly an attempt to gauge interest in this proposed project. If I don't get sufficient response to justify moving forward, or responses from people who could actually make significant contributions to the project, I won't waste everyone's time by attempting to press on anyway. The last thing I want to see is another empty SourceForge page with "coming soon!" on it. I've had this idea floating around in my cluttered head for a long time now, and if we can't get together a team that can actually pull it off, I'd rather let the idea lay dormant than waste everyone's time. The current plan calls for all source code to be released under the GNU General Public Licence. As this is a clone of an existing commercial game (albeit one considered abandonware), selling it would be difficult at best. I think that open-sourcing the game offers the only real chance of producing a successful game that people can enjoy. Legally, I believe that by re-implementing everything from the ground up, using no code, art, sounds, or anything else from the existing SimTower and Yoot Tower, this project would be completely legal. If this project interests you, please post here or send me an email. If you're interested but you don't like my choice of Python/PyGame-SDL, and you think you have enough experience to get this done in another cross-platform language, mail me and we'll talk. If even a few people out there remember SimTower as fondly as I do, there's a real chance we can rebuild it, better than ever, in a completely open way -- OpenTower. Feedback: Please reply with encouraging feedback only, though you're certainly welcome to email me anything you like.
