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City Planning Office · Apple IIgs · Dwg TT2-001 · Rev 2

TileTown 2

An isometric city builder for the Apple IIgs

The sequel to TileTown, written from scratch in 65816 assembly. This time the city stands up from the map: homes, towers and factories drawn in 32 × 16 diamonds, with cars, trains and tornadoes going behind them. Lay out the roads, zone the land, balance the budget and keep the people happy.

StatusComing soonPrice and release date to be announced

Can't wait? The demo is the whole game for 10 minutes (no saving): download the free demo (800K ProDOS disk, zipped, 120 KB).

  • 128 × 128

    squares in the map

  • 16

    maps to start on

  • 17

    things to build

  • 5

    goals, or free play

  • 8 MB

    and an accelerator

The box

Fig. 0 · packaging · drag to turn

Every city builder of 1990 came in a box, so TileTown 2 has one too. Turn it round: the title picture on the front, the new isometric city on the back, with what you need.

  1. Front - the title screen, the name in gold, a starburst: a city in 3D, 16 maps, 3 levels.
  2. Back - the city view, four new things in TileTown 2 and the system requirements.
  3. Spine and top - the six-colour stripe and the name, for the shelf.

Isometric view

Fig. 1 · a town in February 1900 · scale 32 × 16

  1. 1Fire stationRed brick, two big doors. $500.
  2. 2HomesFour designs of every house, picked by where it stands.
  3. 3StadiumWatch the score on the board go up.
  4. 4Nuclear plantThe cooling tower steams.
  5. 5Status lineThe tool in hand and what it costs.
TileTown 2's isometric city view: a fire station, houses and flats, a stadium, a steaming cooling tower and a smoking factory district, downtown towers by the sea, a rail line crossing a road, the toolbox on the right and the menu bar showing $20026, February 1900.
  1. 6The seaCoasts, islands, fjords: 16 maps to start on.
  2. 7DowntownShops grow in three sizes, up to towers.
  3. 8ToolboxPick a tool, then click or drag to build.
  4. 9Level crossingTrains run on the rails, across the road.
  5. 10IndustryChimneys smoke; pollution spreads.
  6. 11City figuresPeople, tax, pollution, crime and the R C I bars.
Fig. 1 - Screenshot, Apple IIgs Super Hi-Res, shown with square pixels and no filtering.

Revision 2

What's new against the original TileTown

Rev 1 · TileTown, for any 2 MB IIgsRev 2 · TileTown 2, for an 8 MB IIgs with an accelerator · 2026
ItemRevChangeDescriptionSee
AAn isometric cityBuildings stand up from the map, drawn in 32 × 16 diamonds. Cars, trains and tornadoes go behind them.Fig. 1
BFour designs of everythingEvery house, shop and factory comes in four designs, picked by where it stands, so no two streets look alike.Detail B
CTraffic that faces the roadCars, buses and vans face the way they drive; trains run on the rails.Fig. 1, 9
DSmooth scrollingThe map scrolls a few pixels at a time.-
EA living pictureLakes ripple, chimneys smoke, the nuclear plant steams, the airport's beacon flashes and the stadium's score goes up.Detail C
FPress ISwitch to the flat top-down map and back.Fig. 2 & 3
32 16 one square of the 128 × 128 map
Detail A - one square32 × 16 pixels, 2 : 1
Detail B - four designsFrom Fig. 1, enlarged 1.5 ×
Detail C - chimneys smokeFrom Fig. 1, enlarged 1.5 ×

Plan view · isometric view

Figs. 2 & 3 · the same town, the same moment

Press I in the game to switch between the flat top-down map and the isometric city. Same streets, same money, same month - one view for laying out, one for looking at.

The same town in the flat top-down view: a grid of roads, the fire station, blocks of shops, a police station, hospital and stadium, factories and a rail line, with the toolbox on the right.
Fig. 2 - Plan view, top-down
The same town in the isometric view, with buildings standing up from the map.
Fig. 3 - Isometric view

General notes

Everything from TileTown, carried over to Rev 2

  1. A living city on a 128 × 128 map. Homes, shops and factories grow in three sizes once they have power, a road and people who want them. Commuters drive to work and back.
  2. 16 maps to start on: rivers, lakes, coasts, islands, forests, fjords, marshes and plains.
  3. 17 things to build: roads, rail, power lines, homes, shops, industry, coal and nuclear power plants, police and fire stations, hospitals, schools, parks, a stadium, a seaport and an airport.
  4. Bridges over water, level crossings, and rail tunnels under lakes and rivers.
  5. Land value, traffic, pollution and crime spread through the neighbourhoods. People ask for what the city lacks.
  6. Maps and graphs: heat maps of pollution, crime, land value, traffic, police, fire, health, schools, population and power; graphs over 10 or 100 years.
  7. A budget with sliders for taxes, roads, police and fire.
  8. Five disasters: fire, flood, tornado, earthquake and nuclear meltdown - or switch them off.
  9. Five goals with a deadline, or free play. See Schedule 2.
  10. Three levels: easy, normal and hard. See Schedule 3.
  11. Milestones and monthly advice, a city evaluation with a score, and a query tool.
  12. Menus, pause and three speeds, a help screen, mouse and keyboard.
  13. Eight save slots, each city under its own name.
  14. Sound effects and eight relaxed tunes on the Ensoniq sound chip.

Schedules

Rates, goals and levels, as set in the game

Schedule 1 Rates - the toolbox

ItemRate
Road$10
Power line$5
Rail a square$20
A zone: homes, shops or industry$100
Park$50
Police station$500
Fire station$500
School$800
Hospital$1,000
Power plant (coal)$3,000
Stadium$3,000
Seaport$5,000
Nuclear plant$5,000
Airport$10,000

Schedule 2 Goals

GoalTargetDeadline
Boomtown10,000 people10 years
Shoestring2,000 people, starting from only $5,0005 years
Clean air5,000 people, pollution under 20%15 years
Safe streets5,000 people, crime under 15%15 years
Rich town$50,000 in the bank20 years
Free playNo goal - build as you likeNone

Schedule 3 Levels

LevelMoney to startDisasters
Easy$30,000Fewer
Normal$20,000Normal
Hard$10,000Twice as many

Five disasters: fire, flood, tornado, earthquake and nuclear meltdown. Switch them off if you'd rather build in peace.

A sheet of the 16 start maps: green land with rivers, lakes, coasts, islands and forests.
Site survey - the 16 start maps

Schedule 4 Sites

Every city starts on one of 16 maps. Pick one in the new-city chooser, with a goal and a level.

  • Rivers
  • Lakes
  • Coasts
  • Islands
  • Forests
  • Fjords
  • Marshes
  • Plains

Detail sheets

Screens from the game · click to enlarge

Specification

What you need to run TileTown 2

Option AA real Apple IIgs

Computer
Apple IIgs
Memory
8 MB
Drive
One that boots an 800K 3.5" ProDOS disk
Accelerator
ZipGS, TransWarp GS or similar. Runs from 8 MHz, at its best at 16 MHz
Input
A mouse is easier; the keyboard works too

Option BAn emulator

Emulator
MAME - on the Mac, Ample or EmuBuddy
Machine
Apple IIgs
Memory
8 MB
CPU type
"16 MHz ZipGS"
Input
Mouse or keyboard

The original TileTown still runs on any 2 MB IIgs, no accelerator needed.

Specification booklet

Cover of the TileTown 2 instruction manual: navy, a rainbow stripe, the gold TileTown 2 logo, two screenshots and a starburst reading A city in 3D, 16 maps, 3 levels.

TileTown 2 instruction manual
28 pages, full colour · PDF, 1.6 MB

Read the manual

Drawing index

Related drawings · more Apple IIgs software by Walter Tengler