Skyscrapers

Skyscrapers are a type of residences, available in The High Life DLC. They can house engineers and investors, they can be built by upgrading regular engineer residences and investor residences. The possibility to upgrade them to skyscrapers is unlocked after reaching 5000 Investors, additionally you need to produce Elevators and all basic needs of engineers or investors have to be fulfilled. You can upgrade them several times, each time adding one more module on top and increasing population capacity of the residence. Skyscrapers, in opposite to regular residences, also have maintenance cost.

Engineer skyscrapers have maximum height of 3 levels, while investor skyscrapers can reach level 5. Each additional level adds new needs which have to be fulfilled to maximise the population in the skyscraper. Moreover, skyscrapers of higher levels have higher maintenance costs. Surrounding high skyscrapers with lower ones applies panorama effect to the higher skyscrapers, which can increase their population and income gained from them.

Skyscraper levels[]

Engineer skyscrapers[]

Level	Needs	Influence			Maintenance cost			Max population depending on panorama effect
Level	Needs	high	medium	low	easy	medium	hard	none	weak	moderate	decent	strong	intense
1	Department Store	+1	+1	0	-480	-540	-600	60	80	100	120	140	160
2	Department Store Chewing Gum Furniture Store	+2	+1	+1	-640	-720	-800	80	100	120	140	160	180
3	Department Store Chewing Gum Furniture Store Typewriters Drug Store Violins	+3	+2	+1	-960	-1080	-1200	100	120	140	160	180	200

Investor skyscrapers[]

Level	Needs	Influence			Maintenance cost			Max population depending on panorama effect
Level	Needs	high	medium	low	easy	medium	hard	none	weak	moderate	decent	strong	intense
1	Department Store	+4	+2	+1	-1520	-1710	-1900	75	100	125	150	175	200
2	Department Store Chewing Gum Biscuits	+5	+3	+1	-2160	-2430	-2700	100	125	150	175	200	225
3	Department Store Chewing Gum Biscuits Cognac Furniture Store	+6	+3	+2	-2880	-3240	-3600	125	150	175	200	225	250
4	Department Store Chewing Gum Biscuits Cognac Furniture Store Typewriters Billiard Tables	+7	+4	+2	-3780	-4252.5	-4725	150	175	200	225	250	275
5	Department Store Chewing Gum Biscuits Cognac Furniture Store Typewriters Billiard Tables Violins Drug Store Toys	+8	+4	+2	-4720	-5310	-5900	175	200	225	250	275	300

Advancement[]

Skyscrapers can be constructed only via upgrading engineer and investor residences to the skyscraper level. To upgrade residences to the skyscraper level or to add another level to a skyscraper, the residence has to be full and enough of construction materials is required.

Required materials to increase the level by one:

Engineer skyscrapers: 500 • 10 • 5 • 10 • 5 • 5 • 2

Investor skyscrapers: 1000 • 10 • 5 • 15 • 10 • 5 • 5

The space, where a button to upgrade to the next population tier is placed, is split into two buttons: the left one is for upgrading to the next tier of population while the right one is for adding a skyscraper level. Click on the button with the skyscraper symbol on the right in order to add a skyscraper level to the selected residence. Alternatively, you can click on the skyscraper upgrade button in the upper right part of the construction menu, and click or click and drag to upgrade one or several residences at once. Holding Shift key while upgrading allows to upgrade as many residences or skyscrapers of the same level as possible.

To downgrade a skyscraper use the downgrade button within the residence interface or use the skyscraper upgrade button while holding Alt key. Engineer residences can only be upgraded to investor residences when they are not skyscrapers. You need to remove all skyscraper levels from an engineer residence before upgrading it to the investor tier.

Panorama Effect[]

Residents of the skyscrapers like to have a panoramic view outside of their windows. By keeping skyscrapers free from being surrounded by skyscrapers of the same or higher level you can apply the panorama effect to the skyscrapers. The effect increases the population that can live in the skyscraper and increases the income it provides.

Benefits[]

There are five different strengths of the panorama effect. Having no panorama effect does not bring any negative effects. Panorama effect increases amount of residents gained from fulfilling particular needs and increases overall income from all needs.

Investors gain bonus residents from: Champagne, Cigars, Chocolate, Steam Carriages, Electricity.

Engineers gain bonus residents from: Glasses, Coffee, Electricity, Light Bulbs.

Different strengths of panorama effect:

Weak: +5 residents, +5% income
Moderate +10 residents, +7.5% income
Decent +15 residents, +10% income
Strong +20 residents, +12.5% income
Intense +25 residents, +15% income

How it works[]

Each skyscraper has a certain radius and all other skyscrapers within that radius have an impact on the panorama effect of the skyscraper. The higher level of the skyscraper, the bigger its panorama radius is:

Level 1: 4
Level 2: 4.25
Level 3: 5
Level 4: 6
Level 5: 6.75

Select a skyscraper to see how its neighbours affect its panorama. Skyscrapers of the lower level provide +1 modifier and are highlighted in green, skyscrapers of the same or higher level provide -1 modifier and are highlighted in brown. Skyscrapers of the same level but belonging to different population tiers apply +1 modifier to each other. Skyscrapers which are too far away or buildings which are not skyscrapers have no impact on panorama and are not highlighted. Additionally, all skyscrapers have a base panorama value equal to their level. The sum of the skyscraper level and modifiers from all skyscrapers within the radius determines the strength of the panorama effect (0 or lower - none, 1 - weak, 2 - moderate, 3 - decent, 4 - strong, 5 - intense).

Examples[]

A level 5 skyscraper not surrounded by other skyscrapers would have an intense panorama - due to the base value of the panorama equal to the level of the skyscraper: 5.
A level 5 skyscrapers with one level 5 skyscraper next to it - strong panorama effect. Skyscraper has base value of 5 but the skyscraper next to it has equal height thus acting as a -1 modifier. Final panorama value is then 4 which determines that the skyscraper has strong panorama.
A level 3 skyscraper surrounded by two level 4 skyscrapers - weak panorama. Skyscraper has base value of 3 but there are two higher skyscrapers within its radius, each acting as a -1 modifier, thus final value is equal to 1, which means it will experience weak panorama effect.
A level 2 skyscraper surrounded by three level 1 skyscrapers and one level 4 skyscraper - strong panorama. Base value of 2, the level 1 skyscrapers are lower thus each provides +1 modifier, summing up to +3. However, there is also one level 4 skyscraper which is higher and provides -1 modifier. Altogether the panorama value is equal to: 2+3-1=4, which means that level 2 skyscraper would have strong panorama effect.
A level 1 engineer skyscraper next to one level 1 investor skyscraper would have a moderate panorama. With base value of 1 and +1 modifier from the skyscraper of the same level but different population tier, the sum of modifiers equals 2, which means moderate panorama. It is worth to note that in this case the investor skyscraper, if it does not have other neighbouring skyscrapers, would also experience moderate panorama, receiving a positive modifier from the engineer skyscraper of the same level.

Tips[]

To highlight all residences of the same tier or to highlight all skyscrapers of the same tier and level, select a residence and then hold the Shift key.

Screenshots[]

Items[]

Some items when equipped in town halls can have an impact on the skyscrapers. All items which normally affect engineer or investor residences also affect the appropriate skyscrapers. There are also a few items which affect only skyscrapers and they do not affect regular residences:

Blue Skies Janitor Rare
Even new apartments have their little defects.
Equipped in Town Hall Affects All Skyscrapers	Effects Maintenance Cost: -10% Chance of Fire: -30% Chance of Illness: -30% Chance of Riots: -30%	Expedition Bonus Crafting: +15 Diplomacy: +2

Blue Skies Maid Rare
With a little help, the place looks as good as new!
Equipped in Town Hall Affects All Skyscrapers	Effects Maintenance Cost: +15% Bonus Residents: +5 Residences gain bonus residents from Biscuits, Typewriters, Cognac, Violins, Billiard Tables, Toys, Department Store, Furniture Store, Drug Store. Happiness: +20	Expedition Bonus Navigation: +10

Blue Skies Delivery Service Epic
For those who love their new sky abodes too much to leave em’ for too long.
Equipped in Town Hall Affects All Skyscrapers	Effects Maintenance Cost: +10% Happiness: +5 Bonus Supply Residences with the Department Store need fulfilled, are provided with Chewing Gum Residences with the Furniture Store need fulfilled, are provided with Billiard Tables Residences with the Drug Store need fulfilled, are provided with Violins	Expedition Bonus Diplomacy: +20