You'll want a different name to avoid infringement claims, probably. DC doesn't own the word "Gotham" outright, but this might be a bit close for their comfort.

After perusing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicknames_of_New_York_City, I recommend "Empire City."

Edit: After a quick search on that name in conjunction with video games, all I could find was a 1986 arcade light gun game called "Empire City: 1931," and an unpopular 2013 mobile port of same called "Empire City Touch." I wouldn't think either of those would be an obstacle.

I'd love to contribute in some way, I have experience with 3d modeling (tho very little with characters), music composition, and some python programming... not sure how much time I would be able to contribute to it, but it sure sounds like fun!

I read through the article again and tried writing some implementation ideas, but it seems the whole thing would require more time than I have available, would anyone else care to spearhead such a project?

I would love to help. I have some python and C experience and I can pick up any language pretty quick. I think that this would be a great project to work on, and the result would be fantastic!

If a project to build it crystalizes, I'd try to contribute what I can; if not, I'll look into moddable city-building games to see what I can make on my own.

You'll need a lot of writing for dynamic dialog trees. Holler when ready.

Might never happen, but if it does? It'll be a blast.

Yes. A mailing list or something should totally be created.

wich tech will you plan to use ? if i have some spare time i would like to work on some part :)

Github + mailing liste ?

Make a mailing list or something!