From the Chair of the Professor of Economics, His MajestyImportant changes to fundamental economic mechanisms of the gameWe are entering the era of Mercantilism, which means that the Town seeks to be more self-sufficient so that the money would circulate internally and not so much be diverted to imports.
How the quarrying worksThe peasants have seen their stone income dwindle because they continue to measure it in unbeliever currencies such as Bit Coins and green paper. Because on the other hand we cannot increase it (Rules), they have decided to stop it altogether.
They have provided a way out for us by preparing a site near our Town to be the second borough when it is emptied of the stone that their geologists say is readily quarriable below a reasonable layer of top vegetation. They have done the surveying completely and even provided the exact results concerning how much stone is available, and where, and how easily it can be dug. But the condition for showing the key to their result was revealed to our Majesty only on the condition that it is not divulged nor directly exploited.
Since quarrying volume soon needed must be massive (the last 20-year average consumption is 1.15 million stone per year; now the gold-> stone generation is only 0.62 million/year, and it is more than likely that the construction will not exactly halve just because the passage of time is halved from tomorrow on), we have decided that a whole chapelry is quarried at once by a professional operation.
Such operation needs the normal corporate license of 10 mil + land deposit of 150 mil (the Town has an option to buy the land back at the same price after the operation is closed and the land is cleared for construction). It is possible to generate up to 300,000 stone per year from the area of one chapelry if the operation is organized properly (many of the stats pertaining to the proper setting how to quarry a certain piece of land are provided by the peasants). At the recent prices this income is up to 60 mil, which surpasses the combined service businesses of the wealthiest noble merchant currently. Shrewd operation in the supply side and selling at the top monero are keys to unparalleled financial success, and if the secret code can be unciphered, it almost equals a license to print money!
The relevant tab(s) in Character DB will show the components what the quarry may build/employ/purchase. The buildings required for administration and many of the phases of work are standard (need not be designed) and built instantly (need not be set on the detailed map, no BI, although they are implemented on the land "properly" when it reverts to town or if the town decides to not redeem it).
So in game mechanics, the quarrying is based on a formula that is set in stone and takes as inputs the details of the operation and the properties of the land (which are given, but not explained in the secret code). Employing certain kind of professionals in the operation grants time to chat with HM and perhaps valuable insights, which cannot be given to those who do not employ these people. As usual, all employment contracts are permanent and require the dissolution of the company to be terminated. One company can, however, take another quarrying site when the previous one is about to close (subject to availability), and transfer the experienced workers there.
HM or any of his wealth-mgmt clients can not participate in the quarry business as manager, as that would be unfair. If the companies are set free-trading, they might buy shares in the companies that they deem successful, though, which provides important market information.
New building calculator
The new building calculator starts to work from 1521, which will be 2014-12-9, 21:00 GMT. Before that the old calculator works. It is advisable to build according to old rules if possible, as the model building I tried with, the new rules lead to 11.8-13.5% higher total cost.
On the other hand, the new one is much streamlined, the arch rules do not change, but the calculation of them is much easier as all low-arches and ha-2 are included in price, and building above a high arch is also included (this was very difficult to calculate). Also doors need not be calculated at all, only if they are at least Grand.
The main change to the costing is that floorcount affects the price. If a building is 1-level, there is no change. If 2-levels, the
price without luxuries is multiplied by 110%, and the multiplier is 10% higher for every additional floor.
If actual high-rise buildings are sought, the height limit is increased to 30 m, making a more diverse landscape possible. Also if the floor area on the highest floor is max 50% of the previous one, it does not count. The rest can be a terrace or a roof garden. For example, a building with 200+200+100+50 sqm floors is counted as a 2-story building. Similarly, mezzanine floors are ignored if they consist of max 50% of the area of the level of the elevation of their floor. Since luxuries are not penalized, building high luxury buildings in many levels is proportionally less costly, it is the 5-6 floor NPC residentials we want to get rid of.
Our masons have learned to make a new
high arch-5 which only consumes 1 m of height in the ends. This is in practice a very important innovation, leading to the eventual
low arch-5. This type of high-arch-5 does not support a wall on top of it, but means that 5 m wide rooms can be built if the room height is 3 m or more, making a more diverse and less stone-consuming architecture possible.
On the money flow side, 60% of the luxuries are now domestic (55%). Labor goes 40-60 to PC:s and NPC:s (60-40). NPC's work goes 70% to the Services pool (60%). Players' share goes to 50-50 in Labor and Services pool (60-40). The changes underline the proliferation of Services in town, the NPC's ever-increasing role in doing stuff and the better capture of NPC's income to the local economy.
Also the direct Servant salaries in T_MON will go to Services pool 70% (50%).
Hopefully the poor servants can soon find affordable homes
The services pool is continuously paying out so much that the flipside of the coin is that many of our servants live in incredibly cramper conditions, or not in town at all.
Internalization of windows production
In line with the mercantilist principles, importing windows is a needless waste of money. But we cannot make windows! This skill was never developed since we have been so busy with other things. In the coming Villa Rotunda, which we have been thinking to rename School of Applied Sciences, we are thinking of starting to learn this trade. No breakthroughs are expected in a decade at least, but if the nobles also support scientists and engineers, eventually the secrets of windowmaking can be unlocked and Royal Monopoly granted to some industrialist who was active in the research phase. (Currently the average annual consumption of imported windows is 55 mil, which could indeed benefit the local economy also).
The enterprises of the Bishop in beermaking, Sir Riccardo with his vineyards (although the climate is too cold, we don't suggest this to anyone) and Karl with his medical services (it is mainly quackery anyway in this century, and the PC's do not get sick or die so it can only serve visitors), are important when the Royal Licenses game starts in earnest in the coming decades. If you have something other you want to experiment with, do not expect it to generate any revenue at this point, except crumbles from Services pool. Your reward will come later.
Now we know who trust in it 