PRODIGY(R) interactive personal service 04/09/93 11:20 PM PILLARS OF THE COMMUNITY Improving Housing and Other Notes for Caesar by Alan Emrich I've received so many e-scrolls (e-mail in the modern vernacular) with positive feedback on the Caesar tips posted here on Prodigy, that I've decided to write one more column. In this, I'm sweeping off of my desk the last of the notes I have for aspiring emperors in hopes that these tips and tables will put you well on the road to Rome. Primarily, however, I will share the secrets of improving the housing market in your neighborhoods. The Main Ingredient: Land Value [NEXT] In the previous column, I explained what influences the value of land (particularly for tax purposes). Land value is also the main consideration for improving the level of local housing. Land values, it was stated previously, have artificial ceilings placed on them when a land square is near a market, rubble, heavy industry, business, barracks, gate or a prefecture. Consequently, housing near these facilities cannot raise to its full potential (there are 16 levels of housing, the largest being a 9-square -- 3x3 -- luxury villa block). Also, a neighborhood needs the amenities described in page 29 of the manual. The Secret Ingredient: Civilities In other words, land value is the absolute maximum that housing in a given square can rise to. There is another, secret cap or ceiling to housing development. These are the special minimum requirements for housing to evolve up to a certain level of wealth. They are presented in the table that follows over the next 2 screens: Housing Secret Minimum Level #s Property Descriptions Requirement -------- ------------------------------ --------------- 1, 2 single tent, double tent Positive land value 3, 4 brown shack, white shack Water supply 5, 6, 8 2x1 white shack, 2x1 white house, Road access to and white skyscraper forum 7, 9 2x1 house with pointy roof, Market brown skyscraper 10, 11 2x1 w/small lawn on right, Baths 2x1 with no lawn 12, 13 2x1 center lawn, 2x1 with a School and big lawn on the right hospital 14 - 16 2x2 villas and 3x3 palace Theater, Ampi., or Hippodrome Copyright 1993 Prodigy Services Company. All Rights Reserved. PRODIGY(R) interactive personal service 04/09/93 11:21 PM Table Notes [NEXT] This list is cumulative. In other words, to achieve a level 16 house, all of these secret minimum requirements mentioned must exist and be close enough to influence it. The numbers such a 2x1 represent a housing tile that is 2 squares across by 1 high. Notice that type 8 houses are out of sequence. The reason is that types 6 & 8 (and 7 & 9) houses are actually of identical quality. This gimmick allows for fairy posh housing in areas where a 2x1 housing tile will simply not fit. Finally, houses grow from the top left corner to the bottom right one. Each row of housing grows to the right, then drops a row for the next check. The Water Works [NEXT] Water is power in Caesar (SimCity players will appreciate that pun). In order to receive the benefits from a land square, it must be within the receiving radius of a fresh water source. For the record, those radii are: Source Radius Note that hooking up 2 fountains Well 1 to a single reservoir doesn't work. Reservoir 3 However, hooking up a third fountain Fountain (on) 6 to a chain of 2 reservoirs, each with a fountain attached works very well. The Red Tape Measure [NEXT] Not only do land squares require water, they also need administrative control. Liberals will love that things will not prosper unless they're under the taxing influence of government administration. How large the government office is determines how long its arm is, as shown on the table below: Administrative Source Influence Range Prefecture 4 Forum size 1 or 2 6 Forum size 3 or 4 8 Forum size 5 or 6 10 Forum size 7 or 8 12 The Verdict Is In On Suppressing Riots [NEXT] As many Imperial Governors have found out, the price of plummeting popularity is ruinous rioting. It's bad enough when barbarians have to be dealt with, but to have one's own citizens up in arms...! The antidotes for rioting are below: Riot Suppression Source Radius Influence Prefecture 3 +2 Gate 2 +2 Barracks 5 +4 Temple size 1 - 4 2 +2 Copyright 1993 Prodigy Services Company. All Rights Reserved. PRODIGY(R) interactive personal service 04/09/93 11:21 PM Temple size 5 - 8 3 +2 Oracle 5 +2 Sometimes Caesar is a Real Riot [NEXT] A general, city-wide check of domestic tranquillity is calculated regularly for one's provincial capitol city. It is based on 2 things: the population tax and conscription levels (the higher they are, the worse things will be). After the general rating is calculated, a specific rating is calculated for each housing square in the city. This value is equal to the general rating, plus any local bonus as described in the previous table. If this value works out to less than 0 for any given square in the city, there may be trouble! The Influence of the Baton [NEXT] Specifically, a number is added to the "unrest factor" for each square. This unrest factor is the cumulative result of these additions over time. I.e., the worse the local security level was, the more that is added to this factor. When the unrest factor exceeds a certain level, a rioter is born. The amount of unrest required to spring forth a rioter varies by the quality of the housing. Thus, single tents will crank out rioters with relative ease. Note that only the bottom 4 levels of housing will ever produce rioters. Rich levels will accumulate unrest, but they are too genteel to riot (until their housing levels decline). All Roads Lead Where? [NEXT] Brace thyself, citizen. It is almost certain that too many roads are adorning cities out there. Straight from the programmer comes this tip: The only place where roads are required is to connect houses to a forum and businesses to their marketplaces, PERIOD. Unlike past experiences with SimCity, traffic congestion is never a problem, so one must think of the city streets as, in fact, major avenues of commerce. Those wanting to optimize their property values will not want to run roads by their civility structures (baths, schools, hospitals, theaters, amphitheaters and hippodromes). Walls and Soldiers [NEXT] For those who like to build roads in the provinces, you will save a few dollars if you pay to clear out intervening bad terrain with the shovel icon before you lay down the road. Even if you can't afford the road right away, this technique at least opens up a channel for armies to travel. Those who build city walls will find it useful to run a road just along the inside of them. Next to the road, build Copyright 1993 Prodigy Services Company. All Rights Reserved. PRODIGY(R) interactive personal service 04/09/93 11:21 PM a barracks. The effect is to get your soldiers to "patrol" along the wall's interior. This gets places them well to counter any barbarian incursions that manage to get over the walls. I highly recommend this technique! Reading the Unemployment Statistic [NEXT] Unemployment happens. Now, while it is logical to assume that opening businesses helps reduce unemployment (it does, if they are prospering), other tiles effect the global unemployment number as well. Heavy industry structures will help reduce unemployment. So will marketplaces. Even building forums will make a slight dent in unemployment. Finally, it takes 20 promotions and a successful town with well over 10,000 population to be promoted to Caesar. Computer Gaming World magazine can be reached at EXPT40B. Please contact them on the Game Center Club Bulletin Boards. Do not send private E-mail. Copyright 1993 Prodigy Services Company. All Rights Reserved.