The concept of a BuildingEDITED many times since posted * * Under implementation in Char DB /BLDG
See the intro from a few posts back
Feedback still accepted 
!SUBGAMES
HOUSEHOLD - about the same as now, allowing breathing room for the changes in NPCs, and making them provide some benefit even when not assigned to any actual job; but the HOUSEHOLD requires a large palace from the owner, because the owner's own use (up to 1,000 sqm) is automatically added to the space usage
SPECIAL - apart from providing SCI, CUL as now, it will start to be able to produce IND (industry) points. Industry is regulated and requires Royal Permission (mercantilism, eh..), but these points will give the charter holders the way to expend resources that will be converted to windows and clothes for example. Also HHP (management) points will be able to be produced, to boost the Household/Business HQ management in cases where the primary dwelling lacks space. Industry will be the way to produce arms and other needed things in the future. Also similar mechanism will in the near future be used to convert the building laborer work to BLD points, which will replace the current monetary input of "labor" in the Building project.
RESTA - will continue quite like before but with more realistic rules determining the suitability of the location and the profitability, which will (like in the Most Ancient times) be heavily dependent on the players again, and other formulas that can now automatically adjust to changes and snuff micromanagement.
HOTEL - the suitability for a building to be a classy hotel will now be evaluated better, at the same time there will arise opportunities for insta conversion of an NPC hive to a guesthouse and back, based on the need in the location and proximity of similar places nearby. The staff will continue to be a major factor in the upscale market as well as other considerations evaluated automatically.
RENTAL - we aim to make this such that it automatically selects between Residential, Office and Commercial rental pools, always taking the one that gives the best return. It can also be that the owner needs to choose but automatic should be easier than customizable.
ARMY - the fighting rules will not be implemented just yet for actual fights at least - the time of V.4 will be for the armies to train and become more effective, and for the Countryside rules to mature and become more interesting. Also the Armies will have to be lodged in garrisons, and will gain payouts from the Guarding pool relative to their conditions of stay and their fighting strength.
So, back to the buildings! Those subgames are basically conversions of investments (NPC's, building area, tools) and money, to (hopefully) more money, and other desirable points and things. Previously the conversion formula has relied heavily on the NPCs, with some consideration on the location of the business and even less to the actual buildings and tools there. This is about to be changed, to make the
Building (a functional subdivision of a Lot, coinciding to an actual building or a part thereof with distinct attributes) such that it gives a great boost if designed with its intended purpose (negating the usefulness to another), or, if designed to be a multipurpose one, to give average payout and more flexibility.
How to accomplish this is a classic game design challenge. The different attributes that the building must have, should be:
- relatively few, with useful abstractions ("lux%")
- coincide with the "mandatory" architect decisions (height, room sizes, windows, arrangement)
- balanced (should give actual choices for different options, not be a "finding-an-optimum")
- actionable by the subgame formulas to give interesting and fair results
- realistic and logical to be understood easily
- fun.
BUILDING ATTRIBUTES AND PARAMETERS(in my parlance, an attribute is something you cannot easily change once you have made the design decision, a parameter can be changed with less difficulty, the difference is somewhat blurred)
Bldg_id <- global id which at present is a number. Buildings are property of Lots, but since Lots may be sliced and diced, it is up to decision if we want the building id to be in the form of "1-C-F7-2" or "37". The former would be more useful in some contexts but would require changes more often than a static number.
Lot_id <- global id, used to assign the building to its owner Lot
Own_id <- global char id, mirrored from the Lot. (Buildings cannot be owned by characters, they are owned by lots, which in turn are owned by characters.
Bldg_name <- text
Build_yr <- first building year of this building. In the beginning, this is easy to determine. If you add material changes to the same building, this anciety will be lost. It is safer to make additions as separate Buildings with a new Build_yr.
Renovated_yr <- last renovation. For a renovation that adds to repair%, luxury%, etc, this year is reset. It is a good thing because some businesses benefit from the building been recent, in which case this counts. (Some may even benefit from it being both old and new, which are possible at the same time.)
Floor area <- same as before. The part of floor area that is required to get into different Buildings is not counted. If a hall is 1-2 wide, it is used up as a corridor. If it is 3 or more wide, a reduction of 1-2 m from the width is applied according to the traffic.
U/CTerrace area <- area of terraces. A terrace needs to be elevated from the ground (pedestal) and may be at any level, including balconies and roof terraces. Balconies do not (any more) require a stone railing. If you leave it without, a wood railing (no cost) will be used, or perhaps metal when we get the metalworking in full gear. Stone railing may continue to be used as an aesthetic element. Terrace area adds to the desirability of the buildings, especially of those that are used as a restaurant.
Lux% <- same as before; lux gives items as dividends occasionally and these items can be detached without affecting lux. For two areas having a different lux%, they must belong to different buildings.
Repair% <- result of the earthquake and (from now on) normal aging, can be "Renovated" to reach 100% again. The repair% being high is more important for luxurious and important buildings. For low-grade buildings, they are economical to renovate only when quite run-down, and then demolish is also an option.
Height <- area-weighted average height. If the building has minor differences in height (if the area with a different height is so small that it does not make the rounding differ from the height of the dominant area), it can be listed under the dominant area height. If the building is of very different heights so that the rounding result does not correspond to the height of the dominant area (eg. if 20%*3 m, 80%*6 m, average = 5.4 m = 5 m != 6 m), 2 buildings must be created.
AIC <- one time field for AIC dividends given in 1600. See below.
Culture <- current "esteemed building" concept. Some buildings create culture to their owner based on their existence (as well as NPCs). New points are given slowly based on popular vote.
Number of Apartments <- due to increases in living standards, 17% of the NPC's can now invest 165,000 m/year in housing, and for this money it's possible to rent a 53 sqm in Master's Village! Constructing as small as possible apartments is not a concern any more, but having more rooms in a compact apartment is prized. Otherwise there would not be so many of them because building walls is not only expensive but also reduces the area. The total sqm of the Building is divided by the number of Apartments. An Apartment is defined as the smallest functional area in the Building, which can be reached from outside using public areas.
Number of Rooms Corridors etc. do not count as rooms.
Windows <- gives comfort and status. This has been in use before but needs to be calculated again because we want a greater range of results, and also the views have changed. If the Building is residential type, consisting of distinct Apartments, average is used:
Window ratio+1 more than 1:12
+2 more than 1:7
+3 more than 1:4
+4 more than 1:2
+5 more than 1:1
(apply -1 for each full 20% of the floor area being totally without windows, or more than 8 m distance from the nearest window, lesser areas are not penalized because it's good to have closets)
Sunlight+1 unhindered sunlight from east, south, or west at least a few hours per day
+2 unhindered sunlight from at least 2/3 directions, most of the day
+3 windows to 3/3 directions and nothing is blocking the sun all day
(the proximity to the buildings and height of you and them determines the sunlight. For small apartments, each apartment cannot have sunlight in all of the directions so they are evaluated separately and average is used.
Having windows to the north has never any benefit to Sunlight)
Views+1 nearest building at least 10 m away in at least one direction, garden/paved area in between
+2 nearest building at least 10 m away in 2 or more window directions, garden/paved area in between
(add +1 if building is so high that you see above the roofs of the nearby buildings (need to have buildings nearby for this))
(note: Views does not give points if the area is not developed in the 10 m range, nor of course if you dont have a window. North
does count for views.)
Sights+1 at least one Beautiful building in sight
+2 at least one Cultured building in sight (Cultured buildings are automatically Beautiful)
+3 at least 3 Cultured buildings or 1 Most Cultured building in sight
+4 Several Most Cultured buildings in sight (ie. both the Royal Palace and the Old Obelisk)
Shopfront <- increases revenue in trafficked areas. This is just a simple ticker that requires the Building to have several doors and windows directly to the street. It is also a negative and heavy minus for a residential.
Access to public park/square <- gives comfort and status, esp. to residences. Direct floor area/park area ratio does not work because parks are not all the time used by the inhabitants, also they may use public parks, and the existence of parks brings benefit even when not in use.
+1 nearest public park 10 m or less away (if 100 sqm), 20 m or less away (if 400 sqm), 30 m or less (if 3000 sqm), measured from the edge of the lot
+2 nearest public park 0 m away (if 100 sqm), 10 m or less away (if 400 sqm), 20 m or less (if 3000 sqm)
+3 nearest public park 0 m away (if 400 sqm), 10 m or less away (if 3000 sqm)
+4 direct access to King's Park
(add +1 if the building is facing a recognized square)
(note: private park in own lot counts as well and is always 0 m away, but it must be at least 7 m wide (if 100 sqm) and 10 m wide (if 400 sqm))
Garden/area ratio <- Here only own gardens count, and if gardens are usable by many buildings of the lot, this should be divided accordingly. Higher ratio means more gardens.
Zen <- awards peace of mind bonuses to beautiful and stately buildings and room plans, punishes gaming the system via the design of ugly buildings with unrealistic and stupid room plans. It will be taken into use later.
Beautiful <- the first stage of a building to gain renown due to its architectural merits. Buildings that are judged beautiful based on their facade gain this point. All Cultured and Most Cultured buildings are automatically classified Beautiful.
the "S/" are suitability points for different uses based on the room plan, and they greatly affect the use. It is possible to use anything for anything but the output is best when using the buildings for their intended purposes.
S/Resta+1 if the Building has a separate Kitchen with access to the restaurant, which is a reasonably connected area (may have cabinets)
+2 if the Building is designed/remodeled to be a restaurant ($$)
S/Apt+1 if the Building consists of separate rooms or separate apartments designed with only the minimal public spaces such as lobbies and staircases and having no more than 2 m wide corridors (an entrance/front desk hall is ok, also some public space if the building is luxurious)
S/Resid+1 The Building is designed to be a single dwelling in one lot (PC or high-ranking NPC). It actually has to be such to gain this point. (If it has separate parts that are designated Buildings, this does not matter, although only the main part gains the point.)
S/Hotel+1 if the Building has balanced public areas (more than in S/Apt low lux case) with mostly rooms, rooms accessible inside and about right amount of public areas corresponding to lux (more lux = more public areas)
+2 if the Building has direct access to a major street, yet no rooms are in the street level, has different types of rooms with some being big or customizable, and the right size range of rooms and amount of public areas corresponding to lux (more lux = bigger rooms, more public areas)
S/Special+1 the Building is made for the purpose of hosting a special institution or is suitable for being a public building (typically more halls than would fit in any other category, though might overlap with Hotel and some Palaces)
<- for complete guide on overlapping see /BLDG+2 specially made for a purpose that makes using it for anything else difficult (large hall, botanical gardens, factory)
S/Army+3 the building has a parade ground of at least 20x30 m directly accessible, the building looks fearsome and is defensible, the floorplan is suited for a garrison (almost anything goes though), including rooms for materiel
-1 each missing thing from the list
In all these cases it's important to not over-compartmentalize the lots to too many Buildings. Eg. a special Music Hall requires all the lobbies for crowds to gather, it is not forbidden to have toilets and storage rooms, and also most businesses have management that consumes space and for their purposes the space may be reserved. If the management is much larger than the space available at the site, it may be rented.
This is a tradeoff between having only one Business in one Building (which we plan to do), having Buildings correspond to the natural concept of buildings, and having space with separate parameters as separate Buildings, to add realism and flavor to the game.
SCI <- this gains bonus when used by an institution producing SCIence, value costs ($$) and may be 1 or higher
CUL <- this gains a culture bonus ($$)
IND <- industry requires machinery and other costly things. value here indicates that the price is paid ($$), greatly boosting IND
The following parameters are relevant to the Businesses, and are customizable by making business choices not directly related to the Building.
RESTA business parameters
- Quality of Food <- formula from other inputs
- Quality of Service <- formula from other inputs
- Intimacy <- smaller is better
- Famous <- player vote
- Special <- gets point if owner does not have other restaurants
- Private <- quality points, but halves the revenue
HOTEL business parameters
- Service <- formula from other inputs
- Famous <- player vote
- Special <- gets point if owner does not have other hotels
- Private <- quality points, but halves the revenue
SPECIAL business parameters
- Output selector <- how to divide the output between CUL, SCI, IND and HHP
Registry fee. In connection with the implementation of the new Building Registry, a registry fee of 2 mil per building is levied by the town, payable to the admins doing the work. This will be collected automatically. If due to negligence of the Building owners, Architects, BI, etc (as registered in the City Map DB /Bldg Reg) the collection of the data takes longer than it should, additional fees may be levied on the problematic buildings. To be on the profiting side, please apply to help us in the work!
AIC. Ancient Items Credits have a deterministic formula that will be applied to the buildings when they are in the DB. The AIC are a spinoff that does not reduce the value of the buildings. They will be able to be changed for Ancient Items of their creation date (the building date) in the future versions, according to a "price list" that you can use to "buy" the items. The conversion will be restricted to the type of items actually in use in the "source building", but they do not change the owner automatically just because the building is later sold, before the conversion. Trading with AIC is not allowed for now, to reduce the complexity.
Earthquake. The Earthquake will reduce the repair% of the buildings, in many cases greatly. The worse condition the building is, the less its use value, and the more it costs to repair it. Stone is only destroyed to a very small degree, it can mostly be reused even if the building collapses totally. Buildings below the "line" in the old Registry do not suffer from the Earthquake.
Guarding. Every building is subject to pay the Guarding fee, which will be distributed to the Army units doing the guarding duty, as before (except that before the Army did not actually get the money, but soon will.)
City Walls. The things have pacified such that no new city walls has been built for some time. Enemies are far, and the guards and the King's judicial system have kept small crime in check. For now, the antiquated rules for building city walls have been lifted.
Land Taxes and Haws. The land tax will be instituted probably based on the sqm area of the buildings (similar as guarding). Buildings in haws are exempt of this tax. We will not grant any new haws now, as they are not needed (land is anyway either free or very affordable). In the nearest real-months, God willing, an unprecedented undertaking in the Borough Versailles will be started, and the King invites his choice Nobles to build palaces there next to his Royal Presence.
Poll
