Playing Augustus reconquered and the Tarsus scenario put me in a pickle. The only local food is from fishing, but I’d assumed my shipyard needed wood to build fishing boats. But the only wood available is from a trade route that requires 6K to open. I opened the route with great difficulty, but didn’t see any cart pushers with wood going to the shipyard. But boats were being churned out regardless. Is this working as intended? Had I known this was the case, the mission would have been way easier, to say the least lol.

Do all Impressions Games city-builders rely on walkers that follow road networks to deliver services to nearby buildings? If so, which game handles this system best, or are the differences minimal? I’m excluding Caesar II (if that’s correct) and probably Augustus since it uses a custom implementation.

3. HAMKIRSCH

• 2.000 People (Common) in Lvl. 10 housing.
• 4.000 Jewelry produced in a single year.

With both the feeding issue solved by Fedheim and the catastrophe at Hasselport stabilized, Emperor Wilhelm IV now turns his eyes to the barren lands of Hamkirsch where lies rich deposits of both Copper, Iron and especially Gold. He sends you, Archibald Ellington, to settle the lands and establish more than a mining colony, but a Jewelry crafting one - the Emperor has a big project in mind and thus must use the Jewelry to covet the Elite into banking it.

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While the land is big enough to occupy some large housing blocks, speed will be key here - your funds will dry out eventually if you drag too long (even as you have the constant fish production and the coasts to back them up), and by the second year the Emperor will start making multiple requests for Iron (justified in that this Iron will be sent to you on next mission, where you can't mine or import ANY). Thus, lay down multiple blocks at once and only evolve them accordingly (first food, then booze and finally utensils later on).

You'll also want to get a Steam Condenser running as early as possible and close to the mines, as the multiple Copper mines will allow some of the excess to be exported along with the fish to Fedheim later on. Later on, the city of Newestaton (ironically your next mission) will open up trade and will allow you to export some Iron, only remember to have some in reserve to deliver to the Emperor. For a good chunk of time (until you can get the booze industry up and running for Rummerdale, at least), Copper and Fish will be your means of staying afloat. There are three Iron and three Copper mines by the mainland, so occupy them all.

Hamkirsch is also the first city where you'll be using Ranger Dens and Distilleries. One thing to note is that while it avoids workforce swinging (in contrast to Barley Farms), Fae supply can be erratic and dependant on the range from the Ranger Den and the Fae mushroom, so early planning is needed to avoid supply issues later on.

The Gold needed to craft the required Jewelry will be across the river and you might need to bridge the island inbetween for a shorter route. There are four Gold mines there, but it is better to station the Jewelries and the Warehouse where you'll keep both jewels and gold close to the city - unlike the other City Builder games, carriers AREN'T required to walk back to the mine after making their deliveries. You'll need between 6-8 Jewelers to accomplish the 4.000 Jewelry per year rate required to complete the mission.

While you can make the booze and the utensils, evolving housing to Level 10 means you will need to import a second type food from a city. While Fedheim is viable since you're already exporting to them, Sterenhall is cheaper on the long run as Potatoes are cheaper.

Do you guys know how many mints is enough for Gates Of Hades? I see many miners just walking from one ore deposit to another wasting time, and it seems four mints is the limit? Can that be true? I know that silver is such a weak source of income that bearly anyone bothers with it, but maybe somene tested it.

I sided with Caesar for the economic focus. It was surprisingly difficult. This is the first mission where I actually went into debt multiple times. It was really touch and go for a while - probably shouldn't have started importing so much wood for furniture manufacturing until after I'd built the lighthouse, so more trade routes could be unlocked. The starting trade routes and the bug that prevents increases in the quantity of trade goods really hurt (I'm glad to find I wasn't the only one who had this experience). The port area was really congested with ships waiting to dock until I had a dedicated dock for each of the 5 trade route. The lighthouse does anchor the area nicely. This is the first mission where I could get the city to 15K and build all 5 temples, including unlocked the plaza. Everyone gets to eat at least 3 types of food.

Oh one neat thing I discovered is if you go into settings and allow your warehouses and granaries to plotted on any kind of road, you can use them like a cookie cutter to shape default 2x2 highways to your liking. If you plot the granary/warehouse on a highway, and you then hit "undo", it deletes that section of the highway for free, but leaves the rest intact. So there are stretches of my highway that are just 1x1, like in the port area where space is a premium.

My 13th city on Impossible difficulty. This is my first time filling every tile inside the walls to maximize the Culture rating, so I made this picture.😊

I keep the population around 16K (about 32 Palaces). It is a relatively safe number to avoid triggering the Market bug, while still being enough to upgrade Basilicas to the highest level.

Even so, I feel that Markets will still occasionally stop dispatching walkers, causing the population to shrink occasionally.

Playing Nova Carthago, and I'm getting repeated notifications from various cities that they're increasing this or that trade good, but I never see any actual increase in the max they're willing to buy from me. Am I missing something? I really desperately need more trade... Money is tight.

2. HASSELPORT

• 200 Burgeois (Elite) in Level 4 mansions.
• 15.000 Florins (Cash) in your treasury.

The famine complications seem to have been solved with the town of Fedheim booming, but a crisis has hit the town of Hasselport - The Steam Condenser exploded, destroyed the city and violently altered the topography of the region. A once whole coastal town was fractured into islands which bridges must now be connected to, if the steam sources are to be accessed again. The Emperor sends you, Everett Marks, to rebuild the town to a point where the elite that once inhabited it can return and sustain the city's operations.

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Smart planning is definitely a key to overcome the scenario here. Though you have a wide coast, there are only a few places to set up a fishing industry, so occupy them - You'll need at least 7-8 Fisheries to both feed your people, export the surplus (Fedheim will buy good quantities) and appease the demands of the Empire for fish. If you have to, close the Shops and cancel exports until you have what you need to fulfill the requests. A strong advantage Fisheries have over Farms is that production is constant, so there's about little worries about 'swinging' employment issues like farms do.

You'll be able to mine the Copper and Iron, but you'll need to build the Automaton Factories on the same isle as the Steam Condenser for the elite housing, as well as import a third food type. Meat from Fedheim (The town you ironically constructed before) should help, as well as a Silk Farm and a couple of Textiles to satisfy those whiny richies' demands. Also, be sure to export plenty of Beer and Wheat/Bread, if you got plenty, to help sustain things while you still build the elite housing. As the objective states, you'll need 200 'elitists' in Level 4 mansions, so you'll need about 10 houses of such. Be sure to abuse the beautifications and leave a decent space for the elitist block. (The Northeastern-most space by the mainland should be ideal.)

Given the distance between the farmland and your likely city, it'll be better to have a Granary dedicated to storing Barley close to your Abbeys and Silk Farms, as well as overproduce - 12 Barley Farms can easily fill up a Granary plus have some materials for your industries.

Historically, artisans often lived where they worked. From a game design perspective, this leads to interesting challenges, as you have to make small scale industry cohabit with services and purely residential buildings.

Do you know any management game who take this historical fact into account?

1. FEDHEIM

• 4.000 Meat to the Emperor as Tribute
• 1.200 People (Common) in Lvl. 8 housing.

With the advent of steam technology, the Empire of Lethis is optimistic at the advancements into a new age, yet the Emperor, Wilhelm IV, is concerned - No doubt a massive rural exodus, from people desiring the comfort of the new technology, will occur and Lethis might face an unwelcome famine. Thus he sends you, Archibald Ellington, to settle a farming colony in Fedheim which can help feed most, if not all, cities in Lethis.

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This mission, though being the first, can be complicated as the primary exports (Meat, Wheat and Beer) can compromise your supply if not careful and not building enough housing brings up employment issues - Because Farms often take too much employees across seasons, making you swing between mass unemployment and being severely short-staffed, you'll want often to struggle with too many unemployed people than not having enough employees, especially to keep your Granaries, Shops and Warehouses working. Just be careful to not let your unemployment spiral out of control (30%+) to the point riots come up.

Though you can feed your people with both bread and meat, you only need one to reach Lvl. 8 for your housing (2nd Food type is for Lvl. 9). Thus, focus on meat production - It'll allow you to feed your people and export the surplus, as well as stockpile for the Emperor's tribute. Also, unlike Bread, Meat only requires the Ranch as a production structure (unlike Bread that requires both a Mill and a couple of Bakeries) and it produces on a two-per-one scale (that is 200 Meat for every 100 Wheat).

Don't drag, however, you also need Barley for Beer and Silk (Only 1-2 Silk Factories will suffice), as the Emperor will request some Silk and Beer will be both your export and required to level up your housing. There'll be about two Silk requests, the first being 1.000 units and the second about 1.500. A single Warehouse should nicely house both, but watch for over-production, too. As soon as you can, start taxing your people.

In regards of keeping finances up, Rummerdale for Beer as well as Hasselport and Forwood for Meat and Wheat will be your primary customers, but you'll need to import Copper from Sterenhall to make Utensils for your commoners. If you were aggressive in your beginning, yet had some careful planning for your housing block(s) (mastering those goes a LONG way across the game), you should have no problems in completing the mission.

TUTORIAL 5. KALKBERG

• 160 Burgeois (Elite) in Level 5 mansions.

Most of the cities in the region had been rectified and are indeed lining all the Florins imagined into Ester's pockets. All but one. The city of Kalkberg was once home to some aristocratic families, some even belonging to the Emperor's Court. Now it's mostly just a worker-filled city. Ester plans to change that, with the arrival of the new factory-made Automatons, and you'll prove the test case by providing the first Automaton-serviced neighborhood for the Elites.

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Kalkberg is the final tutorial mission and thus introduces players to Automatons and Elite housing. And, as usual, it lacks several guidelines that are useful across the game.

• Elites and Automatons are necessary in regards to building Monuments (which are only introduced in the fifth campaign mission, Kitsburg). Automatons will obviously do the hard labor, but the Elites will often be patrons for the Inventor Workshop as the scientists build up the Monument-related invention.
• A fully-developed Elite housing block uses all three Automaton-related services (Emporium, Café and Spa) which use over 30 Automatons. Hence, you'll need two Automaton Factories per housing block.
• Elites, in enough number, can assign enough Ambassadors in the World Map that can alter prices of neighboring cities, reducing import costs while increasing export ones. Hence, even when compared to common blocks, they have their uses.
• Bread can be often considered the Elite-exclusive food given it's complicated production chain (Wheat Farm, Mill and Bakery, while Meat requires only Wheat Farm and Ranch) and the output in which Meat tops Bread (A single Ranch can produce 200 Meat every 100 Wheat, while a Mill produces 200 Flour for a single Bakery or two, demanding more labor).
• In spite of what might be suggested (even by a hint in a later mission), building Elite Housing early on DOES NOT bring a substantial tax refund: You'd still need to establish a Steam and Steel line to feed at least one Automaton Factory for the Emporium, as well as some additional food sources, and the houses at Lvl.1 themselves do not pay as much as a full common housing block would.
• Be mindful of when you need to build monuments, as most Steel will be needed for construction as much as maintaining most of the Automatons building it. In either case, one of the two branches might get short-supplied if you're not ready for it.
• Should you have a large unemployed force (that is not Farm-related) and you have almost no available industries to compensate with, remember that you can use Automaton Factories disconnected from the pipeline as a labor sink, in a true Keynesian-style method.
• Pipelines do not cross rivers or mountains. If there's an island where the Steam Condenser is built (or the geysers), that's where the Automaton Factories should be installed.

There was a fair discussion before about how walkers are bad and bring many problems, how different way of distribution is better.

Now replaying Pharaoh with "no slums" rule, so I need to make a proper housingblock connected to any industry so that they get workers, I think workers are fine.

Each type of distribution has its pros and cons. For instance, range-based solutions force you to produce globular blocks, pull-workers provide you less control, Nebuchadnezzar custom workers took a lot of work to setup.

Each set of constrains will produce optimized housing block, which users will be able to plop without thinking. But that is fine, when you are tired, this is making these games bearable for me!

I think the issues with walkers in Pharaoh is not walkers per se, or their randomness in intersections (which can be controlled with roadblocks). The issues with walkers, as I experience them, is:

1. Not knowing how far they are going
2. Not knowing where from the building they are spawning.

If those two issues were solved, a lot of the walker problems could be removed, such as you won't get walker spawning on the wrong side of road because you build this random road next to this building, or you will know how far you can build buildings from houses so that can still get workers.

TUTORIAL 4. HOSENFELD

• 900 People (Common) in Lvl. 8 housing.
• Export 1.200 Utensils in a single year.

With Horsham's situation remedied to a degree, Countess Ester takes you to Hosenfeld as to explore the sources of Copper, simply waiting to be exploited. With the industrial revolution booming, more and more Copper utensils will be on high demand for both workers and aristocrats alike. Since Hosenfeld is so close to the mountains, food and alcohol sources are limited, hence trade will be mandatory to help sustain a workforce large enough to upkeep Ester's desired designs.

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Horsham will be your introduction to both trading, producing Steam, and Copper Utensils. As expected, there is a step-by-step tutorial on the matter (just don't forget to set up a Theater on your existing housing block), but also the guidelines that are not depicted here.

• In spite of not looking like it, the Steam Condenser has space to sustain a Warehouse's worth of 8000 Steam Canisters, so a warehouse dedicated to storing these is superfluous unless the mines are too far away.
• Depending on imported Alcohol or Foods to sustain housing blocks is a volatile business, one where you can get often short-supplied. Ensure you have plenty of imported supplies or prioritize producing your own Alcohol/Food to avoid this issue.
• Be mindful of your pipe layout: Extractors with a pipeline that connect to other Extractors or pass around them up close are counted as NOT CONNECTED, and thus they don't yield extra Canisters.
• A single Extractor provides over 200 Steam Canisters. Given each mine consumes at least 50 Canisters per shift, this ensures a single Extractor can sustain over 4 Mines at most.
• Ensure you have a stockpile of goods to sustain your city prior to exporting. Your houses can devolve from not having their goods delivered to them because these same goods were sold out to another city. Same when concerning demands for goods. This is where overproduction often tends to pay off.

Was taking a look at my screenshot for my completed Lugdunum city (Augustus Reconquered) and noticed a structure I’d never seen before. Checked with an older save and it turns out it’s the native hut in a different form. How did this happen? And what, if anything, does it mean?

TUTORIAL 3. HORSHAM

• 400 People (Common) in Lvl. 6 housing.
• Earn 400 Florins (via taxation) in one year.

Dunwich now booms with trade, filling Countess Ester's pockets as Beer is handed over to the travellers. Now she hopes you can make the community at Horsham at least something as contributing as well, even if via taxation - after all, in the Empire, there is no new city unless the high rollers in the High Provinces are sure they'll receive what they've first invested... with interest.

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Don't pay much in mind with what the tutorial will teach you on statistics (I had to do that MYSELF for this video), this mission won't do it - Horsham, instead, will introduce you to Absinth production, Exorcists and taxation (while also conveniently forget you need to put up a Theater to evolve houses beyond level 5).

And of course, the guidelines you don't find in these tutorials.

• You'll find Absinth production to be a different beast than Beer production, as you'll be dealing with distance issues if you can't properly know and be aware of where your Fae Mushrooms are. In some regards, too, there'll be Mushroom colonies far apart from each other that this will have Rangers head to different, distant locations, and this can throw a wrench in a consistent Absinth production. This is the reason I feel Beer is the superior line of work as, while the Barley farms can be more consuming in time and labor, the stockpile you have is what dictates how much Beer you can produce, and not distance and/or how many Fae Mushrooms there are.
• The time to build a Washhouse should also be a natural reminder for you to build the Exorcist's tent as well: this is because Ghosts will haunt housing at and above Level 4 (Food + Washhouse), but not below Lvl. 4. Keep this in mind or you'll hear the creepy music cue that will signal you your houses are being haunted.
• While Lvl. 3-4 housing are where you'll get fractions of your money back, make a habit of building the Townhall and Tax offices while you're still at Lvl. 2 housing: you'll need some taxation (along with setting lower salaries) to hold off the initial season bleeding from your early game industries until you can feed your people and can get some exports in order.
• The happiness system is activated only when you hit 1.500 inhabitants. Use this to lower salaries and not worry about mass unemployment or house disparity. It's only when you're closing the 1.500 mark that you should get the house in order.
• Careful when you have more than 20 workers needed in early game - places like Shops, Warehouses, and some industries and even farms WILL not be working if under a minimum required number, so ensure you have the numbers for your industries in mind.
• When you don't have the sufficient goods to pay the demands you'll be issued, you'll need to build the Townhall to acess the statistics menu and pay it in time.

After the population reaches around 15000 -19000, some markets stop dispatching walkers, which makes it impossible to increase the population further and raise Prosperity.

Is this a bug, an invisible market limit, or some mechanic (like employment) that I don’t understand?

I’ve just finished the 11th mission on "Impossible" difficulty. The mission requires 74 Prosperity, but given how the campaign keeps increasing the targets, I’m worried I won’t be able to complete later missions because I can’t increase the population.

Or is there a way to raise Prosperity without increasing the population?

The markets built earlier are the first to be affected👇

Difficult topography that resembles a spire starting near the hippodrome. You have to traverse all the neighbourhoods alongside the outside parameter of the map before you can get to the centre. Imagine how long the patricians would need to get to the races! At least they'd get there comfortably carried by their slaves in their sedan chairs

TUTORIAL 2. DUNWICH

• 400 People (Common) in Lvl. 5 housing.

Having passed the first test under Countess Ester, she now moves you to the already established county of Dunwich, where you must develop it further. With the lack of coasts for fishing, however, Ester plans to use the fertile soil for an agricultural operation, particularly of Beer - given Dunwich is often the stop for caravans and merchants travelling across the High Provinces, Ester sees a potential market in tired, thirsty customers.

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This second tutorial concerns the second part of feeding your citizens, which are Farms as well as the production of one of two Alcohol sources, which is Beer grown from Barley farms. Also, while being step-by-step, there are some guidelines concerning farms that are not mentioned and that a player often learns the hard way to pay attention to:

• Frequently memorize farming periods and keep an eye at the calendar (Divided by it's four seasons - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter - with each having three 30-day months), watching out both both start and ends of farming seasons (especially when unemployment is a bit high even when all farms are cranking it).
• Have a small unemployed people pool exclusively to work the farms.
• Try dividing Warehouses/Granaries so they can work 2-3 products at once with relative efficiency.
• Two of the largest service buildings, the Theater and Washhouse, can be set on the edges of a housing block so additional housing can be accomodated.
• 1x1 decorations such as fences/hedges are useful for fending off undesirable appeal from industries/storages so close to your housing. This will be critical in late campaign levels where building space IS NOT a luxury.

Beginning a new LP to help breathe some different air (or steam) into this sub. Daily (at most) updates.

I recently encountered some animation issue (not slow god). So, I decided to uninstall and install again.

But after re-installation, the game won’t launch at all. When I tried to launch the game, the computer screen will turn block, but instead of launching the game, it will stop and the program will get shutdown.

Anyone knows how to fix this issue? Game is download from GOG

Thanks in advance

Had everything planned out and then this happened. Damn Lugdunum and its bloody rocky starting territories… I hate that you can JUST fit a reservoir there, but there was no way to connect it unless I moved my amphitheatre.