Real world business that are missing from CAP

[VentureCapitalist]

Hey there, just thought i would put my two cents by pointing out the differences between the real world and capitalism 2, and the newly renovated capitalism lab (2 1/2). im sure some of this is underway to some extent but there is always more ways to reach depth of play.

O-- Product availability is limited. -this is largely changed with the ai limit being increased exponentially so kudos, but an option where everything is available with different import options (that are more expensive and require bulk purchases), and the ability to export your own products to different cities, or to the AI is a must in my opinion.
O-- Transportation is automatic. part of being a wholesaler or manufacturing mogul is who you have doing your shipping and handling. There should be different options based on location, with the ability for people to set up a firm that JUST does shipping and/or deliveries.
O-- Marketing. branding products and advertising is good, but real marketing is in the creation of the material to market. this should be another department in the headquarters menu with a marketing director position, and with similar qualities to the investor relations department with a few more tactics.
O-- Company Tactics. in simcity there is a place to set ordinances on how you want your city to be run, in the same way, the player should be able to add/take away options in areas of: Research, Manufacturing, Retail, Customer service, Transportation, and Internal policies.
certain options will aid in employee happiness, frequency of item delivery, return policies, research equipment upgrades, ect... while some things may help in one way, they may hurt in finance, employee happiness, customer loyalty, and hire/fire rate for employees, more to explain later.
O-- Employment is more than just a statistic, it is based on level of education, income level, and other things. building a manufacturing plant in china is less expensive than in america. as company policy, you can set a yearly salary standard, a education level requirement (skilled labor vs unskilled labor; you dont need a phd to lift boxes), and you can choose to reduce the employee pool based on demand of products to reduce cost factors.
O-- Upgrading facilities, and staff %. sometimes you build a small factory, and want to upgrade to a bigger one. this is done quite frequently, usually people do not sell their factories off and dump their equipment, depending on the field. also, it would be great to reduce labour on manufacturing plants to save money, or when selling an estate but still wanting to use it until sales.
O-- Storage - fixed in lab, warehouses to store goods are available.
O-- Building - should take some time. not forever, but a couple of weeks, sure. you would only be billed AFTER the building is built as well, and can cancel a building with no consequences.

Im sure there is alot more, but essentially what should change in cap lab is the depth of the game itself, which in many ways is already underway.
I would love to be able to optimize operation costs of facilities on both the macro and micro level, to a reasonable extent.
I would love to be able to choose which employees I hire, and be able to affect productivity and investors by rule of atmosphere.
I would love to be able to export/import to other cities that i have businesses in.
I would love to be able to have intellectual labor based companies (office supply sales ala the office, tax firms, theaters, ect.)
I would love to be able to set price agreements on my products, and enable franchising for certain item stores.

think... being the new KFC or H&R block.

so many things could be added, but ultimately this is a game and there needs to be a balance of creativity and gameplay, with the real world being the model, and so these suggestions would really be for a "Hardcore" mode to the game, perhaps the same type that will be used in classrooms for years to come

Finally... if there ever came a version online (think what firefly did with stronghold kingdoms), this would be an instant hit, guaranteed, and provide the realism only hordes of competitive gamers can provide.

[David]

Employment is more than just a statistic, it is based on level of education, income level, and other things. building a manufacturing plant in china is less expensive than in america. as company policy, you can set a yearly salary standard, a education level requirement (skilled labor vs unskilled labor; you dont need a phd to lift boxes), and you can choose to reduce the employee pool based on demand of products to reduce cost factors.

In the City Sim expansion pack, the performance of employees in government buildings will based on how good the city's education system is (education service quality and the number of educational institutions in the city)

However, we will keep the simulation model for employees in private companies as it is now, as we don't want to add to the player's burden for micromanagement of private companies. But any comments are welcome.