New idea: City Competitiveness Rating

[David]

We have been contemplating a new idea: there will be a new variable called City Competitiveness Rating for each industry, in each city.

You may allocate additional funds to universities to focus on certain industries.

A high city competitiveness rating will allow functional units' experience level in that industry to exceed level 9. Firm types to benefit from this include factories and R&D firms.

A large number of firms concentrating in that industry in a city will also grow the City Competitiveness Rating faster over time.

It will allow cities to have competitive advantages in certain industries and that will affect the player's decision on which city to build new production and research facilities.


Any feedback about this idea is welcome.

[WilliamMGary]

Love it!

[ceomoses]

I like the idea, but not 100% on it's implementation. From how I'm understanding this, there would be the same experience levels and overall game experience now and then if there's any competitiveness activity, that would just be a bonus on top of that to allow you to gain levels > 9.

For me, the speed at which experience is gained is pretty quick. You can get to level 9 within a decade. At that level, you can churn out a ton of product, make a very good profit, etc. Also, I usually have several factories making the same products, so in effect, I can already achieve a level greater than 9 just by having multiple factories and warehouses. In short, for me, level 9 is a reasonable maximum level and little is gained from having a level > 9.

I think a better way to implement a city competitiveness rating, is to first significantly slow down the rate in which experience levels can be gained to begin with. For example, it might take longer to get from level 2->3 than it takes to get from level 1->2. It would take progressively longer and longer to get from one experience level to the next. So to get to experience level 9 might then take several decades. In addition, each experience level could produce a greater amount than an equivalent number of factories at lower experience levels. For instance, a factory at level 6 can produce more product than three factories at level 2.

From here, you could then factor in city competitiveness to increase the rate at which you can gain experience points in that particular city.

[David]

Would you like to have the ability to customize the training speed in a script file? This way, you may play with different training speed settings and observe their impacts.

[ceomoses]

Would you like to have the ability to customize the training speed in a script file? This way, you may play with different training speed settings and observe their impacts.

Sure, that'd be great! I'd also like to know as much about the mechanics of it as I possibly can. How is training and experience currently implemented (Is it based off of training points, so that level 1 is reached at x training points, level 2 is reached at y training points, etc.?) Is it possible to have gradually increasing goals for how long it takes to get from one experience level to the next? How much more productive is each experience level and can that be modified? Are there any impacts or side effects of a slower training speed that you're already aware of?

I have tons of ideas for Cap Lab, most of which I know will never be implemented. Some other ideas I have for productivity/training would be that after you have trained enough for the ability to gain that next experience point, you would then need to pay a certain amount for new equipment before you can get it, which would vary depending on the product being produced (e.g. you would pay more for new car-making equipment than you would for glass-making equipment). Maybe you can upgrade the size of your factory, so you can start off with a small factory, then upgrade to medium, then large.

[David]

With this new feature, cities which are known to the world for their strengths in specific industries will be reflected in the game.

For example:
Detroit - is best at automobile
Paris - fashion/apparel
San Francisco - computers
Tokyo - Electronic products

The industries that cities are best at will be pre-defined in the game database.

If you have any specific suggestions as to which cities should be set to have higher competitiveness ratings on certain industries at the onset of the game, you may post your ideas here.

[ceomoses]

Doing a little bit of research online to help out here. Here's what I got so far:

Australia:
Adelaide --BEVERAGE (wine)
Brisbane --LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS (beef), BEVERAGE (cola)
Melbourne --AUTOMOBILE, DRUGS
Perth --
Sydney --APPAREL


US:
Albany --SPORTS EQUIPMENT, DRUGS,
Atlanta --
Baltimore --HOUSEHOLD PRODUCT (detergent)
Boston --FOOTWEAR, APPAREL, LEATHER GOODS, COMPUTER
Chicago --LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS (pork and beef), BODYCARE (soap),
Cincinnati --AUTOMOBILE, BEVERAGES, DRUGS, COSMETICS, TOYS, APPAREL, FOOTWEAR, ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, FURNITURE (mattresses)
Cleveland --APPAREL, HOME APPLIANCES
Dallas --LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS, COMPUTER,
Denver --BEVERAGES, APPAREL, COMPUTER
Detroit --AUTOMOBILE
Kansas City --SNACKS, FURNITURE, APPAREL, LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS, HOUSEHOLD PRODUCT,
Los Angeles --APPAREL, ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, TOYS
Miami --APPAREL, COMPUTER,
Minneapolis --LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS, BEVERAGES (milk), COMPUTER,
New Orleans --
New York City --SNACKS (chocolate), APPAREL,
Philadelphia --DRUGS, COMPUTER, COMMUNICATION DEVICES, APPAREL
Phoenix --ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, BEVERAGES, LEATHER GOODS, APPAREL
Pittsburgh --COMPUTER, DRUGS
Portland --FOOTWEAR, SPORTS EQUIPMENT, ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
Raleigh --DRUGS, ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, COMMUNICATION DEVICES, APPAREL
San Diego --BEVERAGES, HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTS, COMPUTER, ELECTRONICS
San Francisco --COMPUTER, APPAREL, FURNITURE, BEVERAGES
St Louis --LIVESTOCK PRODUCTS, BEVERAGES, DRUGS, HOME APPLIANCES, FURNITURE
Washington DC --
Houston --
Seattle --APPAREL, FOOD, BEVERAGES

**edit**

I recently learned that Geneva, Switzerland is world renowned for manufacturing quality watches.

[David]

Thanks for the list.

FYI, for gameplay reason, each city will only have outstanding competitiveness in a maximum of 2 product categories.

[Esoteric Rogue]

Pittsburgh --ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT, HOME APPLIANCES, AUTOMOBILE

Pittsburgh's industry is quite a bit more white-collar than blue-collar. Looking at industries of Health Care and Robotics (and forgoing Education) I'd advocate Computers & Drugs.

[ceomoses]

@Esoteric Rogue - Thanks for your input! I don't know about these cities personally. I just did a little bit of research online using mainly city-data.com and wikipedia. Basically, if somewhere on the Internet says that those things were manufactured there, I put it on the list. It sounds like you have more personal knowledge of Pittsburgh, so I'm editing my previous post to reflect what you advocated.