Simulating the economy in Times of Progress

Lately I have been working on implementing the core of the economy simulation in the game.

At a high level, this is how it works:

• Industries receive payments when they deliver the materials they extract or goods they produce.

• Their workers get paid a Wage at the end of each month.

• Citizens are organised in families. At the end of each month, those that work in each family (normally the adults, but, depending on your city Laws, it might be the children too, since we're in the 1800s), put together their earned wages and purchase the Consumer Goods they need.

• These are organised by priority, first they'll buy Food, then better Clothes, then better Furniture etc. Eventually if they earn more and have extra income, they'll spend their money in Entertainment (at the Pub or Theatre) and Prestige items (Fancy Clothes, Pottery, etc.).

• Since there are also Public Services in the city (Police, School, Hospital etc), their workers will be civil servants. Meaning that they get paid by the Taxes collected by the City Hall.

All these systems connect with the rest of the mechanics in the game. For example:

• Eating enough and having better Clothes improves Health.

• The level of Education acquired by the Citizens determines their Wage, which means they can afford more and better goods, while increasing productivity of their workplace. Although, while they study, they won't work and earn a wage.

• As more families have more of their needs met, from basic necessities to Entertainment and Prestige, their houses will upgrade, which will increase the size of your city, with the perks and drawbacks that it brings.

I have also added a few new buildings in the game:

The Market, where citizens buy their Consumer Goods: Steam post image The City Hall, where you will sign your chosen Laws and manage the city. Steam post image The Research Institute, where Inventions can be unlocked. Steam post image And more buildings that I will present in future announcements.

I have also finally implemented railways traveling in two directions, no more single rail, finally!

Vehicles will stop automatically to yield to other vehicles, based on priority and direction of travel. There won't be micromanagement of intersections and traffic, so you can focus on growing the city and making your citizens happy.

I'm going to run a closed beta when it's ready.

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