1064 lines
69 KiB
HTML
1064 lines
69 KiB
HTML
<html>
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<head>
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<title>Townforge player's manual</title>
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</head>
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<body>
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<h1> Basic gameplay elements </h1>
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<h2> Overview </h2>
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<p>
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Townforge is a blockchain based game where you create buildings which will provide you with income.
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<br>
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Buildings and land cost a one off sum as well as regular maintenance costs. Payout is earned at every
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game tick, which happens every 1080 blocks. A portion of the block rewards go to the game, to be
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redistributed to players. A research "tech tree" allows players to improve their buildings' efficiency.
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Peer to peer trade allows players to exchange goods and money. A 3D world view allows players to
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bring their buildings to life, and a decentralized chat is available in game.
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<br>
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Every game action is stored on a blockchain, ensuring that what you own cannot be taken away from
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you unless the game rules allow it. No exit scam, no central database corruption, no rules change at
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a whim without notice. The game state is stored on every game user's copy of the blockchain.
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</p>
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<h2> Player </h2>
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<p>
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Any wallet may create a game account. Game accounts are linked to the main wallet address.
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For anti spam purposes, there is a 1 coin account creation fee.
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<br>
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The game account may be deposited to (from its associated wallet or any other) and withdrawn from.
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Withdrawal is automated, and player controlled. Money deposited into the game is still under the
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wallet owner's control, not under a third party's control, so you can use your own keys to withdraw
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at any time. This protects against an exit scam by the game author.
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<br>
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A player may own any number of buildings in the game, in one or more cities.
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<br>
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A decentralized chat is available, using transactions in the txpool. They will not be mined, so are
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transient and therefore not suitable for information you want to be preserved. Notifications about
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new buildings, new discoveries, etc will also be placed in the chat.
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<br>
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Players can send each other encrypted messages. Those messages are embedded in normal looking
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transactions, so that an observer is not even aware that a message was sent, let alone the sender,
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recipient or contents. While those messages are mined on the chain, they are located in prunable
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data, ensuring they do not bloat the chain forever.
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<br>
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As an anti spam measure, the first message to a player costs 1 gold. If that player replies, their
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own first message to you will refund that fee. This way, spamming becomes very expensive, while
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mundate communications are very cheap.
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</p>
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<h2> Cities and treasury </h2>
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<p>
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The world of Townforge is a large grid, upon which cities may be founded. At the start of the game,
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there is one single city. Every city is founded by a player, who becomes its mayor, and starts off
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with a town square. New cities can be bought from the game, with their price depending on the current
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number of cities and the total economic activity. The more cities currently exist, the higher the
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cost of a new city. The larger the world's total economic activity, the lower the cost. The mayor
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of a city may elect to allow only some players to buy land and build in their city. By default,
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anyone may build in a city. For abuse prevention, if a city restricts access, its shares will only
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count for half when distributing subsidy.
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<br>
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Each city has a treasury. This is the amount of money in the city coffers. This treasury is managed
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by the consensus rules, and can only be used by the automated game tick. Every game tick
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(every 1080 blocks, so roughly 4 times a day), about 9% of the block rewards for the last 1080 blocks
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gets awarded to city treasuries in proportion to their economic strength. About 10% of each town's
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treasury gets distributed to players based on their buildings' economic strength. The city mayor
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receives 0.1% of the treasury. The game account receives 0.25% of the treasury. The game account
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will be used for storytelling purposes (prizes for participating in role playing or similar events),
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expenses like VPS hosting, and other reasons I deem appropriate. It may also be used for bounties.
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<br>
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The treasury also receives money from players buying new land or items directly from the game,
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land tax, etc. When a merchant ship makes landfall and sells items on the markets, the proceeds
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also go to the treasury of the town where the ship docked.
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<br>
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The higher the treasury grows, the more attractive it is to build in a city, since that treasury
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will flow back into player's pockets.
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<br>
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Cities may be bought and sold on the open market.
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<br>
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Cities reach new levels upon reaching a certain size (and will downgrade if they drop below this
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threshold). Reaching a new level allows players to build new building types in this city. Here are
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the building types which become available at various levels:
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<table>
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<tr> <td> Role </td> <td> Level </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Craft </td> <td> 1 </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Cultural </td> <td> 2 </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Commercial </td> <td> 3 </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Military </td> <td> 5 </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Affluent Residential </td> <td> 6 </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Research </td> <td> 6 </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Luxury Residential </td> <td> 8 </td> </tr>
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</table>
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</p>
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<h2> Flags and buildings </h2>
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<p>
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Each city is placed at a point on the world. Players may buy land from the game, from tiny 8x8 plots
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to the largest allowed, 256x256. Those plots of lands are called flags for historical reasons. A flag
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is empty when bought, and may be bought and sold on the open market. Flags are always rectangular.
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Land price is higher near the center of town and drops quickly, then starts slowly increasing again.
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<br>
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Flags pay land tax every game tick. Land tax is based on flag size as well as the flag's economic
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power. Economic power is a measure of the quality/strength of the building one builds on that land.
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An empty flag is taxed as if holding a basic 100% economic power building. Land tax also increases very slightly
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with distance from the town square, to avoid people building things at preposterous distances.
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Moreover, if a flag stays unbuilt for 10 days or more, it starts attracting an extra 0.1 gold tax per tick
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(this does not mean it has to have a 3D model on it, just be setup as a building).
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<br>
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Land tax also increases with distance from the city square. The cartography discoveries allow a player
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to lessen that increase. The increase is also lessened with city level. If a city drops in level, the
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tax decreases are maintained.
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<br>
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Buildings may be built on flags. There are a few types of buildings. Some buildings qualify for payouts
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from the city treasury, while some others produce materials instead. Yet others don't do either, but
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provide bonuses for other buildings. Every new building is assigned an economic power, which is its
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relative output. It can range from the baseline 100% to a maximum of 300%. A 300% building will yield
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3 times the income of a 100% building (at least for buildings getting treasury payouts, it's a little
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more complex for producing buildings). However, they cost more than 3 times as much to build. At the
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start of the game, the maximum economic power is only 150. Civil engineering discoveries increase that
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maximum by 50 each, up to 300%.
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<br>
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A building may be upgraded up to the maximum economic power after construction for 150% of the incremental
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cost (ie, upgrading a building from 120% to 160% economic power costs 150% of the cost difference between
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the cost originally paid for the 120% building and the cost to build it to 160% outright).
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<br>
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Buildings have prerequisites to function effectively. Many buildings require being in the influence area of another
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building. If they are not, they will not be active, and thus not provide income. Some other prerequisites
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are softer, and only give bonuses and penalties.
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<br>
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Current building types are:
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<table>
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<tr><td> Role </td><td> Payout </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Agricultural </td><td> - </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Craft </td><td> 1.2% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Industrial </td><td> 1.5% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Commercial </td><td> 1.2% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Basic residential </td><td> 1.2% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Affluent residential </td><td> 1.3% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Luxury residential </td><td> 1.5% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Military </td><td> - </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Cultural </td><td> 0.6% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Stonecutter </td><td> - </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Sawmill </td><td> - </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Kiln </td><td> - </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Smelter </td><td> - </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Workforce </td><td> - </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Road </td><td> 0.8% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Research </td><td> 0.2% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Fishery </td><td> - </td></tr>
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</table>
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Some of those (industrial, kiln, smelter) are not available just yet, and will be
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made available following a progressing storyline.
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<br>
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For example, if a city consists of two craft buildings only, identical in all respects except one
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has twice the other's economic power, and the city treasury contains 1000, then the buildings will receive
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a payout of 1000 * 1.2% * 2 / 3 = 8 and 4 respectively at every game tick.
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<br>
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Producing buildings (stonecutter, sawmill, kiln, smelter, workforce) do not get treasury payouts.
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Instead, they consume some resources (stone, wood) and produce more resources. Those resources are
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needed to build other buildings. While it is possible to buy those resources directly from the game's
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supply, those prices are dear, and players with those producing buildings will offer better value.
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<br>
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Buildings may be demolished. Demolishing a building removes all blocks from its 3D representation,
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and resets the role to empty. Another building may then be constructed on the flag. The owner recovers
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20% of the blocks in the original budget (whether they were used in the 3D representation or not).
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Any items assigned to the flag other than labour and constructed materials are moved back to the player's
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inventory.
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<br>
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If a building owner does not have enough money to pay the tax for a plot of land, this plot of land
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will disappear, along with any building on it. The land is then free to be bought by another player.
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Similarly, if a building falls to 0 repair condition, it will disappear (the land remains the owner's
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property). It is therefore in the player's interest to ensure buildings are repaired in time, and to
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keep enough balance to meet land tax requirements. Repairing a building costs labour and materials.
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If a building's repair level falls below 70%, its efficiency starts decreasing. Above 70%, no ill
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effects apply. To disincentivize constant repair spam, repairing a building in 99% condition or
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better costs as much as repairing it from 99%.
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<br>
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Some building types have restrictions on size, depending on economic power. This should be kept in
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mind when buying land. The following table lists the minimum size of a plot for building types. The
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first value is the minimum size of a 100% building, the second value for a 300% building. For other
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economic power values, the minimum size is interpolated and rounded down.
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<table>
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<tr><td> Role </td><td> Min size at 100% - 300% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Agricultural </td><td> 64-120 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Craft </td><td> 16-40 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Commercial </td><td> 16-80 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Industrial </td><td> 40-180 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Basic residential </td><td> 10-12 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Affluent residential </td><td> 24-80 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Luxury residential </td><td> 96-140 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Military </td><td> 24-80 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Cultural </td><td> 16-80 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Stonecutter </td><td> 20-60 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Sawmill </td><td> 20-60 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Kiln </td><td> 28-80 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Smelter </td><td> 28-80 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Workforce </td><td> 24-64 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Road </td><td> 8-36 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Research </td><td> 24-60 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Fishery </td><td> 32-128 </td></tr>
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</table>
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Additionally, roads have the extra constraint that their longest dimension must be at least
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2.5 times longer than the minimum size in the table above (ie, a 100% road has minimum size
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8 x 20, and a 300% road has minimum size 36 x 90).
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<br>
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Similarly, fisheries' longest dimension must be at least 2 times longer than their minimum
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size, as they are mostly docks and boat shelters.
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<br>
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Some bonuses apply:
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<ul>
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<li>
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Buildings of type cultural, affluent residential, luxury residential and commercial get
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an extra bonus of 0.075% (affluent residential and commercial), 0.105% (cultural) or 0.15%
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(luxury residential) for each square (up to 100) touching the town square.
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</li>
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<li>
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Buildings of type cultural, affluent residential and luxury residential get extra bonuses
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if their owner assigns gemstones to them (the rarer the gemstones, the better the bonuses).
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</li>
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<li>
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Some building types benefit from elevation relative to their surroundings. The base elevation
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bonus is 2% per block of the flag's average elevation compared to its surroundings (measured
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as 250% of its width/height), up to 50%. Most buildings are not affected by this, but those
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in the following list are, with varying weights:
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<table>
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<tr><td> Role </td><td> Percentage of the base bonus </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Commercial </td><td> 10% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Affluent residential </td><td> 25% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Luxury residential </td><td> 100% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Military </td><td> 100% </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Cultural </td><td> 20% </td></tr>
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</table>
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For example, an affluent residential building on a flag with an average height of 40 and
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average surroundings height of 35 is an average 5 blocks higher than its surroundings,
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so gets 10% base elevation bonus. From the table above, affluent residential buildings
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get 25% of the base bonus, so the final elevation bonus for this building is 2.5%.
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</li>
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<li>
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Stonecutters benefit from direct access to exposed rock, so get a production bonus based
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on how much bare cliff face lies within their extent, to a maximum of about +42%.
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</li>
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<li>
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The average slope also gives bonuses or penalties to some building types: too high a slope
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will penalize agricultural buildings, luxury residential buildings and sawmills, but give
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a bonus to roads, since they're there to allow easier passage over rough terrain.
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</li>
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<li>
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Water is also a major contributor to building efficiency. Most buildings quickly lose efficiency
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as their underwater ratio increases. Roads are an exception, since overwater roads are bridges.
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Most other buildings bottom at 0% efficiency (where they become inactive) before reaching 100%
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underwater surface area, some buildings losing faster than others. Luxury and affluent
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residential buildings can have some small underwater surface without losing efficiency and even
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getting a litle bonus, as a seafront or riverfront property is desirable. Similarly, a fishery
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will lose efficiency if too much or not enough of its area is water.
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</li>
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<li>
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Some items can give bonuses to buildings of certain types. You can assign such items to
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a building of the right type for the bonus to be applied. Once assigned, items can be
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retrieved from the building, except for labour and construction materials. Should the building
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be destroyed, any other item assigned to the flag will be moved back to the player's inventory.
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</li>
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</ul>
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</p>
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<p>
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Some buildings are able to offer extra services. These services are always available to the
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building owner, who can optionally allow other players to use the service for a adjustable fee.
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<table>
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<tr> <td> Building </td> <td> Service </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Military </td> <td> Firefighting </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Fishery </td> <td> Pearl diving </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Agricultural </td> <td> Food salting </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Research </td> <td> Bonus to research activities </td> </tr>
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<tr> <td> Craft </td> <td> Runestone creation </td> </tr>
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</table>
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When a service is used from one of these buildings, the building's efficiency at providing
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this service again is lowered, and will be regained with time. This means that using the same
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building's service twice in a row in quick succession will cause the second service to be
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either more pricey (for example, more stones needed to create a runestone for craft buildings)
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or less powerful (for example, less chance of extinguishing a fire for military buildings).
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<br>
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A building owner can set the fee for third party use of their buildings.
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</p>
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<h3> Shares </h3>
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<p>
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Shares are the way payouts are calculated. Every building has a number of shares based on its characteristics,
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and that number acts as a weight when the treasury pays out.
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<br>
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The basic number of shares for a building is its area in squares multiplied by its economic power.
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<br>
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Other things come into play: if the repair level of a building falls below 70%, its share count will
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start going down. Similarly, if a building's requirements are not met, this building will be inactive,
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and its shares zeroed until requirements are met.
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<br>
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The number of shares is used to apportion treasury income within a city and pricing new cities.
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<br>
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Roads and discoveries (see below) also affect shares.
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</p>
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<h3> Gemstones </h3>
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<p>
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Gemstones are rare precious stones.
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Some can be unearthed randomly as quarries extract stone from the ground.
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They bring prestige to their owners, or, if assigned to a building, give that building a bonus:
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<table>
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<tr><td> Gemstone </td><td> Effect </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Pearl </td><td> +0.25% luxury residential </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Beryl </td><td> +0.75% affluent residential, +0.75% luxury residential </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Amethyst </td><td> +2% cultural, +3% affluent residential, +1.25% luxury residential </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Sapphire </td><td> +2% cultural +4% affluent residential, +2.5% luxury residential </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Emerald </td><td> +5% cultural, +5% affluent residential, +9% luxury residential </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Ruby </td><td> +7% cultural, +7% affluent residential, +12% luxury residential </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Diamond </td><td> +10% cultural, +10% affluent residential, +15% luxury residential </td></tr>
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</table>
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The probability of finding a gemstone depends on the area of the stonecutter, its economic power
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and its age (older stonecutter have reached deeper into the ground).
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<br>
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While technically not a gemstone, pearls also belong to this category. Fisheries can find them
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when hired to dive for pearls. Pearls give 0.25% bonus to luxury residential buildings.
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</p>
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<h3> Time and seasons </h3>
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<p>
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Townforge takes a real life week to go through a game year, so time is 52 times as fast in game
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as in the real world. Game years are divided in 4 seasons, each comprising 3 months (ie, early
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summer, mid summer, late summer are the summer months). Each month is made up of 30 days. The
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current date is displayed in the Calendar section of the game UI.
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<br>
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The new year starts with the midwinter month and ends with the early winter month. The game
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starts in spring of year 950, just in time for the vegetable sowing season.
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<br>
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The game time is divided into epochs of varying length. Those are not set in stone and will
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appear as the storyline progresses and new features are introduced. Some items created in
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older epochs may be given a small bonus.
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</p>
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<h3> Food and heating </h3>
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<p>
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Buildings need food in order to be productive. Different building types have different requirements for
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food, as shown here:
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<table>
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<tr><td> Role </td><td> Relative requirements </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Agricultural </td><td> - </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Craft </td><td> 100 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Industrial </td><td> 50 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Commercial </td><td> 100 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Basic residential </td><td> 100 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Affluent residential </td><td> 130 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Luxury residential </td><td> 200 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Military </td><td> 100 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Cultural </td><td> 100 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Stonecutter </td><td> 100 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Sawmill </td><td> 100 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Kiln </td><td> 100 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Smelter </td><td> 100 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Workforce </td><td> 200 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Road </td><td> - </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Research </td><td> 100 </td></tr>
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<tr><td> Fishery </td><td> - </td></tr>
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</table>
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If a building does not have enough food to consume, it will be disabled until enough
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food is available.
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<br>
|
|
Food is produced by agricultural buildings and fisheries. There are four main types of food:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>vegetables are very nutritious but spoil fast</li>
|
|
<li>grain is least nutritious but keeps very well</li>
|
|
<li>meat falls in the middle</li>
|
|
<li>fish is as nutritious as meat, but has very high spoil rate in summer</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
Agricultural land produces vegetables from early summer and grain from midsummer.
|
|
<br>
|
|
When consuming food, the game uses the most perishable food type first: fish, then vegetables,
|
|
then meat, then grain.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Similarly, buildings need heating. Heating is obtained by consuming burnable material,
|
|
currently only wood. The amount of heating a building needs per surface depends on the
|
|
current temperature, which fluctuates along seasonal variations and with altitude.
|
|
<br>
|
|
When burning wood, the game prefers firewood, then the cheapest wood first: pine, then
|
|
oak, then teak.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Any wood type may be chopped into firewood, for a cost of 5 labour per 100 wood. This
|
|
allows a player to override the priority in which wood types are used for heating.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3> Farming </h3>
|
|
|
|
Agricultural buildings produce food, which other buildings need in order to stay active.
|
|
Vegetables and grain may be sown at the right time of the game year, and harvested later.
|
|
The more time a crop stays growing above a temperature threshold, the more food will be
|
|
produced when harvested. However, temperatures below the damage threshold will cut that
|
|
yield. Should the yield reach 0, growth will be prevented for the next 180 blocks.
|
|
Growing a crop on agricultural land depletes that land's nutrients base for that
|
|
particular crop, so growing the same crop over and over again will lead to diminishing
|
|
returns. Nutrients recover yearly. If the building catches fire, any crop is destroyed,
|
|
but the nutrients will not deplete. Geothermal potential gives a small temperature boost.
|
|
For every tick an agricultural building is not active while a crop is being grown, the
|
|
final yield will lose 20%. Farming yield is also affected by how much an agricultural
|
|
building is south facing.
|
|
|
|
<table>
|
|
<tr><td> </td> <td> Vegetables </td> <td> Grain </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Sowing season start </td> <td> start of march </td> <td> start of may </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Sowing season end </td> <td> mid may </td> <td> mid june </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Harvest season start </td> <td> start of may </td> <td> start of august </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Harvest season end </td> <td> end of june </td> <td> end of september </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Damage temperature </td> <td> < -2° </td> <td> < 0° </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Growth temperature </td> <td> > 2° </td> <td> > 5° </td> </tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
|
|
<h3> Hunting </h3>
|
|
|
|
Moose and bears roam the wilderness. They can be hunted for food. The higher the population,
|
|
the more meat a hunt will yield, but the lower the population, the more time it will take for
|
|
it to grow back. Moose population is larger, and thus moose hunts yied more meat, but if
|
|
the moose population goes too low to support the bear population, hungry bears will start
|
|
venturing into town in search of food, causing damage and eating what they can find.
|
|
Players with military buildings have a large bonus when hunting bears attacking a town,
|
|
and a small one for hunting bears and moose otherwise. You need to have at least one non-road
|
|
building (active or not) in a city to hunt in that city.
|
|
|
|
<h3> Fishing </h3>
|
|
|
|
Fisheries allow boats to go fishing when the fishery owner decides to. The fishing expedition
|
|
leaves for a set number of game ticks decided at the outset. Fishing costs labour, and will
|
|
yield some amount of fish after it comes back. The longer the fleet stays out fishing, the
|
|
more labour will be needed, but the more fish is likely to be caught.
|
|
<br>
|
|
An expedition can choose whether to go fishing in close range waters, far waters, or medium
|
|
range waters. Far range fishing grounds are shared between all cities, while there is one
|
|
close fishing grounds per city, which can only be used by fisheries from that city. Medium
|
|
range fishing grounds are a middle ground: there is one per city, but all cities can use it.
|
|
<br>
|
|
The further the fishing grounds, the larger the fish population, but the more labour is
|
|
needed. Moreover, as the size and economic power of a fishery increases, the faster fish stock
|
|
will deplete. As the maximum population of fishing grounds increase with distance, it follows
|
|
that large powerful fisheries will overfish close fishing grounds very fast.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Fishing grounds replenish with time. The more population in the far range fishing grounds,
|
|
the faster medium range fishing grounds will grow. The more population in a city's medium
|
|
range fishing grounds, the faster that city's close range fishing grounds will grow.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Note that fish has a very high spoil rate in the summer.
|
|
|
|
<h3> Influence </h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Some building types have an influence over the surrounding land. Influence is a prerequisite for
|
|
many other buildings. For example, most buildings need to be within the influence area of an agricultural
|
|
building, and a residential building takes a penalty from being within the influence of an industrial
|
|
building. Military buildings are even more complicated: most buildings receive a bonus from being under
|
|
the influence of one military building, but a penalty if the are under the influence of three or more.
|
|
<br>
|
|
<table>
|
|
<tr><td> Role </td><td> Agr. </td><td> Craft </td><td> Ind. </td><td> Com. </td><td> Bas. </td><td> Aff. </td><td> Lux. </td><td> Mil. </td><td> Cul. </td><td> Stone. </td><td> Sawmill </td><td> Kiln </td><td> Smelter </td><td> Work. </td><td> Road </td><td> Research </td> <td> Fishery </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Agricultural </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Craft </td><td> N1(¹)</td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Industrial </td><td> N1(¹)</td><td> </td><td> B2 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> </td><td> B2 </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Commercial </td><td> N1(¹)</td><td> N1 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B1P3 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> P1 </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Basic residential </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> P1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B2 </td><td> B2 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1P3 </td><td> B2 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Affluent residential </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td><td> P3 </td><td> N1 </td><td> </td><td> B3 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1P3 </td><td> B2 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td> <td> P2 </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Luxury residential </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> P99 </td><td> N1 </td><td> P1 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B1P3 </td><td> B4 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B2 </td> <td> P4 </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Military </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Cultural </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> P99 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> P99 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td> <td> P1 </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Stonecutter </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Sawmill </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Kiln </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Smelter </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Workforce </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> P2 </td><td> </td><td> B4 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> P2 </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Road </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Research </td><td> B1 </td><td> B2 </td><td> B1P3 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B2 </td><td> B2 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1P3 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B1 </td><td> B2 </td><td> </td><td> B2P4 </td> <td> </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Fishery </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B3 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td><td> </td><td> </td><td> B1 </td><td> </td><td> </td> <td> P99 </td></tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Legend: <br>
|
|
Nx: needs x buildings of that type <br>
|
|
Bx: gets a bonus from every building of that type up to x of them<br>
|
|
Px: gets a penalty from every building of that type up to x of them<br>
|
|
BxPy: gets a bonus from every building of that type up to x of them, except if there are y or more, in which case it's a penalty per such building<br>
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
In all three cases, the numerical value of the bonus or penalty depends on the building type:
|
|
<table>
|
|
<tr><td> </td> <td> Bonus </td> <td> Penalty </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Agricultural </td> <td> 2 </td> <td> 2 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Craft </td> <td> 3 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Industrial </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 8 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Commercial </td> <td> 3 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Basic residential </td> <td> 2 </td> <td> 3 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Affluent residential </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Luxury residential </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Military </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 5 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Cultural </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Stonecutter </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Sawmill </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Kiln </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Smelter </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Workforce </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Road </td> <td> 4 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Research </td> <td> 3 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Fishery </td> <td> 3 </td> <td> 4 </td> </tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
</p>
|
|
The larger a building's plot and the higher a building's economic power, the larger its influence will be.
|
|
<p>
|
|
For a building to be deemed to be under the influence of a given building type, at least 50% of the
|
|
building's surface area needs to be within the influence range of any building of the given type.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Similarly, to get double bonus, at least 150% of the tiles should be within the influence or any
|
|
building of the given type (any tile within the influence of N buildings will count N times),
|
|
250% for triple bonus, etc.
|
|
<br>
|
|
(¹) Note that fisheries count as agricultural buildings for the purposes of needed influence.
|
|
That is, if a building needs influence from an agricultural building, being within the influence
|
|
of a fishery instead will suffice.
|
|
</p>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3> Production and potential </h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Some building types don't get treasury payouts, but consume and produce resources instead.
|
|
Production goes up faster than consumption with economic power.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Currently, only stonecutter (producing stone) and sawmill (producing wood) are available.
|
|
Kiln (producing bricks) and Smelter (producing metal) will be available later on in updates.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Potential has a substantial effect on production. Potential is an inherent property of the
|
|
land a building is built upon. Some land lends itself well to quarrying stone, some other
|
|
to wood felling, etc. Building a stonecutter on land that has good stone potential will see
|
|
better returns. For buildings which generate materials, potential is used to determine the
|
|
quality mix of the materials. Low potential will yield cheap materials (though in larger
|
|
quantities) while a high potential will yield smaller quantities of more expensive materials
|
|
Potential also applies to agricultural land, and stability (which controls how fast a building needs repairs).
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Each of stone and wood has three different types. The mix of stone or wood a building produces
|
|
depends on the building's economic power. Higher economic power skews towards the more expensive
|
|
types of each. Keep this in mind since building requirements depend on role (basic residential
|
|
buildings only need the cheapest basic wood type, while affluent residential buildings will
|
|
also require some more expensive wood type) and on economic power, so it is possible that the
|
|
market gets a glut of one type of wood and scarcity of another. A canny businessman will see
|
|
the trends to know what to build.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
New buildings have to be built close enough to existing resource generating buildings. For
|
|
instance, if a new building requires some type of stone, it has to be built close enough to
|
|
a stonecutter (such proximity rule is waived if building at the center of town, since there
|
|
are no such building yet). The resource availability distance is the furthest away from a
|
|
resource generating building that can be built without incurring extra labour cost for
|
|
resource transportation. Beyond 16 times that distance, you cannot build at all without
|
|
first building intermediate stonecutters or sawmills.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3> Roads </h3>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Roads are simple building types meant to link other flags. They provide bonuses to buildings
|
|
they touch, and get their own bonus from them. The more buildings a road connects, the higher
|
|
its return will be.
|
|
<br>
|
|
In order to connect to a building, a road must touch it flush. If the length of the connection
|
|
is smaller than 8 squares, the connection will be more fragile and the bonuses will fall.
|
|
Commercial buildings get more bonus if they have more connection length with the road, up to
|
|
20 tiles, since window browsing space attracts more customers. Affluent and luxury residential buildings get a
|
|
slightly better bonus if they're on the north side of the road, as the world is in the northern
|
|
hemisphere, so free space on the south side to let the sun through benefits them.
|
|
If the difference between a building's economic power and the road's economic power is larger
|
|
than 50%, then a connection will not be made, even if the two flags touch each other.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Different building types contribute more less to a road's shares, from 40% for agricultural
|
|
buildings to 150% for commercial buildings. Otherwise, the shares a building contributes to
|
|
a road is proportional to its area and economic power.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Roads spanning a gully can be used as bridges and thus get an extra bonus. If two or more
|
|
roads are close to one another, only the oldest one will get a bridge bonus. Bridges crossing
|
|
water get even more bonus.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Roads connecting to other roads get a bonus based on the connected roads' bonuses. A larger
|
|
interconnected road network yields more bonuses.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Note that adding a road will only give a bonus to nearby flags if that road expands the set of
|
|
connected buildings. That is, if a road is superfluous, it will give no bonus. If two roads
|
|
could be considered superfluous for the same reason, the newest one is considered superfluous.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Different building types get more or less affected by road bonuses. Commercial buildings get
|
|
the most effect, while agricultural ones the least:
|
|
<table>
|
|
<tr><td> Role </td><td> Bonus </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Agricultural </td><td> 30% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Craft </td><td> 75% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Industrial </td><td> 100% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Commercial </td><td> 150% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Basic residential </td><td> 100% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Affluent residential </td><td> 115% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Luxury residential </td><td> 140% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Military </td><td> 70% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Cultural </td><td> 120% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Stonecutter </td><td> 80% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Sawmill </td><td> 80% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Kiln </td><td> 80% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Smelter </td><td> 80% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Workforce </td><td> 85% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Road </td><td> - </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Research </td><td> 55% </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Fishery </td><td> 30% </td></tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2> 3D world </h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Townforge allows players to give a shape to their creations. A block based 3D world show the
|
|
city and the buildings it contains. Players may freely build on their flags using the budget
|
|
they already paid for when they setup their building. This is intended to provide an outlet
|
|
for creativity, and is not needed in order to participate in the economic game. It is nonetheless
|
|
encouraged, and may be involved in some kind of voting/competition mechanic later on.
|
|
<br>
|
|
To help different buildings keep a similar scale, a block is meant to be about a foot (30 cm)
|
|
in each direction. Thus, a typical residential door will be 7 blocks high.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Building is done by pressing Q to place a block where the turquoise cursor is or E to remove a
|
|
block where from red cursor is (move the mouse to move those cursors). The block type to use can
|
|
be selected by clicking on the player or flag inventories, pressing TAB (if the GUI is not focused
|
|
or by pressing X to open the material selection HUD and using the arrow keys to navigate,
|
|
releasing X when done.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Key bindings may be changed in the options menu.
|
|
<br>
|
|
While building, all blocks are kept locally, and will only be submitted to the blockchain once
|
|
"Approve" is clicked.
|
|
<br>
|
|
You can move and look around the world using the arrows keys, WASD keys, page up/down and by
|
|
moving the mouse while the right button is pressed. Pressing control slows down movement speed,
|
|
while pressing shift speeds it up.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Placing a block incurs labour cost as well as the block placed. The higher the block, the more
|
|
labour cost is incurred. There are currently no architectural/structural rules, so building
|
|
hovering blocks is possible. It is not encouraged.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Models in the vox format may be imported and exported. This format is from Magica Voxel, which
|
|
runs on Windows. Note that if you build a model with Magica Voxel, you should match the colour
|
|
indices to the Townforge material indices (ie, pine is 1, oak is 2, teak is 3, sandstone is 4,
|
|
granite is 5, marble is 6).
|
|
<br>
|
|
To find your (or others') buildings, you can double click on a building in the player info
|
|
dialog or the game tick events dialog. The camera will automatically switch to a free camera.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Players may name particular areas of the world. Mayors may name any area within their city.
|
|
Other players may name any area that is within 5000 tiles of any of their building. To name an
|
|
area, select it, and click on "Name place". More complex shapes may be achieved by creating
|
|
several named areas with the same name. Concave shapes can be achieved by naming areas with
|
|
an empty name on top of the area to carve.
|
|
<br>
|
|
It is not possible to name an area that intersects with another named by another player, unless
|
|
you are the mayor of the town.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Every game tick, a random place is drawn to receive a bonus of 0.2% of the last subsidy, known
|
|
as "Odin's bounty". This place is selected by randomly picking squares until one lands in a
|
|
named place, or until enough attempts have been made without finding a place.
|
|
Squares nearer city centers have a higher chance of being selected, while squares further away
|
|
than about 54000 squares from city centers will never be selected. If a place is selected,
|
|
the namer of the place will receive 5% of the 0.2% payout, while the remaining 95% will be
|
|
distributed to the owners of all active buildings in that place, weighted by their area within
|
|
the place. If there are no buildings in the place, the remainder goes to the namer of the place.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h3> User textures </h3>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Players may add ther own textures to the game, to be used on their 3D models.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Other players may licence those textures for use on their own buildings too. This provides
|
|
a way for artistically minded players to get another income stream.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Creating a new texture costs 5 gold, and licencing a texture costs 0.5 gold. This means
|
|
that as soon as 10 or more players licence a texture, the creation cost is repaid.
|
|
<br>
|
|
The maximum number of textures a player can create is limited by the player's level
|
|
as well as the number, size and economic power of the player's active cultural buildings
|
|
at creation time.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2> User interface </h2>
|
|
<p>
|
|
The UI is contained in a shadable widget that can be moved around by dragging it around and
|
|
resized by clicking on the bottom right corner when it is opened. While some of it can be
|
|
used in spectator mode, you will need to have a game account before being able to use much
|
|
of it. Among other things, the camera mode can be changed to a free camera by selecting the
|
|
desired mode in the Commands menu. The UI's contents may be panned with the mouse if they
|
|
extend past the size of the actual widget.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Control is by mouse and keyboard. Right click with the mouse to rotate the view, left click
|
|
to select tiles. Right click (without moving the mouse) to deselect.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Key mappings:
|
|
<table>
|
|
<tr><td> Mouse </td><td> Look around </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Page up </td><td> Move up (in free camera mode) </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Page down </td><td> Move down (in free camera mode) </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> W </td><td> move forward </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> A </td><td> move left </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> S </td><td> move backward </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> D </td><td> move right </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Escape </td><td> close dialog, or open options </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> ~ </td><td> open/close in-game chat </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> F </td><td> switch to free camera mode or back to walker mode </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> O </td><td> switch to orbit camera mode or back to walker mode </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> TAB </td><td> cycle through available building block types </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Q </td><td> Place a block at the blue mouse cursor location </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> E </td><td> Remove a block at the red mouse cursor location </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> P </td><td> Select material from the tile under the cursor </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> X </td><td> Open the material selection HUD </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Z </td><td> Add blocks on selected tiles</td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> G </td><td> Add flat layer of blocks on selected tiles</td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> C </td><td> Remove blocks on selected tiles</td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> V </td><td> Remove top level blocks on selected tiles</td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> B </td><td> Toggle Minecraft style build mode </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> J </td><td> Jump to the selected building </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> [ </td><td> Jump to previous building (of the same role if shift pressed) </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> ] </td><td> Jump to next building (of the same role if shift pressed) </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> L </td><td> Toggle user light source </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> T </td><td> Open the trade screen </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> N </td><td> Open the news screen </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> + </td><td> Open all UI panel sections </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> - </td><td> Close all UI panel sections </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> F3 </td><td> Search flags by name</td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> F10 </td><td> Open the player info screen </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> F11 </td><td> Toggle fullscreen </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> F12 </td><td> Toggle UI panel open/closed </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Shift </td><td> Increase motion speed while held </td></tr>
|
|
<tr><td> Control </td><td> Decrease motion speed while held </td></tr>
|
|
</table>
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2> Research </h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Research allows a player to make discoveries. Discoveries have a variety of effects, but
|
|
a typical effect is to provide a bonus of some sort. For example, the "improved plough"
|
|
discovery gives a 2% bonus in harvest yield for all the player's agricultural buildings.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Many discoveries yield a patent. The patent takes the form of an item that is freely tradable on the open
|
|
market, and it is this item which provides the benefit. So if the player making the
|
|
"improved plough" discovery has no agricultural buildings, they may decide to sell the
|
|
patent to their discovery to someone for whom it will be much more lucrative.
|
|
Upon a discovery, the discoverer receives 10 patent items. Anyone in possession of one
|
|
of them will benefit from the discovery. Possessing more than one item for a given
|
|
patent gives no benefit over possessing just one.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Discoveries are made by paying towards research on a particular subject. Every discovery
|
|
has a difficulty, which represents an estimation of how much research will have to be made
|
|
before the discovery is made. Paying towards research gives you a certain chance of making
|
|
that discovery. The more is paid for research, the higher the chance of discovery. The
|
|
higher the difficulty, the lower the chance. The difficulty of a discovery goes down with
|
|
time, as well as with money already spent on research. So if a discovery seems too dear
|
|
to research, waiting will bring it down to affordable levels, if someone else doesn't beat
|
|
you to the punch.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Patents last a limited time. After 15 game years (105 days in real time, though this might change in the future), everyone gets the benefit of
|
|
the discovery for which a patent was awarded. This will prevent the first discoverer from
|
|
obtaining an advantage leading to a snowball effect, leaving others unable to ever catch up.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Some discoveries can only be researched once other prerequisite discoveries are discovered.
|
|
When all prerequisites of a discovery are discovered, anyone may start researching that
|
|
newly unlocked discovery, not only the person who discovered the last prerequisite.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Research buildings provide a bonus to research, essentially making discoveries cheaper
|
|
for the owner of those buildings. The owner of a research building may also decide to provide
|
|
this bonus as a service for a fee. A player may pay another player's research building to provide a bonus
|
|
to research a particular discovery. Once a research building has performed this service,
|
|
its bonus giving ability will be temporarily cut and it will recover its full bonus power over time.
|
|
<br>
|
|
The bonus given by a research building's increases with the building's size and economic power.
|
|
Also, large amounts of research funding will need a larger building to get a full bonus.
|
|
<br>
|
|
More discoveries will be added later on, possibly in conjunction with storytelling.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2> Special events </h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Special events are temporary alterations to game rules which happen randomly at a game tick
|
|
boundary. Some events have good or bad effect, providing interest and potential hooks for storytelling.
|
|
Special events include fire (there will be new discoveries providing protection against
|
|
fire), time limited bonuses for some types of buildings (bumper harvest increase influence
|
|
of agricultural buildings), epidemics causing lower payouts for some building types, strikes
|
|
causing labour shortages, social unrest causing damage to buildings not near a military building,
|
|
festival increasing cultural building payouts, floods causing water levels to rise, etc.
|
|
Special events are localized to a particular town. To see whether a special event is currently
|
|
active in town, see the "Town" section in the UI. If a special event is active, there will also
|
|
be a "?" button to get more information about it. There cannot be more than one special event
|
|
active in a given town at the same time.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Fires are a particuarly special kind of special event. When a fire breaks out, military buildings
|
|
act as firefighters, and can attempt to put a fire out. If a burning building is within 350% of
|
|
a military building's influence, anyone can pay it to fight the fire. The larger and the higher
|
|
economic power a military building, the stronger its fire fighting capability. The larger a burning
|
|
building, the harder the fire is to put out. Once a military building has tried to put a fire out,
|
|
whether succesfully or not, its firefighting efficiency drops to 20%, and will grow back to 100%
|
|
over a period of almost a game tick cycle. If a fire is put out for a building, that building
|
|
will not burn again until the end of the fire event. The fire has a chance to stop at every game
|
|
tick. If the building drops to 0 repair before the fire is extinguished or fizzles out, it is
|
|
destroyed.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2> Items </h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
In addition to construction materials such as stone and wood, various types of items exist in
|
|
Townforge. Most are predefined, but players may also define their particular choice of items.
|
|
Those can then be used, given, traded as other items. Possible uses for these player defined
|
|
items include in-game company shares, lottery tickets. Note that since player defined items
|
|
are custom, any promise made by players which does not rely on game mechanics relies on trust
|
|
in that player (for example, if Alice creates a new "Alice Corp" item with 100 instances,
|
|
then game mechanics ensure no more than 100 instances will ever exist, that players may trade
|
|
these items. But if Alice says she will pay monthly dividends from her in game "Alice Corp"
|
|
company, the game cannot and will not enforce payment of these dividends.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Non Fungible Tokens may be created, and linked to arbitrary data stored on IPFS.
|
|
The item creation form allows selecting a file to upload to IPFS, the hash to which will be
|
|
stored in the item data on the blockchain.
|
|
The game only supports displaying some types of image, including PNG and JPEG. Remember that
|
|
these images are user created, and their creator is potentially malicious.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Townforge will keep that data pinned for a few days after item creation. Beyond this, the item
|
|
creator (or current owner, or anyone else) has to keep running the IPFS daemon or use an
|
|
external pinning service to keep the data available.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
A player may define items groups. Item groups are items themselves, but with no actual instances
|
|
created. Any player defined item may optionally be set to belong to a group created by the
|
|
same player. This may be used to group similar items, for instance to create non fungible items
|
|
(ie, create a "Animal figurines" group, then two non group items "Cow" and "Pony", each with
|
|
just one instance). Grouped items may have an amount greater than one, to enable collections.
|
|
Note that the number of items in a group can go up, even though the number of items of a non
|
|
group type cannot, since new item types may be created in a group. Item groups may be private
|
|
of public. If public, anyone can create new items in this group. If private, only the creator
|
|
of the group may do so.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Player created items may contain some amount of gold in them. This gold will be recovered if
|
|
the item is destroyed (minus a small smelting fee). Items with gold contribute to increasing
|
|
the owner's prestige score.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Some items bring extra prestige with them. These will usually be storyline related items,
|
|
awarded via storyline scripts. Similarly, some items give bonuses for buildings of a certain
|
|
type. Players may not imbue their custom items with extra prestige or role bonuses.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Collectible coins are a special type of item. New coin designs are created to mark various
|
|
game events and any player may mint one or more by supplying the gold necessary for the item.
|
|
Collectible coins are available for minting for a period of one game year (a real week) after
|
|
they are first introduced. After this period, the only way to obtain this coin is the peer to
|
|
peer markets. A collectible coin may be smelted at any time to recover the gold (but if the
|
|
minting window is over, may not be turned back into the original coin).
|
|
Players receive a randomly selected coin when joining the game. These are not mintable, and
|
|
the only way to get the ones you do not receive upon joining is to buy one of another player.
|
|
</p>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Some items may be assigned from the player's inventory to buildings:
|
|
<ul>
|
|
<li>construction materials: to build larger 3D models</li>
|
|
<li>labour: to build larger 3D models</li>
|
|
<li>firewood: to prioritize heating this building if short of heating materials</li>
|
|
<li>food: to prioritize feeding this building if short of food</li>
|
|
<li>gemstones: to give this building bonuses depending on the particular gemstone</li>
|
|
<li>items giving a bonus to this building type</li>
|
|
</ul>
|
|
Construction materials and labour assigned to the flag may not be retrieved. All other items
|
|
may be retrieved at will. Note that when demolishing a building, a player recovers part of
|
|
the building materials. If the building is destroyed by letting its condition drop to zero,
|
|
any item left inside are destroyed, though any gold in such items will be automatically
|
|
smelted and added back to the owner's balance. If the whole flag is removed due to defaulting
|
|
on taxes, any item left inside is moved back to the owner's inventory.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Some custom items are consumable. These can be assigned to buildings, and will be consumed
|
|
at a rate of one per game tick. Once they run out, the bonus(es) they give will stop.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2> Badges, levels, prestige, role playing and attributes </h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Badges are a way to track a player's progress through the game. Badges track a particular metric
|
|
(for instance, the number of buildings a player has) and have a level from 1 to 5. The better
|
|
you score in a particular badge's metric, the high level you will obtain for this badge.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Badges are what determine a player's level, giving a numeric value to the player's progression
|
|
through the game. As a player obtains more and higher level badges, the player's level will
|
|
increase. At each level, the player may allocate a point to an attribute of their choosing.
|
|
Some building material variants and chat colours become unlocked at certain levels.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Prestige is a score calculated from players' precious items, such as collectible coins and
|
|
gemstones and badges. Coin rarity (ie, how many coins of a given design exist) is the main driver of
|
|
prestige for coins, with coin age and number of coins owned also having some impact.
|
|
0.5% of the the game subsidy goes to the players with the most prestige. Each full set of
|
|
coins in a runic cycle (a period of 19 years) gives additional bonuses, as does owning at least
|
|
one of each type of the major gemstone (amethyst, sapphire, emerald, ruby, diamond). Core badges (ie, not
|
|
the ones awarded for role playing) and up to 5 event badges give a small prestige bonus.
|
|
The set of new player coins gives an additional bonus. The genesis coin also gives an extra bonus.
|
|
Rare fish found and lightsources used in flags also enter the calculation. A small bonus is also
|
|
given to players with the most flags.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Attributes are role playing style facets of the player, which are dynamically defined by the
|
|
game account which runs role playing events. These are intended to add some extra interest in
|
|
the game not stemming directly from the economy mechanics. Those attributes are in turn used
|
|
in role playing events to influence outcomes of storylines.
|
|
<br>
|
|
While most badges are managed by consensus, the game account can create new badge types, which
|
|
will be awarded to players who participate in optional role playing sessions.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Attributes currently have no effect on the game mechanics.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2> Auctions and mortgages </h2>
|
|
|
|
Flags (whether with a building on them or not) and sets of items may be auctioned. Auctions
|
|
take place over a time of 2 to 14 days, at the seller's option. Auctions are driven by the game,
|
|
so bids and the sale are automatic and atomic. If any bid happens too close to the end of the
|
|
auction, the end is pushed back by another game tick (auctions always end on game ticks). If
|
|
the seller wants to have a minimum sell price, the seller should bid that price themselves,
|
|
so they'll basically buy back their own auctioned property if noone bids higher.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Auctions may be created either for a flag or for a set of items. In the latter case, several
|
|
items of different types may be sold as a slot (for instance, a set of collectible coins).
|
|
<br>
|
|
A flag can be mortgaged. This allows a player to raise money from other players in a semi
|
|
trustless way, since mortgage repayments will be automatic. A mortgage's repayment schedule
|
|
can be configured by the mortgage issuer on its creation. Once created, the stated repayments
|
|
(which can be made in gold or other items) will happen at every game tick. Should the creditor
|
|
not have enough balance to meet a payment, the mortgaged building will be automatically taken
|
|
by the game and put on auction for a week. Proceeds from the sale will then be distributed
|
|
to creditors. Any leftover will be given back to the mortgage issuer.
|
|
<br>
|
|
To avoid order spam, there is a small fee for creating an auction as well as for bidding.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Note that when a flag is being auctioned or mortgaged, the actions you can perform on that
|
|
flag are curtailed, to avoid abuse. Such actions include selling, giving, retrieving items,
|
|
demolishing a building, etc.
|
|
|
|
<h2> Scripts </h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Townforge supports in game scripting, which is used for storytelling and world building
|
|
purposes, allowing players to play through stories designed by the game designers.
|
|
Scripts can have effects on players, but cannot create gold or items at will. Anything
|
|
a player gains will be transfered from the game account. If the game account does not
|
|
have enough inventory, the script will not start.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Players can also use this scripting capability in a very limited way. Any level 5+
|
|
player may place a runestone anywhere in a building, and attach a message, a script,
|
|
or both. Other players clicking on this runestone will see the message, and have
|
|
the option to start the script. To avoid abuse, styling will be enabled only for the
|
|
current city's mayor and the game account. Additionally, the mayor of a city may enable
|
|
styling in their city for any account they choose.
|
|
<br>
|
|
To prevent abuse, players may not write their own scripts directly. Instead, they can
|
|
submit their script for approval to a game designer, who will vet those scripts first
|
|
(typically for a fee depending on the script's complexity). Once those scripts are vetted,
|
|
they can be used on a runestone. It will also be possible to a player to write a complex
|
|
script, get it vetted, then allow other players to pay the writer a fee to use it.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Since scripts are state machines with arbitrary branching, it is possible to create
|
|
scripts that never finish, or do not do what they claim to, thereby defrauding another
|
|
player. This is why scripts must be vetted before being allowed in game. Automated
|
|
countermeasures are possible, and may be employed in the future, which would allow any
|
|
player to write their own scripts directly. However, this is not a certainty.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2> Leaderboards </h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Leaderboards track various statistics. It is possible that some small amount of the
|
|
treasury will be distributed to those at the top of at least some of them.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2> Abuse mitigation </h2>
|
|
<p>
|
|
Townforge uses an advisory ignore system. Since this is a multiplayer game where players can add
|
|
their own content, it is bound to attract people wanting to be jerks. To mitigate this, Townforge
|
|
maintains a list of players, items, cities and flags that should be ignored by default. Maintaining
|
|
this list is one of the few powers that the game account holds.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Being on the ignore list means the game will not display the ignored entity (for example, for a
|
|
flag, the flag's name will be replaced by a placeholder and its 3D representation will not be
|
|
shown onscreen). This has no effect on the game mechanics, that is, ignored players, items, etc.
|
|
function in exactly the same way whether they are on the ignore list or not. If you want to ignore
|
|
the ignore list, since it is advisory, you can either elect to show everything, or maintain your
|
|
own ignore list.
|
|
<br>
|
|
What will end up on the default ignore list will necessarily be subjective, but harassment, nazi
|
|
references, illegal things will most likely end up in there.
|
|
<br>
|
|
The ignore list is a two way street. It is possible to get off it. If you consider this to be
|
|
intolerable censorship of your god given rights to be an asshole, go make your own game.
|
|
</p>
|
|
|
|
<h2> Blockchain </h2>
|
|
|
|
<p>
|
|
Townforge is a blockchain based game. The entire game state is stored on the chain. This
|
|
brings advantages (protection against exit scam, against abuse of power by the game author)
|
|
but also drawbacks (the need to wait for a block for every action to be recorded on the
|
|
blockchain).
|
|
<br>
|
|
The blockchain is based on Monero, so a lot of things will be very similar to Monero.
|
|
In particular, non-game transactions benefit for Monero style privacy. In game transactions
|
|
are public, however. Everyone will know that game character Alice just built a new house
|
|
on that location, with those settings, etc. However, Noone knows who plays Alice, since
|
|
gameplay happens through blockchain transactions. However, Alice might have more than one
|
|
character, and nobody will know, assuming she does not do things like giving all of a
|
|
character's money to the other. It is what the Internet was meant to be:
|
|
somewhere you can live in without having to constantly show papers.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Note that the daemon the game connects to will know which player the game controls. As with
|
|
Monero, you are supposed to use your own daemon.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Technically, the block target time is 20 seconds. The emission curve is similar to Monero's
|
|
starting off at about 17 coins per PoW block and decreasing till a floor of 1 gold a PoW block,
|
|
with PoS blocks rewards being 5% of PoW block rewards (this is to both provide an incentive to
|
|
mine PoS blocks while preventing a state where playing the game is less profitable than merely
|
|
staking buildings).
|
|
Block rewards decrease to about 1 gold a minute, where tail emission starts, which means block
|
|
rewards will not go below about 1 gold a minute. This makes the tail emission about 50% higher
|
|
than Monero's.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Game transactions are much smaller that normal transactions. 100 bytes is typical, compared
|
|
to 2.5 kB for out of game transactions. This is what you get for eschewing privacy (after
|
|
all, you need people to see your buildings to build a city). Note that in game transactions
|
|
do not compromise the privacy pool of normal out of game transactions since the in game
|
|
accounts are balance based, not output based.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Townforge can be merge mined with Monero, or separately.
|
|
<br>
|
|
The decentralized marketplace is implemented by transactions which get publicized on the
|
|
txpool, and mined when they're matched with another.
|
|
<br>
|
|
A huge number of consensus changes were made: all the game specific rules are consensus
|
|
changes. These changes have not received anywhere near the scrutiny a Monero consensus
|
|
change would receive. Since markets allow items, buildings etc to be turned to and from
|
|
money, this means that there is a non trivial chance that there may be a bug which affects
|
|
balances. Money supply looks unlikely to be affected, though. This is a game first, and
|
|
a currency second. Treat is as such.
|
|
<br>
|
|
Townforge will not be a static game. There will be changes to the game as it runs its
|
|
course. Some of these changes will be to consensus rules. While the emission will not
|
|
change, other things might, such as the price of last resort materials, the land tax
|
|
function, cost of new land, etc. These and others may need changing based on seeing how
|
|
the game economy behaves with many players.
|
|
</p>
|
|
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