Spoiler Warning
The only "future history" I will use is that there is no rescue grant. (You could imagine that I began the mission, found out that there was no grant, and started the mission over with a more economical plan, but I'm too lazy to do that.)

Parts of the Design

Heh could be built only on the west bank. There is enough coastline for a dock, a shipwright, and 6 warships (or fewer warships if multiple docks are built). But as "The Gauntlet", it shouldn't let the Nubians roam around the east bank. Therefore, both banks will be settled (and defended).

2 side-by-side docks will be fairly near the middle of the west bank, beside a ferry crossing to the east bank. 6 storage yards will be close, so no docker goes more than 6 tiles each way. Gems and jewels and some of the imports will be stored only in those storage yards.

Assuming that the ship entry and exit points are in the north, it will take over 2 months for a ship to sail to and from the docks. Including trade and wait times, a ship could easily spend over 3 months in the city--4 months might be a good estimate. If so, the two available water trade routes at the start of the mission should send about 4 ships/year, which is plenty for Buhen but will somewhat limit the total exports to Byblos.

There will be 4 housing blocks, 3 on the west bank (the N, W, and S blocks) and 1 on the east bank (the E block). All of the bazaars should be close enough to obtain non-food goods from storage yards near the docks.

The palace will be northwest of the docks and their storage yards, close to the western gold ore and exploitable rocks. There will be 7 gold mines and at least 8 gem mines, maybe 10 gem mines if additional cities buy gems and/or jewels. Jewelers will be near the gem mines.

For the city center, the W block will be built around the mansion and will use Osiris's temple complex (which will extend to the south). The palace and festival square will be to the northeast of the W block, across the street from a couple of stately manors and fancy residences. All gold cart pushers will travel through the festival square (the first time I've done that), along with some other people.

Initial Construction

In my previous cities, I've designed the final city and then decided how to build it. That can't be done in Heh, since significant information is hidden. Also, starting up either gold or gems and jewelry (including controlling the hyenas) is so expensive that the funds are barely enough. Therefore, some of the design will focus on efficiently starting money-making industries, even if that results in a few extra buildings in the final city.

The first industry will be gold, since it needs fewer employees and is cheaper to expand. The tentative plan is to complete the gold mines, start making troops and warships, and then begin the gem and jewel industries.

Near the beginning of the mission, all of the gold mines and the palace (as well as many of the gem mines, jewelers, and docks and their storage yards) will obtain labor access from the W block. This will minimize the number of roads and firehouses early in the mission. (Later, a few of those buildings may get labor access from the N block.)

Hyenas

I want to prevent the western hyenas from doing much damage, and am considering two ways.

One way is to build a tower fairly close to the hyena breeding grounds as quickly as possible. I expect that all of those hyenas would eventually be killed. This is the most straightforward approach, but it's expensive: 958 Db for the tower and recruiter, plus some extra roads and (probably fairly soon) a firehouse.

The other way is to "fence" each hyena (with small statues) when it is on buildable ground. Later, a couple of archer forts would kill the hyenas. This method is cheaper: even if each hyena requires 4 statues, the cost would be 504 Db, and it should be considerably less. I'd expect that the savings would speed up development by over 2 months.

I haven't decided which way I prefer. The delayed fencing method saves money. The tower method is more aesthetic, since there aren't a bunch of extraneous small statues.

Does anyone have a preference?

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 09-07-2018 @ 05:55 AM).]

since there is no rescue grant, would you reconsider you stance on personal income, since its essentially a no-interest savings account in the game.

I prefer the archers myself. but I haven't tried the walls and tower approach myself

Quoted from maydayp:

since there is no rescue grant, would you reconsider you stance on personal income, since its essentially a no-interest savings account in the game

No. Not using personal funds is a rule I have always used in Pharaoh (except maybe in a contest). If I wanted to make the beginning of the mission easier, I would go into debt, but I think I can get by without it.

Ascetically, I like the tower much more. Unless you can make something from the statues later on, they'll look obvious and out of place, especially when you get the archers to come in and kill them.

I also like the idea of you doing a non-spoiler play which also isn't completely planable from the get go. That of itself is a different take on the map; compared with our usual style at least of planning the completed city in detail, then making only small changes and adjustments as needed.

Also, while I think the culmination of the personal goals will make the mission more difficult than a standard, objective-only play, I never really think of your "city-centre" builds as being a concept to base my entire city around.

Especially when, in a non-spoiler way, Heh seems fairly straightforward. There are no extreme ratings which much be met (like 70+ Culture), the landscape isn't too awkwardly divided by rocks/islands/large monuments, and there is enough land and coastline for a full army.

I usually want a more tangible objective like a high population, or scribe/worker ratio or fast time. Or off the wall like all food must be imported or only export raw materials. It could be something relevant to Heh's specific map design like all the population on the eastern bank (apart from labour access to the ferry). Now I dont know how viable any of these are but it's what I look at during my initial, very very first stages of planning.

I think your cities usually look good anyway and the city centre concept is fun to watch. But it's just my play style to want something tangible, like your personal goals, then see how pretty I can make it look afterwards.

evil_live_vile,
Thanks for the comments. I was hoping to hear from you.

Any more opinions on handling the hyenas?

Food

Everyone will eat chickpeas and pomegranates.

The floodplain on the west bank will be farmed: 10 farms (with 2 work camps) on the larger floodplain and 5 farms (with 1 work camp) on the smaller floodplain. (The floodplain on the east bank will not be farmed.)

The central meadow on each bank will be farmed. (The southern meadow on the west bank will not be farmed.) The design has 13 meadow farms on the west bank, although some may not be built. There may be space for a few more on the east bank, since (beside the farms) it has only the E block and some military. I will try to put meadow farms on more fertile locations, especially pomegranate farms (which harvest twice/year).

I'm considering growing pomegranates only on meadows, with only a few storage yards. Chickpeas would have more storage yards, to keep some extra in case there are a series of terrible floods.

As the population rises, people need food to keep city health acceptable. Some houses are close enough to desirable buildings that they will evolve to cottages when they get good water and food and religion, but cottages have high fire risk. Therefore, houses will not get religion until pottery is available, so there may be a lot of meager shanties for a while.

Mausoleum

The mausoleum will be west of the S block, not too far from the 3 work camps. The stonemason guild will be fairly close. The carpenter guild may be farther away, since it is used for only a few operations in the middle of the construction.

The mausoleum requires 496 blocks of sandstone. I would like to finish the mission in less than 20 years, but that depends on how fast sandstone can be imported. We'll see.

Housing Blocks

The W block is designed, with 5 stately manors and 12 fancy residences. The block uses bandstands instead of pavilions, so the senet house will probably be built earlier than usual. Even if only 15 linen/year and only 25 papyrus/year can be imported (so the houses in other blocks are spacious residences and there are no other mortuaries or libraries), that is enough for Prosperity 100 and Culture 55. The W block can supply labor access to the shipwright, but not to any wharves.

The S block is designed. If plenty of linen is available, it will have 24 fancy residences. If linen is in short supply, it will have 26 spacious residences, with houses replacing a bazaar and a temple. The S block supplies labor access to 2 warship and 1 transport wharves.

I haven't designed the other two housing blocks. Details of the N block, including its location, depend on the newly available goods. The E block will not be built until the eastern hyenas are killed.

A tower will try to kill the western hyenas, as liked by evil_live_vile. After all, a city center is for aesthetics, and so is avoiding extraneous statues.


I will build Heh with Cleopatra. (I expect to do the same in all my new Pharaoh cities, since almost all players have Cleopatra, labor access works properly in a granary, and ships leave at the river exit point.)

Is the west block going to be north or south of the meadow? I assume north because it would put the city centre closer to the gold mines.

Details of the N block, including its location, depend on the newly available goods.

I think the north block would be more important than all the others, so I'd lock that design in first. It might be supplying your gold/gems with labour access, and will supply your dock and significant part of your warships. It should definitely be in your first 2 housing blocks being set because of how important a dock area that can be quickly set up is. Even if you aren't exporting by water immediately, you might need to quickly import something - copper, wood, raw material for a request.

(I'm not even checking the map to see if copper or wood is sold via water. If I load it up, I might see or remember something and want to make sure there is no hint of a spoiler in the discussion)

Plus it's always an easy industry centre to make near the docks (I'm not just saying visually but in a practical game sense). When an unexpected request happens, it's safer long-term to set up production quickly and on the fly (well, still meticulously planned ) when you've got that advantage of naturally having several SYs and traders nearby. Just in case you overlooked something while trying to transport goods across the whole map (I'm assuming that, if water entry is in the north, so is the land entry).

Quoted from evil_live_vile:

Is the west block going to be north or south of the meadow?

North.

Quoted from evil_live_vile:

I think the north block would be more important than all the others, so I'd lock that design in first. It might be supplying your gold/gems with labour access, and will supply your dock and significant part of your warships.

All of the gold mines and most of the gem mines will initially get labor access from the W block. In the final city, a gold mine and at least one gem mine will probably get labor access from the N block.

The docks will initially get labor access from the W block, and may continue to do so in the final city. The north block will give labor access to 1 warship and 1 transport wharves. The south block will give labor access to 2 warship and 1 transport wharves, so it will be the second block developed.

I don't know how many potters, weavers, papyrus makers, and additional storage yards will be needed. I'd rather find those things out before figuring out where to put the N block.

Any more opinions on handling the hyenas?

This was a big problem when I played Heh. I tried a few different approaches, including statues, gardens, police officers and towers, and found that towers was the best solution for me.

I planned very little in my Heh and I will probably build it again some day.
Looking forward to see you final city.

Heh begins (at Very Hard difficulty) with 0 people, 4125 Db, Cu 0, Pr 0, and Ki 40.

1st Year (1710 BC)

Jan: 21 vacant lots were placed in the W block. The recruiter, first tower, and first 2 gold mines were built.

Feb: The palace was built.

Mar: The tower guard killed some hyenas. Gold was delivered to the palace. The first architect post and first 2 firehouses were built.

May: The 3rd gold mine was built.

Jul: 8 more vacant lots were placed in the W block. The 4th gold mine was built.

Aug: 5 more vacant lots were placed in the W block. At month-end, the price of gems fell 2 Db.

Sep: The last western hyena was killed. The 5th gold mine was built.

Oct: The 6th gold mine was built.

Nov: 9 more vacant lots were placed in the W block.

Dec: The 7th (last) gold mine and 2nd architect post were built.

The 1st year ended with 215 people (all in crude huts), 283 Db, Cu 0, Pr 0, and Ki 39.

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 09-23-2018 @ 01:41 PM).]

My tentative plan is to have 3 infantry and 3 archer forts: 2 on the east bank and 4 on the west bank.

2nd Year (1709 BC)

Feb: The academy and W block water supply were built.

May: The first archer fort was built.

Jul: 1 vacant lot was placed in the S block. The first storage yard was built. The trade route to Dakhla Oasis was opened.

Aug: The first wood was bought from a Dakhla Oasis caravan. At month-end, Men-nefer requested waterborne forces against a small enemy within 5 months.

Sep: The shipwright, first warship wharf, and first work camp were built.

Oct: 5 more vacant lots were placed in the S block. The first 5 floodplain chickpea farms (all irrigated) and the 3rd and 4th firehouses were built. The warship was dispatched to Men-nefer.

Nov: 4 more vacant lots were placed in the W block. The first plaza and first garden were built.

Dec: The mansion was built and salary was set to 0.

The 2nd year ended with 351 people (301 in sturdy huts, 50 in crude huts), 295 Db, Cu 0, Pr 1, and Ki 40.

The granary that will eventually supply food to the W block gets labor access from the N block (which won't be built for a while). Therefore, for now, the W block bazaar must get food from a granary near the S block, which is considerably farther away.

3rd year (1708 BC)

Jan: 11 more vacant lots were placed in the S block. The first gem mine and first jeweler were built. At month-end, the price of wood fell by 10 Db.

Mar: The S block water supply, 2nd gem mine, 2nd jeweler, and 3rd and 4th architect posts were built.

May: The first granary (near the S block), W block and S block courthouses, W block bazaar, and 5th architect post were built.

Jul: The 2nd archer fort was built. The first jewelry was sold to a Dakhla Oasis caravan.

Aug: At month-end, the warship returned with slight damage, and Ki rose 2 because of the victory at Men-nefer.

Oct: The first 3 Osiris shrines, first 2 Seth shrines, first 2 Ra shrines, 3rd jeweler, and 6th through 10th floodplain chickpea farms (all irrigated) were built. The warship was sent in for repair.

Dec: 12 more vacant lots were placed in the W block. The 2nd warship wharf and 5th firehouse were built. At month-end, Itjtawy requested waterborne forces against a small enemy within 5 months.

The 3rd year ended with 488 people (180 in meager shanties, 308 in sturdy huts), 373 Db, Cu 5, Pr 7, and Ki 43.

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 10-04-2018 @ 05:36 PM).]

The design has 17 meadow farms on the east bank, although some may not be built. Part of the E block is designed, enough to supply labor access to those farms, a ferry terminal, and 3 warship and 2 transport wharves.

4th year (1707 BC)

Jan: The 3rd gem mine and first transport wharf were built.

Apr: An archer company was transported across the Nile to kill the east bank wolves. The 4th gem mine, 4th jeweler, and ferry crossing were built. Both warships were dispatched to Itjtawy.

May: 12 vacant lots were placed in the E block. The other archer company was transported across the Nile, but was too late: all wolves were dead, without losses. Both archer companies began going back to their forts. The first S block bazaar was built. At month-end, Menat Khufu requested waterborne forces against a small enemy within 5 months and a trade route to Men-nefer became available.

Jun: The 3rd and 4th warship wharves and 4th Osiris shrine were built.

Aug: The E block water supply, 6th firehouse, 6th architect post, and first dock were built. The trade route to Men-nefer was opened (so chickpeas could be obtained by bazaar buyers from a storage yard). The new warships were dispatched to Menat Khufu.

Oct: The first large statue, W block and S block tax collectors, 7th firehouse, and both weaponsmiths were built. The tax rate was set to 14%. The wage rate was set to 32. The trade route to Byblos was opened.

Nov: The first gems were sold to a Byblos ship. The first copper was bought from a Byblos ship.

Dec: 12 more vacant lots were placed in the S block. 4 more vacant lots were placed in the E block. At month-end, the 2 warships returned from Itjtawy with moderate damage to 1, and Ki rose 2 because of the victory at Itjtawy.

The 4th year ended with 768 people (684 in meager shanties, 84 in sturdy huts), 482 Db, Cu 5, Pr 14, and Ki 46.

At the end of Sep in the 5th year, the trade route to Itjtawy became available, which (along with Men-nefer) supplies the missing goods (as finished products) except for sandstone. It was time to finish most of the design, which was harder than I expected.

There is enough pottery and papyrus (at least 2500 from each city) and linen (4000 from Itjtawy, which can have 3 ships on the map at once), so the poorest houses will be fancy residences and Culture will be 70. There will be 2 mortuaries and 2 libraries (in the W and N blocks) and 3 schools (in the W, S, and E blocks).

I have two preferences that weren't important enough to make goals: no house is beside bare ground or bare (unplazaed) road, and certain buildings in a housing block are together (either touching or across the street): courthouse and tax collector, physician and dentist and mortuary, school and library, and bazaars. I had trouble designing the N block with those preferences, but eventually realized that a booth could be put where it would be difficult to plaza roads (with the shipyard and a brewery already built nearby).

The N and E blocks have 40-tile loop roads, smaller than the W and S blocks that have 44-tile loop roads. The N block has 14 fancy residences and the E block has 20 fancy residences, but that gives the city just over 7000 people, so one block will have 1 fewer fancy residence (to avoid having to build another bandstand). For Culture 70, 6968 people requires 5 dance stages (there will be 6), 8 music stages (2 in each block) and 14 juggle stages (5 in the N block and 3 in the others). While 5 breweries could supply enough beer, only 4 will be built, which means importing about 140 beer/year.

I have only estimated the workers needed, since I haven't decided how many towers to build and the fertility (and therefore the number) of meadow farms isn't known. Also, I don't know how long the mission will last, so can't guess how low the worker fraction is likely to fall. I hope there is significant unemployment (to allow the city to run longer before a worker shortage develops), which is why the population is well over the 6000 requirement.

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 10-28-2018 @ 11:38 AM).]

5th year (1706 BC)

Feb: The W block booth, first juggler school, W block Ra temple, 3rd Seth shrine, and 5th Osiris shrine were built. The damaged warship was sent in for repair. The trade route to Buhen was opened.

Apr: The first E block bazaar and first brewery were built. The first barley was bought from a Buhen ship. At month-end, the 2 warships returned from Menat Khufu with moderate damage to 1.

May: At month-end, Menat Khufu wanted to give us 3200 chickpeas because of the victory at Menat Khufu, but there was insufficient storage.

Jun: Osiris's temple complex and the 2nd and 3rd storage yards were built. The damaged warship was sent in for repair. At month-end, Menat Khufu gave us 3200 chickpeas.

Sep: The 2nd work camp was built. The first pottery and papyrus were bought from a Men-nefer ship. At month-end, a trade route to Itjtawy became available.

Oct: The 2nd brewery and 11th through 15th (last) floodplain chickpea farms (all irrigated) were built.

Dec: 4 more vacant lots were placed in the E block. The senet house, W block physician, and W block school were built.

The 5th year ended with 1290 people (885 in ordinary cottages, 405 in meager shanties), 507 Db, Cu 10, Pr 25, and Ki 47.

[Removed "The tax rate was raised to 18%. The wage rate was raised to 38." from Apr.]
[Changed "first booth" to "W block booth".]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 11-21-2018 @ 02:29 PM).]

6th year (1705 BC)

Jan: At month-end, Byblos now sells wood.

Mar: 3 more vacant lots were placed in the S block. The 4th Seth shrine, S block and E block physicians, and first infantry fort were built.

May: The west bank water lift, first 5 meadow pomegranate farms (all irrigated), and 8th firehouse were built. The tax rate was lowered to 12%.

Sep: 9 vacant lots were placed in the N block. The 5th gem mine, 5th Seth shrine, N block bazaar, N block water supply, and 2nd (last) granary were built.

Nov: 21 more vacant lots were placed in the S block. The first beer was sold to a Men-nefer ship. At month-end, the price of wood rose 10Db.

Dec: 3 more vacant lots were placed in the N block. The 3rd and 4th (last) breweries, 5th jeweler, 9th and 10th firehouses, and 2nd infantry fort were built.

The 6th year ended with 1815 people (1266 in common residences, 549 in meager shanties), 529 Db, Cu 10, Pr 43, and Ki 48.

Just popped back on this forum for nostalgia. I'm so glad to see you're still designing cities in new and interesting ways! I'm watching this thread with anticipation.

Hi Cantique. It's nice to know some players are still interested.

In Apr of the 5th year, I mistakenly wrote "The tax rate was raised to 18%. The wage rate was raised to 38.", so I edited reply #18. That was the plan, but I forgot. In Sep of the 7th year, when the tax rate was raised (since city sentiment had increased to extremely pleased), I realized my mistake.

For the first time since the first year, there was occasional unemployment.

7th year (1704 BC)

Jan: At month-end, Baki requested waterborne forces against a small enemy within 12 months.

Mar: The 6th gem mine, 3rd Ra shrine, 4th through 6th storage yards, and N block courthouse were built.

Jun: The 7th and 8th gem mines and 3rd (last) archer fort were built.

Sep: The 2nd (last) dock, 6th through 8th jewelers, 11th and 12th firehouses, 3rd (last) work camp, and Sebek's altar were built. The tax rate was raised to 18%. The wage rate was raised to 38.

Nov: 26 more vacant lots were placed in the S block. 3 more vacant lots were placed in the E block. 3 warships were dispatched to Baki.

Dec: The festival square and 9th and 10th (last) gem mines were built. At month-end, a Nubian army will invade in 6 months.

The 7th year ended with 2045 people (1280 in common residences, 765 in meager shanties), 865 Db, Cu 10, Pr 43, and Ki 49.

I decided to name the booths, bandstands, and pavilions after the blocks in which they appear, so I edited reply #18 (again).


8th year (1703 BC)

Feb: The 5th and 6th (last) warship wharves, 2nd transport wharf, 6th Seth shrine, and N block physician were built. At month-end, the 3 warships returned from Baki with moderate damage to 1.

Apr: The damaged warship was sent in for repair.

Jun: The 3rd (last) infantry fort, W block dentist, E bank water lift, 5th through 10th meadow pomegranate farms (all irrigated), 4th Ra shrine, 13th firehouse, and 7th (last) architect post were built. The warships were put in more-or-less permanent positions: 3 in the north and 3 in the south. The trade route to Itjtawy was opened. At month-end, 2 Nubian warships and 1 transport invaded in the north.

Jul: The Nubians were defeated (before the southern warships were even halfway to the battle), with moderate damage to 1 warship which was sent in for repair. The first linen was bought from an Itjtawy ship. At month-end, a trade route to Baki became available.

Aug: The S block booth and 7th and 8th storage yards were built. The trade route to Baki was opened.

Sep: The first sandstone was bought from a Baki ship.

Nov: 12 more vacant lots were placed in the E block.

Dec: 11 more vacant lots were placed in the N block. The S block Seth temple, S block Ra temple, 2nd juggler school, 14th through 16th (last) firehouses, and 2nd and 3rd towers were built. The tax rate was lowered to 14%.

The 8th year ended with 2490 people (1288 in fancy residences, 176 in elegant residences, 1026 in meager shanties), 889 Db, Cu 10, Pr 49, and Ki 50.


24 sandstone was bought in the 8th year, so 472 more are required. Buying 40/year (the quota) would take around 11.5 more years, which might make the mission take over 20 years. Therefore, I intend to buy 43/year (Over quota river imports) which should take less than 11 more years.


[Changed "water supply" to "water lift".]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 11-23-2018 @ 09:25 AM).]

I corrected a typo in reply #23.


9th year (1702 BC)

Mar: The 9th and 10th (last) jewelers, 9th through 11th storage yards, 4th and 5th towers, first conservatory, both W block bandstands, W block Seth temple, and 2nd and 3rd (last) S block bazaars were built. The tax rate was raised to 18%.

May: At month-end, a Nubian army will invade in 9 months.

Jul: The 6th through 9th towers were built.

Sep: The S block school, 12th and 13th storage yards, and 10th through 14th towers were built.

Dec: Both S block pavilions, 15th through 18th towers, first medium statue, and first small statues were built. One tower lost its guard--it had its workers and the map was not rotated, and redoing the month did not help.

The 9th year ended with 3203 people (300 in common manors, 1196 in fancy residences, 1185 in ordinary cottages, 522 in meager shanties), 1038 Db, Cu 35, Pr 63, and Ki 51.

10th year (1701 BC)

Jan: The troublesome tower (that lost a guard a month ago) got a new guard.

Feb: At month-end, 6 Nubian warships and 3 transports invaded in the south.

Mar: The 19th through 22nd towers were built. The troublesome tower lost its guard again. The Nubians were defeated with significant damage to one warship and slight damage to another, which were sent in for repair. (An enemy transport that made it past our fighting warships and towers was sunk by archers.)

May: The troublesome tower got a new guard again.

Jun: The 23rd through 29th towers were built.

Sep: The 14th and 15th storage yards and 30th through 35th towers were built.

Oct: At month-end, a (useless) trade route to Sawu became available.

Nov: The last 2 vacant lots were placed in the S block. 20 more vacant lots were placed in the E block.

Dec: The last 4 vacant lots were placed in the W block. 17 more vacant lots were placed in the N block. The 5th and 6th Ra shrines and 36th through 41st towers were built. The tax rate was lowered to 14%. At month-end, Kr fell by 2 because of insufficient monument progress (along with the usual rise by 1 from the low salary and making a profit).

The 10th year ended with 3670 people (400 in common manors, 1104 in fancy residences, 1644 in common residences, 522 in meager shanties), 1176 Db, Cu 35, Pr 91, and Ki 50.