Never remember a place for the Administrative City? Hate to just stick it somewhere off to the side cause it's so big? Here's a block that also mixes well with Elite Housing. Any of the 2x2 houses can be used for your in-block services (inspector, well, herbalist, acupuncturist, ancestor shrine, 2nd shrine, and tax collector). I've even had some success with directing religion walkers into the block from outside since they have a slightly longer walk than your medical guys.

Legend

Here's what it looks like in Han 2: Wudi Moves South, shown here in Perfect Harmony.

Fully develop thats almost 4K pop. I like it.

Great block!

Wow. Sweet. I, of course, have a few questions.

Are the road blocks near the admin res. gates set to admit inspectors or do they work just passing on the regular loop?

Does the grand way and the 1 line of flowering trees have enough desirability to overcome the mill, or are those trees really a res. wall?

I notice 2 food vendors. I've found these big blocks really need 2 or you can't stock the food fast enough. Have you tried it with tea and a grand market place?

And you knew someone would start rearranging things. If I exchange the confucius academy and the pond, could I eliminate the 4 res. gates in a row without ruining your desirability?

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They are real roadblocks. It gets inspector coverage on the outside loop.

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You can assume that where trees look like they could be walls, they are walls.

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If tea is available, yes, I use a grand market and three food venders. I'm also usually doing more than housing block off the grand market too.

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It's really not for desirability. I was having trouble with the glyphy, but the pond w/ gardens around it could also represent either a Daoist Temple or Buddhist Pagoda allowing you to pay homage and summon those heroes. I also always have Feng Shui in mind (Perfect Harmony is one of my personal goals), so rearranging things is always allowed. You just might lose some houses by having to move stuff around.

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Well, I designed it to hold 40 ornate apartments and 4 elite houses for Han 2. Population 2600. I'm using it again in Han 4, but I'm not putting any elites, no acupuncturist, and no daoist shrine, so I have 46 houses that will go to Elegant Dwelling. Pop 2392. If you drop the elites and put in more common housing and use directed religious and inspector walkers from outside the block and then evolve all the way to Luxurious Apt you could possibly get 3500 people in it.

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Thanks. I'm really happy it did what I wanted it to do in Han 2, and for me, adding the Administrative City was a stroke of genius.

[This message has been edited by homegrown (edited 10-03-2002 @ 06:32 PM).]

I have been using the same layout myself recently.

Obviously we both had inspiration from MarvL's Zeus block which can be found here

I tried this block in a mission where grand ways were not available. I found that because of the uneven attraction of the administrative city, the houses nearest it on the top left side (as your glyph appears above) could not evolve due to insufficient appeal.

This has been a problem with many blocks, including those in Zeus and Poseidon. Authors assume that things like avenues or boulevards are going to be available for their designs, and in many missions they are not. (Nightwolf, in particular, liked to make them available only in the second or third mission of the adventure.)

A block that is ok with grand/imperial ways, is not necessarily ok without them. It might be better practice to design without them, to make sure you have a functional block. Or, if there are trouble spots, to indicate them.

This is more important in Emperor, dealing with the Admin city and the palace with their uneven appeal, than it was in Zeus.

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Now, why would you go and do a thing like that?

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Well, duh! That's why the block was designed with the grand ways. I also have made it very clear that this particular block was designed with a specific mission in mind as well. It was also built on Normal. I intend to use it when I play on VH, but obviously, I might need a little more appeal, especially on the corners.

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I didn't assume anything. Grand ways are available in the mission this block was designed for. If I want to try something like this in a mission where there aren't Grand Ways, I will obviously have to do some things differently. You should too.

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This block is completely functional as designed and displayed. If you are trying to use it in a situation where it won't work, how is that anyone's fault other than your own?

[This message has been edited by homegrown (edited 10-04-2002 @ 05:41 PM).]

Here is the one that I have been using, playing at Very Hard difficulty.

The block contains 50 Houses, Herbalist’s Stall, Acupuncturist’s Clinic and Tax Office. The Well, Inspector’s Tower and Watchtower are “evolved” or “improved” structures. It is very important that the Inspector’s Tower evolves. At Very Hard, a single Inspector will not provide adequate coverage for the block. The Watchtower is needed to prevent crime until the Houses evolve to the Cottage/Dwelling stage. After that, if the cities overall popularity is high, you could replace the Watchtower with another House. I like to keep the Watchtower to help keep spies under control.

The desirability of the block is high enough to evolve the Houses to Luxury Apartments at Very Hard. The location of the non-housing structures in the block is unimportant. Locate them where Feng Shui allows. At Normal Difficulty, the Residential Walls are not required for desirability, except where they shield the Houses from the undesirable Market Square and Mill.

To save room for more Houses, the Religion Structures (Ancestral Shrine and Daoist Temple in this example) are located outside the block taking advantage of the longer walk of these service providers. Be sure to set the two Residential Gates open for only these walkers. The Residential Gates to the Market Square should be set open for Market Employees only.

Legend

To the right of the Housing Block is a Service Block (partially shown). It is the Inspector in the Service Block that provides coverage for the Market Square and Religion Structures. The maximum length of the Service Block “road loop” for complete Inspector coverage is 64 tiles. In the Service Block, I locate the Entertainment Schools and a Paper Maker (to supply the Tax Office). When possible, I try and locate the Paper Maker and Tax Office as close to the Housing Block entrance (Market Square) as possible to minimize travel time.

The Service Block can be used for Warehouses, Trading Quays and Industries to support the Housing Block. Another Watchtower can be included in this block if Spies are a problem.

The following Table is based on 50 fully occupied Houses (with 51 possible), High Wages and Outrageous Taxes at Very Hard and Normal Difficulty. This combination of Wages and Taxes has been working for me with a Feng Shui of Perfect Harmony (or at least Harmonious Balance) and all other factors affecting the City’s Overall Popularity as high as I can make them. The numbers for Wages Paid, Tax Income and Profit are Per Year.

Housing Level	Max. Pop.		Very Hard Difficulty					Normal Difficulty
			# of Workers	Wages Paid	Tax Income	Profit		# of Workers	Wages Paid	Tax Income	Profit
Shelter	350		140	476	0	-476		157	533	0	-533
Hut	700		280	952	0	-952		315	1071	0	-1071
Plain Cottage	1100		440	1496	2376	880		495	1683	2376	693
Attractive Cottage	1550		620	2108	3348	1240		697	2369	3348	979
Spacious Dwelling	2050		820	2788	4428	1640		922	3134	4428	1294
Elegant Dwelling	2600		1040	3536	5616	2080		1170	3978	5616	1638
Ornate Apartment	3150		1260	4284	6804	2520		1417	4817	6804	1987
Luxury Apartment	3700		1480	5032	15984	10952		1665	5661	15984	10323

Information on Number of Workers, Wages Paid and Tax Income was calculated from information provided by Nero Would in his article Taxes and Wages at Emperor Heaven. Thank’s Nero.

[This message has been edited by VitruviusAIA (edited 10-14-2002 @ 06:23 PM).]

Wow... you guys did your homework on this stuff... I wish I have the time and energy to do this too but unfortunately, I do not. Plus, I'm too lazy ! Anyways, great building block homegrown

Vaia, what a great block. I particularly like the way you handled the religious buildings. Just genius with the inspector coverage.

What I really really really really like and hope you'll submit to the Misc. Downloads , is the excel spreadsheet you used to calculate your table.

What I do find interesting about this block, is the fact that you get more profit out of it at higher difficulity levels. But then again, reading all those thing about housing blocks makes the waiting for the game even harder...

Emperor Jay, the higher profit is due to the fact that you get less workers from the same amount of people, and therefore you are paying less out in wages but all the people are still taxed.

Nice Block VAIA I am currently trying one out designed by Goldy_Bear that she posted on teh Sierra forums. It has both common and elite housing in the same block and is very nice

Great block V-AIA

I assume that evolved services i.e. inspectors towers spawn more walkers? I assume they do not actually walk any further?

With the current comp going on would it not be virtually impossible to get V-AIA's housing block to 'perfect FS' with regards to the internal Inspector? which leads me to another question Is the initial placement of a structure the deciding factor on FS or can that change with what niceties are placed around?, i'm 99% certain its the former!!

my first reply under my 'new' nick!

Evolved watchtowers and inspector's towers send out two walkers instead of one. An evolved well provides clean water, thus increasing the health of your citizens. No, those walkers don't walk any farther.

Feng Shui: it's determined when you place the building. The only thing you can do to change the feng shui of a tile is removing trees, but that doesn't affect the buildings already placed, only the buildings you will place after clearing the trees

Thanks Pecunia, thats exactly what I thought..

I,ve been doing housing blocks the old fashioned way where everything is 'touching' the loop, Homegrown & V-AIA have pointed me in the direction of using gates via this thread. My excuse is, "I,ve only had the game a week" !!

What a great thought the gates are, it just opens the limitations of the housing blocks ten fold...these games just get better and better !!

[This message has been edited by Rocky (edited 10-17-2002 @ 12:37 PM).]

I have a hard time getting used to the gates....in the present contest I had things fall down cause I forgot to open them that Feng Shui clause in the present ICU contest certainly is a booger ain't it...tut, tutu, playing contests and I haven't even finished the campaigns

VitruviusAIA where is your inspector's tower in this block?

Thank you all for the compliments on the block.

Rocky,

The evolved Inspector’s Tower spawns two Inspectors instead of one. The distance of their walks is the same. A single Inspector would be ok if you are playing at Normal, but at Very Hard it takes two. Not only is the risk of fire/damage greater at higher difficulty, but also protection provided by Inspectors doesn’t last as long and they are not as effective. If you check the risk overlay at Very Hard and Normal, you will notice that the warning columns grow faster at Very Hard. Also, when an Inspector passes by a house/structure, the reduction in the length of the column isn’t as great.

The only thing that determines Feng Shui is the surrounding terrain. The proximity of other structures is irrelevant. Perfect Feng Shui is possible with the block, if you can find the right location. What I look for when selecting a location for the block is grassland (which indicates the presence of the water table) that is not close to a change in terrain elevation. Changes in terrain elevation (cliffs) have the same Feng Shui as rocks. Rocks are not compatible with houses.

If such a location is available, all you need to achieve perfect Feng Shui in the block is one nearby rock. The Inspector’s Tower is generally inauspicious over the water table, but a nearby rock will make it harmonious. Other structures that can tolerate the presence of a nearby rock are the Acupuncturist, Watchtower and Tax Office. The Acupuncturist and Tax Office don’t have to be near rocks, but it is ok if they are. The Watchtower must be near a rock or tree.

It is ok if there is a Residential Wall between the rock and the Inspector’s Tower. Residential Walls block negative desirability, not Feng Shui. If the rock happens to be in the area between the two rows of houses in the interior of the block, you could surround the rock with the Inspector’s Tower, Acupuncturist, Watchtower and Tax Office and still achieve perfect Feng Shui.

You may not always be able to find a location where all 50 of the houses will have perfect Feng Shui, but you should be able to get very close. Leave out a couple of houses if you have to.

homegrown,

You guessed correctly, I did use Excel to create my table. I will modify it to calculate at any difficulty level that you choose, clean it up a little to make it more “user friendly”, type up the instructions on how to use it, and get it submitted to the Downloads. I’m sure that you and I aren’t the only ones that check these sorts of things before we build. (There may be two or three others that are as obsessive/compulsive as we are.)

Debbie,

Lower left corner:

The new Glyph Generator that Angel Jayhawk made has a “mouse over” feature. If you move your cursor to a structure, and keep it there for a second or two, a description of the structure will be displayed. Neat, huh?

Inspector coverage for the Market and religious buildings are provided by the Inspector in the “support block” to the right of the housing block.

Hiya Debs

Quoted from Debbie:

LOL

**Gives Debs a sympathetic hug**

I've only just finished the tutorials !!

lol thanks VitruviusAIA I see it now

*hint* I'd like to see the right of the support block

Rocky have you downloaded this contest map?

[This message has been edited by Debbie (edited 10-17-2002 @ 02:58 PM).]

I made a block that has almost the same setup as the worker block in Zeus and Pharaoh, with the service stuff in the center and the houses around. If you make it 20 x 8, you can get grand ways and all of the structures that you need for that block in the middle.

I use an outside loopy thing for the market, mill, and the other buildings that the loop needs. This is working great for me as long as I have enough food.

My biggest peeve is the way the hemp is plentiful sometimes and other times not.

But I love this game. I like the micromanaging, being able to turn off ONE of the clay pits.....

Market ladies seem a bit smarter, but I still want a "god-slapping" button.

MRed

Debbie,

Yep I have.... Its looks a great map but a bit daunting after just a week or so's experience....

Whats a worry is the amount of heroes !! I,m only used to a maximum of four at any one time in Pharaoh.....this map has zillions of them, and to make things worse, I havn't got a clue what any of them do.... !!!

**i must read the manual..**

Rocky: As far as heroes, the only ones you have to worry about are the ancestoral ones. The others you only deal with if you want something. If you right click on their picture in the religion tab report, it will bring up a whole novel about what each one does.

What program did you use to make the maps on this page? And where do I get the glyphs from? I've been working on a housing block that gives me alot of control over different areas of housing I'de like to share it so I don't have to work out all the bugs and statistics myself :-P

The Glyph Generator is an Emperor Heaven's exclusive created by Angel Jayhawk. Here is the link: Glyph Generator.