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