Question about on-demand mechanic

[Misery]

Oh, no kidding?
So if you needed to place something for a town that cost bacon, you could do so even if that town didn't cost a butcher? It's the fact that the particular town itself is spending the bacon directly on things within that town.

Basically, if it's something you place directly yourself... regardless of WHAT it is.... it doesnt matter where you put it, and if you should happen to set it in a city, that city doesnt need the required building... the building just needs to be SOMEWHERE on the map.

Units produced by military buildings, however, simply wont come out unless the production building they require is IN the city that the military building is in.


It's definitely a very confusing concept at first, despite the fact that it's a good gameplay mechanic.   It seems like a better explanation in the tutorial should be a priority after the weekend.

[LaughingThesaurus]

Sounds like.
Then again the only time I played the tutorial was in much earlier alpha. I just stuck on easy from then on to try stuff out and see how it works and feels and stuff.

[PokerChen]

Perhaps the difference is not explained well in the game at all.

There's probably room for an explanatory flow chart here.

[Hyfrydle]

I have to say this mechanic is confusing me also.

[Wingflier]

Yes, better explanatory value please.

It took me about 3 hours, and a lot of experimentation to finally understand how the "on-demand" mechanic actually works.

It probably would have taken me another 3 hours or more to finally understand how the town-based "advanced resource" mechanic works.

[orzelek]

I admit I'm at a loss here.
Mechanic is really simple and described in game. Why it is so hard to grasp?

There are only 2 simple rules:
1. Military buildings need advanced producers in their town.
2. Anything you place (tokens/buildings etc.) requires 1 advanced building in any town.

[Cinth]

It is about understanding your resource flows and it is a pretty big mechanic in general.  Being able to identify what you need and where you need it

[chemical_art]

I admit I still don't fully understand it. Early game I continuously need cut stone, and I have plenty of rock / iron (memory hazy) but I need to make several to ensure I have enough cut stone, because it only makes the 3 or so per turn.

[Cinth]

I admit I still don't fully understand it. Early game I continuously need cut stone, and I have plenty of rock / iron (memory hazy) but I need to make several to ensure I have enough cut stone, because it only makes the 3 or so per turn.

Quarries produce 5 rock per turn.  Masons convert rock to cut stone at a 3:1 ratio.  The mason can cut as much as you need, when you need it, but it needs enough rocks to make the full conversion.  If you find you need more cut stones, you probably need to place more quarries.

[Misery]

I think the problem is that people are looking at, say, rock, and cut-stone, and seeing TWO seperate piles:   The basic rocks, and seperately, rocks that have already been converted to cut-stone.

This though, is not how it works.

It's better to think of it as:  The first number is the amount of actual rocks you have, and the second is the amount of POTENTIAL cut-stone that you can use based on how many rocks you have.   So, with the mason's 3:1 ratio, if you were to have exactly 3 rocks... no more, no less.... the game would list your cut-stone amount as being exactly 1, because that's the amount of cutstone you can make with the 3 rocks.


If you're having trouble getting enough of a resource like that, be it the cutstone or lumber or whatever, you dont need to do anything funky with the mason or the carpenter or whatever; simply work towards getting more of the basic resource, because that's the number that counts.  Placing down more masons or whatever wont do anything at all.  There's no per-turn conversion speed or anything. 


....and the other problem is that the concept is just kinda screwy to explain.   I keep trying to think of a really good way to explain it, and I keep not managing to actually do so.   One way or another though, it seems to be a constant source of confusion among new players, that's for sure.    I remember the first time I played it, I was baffled by it as well.

[Cinth]

I was too.  At least until I looked for the damn bottleneck.
If everyone would remember, bottlenecks occur with the raw resources, it would be easier to manage.

[chemical_art]

Quarries produce 5 rock per turn.  Masons convert rock to cut stone at a 3:1 ratio.  The mason can cut as much as you need, when you need it, but it needs enough rocks to make the full conversion.  If you find you need more cut stones, you probably need to place more quarries.

But...I already have over 100 rock?

[Cinth]

100 rock = 33 cut stone.  What are you trying to place? That's 3 TC or one tower.

[chemical_art]

100 rock = 33 cut stone.  What are you trying to place? That's 3 TC or one tower.

Just various 10 cut stone buildings. Didn't seem clear.


Definitely needs to be made more clear just how important raw resources are.

[Cinth]

The tutorial does say that almost all buildings require cut stone.  To me it is implied that stone is important.

Taking a second to look at the tooltips for the buildings shows you need a lot of stone.  If I need a lot of stone, I better produce a lot of stone. 

Not to be harsh but how much hand holding does a game need to do vs player self-discovery?