Some Not Too Basic Questions

[RobH]

First post so here goes. A few not too basic questions from someone who has recently started playing, and enjoying, RT3.

1. Often the production at an industry is more than the stated rating by a factor of 10 - 25%. For example a Meat Packing Factory rated at 4 units per year consistently produces between 4.5 and very occasionally 5 units per year. An Iron Mine rated at 2 units of Iron per year produces a consistent output of 2.4 units per year. None of these are upgraded units. Is it common for the production to be greater than it is rated?

2. Apart from tediously looking all over the map in Overview Mode at the end of each year, is there any simpler way to see what new industries have sprung up on the map - or disappeared - during the last year? I am talking about additional units of industry already present, not first occurrence industries where I know you receive a pictorial message.

3. Warehouses. Can somebody explain in simple terms how these work please?

Warehouses state they can take (Demand) so many units per year, and produce (Supply) so many other units per year. Is there a relationship between Supply and Demand? Must I supply the Demand in order to obtain the Supply from the Warehouse or will I receive the Supply regardless?

Warehouses state the number of Loads Consumed and the Loads Produced each year. But since they Demand (Consume) multiple items, I presume the Loads Consumed is the total number of all loads consumed during the year and there is no way of breaking this number down to its constituent items.

For example, I have a Warehouse that Demands 3 Produce and 3 Meat per year. It Supplies 1 Iron and 1 Coal per year as stated in the information box. My Warehouse stats show between 1.4 - 1.9 actual Loads Consumed per year and 2.5 actual Loads Produced per year consistently. Clearly this is not a 3 : 1 ratio as suggested by the stated Demand/Supply Numbers of the Warehouse. Also, I seem to be getting more out of the Warehouse than the 2 Loads it is stated to produce of 1 Iron and 1 Coal (thus we have that 10 - 25% above the stated rating figure again) while not supplying the maximum of 6 Loads to Consume. This suggests the Warehouse will give me the Supply stated or even more, without receiving all the Demand requested.

Since you cannot buy a Warehouse, who receives the Profit, or takes the loss from the Warehouse? Is it the local station?

I would really appreciate some answers/explanations to the above questions please. Thanks.

Regards,
Rob

[EPH]

High demand can pull more 'work' out of a mine or factory. Also good economic conditions tend to improve production and bad economic times reduce it. There are also events that can boost production, sometimes by staggering amounts.

The only 'simple' method I've ever heard of is to put the cargo map on something like 'Troops' and watch for a new farm, mine or factory to pop up.

Warehouses (and ports) can do three things:

1) Supply goods (up to the amount listed, for example 3 Bauxite). Goods appear from thin air atop the warehouse.
2) Demand items (same as above) except the items are 'eaten' and destroyed by the warehouse.
3) Exchange one item for another, say demand iron and produce cotton. This can be in multiples (consume 1 iron, produce 3 cotton; never consume more than one and produce one) and is limited by a ceiling, frequently four, so a warehouse could consume four iron and produce 4 cotton (at a 1:1 swap) in a year.

Production bonuses do apply to ports and warehouses, just as they do to farms, mines and factories.

Profit from a warehouse is like profit from a retail, commercial building or museum: no-one gets it.

Welcome to the forum and to the game, Rob! I hope these answers are helpful; if not, let us know. This is a friendly place by and large. :)

[Wolverine@MSU]

2. Apart from tediously looking all over the map in Overview Mode at the end of each year, is there any simpler way to see what new industries have sprung up on the map - or disappeared - during the last year? I am talking about additional units of industry already present, not first occurrence industries where I know you receive a pictorial message.

Here's a way to be able to look at most of the newly added buildings:

After the first year or so, if you haven't gotten any display of a new industry having arisen, pick any building on the map. Hold down the "Page Down" key and watch in the corner of the buiding description window at the "Date Built". As you jump from building to building, the date will pretty much stay the same (occasionally you'll see a blip in the date as it rolls past new buildings that have occupied spaces from lost buildings). The dates for almost all of the buildings should be a couple of years before the actual scenario start date. Eventually you'll see the dates start to increase year by year; this is the start of the newly added buildings, which get tacked onto the end of the data table as they are built. The years will increase one by one for each group of buildings built in that year, and then will jump back to the original date you saw at the start. When you see this change, stop and use the "Page Up" key to "scroll" back up to the last building built in the current year. At this point, you want to save the view of that building by holding down the "Shift" key and a number key simultaniously. I use "Shift-0" for that view. I can get back to it by pressing the "0" key later on. To review recently built buildings, press the "Page Up" key. I assume you are doing this to look at possible industry buys, so if you run across one you might be interested in, save that view too (I start with "Shift-1" and work up from there. Don't buy the industry right away, just save the view so you can get back to it later. Continue to "PgUp" until you've covered all the buildings you might be interested in buying. Then you can go back and view each of them by pressing the appropriate number key. If you want to buy, then do so and move on to another numbered view. The reason you don't want to buy right away is that when you do, you are switched to the list of buildings you own, and the "PgUp" and "PgDn" keys scroll you through your own properties.

I do this in January of each year to look at "hot properties" to buy. At the beginning of the next year (all of this is on "Pause" of course) I recall the "0" view, which is the last building from the previous year, "PgDn" through the newly built things until I reach the last one, and then save this new view with "Shift-0". I then "PgUp" back through the new stuff and save view of potential "buys".

On a big map it can take a while to initially find the beginning of the list of new stuff, and it can sometimes take a year or two for enough new buildings to appear to get the sequence of increasing years to be recognizable. This won't show all of the newly built things, because as buildings disappear during the game, newly built ones fill those slots in the original data table. If you're really meticulous and have lots of time, you can go back and investigate the "blips" from the initial run through, but I've found that most of these are just houses or other non-industries. Most of what you want is in the "newly built" part of the list what you found above. If you are lucky and a new industry has been announced, it will often be in the "newly built" part of the list and you can get to the list quickly by finding this building in overview mode, clicking on it and then "PgDn" to find the end of the list. The key is to save the view for the newest building so you can retrieve it for later updating.

[RobH]

Thanks very much for the feedback guys. The economic conditions seem a good reason why an industry would produce more or less than the "standard rating" for an industry. And the PageUp/PageDn solution to finding new buildings/industries looks very interesting. I shall have to give it a try.

Thanks again
Rob

[Overland]

Hold down the "Page Down" key and watch in the corner of the buiding description window at the "Date Built".

You can also start by using the Page Up. It will take you directly to the newest buildings.

[davion76]

I like to shift-# the building right before the building I want to buy. The other way I do it is go through all of the buildings until I reach the new buildings and then continue until I get the very first buiding built (It loops around) then save THAT building. Then I can always just page up to get the most recently built buildings.

Do note that soon after a depression ends, you will need to go through the whole list, as new buildings will fill the empty spots of buildings lost during the depression.