Any tips for planning?

[Mazquerade]

Hey folks.

I wanted to ask for some advise, since the game doesn't have any mode for planning.
I am talking about lining things up.
Say, I want to make a grid of road, create a large-ish town over time. I plan to create some sort of grid with roads, like a square inside of which there would be two lines verticaly connecting the sides and two horizontaly connecting the two oposing sides as well.
(I already have a playthrough with an irregularly located buildings, now I want to create something symethrical)
My plan is to start at one point, put a marker, walk to it in a stright, direct line (lets say south). Then place a marker directly to the east and walk there, et cetera. After that, stand in one corner, use the marker-location distance to find the half of the length of the entire side and make a road across the square. Sounds a bit tidious but it is not much trouble with patience.
However, then I am lost with planing a placement of all the buildings, I mean distances, the space it takes, to fit everything where I want. But, especially in the case of still locked buildings, I have no idea of knowing how much space the building will take.
How do you deal with it? Any advises, please?
IMO, this game could really use some sort of planning option, now you can only build everything solely by your eyesight and guess.

[Maehlice]

As for building sizes, I haven't seen a chart of sizes or whatever. It probably wouldn't be hard to make, though.

For planning and alignment, use fields. Make 1-by fields for as long as you want your road, then start the road on one side of the fields and finish it on the other. Using the fields as a reference, your gravel road will be straight as an arrow.

Similarly, once you've decided how much space you want to allot for a given building, drop down a 5x5 field (or whatever) and build fences (or whatever) around that field. Delete the field and add the building inside the now perfectly squared and aligned fences.

EDIT: Farmers ignore fields without assignment, so you can also drop down, name, & leave fields for future planning. If you know you want a row of houses, drop a few fields down and name them each "house". Eventually, you'll destroy the field blueprint and build a house there instead.

The hard part is when you're on uneven terrain, because there are aren't many (any?) places that are perfectly flat and un-obstructed. So, even if you get the perfect grid, buildings typically don't fit where you wish they would.

[Not MrBallen]

Use fields as a guide, as they can only go north/south and east/west.

[TheRealMuehle]

Use fields for planning.
1. Place down the North western one of the 4 sub-squares. 16x16 for example. Just the blueprint; no need to grub it.
2. Go to it's NE corner and place a 2x1 field to it's right. As placeholder for your double-road.
3. Place your next 16x16 field to the right of the 2x1 field. Going from NW to SE. Delete the 2x1 field.
4. Place down a 1x2 field under the north eastern sub-squares SE corner.
5. Add the next 16X16 field, going from NE to SW, and so on.
6. Build your roads around and inside of the gaps between your 4 16X16 fields.

Edit:
Hell, am I slow at writing 🤣

[Mazquerade]

Originally posted by TheRealMuehle:

Use fields for planning.
1. Place down the North western one of the 4 sub-squares. 16x16 for example. Just the blueprint; no need to grub it.
2. Go to it's NE corner and place a 2x1 field to it's right. As placeholder for your double-road.
3. Place your next 16x16 field to the right of the 2x1 field. Going from NW to SE. Delete the 2x1 field.
4. Place down a 1x2 field under the north eastern sub-squares SE corner.
5. Add the next 16X16 field, going from NE to SW, and so on.
6. Build your roads around and inside of the gaps between your 4 16X16 fields.

Edit:
Hell, am I slow at writing 🤣

Originally posted by Maehlice:

As for building sizes, I haven't seen a chart of sizes or whatever. It probably wouldn't be hard to make, though.

For planning and alignment, use fields. Make 1-by fields for as long as you want your road, then start the road on one side of the fields and finish it on the other. Using the fields as a reference, your gravel road will be straight as an arrow.

Similarly, once you've decided how much space you want to allot for a given building, drop down a 5x5 field (or whatever) and build fences (or whatever) around that field. Delete the field and add the building inside the now perfectly squared and aligned fences.

The hard part is when you're on uneven terrain, because there are aren't many (any?) places that are perfectly flat and un-obstructed. So, even if you get the perfect grid, buildings typically don't fit where you wish they would.

Thank you for the fields tip! That could be actually useful in my case, even though it would require cutting-out all the trees, which I would like to keep standing sometimes, as a natural decoration.
Still though, I do not know how big is the inn (for example) to make a nessessary space for it. I can create a 3x5 field but I have no way of knowing if it would fit in such space. I can make 16x16 but that would be, on the other hand, waste of space.

[TheRealMuehle]

16x16 was just an example. You can also use 5x5 fields or even 3x5, if you want a rectangle rather than a square.
If you want to keep the trees, you could start at the center crossing by placing a 2x2 square,
Build 5x2 fields in each direction.
Place a 2x1 field at their end and delete the 5x2 marker-fields and the center square marker.
Then drag your roads between the remaining 2x1 marker-fields.

[Mazquerade]

Originally posted by TheRealMuehle:

16x16 was just an example. You can also use 5x5 fields or even 3x5, if you want a rectangle rather than a square.
If you want to keep the trees, you could start at the center crossing by placing a 2x2 square,
Build 5x2 fields in each direction.
Place a 2x1 field at their end and delete the 5x2 marker-fields and the center square marker.
Then drag your roads between the remaining 2x1 marker-fields.

Will try that out, thanks :]

[Lailantie]

The tavern is the same size as the resource storage. If you place a blueprint for a resource storage your tavern or inn will fit in there later.

[Mazquerade]

Originally posted by Lailantie:

The tavern is the same size as the resource storage. If you place a blueprint for a resource storage your tavern or inn will fit in there later.

hey thanks, I didnt know that. I always thought the inn is bigger. :)

[CaBux]

Try this video from Hectic Nasari https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjHhpcjewk0 from 2 years ago - I found it very useful

[Naia000]

Have in mind that planned fields adds to your taxes on season change. So use them for planning, then destroy them again.

I drop single coins to remember where to re build stuff at a later date. The coins stay on the ground and are easy to spot in examine mode.

[Mazquerade]

thank you all :]

[CaBux]

Originally posted by Naia000:

Have in mind that planned fields adds to your taxes on season change. So use them for planning, then destroy them again.

I drop single coins to remember where to re build stuff at a later date. The coins stay on the ground and are easy to spot in examine mode.

Did I read somewhere recently that you don't pay taxes on blueprint buildings / fields - I blueprinted most of my recent village layout and don't remember my taxes going up significantly. As long as you don't build the foundations, I think you're OK

[Morri]

Originally posted by a2c24clb:

Did I read somewhere recently that you don't pay taxes on blueprint buildings / fields - I blueprinted most of my recent village layout and don't remember my taxes going up significantly. As long as you don't build the foundations, I think you're OK

That was only recently changed (last week), and only for buildings, where indeed you don't have to pay taxes anymore as long as you don't build the foundation.
Fields however, you'll still have to pay taxes for.

[>< V ><]

I hear what you are saying, but may I suggest that sometimes things have to be torn down. That's what happens with real cities over time.

At first, I tried to plan things out and then got frustrated when new technology gave me a building I didn't plan for. But now, when I place down the first rickety house, I plan, knowing I'm going to tear this house down in the future for something better. In other words, I'm suggesting to plan for flexibility, instead of planning to be rigid.