Electronics at the start

[thelyraki]

Quick question, do we have to fullfil electronic needs at the start of the game? Since we don't have any radios station, how likely is that our citizens try to leave if they dont have any electronics available at the stores?

[bballjo]

You can choose not to supply electronics, but I've found they react more harsh if anything else is missing and leave.
If I remember correctly not having electronics reduces their happiness just a little, but as long as it's above 80% it's fine.

[thelyraki]

alright. thanks a lot for the quick response. I have to start a new game after i forgot to educate them and i had a total collapse of my workforce (complex education enabled) and i want to start again and test around ways to save some money

[forzion]

Funny part is that I started at hard difficulty and I did not needed to save money at all cost like others try. But I started with small number of workers and building everything except the initial setup by construction offices from farming, through food and alcohol to steel and power.

The more workers you have the more you need to provide to them and especially if you cannot use the workforce effectively it is a waste of money. 200 workers can achieve a lot and if you take care of them they will multiply over time. It is not so expensive to provide some clothes and electronics for 200 workers but it is quite expensive to provide this to 2000 workers in the beginning.

[Trackstar]

Originally posted by forzion:

Funny part is that I started at hard difficulty and I did not needed to save money at all cost like others try. But I started with small number of workers and building everything except the initial setup by construction offices from farming, through food and alcohol to steel and power.

The more workers you have the more you need to provide to them and especially if you cannot use the workforce effectively it is a waste of money. 200 workers can achieve a lot and if you take care of them they will multiply over time. It is not so expensive to provide some clothes and electronics for 200 workers but it is quite expensive to provide this to 2000 workers in the beginning.

So true. I also start with only a couple hundred people for construction, but after about 10 years I have trouble keeping up building as fast as the population grows. Though part of that is me building independent towns/villages across the map that specialize in a single industry rather than a single city, so that's a lot of time spent driving for the construction yard.

But your biggest expense is immigration and labor. If you cut those down, you'll save a ton of money. Also, there is a nice mod for a small steel factory that helps in the early game, as that's your largest construction expense.