how important is the construction office?

[kai]

can you play the game and still "finish" without it? because i really hate this mechanic...

you have to make a regional construction office for when you want to make a new town, this will require alot of patience and connecting up railway lines and creating new lines for many trains to supply the construction office, and wait sooooooo long for the resources to be delivered one by one, not to mention you need a town that is nearby the town to build the town.

i cannot seem to ever get past the first year without going bankrupt. i could always take out a loan but i will always get back to 0. i dont get it, how the hell do you make money in this game?

i usually set up coal power and export 18 MW of power, then by the time i have set up food and alcohol and heating i am bankrupt, no chance to create more industries

atleast the railway construction office is not bad, it can go way thurther and plus it is way easier to supply the damn thing

[MrKrabs]

Well. The CO's are the cream in the game Imo. There are many tricks to optimize them. There is also a big variety of different styles to do it.

You have a power plant running, selling electricity, and still go bankrupt?
Hm... what's your biggest cost factor? How many people do you have in your republic?

[Thomas]

Yes, you can play game just fine. less grind , really.If you start with easy money , you can have nice railroad and few industries in first game year. With CO and RCO it will take you LONG TIME to get there. But sometimes it cool to watch those trucks and rail builders.

[Thomas]

As money making. You can use search bar on this forum, Lots of topics. Crude oil sales, turn that oil to fuel, you richer then Emirates.
Build car factory. Buy blue print for some western truck. Start producing and selling them by railroad . 1 time to Soviet border ,next time to Western border. Price for truck goes up EVERY YEAR ( I know , it's crazy ). You will be richer then Germany.
Buy grain. Sell food, clothes. You will be richer then China.

[polcorp]

Construction offices are very useful because they allow you to build everything yourself, instead of buying structures.
You don't have to create an CO in every city, but rather multiple COs around a gravel source, for example. From this industrial zone, the CO trucks will go to the sites you assign to them.
Several COs are much more effective than one. It is an investment at the beginning (purchase of vehicles) but which turns out to be very profitable thereafter.

At the start of the game, choose a location near the border and focus on exporting high income products with as little labor as possible.
Oil is extremely profitable: it does not require any workers.
Alcohol is also a very beneficial product. Livestock are also profitable for export. The food too.
You can see the price of the goods in the “economy” menu. It's up to you to decide according to your style of play.
For example, it is very profitable to import grain, process them into manufactured goods, and export those processed products.

You can use the same trucks to export goods through customs and, on return, return with products that you import.
Remember, it is much cheaper to send your trucks to collect the goods you want to import from customs and deliver them to the warehouse, than it is to click on filling your warehouse.

Exporting electricity is profitable, but inferior to the commodities I just mentioned. It is particularly important to have your electricity to avoid importing it (and if possible exporting it) because the more you import a commodity the more its price will increase (inflation).

[polcorp]

To get started without needing to import a lot and to be able to grow, I recommend this Workshop mod which allows you to build everything you need (hospital, bar, shops, university, etc.) with self-heated buildings:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2390429848&searchtext=wooden

This gives you time to develop your nascent industry, without the need for winter heating.
To avoid importing electricity, you'll find wind turbines on the Workshop, like these:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2041687979&searchtext=wind+turbine

You also have water mills and other small power plants, which allow you to have the electricity you need, without importing, but the wind turbines only need 2 workers.

With a few COs you can then develop without problem and spend the first years without losing money.

[MrKrabs]

In General when I use CO I specialize them. Everybody has his own way to do it best. I like to use one only for roads, one for buildings. Sometimes I have one only with Dumpers for everything. Furthermore I make sure that the source building will be always filled. The busstop where I pick up workers should have a good number of workers present to avoid Buses running empty. Well sometimes it happens though.
Me personally I have the Concrete and Asphalt plant always be in walking distance for I want it permanently be stuffed.

I observed a problem once :
Several CO's been assigned at one Lager to pick up steel which was filled with one truck from the border. As soon as the truck made his delivery all building vehicles swarmed to that lager to catch some steel resulting in the majority running empty for there was only one truckload arrived.

Keep trying Comrade. Once you get the hang of it you don't want to miss that feature any more. It's big fun to build things on your own.

[MrKrabs]

Check out the LP from Oolykee. It's quite helpful Imo.

[polcorp]

Originally posted by pawelkrzyzak:

I am seriously having hard time believing in sincerity of questions and problems like one above. Unless this is first game you play, you are mentally retarded or too lazy to use that organ that sits between your ears. Honestly, this game provides full spectrum of ways of playing, ranging from super easy and relaxing, where you don’t need to worry about money at all, to hard core game setup, where you are to lay every brick and stretch of road “manually”.
Why mentally retarted or not using your brain? Because after typing in “how to make money(...)” there is lots of very useful and comprehensive guides on it available. To me you are just attention seeker, who likes to be pet on the head and loves to be “pivot point” of new discussion (even on the subject that has been discussed for ages already) for a minute, that’s all.
Another option being you have no idea what “chain of supply” or “demand-supply” mean, which only proves my point.

LMAO. Lol, you're going strong: it's also possible that the person just starts in the game and just asks a question, right?

[polcorp]

Originally posted by pawelkrzyzak:

I think most of people would sight thinking “Really? Again?...” and start to “helpfully” chew food for someone else again, to make it easier to swallow. I simply don’t tend to babysit nor wipe some one else’s ass, where it is causing more harm then good. I edited my previous post, explaining a little why I think so. Am I going strong? I am using the same language and manners of communication that everybody else is, I merely express my thoughts as everybody else is. To call someone stupid and such? Is it really offensive? Cliches don’t became “cliches” without a reason. They are the hammer and the screwdriver in the toolbox of the conversation.
If one act silly or stupid, one shouldn’t be surprised to be addressed to accordingly. Although I understand why it is surprising in this world, we are living in now: where everyone kiss everyone’s butt and slowly sticks finger in it to be sure pleasure and psychological comfort are present at all times...

I understand your point of view. I am not criticizing him.
But remember that on Steam there are people of all ages, including very young people, and also people who are new.
You will tell me that there is nothing complicated to enter a search in the search bar ... and you will be right :-)
But the answers we find are not necessarily very clear.
The forum is made to answer everyone's questions, and to help everyone. And this even if the question asked has already been addressed several times.

[vinc49]

The ability of build everything by yourself and become self-sustained is an important part of the gameplay, it's what make this game different from other citybuilder.
But it's just my opinion and my way to appreciate the game, everyone play as they want.

[MrKrabs]

Even though I undestand the above given statements.
I would prefer, if help is given, to do it in a nice, respectul manner, or not at all.
It´s not on me or anybody else to deside which question is worth to answer.
I just can deside to answer or not.
I´m here quite some time. And I cought myself asking something what I could have seen myself. I was blind for a second.
Luckily this forum is so helpful that I don´t have to be scared to ask such silly question.
And as a newcommer it´s even more hard to find the right words.
Remember guys: Some people have no idea what´s a CO or a DO and so forth.
So let´s altogether try to keep this forum free from harsh speaking.
A nice discussion between users with different opinions is one thing.
But being rude and respectless is another.
So let´s cool it folks.

As I always say: We share the same hobby.

[ZILonaut]

Originally posted by MrKrabs:

I observed a problem once :
Several CO's been assigned at one Lager to pick up steel which was filled with one truck from the border. As soon as the truck made his delivery all building vehicles swarmed to that lager to catch some steel resulting in the majority running empty for there was only one truckload arrived.

This problem appears very often and i have not found a solution for it.
Mostly when you build a large building that needs a lot of material like a huge grain storage.

[Duke Flapjack]

Originally posted by pawelkrzyzak:

Originally posted by MrKrabs:

Even though I undestand the above given statements.
I would prefer, if help is given, to do it in a nice, respectul manner, or not at all.
It´s not on me or anybody else to deside which question is worth to answer.
I just can deside to answer or not.
I´m here quite some time. And I cought myself asking something what I could have seen myself. I was blind for a second.
Luckily this forum is so helpful that I don´t have to be scared to ask such silly question.
And as a newcommer it´s even more hard to find the right words.
Remember guys: Some people have no idea what´s a CO or a DO and so forth.
So let´s altogether try to keep this forum free from harsh speaking.
A nice discussion between users with different opinions is one thing.
But being rude and respectless is another.
So let´s cool it folks.

As I always say: We share the same hobby.

You sound like one of those talking heads on radio and/or television: "Let's not forget, that none of us is flawless and we are all citizen of this world and we are all supposed to be nice to each other and only SAY THINGS THAT ARE ALLOWED and RESPECT EACH OTHER NO MATTER WHAT and only behave and act in a manner that WE FIND ACCEPTABLE AND CORRECT. And as to the subject of what is, what isn't allowed, we are the only authorities...bla..bla..bla...bla".
I am not trying to offend anyone, I am not trying to disrespect anyone, I am not trying anything, the matter of the fact. I am simply not concern with peoples "delicate sensibilities" and just communicate, without putting everything I say through the filter of other's comfort understanding that other's problems are their own problems to deal with, the same way my are mine to take care of. That's all.

And you rather sound like one of those elitist jerks who tell people to "get gud." I can't stand unhelpful idiots like that. You're not benefiting this thread at all by telling the OP they're stupid.

Originally posted by ZILonaut:

Originally posted by MrKrabs:

I observed a problem once :
Several CO's been assigned at one Lager to pick up steel which was filled with one truck from the border. As soon as the truck made his delivery all building vehicles swarmed to that lager to catch some steel resulting in the majority running empty for there was only one truckload arrived.

This problem appears very often and i have not found a solution for it.
Mostly when you build a large building that needs a lot of material like a huge grain storage.

Yeah, the only good solution so far is to either turn off automatic construction or make 100% sure your areas are stocked well. It sucks when it's at the beginning of the game and everything is scarse.

OP, some of us really LIKE the construction mechanic. If you don't that's cool. That's how the game is designed. However, the more difficult settings assume you are using the construction mechanic and are geared accordingly. Just remember that.

[ZILonaut]

Originally posted by pawelkrzyzak:

I am using the same language and manners of communication that everybody else is ...

You sure use a much ruder langauge than what is used here and you behavior is "uneducated".

[Duke Flapjack]

Originally posted by ZILonaut:

Originally posted by pawelkrzyzak:

I am using the same language and manners of communication that everybody else is ...

You sure use a much ruder langauge than what is used here and you behavior is "uneducated".

Just ignore him. When you ignore forum trolls they get bored and go away. He's only here to insult and obfuscate.