Rapidly changing $ balance

[Vilor]

In the middle of a beta sandbox game and my $ balance is rapidly going up and down from -5 to +180s in seconds. It just continually loops though this over and over. Bug, feature, whats going on? Thoughts? Population is steady.

[Verios44]

I have found keeping your people happy with their needs and happiness plays a big role in income. Is there any needs not fully fulfilled, or bouncing up and down?

[mr nice guy]

same here not sure what going on

[Vilor]

Agreed. All other stats are steady. Residents are happy. Just $ balance rapidly going between 0-200 in seconds.

[Nerva Matapan]

Here's what's going on: the value of different markets is constantly changing in the game. So, say, the value of a pint of beer is altering very slightly. Every time that value changes, on a macro scale, you are seeing significant shifts in the income your nation makes. Now, add like 20+ commodities together, all of which are constantly fluctuating like that, and you can understand why sometimes they sync up into a boom, and other times, a bust.

The problem, I would argue, is that this all happens both behind the scenes, in a way not easy to understand, and it also happens too quickly, giving the player no sense of control. One moment, your economy is balanced and awesome, and the next you are on the verge of bankruptcy. I almost went bankrupt twice last night before I was able to overcome the vargarities.

My solution was pretty simple (and may be the only one): build more houses. Larger population means a higher base income, and thus you can insulate yourself (to an extent) from the general fluctuations of the market. Unfortunately, the moment you start building large fleets, you tend to slip downwards into that pit again :/.

[Vilor]

Publicado originalmente por Shrike Arghast:

Here's what's going on: the value of different markets is constantly changing in the game. So, say, the value of a pint of beer is altering very slightly. Every time that value changes, on a macro scale, you are seeing significant shifts in the income your nation makes. Now, add like 20+ commodities together, all of which are constantly fluctuating like that, and you can understand why sometimes they sync up into a boom, and other times, a bust.

The problem, I would argue, is that this all happens both behind the scenes, in a way not easy to understand, and it also happens too quickly, giving the player no sense of control. One moment, your economy is balanced and awesome, and the next you are on the verge of bankruptcy. I almost went bankrupt twice last night before I was able to overcome the vargarities.

My solution was pretty simple (and may be the only one): build more houses. Larger population means a higher base income, and thus you can insulate yourself (to an extent) from the general fluctuations of the market. Unfortunately, the moment you start building large fleets, you tend to slip downwards into that pit again :/.

I don't think this is the normal ebb and flow of the game. I do understand the economy and that one change can throw the whole thing off.

Understand about building houses, etc, but I am truly not exaggerating when I say it fluctuates from 0-200 in seconds. In a loop that doesn't seem to end.

I could be wrong but this doesn't feel normal. Anyway thanks for the input.

[Sgt. Barnes]

mine was fluctuating from 0 to -1000 lol. But i build more houses and got 2 cities. After that i found 46 grammophones during the expedition and sold it for 500k gold. Also selling soap to the prison helped. I like the fact wood costs 2 dollars while grammophones cost more than 11000. This is nice actually, different from previous anno titles.

[Galo]

Bug. Got my balance to, out of nowhere (no event, no warning, nothing happening) go from 2700+ to 700+. Another time got the exact same op's problem, balance going from -300 to 900 back and forth in 5 sec loops.

[Surion79]

This only happens when your goods for their needs are going down / used up. When you are on an island and hover over your income, the income of this island is shown. If your count of workforce is going down in this overview, you know that goods are missing. Or Fire/diseases makes the island habitants extremely unhappy.

The income is the sold product. If the inhabitants do not have items to buy, they won't spend the money and you don't have that income.
It is also important to have all your work force classes never under 0.

[Caz]

Publicado originalmente por Surion79:

It is also important to have all your work force classes never under 0.

Don't let it get too high, either. We're punished for that now.