TEP hi,

Yes, a 1x1 housing unit uses and maintains the same amount of non-food items as a 2x2. If you're upgrading casas for example, 4 1x1s will consume 4 times as much pottery as a 2x2 unit. Something to take into account indeed, but unfortunately, there's no way of determining which 1x1 plots remain as such and which evolve to 2x2 housing.

Eraserhead is right. With the possible exception of "two types of wine", all houses consume 2 units of each good (that they consume) each month. I've read that palaces consume 4 units of wine per month, but I've never checked it out (since a few palaces don't consume very much of anything except food).

Each person consumes 1/2 unit of food per month. If two or three foods are eaten, the same total food is eaten, split among the foods. I think that the numbers are rounded down, so (for example) a 2x2 small insulae (with 76 people) would consume 38 units of food and 2 units of pottery per month, but four 1x1 small insulaes (with 19 people each) would consume a total of 36 units of food and 8 units of pottery per month.

Note for Pharaoh players: there are differences between the games. People in Egypt eat only half as much, and while 1x1 and 2x2 houses consume the same amount of goods, 1x1 Egyptian houses only stock a one-month supply.

I love this forum! It is a virtual gold mine of information. You guys are truly angels (even those who are not) Thanks for your help

With regard to consumption rates, I think it may be worthwhile to avoid 1xN or 3xN housing blocks in your standard city blocks. Just a thought.

While it true that you cannot control which group of ones will form up into a 2x2, you can give them maximum chance by placing 2x2 groups and seeing what happens before adding more for-sale signs. In some cases, I leave some spots as a blank. In most of my starting blocks, I do not mind empty spaces because it makes it easier to fill the food pipeline. If the houses will be developed into large insulae, I can wait that long before adding those last for-sale signs. If it turns out that I will not need the extra population, I might end up putting in good buildings like a theater or a library in those spaces. Another thing that I avoid is designs that intentionally force ones. In the long run, I would rather eventually use the extra water service workers than force ones.

I always estimate consumption of goods in my plan and estimate the number of houses at about one half of the number of for-sale signs. If I will be developing large insulae or better, then I can get something close to the optimum of one quarter.

For small casa houses, I don't try very hard to form 2x2s since there is no goods consumption. I do make some effort because it will effect my prosperity cap. Reducing the number of small casas that go into the formula will mean that my other housing has a larger relative importance.