Sounds challenging. Question: Without trade how do you make money?

I ask because I haven't done that mission yet and the walkthrough doesn't mention gold mines.

I added two more "personal rules" (involving taxes) to the opening post.

Dragonrose,
Without trade or gold mining or gifts, taxation is the only source of funds. To make much money, tax and wage rates should be set to whatever generates the greatest net income without causing people to become upset. The higher the difficulty, the easier people get upset, so the harder it is to make money. (The tax and wage rates can be manipulated twice each month to greatly increase net income, but I consider that unacceptable.)

Some of the design is done.

Work Camps

5 floodplain farms are possible on the small island. It will have 2 work camps, which I hope will start farming faster on average than would 1 work camp.

19 floodplain farms are possible on the big island. To "balance" the 2 work camps on the small island, the big island should have 7 or 8 work camps. I decided on 7.

Housing Mix

With no more than 22 food farms (since at least 2 farms must grow flax), the population will be kept close to the requirement of 4000 people. It was tempting to build 17 common manors and 25 fancy residences with a total of 4000 residents, but there wouldn't be many workers to spare. So I decided to have 6 common manors and 37 fancy residences with a total of 4004 residents. Unemployment can be handled, and it's nice to not be concerned about using workers efficiently.

The small island will have only fancy residences. A narrow block near the floodplain on the big island (to supply labor access to the 7 nearby work camps) will have only fancy residences. The city center block in the S part of the big island will have the common manors and the rest of the fancy residences.

Small Island Housing Block

There is just enough room on the small island for 2 work camps, a few fancy residences, and all of the buildings they require (including a pavilion). The fire marshal and bazaar trader follow a quite short "long walk" (which gives the school frequent fire protection), while the other walkers are "normal".

It wasn't hard to fit in 3 fancy residences, but I wanted more. I kept rearranging buildings, and finally managed to squeeze in 4 fancy residences. But then I decided that I wanted a police station, and the only available open space was across the street from a residence with exactly enough desirability. (Switching the police station and the dentist was ruled out because the constable would walk onto the floodplain.) But replacing the only planned garden with another shrine made 4 fancy residences possible again.

The small island block will have 12 shrines (or 11 if the police station is not built). 2 of them will not satisfy a god (since they don't have a non-roadblocked road tile within 2 tiles directly to the NE, SE, SW, or NW), and will be built to Ptah. The 10 (or 9) other shrines will be built to Osiris. (No shrines need to be built on the mainland for perfect city-wide religious coverage.)

Surprisingly, the architect post gave me trouble. Most buildings with collapse risk only need to be passed by an architect on 1 out of 4 walks, but that may not be good enough for temples at Very Hard difficulty. I finally found an arrangement that has the architect passing the temples on every walk.

The tax collector should pass every house on every walk.

Note: the small island design has changed slightly--see reply #10.

Dock and Narrow Housing Block

The dock should be on the W side of the big island. For fast ship turn-around, the dock should be fairly far to the north. But there must be room for the narrow housing block between the dock's storage yards and the floodplain. I chose to put the dock at the NE end of the longest straight piece of coast. (The terminal for the ferry to the small island will be nearby, at the SW end of that straight piece of coast.)

Around the dock will be 4 storage yards, 3 that require a docker to travel 1 tile and 1 that requires a docker to travel 3 tiles.

The narrow housing block will have a fancy residence just E of the dock area (to supply labor access to work camps farther N). The block will extend S and SW of that house, with a bazaar, school, and Osiris temple at the other end. The bazaar trader, teacher, and Osiris priest should pass every house on every walk. The school will get extra fire protection from a fire marshal patrolling just outside the block.

Making the block as long as possible, I could fit in 13 fancy residences.

I found a location that allows the tax collector to pass every house on at least 3 out of 4 walks. In this block, that should be sufficient to prevent any house from losing tax registration (which lasts only 3 months).

A dance school, conservatory, and juggle school will be north of the narrow housing block. Part of the time, entertainers will walk through the entire block and (eventually) to the pavilion in the city center block. Part of the time, entertainers will walk part way through the block and (eventually) across the ferry to the pavilion in the small island block.

Food

To minimize the chance of running out of locally-grown food, chickpeas will be imported from Men-nefer and fish will be imported from Behdet, each with a quota of 2500/year.

The 4 fancy residences in the small island block will consume 528/year of each of 2 foods. The 13 fancy residences in the narrow block will consume 1716/year of each of 2 foods. Those two blocks will eat chickpeas and fish, each imported at an average rate of 2244/year. Note: this has changed--the small island houses will eat grain and lettuce--see reply #16.

The 6 common manors and 20 fancy residences in the city center block will consume locally-grown grain and lettuce, each at a rate of 3504/year.

No chickpeas will be locally grown.

[Edited to indicate that the small island design has changed.]
[Edited to indicate that the small island food consumption has changed.]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 03-24-2012 @ 12:37 PM).]

The design is finished.

City Center Housing Block

This block has all 6 common manors and 20 fancy residences. It supplies labor access to several non-farm industries.

Most of the walkers will take "long walks". Only the magistrate, tax collector (who passes every house on every walk), architect, constable, and (just for fun) herbalist take "normal" walks. The teacher and Osiris priest come from the narrow block--after taking "normal" walks there, they take "long walks" through the city center block. Ptah's priest comes from the temple complex.

I think that the city center looks good. Against a long side of the temple complex are the festival square, two manors, a residence (with gardens), and two more manors. Against (or across a road from) them are another manor, the mansion, the palace, and another residence.

Non-Food Goods

Houses will consume 1032 pottery/year, 1032 beer/year, 1032 linen/year, and 144 jewelry/year.

No granite will be locally produced. Granite stores will be imported from Behdet.

1 sandstone quarry will produce sandstone stores.

Due to limited rock, there will be only 2 gem mines, producing about 2259 gems/year (with Ptah's temple complex). 2 jewelers will produce about 1670 jewelry/year (with Ptah's temple complex). About 589 gems/year and 1526 jewelry/year will be exported.

Flax and linen are crucial, since neither can be imported. 2 weavers will produce about 1670 linen/year (with Ptah's temple complex). About 638 linen/year will be exported. (If there are a series of bad floods that deplete flax stores, linen sales will stop.). 3 flax farms should be enough.

While barley/beer could be treated like flax/linen, that isn't necessary since beer can be imported. 1 barley farm is necessary to build up barley stores. 1 brewery will produce about 565 beer/year. (If there are a series of bad floods that deplete barley stores, the brewery will be turned Off). Most of the time (hopefully), Behdet will sell us about 467 beer/year.

2 potters can produce more, but eventually will average 1032 pottery/year.

2 brickworks will produce about 1129 bricks/year (without Amon's altar), which will be exported. Behdet will sell us about 2161 clay/year. Grain farms will easily produce the required straw.

I estimate that the 2 schools will consume less than 400 papyrus/year (without Thoth's oracle). 1 papyrus maker should be enough. Behdet will sell us the reeds.

Farms

The most fertile farm, at the NE tip of the small island, will be barley. 3 farms that are almost as fertile, not too far apart on the big island, will be flax. There will be 10 grain farms and 10 lettuce farms, with similar fertility distributions.

Bazaar Trader Teleportation

An upgraded bazaar generates 2 traders. If they are generated at the same time, one may "teleport" (start her walk some distance from the bazaar). A bazaar's trader may teleport to a road where one of its buyers got stuff or to a "walk target" (a road near a point 8 tiles NE or SE or SW or NW from the bazaar's N tile). This can be disastrous if the teleported trader passes houses that shouldn't get the foods or goods in her bazaar.

Teleported traders from the city center block bazaars could pass houses in the narrow block. To prevent the teleportation, those bazaars were prevented from upgrading by putting a fort nearby.

The narrow block bazaar will upgrade. As far as I can tell, on her walk after any possible teleportation, a trader from that bazaar will only pass houses in her block. A road was widened into a 2x2 plaza (between a fort and a pavilion) just to "catch" traders teleporting to that bazaar's SE "walk target".

The small island block bazaar will upgrade. As far as I can tell, on her walk after any possible teleportation, a trader from that bazaar will only pass houses in her block or the narrow block, which have the same foods and goods. Note: with the new small island design, the bazaar will not upgrade--see reply #10.

Forts

There are places for 6 forts. Some of them may not be built.

Entertainment

There are 2 pavilions in housing blocks. For Culture 35, a bandstand and 2 booths were added to the area N of the narrow block (near the entertainment schools).

To prevent victory, the booths may be eliminated, which should reduce Culture to 25 (below the requirement).

[Edited to add the Entertainment section.]
[Changed "the only one in the city" to "between a fort and a pavilion".]
[Edited to mention the non-upgrade of the small island bazaar.]
[Changed "pass houses in the center block" to "pass houses in the narrow block".]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 03-24-2012 @ 12:43 PM).]

Initial Construction Plan

I considered starting with just gem mines, jewelers, and Ptah's temple complex. After the first flood, I would have built some farms. When farms harvested in the second year, I would have built brickworks and weavers. But I rejected that idea, thinking it would be better to start with a slightly larger city.

My plan is to start with gem mines, jewelers, flax farms, and 4 grain farms. When farms harvest in the first year, I'll build brickworks and a weaver. Construction of Ptah's temple complex will be delayed until it can be afforded. After the first flood, I'll probably build more farms. Before the flax farms harvest again in the second year, I'll build another weaver.

For a while, labor priorities will be continuously micromanaged, at times staffing infrastructure just long enough for fire marshals and architects to be generated.

I'll initially place about 50 vacant lots. When full crude huts, they should yield enough workers to staff gem mines, jewelers, brickworks, a weaver, the dock, and 2 storage yards. The work camp will be staffed early, before there are brickworks or weavers. More people will be needed after the flood, to staff the work camp again.

Now I can start building.

Could you post screenshots of the progress?

Dragonrose,

There hasn't been much progress. For a day or so I played with the design, making mostly cosmetic changes but also improving fire protection in a few places and getting rid of 2 architect posts. Then Pharaoh wouldn't start because the CD drive was flaky. (I got the CD drive to work once, so now I leave Pharaoh running on my gaming computer all of the time.)

Screenshots wouldn't show much. Everything is spread out, and makes sense only if you know where the city is headed. I expect the mission won't take long to complete, so when it's done I'll submit a set of progressive saves to the Downloads.

I have built about 1.5 years and will write up the first year tonight if I don't get too sleepy.

I'll mention only notable harvests, trades, and builds of roadblocks, plazas, gardens, statues, firehouses, and architect posts. Labor (including turning industries off and on) was micromanaged extensively unless indicated otherwise.


At Very Hard difficulty, Abu starts with 0 people, 6750 Db, Cu 0, Pr 0, and Ki 40.

1st year (2650 BC)

Jan: A ferry crossing (to the mainland), lots of road bits, 46 vacant lots (26 in the city center block, 20 in the narrow block), and a gem mine were built. The vacant lots were either placed in 2x2 squares (arranged so that the N lot is settled last) or in similar squares missing the N lot (which will be added later).

Feb: The first immigrants settled in crude huts. The last (2nd) gem mine, a work camp, 2 flax farms, and roadblocks were built.

Mar: The last (3rd) flax farm, 4 grain farms, firehouses, and an architect post were built.

Apr: 2 jewelers, the dock, a storage yard (near the dock), a weaver, a water supply (for the city center block and part of the narrow block), the last (2nd) ferry crossing (to the small island), and 9 vacant lots (2 in the city center block, 4 in the narrow block, 3 on the small island) were built. The trade route to Behdet was opened. All roads on the big island were connected.

May: A Behdet ship sold us 400 clay. The first sturdy huts formed.

Jun: The 2nd storage yard (near the jewelers and weaver), both brickworks, and a vacant lot (on the small island) were built. 776 flax from 3 farms and 704 grain plus 400 straw from 4 farms was harvested.

Aug: A Behdet ship bought 200 jewelry.

Sep: The 2nd work camp, the barley farm, the 5th grain farm, and 2 lettuce farms (all on the small island) were built. A Behdet ship bought 200 bricks.

Oct: The 3rd and 4th lettuce farms (one on each island) were built.

Nov: A Behdet ship bought 100 linen.

The year ended with 366 people (in 5 2x2 sturdy huts, 23 1x1 sturdy huts, 3 2x2 crude huts, 1 1x1 crude hut), 1321 Db, Cu 0, Pr 0, and Ki 39.

I overlooked one possible problem. I only built part of the road touching the dock. This has worked well so far, but it establishes the starting/ending tile of the dockers, even though the design is based on the dockers starting and ending on a different road tile (that hasn't been built yet). This is normally easy to fix: whenever it's convenient, delete the road touching the dock (letting the dockers disappear) and rebuild it fully (letting the dockers reappear with a different starting/ending tile). However, I'd rather not violate the "No deletes" rule if I can avoid it. Perhaps, I'll eventually remove all employees from the dock for enough time to eliminate the dockers. We'll see.

[Changed "Ki 0" to "Ki 39".]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 03-14-2012 @ 00:57 AM).]

I fixed a typo in reply #8.

As usual, I fiddled with the design while building the city. I decided to move the bandstand one tile (so its music stage would be along the river, approximately opposite the pavilion on the small island which also has its music stage along the river), which should allow a nearby house to evolve to fancy residence without needing the bandstand's desirability. This creates a second 2x2 plaza in the city, so I edited reply #4.

2nd year (2649 BC)

Feb: The last (2nd) weaver and brewery were built.

Jun: A potter and a garden (to prevent devolution of a sturdy hut next to the potter) were built. The ferry crossing between the islands was staffed, connecting all roads. All planned crops were harvested, including 800 barley from 1 farm and 2816 lettuce from 4 farms.

Jul: The 3rd storage yard was built (part of the way to the dock from jewelers and weavers, near the limit of cart pusher delivery distance with Ptah's temple complex). A roadblock that was on the wrong road at an intersection was deleted and replaced--it hadn't mattered before now, but would matter later. The "No deletes" rule was broken, but I'll try to make this the only violation.

Aug: A Behdet ship bought 400 gems. All planned exports have been sold. 8 vacant lots (4 in the city center block, 4 in the narrow block) and Ptah's temple complex were built.

Sep: The 3rd work camp and 5th and 6th lettuce farms (all on the big island) were built. The roads connecting the new work camp and farms are not connected to the other roads.

Oct: The last (6th through 10th) grain farms and 7th lettuce farm (all on the big island) were built.

Nov: 5 vacant lots (4 on the small island, 1 in the narrow block) and last (8th through 10th) lettuce farms (all on the big island) were built.

Dec: The rest of the road touching the dock was built, and the dock went unstaffed long enough to eliminate the dockers, who (when the dock was restaffed) returned at their planned starting/ending tile.

The year ended with 423 people (in 7 2x2 sturdy huts, 23 1x1 sturdy huts, 3 2x2 crude huts, 2 1x1 crude huts), 398 Db, Cu 5, Pr 1, and Ki 38.

Aside from the roadblock move, I consider this to be a good start, with all planned export industries and farms operating (although more work camps will be added) and the temple complex built. Next: get more people and evolve some houses.

While pondering disease risk, I realized that the school on the small island would have fire protection that I consider adequate only for a "normal" building (bazaar, tax collector, work camp, etc.). While the school might not have been likely to burn, I wanted that possibility to be tiny. So I once again played with the small island design and finally came up with a solution (that has 3 of the 4 fancy residences with exactly enough desirability to form). The key was putting the bazaar at the far end of the road--making its buyer walk 31 tiles farther each way (than in the previous design)--but that's OK because the 4 houses will take foods and goods from the bazaar quite slowly. In the new location, the bazaar will not upgrade.

The 2 existing houses are in the new design, but a few things will have to move: the firehouse with road and roadblock will be moved 2 tiles, and a road tile will be moved 1 tile. The "No deletes" rule will be broken again (when I build on the small island again), but I'll try to avoid deleting anything else.

A side benefit of the new small island design is that every shrine will satisfy its god. Therefore, of the 11 shrines, I'll choose which 9 to build to Osiris based on looks.

[Edited to mention that the bazaar will not upgrade.]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 03-24-2012 @ 12:26 PM).]

3rd year (2648 BC)

Jan: 38 vacant lots (10 in the narrow block, 28 in the city center block), a medium statue (to prevent devolution of sturdy huts next to the vacant lots), and an Osiris temple (on the big island) were built.

Feb: A city center block bazaar set to Buy grain, the narrow block bazaar set to Buy lettuce, and the granary were built.

Apr: The 4th storage yard (for flax, near the weavers) was built. The city center bazaar was set to Buy pottery. The first common shanties formed.

May: The 3 police stations were built. (The one on the small island should have been delayed--I forgot that criminals don't use ferries.) The first rough cottages formed. At this point, with money the limiting factor, I considered building the palace and tax collectors as soon as they could be afforded. However, since cottages are quite flammable (only schools and libraries are worse), I decided to first evolve houses.

Jun: A Behdet ship sold 100 reeds. A pavilion (on the big island), a physician (in the city center block), and the papyrus maker were built. The first ordinary cottages formed.

Jul: The other city center block bazaar was built, and both were set to Buy lettuce as well as grain and pottery. (For now, lettuce will be stored in city center block houses but not consumed.)

Sep: The juggler school, dance school, 4th work camp, and a school (all on the big island) were built.

Nov: The 2nd physician (in the narrow block, where some houses had high disease risk) and a courthouse (in the city center block) were built. Both city center block bazaars were set to Buy beer. The first spacious apartment formed.

Dec: An Osiris shrine (on the small island) and mansion (in the city center block) were built. The salary was set to 0. The first common residences formed.

The year ended with 1019 people (in 3 common residences, 1 2x2 modest apartment, 2 2x2 spacious homesteads, 1 1x1 spacious homestead, 7 1x1 modest homesteads, 2 2x2 ordinary cottages, 7 1x1 ordinary cottages, 1 1x1 rough cottage, 3 2x2 common shanties, 4 1x1 common shanties, 1 2x2 meager shanty, 16 1x1 meager shanties, 6 1x1 sturdy huts, 4 2x2 crude huts, 1 1x1 crude hut), 1074 Db, Cu 15, Pr 10, and Ki 39.

4th year (2647 BC)

Jan: The palace was built.

Feb: A tax collector (in the city center block) was built. The tax rate was set to 20%.

Mar: The wage rate was raised to 38 (Kingdom+8). The conservatory, last (2nd and 3rd) tax collectors, last (2nd) potter, conservatory, a dentist (for the city center block and part of the narrow block), a small statue, and 2 vacant lots (which will become manors) were built. One of the city center block bazaars was set to Buy linen and luxury goods. There were almost enough workers, so I stopped micromanaging labor.

Apr: The first spacious residence formed.

May: There was unemployment, so keeping it below 5% became a goal.

Jun: City sentiment fell to very pleased. The 5th work camp (on the big island), 2nd courthouse (in the narrow block), and last (2nd) Osiris temple (on the small island) were built. The narrow block bazaar was set to Buy pottery and beer. The first fancy residences formed. On the small island, a fire station, roadblock, and 4 road tiles were deleted (as mentioned in reply #10).

Jul: The tax rate was lowered to 17%. The 2nd water supply and last (4th) bazaar set to Buy lettuce (both on the small island) were built.

Aug: The last (3rd) water supply (in the narrow block) and large statues were built. The narrow block bazaar was set to Buy grain (in addition to lettuce). The first common manors formed. There were more residences and manors than 1 brewery can supply.

Oct: The 5th storage yard (near the dock) and 3 vacant lots (starting the last houses in the narrow block) were built. The trade route to Men-nefer was opened.

Nov: A Behdet ship sold 300 fish. A Men-nefer ship sold 1200 chickpeas.

Dec: The recruiter was built. A Behdet ship sold 100 beer. The narrow block bazaar was set to Buy chickpeas and fish as well as grain and lettuce. (For now, chickpeas and fish will be stored in city center block houses but not consumed.)

The year ended with 1900 people (in 5 common manors, 4 fancy residences, 15 spacious residences, 1 common residence, 1 2x2 spacious homestead, 1 1x1 modest homestead, 2 1x1 ordinary cottages, 1 2x2 rough cottage, 2 2x2 common shanties), 1527 Db, Cu 25, Pr 41, and Ki 40.

[Changed the tax rate lowering from Jun to Jul.]

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 03-27-2012 @ 06:23 PM).]

I was certainly wrong in thinking that the mission wouldn't take long to complete. I apologize to Dragonrose. The rest should be faster.

I decided to not use Stockpiling (just for fun) or "over quota river imports" (to avoid the hassle).

5th year (2646 BC)

Jan: The 1st fort (archers, as all will be) and 6th and 7th storage yards (in the dock area) were built.

Feb: The festival square was built.

Mar: The last (2nd) pavilion, last (3rd) physician, and 7 vacant lots (starting the last 2 houses on the small island) were built. The small island bazaar was set to Buy pottery and beer.

May: The sandstone quarry, 8th and 9th storage yards, last (6th through 9th) work camps, last (3rd) courthouse, last (2nd) school, 2nd through 4th Osiris shrines, and a Ptah shrine were built. Exports of jewelry, gems, and linen (after selling 700 jewelry, 400 gems, and 600 linen so far this year) were halted to build up those stocks. The beer industry was turned Off (requiring more beer imports) to build up barley stocks.

Sep: We received a request from Men-nefer for 13 granite in 12 months. The 2nd dentist (in the narrow block) and 2nd fort were built.

Oct: A Behdet ship sold 3 granite. All planned imports have been bought.

The year ended with 2552 people (in 6 common manors, 7 fancy residences, 16 spacious residences, 4 common residences, 1 2x2 spacious homestead), 1655 Db, Cu 25, Pr 78, and Ki 41.

6th year (2645 BC)

Feb: The bandstand, both booths, both Ptah temples, 10th through 13th storage yards, last (6th) architect post, last (13th) firehouse, apothecary (in the city center block), and last 9 vacant lots (in the city center block) were built. The narrow block bazaar was set to Don't buy grain or lettuce. (The narrow block houses should be stocked with chickpeas and fish before their grain or lettuce runs out.) 13 granite was dispatched to Men-nefer.

May: At month-end, Ki rose 9 because Men-nefer appreciated the granite.

Jul: The 3rd fort, 14th through 17th storage yards, and last dentist were built. The small island bazaar was set to Buy grain (in addition to lettuce) and linen (even though the small island houses do not yet have enough desirability to evolve to elegant residences).

Sep: The last road, last roadblock, and last (18th through 21st) storage yards were built, completing the buildings with employees. The beer industry was turned On. The city center block bazaar that is Buying linen and luxury goods was set to Don't buy beer and the other city center block bazaar was set to Don't buy pottery. (All houses are residences or manors, which do not need to be supplied as frequently as 1x1 homesteads or apartments.)

Nov: Unemployment reached 5%.

Dec: The narrow block bazaar was set to Buy linen.

The year ended with 3051 people (in 6 common manors, 21 fancy residences, 7 elegant residences, 8 spacious residences, 1 common residence), 2724 Db, Cu 35, Pr 100, and Ki 51.

I had planned to switch the small island houses to eating imported chickpeas and fish. (The narrow block houses are undergoing that switch.) I have changed that plan--the small island houses will continue to eat grain and lettuce. (If there were a couple of terrible floods, it would be wise to carry out that switch.) The small island bazaar food buyer has shown that she can handle the extra distance obtaining grain and lettuce.

The bazaars already have their final settings.

The 6 common manors and 24 fancy residences in the city center and small island blocks will eat locally-grown grain and lettuce, each at a rate of 4032/year. (That's still less production per farm than would be required in a No Trade Island Abu.) The 13 fancy residences in the narrow block will eat chickpeas and fish, each imported at an average rate of 1716/year.

I edited reply #10 to mention that the small island bazaar will not upgrade. (With the food change, it matters.)

I fixed a typo in reply #4.

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 03-24-2012 @ 12:47 PM).]

Stores of chickpeas, beer, and granite began to accumulate.

7th year (2644 BC)

Mar: Unemployment reached 10%.

Apr: The 4th and 5th forts were built. City sentiment fell to very pleased. The tax rate was lowered to 11%.

Jun: We received a message: some city was conquered. Exports of jewelry resumed. Unemployment reached 15%.

Jul: Another land trade route became available.

Nov: Unemployment reached 20%.

Dec: The last (6th) large statue, last (8th) medium statue, last (4th) small statue, and last (5th through 9th) Osiris shrines were built.

The year ended with 3531 people (in 6 common manors, 30 fancy residences, 7 elegant residences), 3915 Db, Cu 35, Pr 100, and Ki 52.

The small island school occasionally ran out of papyrus for a month or so (not long enough to affect housing). I don't know if this would have happened with the original small island design. Building Thoth's oracle early (to cut papyrus consumption 10%) might have fixed the problem, but it was too late for that. I considered squeezing in another papyrus maker (and firehouse), but didn't want to delete some gardens. I finally realized the obvious solution: import a little papyrus.

8th year (2643 BC)

Mar: We received a message: some city was defended. The last (6th) fort was built.

Apr: A soldier died while killing a crocodile that had wandered onto a fort's grounds.

May: Unemployment reached 25%.

Jul: Storage yard special orders were given their final settings. (Granary and bazaar special orders were already at their final settings.)

Aug: A Men-nefer ship sold 100 papyrus.

Sep: A narrow block house exhausted its grain and lettuce stores and will start consuming its chickpeas and fish.

Dec: The last (2nd) Ptah shrine, last plazas, and last gardens were built. Trade orders were given their final settings. A "final city" was saved for the Downloads.

The year ended with 3901 people (in 6 common manors, 37 fancy residences), 4051 Db, Cu 35, Pr 100, and Ki 53.


9th year (2642 BC)

Apr: Unemployment reached 30%.

Jul: Victory was declared with these results:
Cu: 35
Pr: 100
Ki: 53
funds: 6585
population: 4000
months: 102
level: Very hard
score: 5734


I began a "free run" by setting the salary to 100 Db/month in the final city (Dec 2643 BC), dropping Ki and preventing victory. The population stabilized at 4004 in Oct 2642 BC. A sandstone request was dispatched late to avoid a large Ki rise. Contaminated water caused city health to fall from good to bad. Although no plague occurred, poor city health early the next year caused more deaths than births and a small wave of immigration. A poor flood finally occurred, but it only affected the production of the 4 least fertile farms (2 grain, 2 lettuce). Since plague could have occurred, I lost interest and stopped after 7 years (with 27% unemployment).

I submitted Island Abu with 8 progressive saves from the first 6 years to the Downloads. Errors occurred on the minimap and metadata (file Id 1183), so I don't know how much of the submission will be available.

While preparing the submission, I saw an error in reply #12 and a personal rule (No future knowledge) left out of the opening post, so I edited them.

On the third try, the Downloads system accepted the minimap and the metadata.

[This message has been edited by Brugle (edited 04-02-2012 @ 04:34 PM).]