Advanced Tips

Overview

 * 1) Steam Hubs are better than the Generator Range Upgrade.
 * 2) Hothouses are better Hunter's Huts.
 * 3) Use Gathering Posts.
 * 4) Do not be afraid to restructure your city.
 * 5) Stack efficiency upgrades

Generator

 * The Generator Efficiency Upgrade also applies for Steam Hubs.


 * Building two Steam Hubs gives more building space than upgrading the Generator Range at the same coal cost. This also allows for districts, which are only heated in work hours.


 * Even though the Cookhouse does not need heating during the night for work, it is advised to put it in a area heated 24h, since it is visited by many people (sometimes all) after work hours, which than have the chance to get sick. To a lesser degree this also applies to the public house and fighting arenas.

Food
For a detail view of Food additives vs Soup visit this page: Food Additives and Soup Comparison

At higher difficulties it is better to rush the Hothouse than to go for the Hunters' Huts. It is the best investment for your Steam cores. Having no Hunters' Huts in the beginning will leave you with a food deficit, but this can be overcome by using one Emergency Shift on the first Hothouse build.

A normal Hothouse has the same production as the Hunters' Hangers with the Hunting Tactics upgrade per person, but the Hothouse profits from Extended Shifts, Emergency Shifts and Agitators and Shrines.

A normal Hothouse using Extended Shifts next to a Shrine produces 50.4 Raw Food per day, that is more than a fully upgraded Hunters' Hanger (45 Raw Food per Day).

For critical situations the laws Emergency Shift, Organic Fertiliser and Foreman can help the Hothouse as well.

The same argument can be made about Fishing Harbour vs Foragers' Quarters.

Resources
Building Gathering Posts is highly advised. It doubles the rate of gathering, thereby is also useful on day one, if build before 12:00 (have some free workers on day one for building). After 14:00 it is better to wait for after 18:00. One Gathering Post is about as efficient as a Sawmill, a Coal mine or the Steelworks and should not be underrated.

Wood
On day one you can clear unnecessary roads for early wood.

The Sawmill can carry trough most of the game. The Sawmill Upgrade is also useful, the Sawmill Range Extension is unnecessary, because it costs only 2 Wood to rebuild a Sawmill.

The Steam Sawmill offers better heating, but due to the high cost of each they should not be used in early game of if steel is scarce.

Each Upgrade of the Wall Drill raises output by only 25%. It is much better to build a second Wall Drill before upgrading the first.

Steel
Not much to say, wood is more important in the early game, but have the Steelworks researched before its to late. Each Upgrade raises output by 80%.

Coal
The Coal Mine has a very low production (24/h), the Steam Coal Mine is a good mid/late game building (60/h), the Advanced Coal Mine (90/h) is a late game building and shouldn't be rushed.

Coal Thumpers offer a very good alternative, one Coal Thumper and two Gathering Posts can provide as much coal as two Coal Mines.

Charcoal Kilns are good for situational coal deficits and benefit highly from their upgrades. One Sawmill and one Charcoal Kiln provide about the same Coal as the same 15 workers would in Coal Thumpers and Gathering Posts.

Laws
Start of with Emergency Shift and get Extended Shift right after, this will boost most buildings by 40%.

If nothing happens which requires immediate action (first gravely ill / first death) go for Soup.

After that Food should not be a big problem anymore (one Hothouse produces 84 Food Rations per day on Extreme), allowing for Extra Rations for the Ill, and other abilities.

Shrines or Foreman should be the next goal, raising overall efficiency by another 20%.

Medic Apprentices, Organ Transplants and Organic Fertiliser fit well, as they stack bonuses, but can wait.

Technology
Having early scouts is practical, but expensive. Having a stable economy is much more crucial in the early days at higher difficulties.

Faster gathering and other upgrades which improve efficiency are not that important and can be researched if the resources for the desired upgrade is not available.

Here is a good starting sequence:


 * 1) Sawmill
 * 2) Drawing Boards (T1)
 * 3) Hothouse / Fishing Harbour
 * 4) Steelworks
 * 5) Steam Hub
 * 6) Coal Thumper

This sequence is chosen because the piles usually deplete in the order Wood, Steel and then Coal. This also provides a good setup for the entire early game.

Having at least six Engineers working will stop researching progress to fall under 100% if one Engineer is eating/building or otherwise busy for a short time.

The First Day

 * 1) Sign Emergency Shifts.
 * 2) Assign 15 Workers to gather Wood and 15 to gather Steel.
 * 3) Build the first Workshop and start Research.
 * 4) Build Gathering Posts and delete unnecessary roads for wood.
 * 5) Only assign all other Workers now and leave 10 for building!
 * 6) Build more Gathering Posts until around 12:00 and reassign all workers.
 * 7) Use Emergency Shift on the Workshop.
 * 8) Wait for 18:00, then build another Workshop and staff it with one Engineer, you can now switch the Engineers every day to research 24/7.
 * 9) Sign Extended Shift and use it as much as you can.
 * 10) The Medical Tent and Cookhouse should be build on the second day or night.