Map Modifiers - Government Policy And Local Industry

In the same way there are tens of thousands of character combinations based on preferences, there are also many possibilities for cities based on government policy and local industry.

Government Policy

Government policies are multipliers that affect things like income tax rates, transit and road funding, education and healthcare subsidies, sales/VAT tax and so on.

A city like Singapore might have high transit funding, which can make public transport as fast as car travel. On the other hand, a city like Los Angeles would have lower transit funding and cars would generally be the more attractive option.

Similarly, most European cities would have very low education costs (and slightly higher taxes to compensate) while US cities would have the opposite.

I try to use real world data to set these policies so players can experience the benefits and drawbacks of life in each city, at least within the possibilities of the gameplay mechanics.

Industry Weightings

Some cities are dominated by one or two industries, and this is reflected in industry weightings. For example Bordeaux in France is famous for its wine and so prosperity is heavily impacted by the agriculture industry. On the other hand San Jose in the USA, being at the epicenter of Silicon Valley, would be driven by the technology industry.

Industry weightings matter because the Central Bank sets interest rates to control overall inflation. If one industry dominates, then interest rates will be set to accommodate that industry which can lead to much more volatile economic conditions in other industries.

For example, below is an inflation chart for San Jose. The "Overall Inflation" line moves up and down with the technology line, which makes up 31% of the economy.

Below is the much smaller agriculture sector for comparison. Its growth is affected by the Central Bank Rate, but the Central Bank ignores the agriculture industry when making decisions on interest rates.

In large cities with balanced industries this won't matter as much, but in cities that are very reliant on one or two industries this will have quite an impact.

Final word

Based on government policies and industry weightings, I try to find cities with interesting features to add. Let me know in the comments what cities or types of cities you'd like to see!

By the late game you will also be able to influence government policies and vote to promote or suppress certain industries. It's a moderately sized topic and better left for another time.