[set_anchor=Top]CORPORATE MAINTENANCE EXPLAINED (BtS 3.13)[/set_anchor]
This thread is not intended to offer in-depth strategies on how to manage Corporations, though understanding their mechanics lends itself to better utilizing them.
This thread is not intended to be a discussion about whether Corporations are working as Firaxis intended them to be or if there is room for improvement, though in revealing the mechanics, it is bound to incite debate over whether they are adequately balanced.
This post is meant as an explanation and a revelation of “the man behind the curtain”. After reading this article, you should fully understand the different elements of Corporate Maintenance and how to fully calculate its impact on any of your cities.
So here we go …
Table of Contents (this article’s pretty long)[LIST]
[*][anchor=Basics]The Basics: Some Definitions[/anchor]
[*][anchor=NotSoBasics]The Not-So-Basics: The Man Behind The Curtain[/anchor]
[LIST]
[*][anchor=Formula]The Formula[/anchor]
[*][anchor=Example]An Example[/anchor]
[*][anchor=Comparison]A Comparison Using The Example[/anchor]
[/LIST]
[*][anchor=Conclusions]Some Conclusions & Thoughts On Corporate Management[/anchor]
[*][anchor=Links]Other Articles[/anchor]
[*][anchor=Closing]In Closing[/anchor]
[/LIST]
[set_anchor=Basics]The Basics: Some Definitions (see the Civilopedia also).[/set_anchor]
The following definitions represent a brief introduction to some of the different relevant Corporate elements I may refer to during this post.
To reduce the length of this post and get you to the part you probably came for quicker and more easily, I’ve hidden the definitions in spoiler tags. If you’re already familiar with Corporations, you may wish to skip this section.
[RIGHT][anchor=Top]
[set_anchor=NotSoBasics]The Not-So-Basics: The Man Behind The Curtain.[/set_anchor]
Bear with me through this next section, because this one has all the math. A couple things to note first:
[LIST=a]
[*]Each city calculates its own Corporate Fees independent of any other cities in your empire.
[*]Each Corporate Office calculates its own Corporate Fees independent of any other Corporate Offices in the same city.
[*]All Corporate Offices calculate their Corporate Fees identically (can be changed via the variable [FONT=”Courier New”]
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There are seven factors which determine a Corporate Office’s Fees. These only take affect if a Corporation is consuming one or more resources in the city. (I.e, a Corporate Office denied access to the appropriate resources generates no fees but still provides +4 gold to its Corporate Headquarters):
[LIST]
[*]Base Rate. Affects the base value of the Corporate Fees as well as the value of the Corporate Office to the Corporate Headquarters. (Default Value is 4.) Variable [FONT=”Courier New”]H[/FONT] (for Headquarters) in the formula below.
H = 4
This variable is stored as in CIV4CorporationInfo.xml.
H =
[*]Map Size. Affects the value of each resource consumed by the Corporate Office. Variable [FONT=”Courier New”]S[/FONT] in the formula below.
Duel : S = 4.0
Tiny : S = 2.0
Small : S = 1.5
Standard : S = 1.0
Large : S = 0.75
Huge : S = 0.50
This variable is stored as in CIV4WorldInfo.xml.
S = / 100
[*]Number of resources consumed. Variable [FONT=”Courier New”]R[/FONT] in the formula below.
[*]Population. Every population point over 1 increases the Fees by 1/18th of the basic rate, [FONT=”Courier New”]( H + R * S )[/FONT]. Variable [FONT=”Courier New”]P[/FONT] in the formula below.
P = ( Population + 17 ) / 18
[*]Difficulty. +/- 10% increments above/below Noble. Variable [FONT=”Courier New”]D[/FONT] in the formula below.
Settler : D = 0.7
Chieftain : D = 0.8
Warlord : D = 0.9
Noble : D = 1.0
Prince : D = 1.1
Monarch : D = 1.2
Emperor : D = 1.3
Immortal : D = 1.4
Deity : D = 1.5
This variable is stored as in CIV4HandicapInfo.xml.
D = / 100
[*]Economy Civic. +/- 25%. Variable [FONT=”Courier New”]C[/FONT] in the formula below.
Decentralization : C = 1.00
Mercantilism : C = 1.00
Free Market : C = 0.75
State Property : C = 0.00
Environmentalism : C = 1.25
This variable is stored as in CIV4CivicsInfo.xml
C = 1 + / 100
[*]Inflation. Used to reduce the Corporate Fees by an amount equal to the Inflation Rate — thus negating the effects of Inflation. Variable [FONT=”Courier New”]I[/FONT] in the formula below.
I = InflationRate / 100 + 1
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[INDENT]
[RIGHT][anchor=Top]
[set_anchor=Formula]The Formula:[/set_anchor]
A special thanks to Bhruic and Solver for pointing out where this formula is hardcoded in CvGameCoreDLL.dll:
[FONT=”Courier New”]-1 * ( H + R * S ) * P * D * C / I[/FONT] -or-
[FONT=”Courier New”]-1 * ( BaseHeadquarterCommerce + Resources * mapSize ) * PopulationModifier * Difficulty * CivicsModifier / InflationModifier[/FONT]
-or- as executed ‘verbose’:[LIST=1]
[*]Take the number of Resources the Corporation is using and multiply it by the MapSize modifier then add 4.
[*]Add 17 to the population of the city then divide the result by 18. (PopulationModifier)
[*]Multiply the results of step #1 and step #2.
[*]Multiply the result of step #3 by the Difficulty modifier.
[*]Multiply the result of step #4 by the Civics modifier.
[INDENT]This is the NET value of your Corporate Fees and represents the actual, post-Inflation cost of your Corporate Office. You should use this value for comparisons and calculations.[/INDENT]
[*]Divide the current inflation percentage by 100 then add 1. (Inflation)
[*]Divide the result of step #5 by the result of step #6.
[INDENT]This is the GROSS value of your Corporate Fees and only represents what you see in the City Maintenance box. After Inflation is added, your actual payments will be the net value from step #5. You should not use this value for any comparisons or calculations.[/INDENT]
[*]Fin.
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[RIGHT][anchor=Top]
[set_anchor=Example]An Example:[/set_anchor]
Let’s start with the following:
[LIST]
[*][FONT=Courier New]Population 20.[/FONT]
[*][FONT=Courier New]Cereal Mills — 2 Corn, 2 Rice, 3 Wheat[/FONT]
[*][FONT=Courier New]Mining Inc — 1 Copper, 2 Gold, 4 Iron, 2 Silver[/FONT]
[*][FONT=Courier New]Noble Difficulty.[/FONT]
[*][FONT=Courier New]Standard Map Size.[/FONT]
[*][FONT=Courier New]Inflation = negligible.[/FONT] Since Inflation is only valid when determining the gross value of the Corporate Fees, I will not be factoring inflation for this example. This means I’ll be working with the actual, net cost of the Corporate Office — thus ensuring an accurate comparison.
[/LIST]
H = 4
R1 = 7 (Cereal Mills)
R2 = 9 (Mining Inc)
S = 1.0
P = ( 17 + 20 ) / 18 = 2.0555…
C = 1.0
D = 1.0
Cereal Mills:
-1 * ( H + R1 * S ) * P * C * D
-1 * ( 4 + 7 * 1 ) * 2.055 * 1 * 1
– ( 11 ) * 2.055
– 22.61
Mining Inc:
-1 * ( H + R2 * S ) * P * C * D
-1 * ( 4 + 9 * 1 ) * 2.055 * 1 * 1
– ( 13 ) * 2.055
– 26.72
The combined Corporate Fees in this situation total -49.33 :gold:.
The total provisions are +5.25 :food:, +9 :hammers:.
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[set_anchor=Comparison]A Comparison Using The Example:[/set_anchor]
At first glance, this appears to be a lot, but let’s compare this and dig a little deeper:
[LIST]
[*]5.25 :food: is enough to allow your city to work two Desert Incenses (12 commerce) and a Plains/Tundra/GHill Town (5 commerce).
[INDENT]5 + 12 = 17 :commerce:
21.25 / 22.61 = 0.94 science per gold (not a bad ratio with just a Library/Market and no Courthouse)
22.61 run through a Courthouse = 22.61 * 0.5 = 11.3017 / 11.30 = 1.5 commerce per gold (If you can come out ahead with no Library, you’re turning a profit)
17 commerce in ‘fully upgraded’ (+100%) city = 34 commerce34 / 11.30 = 3.00 commerce per gold (that’s pretty damn good, imo)[/INDENT]
That’s only the tip of the iceberg, because with Courthouses and Free Market, you can drastically push down the Fees. And with Universities & Banks and especially with Wall Street & Oxford University, you can increase the net value from any commerce tiles or specialists yields to soaring heights. (And don’t forget about Representation, Free Speech/Bureaucracy and the Financial trait.)
Let’s also keep in mind that +food can be used however you want. It can be used to work even more production tiles in Ironworks or to run 2 more specialists in your GP farm or a couple hill-top Towns in your Wall Street …
Also, though I won’t go into how it’s calculated, 2.5 extra population in a coastal city has the potential to significantly boost your international trade rates — especially if you have a Customs House in place.
And finally, an immeasurable value to increased population is more votes in the United Nations and Apostolic Palace as well as putting you closer to the population requirement for a Domination Victory!
[*]9 :hammers: is worth 27 :gold: when compared against rush-buying under Universal Suffrage (3 gold per hammer for non-Wonders & 6 gold per hammer for Wonders.)
[INDENT]27 / 26.72 = 1.01:1.00 gold (even with no +production bonuses, using Mining Inc in this situation is break even compared to rush-buying.)
9 * 6 = 54 gold (the equivalent value of Mining Inc.’s production if put toward a Wonder)54 / 26.72 = 2.02:1.00 gold (clearly a better conversion by comparison to rush-buying a Wonder)
9 hammers in the Ironworks city = 9 * 3 = 27 actual :hammers:
27 * 3 = 81 gold (the equivalent value of Mining Inc.’s production after +200% bonuses from Powered Ironworks is factored in.)81 / 26.72 = 3.03:1.00 gold (holy crap! that’s 3 times better than rush-buying under Universal Suffrage!)[/INDENT]
As with the Cereal Mills comparison above, this is only the beginning. There are a couple immeasurable values to Mining Inc when compared against rush-buying under Universal Suffrage:
[LIST]
[*]You don’t have to be in Universal Suffrage to use Mining Inc.
[*]Rush-buying with Universal Suffrage doesn’t factor in production bonuses … Mining Inc does.
[*]Projects and Space Ship parts can’t be rush-bought at all … Mining Inc’s production applies to anything built (and remember, it gets the production bonus from Aluminum for Space Ship parts!)
[/LIST]
Just in case that isn’t enough, imagine this bonus on a flat, Archipelago, where half your cities are lucky to have 10 production. In that situation, Mining Inc represents a 100% boost to production.
[*]Your Corporate Fees can be pushed down even to the point of making a profit if you (ab)use Free Market, Courthouses (especially the Rathaus and Ikhanda) and the Corporate Headquarters:
[LIST]
[*]With a [FONT=Courier New]Courthouse[/FONT]: Fees * 0.5 = -24.66 gold
[*]Adding the [FONT=Courier New]Corporate Headquarters[/FONT] in your city with [FONT=Courier New]Wall Street[/FONT]: Fees * 0.5 + 12 gold per office [+24] = -0.66 gold
Controlling the Corporate Headquarters (especially if next to Wall Street) all but guarantees your Domestic Corporate Offices can balance their Fees or even turn a profit![*]And now under [FONT=Courier New]Free Market[/FONT]: Fees * 0.75 * 0.5 + 24 = +5.5 gold:
[*]What if you’re the Malinese Empire with a [FONT=Courier New]Mint[/FONT]? Fees * 0.75 * 0.5 + 24 * 1.1 = +7.9 gold!
[*]What if you’re the Zulu Empire with an [FONT=Courier New]Ikhanda[/FONT], too? Fees * 0.75 * 0.5 * 0.8 + 24 = +9.2 gold !!
[*]What if you’re the Holy Roman Empire with a [FONT=Courier New]Rathaus[/FONT]? Fees * 0.75 * 0.25 + 24 = +14.75 gold !!!
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The lower you can get the Corporate Fees by reduction and offset domestically, the higher your tolerance becomes for spreading Corporations throughout your empire.
If you can turn a profit or break-even without even considering the Corporate Benefits, you pretty much have the go-ahead to spread your Corporation(s) to every city in your empire.
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[/INDENT]
[RIGHT][anchor=Top]
[set_anchor=Conclusions]Some Conclusions & Thoughts On Corporate Management.[/set_anchor]
[LIST]
[*]Not withstanding Aluminum Co. & Standard Ethanol, Corporations appear to be tools by which we can convert gold (in the form of Corporate Fees/Maintenance) into :food:, :hammers:, :culture: & :science:.
So, expect your Domestic Corporate Offices to not turn individual profits (even more so for any Foreign Corporations). You should weigh the Corporate Fees against the benefits to determine if the exchange is worth it in your situation.
[*]If you found a Corporation, try your damnedest to build the Corporate Headquarters in the same city as Wall Street.
[*]Corporations are not like Religions — they can cost you a lot of money if you’re not careful. If you spread them ‘carte blanche’ to your cities, you run the risk of unnecessarily digging yourself into a hole.
[*]Domestic Corporate Offices can become very expensive. Don’t build Corporate Offices ‘carte blanche’. Consider the Benefits and weigh them against the Fees.
[*]You can balance Domestic Corporate Fees by also spreading your Corporations abroad (preferably to civilizations lacking the right resources to get full use out of them).
[*]If you’re relying on Foreign Corporate Offices to pay your bills, you may want to keep Spies on hand to Influence Civics.
[*]Peaceful Colonies & Vassals and Friendly neighbors are prime candidates for incorporation abroad.
[*]A Courthouse is a MUST for incorporated cities.
[*]Boost your Corporations’ provisions by building appropriate +:hammers:/:science:/:gold:/:culture:% buildings in incorporated cities. In this respect, your Megalopolises (i.e., your National Wonder cities) should make the best incorporated cities.
[*]Small cities benefit proportionally more from incorporation than large cities, because small cities incur lower Corporate Fees. Against your instincts, you may wish to prioritize your ‘fishing village’ or your ‘hunting camp’ for incorporation before your Metropolises (i.e., mid-sized-non National Wonder cities).
[*]Balance your Corporations’ provisions by utilizing +:food: to run specialists or to work high-yield tiles such as Resources and Cottages. (Such as Desert Incense and hilltop Towns as in [anchor=Example]The Example[/anchor].)
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[RIGHT][anchor=Top]
[set_anchor=Links]Other Articles.[/set_anchor]
[LIST]
[*]The Fantastic Four: Corporate Culture Powerhouse by OTAKUjbski
[*]Corporation: The Power of Sushi by MrCynical
[/LIST]
[RIGHT][anchor=Top]
[set_anchor=Closing]In Closing.[/set_anchor]
[LIST]
[*]Special thanks especially to Roland Johansen for simplifying the formula and giving great insight on some missing and confusing content.
[*]I want more in-depth external links and am always open to suggestions …[/LIST]
[RIGHT][anchor=Top]
— my 2 :commerce:
[SET_ANCHOR=Expansion]The Cost of Expansion[/SET_ANCHOR]
The intial cost of expansion is the 100 :hammers: (Normal speed) it costs to train the Corporate Executive. Debate still exists about the actual value of a hammer; I value 1 raw hammer at 3 :gold:. Given this assumption, this is how much the Executive ‘costs’ given various production bonuses:
[LIST]
[*]+000%. 100 / 1.00 * 3 = 300 :gold:
[*]+025%. 100 / 1.25 * 3 = 240 :gold:
[*]+050%. 100 / 1.50 * 3 = 200 :gold:
[*]+075%. 100 / 1.75 * 3 = 172 :gold:
[*]+100%. 100 / 2.00 * 3 = 150 :gold:
[*]+125%. 100 / 2.25 * 3 = 134 :gold:
[*]+150%. 100 / 2.50 * 3 = 120 :gold:
[*]+175%. 100 / 2.75 * 3 = 110 :gold:
[*]+200%. 100 / 3.00 * 3 = 100 :gold:
[/LIST]
There are 4 elements to the cost of Corporate Office expansion:
[LIST]
[*]Base Cost. 50 :gold: Variable B in the formula below.
B = 50
This variable is stored as in CIV4CorporationInfo.xml.
[*]Inflation. Inflation increases the base cost of expansion. Variable I in the formula below.
I = 1 + InflationRate / 100
[*]Location (foreign v. domestic). Foreign expansion doubles the cost. Variable L in the formula below.
If domestic; L = 1
If foreign; L = 2
[*]Competition. Forces a buyout — increasing the cost (default is triple). Variable R (for Rivalry) in the formula below.
If NO competition is present; R = 1
If competition IS present; R = 3
This variable is stored as in CIV4CorporationInfo.xml.
R = 1 + / 100
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[INDENT]
The Formula:
[INDENT]B * I * L * R[/INDENT]
An Example:[INDENT]With 28% Inflation [FONT=”Courier New”](I = 1.28)[/FONT], buyout [FONT=”Courier New”](R = 3)[/FONT] in a Foreign City [FONT=”Courier New”](L = 2)[/FONT].
[FONT=”Courier New”]50 * 1.28 * 2 * 3 = 384 :gold:[/FONT]
If you had trained the Corporate Executive in a city with a Forge and an unpowered Factory (+50% production), you could also factor in another 200 gold to the base cost of expansion.
[/INDENT]
[/INDENT]