Upgrade philosophy

[Silvio]

Hey all,

I was wondering what everybody's upgrade philosophy is. Do you simply upgrade according to the best ROI, or by dollar increase, or by some other metric. I'm asking because I'm on the cusp of actually generating some decent income.

My thoughs are to select the best ROI building available, then work it until level 10, which will provide me time to save during the last few upgrades. However, is it more optimal to continually reassess after each upgrade and jump from building to building?

[Tramp Stamp]

Well mine's no secret:

http://www.funzio.com/forum/showthread.php?15477-Economy-planning-amp-discussion

Though the build order recommendation is in need of updating.

[Silvio]

Thanks Trampstamp. I somehow had missed that thread - not quite sure how.

It's pretty much the philosophy I have been following, however I seem to be transitioning into a different type of game, where i have been reviewing alternative philosophies. As I do not have the ability to log in for every collection, I have been opportunistically upgrading. For example, when I know I will be able to log in within say a 4 hour period, I will upgrade the most buildings possible within that 4 hr period, and at the end of it, upgrade the best Type A building.

I find that this allows me some additional 'umph' in income over strictly following the spreadsheet.

[Max Power]

My upgrade philosophy follows no spreadsheet. I look and see what will net me the best 24 hour upgrade in money and just do that, regardless of time it takes. Sometimes I will upgrade little slow buildings while I am saving for something big, like I am doing now for me 2nd hotel.

[Lola Gets]

The most important thing is to "always be upgrading." I look at my schedule over the next couple of hours - days and select an upgrade time range that fits well with my forseen free time. Next I look at how much money I have/expect to have at my next upgrade time. I follow a growth strategy over ROI, so I look for upgrades I can afford that will add most significantly to my hourly income. If there are some great upgrades that I don't yet have moeny for, I target the lower level Type A buildings that are cheaper to upgrade, that have a great ROI, that I can upgrade while saving money for the more expensive upgrades that will quickly grow my economy. It's a delicate balance, but as long as you are always upgrading, you should be able to achieve a lot of growth.

[Tramp Stamp]

I hardly look at the spreadsheet anymore, at least not for upgrade advice. I have been following my proposed build order with surprisingly few adjustments since I posted it.

[Babytway]

i was jumping all over the place with upgrades then i just recently got a plan together and sticking with it. getting some my buildings to lvl 10, then goin to move on to some of the buildings ive been neglecting get them to lvl 10 and be done with them but i also agree after each upgrade have to reassess and figure out if i fit a quick upgrade in between but still stick to my plan

[Chiefer]

My philosophy is, Parking lot. I spend all my money on land upgrades. You can't rob those and they can be enjoyable.

[dudeman]

i was jumping all over the place with upgrades then i just recently got a plan together and sticking with it. getting some my buildings to lvl 10, then goin to move on to some of the buildings ive been neglecting get them to lvl 10 and be done with them but i also agree after each upgrade have to reassess and figure out if i fit a quick upgrade in between but still stick to my plan

Same here. I don't really bother with strategies anymore because never work for me, but a rough plan with periodic revision is a good idea.

[whocareswhatmynameis]

My philosophy is, Parking lot. I spend all my money on land upgrades. You can't rob those and they can be enjoyable.

how much did you last hood expansion cost?

[whocareswhatmynameis]

i have a local copy of the money building spreadsheet which i update after each building upgrade. i use it religiously.

[Silvio]

As do I. I've also created a tab for my weapons to calculate my defense, attack, and rob def/ atk def scores. That way I can optimize my pursuit of items to give me the most bang for buck.

Defense buildings are there too, but there's enough uncertainty on these boards surrounding the effect of def buildings that I don't use it that much.

[Tramp Stamp]

As do I. I've also created a tab for my weapons to calculate my defense, attack, and rob def/ atk def scores. That way I can optimize my pursuit of items to give me the most bang for buck.

Now this I do. "Crime City misc.xlsx" is my go-to spreadsheet. It's where I track economy growth, personal economy breakdown, mafia codes I eventually want to add, equipment inventory, cash equipment incremental value (including how many I need for questing), and M4 A1 farming statistics.

[Silvio]

Ahhh . . . Another spreadsheet geek. :-)

[erik]

Don't forget planning the city layout in excel too :) I know where my Casinos will be in 53 levels!

[Leetfeet]

Tramp Stamp, will you be posting any additional theories on upgrade costs/time and income gain for those with mid level income? (100k+/hour)

[Tramp Stamp]

Tramp Stamp, will you be posting any additional theories on upgrade costs/time and income gain for those with mid level income? (100k+/hour)

I believe I have an exportable calculation for when to save for Nightclubs. That would be next.

[Ramshutu]

Income per hour and, to an extent, roi doesn't work that well for me due to my play patterns.

1. I have very few buildings that are under 6 hours (aside from lower rank ones that I had at the start), as they aren't worth it when a) I am only playing for 8 hours a day at most and b) I am not on constantly, so regularly miss collection.

2. I try and perform upgrades in such a way that when the upgraded is complete, the building will be synced to my play pattern. This is a big deal as when you come back and the buildings been raided, it changes the implicit cost of the upgrade.

3. The time taken for an upgrade also has an effect on the implicit cost of the upgrade. If you would have collected a building twice if you hadn't upgraded, this effectively increases the cost.

4. Time is a big factor, I always try and time upgrades so that I maximise the % of the day where a building is upgrading. This is not as much of a concern on long timers, but on a 3 day timer, if it completes at a time where I can't start another upgrade ( 18 hours at worst) its wasted time that, essentially, lowers the ability to increase income over time.

5. This maybe contentious, but I almost completely ignore roi; due to timers, i never have a problem with affording all. It the most expensive upgrades. I will go for the item that gives me the biggest effective increase in income. I am not thinking about the upgrade that will pay for itself quickest, but the upgrade that will make it more likely that I can afford the next one.

[duder]

I've been rethinking my long term strategy. Er I think some of the highlights are:

-your focus should be in maximizing roi for building upgrades that take longer than a day to save for
-the exception here is if you see a ready upgrade with both better roi and increase in $/hr per upgrade time than your next save up choice
-in between those marquis upgrades, maximise your $/hr /cost/upgrade time. Re-written it's:

(increase in $/hr) / (cost * upgrade duration)

-if you ever think you'll end up tight on space, only choose upgrades from your top 50% of $/hr increases

[Swifty]

Too complicated.

[duder]

... hm, basically spend as much cash as you can on upgrades, and upgrade newer buildings when you can?

really anything beyond that is all about marginal improvements in increasing the rate your income goes up...

...too complicated... sheesh. I didn't even suggest a spreadsheet this time!

[Silvio]

Can you guys confirm something for me please?

The following buildings are all B type buildings, correct (wrt upgrade rate)

Beach nightclub
Comedy club
Dominican restaurant
Office building
Upscale club
Wedding chapel
Wholesale warehouse

Thanks,

[Tramp Stamp]

Yes. All buildings unlocked after level 7 are Type B.

[Babytway]

type A or type B i dont know what that is i just upgrade one building at a time(now i do before all over the place) ROI i don't really care about that as long as it make me more cash.

[Silvio]

Thanks tramp. I kind of wish I had focused on economy when I first started. Instead I focused on completing the goals ASAP and completing each area as fast as possible, thinking that because higher missions forced a purchase of weapons, that would provide me with all the atk/def I would need. Unfortunately it leveled me up really really fast.

Oh well . . . .

[Vile Lynn]

The most important thing is to "always be upgrading."

I agree with Lola...."always be upgrading."

[Silvio]

Actually, always upgrading, always building (either money bldg or turret), and expanding hood where cash flow allows.

[Leetfeet]

Im looking forward to your future posts, tramp!

Sort of know already know what you mean. For example MT lvl 10 <<< Save for nigth club etc.