Payout algorithm explained

[Tramp Stamp]

Crime City utilizes a simple algorithm to generate all payouts. It multiplies the base (level 1) payout against an indexed value of one of two lookup tables, which I have termed Growth Type A and Growth Type B.

Growth Type A uses a modified triangular sequence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangular_number):

1 -> 1
2 -> 3
3 -> 6
4 -> 10
5 -> 15
6 -> 22
7 -> 31
8 -> 42
9 -> 55
10 -> 75

Growth Type B uses a modified Fibonacci sequence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fibonacci_number):

1 -> 1
2 -> 2
3 -> 3.5
4 -> 5.5
5 -> 8
6 -> 11
7 -> 14.5
8 -> 18.5
9 -> 23
10 -> 30

Buildings available under level 8, including Mafia unlocks, are Type A. All others are Type B. Complete lists follow.

Type A cash buildings, with bases:

Barbershop, $140
Deli, $60
Diner, $100
Gas Station, $55
Gun Shop, $300
House, $360
Italian Restaurant, $140
Laundromat, $5
Loft, $11000
Movie Theater, $3100
Nightclub, $175000
Pawn Shop, $125
Pizza Parlor, $30
Souvenir Store, $60
Tattoo Parlor, $105

Type B cash buildings, with bases:

Arcade, $50
Bagel Shop, $580
Brownstone, $12000
Casino, $900000
Chinese Restaurant, $225
Clothing Store, $300
Collection Agency, $325
Condo, $79200
Credit Agency, $75000
Crematorium, $30000
Electronics Store, $260
Fancy Restaurant, $1100
Fish Store, $840
Flower Shop, $4600
French Restaurant, $24000
History Museum, $3600
Hotel, $285000
Internet Company, $16000
Meat Factory, $1400
Modern Loft, $2500
Russian Restaurant, $10,500
Seafood Restaurant, $1000
Shoe Store, $1400
Sports Bar, $140
Underboss' House, $4400
Warehouse, $1100

Type A gold buildings, with bases:

Basketball Court, $150
Empire Theater, $450
Ice Cream Shop, $95
Mansion, $850
Techno Club, $1000

Type B gold buildings, with bases:

Adult Movie Theater, $3500
Anchor Imports, $48000
Blues Club, $3500
Carousel, $110
Chicken & Waffles, $1400
Church, $48000
Cowboy Casino, $825
Credit Agency, $75000
Gaming Parlor, $280
Gentlemen's Club, $360000
Jazz Club, $250
Modern Art Museum, $3000
Palm Hotel, $725000
Pirate Tavern, $100000
Rock Cafe, $110000
Smoke Shop, $2200
Sushi Bar, $250
Wedding Chapel, $8800
Zeus Theater, $8400

As an example, we will derive the payout of a level 7 Laundromat. From the lists above we see it is a Type A building, so we will multiply the base, $5, against the index of level 7, 31:

$5 * 31 = $155

So now with the algorithm known it becomes possible to fill (almost) the entire spreadsheet with mathematically accurate values, which is a good thing considering the volume of errors within. Particularly, a number of base values are actually Tycoon derivations, leading to a 10% base inflation and 21% Tycoon inflation. Others are clearly data entry errors, like the Fish Store. Through my derivations I determined the base value to be $840 but the spreadsheet shows it as $480. Deriving values in the spreadsheet can be as simple as a nested IF statement that reads another field for "A" or "B". All one needs to get correct is the base value.

Notice that Type A yields substantially better growth and that most of the Type A cash buildings lie in the default set, with the rest being Mafia-unlocked. This is a large part of why their ROI is so strong. Later buildings need to make up for slower growth with stronger base payouts.

Also, the Tycoon bonus isn't exactly 10%. It probably is at some point in the calculation but by the time it is displayed to the end user it's actually slightly higher. This can be seen by comparing spreadsheet values to those in-game and noticing the off-by-one errors.

Thanks to contributors in this thread for corrections, algorithms, and data.

[Tramp Stamp]

Those of you looking into buying gold and parlaying that into optimum-paying buildings, here is a metric for you. First I derived level 10 payouts of gold buildings with available data. Then I divided the payouts by collection times to get $/hr. Then I divided that figure by gold paid to get a kind of "return on investment" figure, represented as $/hr per gold spent. Sorting the list, we get:

Pirate Tavern, $3409.09
Gentlemen's Club, $3000.00
Palm Hotel, $1937.50
Rock Cafe, $1571.43
Wedding Chapel, $1173.33
Adult Movie Theater, $807.69
Smoke Shop, $550.00
Church, $300.00
Ice Cream Shop, $296.88
Zeus Theater, $250.00
Chicken & Waffles, $194.44
Basketball Court, $187.50
Gaming Parlor, $186.67
Anchor Imports, $133.33
Carousel, $132.00
Sushi Bar, $83.33
Blues Club, $70.00
Empire Theater, $45.00
Moden Art Museum, $28.13
Jazz Club, $12.50
Mansion, $10.63
Cowboy Casino, $10.31
Techno Club, $7.81

IMO everything below Anchor Imports is a swindle and even Anchor is questionable. Personally I wouldn't go beyond the first four. EDIT: exception being possibly buying two Basketball Courts with the initial 10 gold. EDIT2: this list was updated. "First four" previously referred to Adult Movie Theater, Smoke Shop, Church, and Ice Cream Shop.

Level 10 payouts were used to compare faster growth Type A buildings with slower growth Type B buildings. List positions won't change based on level if restricting to one type class.

[corpsegrinder]

One of the most informative and well put together posts I've seen on here. Great job

[Mb Tnk]

Thank you Tramp Stamp, excellent data!!!

[Euchred]

Cool post I'm guessing the later gold building are all type B. It'd be cool it'd someone could confirm the type of the nightclub imagine if it was type A.

[Tramp Stamp]

Given that the two other Mafia buildings are Type A I'm thinking the Nightclub is as well. If so that means its level 10 payout is $13,125,000 or roughly $14,437,500 with the Tycoon boost. That would be an incredible $2,187,500/$2,406,250 per hour. It'd be easy to verify with a few pieces of data, if anyone has them:

1. Confirm base payout to be $175,000.
2. Provide payout for any other level.
3. Confirm 6 hour collection.

I'm also thinking the unlisted gold buildings are Type B, which is disappointing as it means they offer little value over cash buildings. Adult Movie Theater is insane, though, if you check in all day.

[Popeye The Sailor Man]

Wow I'm amazed deffinatly needs to be a sticky -.-
How did you even work this out.

[badd]

thanks TS very informative kudos to you sir

[duder]

I can confirm that when unlocked the nightclub is listed at 6 hours collection frequency and 175,000 payout per collection. I haven't built one yet (it'll be a couple months before I can confirm the other bits).

[whocareswhatmynameis]

GREAT POST!

your thread came just in time as i contemplate gold buildings i would be buying during the thanksgiving sale...

was initially thinking of going for chicken+waffle, smoke shop and sushi bar.

BUT after reading your message, i'm inclined towards church and smoke shop (already have ice cream shop).


thanks for the enlightening thread.

[Tramp Stamp]

In terms of figuring this out, I started with TLoord's $/hr figures on my own spreadsheet then expressed the difference between levels as a percentage. I didn't really need to do $/hr as collection timing is immaterial to the calculation. As I had hoped, the values followed a predictable pattern (well, two predictable patterns). Figuring out that every number was a multiple of the base was obvious once I started looking at the non-Tycoon payouts, which I hadn't really been doing. In terms of identifying which specific sequences were used, triangular and Fibbonacci are extremely common. Even with the modifications they still stood out.

I'll try build times and upgrade costs next; they appear to use the same style of calculation. With those covered the ROI process can become automated.

[unggubrian]

This is one of the best put together threads ever and it's so neat since you actually use correct grammar!

[Max Power]

Great post. I built my own spreadsheet from it. Couple of things....

The Internet company's initial payout is missing a zero, should be 16,000. The Jazz Club is missing altogether. Looking at the first upgrade, it appears to be type B, as does the Zeus Theater. They are $250 and $8400, respectively.

[Kirbnite]

Upgrade costs are super easy. They increase 67% each level. Just need to get initial upgrade cost. Build times would complete the picture.

[Duke.0]

So...what can one conclude from this?

Which type of building pays out the best A or B?